Cat Core 2, Chapter 23.

Chapter 23.

“Not only are they cheating by changing the size of their champions, but they’re also not dissolving and getting all grody from being away from their core. These guys must be far enough away from the other core by now,” Florence asked.

“I think they can feed off any core energy, but take heart, our defenders can do the same when we take the fight to the other core,” George explained. He was turning into a right smart fella, kind of like Doug, but without the annoying attitude. There was nobody to file a complaint with about the cheating, so Florence tried to settle down and watch the fight unfold, feeling even more cheated when she realized that her mana wasn’t regenerating while these attackers were inside. Florence didn’t know if the lack of regen was because there were dungeon creatures sponging off her core energy, or if it would happen whenever anyone or anything was inside.

The invaders pushed deeper into the home, her babies were unable to stop them, but they did bleed them as they progressed. At first, the fire dwarves led the advance, clearing the hallway, sewing room, and bathroom. By then, they were down to three dwarves, all of whom were injured to some extent. The spear traps in the hallway gave them quite a lot of trouble until they sent a blazing python into one of the holes to burn up the trap mechanism.

Kicking open the door at the far end of the hallway gave them dwarves a shock. There, in front of the doors to the gnome home and laundry, a fortification had taken shape. The gnomes had cobbled together a makeshift barricade of metal scraps, forming a low wall that eighteen of them crowded behind in two ranks, their crossbows ready to fire. As soon as they saw the dwarves, the front rank of the gnomes fired, all of them landing hits. The first rank of gnomes stepped back, already fiddling with the reloading process, while the rear rank moved forward and fired, finishing off the dwarves.

“Fizz, don’t take any big risks, run back and seal yourselves into your home if you start to get overrun,” Florence told them. They were bonded to her core and her home, but the gnomes couldn’t respawn like her kitties could.

A pair of blazing pythons tried their luck, their undulating bodies making it a difficult shot for the gnomes. Still, a few hits were made and when they reached the wall the pair of creatures reared up and struck, each biting a gnome. One unfortunate gnome went right down the gullet of a python and the other was saved from that fate by a swarm of stabby gnomes that went to town on the snake. It died, releasing its grip on the seriously wounded gnome, but the other retreated, its body distended from the gnome inside.

“Fall back!” Fizz shouted, pushing and pulling his grieving family back into their home within a home. The door to the gnome residence had been reinforced, they wrapped the lovely wooden door Florence had created with some ugly metal sheets. Inside the home, the door was braced with several beams, making it a difficult and time-consuming process for any attackers to get through it. Florence doubted the enemy would mess with it for long given that their main objective was the destruction of her core, not rooting out the surviving gnomes. Dragging the wounded gnome back inside had delayed the gnomes’ retreat, and gave the pair of ogres charging forward to attack enough time to close in.

“Take this!” A gnome shouted, pulling on a chain that ran from the wall to the door of their home. With a crash, the barricade collapsed, something in the design caused the sharp edges to lead the way, right into the pair of ogres.

“Nice work,” George complimented the gnomes.

“Yep, but I’m not happy that we lost one, though,” Florence said, feeling the permanent loss of the gnome that she didn’t even know the name of more than the loss of her kitties that she knew were coming back.

Fizz and the others closed and sealed the door, giving them some time to recover and plan for the unlikely chance of the invaders bashing their way in. The pair of ogres that had been in the lead was out of the battle, cut to shreds by the wall trap the gnomes had triggered. The next pair started to pound on the door with their ice clubs until the frost giant, well, Florence guessed he was more like a frost big guy now, not a giant. Anyway, the frost guy ordered them to push deeper into the home, keeping his eye on the prize.

The attackers changed things up, moving their more powerful fighters, like the ogres and champions, back, content to let the troggs and wolves soak up the losses. Arya and Q in the laundry room did a number on the troggs, the clothesline trap and their spells bringing down six of the attackers before the wolves pushed past to drop the two somewhat weak caster kitties. Next up was the library, which was where Florence figured she would break this attack. The troggs opened the door and let the wolves lead the way inside, following right on their heels.

The attackers were met by an enraged yeti champion and two burly brawler kitties. Her pair of magic missile traps triggered, both targeting and destroying the lead wolf, but Zeus seemed to be conserving his mana like the smart kitty he was, saving his deadly lighting spells for the bigger threats. The yeti might only be a minor champion in Geroge’s dungeon, but he was having no trouble tearing his way through the rest of the invading wolf pack. When they tried to flank him, Fluffy and Fluffy Jr. jumped in, protecting their larger ally. The wolves were dropping like flies, and the troggs following them weren’t doing much better.

