Little Dreams and Hollow Nightmares

Ph3 Ch20: Hive Guardians

The knight swung its nail, striking down the last few bees. They were rather easy to deal with, but they were a challenge in large numbers. The knight looked at Mono, and was relieved to see he was doing just fine, finishing up his fight. It looked over to Six, and stopped in place.

The knight watched as Six devoured the large bee from its eyes to its head. As she ate, the knight heard her quietly laughing, as if she enjoyed seeing the creature suffer. Once she was finished, she stood up, and walked over to the group like nothing happened. Was she used to this? Was she perfectly fine with her hunger? Just what was going on inside her head? The knight still had enough compassion to trust Six, but something about the hunger made it feel........ Terrified. The knight no longer blamed Six, it blamed the hunger. If Six was Mono's friend, then surely she was much nicer before. And if that was the case, then the hunger must've done something to her.

It turned her into a monster.

The knight looked down at its hands. It started shaking. It felt more afraid than ever. If the hunger turned Six into a monster, then could the same happen to itself? The knight dreaded the thought. It couldn't imagine itself as a hungry beast who ate up everything living. It couldn't imagine eating up its friends. The knight felt something touch its shoulder. It turned, and saw Mono.

"Are you feeling okay?" He asked.

The knight nodded, although it wasn't sure if it was. Regardless, it needed to lead Mono and Six out of the Hive, and didn't have time to feel scared.

The knight pulled out the map, and continued leading the way. As it walked, the knight couldn't help but look around and see how much the Hive had changed. It looked a lot more industrial, most likely due to the Maw harvesting the Hive's honey. There were pipes, conveyor belts, pumps, drills, furnaces, a red torch.

The knight stopped. It looked dow at the area below. There was a torch holding a scarlet red flame with dream catcher particles surrounding it. But, that was impossible. The knight had already gotten that flame, back when it had the Grimmchild. And speaking of which, it didn't even have the Grimmchild! How could that flame exist? Then, the knight remembered that there had been a flame in the Fungal Wastes. Could someone else have started the Ritual? Did the Grimmchild reset? Did the Grimmchild even remember the knight?

"Hey!" Mono yelled.

The knight stopped thinking, and remembered its task. It left the area, leaving the torch where it was. Soon, the knight reached a door that hadn't been there before. It was made of honeycombs, but four of the combs were missing. The knight looked around, and saw a stray comb on the ground. It picked it up, and placed it into one of the empty slots. It fit perfectly. The knight looked at Mono and Six, and they both understood. All three of them searched the area for the other three combs.

Mono found one near a conveyor belt, Six found one in a pipe, and the knight found the last comb on top of a ledge. The three of them regrouped, and placed the rest of the combs into the door. As soon as the last comb was placed, the door shook, and opened up. The knight stepped through the doorway, and noticed a change in the surroundings. This area wasn't as industrial as the previous areas. It looked a lot more ancient, and civilized. Near the doorway, the knight spotted a sign. The sign read, "Abandon all that is outside this door. None shall enter, and none shall leave. Protect what is left of the Hive and our queen."

As the knight read, it suddenly felt... guilty. They had just opened the door to a hideout, where the rest of the Hive resided, in order to escape the control of the Maw. the knight walked back outside, broke the combs off the door, and then sealed itself and the others inside.

"Why did you do that?" Six asked, feeling panicked. "You just trapped us in here!"

"I think it was trying to keep something else from getting in," Mono said. "Either way, I guess we'll have to find another way out."

The knight nodded, and continued forward. Mono was close behind, holding Six's hand. They walked through the honeycombed hallway, and reached a large, open area, with platforms all around. Above them were several hivelings, hive soldiers, and... Hive Guardians. The knight felt panicked at the sight of the large, hulking bees above them. Just one was a threat, but there were two.

Suddenly, one of the Hive soldiers screamed, alerting the rest of the Hive. It wasn't long before the Hive Guardians noticed the presence of the three intruders. The knight quickly drew its nail, fighting off the smaller bees, in order to focus on the big ones. One of the Hive Guardians smashed into the ground, sending everyone off balance. It bounced around the walls of the Hive, breaking fragile platforms above it. Once it calmed down, the second Guardian charged.

The knight leapt onto one of the platforms, jumping around to avoid the raging bee. Suddenly, a hiveling hit the Guardian, taking its attention off the knight. The knight looked down, and saw Mono flinging the hivelings at the Guardian. While one of the Hive Guardians was distracted, the other one wasn't. The knight heard the Guardian's scream, and quickly leapt to another platform. The Hive Guardian slammed into the place where the knight was standing, and bounced all around, forcing the knight to climb higher.

The knight managed to get into a long room above the open area, and the Hive Guardian followed. Now with a good shot, the knight unleashed a descending dark, and an abyss shriek onto the Guardian, defeating it.

The knight was about to go back down to help Mono and Six, but all of a sudden, its stomach growled. The knight hunched over. It was in no condition to fight as it was. It needed to find food. NOW. The knight walked along the wall of the room, trying to find something, anything, to eat. Its stomach growled even more, and its shell started to crack. It continued through the room, trying to find something, when suddenly... it heard something.

The cry of a grub.

The knight followed the sound, growing even more hungry. It reached the end of the room, where a grub was held captive in a jar. The grub looked up at the knight, and started happily shaking. It thought the knight was there to save it.

The knight looked into the eyes of the tas- innocent grub. It looked so delic- happy that someone had come to ea- save it.

The knight's shell cracked open, and droll came from its newly formed mouth as it eyed the scrump- small grub.

The knight reached for its nail.

It pulled its hand away from the nail.

The knight reached again.

The knight drew its nail.

It stepped towards the jar.

It stepped away from the jar.

It stepped again.

It reached the jar.

It held up its nail.

It lowered its nail.

It raised its nail up high.

The hungry knight opened its jaw wide.

.

..

...

....

.....

......and broke the jar open.

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AHHHHHH! CLIFFHANGER NOOOOOO!

Oh well, guess you'll have to wait until next chapter in order to find out what happened~.

See you once it come out! :)