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The dream was silent. The dream was calm.
From her eternal slumber, Silk could control those that climbed her kingdom’s spire to the Citadel. From her peak, she created two beings: one a failure and the other a success. Her daughter would be better than the Weavers that abandoned their mother. Her daughter would stay young; stay exactly how Silk wanted her.
There was only one thing left to do: her daughter was a respectable one, and would follow the orders given to her through dreams. Before, Silk left her daughter with little command, letting her do as she pleased, but now, she gave an order.
The entrapped Pale one, half of Weaver and half of Wyrm. Ensure her delivery to me.
Entrusting her daughter completely, Silk rested further into the Dream, where she would await her delivery.
But then.
It appeared.
A glow appeared before Silk, a lesser light than her, but one that had intricacies that Silk could only see. What a strange one.
Fascinating. A faint glow appears before me. To whom do I owe this interruption of my slumber?
Mother Silk. You have committed a grave error.
An error you say? My threads stretch across this kingdom, a Weaver and Wyrm in one is approaching. I shall take its power and pull it into me. Then no bug, higher or lower, may escape my puppet strings.
You speak of your error. The child of Weaver and Wyrm. Forget her. Cast her into the depths of Death as soon as you can.
A faint glow, warning a higher being of such strength as Silk. Comical, absurd, unbelievable! She was the Puppetmaster, she who could weave life into mindless threads, she who conquered this land and its existing people! An insignificant, faint speck of light comes forward to tell Grand Mother Silk that she is committing an error.
You say that accepting the Wyrm Weaver into me is a mistake? Then illuminate me! Reveal the truth with your pathetic spark of light.
The faint glow sparked with anger.
You know not of my nature, Mother Silk. I am a thing of a different caste, but equal in power and position. I once was a great and powerful being of high birth. But then I was pulled low, by the siblings of that Wyrm Weaver, tainted with the regrets lying underneath all.
The void, that faceless force of unstoppable anger and pain, Silk was familiar with it.
If the truth you illuminate is accurate, then how are you here, speaking to something greater?
I became something more. Yet, less, at the same moment. Although I am weakened, I am unable to die.
Now that is intriguing… And truthful. If a creature as truly weak as you approached me in this world, they would be destroyed from my existence alone. And yet here you are.
Your arrogant nature is certainly higher.
Yes, yes. I request more of the truth. Why did you choose to approach me? To warn me of this threat to my dominance?
This is nothing more than an act of petty revenge. If I must debase myself by assisting you in order to spite the Wyrm that humiliated me, then that is a debasement I am willing to withstand.
A hatred so strong that it powers over arrogance and greed? To think that a higher being would ever succumb to such lesser emotions. Silk understood then and there, that she needed to see what this faint glow had to say. Her curiosity must be satiated.
Very well. Grant me a peak at this doom that you foresee.
As we speak your precious daughter is disobeying you. She freed the half breed and intends to slay her, to keep her out of your grasp permanently.
I see. My daughter’s freeing of my prisoner, is this the event that begins my downward descent?
Indeed.
Hmmm. Then I must act, so as to prevent my great folly
Once again Silk concentrated and sent a message across the land of dreams.
I see your betrayal, my child, and I forgive you. Grow to understand the halfling, so that you may attract her to me.
With the command sent, Silk would just have to trust her daughter to execute her will.
On the other side, in the land of Silk and Song, the halfling rose upward on great drafts of air, rising past the striking greenery of the Far Fields and into the cold rain of Greymoor. The land of Pharloom was proving to be just as varied and beautiful as Hallownest. Being kidnapped and taken to this place might not have been ideal, but Hornet was glad to be given the opportunity.
Despite the beautiful land surrounding her, Hornet’s thoughts still went to the nature of her arrival. Why did those masked bugs kidnap her? How were they able to trap her with those runes? Hornet could tell that the runes lining the cage were of silken construction. Was she brought here by the will of a Weaver? The evidence for that being the case continued to mount during Hornet’s pilgrimage. The kingdom of Pharloom was haunted by silk threads binding bugs into a servitude somewhat similar to the infection that haunted Pharloom. While the Infection transformed bugs into mindless creatures driven by rage, this haunting controlled bugs by more sinister means, driving them to worship the kingdom and give their lives to it.
Statues of Weavers (or were they corpses?) could be found across Pharloom, and whenever Hornet would convene with these altars, she would retain a silk-based ability that the Weavers taught her long ago that had been taken from her by the silken runes. Various Weavenests could be found across Pharloom, each of them locked behind some technique that Hornet had no knowledge of. Yet despite the evidence of Weaver presence in these lands, Hornet hadn’t seen one of her kind since entering Pharloom. Perhaps she would find them at the Citadel that the other pilgrims were marching towards.
Despite Hornet’s godling birth, her spirits were prone to exhaustion, especially in places such as this. The dreary weather and constant rainfall meant that her cloak became waterlogged and heavy, making her movements sluggish and her wits frayed. She had heard other bugs complain about the way the rain stuck to their clothes, but none of them seemed as upset as Hornet was at the prospect. Finding a place to rest for just a moment proved to be quite the blessing.
The Halfway Home was a tavern tucked in the middle of Greymoor, just between the Craws that lived in one half of the place and the haunted silk collectors that made up the other. Lumafly lighting lit the place with warm tones, and a hearth behind the central bar kept the entire building warm. Hornet silently thanked the Halfway Home for its existence as she stepped up to the tavern keeper.
“Harh! Well met, traveller. Lookin’ for a drink, or a rest, or both?” The tavern keeper asked as Hornet approached.
“Fair greetings, good bug,” Hornet responded. ”The warmth of your hearth is welcome upon these wet plains.”
“Aye. The climb around these parts is damp, I’m sure many pilgrims enjoy the opportunity to rest here. Though few take advantage of it, citing it as a ‘sin’. Bah!” the tavern keeper swore. “But enough of those fools. Call me Criege. May I interest you in a drink? Nothin’ better at warming the shell than my nectar.”
