Chương 18: Chapter 17: Walf Noises!

It was my second transformation at rank E, and it wasn't much easier than it was at rank F. I could hear my body popping and straining and all my senses were inundated with messages of terrible pain. I didn't cry out this time though, or make much noise at all - I knew I didn't, because I did my best to hold it in and breathe as evenly as I could. I tried to look at myself, to analyze what I was feeling, to perceive my own body with my senses, but it was just... way too painful - it was as simple as that.

I couldn't think, I could barely breathe, and my voice as I exhaled grew increasingly more bestial until I was left on the tree, panting, the bulk of my form draped over the bough of the great-tree that I'd climbed. The worst of it was past - and I breathed out a sigh of relief as the tingles wore out. [Health: 180/180] [Stamina: 170/210] [Mana: 80/120] I could see my status bars, and I realized I had burnt a bit less of my stats while transforming than I had previously at rank F!

It wasn't a whole lot less - just 10 points of stamina and mana, but it was noticeable. My breath came back to me quickly, and the tingles through my whole body faded as I grew used to the body of Goldtail again. Pain had given way to tingles, and now tingles were giving way to... a kind of physical, kinetic pleasure. I felt good! It was a beautiful night, and I could see for absolutely miles. The moon hung high in the sky, and it was fat - was it coming down from full, or was it rising to full?

I couldn't tell, but an instinct as old as wolves rose in my heart, and I didn't fight it. I took in a deep breath, and I howled, tipping my head back to the sky. I didn't know why - it was just... something I wanted to do! A cursed cry pierces the night! Your enemies will know fear! This window had a lupine face's shadow in the background, turned up to a moon and calling out, with little ravens in the corners of the screen, and I let the sound of my cry echo off into the night for several heartbeats.

What I was waiting for, I couldn't have told you, but again... I didn't question it. And whatever I was expecting, I hadn't expected another cry to pierce the night in response, but that's exactly what happened. It wasn't close by any means - I could only just barely hear it, but.. it was there, and another window popped into my vision. Bella the Sheep Dog cries out in challenge! My ears perked and swiveled. A sheep dog had howled back? Aww, brave baby!

I felt my tail wagging a little, she must have been from Rucksburg or living there, I figured. No other voices raised in response to my cry but hers. I climbed down from the tree I'd climbed into When I returned to the town at last, a couple hours had passed, but I came bearing a prize! A young stud of a deer was borne on my back, my claws sunk into his throat. He was healthy, and vital, and there would be a great many gifts on him, I figured.

I had dressed him already, by the simple expedient of gripping around the buck's neck against a tree, and tearing him open. I'd taken his throat, and his guts out of the carcass, and snapped the pelvis bone at the bottom of the cavity with a thumb and a firm motion, and now, he was ready for further processing. It'd wait until morning. It was while I was hanging him on the hook where the inn's sign had once hung that Gelidia phased through a wall beside me.

I'd felt her approach, so her attempt to surprise me was met with a calm regard.

"Hey Goldie. You were gone a while - everything alright? Oh!" she blinked at the deer. I nodded at her, and licked my chops a bit, the coppery taste of the cooling blood pleasant on my palate, but there was such a thing as being polite! Besides, I didn't want to track blood into the inn! I motioned for Gelidia to follow me, and she took up station at my side as I strode down the haunted streets of Lambstock.

And they were haunted - tonight, shades were standing around, and skeletal figures stood huddled together and holding each other as they watched us pass, or looked up at the wreckage of their homes with a bleak set to their shoulders. Skeletons of all shapes and sizes - all mournful, all moving, all staring out at the night or watching us pass with dull glows in their eye sockets. Not one moved to attack, but all of them stared at us as we made our way to the fountain at last.

By no means was Gelidia the only spirit in residence - many milled about, half-real and only truly visible to my eyes when Gelidia's spectral light cast over them. All ghosts... except, for one figure that strode towards us out of the night as I flopped into the cool fountain, my furred form entering the ice cold water from the lambs' mouths with a sound the flow of water easily overrode.

I saw him though, my senses pressing outward, enveloping the skeletal figure of Captain Wardsmouth as he approached Gelidia and saluted. She nodded to the Captain, and they spoke, but underwater even my senses could not clearly hear what was said until I rose for breath. My body steamed in the cool water, and I ran my great paws over my head to clear water from my eyes as they continued to speak.

"-A matter of some importance, Captain." Gelidia said, and I missed the first part of her statement to him.

"Yes, lady" he said, thickly. He focused around his bones, focused into a more defined shape again and seemed... more awake, more alert as something happened inside him. I tried to make sense of what I was seeing, but it only made limited sense.

"It is a personal matter, Captain, but I would prefer an answer, and for you to be as honest with me as you might." Gelidia said sternly, and crossed her arms under her chest. The captain furrowed his spectral brow at her, and folded himself over in a deeper bow to her.

