Cat Core 3, Chapter 22.

Chapter 22.

“Well, there goes my theory of the other core being depleted of defenders,” Florence said as the enemy continued to push into the tunnel connecting their two cores. While she expected there to be a good number of attackers, there were tons of low-level units along with what looked like some champions. The majority of the attackers were what she expected, troggs and wolves, but there were more of those fiery dwarf-looking things and some additional fire-based creatures that resembled giant pythons.

Following the initial flood of attackers were a half-dozen frost ogres and a trio of champions. The first champion was one they had already faced, the giant frost wolf. The others were new and looked to be higher-level champions from deeper in the dungeon. A huge reptilian creature was next, easily twenty feet long and festooned with rocky spikes over its body. The last monster had to bend over to walk down the tunnels they had carved out, it was a frost giant wielding a huge axe that glowed with a blue enchantment which suggested that horrible things would happen to any kitties hit with it.

“You’ve levelled up since we faced the creatures, and now we’re fighting on our home turf,” Doug said, trying to pump Florence up. He was right, for once, she needed to put on a brave face so the folks in her home didn’t lose heart.

“Let them try to invade our home, they have no idea what they’re up against,” Florence said. It was true to an extent, she could now pull on her mana to summon defenders, something she could never do before while invaders were in her home. Being a hybrid entity could be a pain in the behind, with having to change back and forth when you didn’t want to, but here, in this situation, it was going to help turn the tide in her favor.

Florence knew Empower Beasts could be very potent given that it affected all her kitties, including Doug, but at one hundred mana per cast, and a mana pool of two hundred fifty, she needed to time it right. She could also summon kitties for the increased cost of fifty mana, and they would last for three minutes, giving her time to summon and then buff the whole group with an Empower Beast. Seeing the numbers coming at her, it would be best to do that early. If she were lucky, mana would regenerate, enabling her to cast again before the enemy got to her core room.

“I’m going to summon extra defenders on the front porch, then hit them with an Empower Beast. Doug, help to time this right,” Florence said.

“Good idea, the front lawn is wide enough for a real battle and we would have a good chance to thin their numbers before they got too far into our home. How many were you going to summon?” Doug asked.

“Three, and that will leave enough mana to buff everyone,” Florence answered.

“Good, I think I can time this, do you want me to join the fight there, or stay here with your core?” Doug asked.

“I don’t want to risk you getting hurt right away,” Florence started to say.

“Hold up, Florence, I can’t die, not forever as long as you’re alive, and fighting among the other defenders might help improve our chances,” Doug answered, as he also gave her the signal to start summoning. She nodded in agreement, and Doug ran through their home, heading for the front porch.

“Perhaps I can be of greater assistance as well. My music can inspire your defenders to do great deeds of valor and exhibit increased martial prowess. Can you send my music throughout your home for all to hear?” Patricio asked while tuning his mandolin.

“Yep, shouldn’t be any trouble, give me a second once I’m done casting,” Florence replied. She would have to concentrate on figuring out how to pipe the music through, and she didn’t want to throw off her summons, Doug had the timing kind of tight, so she couldn’t miss a beat if she wanted everything ready before the attack came.

Florence’s summons began to appear, the first one was Kirabell, the tan commando kitty. Her second summons was Pebbles, the white longhaired brawler. Last up was a surprise, with one of her champions appearing, Spud, the plague mount. Florence knew that her Summon Defender spell could proc a champion or multiple kitties, but the chance was low, and this was the first time it had happened. Spud looked cranky and glad to be there all at the same time, letting out a bellowing meow that resonated throughout the home.

“Where’s that gnome going?” George asked as one of the gnomes ran out of the gnome home and made his way toward the entrance, all the while trying to stuff items into an oversized backpack.

“Let’s find out, hey, you, where are you going?” Florence asked.

“Doing my job if you’ll stop pestering me,” the gnome grumbled. Rude, but that rudeness reminded her of which gnome this was.

“Surly? Is that you?” Florence asked.

“Name’s not Surly, it’s Bizzlenap Ipipip Smith, as you already know,” the gnome replied.

“I’ll still call you Surly, there’s no way I’m going through that whole name,” Florence replied, about to give this disrespectful gnome a piece of her mind.

