Hive Knight: A Dark Fantasy LitRPG (Trinity of the Hive Book 1) Grayson Sinclair (book recommendations website .TXT) 📖

the crystal grew noticeably hotter in my hand, pleasant at first, then becoming scorching with each passing second. Half a minute later and I couldn’t hold onto it any longer.

Before it burned me, I tossed it into the center of the room, expecting it to hit the floor. However, it hovered just off the ground.

The crystal glowed like a lump of red-hot coal in a fire and steamed. Fractures appeared along the small gem, releasing tendrils of green smoke, which drifted lackadaisically to the floor. It shattered with a sharp crack and burst into a thousand rainbow-colored shards, pouring out a cloud of the same noxious smog.

I knelt as the emerald wisps filled the room and stung my eyes, coughing as the scent of the forest filled my nose. As the smoke dissipated, I thought it was over, but the whiff of brimstone grew stronger, and a thin tendril of pitch-black murk trailed out of the broke shards.

It twisted and curled as if in anger and moved like it had a mind of its own. The obsidian mist drifted toward me and I was too stunned to react as it covered my face, and the acrid scent burned in my nostrils. I was forced to inhale as it suffocated me, and the burning sensation went away, replaced by frigid ice that settled over my heart.

The black smoke was gone, but I wasn’t alone any longer, a new presence settled in the room.

What the hell? It should be impossible for another person to be here once the vault shut. Nothing but the key in my pocket could open it, and teleportation was impossible, except to a gate. As the smoke cleared from the room, I received a better look at the creature who had appeared before me.

It was a person, but not a person. They gazed up at me, silent and expectant.

It looked like a girl, but she wasn’t human. That much was obvious. Small in stature, maybe a hair or two above five feet, with a cute, cherubic face and thick, wavy dark blonde hair that fell in chaos to her shoulders.

Her ears were long—longer than even the elves, extending four or five inches past her face. While unusual, I’d met a few elves, so I wasn't bothered by them, and I’d have called her an elf, if not for her eyes.

She looked up at me with eyes that were far larger than any humans. They weren’t the eyes of any creature I’d seen on Nexus before. Neither the elves nor the dwarves had eyes like these. It was as if they were made from solid obsidian—a pure, glossy black.

As I looked closer, I found they weren’t as solid as I thought. Dozens of miniature hexagons refracted in the dim light as she looked at me. Her eyes are compounded, like an insect. What is she? These were the eyes of a creature entirely alien to me, deep and unfathomable.

Terror gripped my heart as I realized who she was. There was only one answer, and I shouldn’t have dismissed what the text read so quickly.

For my petty greed, I could have just doomed the entire guild.

My heart pounded in my ears, and I mustered up the courage to speak. “Are you the Hive Queen?”

She looked at me and cocked her head to the side, as if not comprehending what I’d said. Her eyes were unfocused as she stared at me, as if she’d been jostled out of deep sleep and hadn’t fully woken up yet.

Damn it, the one time I wish I’d leveled up the Detection skill. I can’t see her level. Even if I couldn’t tell it, she had to have one. Everyone did, even NPCs.

I didn’t want to startle her, in case she lashed out in pure reflex, so I backed away a few feet and knelt, silent while she composed herself. Her mouth moved like she was trying to speak, open and closed, but no words would come. When she opened again, a flash of white startled me. Instead of four canines, she possessed eight, side by side on both rows of teeth.

”Whhhee,” she started to speak. Her words came out thick and mumbled.

She stopped and shook her head. Trying to be polite, I pulled a waterskin from my inventory and handed it to her. She looked at it and back at me, just staring. I sighed and uncapped it, taking a small sip and pouring some on the stone.

“It’s just water.”

The girl comprehended and held out her hand. I scooted closer on the stone and offered her the skin. She took it from my hand, but her fingers brushed against mine as she did, and it was like a jolt of static shock zapped my hand.

I pulled back, my face growing hot for some reason. Her fingers were soft, and very warm.

She drank deeply, polishing off the entire thing. When it was dry, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and gave it back with a nod of thanks.

“Where...where am I?”

With the dryness of her mouth gone, she had a lovely voice. Soft, yet rich and lilting. It drew me in automatically, and I had to stop myself from inching closer. She looked around in confusion, her eyes going wide at the unfamiliarity.

“Easy now, are you all right?”

At the sound of my voice, she turned to stare at me again, her rigid posture relaxing when she looked at me.

“Ah, it’s you,” she smiled, flashing her sharp teeth. “This place is strange and unfamiliar to me. Do you know where I am?”

I nodded, holding up my hands. “You’re safe and in my castle, which resides in the heart of the Isle of Nexus.”

She hummed under her breath. “Nexus. A human word. I take it to be your name for the island?”

“It is, has