The two Great Knights were an interesting sight to behold. Tall and elegant Ze’mer, with her menacing greatnail strapped to her back. Her long flowing garments made for a striking appearance. Isma was quite small in comparison. But she walked with a grace that many lacked, each step seemed to be worth a kingdom. Her eyes twinkled with delight and she smiled at everyone they passed.
Those people did not smile back. The Mantis tribe’s hostility towards them was made abundantly clear. They knew of the Great Knights’ renown and fame, but the tribe does not take kindly to outsiders. Ze’mer kept her eyes forward, not intimidated by the tribe’s glares. A very tall and regal mantis stood in the middle of the village, he was given a wide berth and everyone bowed as they passed by. Isma recognized him as one of the four mantis lords and they approached him slowly. The two Great Knights bowed deeply, and the mantis lord gave a slight bow in return. A sign of respect, but not of subservience.
“How does the tribe fair, my lord?” Isma said, remaining in her bow for a moment before straightening up. Ze’mer noticeably avoided making eye contact with the mantis lord.
The mantis’ face was placid, “I would prefer if you wouldn’t pry into the tribe’s affairs.”
Isma smiled slightly, “I would never wish to intrude on the tribe’s business, but it was you that asked us to come here. What was it that might have caused you to call on the king for help?”
“We are not in need of your help, but we thought that it would be good to notify you of a recent change in Deepnest’s behavior.” The mantis lord turned and began walking away, he gestured for them to follow. “We have guarded against the beasts for quite some time without trouble, but recently things have changed.”
Isma frowned, “Have their attacks become worse?” Isma noticed that Ze’mer still seemed to refrain from even looking at the mantis lord.
“Their attacks have stopped, Great Knight.” He stopped and turned to face Isma and Ze’mer. “We have seen very few if not any of the creatures.”
Isma stood for a few seconds, contemplating the information. “May we be allowed into Deepnest?”
“You wish to enter their territory?”
“I wish to visit the Beast’s Den, I must confer with the Queen of Deepnest.”Isma noticed the bewildered look on the mantis lord’s face. “Is there a problem?”
“Are you mad? Nobody goes into Deepnest, you won’t even consult the king?”
Isma flashed him a smile, “In a scenario such as this, I act with the Pale King’s authority. I am allowed to make the final decision.”
The mantis lord looked her up and down and sniffed. “Hallownest really is full of fools.” He led them in silence to the entrance into Deepnest. They passed by the four thrones for the mantis lords, the other three lords watched them intently from their thrones as they walked by. They approached a large door which slid open, revealing a dark hallway filled with corpses of deepnest creatures. They stepped into the darkness, and the door slammed shut behind them.
“Ze’mer glanced over at Isma and smiled, “Is Le’mer still afraid of the dark?”
Isma laughed and pulled out her lantern, “I never was. Besides, it isn’t the darkness that we must fear, but what’s in it.”
They started into the dark hallway, the lantern illuminating the tunnel in front of them. Their smiles remained on their faces for a while, but the eerie atmosphere quickly dampened their mood. They continued in an uncomfortable silence, which was only broken by the scratching and hissing of creatures hidden in the dark. Occasionally they would catch a glimpse of several eyes staring out at them, but they could never see what the eyes belonged to.
Isma glanced back over her shoulder, “Ze’mer, you know how dangerous the Mantis Tribe is, don’t you?”
Ze’mer froze, “Of course, why would Le’mer mention them?”
Isma turned back to look at Ze’mer with a warm smile on her face. “I’m sure you know exactly why.”
Ze’mer narrowed her eyes, “How does Le’mer know about her?”
Isma raised her eyebrows, “I’ve known for a while now, I thought it was rather obvious. I wondered where you disappeared to every other day, but I figured it out eventually.”
“Have any others found out?” Ze’mer wrung her hands nervously.
“I haven’t told anyone, but you’ll find it very hard to keep a secret once it has been revealed. You are a Great Knight, it is difficult to keep eyes off of you. Although I would concern yourself with the Mantis Tribe, they wouldn’t be happy to figure out that the daughter of one of their leaders is meeting with an outsider.” Isma touched Ze’mer’s hand gently and smiled.
Ze’mer tried for a weak smile, “Should I inform anyone else?”
Isma withdrew her hand, “I will leave that for the two of you to discuss.” She turned to continue down the hallway.