"I am sworn to your family, Lady Windbinder, and to your service. If there is service yet I might render your family, if there is more I might yet give Lambstock, if I may I will do so." he said, and I got up to waddle a ways away to shake off. The ghosts, unbound to me by the curse that bound me to Gelidia, were unbothered by the water that splattered through them, for they were insubstaintial as smoke. I couldn't help but eavesdrop on the pair though - my ears were way, way too good for that.

Even so, I tried to pretend I was not. Gelidia paused a moment, and sat on the fountain.

"What.. are your cores now, Captain?" she asked, and the captain frowned a little, but he answered.

"Harrier is my Legacy, as my father and mother before me." he said.

"The world felt that Blacksmith would be best for me - I disagreed, but to some use have I put the skill in t'past when times were hard, lady. And... the world... I..." he looked like he just realized something.

"... I have a third core. Skeleton, Lady. It is obscured to me..." he breathed. Gelidia nodded.

"A monster core is unstable and obscured to you when it is in the floating slot Captain." she explained. He blinked.

"Unstable?" he asked, and nodded.

"The world tells me as much, now you mention it, now that I am looking with... open eyes. What is it you are showing me, Lady?"

"I am saying... that there is no recourse for us any longer. The dungeon that has been made from my Family's keep-" she said and he widened his blank, spectral eyes at her"-controls you, while you have that third core in ascendance. There is no revival, no remission for us from this." she said.

"No power can bring back the dead, not even the gods." she sighed.

"If you would do this, I would ask you to stabilize, and be your own once again." He fingered his halberd as he looked down at the cobbles... and shook his head.

"Well... what should I do? The world, she wants me to..." Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

"Subsume. As I did, when I believed I was not worthy to rule this town, and as Emily did in innocence. It afforded her control... and gave me clarity, Captain, but I won't lie to you. It has price. You will lose the core you subsume, and your remaining cores - the monster, and the man - will become... more, thereby. Will you do this for me? Will you serve the house of Windbinder beyond the veil of death?" she said formally, and he hesitated, putting his hand on his chest.

He looked at me, and my tail waggled a little at him as I tilted my head in his direction. Then, he looked to Gelidia. Then... his jaw firmed. Something changed. Green light flooded his form, and spectral flesh flooded his body, and he became... more as a sound like a distant mutter of thunder filled the air around him. The display was beautiful in its way, and haunting, as a chill wind echoed around him and he embraced what he was.

"... I subsumed Blacksmith into my Skeleton core, Lady." he explained, and looked at his hands.

"The core changed when I did... and it says... it says some of my skills have synergized and reset." he asked, and looked to her for guidance.

"I... feel again, distantly. I remember..." he furrowed his brow, and looked to his halberd, then at his hands again, then at us. He nodded.

"I will serve in death, to honor my ancestors. I do not know if they would have done the same... but when one day I see them at the end of all things, I will know I have done all that I could. I will serve no dungeon as some... putrid, witless creature." Gelidia smiled at him, and clapped a hand upon his shoulder.

"If your men will follow... we need them now more than ever before, Captain." she said, and he nodded.

"I will... have a word with them. They might be blockheads... but they will listen to me." he assured her, and I moved to the shade's side at last. She reached to run her fingers through my damp fur between my ears as I lowered my head to her level.

"Good, Captain... see to it. This is a big decision... let them make it for themselves. This cannot be the end of Lambstock." Gelidia said, and I grunted softly, leaning into her touch. She rewarded me with scritches, aw yes! The Captain smiled at the scene in a weird kind of way, and held out his hand to me as if I were a dog, but I politely sniffed his hand and looked down, dragging his gaze downward as well as I wrote.

'HELLO CAPTAIN' I wrote'LOVELY NIGHT' and he furrowed his brow as he nodded thoughtfully.

"It... is. It is certainly shaping up to be so." he agreed, and seemed to reconsider treating me like a hound, as if I were a beast. He bowed shallowly.

"If you will excuse me, Lady Windbinder, Miss Goldtail. There are matters to which I must attend." he said, turning.

"Oh - before you go" Gelidia said"There are adventurers in the Tavern - they are our guests. Please treat them with all courtesy." she said, and the captain nodded before departing.

"Speaking of... we should return. Roxala and Torch are waiting for you." Gelidia said, and kissed the side of my snoot, making my tail waggle a little.

"Cmon, you beast." she said and set off with my bulk in tow, clean of the blood and for good measure, I shook off again because she'd called me a beast, floppa floppa floppa! The shade gave a long-suffering sigh, but didn't comment as she got shotgun-peppered with little droplets of water. When we got back to the inn, we found Torch outside, working on the deer carcass.

He looked up and I could smell a spike of anxiety, the barest measure of fear from the Scout, but he controlled himself pretty well, with the determination of someone trying not to set off a potentially dangerous monster who had... personally swatted him twenty feet through the air and took off half his health with one blow.

"Gelidia, Uh, Goldtail." he said, and glanced at the deer carcass before looking back at me. He met my eyes for only a moment before staring somewhere over my shoulder.