“Florence, quit pestering the gnomes and cast Empower Beast already!” Doug shouted. Florence did as she was asked, her spell blanketing the entire home, and all the kitties inside got a little more dangerous.

“Nice, it seems to work on George’s defenders as well,” Doug noted. It was true, the small pack of three wolves that George had summoned all seemed to grow a bit larger, and their teeth stuck out more when the spell hit.

The timing seemed just about right, as the first of the attackers spilled from the tunnel and onto the lawn, passing by Mo’s old pen and the pavilion before breaking down the lovely picket fence that marked the front yard. Normally, there would just be a pair of commando kitties, Shadow and Obi, waiting to defend, along with the mailbox trap. This time, the two commandos were joined by the wolves, Pebbles, Kirabell, Doug, and Spud. Spud looked ready to charge, but instead, held back, hissing at the attackers as Surly ran from the front door and climbed up into the saddle that Spud wore. The gnome got to work, clamping a pair of shields to Spud’s saddle before mounting a metal tube on each shield. He kicked Spud to let him know he was ready, pulling on a ridiculous-looking gas mask at the same time.

The front ranks of the enemy horde were mainly wolves and troggs, but she spotted a few of the wolves that had the distinctive white fur that told Florence they were winter wolves and could use cold magic. She conferred a bit of elemental resistance to the critters in her dungeon, so it should help them against the fire and ice creatures her opponent was keen on using.

Spud hissed and began his charge, passing by the other defenders to be the first to bring the fight to the enemy. The gnome activated the metal tubes, each of which shot out a spear toward the line of attackers. A trogg and a wolf were hit, the added velocity of Spud’s charge making the weapons ever more deadly. Surly was trying to pull some other weapon out from his pack, but it was Spud’s turn to go into action. He blasted through the low-level attackers and headed toward one of the frost ogres. The ogre met his charge with an oversized ice club, but as the pair closed, a familiar and disturbing burble was heard from the back of Florence’s champion kitty, and a green cloud began to spread over it.

“Is that what I think it is?” George asked, sounding confused and disgusted at the same time.

“Yep, it’s better to just ignore it and be thankful we can’t smell and I can clean my home with a thought. Gross as it is, it sure is effective,” Florence said. She was right, of course, the ogres trying to surround the charging kitty began to hack and gag, the cloud of stench weakening them to the point they had trouble wielding their oversized clubs. Spud laid into the group, slashing and biting with abandon, while Surly tried to hold onto the reins, only to be tossed from the bucking cat mount and hurled across the lawn to slam into the pavilion, crashing through it and bringing half the structure down on top of him.

Rude or not, Surly was part of her home, and Florence was concerned for his safety, but the battle needed her attention and they could search for him later. Thankfully, the attackers seemed more concerned about defeating her defenders than running out of their way to possibly finish off a gnome that may or may not already be dead. Spud had taken down one ogre and was savaging another when the frost giant arrived. As tall as he was, the giant’s nose was clear of the stench, and with a single blow of his axe, the debilitating cloud of stench dissipated as Florence’s champion was defeated.

“Kill and destroy the core!” The giant ordered, wading into the growing battle.

“Wait, their champions can talk?” Florence asked. The giant had given a command, not just shouted a battle cry or some expected catchphrase for his kind.

“I suppose, some champions become more closely bonded to the core and can pick up additional autonomy. That would account for it taking up the mantle of command for this invasion, especially if the core is starting to experience problems with its mind due to the lich’s influence,” George replied.

“Okay, well, he does seem kind of dangerous, that guy’s going to town on our defenders,” Florence said, watching as the giant hacked into two of the three wolves that George had summoned, and with his backswing, ended poor Pebbles. Things weren’t going all the invaders’ way, though, and as Florence watched, the mailbox trap fired for the second time, nailing a trogg while Kirabell popped out of stealth to finish the job.

“Doug, you better get back in here,” Florence said. They were losing defenders quick, and while Doug had already scored two kills, she didn’t want him out of the fight this early. She could use him, and his advice if she were honest with herself. George gave good enough advice, but Doug knew her and the way she fought a bit better.

