Chapter 2

The knight happily explored a vivid forest filled with all sorts of strange wildlife and fauna completely different from Hallownest. The only thing comparable to this place was the Greenpath back in Hallownest, but the two locations felt extremely different from each other. Greenpath was humid and wet, with lakes of boiling acid and carnivorous plants at every corner. This forest was a lot less chaotic and it felt like the knight could take a nap without worrying about monsters eating it in its sleep.

As the knight wandered the serene forest, it would encounter some of the local wildlife. Most of them simply ran away when they saw the knight, but as the knight wandered deeper into the forest, it couldn't shake the feeling like it was being stalked. Every time it thought there was something behind it, there was nothing there. There was only the soft ambiance of the forest to keep the knight company. As the lonely knight trekked through the forest, it found the remains of what looked like a watchtower.

Nature had already taken back the tower, with the only thing remaining is the crumbling overgrown tower. The knight decided to explore the tower and find what lied inside the decrepit ruin. Just outside the tower lied a rusted suit of armor. The suit of armor was caked in mud and moss, with tiny pink flowers growing atop the helmet and chest. The knight picked one of the flowers and looked at its simplistic beauty. However, the tiny flower ironically paled in comparison with the delicate flower when the knight compared the two. The knight soon gently planted the pink flower in a patch of dirt.

The knight was oddly interested in the dirty suit of armor, constantly inspecting the armor. The armor itself wasn't anything special; it wasn't ornate or looked to have the finest craftsmanship, but it intrigued the knight on how long it has lasted. When the knight took off the helmet, tiny bugs began skittering out of the armor and the knight found the remains of its owner. With one gentle poke, the skeleton of the former knight seemingly disintegrated and left the suit empty. Just as the knight thought there was nothing else to find, the armor began to glow essence. After seeing that, the knight quickly unsheathed its dream nail and hit the armor, disappearing into the dreams of this knight.

...

As the knight arrived in the Dream Realm, the knight could hear whispers of the dreamer's past life. The whispers spoke in a familiar and old dialect; whispers that sounded of innocent children, a caring wife, and a fearful commander. When the knight did arrive in the Dream Realm, it was the watchtower, but it was back in its former glory. There was a large clearing where the forest would've been and there were other soldiers doing their daily routine. The knight went inside the watchtower and saw the dreamer's face.

The dreamer was neither a bug nor beast, but a completely new creature entirely. It seems these creatures speak a language the knight understands, but they spoke of things the knight wasn't familiar with. They spoke of creatures of pure darkness that had ravaged multiple villages, leaving nothing but ash and death behind. The dreamer was concerned about the news and he spoke out loud that he hopes these monsters won't attack his town.

The knight soon followed the dreamer's routine patrol across the dirt path, constantly vigilant for any monsters or bandits that may be lurking in the forest. The knight kept a close look on the dreamer but never revealed itself to him. The knight was interested in learning about these monsters that the dreamer was so concerned about. The patrol soon leads the knight to a small town where the townsfolk warmly greeted the dreamer.

As the knight closely followed the dreamer, they could hear a horn blow in the distance. The dreamer unsheathed his sword and ran to outside the town where he saw other soldiers creating makeshift barricades. As the soldiers prepared to defend the town, bows were drawn and swords unsheathed, monsters began running down through the roads.

Archers quickly began to unfurl a barrage of arrows at the invaders, but only quelling their numbers slightly. Some of the younger-looking monsters charged straight into the barricades, impaling themselves right into the wooden stakes. The more armored monsters simply broke through barricades and the horde slowly began to funnel in.

The dreamer and a few other brave fools were there to meet the horde straight on. The dreamer was very skilled with his broadsword, slicing through the monsters with ease. When a bigger monster showed up, the dreamer took out a strange blue crystal and threw it at the monster's feet. It froze the bottom of the monster and the dreamer thrust his sword straight into the monster's heart.

As more and more monsters began showing up, the dreamer was relying on those crystals rather than his impressive swordsmanship. As the horde began to slowly shrink, the dreamer and the knight could hear someone telling the other soldiers to push back the monsters. When the last monster of the horde was slain, the soldiers cheered in celebration and with their newfound confidence, they began making their way to the forest to face this threat head-on.

As the soldiers left, the knight soon followed the soldiers back to the entrance of the forest. As the soldiers went into the forest to face this threat, the knight already knew what was about to happen.

Thirty minutes didn't even pass without something going wrong. The soldiers were ambushed by the monsters and were being torn to shreds. The dreamer was fighting off the monsters as best he can, but it wasn't long until he was mortally wounded. As the soldiers began to retreat, two of them picked up the dreamer and they all began to flee. The monsters were relentless in their attack and were slaughtering them like animals. The monsters didn't even stop to feast on their flesh.

The soldiers retreated back to the watchtower where their wounded were being healed. The healers worked as quickly as they could, but the monsters have come to wreak havoc once again. The dreamer was fit enough to fight again and fought against the horde. He was weak from all the blood he's lost, but he was able to kill several monsters. It wasn't long until he tired and was set upon on the monsters. They savagely bit into his armor and maimed him horribly. The knight couldn't bear to watch and looked away. When all the screaming and fighting ended, the knight looked at the horrible scene the monsters have left.

There were no survivors in that attack and the monsters have left the watchtower as quickly as they found it. The knight looked at the savagery these monsters have brought upon these soldiers and looked upon them with sadness. The knight could only hope this was a nightmare, but as the knight looked upon the watchtower, it looked eerily similar to how the knight found it.

The knight had seen enough and looked at the spirit of the fallen dreamer. It wasn't long until the spirt floated up to the sky and the dream soon ended.

...

