Chương 43: Chapter 42: A Cursed Call To Action

The pair of us followed Abbey back down the hallway maybe an hour and a half after we'd departed, and back to the door where we'd left our friends. The handmaiden knocked, and the door opened a crack to show the glaring, baleful eye of a very grumpy looking Roxala. She fixed Abbey's rosy countenance with a scowl, then a slightly softer scowl for Gelidia and I. She grunted, then opened the door wider to permit us inside.

As I ducked through the doorway, I could see a light from underneath the bathroom in the far corner, and no sign of the Wizard or the Scout. I grinned a little, teeth flashing a moment before I caught myself. Roxala stared dumbstruck at Gelidia and I, and how fancily we were dressed. She was in clean under-armor as the two servants, Gon and Cherise, fussed over everyone's clothing and equipment.

"World's Lore, you two!" Roxala said as if we'd personally offended her! She sounded deeply and profoundly annoyed at the situation, and tense as wires. She scowled at me, and lifted one of my braids, and looked up and... up at my face. By now I knew her pretty well, I felt, so I merely waggled my tail and perked my ears excitedly! Her own dark hair was braided tightly, just so.

She wasn't adorned with green like I was, but with the Red of her clan and the bones of her victories and her family, that they might guard her even in death. I couldn't imagine what that was like - carrying my history with me like that, being so close to the bones of my siblings always, but even as I watched, the lady maid, Cherise, applied something carefully to the bones with what my Toolmaking told me was a horsehair brush. My nose told me it was a kind of oil she was applying.

Roxala glowered at the girl as she worked, sparing her the occasional glance. Gon, the manservant, was caring for the fur and the armor with a practiced hand, and a whisper of magic revealed that he was actually repairing the ribbons and cloth as he worked, giving the red fur cloak more of a lustre and healthy glow.

"You both... look just fine. You clean up good, Goldie." Roxala said, and clapped my shoulder firmly with almost manly affection. I put a paw on her shoulder, and jostled her a little, and blepped my tongue out the front of my snout in a relatively universal gesture. Then, Roxala turned to inspect Gelidia. She puffed a soft breath, and nodded in appreciation of the woman that I shared.

"I'm sorry, marm - she simply wasn't having anything to do with a proper dress! She insisted on her armor and colors." Cherise complained, not taking an ounce of her attention from her careful work.

"That is... well, not exactly a problem, it's... just fine, she is a proud Knight." Abbey said, as if uncertain. Gelidia's voice cut the awkward moment like a knife.

"More than that, she is a Hero, worthy of the highest respect. If she does not want a dress, she shall not have one." Gelidia said, and as my tail thumped the wall behind me with its wagging, as Roxala blushed, the three servants looked at Roxala in a new light. It sounded and seemed like Hero was something more than just a passing title, casually given!

I could actually hear the capital letters slot neatly into place, but of course, I had no voice that could express the question I wanted to ask, and at that moment, I wasn't a stranger from another world - I was the Hound of Lambstock, one of the people of this demesne, so no explanation was forthcoming. Roxala looked proud, her perpetual anger at this situation fading somewhat. When a knock came at the bathroom door, Gon rose and made his way to it.

A moment later, he was in the bathroom with the Sage and the Scout, the door clicking shut behind him. As if the world took this as a cue, there was another knock at the door leading out of the chamber and into the hall. Before anyone could react, Roxala jerked to the door and yanked it open with an irritable snarl of"WHAT?" to a figure in the hall. My Wolf-Ren let me see her clearly - she looked like another of the maids, cut from the same cloth in appearance as Cherise.

She cowered back a bit, eyes huge, and stammered a moment before Roxala growled and... simply shut the door in her face! Abbey sputtered and bustled to the door, giving Roxala a none-too-friendly glare before the massive woman returned to my side, expression sullen.

"Got no use for waifs and cowards." she sulked, voice a growl. I bludgeoned her with my tail a little as a friendly gesture, and she grunted, glancing back then to my face again as I gave her a doggie grin.

"What are you smilin' at?" she said, and I licked her face full-on with my big slobbery wolf tongue.

"GAH!" she said, and laughed as she wiped her face, pushing me away a bit.

"Stop that!"

"What is it, miss Mandy?" Abbey asked, and the girl just about melted with relief to see the matronly handmaiden.

"Ohh Miss Birchwood, it's terrible! Cook says the potatoes are in open revolt and the vegetables are staging a coup of the kitchen! It's a gumbo, and he says he's lost five already!" she said, and Abbey blinked at the girl.

".... Wwwwwwhat? You make it sound like the vegetables are attacking the cooking staff!" Abbey laughed, but the sound died to a sputter as the girl replied!

