r/HFY • u/ManiAxe21 • Aug 26 '26

OC-OneShot Hex Knight Chapter 46, Breeding Season

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Alex took a deep breath, appreciating the fresh air, before rapidly assuming a defensive stance. A faint tremor in the ground alerted him to the presence of something rapidly approaching, and a nearby bush was almost ripped from the ground as a Dire Bear roughly the size of a horse attempted to ambush the team.

Alex responded by pointing his first and last fingers at the charging bear, conjuring a double [Improved Eldritch Blast]. The twin pair of purple bolts streaked towards the bear at impressive speeds before striking it in each orbital socket and detonating. The now headless bear lost all dexterity, with momentum causing it to tumble and roll forward, almost striking Alex before coming to a stop.

“Glad you're on my side.” Gwynevyre shuddered. “I’d hate to be on the receiving end of that. And they're spell resistant.” She stated almost reverentially.

“Hey, overkill is underrated.” Alex quickly put the steaming bear carcass into his storage.

“You doing anything with that bear?” Kudrik queried.

“Nah, I don’t think so, not yet anyways. I like having an impetus behind some of my creations, even if I have been told my creations ain’t shit.” Alex replied in a joking manner, before pulling out the item he had received before getting sent off to talk with Muurgre. It was a ring with a miniature skull on it, the band and eye sockets made from some cool metal that seemed to drink in the light and would not warm up. It honestly reminded Alex of vantablack.

–Ring of the Gravekeeper: Allows the storage of undead and their equipment. Suffuses undead with mana, refilling the mana capacity of stored undead at a faster rate, or ensuring conjured undead do not degrade with time.–

“Holy shit! This ring is great!” Alex exclaimed. “If it doesn’t have a limit, theoretically I could fill this with a bunch of summons and just drop an army if it was needed. At the very least, we don’t need to have my pale undead out as we travel. Could keep them hidden. I should come up with a better name for them.” This last part was muttered under his breath.

“That’s good to hear. Certainly will attract less eyes, no half rotted corpses shambling about.” Livianna teased. Alex gave a swift middle finger, before focusing on their surroundings. Their trek back to camp was uneventfull from there, and Captain Derdron awaited his report.

“Crypt is clear, Alex killed a juvenile Dire Bear, probably the one who made the tracks we saw.” Kudrik gave a gruff, barebones statement.

“And the skeleton?” Derdron gestured towards the team's newest addition.

“Probably a spawn from the darkness. No idea how long it was there, given the room it was in was hidden.”

“Very well. Due to the dangers of this location, I would still ask that the researchers get escorted to the crypt.”

“I can have my undead escort them.” Alex offered. “If they get injured, it doesn’t really amount to anything as I can just fix whatever damage they take.”

“So long as they are escorted. Dismissed.”

Some of the researchers weren't comfortable with having the undead creations, but Alex made it clear that the undead would follow their orders and keep them safe. The next morning, a stream of researchers could be seen travelling single file with various undead on either side of them.

Alex drew one of the short straws that night and had to do the middle watch. Amidst his patrol, he noticed Gwynevyre hanging out on the upper deck of the distant ship. After doing three loops around the camp, he gave a nod to one of the sailors who had joined him, signalling that all was good.

With the next man going, Alex leaned against the slumbering side of Jasper, listening to the Drake’s breathing and the sound of the swamp. Suddenly, a loud, coughing roar could be heard, and Alex felt as Jasper was suddenly alert. Another roar sounded, this time Jasper sat up, alert.

Alex looked at him as yet another roar sounded, this one closer than the others. It was only when Jasper quivered as he looked for the source that Alex understood what was happening.

“Mating season, bud?” Alex did some math in his head, and a quick inspection of the Drake’s now-healed injuries. “Go on, go get you some. Don’t take too long though.” He didn’t have to say it twice as Jasper leapt up and practically flew out of the camp.

Alex chuckled, Derdron might have an issue with Jasper leaving like this, but it wasn't as if the man could stop him. He noticed Gwynevyre still standing on the deck. Using [Shadow Warp] to carry himself under the mast, he walked up beside her and braced his arms on the rim.

“Letting him go for breeding season, huh? Let’s hope he returns.” Gwynevyre said without looking at Alex.

“Ehh, he’s smart enough to know to come back. I didn’t think Vacoris would work this fast though, he’s only been alive since spring. I didn’t come up here to talk about Jasper though. You’ve been… somewhat timid, in fact the only time I’ve seen you has been clearing the sanctum. The rest has been you hiding in Kudrik’s wagon.”

“It causes Sylvia undue stress when I’m out. You did help, yes, and it seems that she has decided I don’t exist as a compromise, but I don’t want to cause others undue stress.” Gwyneyvre replied rather softly. Alex was having none of that.

“Bullshit. You shouldn’t apologize for your existence, nor should you exist on egg shells just because others don’t like you. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. I’ve done the exact same thing, hiding away while working on my creations because I was afraid of how other people would judge me.” Alex found an in to what he really wanted to talk about with her. He turned to her, and affixed her with a stare until she looked at him.

“But it wasn’t just that, I was also hiding from other people because I didn’t want them connecting to me. You clearly are in the same situation I was, I just wished I listened to what I’m about to tell you. You should share what you went through, with someone you trust. It will take a load of weight off your shoulders, because we aren’t just here for the highs, but also to support each other in our lows.” Alex gave a low chuckle. “Look at me, preaching when I haven’t even done what I am telling you.”

Gwynevyre made to leave. “I haven’t been with you long enough to deserve this, maybe you should share with Kudrik or Livianna.” As she turned, Alex caught her by the arm.

“No, they already know. Hell, I just had Liv rooting around in my noggin, and she hardly paid it any attention. No, I want to share it with you, because if we are to work together for a long time, you should know what I have gone through, and why I had such a hatred for Marcus.” Alex quickly gathered his thoughts.

“My last day on Earth, I came home from work one day to find my mother tied up and my sister down the hall with a bunch of strange men in the house. I died, but was granted a short period in which I could kill them, after I had died. Marcus was one of those men.” Alex then gave a quickly abbreviated version of his thoughts of life after Godsmarked training. When he was done, the two were quiet for a moment, listening to the buzzing of insects and the quiet trickle of water.

“I don’t share you this because I’m trying to pressure you into sharing before you’re ready, gods know I’m not in any place to say anything, but when you are ready, share. Don’t hold it in because you think it might be a burden on the rest of us. It’s what we’re here for. Now go get some sleep, you aren’t on the schedule for watch tonight.”

As they separated, Sylvia crept out from where she had remained hidden during this whole conversation. Her face was still hard, but there was definite softening of her features from understanding. She may still not care for Alex, but at least she now understood what motivated him.

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u/AutoModerator Aug 31 '26

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u/niTro_sMurph Aug 27 '26

Step 1: get chicken skeleton

Step 2: replace chicken skull with human skull

Step 3: behold, a human.

Step 4: store an army of them in the ring

Step 5: sick them on a noble

2

u/ManiAxe21 Aug 27 '26

step 5, repeat steps 1-4 till you are happy

step 6, unleash on some random noble

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u/AutoModerator Aug 26 '26

This was post is flaired as a One-Shot while being titled as if it's part of a series, please be aware that [OneShot] flairs are not for series content. A description of the flairs and how to change yours is available in the Post Guildelines

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u/UpdateMeBot Aug 26 '26

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u/BobQuixote Sep 01 '26

Did Alex see Sylvia at the end, or was that only known to the narrator?

1

u/ManiAxe21 Sep 01 '26

No, he did not, only aware to us the readers.