“Stop distracting…” Doug started to say before one of the ogres got ahold of him. He had emerged from stealth with Shadow, their initial attacks ending an ogre, but now that they were visible, the more powerful and numerous attackers were getting the upper hand, driving the nimble commando kitties toward the front porch where they would have nowhere to run. With a growl, the ogre got a good grip on both ends of Doug and pulled. Florence couldn’t watch, but she could feel when Doug was defeated and popped out of existence. As long as she was alive, he would come back, but twenty-four hours might be too long to wait if they didn’t stop the attack.

The battle continued for a few more minutes, but there were too many attackers, and too many champions for Florence’s defenders to hold them back for long. When the last defender had fallen, her mailbox trap got one final shot in, the crossbow bolt burying itself into the chest of the Frost Giant. He wore some kind of armor made from leather and hides, so the bolt didn’t do too much damage, but it was good to see the jerk get a taste of what was coming to him. With the last defender down, and the trap dealt with, an ogre started to hammer on the front door with his club.

While they bashed the door down, Florence took stock of the enemy's losses. The enemy had lost three troggs, two wolves, a pair of ogres, and one of the fire snake things. They had lost all the defenders on the front lawn, her summons, and George’s wolves. In Florence’s mind, it wasn’t a good exchange, but she reminded herself that her home was designed to grind down a large group like this, and the numbers facing them would drop with each room they cleared, and the injuries her defenders inflicted mounted.

Florence finally got a good count of what they were facing. There were twenty-eight troggs, seventeen wolves, twelve fire dwarf guys, three more of the snakes that George called blazing pythons, four ogres, and the three champions. All of the champions were in good shape, except for the crossbow bolt sticking out of the giant, but several of the other invaders sported wounds that were bad enough to slow them down. Things would get worse for the invaders as they brought down the door leading to the living room only to be met by Baxter, Tater, and Mo.

Her three brawler kitties clogged up the doorway and clawed down the first attackers to try and enter, a pair of troggs. The frost giant was way too small to fit through the doorway so he backed off, along with the other champions who were also going to have trouble getting inside. With a grunt and a wave of his axe, the frost giant motioned for them fiery dwarves to take a crack at pushing past the defenders.

“Any idea what them dwarves are, and what they can do?” Florence asked.

“Just about what you’d expect, burning bodies that hurt anyone that gets close, and decent fighting abilities with their weapons. They’re called Scalderkin, and they have an evil reputation. Not something we want our defenders to engage with close up, but there’s not much of a choice,” George replied.

“Perhaps a change of tune is in order, I can help mitigate the fire damage with this one,” Patricio said, starting a new tune that he belted out with vigor. Florence could see a difference. The first dwarves had already reached her kitties, who were hissing in pain from the heat those dwarves gave off. Her core gave them some resistance, but it wasn’t enough. When Patricio’s song hit them, they still looked like they were in pain, but the defenders were moving more like they normally did.

Of course, some resistance to the heat didn’t do anything for the weapons the dwarves wielded. Each of them had chainmail, a small metal shield, and a hand axe. All of their weapons and armor glowed a bit from the heat, and Florence could hear a sizzle when her babies hit them with their paws. Poor Tater tried to bite one, only to have his mouth burned by the heated metal helmet the dwarf wore. Mo made a misstep on his burnt paw and the dwarves took advantage, hacking him down with their axes. The kitties gave way, conceding the doorway to the enemy, and allowing the rest of the dwarves to pile in.

Bhargath the Foe Reaver and Midnight had been waiting for this moment and leaped down from their perch above the doorway. Each slammed into a dwarf, riding them down to the floor while going to town with their claws and teeth, ignoring the pain their attacks were inflicting on themselves. Tater and Baxter redoubled their efforts, teaming up to take down a dwarf even as the others pouring inside finished them off. Bhargath and Midnight soon followed, and by the time the fight was over, they had done well enough, taking a total of three of the Scalderkin as well as a pair of troggs.

“That was a bust,” Florence complained as the fireplace trap triggered, its flames useless against them evil fire-dwarf guys.

“Don’t worry, things are just getting started,” George said, trying to cheer her up. She would be inclined to agree with him, but at that moment the frost giant pushed his way inside her home, his body shrinking until he could fit inside. The wolf champion and the spikey lizard both did the same thing, squeezing in and still looking dangerous despite their reduced dimension.

“Now that’s cheating!” Florence exclaimed.