Hornet tilted her head in contemplation. Her travels through Pharloom had gifted her with plenty of rosaries to purchase goods, a minor purchase such as this wouldn’t set her back at all. Pulling out a collection of rosaries, she offered it to Creige, who took ten in exchange for a glass of yellow nectar.
“Enjoy it ma’am, Nothin better in all of the lands, lemme tell you.”
Hornet would see for herself. With her drink in hand she stepped towards a nearly empty table, only occupied by a single bug wearing a brown cloak obscuring all of their features. After taking a seat next to the bug, Hornet slightly raised her mask to free her mouth and took a sip of the glass.
The nectar was certainly hearty, warmth spreading across Hornet’s shell as soon as she took a sip. Despite its overwhelming sensation, it wasn’t a bad one. Perhaps Creige’s claim was accurate. After another sip Hornet sat her glass down on the table in front of her and regarded the bug sitting next to her.
“I never expected a bug of your personality would be willing to appear with such modest dress.”
A giggle escaped the bug before it continued, “Oh, Spider, you underestimate me. Even one such as I can recognize the utility of a disguise.”
“Not exactly a good disguise if your own mannerisms give you away as soon as you speak.”
Recognizing the futility of continuing the farce, Lace pushed the cloak back and dropped it to the floor. The warm Lumafly light caused her pure silken garb to shine. If it wasn’t for her horrid personality, Hornet might have been enamored at the sight.
“Why even wear a disguise, if you didn’t intend on carrying it for even a moment?”
“It’s for my own sake of course,” Lace explained. “You Weaver types are so aggressive, I saw first hand during our bout. I wanted to make sure you wouldn’t slice me apart at first sight!”
Out of the corner of her eye Hornet regarded Lace, seeing her white eyes narrowed in what was clearly a smirk. “So you know of my true nature?”
“It’s not like you make any attempt to hide it, what with the way you brazenly accept their teachings from their altars and make use of their techniques. Anyone with a mind of observing you could see that plainly!” Lace cheered as she clapped her hands together. “As I have unveiled your true nature, I’m sure you have done the same for me. After all, it is how you discovered me in my disguise so quickly, yes?”
Lace was not wrong. From their first battle, Hornet had pieced together Lace’s true nature. “You are far from a normal bug. I sense no shell or hemolymph within you. All I pick up is the scent of silk.”
“Indeed!” Lace confirmed. She continued in a singsong voice. “I am not a normal bug born from a mother, instead I was built. A purely artificial being. Not quite life, but something else more crude.”
Hornet’s thoughts went to her siblings, the vessels created to contain the Old Light. Their existence might have been much more divorced from the average bug, theirs was still life. They still had a will despite their father’s attempts to remove such things, proven when the Hollow Knight failed to contain the Old Light. How was Hollow doing, now that her sister was gone, taken from their home to another land? Hornet took another sip of nectar, the warmth calming her worried thoughts.
Lace found no enjoyment from Hornet’s silence. “Ugh, you are the only bug that has proved a challenge to me Spider, why must you be so painfully dull?”
“Calm your tongue, Child,” Hornet snapped. “Or I will rip it from your throat.”
“At least then we’ll have some fun! What must I do to get you to play with me, Spider?”
“Nothing,” Hornet announced as she stood from her chair. “I will continue my march towards the peak of this kingdom and witness for myself the reason for my capture.”
“What if I know the reason for your capture?”
This annoying bug, able to get on Hornet's nerves to an extent that no one has ever done before. But information would be key to fighting through this strange land, if Hornet had to accept the help of this annoying silken bug, then that is what she will do.
Looking back down at Lace, who was still seated at the table, Hornet crossed her front limbs over her cloak and sneered under her mask. “Explain it then, if you know.”
“Just telling you wouldn’t be very fun, so how about I point you in the right direction?” Lace sang, crossing her forelimbs in a similar fashion to Hornet. “Up ahead is a little settlement called Bellhart. It is afflicted by an even stronger haunting than the one that torments most of the bugs here. Destroy the Weaver orchestrating the affliction of Bellhart. That will give you the information that you seek.”
Of course Lace wouldn’t just explain her knowledge in simple words. Only riddles and clues would befit a bug as annoying as her. Hornet grabbed her glass and tipped its contents into her mouth, drinking the rest of the nectar far too quickly than she should have. The warmth threatened to overtake and intoxicate her, but her Wyrm heritage meant that it passed after only a moment. The nectar did its job in making her forget about Lace’s dramatics, and that was all that she cared about.
“I will follow the clue you have given me,” Hornet explained. “To see the truth with my own eyes. Oh, and don’t bother wearing a disguise next time we meet, because I know there will be a next time. I am not so pathetic as to be reduced to such basic instincts.”
Lace’s high pitched laugh echoed around the Halfway Home, driving the attention of everyone in the tavern to the two. All of the sudden, eyes studying her made Hornet’s chitin crawl, so she quickly made her exit from the Tavern. Lace stayed still, completely ignoring the stares of others in favor of looking to where Hornet once was.
Oh, how interesting this spider was, Lace thought as she rested her head on her forelimbs. The first in ages to properly challenge Lace in a battle, Hornet was a rarity among Pharloom’s pathetically weak pilgrims. Her stoic persona seemed unshakeable, but Lace proved through her taunts that the stoicism could give way to something more. Was it anger? Anxiety? Longing? The prospect of finding out excited Lace to no end. Freeing her from her kidnappers was the best decision Lace had ever made!
Lace’s intention of freeing the spider was at first just a method of rebelling against her mother. Grand Mother Silk desired Hornet for whatever reason? Then Lace would set Silk’s captive free and kill the spider herself, proving her strength and value. Mother didn’t need another daughter, she didn’t need Hornet. Silk already had a perfectly capable daughter, one that she had moulded in the shape she desired yet seemingly had no interest in! But now the game had expanded. The possibility of befriending the spider in order to steer Hornet away, to spite the order given to Lace in dreams.
I see your betrayal, my child, and I forgive you. Grow to understand the halfling, so that you may attract her to me.