"Just... harvesting from the night's take. Good work there - there's a lot of good stuff on this deer. I have the Poaching skill, and Leatherworking - I'll get extra stuff from working over the carcass" he explained as we padded up towards him and closer. AS I got closer to him, he trembled a little bit. My wolf was giving me signals... and I felt a terrible, dreadful urge. He looked at me, so close he could touch me... and I licked my chops. I could smell his fear... and felt my hunger bubble in me.

"... I think she wants a treat, Torch." said the Shade, and he glanced at Gelidia before doubletaking because he could see her again! It was night, after all! I felt my tail swish the cobblestones as it wagged and I enjoyed his fear a shameful little bit. Okay... maybe I hadn't fully forgiven him, turns out, but... a treat though? Obediently, the Scout carved a bit of rib out and broke it with a meaty crunch... then offered it out to me.

Gentle, now I admonished my Wolf, and we took he succulent meat from his hand with a gentleness, my broad tongue snaking out to scoop under the morsel and drag it into my jaws where I gripped. My tail waggled even harder, and found Torch blinking down at me... and smiling a little as his fear of me faded somewhat from my perceptions. He chuckled, and reached a hand up to try and pet me between my ears with his... ew, bloody hands! I shied back, folding my ears down a moment.

"Oh - sorry" he said, and I made a happy little noise in my chest as I moved to duck through the doorway into the inn proper, bapping him a couple times with my tail as I went by accident, but still eliciting a surprised chuckle from him as he returned to his work.

"She's really no trouble - you'll see." Gelidia said to him as I made my way into the inn proper. Roxala was on her feet and staring at me, glowering in her way as I loomed in the entrance to the kitchen. The orcish armiger stood with her thumbs in her belt between me and Felorikaan, who was sleeping on a bedroll nearby. My tail thumped the frame a couple times as I took in his attitude, and Roxala's, my ears swiveled towards her in an easygoing, attentive way.

Then, I moved to a spot in front of the oven, and settled down, crouched and gripping my prize in my great big paws so I could get meat off of it with soft grunting noises of enjoyment.

"... calm as anything." the shieldsister said"Well I'll be go to hell." she chuckled.

"Emily, you still in there?" she asked, and I glanced at her a moment, giving her side-eye before resuming my munching.

"Yup... may I have a look at you, girl?" she asked and obediently, I turned towards her. The orcmaiden was a fair bit smaller than me in Goldtail form, but she regarded me at eye level, lifting my chin to meet my eyes. I made a soft instinctual grunty-growly noise, but let her turn my head this way and that gently by the cheeks. She didn't seem to mind the bit of blood on my muzzle from the rib as she pet down my snout and stared firmly into my eyes. CHALLENGE? No, not really. She's getting to know us.

My wolf was uncertain how to feel about this, my tail stilling behind me a little, but Gelidia slid her cool fingers over my fur, and into my ruff around my ears, scritching me in just the right spot. It was like... having an itch I couldn't reach, and having it soothed. My eyes lidded, and the pair chuckled at my thoughtless automatic reaction. I could feel my tail stilling even more, but my leg twitching on automatic it just... felt soo good. I took a slow, deep, grunty breath and let it out in a big canid sigh.

"You're no killer." Roxala declared.

"... You're calm, and downright mild. I've known dogs who were less friendly, and they would be called good." she said, and I felt... pleased about that. It wasn't a blow to my pride - I loved dogs, after all, and thought that dogs were better people than humans, generally. This gentle praise was high indeed, in my book. GOOD My wolf seemed to grasp the concept. Was it because I did? Yes, good! I want to be good. Do you? Again my wolf surged with a kind of fierce approval, and confirmed in our mind.

GOOD I licked Roxala once, on the arm, and she blinked, but joined Gelidia in getting my scritches. She was too rough, I felt, digging her finger into my ruff, but then she scritcha scritched at me and tension melted out of my shoulders and body as an involuntary shiver ran through me.

"You're alright, Goldtail. I'm sorry we tried to kill you, miss. We square?" she asked, and I slowblinked at her before breaking the contact and crouching down. With a claw, I gently scratched into the stone.

'WE'RE GOOD' I wrote, and she started in surprise as I wrote to her, apparently shocked.

"She cannot speak like this." Gelidia explained calmly, and I nodded at the pair, tail waggling a bit, thumping one of the chairs a couple times as I popped the rib back into my mouth and crunched at it merrily. Apparently watching me bite casually through bone was a bit unsettling, because Roxala tensed a moment then nodded.

"Got it. I'll go... check on Torch." she said, eyeing me, before turning and striding out of the room, leaving me with the sleeping wizard. I more or less just enjoyed the warmth of the oven drying the last of my meat as Gelidia stroked my ears and my scruff, gently petting me as I munched away. Once again, Gelidia settled down in front of the fire with me, and soothed me with gentle pets and scritches, just where I liked it. Before I knew what was what, I'd fallen asleep in her lap. It had been a long day!

With any luck, I'd miss the change again.