Sheer numbers began to come into play and the two kitties were hard-pressed to keep the yeti from being surrounded by troggs and wolves. Zeus saw the danger and let loose a blast of electricity, damaging and stunning four of the attackers, leaving them easy prey for the two Fluffy’s and giving the yeti some respite. Unfortunately, the yeti was starting to get worn down and now sported several wounds from nipping wolves and trogg clubs. He kept on a going, punching and crushing attackers until the two surviving blazing pythons made their play.

Slithering in low, they weren’t seen until they started to climb up the yeti’s body, burning as they tried to crush him in their coils. Howling in rage, the yeti grabbed the head of one snake and started to crush it. With a gross crunch, the yeti took out a snake, the same bloated jerk who had eaten a gnome, Florence was happy to say. The other blazing python held on, ignoring the weakening yeti’s blows as it continued to constrict around its victim’s chest. Troggs and wolves got in on the action, redoubling their efforts to take out the champion.

The magic missile traps fired again as the yeti fell, killing a trogg before going back into their long reset sequence. Zeus fired his second spell and lightning tore into the python still wrapped around the dead yeti. The python convulsed, leaving it vulnerable to Fluffy Jr. who exacted revenge for the visiting champion. With a final burst of electric energy, Zeus depleted his mana, damaging more of the attackers as he moved into melee. The three defenders took down more of the invaders but didn’t last long when the ogres rejoined the battle.

“Did they do enough, you think?” Florence asked.

“That remains to be seen, but they put up a valiant effort,” George replied. Florence counted the enemy survivors. Nine troggs were left, accompanied by only a pair of wolves. They had whittled down the bulk of the weaker units and ended the blazing python threat. The three surviving ogres were mostly untouched, and there were still the champions to deal with and only a few more rooms between her and the invasion force.

Next up was the game room. Florence had four kitties in there and a trap. The big frost guy waved in the few remaining troggs and wolves, with the ogres moving up to support them. The commando kitty, Clementine started things off, leaping down from the ledge on the ceiling and taking out a wolf before running behind the roulette table to hide once more. Astrid and Jurgen, her two brawlers, pushed forward into the troggs, claws and teeth going to work. A glow covered each of the kitties as an enhancement spell from the gold and white shorthair, Milk Tea, activated. Each of the brawlers swelled up, growing a bit larger and looking even more fierce and fluffy than usual. Given the way the troggs were being batted around, the strength bump from the spell was noticeable.

Unlike Clementine, who went into hiding to prepare for another strike, Milk Tea just leisurely strolled along the top of the roulette table, making a show of casting another spell. Incensed, the ogres broke through the lines, brushing past the two brawlers who gave them a few scratches for their rude behavior. Instead of fleeing, Milk Tea turned her back on the ogres, and continued to pour mana into another spell. Just before they reached the roulette table, the wheel started to spin like crazy, the mechanism humming loudly as it built up momentum. Dumb as rocks, the ogres ignored the spinning wheel, intent on killing Florence’s brave little magic kitty.

With a loud metallic ping, the roulette wheels shot off the table, blades extending from the edge as flew past the two ogres, inflicting deadly wounds on each as it went by. The two brawler kitties knew what was coming and dropped to the floor, allowing the wheel to slam into the mass of remaining troggs and wolves. Coming to a shop after digging into the floor, the roulette wheel had done a real number on the invaders. The two brawler kitties finished off the last pair of troggs while Clementine emerged from stealth to do the same to the severely wounded ogres.

Howling with rage, the frost wolf champion charged forward, leading the way with a blast of its icy breath. Bolstered by the resistance given to them by Florence as well as the song from Patricio, the targeted brawler kitties shrugged off most of the damage. What they couldn’t shrug off was the slowing effect from the blast, and both were moving too sluggishly to avoid the chomping jaws of the oversized champion wolf. Poor Milk Tea didn’t fare any better, the spell she had been building fired off, and the wolf visibly shrunk as the buff intended for the brawlers was changed into a debuff for the wolf.