The Grand Mother was able to witness the events that took place in Pharloom through her silken control. Lace was aware of this, and assisted in the spider’s escape in a way that would make her seem innocent, just one of the silk flies being in the wrong place and the wrong time. But Silk saw through Lace’s deception easily, and ordered Lace to return to pure servitude. If Silk wanted Lace to use her charms to bring Hornet to the Citadel, then Lace would do the opposite, use her relationship with the spider to steer her clear.
It helped that Hornet was a looker. Lace wouldn’t mind playing with a pretty bug like her.
…This certainly isn’t the path that you at first set out upon.
Has my certain doom been avoided then? Will my endeavors bear fruit?
I cannot say, the Faint Light said. Once I saw you flailing in a silken cocoon surrounded by the regrets that lie at the center of the world, desperate to protect your child. But now, all I see is darkness.
Perhaps your foresight has met its match. A faint light can only illuminate so much, after all.
The Faint Light seethed in anger, but eventually calmed. Whatever happens now will surely be interesting. I will continue to observe the passage of cause and effect. Perhaps my foresight can be improved by witnessing new branches of fate.
…If you truly wish to stay, then there is nothing I can do to rebuke you, Silk accepted. Let us watch the passage of time to this new outcome.
The words of the silken bug Lace might have been haughty, a trait that Hornet has only found disdain for during her many years of life, but they were accurate. The settlement of Bellhart was haunted by threads not controlled by whatever caused the haunting of Pharloom, but by something else. That something else? A Weaver by the name of Widow.
However, this was no normal Weaver. Her mask had been forcibly removed, replaced by a cloth that covered her head and shoulders, and her silk had been forcibly kept locked in her shell by metal pins sticking out of her back. The sight of the horrid punishment was grotesque. Hornet found no pleasure in fighting her, only a quiet relief that she was able to abate her suffering.
Just like the husks of other Weavers Hornet had found throughout Pharloom, she was able to bind the power of Widow into her own shell, granting her a… strange ability. The Needolin, an instrument created by stringing silk along her nail. It did not have as many uses as the other silk arts she had acquired from the other husks, but in the back of her mind, Hornet recognized something: the Weavenests dotted around the kingdom were locked behind some strange lock tied to harps located next to the door. Could her Needolin open those doors? If so, then the Needolin would prove to be much more useful than Hornet at first gave it credit.
The memory that flooded Hornet after Widow’s defeat also gave her pause. It was a vision of dozens of Weavers at work on silk harps, playing some tune for a being higher above.
For her light… eternal… our song sustains…
Hornet awoke from the memory quickly, as was her habit. Her claws found her needle as she stood up on her hindlimbs, ready in case a predator was there to strike her down.
Unfortunately there were no predators, only the familiar pale-white form of Lace, watching Hornet from a bench that had erected itself in the center of the room, directly underneath the bell that hung from the ceiling.
“Good morning and hello, Spider!” Lace sang as she crossed both sets of limbs.
Pushing down the instinct to scoff and roll her eyes, Hornet regarded Lace dispassionately. “Your intel rang true, and now I have an inkling of the truth of this land.”
“Is that so? Then illuminate me! What fate has befallen Pharloom?”
The reverence the pilgrims gave to Pharloom and the Citadel at its head, the memory showing the devotion of the Weavers, it all made too much sense. “A being of a higher caste has found their throne in this land, and calls the bugs to worship them.”
“Ah, you are too smart for your own good,” Lace commented as she picked up her golden pin that was leaning against the bench next to her and observed its sheen. “What will you do then? Now that you know the truth?”
“The higher being at the head of this land will continue to pursue me no matter where I go, I see this now. I must venture to the peak of the Citadel and have an audience with the one who desires me so.”
In the face of Hornet’s declaration of intent, Lace only laughed, the light and playful sound echoing off the bell walls surrounding the two. The back of one of her forelimbs found their way to her forehead as she laughed. The posh way that Lace held herself made Hornet want to vomit, though she resisted the urge.
“You would stand in the face of a God and humbly request it leave you alone? You might be of a pale lineage, but you are nothing compared to the Grand Mother! She would take your body and accept its power, pushing her haunting farther and farther. The only thing that will stop her is death!”
“If death is necessary for my solitude to continue, then I shall give it freely.”
“A dealer of death then? We have that in common, it seems.” Lace stood up from the bench and held her pin in a fencer’s stance. “Then I shall do the same for you. Surely Mother will recognize my value if I bring her your head on a platter!”
And with that, Lace charged forth with her pin, ready to slay Hornet where she stood. The first blow was easily deflected by Hornet’s needle, and the rest were easily slipped past. Lace continued to slash and stab with her pin, while Hornet continued to dodge and deflect.
“Oh come now Spider, have you grown soft? Where is that Weaver aggression!?” Lace yelled as her attacks continued.
Of all the immaturity! If the silk child wanted combat so badly, then Hornet would give it to her. From underneath her cloak she pulled a straight pin and lobbed it with precision, the pin hitting its mark and scratching Lace’s arm. The attack failed to slow Lace down as she stabbed forward, which Hornet responded to by jumping into the air and slashing with her needle.
This enraged Lace was much more aggressive and dangerous now than in their previous fight. She moved with more speed and aggression, hitting harder and faster than ever before, but with Hornet’s expanded capabilities since their last fight, the two were at an even match. Hornet found her heart beating faster and faster, her beast instincts pushing her forward and faster in turn. Lace continued to laugh during their confrontation, and Hornet too found herself chuckling under her breath.
But it all stopped as Hornet stabbed forward at Lace with her needle. Hornet expected Lace to dodge out of the way, but Lace did not. The needle found its mark and pierced deep into Lace’s side. The pained grunts of Lace tore Hornet completely out of her hunter’s instincts.
“Again, you come on top,” Lace grunted in between sharp breaths of pain. “You’ve proven, ugh, your strength. End me then, take your claim.”