“What about Le’mer and her love?” Ze’mer blurted out. Isma sighed and Ze’mer looked at her expectantly.
Isma put her hands on her hips, “What about us?”
Ze’mer blushed, “Well, he is a bit odd, isn’t he?”
“What do you mean odd?”
“Well, he’s rather strange isn’t he? Why would Le’mer choose him of all people?”
Isma’s face went red and she clenched her fists, “How can you say that? Do you know him as well as I do?” Ze’mer stepped back, shocked. “His passion and devotion is beyond that of most bugs that have ever known sentience.” She paused and took a shaky breath. “But you must know that despite his strength, he is fragile. If his nightmares were to come true, and if one day he turned against the king.” Tears brimmed in her eyes as she looked desperately at Ze’mer. “I doubt the four of us together could stop him.”
Ze’mer stood there, stunned. She hadn’t thought of Ogrim as anything more than a kind-hearted bug. She stayed quiet as Isma cried silently next to her. After a minute, Isma drew herself upright and wiped the tears from her eyes. They nodded to each other and continued through the dark hallway.
The cave-like walls and floor abruptly turned into simple stone architecture with carvings depicting a beast’s eyes. They were nearing the Distant Village. The scratching sounds from earlier were gone, replaced with an eerie silence. They moved forward slowly, unnerved by the dark atmosphere.
Ze’mer shouted as the floor suddenly began crumbling beneath them. Isma screamed as the floor disappeared from beneath their feet and they plummeted into a pit of darkness.
\ — /
Ze’mer slowly came awake, feeling a sharp pain in the side of her head. Isma lay next to her, appearing to be still asleep. She moved to shake her, but was stopped by a voice that came from the darkness at the edge of the room.
“Let us leave her be and have a talk between just the two of us.” The voice was cool and calm, it might have been soothing if there wasn’t a malevolent tone behind it. Ze’mer remained where she was, only then realizing that her nail was not on her back.
The voice continued, “I do not have any intention of harming either of you, although I would advise against any irrational decisions.”
Ze’mer took a deep breath, and focused on Isma’s closed eyes. “Che’ do not wish to harm Le’mer either, but Che’ rather dislikes Le’mer’s hospitality.”
The voice chuckled, “I only wish to discuss certain matters with your king, and I deemed this the best way possible.”
Ze’mer frowned, “How would Le’mer have decided on this as the best solution?”
“If I wished to talk to you, I would much prefer doing it in my own territory. I wouldn’t want to visit your glamorous palace without assurance of my safety.”
“Che’ would say the same, although Che’ doesn’t feel safe in Le’mer’s hands.”
“You are safe, for now.”
Ze’mer took another breath, “Might Che’ inquire as to who they are speaking to?”
A shape began to emerge from the shadows. It was large, with six eyes and multiple legs that it walked upon. “I am Herrah, Queen of Deepnest. I wish to confer with the Pale Wyrm about the state of his kingdom. I speak on behalf of the Weaver Tribe and Deepnest’s citizens.”
Ze’mer stood and bowed gracefully, “Your majesty, the Weaver Tribe has been fairly unresponsive to our previous calls and the citizens of Deepnest have been rather aggressive in all of our encounters.” Ze’mer looked up into Herrah’s eyes inquisitively. “Why would Le’mer choose to speak to us now?”
“You know exactly why I would want to speak at this time. Although we distance ourselves from Hallownest, we are not oblivious to the recent danger that has made its presence known.” Herrah narrowed her eyes and took a step further into the light. “Your king should do better to not ignore the ancient people that once inhabited this land. We know of the coming plague and its threat. Now, Great Knight, would the king be willing to speak with me?”
Ze’mer looked over the Queen once again, considering the question. “Le’mer will be allowed to speak with the King, but she must do so in his Palace.”
Herrah smiled devilishly and turned to walk back into the shadows. “Excellent, you may leave my territory without risk of any threat.” Isma suddenly gasped and lurched upright, Ze’mer quickly kneeling by her side.
Isma coughed and looked up at her, “What happened?”
Ze’mer smiled, “Che’ just spoke to the Queen of Deepnest.” She looked up to where Herrah had been, but Ze’mer’s greatnail lie on the floor in her place. She helped Isma to her feet and together they made their way out of the Beast’s Den and back to the White Palace.
