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

Longsword swung at me while Falchion and Gladius circled. I ducked under the first swipe and cracked Longsword in the face, he held firm and fought down the pain, swiping at me again. I dodged the second swing and kicked Longsword’s leg out from underneath him. He tumbled roughly to the ground.

Pain burned from my side. Gladius slipped underneath my guard while my back was turned and stabbed me. His sword still stuck in me, but it didn’t get through my Exoskeleton. Falchion attempted to take advantage of the situation while my attention was focused on Gladius. His steps were heavy behind me, but I turned too slowly to intercept him.

Eris stepped in, taking his sword on her arm. She cried in pain as it split open her skin. Blood welled and ran like a river over her arm, but just beneath her skin was black chitin. She grimaced and fought back the pain. Green smoke poured from her fingers as she worked her magic.

While Eris kept Falchion busy, I dealt with Gladius and Longsword. Gladius was still clutching his namesake, so I brought my arm down sharply, breaking his wrist. Gladius dropped his weapon and clutched his broken hand. Longsword came in quick, thrusting with his blade. I parried it and sliced a thin line down his arm, splashing a stream of poison into his bloodstream.

A bloodcurdling scream echoed behind me. Hundreds of spiders had come at Eris’s call and were crawling over her and Falchion. They jumped from Eris to Falchion and scuttled over every inch of bare flesh. He frantically tried to peel them off, but they scurried to his face and neck, sinking their fangs deep into his exposed skin and refusing to let go.

Falchion wasn’t even trying to fight Eris anymore. He dropped his weapon to focus solely on the horde tearing at him. Dozens of rivulets of blood ran from his face and arms from the spider bites.

Eris clumsily gripped the knife in hand and stabbed Falchion while he was busy with the spiders. The blade lodged deep in his chest, and she pulled it out in a fountain of blood. Nicked the heart, but not enough.

 Falchion was still standing, and panic-stricken, he lunged for Eris. He pinned her to the ground while making a hasty grab for his weapon. She cried out as she hit the grass.

I kicked Longsword in the groin and ran over to Eris, tackling Falchion to the ground. My sword fell from my hands in the tumble, so I gripped my hands together and brought them down sharply. Once, twice, and a final time, I slammed my fists into Falchion’s throat, crushing his trachea and shattering his hyoid bone. He spasmed with each hit, clutching his obliterated neck and wheezed, trying to breathe. His last breath would never come, and I stood from him as he fought for one more gasp of air.

No one was coming to his rescue, and without a healing potion, he would soon expire. I grabbed my sword and the falchion, handing the latter to Eris as Longsword got off the ground.

“Keep behind your sword at all times and never let your opponent into your space,” I told Eris as I focused on Longsword.

He wasn’t looking so hot. The poison wreaked havoc on his insides, and the kick to groin had bruised more than his pride. Longsword snarled at me and picked up the gladius, a drop of my blood fell from the blade as he charged me.

Longsword by himself, wasn’t a threat, even with the added weapon. I dodged his sword and parried the gladius. His footwork was sloppy, and his swings heavy. He thrust with the longsword while I pivoted on the balls of my feet. His attack passed by my ribs as I brought my sword down at the same time and severed his arm from his body.

Longsword howled in agony and dropped the gladius, backing away from me and fumbling at the satchel at his waist for a health potion. Unlike Falchion, he’d had some foresight. He uncapped it as I bent down and picked up the discarded gladius. As Longsword put the bottle to his lips, I flung the gladius at him. The sword took him in the chest, sinking hilt deep into his heart. Longsword dropped to the ground, the health potion spilling to mix with his blood.

I backed up a bit to stand with Eris, handing her a health potion from my inventory. “Take two little sips, no more,” I said.

“Right.”

With her slight injuries taken care of, I turned my attention to the rest of the group. Gladius had regrouped with the other three, who were playing gatekeepers. They'd watched two of their friends die so callously and hadn’t even drawn their weapons. They sure as hell did when I moved to engage them.

“Eris, use your magic to keep them from surrounding us.”

She nodded and moved back a few steps. “I’ll do my best,” she said a little breathlessly.

I’m pushing her; even that little display a moment ago was enough to weaken her. She probably can't use much more.

Gladius had healed his broken wrist and picked up a spare weapon. A dagger. He stayed behind the others, though, shaking, rightfully cautious of me. The other three were more than willing to fight in his stead. Two rushed ahead of the others, while the third went for Eris. He held a spear in his hands.

My first opponent wielded a massive cleaver straight from Hell's kitchen, which he attempted to chop me into bits, while the second was a flamberge, the winding blade whistling as it came for my head.

Flamberge was easy enough to deal with. His two-handed sword was too unwieldy and slow to hit me. Dodging was easy, but as soon as I stepped out of reach of Flamberge, Cleaver struck with frightening