Another painful gasp left Lace as Hornet pulled the needle from Lace’s torso. No blood spilled from the wound. The only thing that Hornet could see through the cut were tangled webs of silk carrying blips of soul. She truly was a silken being, no shell or hemolymph to be found. It was a fascinating thing, Hornet wished she could take the opportunity to study Lace, but she could not.
After all, Lace was made from silk, that meant that silk could save her.
“Fren!” Hornet chanted as threads of silk whipped around her body and her needle, the ancestral art of binding that had once been engraved into her memory by her Weaver caretakers now effortlessly being recalled by her claws. Silk flowed from Hornet to Lace, silk pulling the wound back together, as if it had never happened at all. Soon the wound was completely gone, Lace’s pain had disappeared.
At first Lace didn’t even process that her wound had been healed, but as Hornet stood up her position kneeling above Lace, who shot herself up from the floor and questioned her. “Spider, why? Why have you repaired me?”
“I may be an acclaimed hunter, but I choose to not take lives when it is not necessary,” Hornet explained as she stepped away from Lace, intent to check on the town of Bellhart and make sure everyone there was safe.
“You say that as if my existence is life, when that couldn’t be further from the truth. I have no need for food or drink. I never feel compelled to sleep. There is no life in me!”
Hornet didn't say anything at first. She stepped away from Lace in complete silence. That's what Lace was expecting. What Lace was not expecting was for Hornet to turn around before walking out of sight to leave one final comment.
“Do not confuse the strangeness of life for the lack of it, Pale One.”
And with that, Hornet turned the corner, leaving Lace alone.
That damn Wardenfly, getting the jump on Hornet when she was barely aware! She was binding her wounds when the thing came out of nowhere and stuck her in a cage! The runes on the cage slowly sapped her strength until she passed out unconscious.
Which brings her to this current predicament. Consciousness returned slowly, bit by bit. First she recognized the small cage that she was first entrapped in. It was barely big enough to fit her body. Her muscles felt sore from resting in an awkward way. Her cage was hanging high in the air from a chain. The distance from there to the floor was such that Hornet would easily survive. Other cages hung like hers sporting dead bugs and-
“Well hello spider!”
Hornet groaned. She wished that the rune of this cage was stronger so that she would never wake again. Lace stood precariously on the top of another hanging cage, this one lower so Lace and Hornet were at eye level. She held the same lackadaisical attitude that she always had, one that annoyed Hornet to no end.
“Are you a part of my sentence?” Hornet genuinely asked.
“Oh, nothing like that. I’m just here to admire how you look, so inconvenienced and… indecent.”
It was at that moment that Hornet realized her cloak, needle, and toolpouch were nowhere to be seen. The Wardenfly must have taken it while she was unconscious, how annoying. They must have assumed that Hornet would be powerless without her belongings, a bad assumption to make. Hornet was a hunter, and hunters made do. After a few moments of rattling her cage the chain holding it up fell apart from age, causing the cage to plummet to the floor and break apart on impact. Hornet herself was fine, of course, her landing was practically graceful.
Lace’s giggles echoed off the walls of the prison as she jumped down next to Hornet. “How impressive.”
“Could you please leave me alone?” Hornet asked. “If you annoy me any more, I might not be able to stop myself from snapping your neck.”
With a twirl of her wrist, Lace’s pin spun out of a secret sheath in her clothes, allowing her to point the thing directly at Hornet’s neck. “I’d like to see you try, Spider.”
Trying to fight now without her weapons would be suicide, especially against a combatant as skilled as Lace. Uncaring for the pin pointed at her, Hornet turned around and began to explore the prison she now found herself in, intent on finding a way out.
The prison was a cold, damp place. It made sense, a kingdom so uncaring for the plights of its citizens would care even less about the state of their jail. A chill permeated throughout the place, it wasn’t cold enough to cause harm, but it was enough to bother Hornet. Through grated windows Hornet could see that the jail seemed to be located in a mountainous area of Pharloom that Hornet wasn’t familiar with. Returning to familiar territory would be bothersome, but that was a bridge that Hornet would have to cross later. First was finding her belongings.
They weren't hard to find. From a maintenance corridor Hornet could see a horde of flies, one of them was wearing her cloak around its fat neck and was swinging her needle haphazardly in imitation. The sight of her cloak and needle being used so haphazardly made Hornet scoff.
“Ugh, that will have to be washed later.”
In an instant, Hornet pushed Lace against the wall and covered her mouth (or where she thought Lace’s mouth would be) with her claw. “What are you doing?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Lace said muffled through Hornet’s hand.
“You continuously bother me with your mannerisms, and you refuse to go away. Why? Why do you perform this song and dance?”
“Why not Spider? You are far too interesting!” Lace declared, causing Hornet to push her harder into the wall. With a gasp of pain Lace continued. “Before you said that I had life. That intrigued me.”
Hornet let off the pressure as she considered Lace’s admission. Her thoughts went to her words from earlier. Do not confuse the strangeness of life for the lack of it, Pale One. At the time Hornet hadn’t put much thought into the words, but clearly they affected Lace in some deeper way. When Hornet didn’t say anything, Lace continued.
“You say that I have life. I ask you then, what is life? Is life just the state of existence? Or is it something more? I have watched the bugs of Pharloom for many years, spider, and I see life in them. They live and die. They have loved ones. They consume tasty food and enjoy the pleasures of one another. I cannot do these things because my mother, the Grand Mother, didn’t want a daughter tainted by earthly desires. She wanted a doll to play with. Does a doll have life, spider? Can you honestly say that a simple plaything has life?”
The sheer sincerity of Lace’s words struck Hornet. For the first time, the silken bug was honest with her. All of her pomp and games had fallen away to reveal the thing underneath. Something that had been abused. A feeling shot through Hornet’s heart, was it pity? What was this strange feeling?
Shaking her head, Hornet spoke slowly and with authority. “I see now. Perhaps you do not have life. Instead I will say that you have the possibility for life.”
“The ‘possibility’?” Lace asked incredulously. A scoff echoed off the walls of the prison before she spoke, “What good is possibility when the Grand Mother refuses it to me?”
