Cat Core 3, Chapter 37.

Chapter 37

“Florence, are you awake?” Doug asked.

“Yeah, I’m here. Is everyone okay?” Florence asked, connecting to her home once again.

“We’re all good. Sabrina’s just coming to,” George said.

“Great. Let me get a look at where we are and all that,” Florence said. This was Sabrina’s first time transforming into a core, so it was understandable that it would take her a few extra minutes to sort things out.

As far as Florence’s home was concerned, things were looking good. It was nice to have the whole place back again, and her defenders were already starting to spawn in their normal locations. She let George know to go ahead and bring his defenders in next, giving Sabrina a few extra minutes to get herself together.

“Where’s Patricio?” Doug asked. Florence looked outside the short tunnel leading from her home to the surface. Patricio and the rogues were there, looking decidedly miserable in the middle of a snowstorm.

“Fizz, get out there and bring them in here before they freeze to death,” Florence ordered. The rest of the gnomes were already hard at work. They had been interrupted when Florence resumed her hybrid form, and now that the home was back in business, they picked up right where they had left off. Fizz said they were getting ready for war, which to Florence meant she’d be lucky if half of them didn’t blow themselves up or electrocute half the home.

“My dear, it is good to see you back and even better to see that the climate of your home is as pleasant as ever,” Patricio said, his teeth chattering as he led the rogues across the front lawn.

“Welcome, everyone. Now get in the living room so I can start making your reward chests. Sorry to rush you, but I want to get this done and have my mana recharge before that lich and his stupid dungeon start getting frisky,” Florence said.

She got started creating chests while George and Sabrina spawned their defenders. For the most part, the rogues behaved themselves, and Florence tried to be a good host by creating some snacks as well as a big pot of hot coffee and cocoa so they could warm themselves up after being stuck outside. Hendry plopped himself down on the floor and started playing with Bhargath again. The two were becoming friends quickly. It always made Florence happy to see one of her babies make a friend.

While cranking out reward chests, she tried to get a fix on the other dungeon. She could sense it to the northwest, on a high plateau at the base of the mountain range. Her home was a bit away from that, and she started a tunnel to extend toward the other dungeon. Most likely, the other dungeon was doing the same thing. If she could sense its tunnel, she’d try to intercept it. The worst thing that could happen would be the other dungeon opening a path directly to Florence’s core.

“I shouldn’t have agreed to make so many chests. Hold on, I need to recharge my mana for a bit,” Florence said after cranking out the first hundred chests. She had been creating them slower than normal, trying to not let her mana drop too quickly. She stopped producing when her mana was still at five hundred. It wouldn’t exactly be smart to have an invasion happen with zero mana available. Once hostile creatures entered, any mana generation would stop. What she had on hand when the battle started would be all she would get until it was over.

“This seemed to go much more quickly last time,” Reggie complained.

“Well, I’ve got other things I’m working on at the same time, but don’t worry. You’ll get everything that was agreed to—and maybe a bit more since you’ve all been good guests,” Florence said.

Two of the rogues stayed with Reggie, but Hendry and the other four asked to tour the home. She had Fizz give the tour. He was becoming surprisingly good at it. More than likely, Scythe wanted them to scope out the threats in case she had to attack or, more likely, sell that information to the various folks looking to destroy Florence. Giving a mage that specialized in teleportation magic the map to every place in her home could be seen as foolhardy as well. It didn’t matter to Florence. If she lost this fight, she’d be dead, and if she won, her home would become a lot bigger and more powerful than it was now, so any information they brought back to Scythe would be out of date.

“Movement at the entrance, Florence. I think we’re under attack,” George warned. Florence moved her view toward the tunnel leading outside, her influence allowing her to see a short distance from their home. Large figures charged in from the snow, making a beeline for the entrance.

“Hey, Reggie, I think we’re under attack, so I’ll have to stop production for a bit longer than I’d hoped to. If you want, you can take what you’ve already gathered and come back when it’s safe. Of course, if these creeps have their way, there won’t be nothing for you to come back to,” Florence said, laying the bait. The pile of copper coins, basic goods, and valuable cat doilies was growing, but it only represented the contents of about a hundred crates, nowhere near the amount they were supposed to bring back to the rogues guild.

“What is attacking you?” Reggie asked.

“I don’t know yet. Looks like a bunch of barbarians and their pets,” Florence said as the attackers materialized in the snow: big humanoids wearing furs and carrying a slew of different weapons. They looked like extras from one of the sword and sorcery movies. You know, the guys that looked tough but the hero just took out without any trouble while they waited for the real bad guy to show himself. Trotting along behind the barbarians were some smaller figures, still hidden in the snow and being outpaced by the others.