"They ARE, marm! They have most of the waiting staff pinned in a broom closet, the cook is in the kitchen with all the guards and staff he could muster and they are LOSING, marm! Five men were dead when Cook sent me up! It's probably worse now!" she said, clearly in a state! My wolf-ren let me see a slow, terrible grin slowly spread across Abigail Birchwood's features as she nodded at the girl and said"Well... we have some solid reinforcement for you. Go back and tell the Cook help is on the way. And here."

Abbey said, moving into the room a bit to take a longsword off the mantlepiece to present it to Mandy, pressing it into her hands.

"Make the House of Windbinder proud!" she said, and pushed the girl down the hall. I was already turning and moving to meet Abbey halfway as she moved to look up at me.

"You heard that?" she asked, and I nodded, and put my paw on her shoulder, gently pushing her out of my way. Glowing gold in the dimness, my eyes glinted. Like hell I'd let some shy little woman go back into the teeth of some rogue freakin' potatoes like that. She was still standing there as I opened the door and shouldered my way through to stand high above her. Gelidia followed me, kissing Abbey's cheek as she passed, and recognition passed over Mandy's features.

"L-lady windbinder! And... w-who... who is this?" She said, glancing at my face as the shade half sank into the wall to stay out of my way.

"This is Goldtail Twice-Cursed, Hound of Lambstock, and my Consort. We are your reinforcement." she said, with an edge to her voice that gave me a little involuntary shiver of delight. World, it felt like I was in a movie! My image must have been softened by how I was panting stupidly and wagging my tail, beating the heck out of the doorway as I got excited.

The girl gave me a curtsy and shook like a leaf as I returned the gesture with a nod of greeting, and slipped to all fours as Gelidia reached to touch my Wolf Pendant, where her cursed coin hung around my neck.

"Act in my name, Goldtail Twice-Cursed! Save who you can - and bring retribution on the heads of the pernicious produce in the name of House Windbinder!" She said, and I felt a familiar surge of magic as she used her skill on me. What WAS that skill? I spent a few points of mana to find out! Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators! [MONSTER, LIFE] Phantasmal Investment Huh!

My eyes flashed gold a moment, and I let out a rumble that literally shook the hall around me as green barding formed around me in a swirl of my Lady's power that stirred my fur and lifted my hair to allow it to pass underneath. Soon, as in the fight with Sir Little, I was wearing a lightweight suit of barding with chain and tabardry with the House's green colors over my massive, inhuman shape, And Gelidia motioned to the cowering, starry-eyed Mandy.

"I would not ask this of you, Mandy, you have been quite brave enough for one night." Gelidia said, extending her hand outward towards Mandy for the blade, who looked incredibly relieved as she handed the sword over! When given it by the girl, she again used her Phantasmal Investment, saying"I answer the call of the House of Windbinder to face its enemies and defend it from all comers, be they man, monster, or truculent tubers!"

"NOW WAIT JUST A MOMENT YOUNG LADY!" Abbey protested as Gelidia surged with magic! Armor rippled over her form, meshing with her lovely dress and changing its contours as she gained a layer of chain mail and lamellar that glittered in the light! As she mounted sidesaddle onto my back, the armor she'd invested upon my body with my Wolf Pendant changed to accommodate her, to give her support as a saddle formed!

The old sword flashed with green light, and Abbey, who had been storming up towards her Lady, paused and even took a step back, eyes wide as the blade hissed and crackled with a surge of green lightning.

"What are you DOING? You needn't go!" Abbey said, and Gelidia winked... and her voice said into my mind'Go! Go now!' I didn't need telling twice. Rising to all fours from my crouched position to permit her onto my back, I went from a standing start to a blur. My Wolf-Ren gave me a clear picture of my lover bending low over my back and gripping my long braids as reigns with one hand, even as she dramatically held her long blade out to the side. As I ran, I could hear it hiss and spit like a pissed off tomcat.

Servants, drawn by commotion and shouting, peeked out of doorways only to duck hastily back into rooms and side passages in a hurry to avoid being run down as the carpeted stone hallway blurred under my legs.

"GELIDIAAAAAA!" Abbey thundered after us, and my Lady only cackled in feral joy!

'Like HELL I'll stand back and let you face an army of vicious veggies alone! And trying to send poor Mandy like that! It's shameful!' Gelidia said into my thoughts with surprising vitriol! Did you tell her you were going to usurp your Father, earlier?

'Ha! Yes, she hated that!' I can imagine! It sounded like she was upset about it, what little I heard.

'She means well, but... she's getting older. Times like that, you want stability, not change.' she said, and I could hear her fondness. THAT IS DUMB. CHANGE IS GOOD! Gelidia laughed into our thoughts, but pointed her sword at an oncoming hallway!

'Left! Go left!' and I obeyed! To avoid losing too much momentum or slow down, I bounded onto the wall then used my grip on it to shoot forward as Gelidia whooped with terror and excitement! For a moment, I was airborne - and sailed over a ducking guardsman's head before my paws hit the ground.