“Then you must revolt against her. Take what you desire with your own hands.”
Lace’s shoulders fell, and her voice became small and insignificant. “I don’t know how.”
The feeling shot through Hornet’s heart again. This strange emotion, it drove Hornet to do something. To help this pathetic creature before her. She slowly pulled away from Lace, leaving her claws on the silken bug’s shoulders. Hornet only had four words for the bug.
“Let me show you.”
Hornet snuck through the Slab and regained her tools and apparel, with Lace following her just a room behind. With all of her tools Hornet could now move on, continuing her adventure through Pharloom. But before she did that, she held her hand out to Lace.
Not knowing why she did it, Lace took it.
Hornet continued to explore Pharloom, now just with Lace at her side. When Hornet rode the Bell Beast through the various bellways, Lace was now just behind her, locking her forelimbs around Hornet to keep herself firmly attached to this ‘utterly barbaric form of transportation’ as Lace put it. When Hornet engaged in battle, Lace was now at her side, her pin striking down foes with a transfixing elegance.
When Hornet purchased maps from the cartographer Shakra, Lace was now at her side. Curious of the fencer’s abilities, Shakra challenged Lace to a friendly bout. The battle was fierce to witness, as Lace weaved past Shakra’s rings and poked with her pin. When the battle was over, Shakra asked the two for a wish. To accompany her through the horrible lands of Bilewater, to a secret area where the water ran clean. Seeing this gentle lake hidden from the horrid bile gave Lace a strange feeling she couldn’t quite place.
There the three found the body of Shakra’s master, a bug resembling Shakra though not in height or size. Shakra put on a brave face, but Hornet was able to tell from experience that the cartographer was experiencing a strong sense of grief. Shakra began to sing in respect to her former master, leading Hornet to pull out her needle and harmonize on the needolin. At first Lace stayed silent, but the sound of Shakra’s singing proved to be too beautiful. An instinct rose up within her. With a flourish she pulled out her pin, held it aloft like she was a conductor, and began to sing.
Shakra and Lace shared a glance at first, but continued to harmonize. With Shakra and Lace’s singing and Hornet’s playing, the three created a beautiful harmony in honor of a master taken from her pupil. When the performance was over, Shakra bowed to Lace and Hornet and gifted them her rings, the weapons of her people. She left quickly, likely too overwhelmed to stay much longer. Lace wondered if she had done the right thing.
No… No!
Throughout Pharloom were several fluffy flea creatures, and Hornet had gone out of their way to save many before Lace had joined her, and still continued to do so with company. Lace asked Hornet what compelled her to help these bugs, Hornet simply said that doing so would get her in good graces with the flea caravan, and having as many allies as possible was the best method of surviving these strange lands.
Lace knew Hornet was lying. Out of curiosity she had sneaked glances at what Hornet was writing in that little journal of hers, and she found that the spider was keeping up a bestiary of the creatures of this kingdom. Her notes were mostly unremarkable, but there were a few exceptions. Lace now knew for sure that Hornet had a certain…proclivity, for soft things. Even if a creature was remotely fluffy, Hornet would comment about it in her little notebook. It was honestly overwhelming how common of a pattern it was.
From that point on Lace smirked to herself as Hornet rescued a flea, knowing exactly why Hornet chose to help the fluffy creatures. At some point, when Hornet thought Lace wasn’t looking, she pressed her face against the fluff of one of the fleas, the little bug humming in comfort as Hornet petted its soft fur. The sight was…cute. There was no other way to say it. A strange feeling emanated from Lace’s chest. She silently considered it for a long time.
These feelings, these experiences…was this…life?
You are mine, child, mine!
Guarding the way to the Grand Mother was a lock requiring the three-fold song. One piece was entrusted to the vaultkeepers, one to the architects, and one to the conductors that led Pharloom from on high. Hornet had already acquired the vaultkeeper and architect melodies, so all that was left was the conductors.
Easier said than done. The way to the last surviving conductor was guarded by a wide assortment of powerful and well trained bugs. Hornet and Lace were not enough to defeat those guards. Thankfully help arrived in the form of a particularly eccentric bug.
Garmond and his loyal steed Zaza, the two were familiar with Hornet, evident in how Hornet immediately started talking with the two and Garmond giving Hornet a strong pat on the back (the hit made Hornet jump in shock, Lace couldn’t help herself from chuckling at the spider’s misfortune). Garmond was strikingly sincere, the kind of bug that wore his heart on his sleeve and meant every word he said. Hornet trusted Lace, and Garmond trusted Hornet, and that was all Garmond needed to trust Lace as well.
He proved to be a great help in defeating the bugs guarding the last Conductor. He fought with valiant honor and supported the other two in any way he could. He even saved Lace at one point, pushing her out of the way of a Choir Clapper’s powerful strike, taking the hit for himself. After the battle was won Garmond seemed absolutely exhausted, and complimented Hornet and Lace’s stamina. He said it was an honor to help fellow warriors in battle.
On the outside, Lace regarded Garmond with disinterest, but inside, she felt a powerful feeling of comraderie with the bug. Not that she would ever admit it.
I created you, my daughter. How dare you disobey me! How dare you!
You have failed, Grand Mother. Your own creation now rebels against you.
The Grand Mother regarded the faint light in front of her with contempt.
Shut up! This is your fault! If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have strained from my path, and the half-breed would be mine!
The faint light stayed silent in the face of the Grand Mother’s anger. It wasn’t until the anger completely faded that the faint light spoke again.
Your path before would not have brought the Weaver to you. Your current path will not either. In both, you fall to the depths of the Void and are consumed by the emptiness there.
Silk’s terror rose to a fever pitch. She knew and feared the Void, that resentment that lingered at the bottom of the world, the thing that festered under all things. Void was the greatest enemy of one such as the Grand Mother.
My own destruction at the tendrils of the Void led to my ascension to this next phase. Who knows? Maybe this will do the same for you.
For a moment the realm of dreams was silent. And then…
Leave me, faint light. Leave me or I will strike you down without mercy! I will drown out your life until there is nothing left of you! Leave me!