“Boss, we need to help Bhargath fight, right?” Hendry drew his daggers as the big brawler kitty took his place in front of the door.

Reggie looked confused, not sure how to proceed. “I, uh… Hang on, let me get a portal opened to home.”

Florence was getting the distinct feeling that this portal mage wasn’t exactly used to making snap decisions. He was valuable to the guild, so they probably kept him somewhere safe whenever they could.

“You don’t have time for that, Reggie. There’s enough of them coming that they’ll fight their way past the lawn and into here before you could open the portal and get your loot through. Sorry, these here folks are faster than I thought,” Florence said, fibbing a bit since the rogue would likely have time to get his folks and the most valuable of the loot through before the attackers reached the living room.

“Very well. We need to defend our loot. You’ve seen this place. Where should we make our stand?” Reggie said, consulting the other rogues who had gathered back in the living room.

“Outside on the lawn if it’s not overrun. That way, we can strike and go back into stealth before the battle becomes too heated,” one of the rogues offered.

“Can I stay here with Bhargath?” Hendry asked.

“I’m sure he’d love to fight with you, but don’t risk yourself too much. If the battle turns against you, get out of here or hide or whatever it is you do. I can bring Bhargath back if they get him, but you don’t get that option.” Florence did want their help in the fight, but she didn’t want these rogues killed, especially Hendry, who seemed like a nice fella.

“I’ll join you on the lawn, but I’ll need a place to fall back to once the fight gets close,” Reggie said.

“You’re welcome to stay in the core room, if you like,” Florence offered.

“That will be great. Now, which of your rooms would like some early visitors to practice on? I can teleport hostile individuals a short distance,” Reggie offered.

“Ha, I like it. Take your pick. If you’re sending one or two at a time, any of my rooms can handle it. Just leave the gnomes alone for now. They’re still getting ready.”

The six rogues she hadn’t got the names of hustled out the front door, and as soon as they left the porch, they vanished. Only Reggie remained visible as he stood on the porch to get a good view of the attackers that were now approaching.

“Well, here they come. I think I’ll stay here for a bit. I don’t want to make my stand on the lawn if this is only the opening stage of the battle,” Doug said.

“Good call. I think we can use you here as some extra backup. Patricio, shouldn’t you be playing?” Florence asked. The bard had retreated to her core room already but was glued to the TV she had left on. He spun the old-fashioned dial until the fight on the front lawn was showing. Florence was glad that TV remotes meant she didn’t have to get up to change the channel anymore, but something was satisfying about turning the channel manually, feeling the thunk of the knob switching as the picture changed. Oh well, there wasn’t time to reminisce. She had a war to fight.

Patricio started to sing. The tune, he assured her, would bolster the defenses of her defenders and allies, granting a minor health regen and extra armor. The first of the barbarians exited the tunnel and spotted the pack of wolves scattered on the front lawn. Howling louder than the wolves, the barbarians attacked. George’s wolves didn’t miss a beat, counter-charging as soon as the first one crossed the property line.

The first strike went to Obi and Shadow as they struck from the tall grass and eliminated a pair of barbarians. Her commando kitties were deadly with their opening moves but somewhat less effective once they were spotted. The first pair they attacked didn’t have a chance, but their appearance drew a lot of attention from the following attackers, one of which stumbled as the mailbox crossbow trap activated and launched its missile at his chest. The barbarian shrugged off the wound, only to shriek in pain as a rogue appeared behind him. A thrust of his poisoned shortsword finished off the invader.

Another pair of rogues appeared, each taking down an attacker before throwing a small cube on the ground that surrounded them in a cloud of smoke. Reggie had warned her that once the rogues used their flash bomb ability to hide, they were out of the fight for a while; they wouldn’t risk another attack until they could be assured they had the option to escape from sight again. The attackers didn’t seem deterred by their losses. Each foe that was struck down only served to stoke their rage.

Reggie was getting in on the action. He teleported one barbarian after another, dropping them in various rooms where Florence’s defenders easily overwhelmed them before they could react. After the fourth teleport, the attackers were closing in on Reggie, so he cast the next spell on himself. He was returned to the core room, but not before a barbarian hurled an axe at him. The axe slammed into Reggie’s gut just as the teleport completed, dumping a bleeding and dying mage onto Florence’s floor.

“Hey, can anyone do anything? I don’t have healing magic,” Florence said in a panic.