'Stop! Stop!' and again, I obeyed. I planted my legs and dug in my claws, ripping up carpet on old stone floors and kicking up sparks, my hindquarters slipping sideways. To help keep me stable, Gelidia planted her foot and drug it on the ground behind my sideways power slide, sword brandished and hissing with lightning as we moved. The Guard was shocked - who wouldn't be? - and Gelidia raised her voice to call to him.

"To arms, guardsman! To arms! The kitchen is under siege by evil vegetables!" she commanded, pointing her blade at him. He goggled at her. Then, he goggled at me, my tail raised high behind me and wagging, my bulk occupying the hallway as ably as a horse might! Then, he looked to Gelidia again, and shut his mouth with a clop.

"Y-Yes, My Lady!" said the skeleton, phantasmal flesh and and metal manifesting where his own damaged armor and missing skin was lacking. He surged forward, and Gelidia bid me onward, but at a more sedate pace to let the man keep up with her. As I loped along, doorways opened, and I could hear the distant sounds of men screaming, calling out to each other, the sounds of pain and fear and the cries of... things. Creatures, not people or even monsters like Gelidia and I.

We turned a corner, and I saw a group of servants trying to flee from... I kid you not, a giant, murderous garlic monster wielding a knife! It looked overgrown and strange, with hateful red glowing eyes and a bloody splitting maul that it wrenched out of the back of a shade that dissolved into white light even as I watched. Gnarlic Level 6, triumphant, healthy It looked up to see me, and I don't know what it was thinking - it didn't bat an eye! It just...

let out another of those cries in my direction, sounding like a chain smoking chihuahua as it bayed in challenge, brandishing its axe. Oh, it wanted to challenge me? Okay! I let out a bellowing battle roar that literally shook the air and walls around me! The notification, when it came, was different than usual! For one thing, it didn't have the normal motif - it instead had a rampart on the bottom edge, and the moonlit sky above eclipsed by a bat, and it said: A cursed cry pierces the night!

The enemies of the House of Windbinder shall know fear! Whatever bravado was driving the Gnarlic trembled and buckled as it heard the noise, and it took a full step backward, eyes wide with terror! The guard, on the other hand, joined me a beat later with a cry of his own as green light pulsed dimly around him!

Doors on both sides of the hall opened up, and maids, butlers, and more, skeletons and shades alike, brandished brooms, knives, and fire pokers, each of them surging with that same faint pulse of green light! They joined in the cry, and as one being, we charged. The Gnarlic broke and ran, screeching! It was fast, but I was definitely faster, bearing down on it and delivering a swat that split it into cloves and tore it apart, scattering it across the halls in pieces, killing it instantly.

I could feel a notification vie for my attention, but I ignored it and set off again, this time with a small platoon of servants at my back. What had happened? Why had that been different?

'I am influencing your power with my own, my love. We are in this together!' Good enough for me! She directed me to the kitchen, and it was a scene of carnage. It'd very obviously gone very, very badly - shades were torn and skeletons were missing parts of themselves as they held the line alongside a massive skeleton man wielding a cleaver in each hand, his cook's apron filled out by spectral flesh that made clear how big and broad he'd been in life!

Even just as what had been a human, I figured, he was still approaching seven feet tall, and pulsed with that same green light as he duked it out with two monster carrots and an onion, each the size of a man, each wearing pots and pans as armor, each with knives turned to improvised spears, one with a giant tenderizing hammer wielded as a warhammer.

Trubbion level 7, furious, wounded Carroot x2 level 6, furious, healthy I let out another cry, and Gelidia, the guard, and all the servants let out their own battlecries as we joined the fray. The look of hope as the Cook glanced back, and on the faces of all his remaining men, was something that I wouldn't soon forget as I bounded to his side.

A Carroot darted forward, trying to stick a blade into my side, only for Gelidia to parry the awkward weapon aside and chop the thing's green leafy bit atop its head loose before my jaws closed on the thing. It made one last terrified cry before I literally bit it in half, pots, pans, and all, none of its body or improvised armor providing any meaningful resistance. The Cook made a good showing, stepping up and catching another spear blade before it could so much as touch Gelidia on my back.

An expertly wielded cleaver came around, and he embedded it between the second Carroot's eyes. With a grunt of effort and a dying gurgle from the monster, he pressed it through and clear to the ground, cleaving the thing in two pieces. The Trubbion, with its huge tenderizer, was not alone though, even now.

He held his hammer over his head, and let out a warbling screech that was taken up as a squad of evil world-damned potatoes surged out of the doorway behind it with more knife spears, pots, pans, and whatever the cooks had had in the kitchen. Potatorr x6 level 6, terrified, healthy. And then, things devolved into a melee.