The faint light chuckled, and then disappeared. Silk was all alone.
The light had to be lying. There was no way that she would be left to rot in the Void, right? She was the Grand Mother, the monarch of Pharloom that controlled this kingdom even through dreams. She was power, she was Silk! In every strand that threaded through Pharloom she existed, her power spread and controlled more and more. Soon the entire world will be Silk’s domain!
But her daughter, oh her precious daughter. She grows closer to the spider and farther away from Silk. The resentment that had always been there in her daughter was now reaching a fever pitch, would this prove to be her destruction? Would her own daughter doom her to the void?
The Grand Mother’s cries of anger and sorrow filled the dream, sending shockwaves throughout the entire world.
The topic of destroying Grand Mother Silk came up time and time again between Lace and Hornet. It was a complicated topic. Lace would not have the strength to defeat her mother herself, her mother’s control over her silken shell made sure of that. Hornet couldn’t either, as her Wyrm instincts would drive her to take Silk’s power for herself and rule this land as its queen. Neither of them wanted that.
The caretaker of Songclave came to them with a solution. A trap to ensnare Silk, to banish her to a place she would not return. It was a much more tenable solution to the problem that was the highest being at the peak of the world.
Lace and Hornet retrieved the pieces of this trap, and returned to the caretaker.
“Ain't you come a long way, you two! Granting wishes, saving bugs, even rousing my sullen family to act!” The caretaker commented as Hornet and Lace arrived at the top of the Cradle, where the cocoon of Silk hung above the kingdom. “The snare is set above, our power bound along its thread. To your sight it may seem a crude thing, but there's fair strength to it...enough to quell a god.”
“Thank you, sir, your help will see this kingdom freed from its haunting,” Hornet said in thanks to the caretaker.
Lace was more flippant, scoffing before saying to Hornet, “It was the least he could do really, to assist in this matricide.”
“Aye, silk one. I know not the reasons for your betrayal, but it doesn't matter to me. Go then, and slay your mother god. Drive her atop the snare. The only thing left to do then will be to activate the trap with your song.”
With that, the caretaker left so that Lace and Hornet could do their work.
This was a place Lace had found herself before, standing in front of the cocoon containing her mother. Then she was begging for the god to acknowledge her as her spawn, or bragging about the tasks she had performed in her mother’s name. Now she was here for a different purpose.
“Let me challenge her, spider,” Lace asked as she stepped forward. “I wish for her to know that it is me who intends to strike her down.”
Hornet stepped back, giving the space Lace needed.
How many times had she considered doing this in the back of her mind, how many times had she banished those thoughts away in guilt? But now she was going through with those thoughts. And she didn’t regret a thing.
Lace pulled out her pin and pointed it at the cocoon.
“Mother! It is I, your own daughter, who has come to bring you low! No longer will I remain in your shadow! You will die sad and alone, and I will live free!”
At first nothing.
But then, the Cradle began to rumble as the Cocoon began to unravel, the godly power contained within being released after so long. Soon the light from the powerful silk faded, casting the Cradle into darkness. But then she appeared. Grand Mother Silk, glowing with a pale power, illuminating the cradle on her own. Her voice failed her as the Grand Mother screamed.
“Now, spider! Let’s finish this!”
“Right!”
The two leapt into motion, more in sync than they ever had before. The Grand Mother commanded massive golden pins with her silk to strike the two down, but Hornet and Lace dodged each and every one of them. Their weapons found their marks in Silk’s hide, but it wouldn’t be enough to kill her. The battle raged on, the fate of Pharloom in the balance.
One of Silk’s golden pins slammed into Lace, sending her flying back and causing her pin to fall out of her grip. Hornet was quick to catch it however, using it alongside her needle. The form was far from perfect, being unfamiliar with the weapon, but Hornet did well as she slashed with her needle and stabbed with her pin. When the Grand Mother screamed and encased the arena with silk webbing, she jumped back, handing Lace back her weapon.
It felt strangely… right… to fight alongside Hornet in this way. They both accented the other’s strengths and covered up their weaknesses, their fight resembled a dance more than a battle. It was as if Lace were made to fight alongside Hornet.
These days traveling with Hornet through Pharloom were the best days of Lace’s life. Before she was anxious over what her life would look like without her mother, but with Hornet at her side, it didn’t seem so scary.
Soon the final blow was dealt, and Grand Mother Silk was pinned to the trap. Hornet and Lace held on for dear life as Silk struggled against their strength. There was one thing left to do. Hornet threaded a line of silk through her needle and Lace cleared her throat, and the two began to perform.
The two harmonized with each other instinctually, covering up each other's mistakes whenever they occurred. The trap set before by the caretaker lit up with soul, the rumbling grew louder, and then it was done. A massive black portal opened up underneath Silk. Tendrils of black void latched onto Silk’s body and threatened to pull her under. Hornet succeeded in jumping away, but Lace wasn’t so lucky. Silk had grabbed her daughter in her claws, threatening to pull her down into the Void. Perhaps as punishment for her betrayal, Lace would suffer the same fate as her mother.
“No!”
But Hornet would not let it happen. She jumped back up onto Silk’s body and sliced through the Grand Mother’s forelimbs, severing them and freeing Lace. Before the portal could engulf them, Hornet pushed Lace off of Silk’s body. Before Lace even hit the ground, the portal closed. Grand Mother Silk and Hornet were gone.
The Cradle remained silent.
The days after the battle were a blur to Lace. Bugs all around celebrated as the haunting came to an end. Bugs that had once been shambling monsters were now back to their normal selves. With all of the conductors dead and the armies of Pharloom frayed, the Citadel was overwhelmed by pilgrims seeking its golden halls. They ate delicious food and enjoyed the luxuries of the place, happy that their devotion had been rewarded.
But Lace was just empty. The spider that she had begun to see as something of a partner was gone. The one who had dragged her out of her misery was now trapped in the same place as her mother. Gone.
