Cat Core, Chapter 31.

Chapter 31.

Thumping started at the front door of Ben’s shop. The door was heavy oak and reinforced with straps of iron, but whatever was pounding on it caused the door to bow in. It would only be a matter of time before it was breached. Vanderman put down his crossbow and joined Nala and Ox to cover the door. Shara placed herself behind her friends, ready to lend aid when needed. Roland was still at his firing slit, shooting off arrow after arrow into the horde of cultists that were now swarming around the combined shop and tavern. The entry door to the tavern also began to shake and rattle in its frame as Korbo led his party positioned themselves to cover that entrance.

Ben’s three guards and Roland now moved from window to window, firing at the mass of cultists outside. It was almost impossible for them to miss, but the swarms of attackers provided cover for the more powerful cultists and their deadly Avatar. The bartender and the server followed the last of the merchants into the portal. They had stayed behind to help Ben pull three huge crates from the back of the store. They left the crates in the middle of the floor, confusing Shara as to why they were important enough for Ben to distract himself with them. Her party, Korbo’s party, Ben, and his three guards were now the only ones left. A large space to defend with so few people.

“Ben, don’t you think you better leave?” Vanderman said, the door to the shop beginning to crack as Ben worked on something inside the crate.

“I’m fine, just let me get the last of my defenses in place. My cousin, Bartleby, left these here for me to store. I think they were just taking up too much room in his bag of holding so I don’t think he’ll be too angry that we used them to defend the family business. Vanderman ignored him, his attention was drawn to the door as it finally gave way, the top half folding in as the bottom half remained secured by one of the large crossbars. A pair of cultists tumbled into the room and were easily dispatched by Nala and Vanderman. A roaring man with a huge club shattered the bottom of the door with his weapon before stepping in, a seemingly unending horde was massed behind him.

A blast of cold hit the man as Korbo fired off a spell from across the room. Shards of sharpened ice peppered the huge cultist and the others trying to push their way inside. Ox followed up with his magic, several magical bolts firing out to hit some target beyond Shara’s line of sight. The big battlemage then grabbed his axe and waded into the fight at the doorway, his first blow finishing the man with the club as he and the rest of her party fought to keep the cultists out.

Shara only had one offensive spell, a small blast of magical light that was more effective against undead than evil cultists. Still, she wanted to use it to help out but realized her mana would serve better if it were saved for healing magic. The sound of splintering wood drew her attention, the other door had collapsed and Korbo’s group had problems of their own.

Roland jumped onto one of the counters, the extra height allowing him to fire over his friends and into the mass of attackers. Her friends were on the verge of being overrun, the sheer mass of attackers was forcing them back from the door one step at a time. She watched as a green bolt of energy flew into the shop and struck Roland. The blast instantly rotted away his bow, corroding the new armor he wore even as the flesh underneath began to whither.

Shara reached out with her magic, pushing healing energy into Roland. It was a battle, she could feel the magic was more than a simple damage spell, it was a curse that sought to age and decay anything it touched. She was loath to step away from the rest of the party, but she needed to be in contact with the wound to effectively fight it. She rushed to his side, the ranged heal she maintained slowed the advance of the curse but couldn’t stop it completely.

Once she reached Roland, she placed her hands on the worst of the damage, fighting to keep her friend alive. Shara nearly broke the link between the two of them as the corrupting curse began to attack her as well, rotting the flesh of her fingertips. She remained in control, her magic slowly pushing back the evil affliction. Her fingers healed and then Roland’s wounds began to restore. The magic powering the curse finally ran its course and the remaining damage was easily fixed under her touch now that the curse wasn’t actively fighting her.

Roland stumbled to his feet, cursing and drawing his short sword. Ben’s guard, Sean, was down, a great club smashing his skull in. That broke the line and cultists started to pour in. She stood next to Roland, readying her mace and shield before the pair of them tried to fight back the tide of attackers.