Even losing some power, the wolf was more than a match for her mage kitty, who wasn’t all that good of a fighter without her magic. The time the wolf spent on Milk Tea did buy Clementine another opportunity to strike, the sneak attack from her claws ripped into the back legs of the wolf, leaving it with a severe limp. Before she could get another attack in, or hide in the shadows once more, the next champion got into the fight, and several stone spikes pierced the final defender of the room. Waddling in from the library, that champion lizard looked all proud of itself, despite only taking out one defender after spending the entire fight hiding behind all the other invaders.

“Ah, that one has a weakness, look at its hide,” George said. Florence couldn’t tell what he was yammering about at first, but a closer inspection of the champion showed three patches of its rocky hide were gone, exposing the vulnerable flesh beneath.

“Hey, you’re right, that critter must lose some of its armor each time it fires off a spike. I suppose it would grow them back after a time, but I kind of doubt that will happen anytime soon since it’s outside of its core’s influence,” Florence added.

“Yes, I agree with you. We’ll keep an eye on it as they pass through the kitchen and into the dining room. If the weak spots haven’t started to close back up by then, maybe we can get word to our defenders to concentrate on those areas,” George offered. It was a good suggestion, but Florence wasn’t quite sure how to go about it. They had a few moments while the oversized invading champions squeezed their way through the kitchen, and Florence tried to connect with the kitties in the dining room. She could feel her babies listen to her wishes, and they understood the weakness of their opponent. Any help she could give her babies against the bullies heading their way was important.

“Ha, about time one of these jerks fell for my trick. I think that stupid wolf might even be the first one to do so,” Florence gloated as the wolf entered the kitchen first and in true stupid dog-based creature fashion, gobbled up the plate of poisoned cookies that were placed on the table. Florence waited for the effects of the poison to kick in, but other than a few hacking coughs, the wolf didn’t seem too bothered by it and barged his way into the dining room without delay.

Inside the dining room, Sasha and Kirabell hid under the dining table, while Cookie crouched behind the silverware trap that was positioned on the side table. The wolf sniffed around a bit before starting up another round of gross, hacking cough sounds. Seeing their opportunity, her babies struck. Cookie led things off by triggering the silverware catapult trap. The tray full of sharp utensils shot forward most of them slamming into the wolf, who was too busy trying to cough out his lungs to bother dodging.

With a growl of pain, the wolf turned toward the two kitties emerging from under the table, but another fit of coughing left it vulnerable as the commando Kirabell, got in a flanking strike while Sasha went paw to paw with the monster. The wolf was hurting from the wounds it received and the poison coursing through it, but it was a champion and fought like one, clamping down with its oversized jaws onto poor Kirabell before succumbing to its wounds.

“Oh, that’s not fair,” Florence said as the annoying lizard champion killed off poor Sasha with another barrage of spikes. Cookie seemed equally incensed, conjuring up green necromantic energies as the lizard sauntered into the dining room, unwilling to weaken itself further with another spike barrage when it could deal with the diminutive Cookie with one bite from its tooth-filled maw. It gave Florence’s fuzzy necromancer the time she needed to complete her spell and the energy she had been building flowed out of her paw and into the body of the wolf champion.

Stumbling to its feet, the undead champion started toward the lizard, only to change its mind and attack the big frost guy that was now entering the room. Slow and cumbersome, the wolf snapped at the frost guy and missed, its blundering attack answered by a few blows of the deadly axe the former giant carried. Zombies weren’t very strong or quick, but they could sure absorb some damage, and the undead wolf, despite losing one of its legs in the attack, continued to fight. Stumbling forward, the wolf managed to clamp its jaws onto the frost guy’s leg, tearing into the flesh and causing him to bellow in anger and pain. Another swipe of the axe took care of the undead wolf champion.

“That stone piercer is looking rather vulnerable now. Your champions shouldn’t have too much trouble with it,” George said as the lizard champion decided that taking its time with the necromancer kitty wasn’t a good idea and launched a trio of spikes to finish the job. About half its upper body was now stripped of armor and only three of the spikes that remained on it seemed big enough for the lizard to shoot out.

“Stone Piercer, is that what those lizards are called?” Florence asked.

“Yes, not the most original name, but I believe these are typically found near remote mountain areas, and the simple, yet hearty people that lived there named them such,” George said. If good mountain folk thought that Stone Piercer was a good name for the critters, Florence wasn’t going to argue. Vulnerable or not, the beast was about to enter her floor champion’s room, the last stop between these invaders and her core.