She was wallowing in her misery when the little bug Sherma had found her. He was wearing the caretaker's robes after the snail had abandoned them, fitting it over his cymbal-like hat in a way that made his head look like a massive diamond. Lace might have found the sight funny, if she wasn’t so empty inside.
“White maiden!” Sherma cheered as she approached. “I’m happy to see you! I know you were traveling with the red maiden. Do you know where she is? I just know she was responsible for the saving of this land!”
Sherma’s eternally positive attitude did little to lift Lace’s spirits. “She is responsible. Both of us are.”
“Oh, I knew she would do it! The red and white maidens, powerful warriors that will be immortalized into legends! Where is the red maiden?”
“She’s gone,” Lace said simply.
Sherma’s positivity faded slightly at Lace’s words, his head tilted to the side as he asked, “Gone? What do you mean gone?”
“We entrapped the ruler of this kingdom, and the spider was snared as well. Both of them are gone. Nowhere to be seen.”
The silence between them was so thick, Lace was sure she could cut it with her pin. Sherma’s attitude dropped completely. “Is the red maiden… dead?”
Lace considered the question for the moment, before answering. “I honestly do not know.”
“Well, if you don’t know, then there’s a chance she’s still alive, wherever she is!”
“The trap she was placed in was enough to kill even a god. A spider like her wouldn’t survive long.”
“I’m sure you don’t believe that!” Sherma said as his chippy attitude returned. “The red maiden is stronger than that, braver. She wouldn’t let this trap do her in! I know you see it too, her perseverance and drive. You think that she may be alive as well. Why don’t you search for her?”
“Because…No. I will not tell you why.”
The truth was that the loss of her…friend? Companion? Hit her gravely. Hornet was her one chance to learn what life entailed. And now that was gone, who would teach her? Lace still had much to learn. This incident was just proof that finding life was a hopeless endeavor. She should just die in misery, as her silk fades away.
But Sherma would not let Lace wallow in her misery. From inside his coat he pulled out a small chime and began to ring it rhythmically. Once he got the rhythm down, he began to sing.
“Fa ri do la si ma net! Do ni pla na fo ri net!”
To say that Sherma had rhythm was generous. The timing of her chime to her singing was completely off. Lace shook her head as she regarded Sherma. “What are you doing?”
“I am singing to lift your spirits! Nothing better to ease a broken heart than singing!”
Sherma continued to sing, leading to Lace turning around to ignore the bug. But something in her mind resonated.
She thought back to her time with Hornet and Shakra, singing to memorialize Shakra’s fallen master. Before Lace had no choice but to sing by herself. That moment with Hornet and Shakra was the first time she harmonized with anyone. There was a difference to singing on one's own compared to singing with others, Lace knew that well now.
So, slowly but surely, she began to sing with Sherma.
“Fa ri do la si ma net! Do ni pla na fo ri net! Pi na saw mi my ne set! Da na fo shu ru, no!”
Her sadness fell away with the song, and after a few measures sung Sherma and Lace laughed.
“I take it that singing helped your spirits, white maiden?”
It did. It truly did.
The caretaker had disappeared when the trap was engaged, seemingly off of the face of Pharloom. Lace knew however that the snail was weak, not able to travel long. He wouldn’t survive in the wastes around Pharloom. So Lace searched every corner of Pharloom, until she found the caretaker among two other snails at an old chapel in the Moss Grotto.
She demanded answers from the old fools. Where did the trap take Hornet? And how could Lace get there? The snail shamans humored Lace’s request and told her of the Void. They described how this bitter resentment pooled at the bottom of the world, and how the portal had taken them straight into the bottom of the world. Nothing could survive the Void’s wrath. Not Grand Mother Silk, certainly not Hornet. Her spider was lost forever.
But Lace refused to believe it. She would go down there to see for herself. Lace threatened a bug from the Deep Docks to help her descend deep into the earth, using an old diving bell that had been long abandoned. The bug insisted that the diving bell would fall apart during the descent. Best case scenario, the diving bell would collapse at the bottom of the world and be unable to pull her back up. Worst case it would fail during the descent, and she would be cooked by the magma surrounding the bell. But Lace insisted, and the bug had no choice but to obey, not when threatened with Lace’s pin.
It was a rocky ride down to the bottom of the world, but thankfully the best case scenario came to pass. The bell was unusable now, and the bug operating it above had no choice but to pull it up. Lace was on her own now, in the Abyss at the bottom of the world.
What a disgusting, horrid place it was. Inhuman creatures roamed this place, vivisected bugs that threatened to pull Lace’s head into their open organs, massive monsters that spewed Void from its mouth. Lace had to be careful down in this part of the world. One wrong step and she would be completely destroyed by the horrible beasts. But eventually she arrived at what looked to be a Weaver settlement. Of course those mad bugs would set up shop in the most dangerous place in the world.
Cautiously navigating the Weaver settlement, Lace came across a dock that overlooked a massive lake of void. The snail shamans made sure to warn her that the Void would tear her apart if she dipped even an inch into its black surface, so she stayed clear of the substance. Clearly she could go no deeper.
So where was Hornet? Was she trapped underneath this lake of Void? If so, then there was no shot the spider was still alive. Maybe her journey here was pointless.
But Lace refused to stop. She called out into the Abyss. “Spider! I have come for you!”
But no response.
Lace yelled again. “I couldn’t bear to be without you! I admit it! I need you.”
But again, no response.
“Please, Spider! Where are you!?”
Nothing. Hornet was gone.
Lace collapsed onto the dock’s surface, tears in her eyes. Her first friend was gone. There was nothing left of her.
A shock of fear traveled through Lace’s entire body as something rose from the lake of void.
A small figure, with two white eyes and a pair of horns, stared blankly at Lace. Some void creature had risen to devour her! Lace scampered back in fear, but the figure remained stationary. Slowly regaining her courage, Lace stood up and brandished her pin. “Where is she, the spider in the red cloak? I need her!”
The figure stood still for a moment, before receding back into the Void.