“Stay back, this little beauty will handle them,” Ben said. She heard metal slamming into the wood floors and the whir of gears as a metal monstrosity stood from one of the crates that Ben had been fiddling with. The monster resembled a large metal bear and as it opened its mouth, she could see the iron teeth inside moving about, ready to grind up whatever was unfortunate enough to feel its bite.

With a few clumsy strides, the bear entered the fight, its razor-tipped paws slashing down the nearest pair of cultists as the mouth clamped down on the head of the huge warrior that had felled Sean. With seemingly no effort, the cultist’s head popped like a melon under the steel jaws of the bear. Weapons clanged off its metal exterior, but the mechanical beast seemed to ignore any of the blows at it pushed its way into the mass of foes, driving them back toward the doorway.

Another of the mechanical beasts, this one a lion, rose to its feet and charged into the mass of foes that were pushing back Korbo’s group. The third and final metal automaton was a wolf, which moved over to help the bear who was now under magic assault. Several more of the cursed magic bolts had hit the bear, the magic causing its frame to rust and gears to break wherever the green bolts landed. Wolf opened its mouth to howl, but instead of any sound, a swarm of small crossbow bolts shot out, peppering the crowd around the door. The bear did the same unleashing its volley. With the doorway momentarily cleared, the wolf clanged its way out, seeking some target out on the street that had drawn its attention.

Shara didn’t have time to waste, Ox and Vanderman had both received several minor injuries during the battle and with the mechanical monsters drawing all the attention, she was able to heal them completely. Nala wasn’t seen, which wasn’t unusual as her rogue skills shielded her from view until she could strike her target. Roland retrieved his old bow, climbing up a different counter to resume his covering fire, at least until he ran out of arrows. She was shocked to see he was on his last quiver; had they been fighting that long?

“We’ve done what we can, get into the portal while the metal beasts have them distracted,” Ben said as he followed his own advice and leaped into the swirling light of the portal. Korbo’s group followed, and Shara was sad to see it was only Korbo and the rogue Jara, the others had fallen in the deadly battle. Vanderman led the rest of their party slowly back toward the portal, motioning for Shara and Roland to leave first.

She didn’t know what to expect, she had never seen any portal magic before. As Shara stepped into the swirling light, she expected something more dramatic, but it was like she took a single step and then found herself instantly on the road. Ben pulled her back from the portal entrance as Roland exited behind her. Junior walked up next to them, a glass rod in his hand that glowed with the same light as the portal. Ox stepped through, stumbling from exhaustion.

“I’m the last,” Nala said, tears in her eyes as she stepped through. Ben nodded solemnly to Junior who snapped the glass rod in half, the magic inside released and the portal disappeared.

“No! Vanderman is still there, open the portal back up,” Shara cried.

“I’m sorry, Shara, he fell making sure I made it through,” Nala told her. Shara collapsed on the ground, tears falling from her face as the realization that her friend since childhood was gone. Nala sat next to her, the two sharing their grief and their guilt at not being able to save their friend.

“Hey, where are you going?” Ben asked, causing Shara to look up. Ox had shouldered his axe and was walking along the road toward town.

“Dog people killed my friend, I’m going to kill that three-headed dog monster,” Ox said as he continued down the road.

“Woah, big guy, you’re not going alone,” Roland said, running to Ox’s side.

“I’m in,” Shara said, wiping the tears from her eyes as she followed her friends. They walked in silence, and glancing back, Shara could see that Nala, Korbo, and Jara were also following. They were likely being foolish, throwing away their lives, but Shara didn’t care, she would make these followers of Kunrax pay for killing her friend.

***

The Avatar chewed on the corpse, relishing the taste of a fresh kill, something the will had never experienced before. Bits of chainmail armor stuck in her teeth, but it was a small price to pay for the pleasure of feasting on her prey. But there was something else, wasn’t there? A duty she was to perform. That was it, she was the will, she had to drive the Avatar to its goal, not fall to the madness of the hunt. Hers was the will and she would be obeyed. At her command, the Avatar reluctantly left its meal, there was much to do, and the metal monsters were still rampaging among the faithful, killing those that would be needed to destroy the abomination.