“This should help.” Sabrina sprayed a blast of slime over the room. It would boost Reggie’s health regeneration, but it wasn’t enough to save him from this bad of a wound. Patricio came to the rescue, changing the tune of his song as he focused on the mortally wounded mage. Florence could see tendrils of mana flowing from that stupid tiny guitar/lute thing he played, as well as from his mouth, as the song took hold. The mana snaked out and flowed into Reggie’s wound, causing him more pain but slowing the flow of blood. After a few moments, the bardic music and slime combination started to close the wound, pushing the axe out as it worked.

“Thank you, Patricio, Sabrina. That was awful,” Reggie said.

“Nah, you get used to it after a while,” Florence assured him. With the number of times she had died or been near death, it was becoming old hat to her.

“You’re welcome, my friend, though I believe my efforts to save you have hampered the battle at large. It will be a bit before I can begin to play another tune,” Patricio said. Florence couldn’t tell exactly how much the song he had been singing earlier had helped, but in the short time they had been distracted by Reggie’s wound, the battle had turned against them.

“I think the wasps can slow them down a bit,” Sabrina said.

The barbarians had overrun the wolves and the two commando kitties and were just about to bash in the front door. They hadn’t done so without casualties, though, and had lost over a score of their number to attacks from the defenders and the rogues. The smaller figures following behind the barbarians came into view, and Florence was surprised to see they were halflings, crazed and vicious halflings that were slashing at their own bodies to work themselves up into a frenzy, but halflings nonetheless.

Sabrina’s traitor wasps finally got in on the action, flying unnoticed until they landed and stung four of the halflings near the back of the pack. Given the little monsters’ howling and twitching, four of them being stung by wasps went unnoticed. The four that were under Sabrina’s control charged into the rear of the barbarians, thrusting their small blades and biting their larger foes.

“My, I believe your wasps have opened the proverbial hornet’s nest,” Patricio commented as the attack began. Responding without hesitation, the barbarians hacked down the traitorous halflings, but they didn’t stop there, continuing to attack any halfling within reach. While they might be on the same side, the lich’s minions obviously didn’t trust each other. Giving as good as they were getting, the halflings responded with predictable aggression, and in no time, the front yard turned into a great melee, with Florence’s enemies hacking each other to bits.

“Who are those two?” George asked, watching as a pair of humans in black robes walked from the tunnel and strolled toward the front lawn, ignoring the fighting.

“Well, since we’re dealing with a lich and these guys are dressed in black robes like a mage of some sort, I’d say necromancers. Nobody on this fool planet seems to be willing to break from their class stereotypes,” Florence said.

“Fools. The master gave you a task, and that task wasn’t to kill each other. It was to destroy this pathetic core. Brother, shall we?” one of the robed men asked.

“My pleasure,” the other responded as they started casting.

“Should I start summoning kitties to stop them?” Florence asked.

“No. Save the mana. We’ve already lost the front lawn, and I don’t want to interrupt an enemy that’s killing their own troops off,” Doug offered.

A noxious cloud of corruption flowed from the pair and covered the front lawn. The two necromancers were somehow able to link their power together, creating a spell that was greater than the sum of its parts. The battling halflings and barbarians stopped their attacks as the cloud hit them, gagging and hacking up blood as the magic seeped into their bodies. After a few moments, the sounds of combat faded, and the two brothers were the only living things still standing.

“Tarnation, what was that spell?” Florence asked.

“I’d say a necrotic corruption spell, but that was more powerful than it should have been,” Reggie said. He was sitting up, his back against the wall, and still in a good bit of pain. Patricio’s bardic magic and the slime had helped but hadn’t completely healed the wound. Florence had Doug drag over the sofa that he liked to sleep on in the corner, helping Reggie into a more comfortable position to watch the action from.

“Uh-oh, that’s not good,” George commented as the bodies on the lawn started to twitch. Then they stood and looked at the brothers.

“Ah, that’s better. Now let’s see if you can accomplish in undeath what you were too stupid to accomplish in life. Attack,” one of the brothers said, pointing toward the front door. All of the fallen invaders had been turned into undead abominations, but the nature of Florence’s fallen dungeon defenders must have prevented them from joining the ranks of their enemies, for which she was thankful. Whatever Mortimer and the necromancer kitties did seemed to work just fine inside her home, but that was probably because they were all made out of the same mana and whatnot.

The closest zombies to the front door, some of the barbarians, wasted no time slamming their fists into it, the wood cracking under the blows.

“Well, they’re dumb zombies, it looks like. Notice that none of them are using their weapons,” Doug offered, pointing out the scattered weapons littering the front lawn.

“Dumb or not, they’re strong and there’s a whole passel of them out there,” Florence said, worried about what else the necromancer twins might come up with. There had to be close to a hundred of the undead wandering around her front lawn and tearing up the place.