A horrible sound filled the air as a whirlpool began to form on the surface of the lake. Hesitantly Lace stepped forward and looked into the whirlpool. It was impossible to tell how deep the whirlpool went. It could possibly go to the center of the world, the edge of existence itself. Did the figure want Lace to jump down?
Seeing no other options, Lace did it. She stepped off of the dock and into the whirlpool, tendrils of black writhing around her in the darkness. Lace could almost see things in the darkness of the Void, massive creatures that dwarfed even the Citadel in size, things so indescribable it made Lace’s head hurt. But she cared not for these things. She only cared for Hornet.
After what felt like a lifetime, Lace landed on a small puddle of Void, whatever she was standing on obscured by the darkness. Around her the Void was being pushed back in a dome shape by some unseen power. Lace suddenly found herself feeling small and insignificant in the face of it.
But then there was something.
Something rose from the Void in the floor, a familiar shape. Lace readied her pin again, ready to protect herself from whatever this thing was.
Then she realized. The shape of its head, two horns reaching far back. Something that looked like a cloak hanging from its neck, and a familiar looking needle in its hands.
Hornet.
A pair of white eyes opened on the Void-touched Hornet, and her voice spoke out, heavily distorted by Void. “Why are you here, child?”
“Well, I’ve come for you spider!” Lace answered. “Don’t you remember? You said you would show me all that life had to offer, but you haven’t shown me much at all! How disgraceful.”
The Void-touched Hornet launched forward at supernatural speeds, her needle ready to strike. Lace almost didn’t block the strike in time, only barely managing to push the attack away with her pin. From Hornet’s arm came tendrils of Void that lashed out at Lace, which she barely managed to jump over.
“Leave this place, child. I will remain here, among my siblings.”
All of a sudden hundreds of pairs of eyes opened around them, looking at the two of them from the outside of the dome. The sight sent chills down Lace’s spine. How were these Hornet’s siblings!?
“I have lived…Far too long,” The lost Hornet explained. “I have watched the ones I love wither and die. I stood by while my kingdom fell to ruin. I’ve committed horrible mistakes. Let me atone for my sins, leave!”
“What, do you think that I haven’t done horrible things too? What makes you so special!?”
The lost Hornet and Lace traded blow after blow, as a fierce battle took place at the center of the world. Hornet was faster, more dangerous. The Void in her veins empowered her, clearly, while Lace was still the same doll she had always been. How could she hope to match up to a spider that she already failed to defeat once before?
Something burned in Lace’s veins. Something hot and fierce. It burned her, pushed her to keep moving, to be faster and faster. Her silk heart beat faster and faster, her mind became sharper.
“Why? Why choose to rot here? Am I not enough for you, spider?”
Hornet screamed something incomprehensible as she continued to attack, while Lace continued to talk as she batted away Hornet’s blows.
“I know your reasons are lies! You persisted before, you could persist now! How could a bug of your stature let this Void cloud your mind?”
In a burst of speed Hornet dashed forward and embedded her needle in Lace’s chest. A painful gasp escaped Lace as Hornet pushed the needle in, her pin fell from her hand and sent ripples into the Void at their feet.
Despite the pain, Lace found it in herself to laugh. “I really am foolish. To think that I would be enough for you.”
Hornet’s white eyes stared into Lace.
“You who have lived for so long, seen so much, loved so many. Perhaps Shakra should have come instead, she could have convinced you better.” Lace’s laugh faded as life started to drain from her threads. “In my wildest fantasies, I imagined that together we’d find some sort of happiness. Two immortal things lost in this world finally found each other…How foolish. I suppose…dying with you…will be the best I will get.”
With the strength she had left, Lace lifted her arm and placed a hand against Hornet’s cheek. To her surprise, the lost Hornet actually lifted up her own hand to place over Lace’s own. Hornet’s eyes moved back and forth, studying Lace’s form. What was she thinking..?
“You mean that?”
The question surprised Lace. Unable to answer verbally, she slowly nodded her head.
A gasp left Lace as Hornet pulled her needle out of her chest. In an instant threads were at her claws, weaving into Lace’s pale threads and putting them back together. Hornet was healing her. The Void that coated Hornet’s form fell away as the job continued, her strength leaving her bit by bit as she returned to normal. It was a patchwork job at best, but it was enough to save Lace’s life.
When all of Hornet’s strength left her, she collapsed forward onto Lace. With her strength returned to her, Lace reached forward to wrap her forelimbs around Hornet. In a clearer moment she wouldn’t even think of embarrassing herself like this, but this was not a clear moment.
Hornet looked up at the Void being that was apparently her sibling. With her strength leaving her, she could only pick her head up by an inch, and could only whisper, “I’m sorry…”
The thing didn’t react at first. Instead the dome surrounding them did, as it began to collapse in on itself. Hornet and Lace held onto each other for dear life as the Void overtook them, leaving them floating in the Void, free for any of the monsters surrounding them to consume them.
But they were not consumed. Instead, the Void under them rose and carried them up and up, past the monsters and impossibilities, to the surface of the lake. As they reached the surface the thing carrying them slowed, until it broke the barrier and carefully laid the two out onto the dock. The tendrils of Void that had saved them remained there for a moment, as if observing the weakened Lace and Hornet, before returning to the lake.
“The Void…showed us kindness?” Lace asked, utterly confused at what had transpired.
But Hornet? Hornet just laughed. It was not a sound that Lace expected her to make. It was a sound that was only drawn out of Hornet due to the emotional maelstrom going through her mind. The sight of Hornet laughing caused Lace to laugh as well.
“You, you really meant what you said down there?” Hornet asked between bouts of laughter. “You wished to…pair with me?”
“Of course,” Lace commented, feeling quite sincere after the emotional battle she had partaken in. “I still do?”
Lace and Hornet stared at each other, in awe of the new emotional depth between them. Neither knew who leaned forward first, just that soon their mouth parts were meeting. It wasn’t a passionate kiss, the two were far too exhausted. That could come later. They just wished to share this new emotion with each other.
Both thought the same thing.
‘What a wonderful thing I’ve found here.’