Vessel

The Nightmare King

I woke up. About ten feet away, I saw the nightmare king. The dreamnail had brought him into the real world. As we both rose, slowly, the Brumm orchestra happened to step outside Grimm's tent. Their conductor led the group. "Well boys, I hope you've been practicing, cause it's showtime! And a one, and a two, and a-"

Naturally, the orchestra started playing the Nightmare King theme, as an organist wheeled out at top speed, hands on fire as he played. In any other setting, the performance would have been cool as hell.

Hornet was still asleep off to the side, but at least she was alive. I motioned to Curth to see if they could at least get Hornet to the town bench. Curth may not have any combat ability, but they follow directions very well.

This was going to be the most difficult fight I would ever have in Hallownest. The nightmare king outshined every single warrior in Hallownest, without even wielding a weapon. Save for his metallic claws of course.

Dave swooped in beside me. At least I wasn't entirely alone. Now that I was looking, I wasn't alone at all. Apparently Curth had drawn some attention, because Sly, Iselda, and even Elderbug stood to protect Dirtmouth. Not that it phased the nightmare king in any way.

He cackled and stretched an arm out toward me and Dave. "Come to me, my child." Dave stubbornly refused to move forward, frustrating the nightmare king to no end. In a fit of rage, he charged. His metal claws met the blade of my nail, as the others moved in.

Sly flew toward the nightmare king, spinning saw blade style as he did. The nightmare king leapt over him as Iselda rushed in with her blade. He deflected her and soared into the sky, raining down fireballs. By this time, Elderbug had almost reached the battle.

Curth joined the fight as the nightmare king returned to the ground. Me and Iselda swung at the nightmare king from his sides. Almost effortlessly, he blocked us both with his claws. Curth rushed in to help, trying to hug the nightmare king to death. As he approached, he found the bottom of the nightmare king's foot suddenly in his face. Curth flew backwards, and nearly into the well that accessed Hallownest. He spun to launch a flurry on the two of us at the same time.

Sly rushed in to assist, as we were genuinely overwhelmed. Sly's nail met with a claw as the nightmare king kicked me. As he dueled Sly and Iselda, Elderbug finally reached the fight. The nightmare king grabbed Iselda's blade and used it to throw her into Sly. Elderbug's cane cracked off the back of the nightmare king's head. This only seemed to anger him.

As he picked up Elderbug, he spoke. "You dim witted wannabe warrior. Your weapon is a stick and you look many thousands of years too old for this. Now you'll learn why old men should stay out of fights." His other hand glowed with a scarlet flame. The ground shook, and Ogrim leapt from the freshly opened hole, grabbing the nightmare king in the process.

Elderbug, now free of the nightmare king's grip, waddled back to his bench as quickly as possible. Ogrim on the other hand, was getting the better of his struggle with the nightmare king. He positioned the menace in front of him and yelled "Belly flop!" As loud as he could. The nightmare king was slammed into the dirt, stunning him momentarily.

As he stood, Sly rushed him. Barely avoiding Sly's nail, the nightmare king could not avoid the little bug's slamming into him. The nightmare king stumbled back, towards Iselda. She launched a furious offensive, driving back the nightmare king, before finally kicking him. This drove him to me and Dave.

I attacked him, forcing him into a defensive role. As I continued to slash at him, Dave circled above. When the time was right, Dave swooped in and bit down on the nightmare king's horn. This only seemed to fuel an anger in him, as he turned defense to offense, and pushed back. Ogrim came after him from behind, only to be kicked across Dirtmouth. Soon he was able to do the same to me. As I tried to get up, he yanked Dave off and threw him at me. Poor Dave.

Sly and Iselda both charged him again. The nightmare king was once again forced to defend himself, as blades assaulted him from either side. Even then, he was holding his own, almost effortlessly. After about a minute, the nightmare king grabbed Sly and hit Iselda with him. Curth made another attempt at a death hug, only to be picked up by one of their horns. "Don't you have enough cracks in your shell?!" The nightmare king flipped Curth over his head before slamming them into the dirt.

I charged him again, but to no avail. Soon he grabbed me by my face. "Any last wor- err, hmm... I guess any last thoughts, "vessel"?" Suddenly, fury of the fallen activated and I could practically hear the charm saying "How about, I think the fuck not?!" I slashed at him, catching him off guard. He dropped me to block my swing, allowing me to take full advantage of my current power. I made sure to never let up on the offensive, keeping him on his back foot at all times.

I just kept swinging. The nightmare king could only block my strikes for so long, right? Unfortunately, it turned out to be the other way around. I could only attack for so long. The nightmare king immediately noticed me slowing down, even slightly, and took his shot. The uppercut he landed sent me flying into Sly's shop. Almost instantly, he had dashed over. Once again, he picked me up. This time, he took special care in plucking away my charm, before crushing it in his hand. There was no way out. How fitting, that I would die at the end of the nightmare king's theme, that I had heard so many times. He spoke one last thing to me. "You should have expected your demise... I, AM, THE NIGHTMARE KING!!!" He raised his claw.

A needle sprouted from the nightmare king's chest. He was pulled back, dropping me in the process. As he reached his destination, there was nothing in his expression besides fear. Hornet pulled her needle out of his back before kicking him into the dirt. "Correction. You, were, the nightmare king." She then slashed him again, just to make sure he was truly dead. It was exactly to the beat of the end of the nightmare king's theme.

Fortunately, nobody was seriously harmed in the fight. Sly and Iselda both had some cuts and bruises, Ogrim found a crack in his shell, or as he would call it, a story to tell, and Elderbug seemed unharmed. Curth finally managed to pull their head free of the dirt to reveal a slightly longer crack in their shell. It almost made it look like they were smirking. Even Dave had managed to survive. Granted it may have had something to do with the instant metamorphosis caused by killing the nightmare king. We had won.

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The day had been a long time coming. Everything, and everyone was ready. Ogrim was clearly nervous. He turned and looked at me. "This is a nightmare! What if I mess it up?!" I jotted down my response. "Ogrim, relax. You're gonna do great. You've got this, man."

He seemed grateful to hear encouragement, because he was understandably nervous. A lot of responsibility had just been placed on his shoulders, and if he messed up, even a little bit, the consequences could be dire.

Soon, Hornet appeared. She had on a fancy royalty cloak, made for special occasions. She would never hear the end of it from me. She approached us and Ogrim drew a ceremonial blade. "It is with great honor, that I properly bestow upon you this title." He started to bring the blade close to Hornet's shoulders, then the top of her head, like a knighting ceremony.

"I present to you, the people of this kingdom, Hornet, Rightful Queen, of Hallownest." As he said these words, the King's brand etched itself into Hornet's shell, before hiding itself. The brand would reveal itself when needed.

It was great to see Hornet had finally stepped up to her role as queen. With both the Radiance, and Grimm, out of the picture, Hallownest still might not last forever, but I have no trouble believing that it will not fall during Hornet's reign.

A faint tapping sound caught my attention. Turning to the window, I saw three shades, just outside. One, had bull like horns, and was somehow wearing a brown bandanna. The other two, were unmistakable. Outside, were Mala, and the knight. I was glad that they had been able to see this day.

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And that's it. Really, that's it. I may return to this story one day, but that's all I have to tell for now. Thank you all, for taking the journey with me. It doesn't matter when you joined in the adventure, be it since the beginning, or just today, I appreciate all of you. Thank you for allowing me to tell this story as much as I have. Without you, it wouldn't have been possible. I'm not done writing stories, but this is the last chapter I have planned for Vessel. So all I have left to say is, thank you. And I hope that I'll see you again, sometime in the future.