Chronicles of a Royal Pet: A Princess and an Ooze (Royal Ooze Chronicles Book 1)

by Ian Rodgers

  My plan worked! Summon Water draws in moisture, but normally it would be impossible to take any from a human even if I touched their skin while doing the spell. Unless, of course, I pierced their flesh or there was nothing between me and their precious bodily fluids. Sucking up the water in the assassin’s own blood I dealt a sudden spike of damage to the woman which couldn’t be negated easily even with a cursed artifacts help.

  I drank down the water I had gathered eagerly, using it to slightly replenish my own mass. It wasn’t much, but this way I could regain some of what I’d lost to her cursed blades. A fitting compromise.

  Her cry of surprise shook her two companions who’d apparently never seen or heard their leader injured before. And that moment of hesitation was enough for Jean to crush her opponent under a wall of telekinetic weight and for the Dire Sword to hack off the left arm of his own foe. The tables turned on them in our favor!

  Victory did not last for long though. The older woman tore herself away from my appendage and hacked it off while returning to her solid human form. The other two assassins did the opposite, letting their cursed capes transform them into blood to escape their situations. Jean’s opponent slipped out from under the crushing barrier and tripped up the Dire Sword while the assassin took that chance to reattach their lost arm and retaliate by plunging both of their weapons down into the swordsman’s body. The longer sword-like blade tore off the guard’s own left arm in revenge and the dagger-like weapon sunk into his chest plate and punctured a lung. From behind the second male killer stabbed both of his weapons into the royal guard’s back, the sword jutting through the front of the body, slick blood dripping off the grotesque black blade.

  He collapsed. The first casualty of the battle. Thanks to my special sight I was able to see the soul fade and become torn. The Dire Sword’s life energy suffused his murderers. But thanks to that sacrifice, help finally arrived.

  “Get away from my children!” Sensing danger I tossed myself forwards, wrapping around Orleen and the two royal heirs while being careful not to accidently engulf and digest them. It was a good thing I do so. A spear of pure flames shot down the corridor from behind me, setting a nearby tapestry ablaze as it passed by. The woman assassin dodged it by throwing herself flat to the floor, and it soared past to slam violently into the male intruder standing directly in front of the fallen Dire Sword. His companion had been facing the direction of the spell and had a moment more to react to it and was spared death.

  The spear of fire pierced the back of the unlucky assassin and carried him several feet before the heat combusted his flesh and clothes. He tried to liquefy to escape the damage but the flames were too hot and he could only utter an inhuman scream as the cursed blood boiled and turned to noxious steam.

  My flesh bubbled and popped due to the heat that passed by me. Clouds of purplish smoke rose up like a haze and I hastily uncoiled and dropped to the floor to try and recover some of my injuries. I learned something new as well. Damage from fire? It really hurt. Not even my squishy body was immune.

  “Burning Lance!” Again a second Level Four spell was hurled down the passage way, but it was sliced to pieces by the female assassin. Despite that the faces of Liliana and Julius lit up in relief and joy. Even the maids and I were happy to see her. There, striding down the carpeted path like a well-dressed cake of motherly rage was Queen Amdora, a ruby colored wand in her right hand, held out like a rapier towards the assassins. Behind her Katrina and Petrus could be seen, the latter shaping a barrier spell while the queen’s maid drew several throwing daggers from somewhere.

  And, to add to the firepower that was assembling, a quartet of Dire Swords appeared from further down the hall with swords drawn and ready to defend their liege lady and children.

  The last male assassin tried to run past and reach the children in the confusion but was struck down by another burst of wind from Jean, and sent sailing towards the running knights. They bellowed a war cry and made their blades shine with brilliant white light. With holy magic etched onto their weapons the cursed artifacts of the assassin stood no chance. His black sword and dagger shattered, his cloak was ripped to tatters and his body hacked into bloody chunks.

  As for the woman she looked around her and saw how hopeless the situation appeared. She reached down to her waist and slipped her hand into a bag at her side, likely to grab a last resort weapon.

  I didn’t let her. Instead, I shot forward and slammed into her left side. I did not stop though. I made my body as acidic as I could, so when I touched her I just kept going, my form transmuted into a giant stomach that melted and devoured her when I landed on her. She was cut near clean in half, part of the robe and whatever it was that she’d reached for dissolving as easily as her flesh and bones. I slid off, having carved a great gouge from her left hip to her right glute, severing her spine and causing great torrents of blood to gush out along with blobs of offal.

  But something I’d consumed made me pause, and I felt a sense of vertigo overtake me. My vision swam and I felt nausea for the first time. What on Erafore had I just eaten?

  Thankfully, my sudden disability didn’t give the last assassin a chance to react. Why? She was too busy gurgling and choking on her own bile and pain from my attack. She spasmed and twitched before groaning and falling still. Anyone else might have kept up their guard, fearing a feint, but I could see that her life had fully vanished. She was dead.

  “Liliana! Julius!”

  “Mama!”

  I turned my attention to gaze at the heart warming reunion between Queen Amdora and her precious children. Petrus started casting spells to heal Jean and Orleen while also checking over the royal offspring. Katrina took up a position near her lady while watching the corpses with a wary eye.