The knight had awoken once again in the real world. When it awakened, it was overcome with a sense of sadness as it looked at the rusted suit of armor. As it checked its surroundings, nothing but dense forest surrounded the lonely watchtower. As the knight bowed its head in respect of the former soldier, it heard the roars of the monsters in the distance. The knight unsheathed its ornate, but deadly nail and readied itself for battle.

Several creatures of darkness surrounded the watchtower. They were confused to find something that looked so similar to themselves, yet so innocent and full of delicious soul. This prey wasn't like the rest of them. This one held more soul than those troublesome humans can ever hope to have. They know the destruction those humans can bring, so they lied patiently before they could feast. Several monsters began to surround the watchtower, slowly wearing down the nerve of the minuscule creature.

Flocks of nevermore began to perch on the canopies, beowolves were stalking the knight from thick vegetation, and a geist quietly possessed the decaying stones of the watchtower. As time passed, more and more grimm began to surround the area and the knight was quickly getting restless. As soon as the knight trembled, all hell broke loose.

...

A beowolf began the attack and lunged towards the knight, but the vessel was able to react in time and slashed the beowolf across the back. Four others joined their comrade and began assaulting the knight with deadly slashes that could kill a lesser being in a single swipe. The knight weaved through the savage attacks with elegant grace while throwing out some counter-attacks as well, even killing two of them with a well-placed Great Slash.

The knight wasted no time firing a blast Shade Soul and the remaining beowolves. The blast of void penetrated through all three of them, leaving large holes in the middle of their chests and killing them.

Flocks of nevermore began to swarm the knight, constantly pecking and chipping its shell. A much large nevermore soon swooped in and picked the knight up by the shell and was carrying it higher in the air to drop it.

Unfortunately for the nevermore, the knight let out an ear-piercing screech and the nevermore dropped the knight before they could get too high.

As the knight plummeted to the ground, the knight saw the watchtower turn as black as coal. The tower soon began to take a more humanoid shape as it ripped its 'feet' from the foundation. The knight responded by landing unto the living tower with Descending Dark and turned the decaying tower into rubble.

When the knight returned to the ground, the monsters wasted no time in attacking. Several boarbatusks began charging right at the knight, but knight dashed right through them with its shade cloak. The knight soon attacked the dazed creatures, swiftly cutting them down with a clean Great Slash.

The flocks of nevermore were back with a vengeance, but the knight was ready for them this time. The knight began to pogo off the nevermore and as it began to ascend, the large nevermore from before swoops in and takes the knight for another ride.

However, instead of being in the talons of the nevermore, the knight was right in its mouth. The knight began to stab the nevermore's tongue and as it slower sliced away at its beak, the nevermore finally spit the knight out.

The knight wasn't done with the grimm though. The knight grabbed onto its tail and slowly, but surely began climbing the back of the nevermore. The nevermore tried to shake the knight off, barrelling through the air at high speeds, but the knight was able to hold on using its Mantis Claw. When the knight finally got onto the head of the nevermore, the knight began stabbing the monster through the head. The monster screamed out in pain and was quickly plummeting through the sky.

Seeing this as a way to kill two birds with one stone (or in this case, a flock of them with a really big bird) the knight steered the dying nevermore into the surviving flock of smaller nevermore.

The flock of nevermore never stood as they were crushed underneath the giant nevermore. As the knight got off the corpse of the nevermore, it saw the corpses of the grimm slowly disintegrate and leave nothing behind. Thinking that this was the last of it, the knight sat down near the ruins of the tower, right next to the same suit of armor that had miraculously survived the whole thing.

There was silence for a few seconds...

Then the knight heard a rumble.

As the knight got up, the knight saw the tower slowly reform. The rubble slowly began floating to create a large golem from the remains of the tower. The knight was extremely weakened from the fight. Large cracks adorned the knight's shell and a little void was beginning to leak out of its cracked shell. The knight stood up to stand against this living tower and as it looked at the rusted suit of armor, the knight had an idea.

The knight quickly began to crawl into the armor. The knight used its control over the void and it created a thin coat of void inside the armor that it can use to control it from the inside It was very similar to the kingsmould from the White Palace. The rusted suit of armor slowly went came back to life, its joints constantly creaking and squeaking as it stood right back up. The knight picked up its nail, now a mere dagger in this armor's hands and quickly got into position.

The Living Tower

The Living Tower wasted no time in attacking, launching one of its hands as a projectile. The knight just barely dodged the attack as it stumbled to the ground. The Living Tower soon launched its second hand at the knight who just barely rolls away.

As the Living Tower recalled its hands back to it, the knight began to ascend the tower. As it climbed the Living Tower, a hand tried to drag the knight back down to the ground, but it was able to shake it off. The knight was able to go inside the tower through a window and saw the mask of the geist controlling the tower. Grabbing its nail, the knight began stabbing through the mask.

The Living Tower began to desperately hit itself from the outside, hoping to collapse its own body onto the knight. The knight just decided to rip the mask off itself and was able to escape the crumbling building.

With the Geist's mask in hand, the knight soon crushed the mask in its hands. The mask promptly shatters and the tower crumbles once more. Hopefully for good this time.

...

The knight got out of the rusted armor and began to mend its shell with the remainder of its soul. The shell wasn't pristine, but at least it wasn't leaking void anymore. As the knight surveyed the armor, the armor itself still a bit dented, but it was still serviceable. With no sight of a clearing in this forest, the knight decided to bring the armor with it while it explored the forest. With no more soul and with a weakened shell, the knight soon climbed back inside the armor and began walking into the forest, hoping it could find the way out soon.

Unknown to the knight, there was an unknown spectator to the battle. A bird watched as the rusted knight wandered off into the forest. It looked upon the destruction the knight had wrought and it soon flew away from the scene. There was much to be done and it couldn't waste any more time.