She pulled herself from the ruins of the building, the front wall had been smashed in by her after metal monsters had set upon her followers. The followers were there to be expended, they were there to serve Kunrax, but they were not to be wasted on fighting outside the dungeon. It was time to rally what was left of her forces and continue toward the goal. Sharp pain in her front paw caused her to stumble, the human in the armor had wounded her as he fought to protect another human’s escape into the portal.

All three of her heads turned their gaze upon the nearest shaman, it was time to heal her and replenish her life force. The transformation into the Avatar of Kunrax was a temporary thing. Such divine force as her master had unleashed would eventually dissipate and with it, her short life would end. But that end could not come before her task was finished, until then she needed to use the faithful.

“No, not me, choose another,” the shaman said, slowly backing away from the Avatar.

“You are unworthy, if you will not give willingly, it is time for you to face your end. From the jaws of his Avatar, your soul will be sent to Kunrax for your final judgment,” she said as her new body charged the reluctant follower. Once again blood flowed and the thrill of the hunt threatened to overtake her, but her will was too strong, at least for now.

“Master, take me, what life I have left is freely given for the glory of Kunrax,” another of her shaman’s said. The man was badly wounded, a crossbow bolt had taken him in the chest and it wouldn’t be long before he expired. She felt the man’s mana, taking it as her own. The mana wrapped itself around the man’s life, draining it into her as well. Deep sword slashes on her injured foot began to close as the life force did its healing work, sadly, the life ended too quickly to finish its work.

Her thoughts were interrupted as a crossbow bolt flew from the building across the street and slammed into her shoulder. Her left head howled in pain, as the other two turned to see who had injured her. There, standing at the window of a shop across from the one she had just destroyed was a human. The man was clothed in a dirty apron and he fumbled, losing his grip on the weapon as she turned her gaze upon him.

“In there, kill all who cower inside,” she ordered her followers. They obeyed, the swarm of the faithful charged into what had been an inn, the sounds of fighting picking up as what must have been more survivors inside joined the battle.

“Oh, most honored one, allow me to be the tool of your mending,” another of her shaman’s said. She nodded, feeling the man as he offered his life to keep hers going for a bit longer. This man was faithful, this one just might escape the jaws of his master by giving this willing sacrifice. As she pulled his life and mana in, the crossbow bolt was pushed from the wound. The bleeding stopped and healthy flesh replaced the bleeding wound. By the time he expired, the man had provided her enough life to heal most of her other injuries. She still had some cuts and scrapes that hadn’t been fixed, but there wasn’t enough damage to warrant taking the life of another of her dwindling supply of shaman’s. Only their unique combination of magic and faith could sustain her.

The sounds of fighting went on for longer than they should have, adding to her growing concern over the losses that her forces had sustained in the attack on the town. She had believed that the inhabitants would flee as soon as her unstoppable numbers were seen, and many did, but too many stood their ground. Adventurers, guards, mechanical devices, and even some of the simple merchants put up a fight, inflicting casualties she hadn’t expected. After the sounds of battle finally faded, the surviving followers exited the inn, their numbers depleted.

“Get me a count of our forces, what do we have left to destroy the abomination with,” she ordered. Normally, she would have done the count herself, but numbers were getting harder for her to understand as what remained of her intellect was subsumed by the Avatar.

“Exalted one, we have six of our shaman’s, twelve of the berserkers, seven of the honored ones and their handlers, and sixty-five of the faithful remaining. What is your command?” One of the Shaman’s replied.

“Our work in this blighted town is complete. To the dungeon my faithful, the abomination must be destroyed!” She roared. The others shouted their agreement. Howling from all three of her heads, the Avatar strode boldly toward her final quarry.