Hive Knight: A Dark Fantasy LitRPG (Trinity of the Hive Book 1) by Grayson Sinclair (black authors fiction txt) 📕

I braced, preparing for his Shield Bash.

He barreled into me, knocking the wind out of me and snapping my left arm like pine wood. I flew back and hit the ground hard, my health bar dropping to mid yellow.

Tears dripped down Lonny’s face. He was handsome, with strong cheekbones, a rugged chin sprouting the beginnings of stubble, and short chestnut hair. It was thick and curled randomly, giving his face a hint of youthfulness that didn’t belong with his eyes. His caramel eyes that once held so much laughter in them now held grief and hatred.

I stood, ignoring the aching pain spreading up my left arm and focused on my target. Lonny was skilled at close quarters, even better than me, and since we both fought with swords. It put me at a disadvantage up close.

Damn him! I lunged, activating Blade Shift. Like a mirage, my sword faded translucent and was quickly joined by three copies, all writhing and shifting like an illusion.

Lonny knew what the ability did, but he couldn’t guard against it entirely. I wormed through his defense to jam my sword through the opening.

It stopped just shy of his armor, the silver outline shimmering to life and cracking under my blow. His Full Defense held under my attack, and I backed away as he turned and swiped at me.

Lonny’s sword was poised to bite into my neck, but I activated Flash Step and was out of reach as his blade passed through empty air.

Any other time and Lonny would have grinned that he’d managed to get me to waste my most powerful ability, but not this time. I couldn’t read anything beyond the rage in his eyes.

I circled him, knowing I had one good sucker punch left in me. As Lonny turned, I danced in. Activating Swordfeint, I vanished, as a copy of myself appeared in my place. I thrust; my blade angled towards Lonny’s exposed neck.

Scatter Pulse hit me like a bulldozer. An invisible force shattered my blade and lifted me off the ground. Lonny struck the side of his shield, bashing me across the temple and opening a deep cut across my scalp.

I blacked out, coming to with Lonny standing over me, void of any mercy. I had only one ability left to me, and I used it. Phantom copied Lonny’s sword exactly and materialized in my hand, an ethereal shimmer cascading down its length.

My final thrust was weak, lacking any force, and Lonny easily parried it and sliced through my wrist, severing my flexor tendons that led to my hand, stopping me from holding my sword.

When the illusionary blade hit the ground, Phantom ended, and the sword faded from existence.

My own sword was shattered, and I couldn’t stop Lonny from raising his blade to me. The cold metal bit into my neck, and Lonny, with tears streaming from his hate-filled eyes, took my life.

I sighed, shaking myself out of the past. I held Eris close, her heat helping to ground me in the present.

“It’s a long story…I failed someone very close to me, and after they died, everything fell apart. The blame fell on my shoulders, and I was killed in a duel by someone who’d once been a friend.”

Eris squeezed my hand. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” I lied. “It was a long time ago.”

I’m still so wrapped up in the past that I can’t see the future. Sophia’s dead. No matter how much I wish I could take it back, I can’t. Maybe it’s time to move on.

“What was your guild called?” Eris asked.

“The four of us were the Swords of Legend. When we founded the guild, we all took the names of holy swords. I was Durandal, the sword of Roland the Paladin. The others were Mika, Takamikazuchi, and Lonny, Ascalon, the sword of Saint George.”

We rode a minute or so in silence. The only other sounds were the chirping of the birds and Lacuna’s hooves treading through the dirt. I waited to see if she would drop this topic of conversation, but Eris wasn’t stupid. She realized I’d omitted one member. “You left someone out. Who?”

I didn’t want to answer, but not explaining would lead to more questions.

“Her sword was Mistilteinn, but we just called her Sophia,” I whispered.

Eris noticed my change in mood, picking up on my hesitation. “You cared for her, didn’t you?”

I nodded. “She was my best friend. I loved her…just not nearly enough."

Thankfully, Eris didn’t pry any further. She was inside my head, and I knew she felt my misery. She let the topic drop, though she pulled my hands to her waist and held them tight.

We rode that way until I pulled myself out of my head. I had questions of my own, and they seemed like a good distraction.

“Tell me more about the Hive. You mentioned other races besides entomancers, what were they?”

“There were four other races. The mantearians and apocritans, which formed the bulk of our labor force, and the warrior clans, the arachne and scorpius.”

“Are they still around?”

Eris shrugged her shoulders, and her head hung low. “I don’t know. They were resilient and strong, all of them…but a thousand years is a long time. Anything is possible, I suppose.”

“What about you?” I asked, changing the subject. “What was your childhood like?”

She turned around and smiled, but it was an empty smile, full of longing and regret. “It was…lonely. Even before my mother became queen, I was kept like a bird in a cage. I wasn’t allowed to choose my friends. My father only let me associate with children of a respected dynasty.”

“Your father treated you like property?”

“Yes. I was a valuable piece for him. Too valuable to let spoil, so even when I was allowed to associate with other children, it was all under the guise of