  “Are you both okay? None of you are hurt?” Queen Amdora inquired, checking over her babies.

  “We’re fine, mama. Jelly, Orleen, and the others protected us,” Liliana confirmed, wiping tears from her eyes as she tried to put on a strong front.

  Now that the tension was gone, there was finally a time to shed tears. Julius openly cried, relief and belated terror staining his face as he desperately clung to his mother and sister. My owner also had tears shining in her eyes and even though she tried to act strong I could tell she was badly shaken.

  “Was that your magic? I’ve never seen you use anything like that before,” Liliana asked her mother in between sobs. Her voice was sparkling with awe, but her mother only had embarrassment when she was forced to reply.

  “Well, yes, it was,” Queen Amdora stuttered. It seemed she had wanted to hide this side of herself from her children. I wondered why, but decided I did not care at the moment. I was still disoriented from whatever it was I’d made my meal, and still trying to sort through it all.

  “Teach me!” My owner demanded of her mother, to which Petrus chided the princess.

  “Learning such a dangerous spell comes after you can properly create a shield! Not before! We want to keep the palace intact to some degree!” Her pout was adorable. The atmosphere was calm and comforting, and tension fled the area as the Dire Swords started to clean up the remains of the battle and the assassins. I was so out of it, I didn’t even notice what came next until it was too late.

  “Oh my. Such a touching scene!”

  Everyone froze, hands going to weapons and mana gathered for attack spells. With shaky motions everyone, even myself, turned their gaze to stare at the dead woman.

  She was still dead, I was sure of that. Blood and organ loss not being issues easily overcome. But now something dark and unholy was filling her empty shell, animating her and forcing the ruined form to rise to their feet and turn to face us.

  Billowing out of the corpse was a heavy, dark pressure, completely foreign to me. It was so thick I was choking on it, my mana going wild with fear and I felt I was far too close to this ‘thing’ than was safe. A few countries over might be prudent. A whole continent would be even better! It wasn’t just me,
either. Petrus, Jean, and the queen all felt the same unearthly power pouring out, and they were just as terrified. A scent of urine filled the air. It seems one person wasn’t able to withstand the terror.

  “Who are you?” Queen Amdora demanded, overcoming the sudden pressure to glare at the puppet-corpse.

  “I am the owner of these failed assassins. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Duchess of Destruction Amdora Tein Roan,” the figure uttered, giving a mocking bow to the queen. The movements were sickening as its gaping wound flapped obscenely as it did so. Droplets of thick, flesh colored liquid dropped onto the floor from beneath the mask.

  I was so very glad I could not vomit. If I could, I likely would have lost my lunch at the sight of the assassin’s melted face dripping onto the blood slicked marble. Oh, wait, something just plopped out of the wound. Was that her liver? Oh sweet Cynthia it was!

  “For what reason did you dare to attack us?” Amdora demanded, tightening her grip on her wand. It seemed hearing that nickname infuriated her. Geeze, unknown puppet master! Stop making the already furious mage-queen even angrier!

  “It was a contract, nothing more. The request of the demented sister-in-law recently driven from her home.”

  “So it was Countess Darpel, then. What now? Will you continue to attack our family?” the queen demanded, to which the possessed corpse shook their head.

  “No. This was just to complete an agreement we’d had with her husband before his death. To be honest we weren’t going to kill your children. Just kidnap them. Hostages are much better for leverage than corpses. However since we have failed there is no more reason for me and my associates to continue this. For now,” the masked remains explained, the obsidian face covering starting to slip a bit as the features holding it in place sloughed away.

  “Then leave, and never darken our home again,” Queen Amdora snarled, to which the corpse just laughed in response.

  “We’ll stay away for the moment. But the world shall rebel. And at that moment, we will see you one final time.” That ominous warning given, the dark presence faded letting the pile of meat collapse to the floor once more.

  “Search the area! Secure the exits! No one enters or leaves the city, let alone this palace, until I say so!” Queen Amdora shouted, before wrapping Liliana and Julius in her arms. With surprising strength she hefted them up and cuddled them close to her chest and proceeded to walk back to their bedrooms as the Dire Swords scrambled to obey.

  “What about the bodies?” Karina inquired, giving a disgusted glare at the remains.

  “Burn them.” Was the curt response to Katrina’s question. The maid bowed in acknowledgement.

  “Shall I set up additional barriers this evening?” Petrus inquired. A stiff nod was his reply and he started to weave enchantments into the air, reinforcing the various wards. He bent down to examine the remains of the assailants and the spells they had used, recoiling from them.

  “Dark magic, and lots of it. They were wearing the spell Blood Dress, which allows one to infuse their own blood into garments to become pseudo cursed items. It grants high resistance to all forms of magic and accelerated healing, as well as allowing the wearer to turn into blood themselves.”

  “And they were using Black Bone Armament to fight with. It’s another forbidden Dark Element spell that take’s a person’s bones and physically alters them into weapons. The blades end up possessing Necromantic powers that steal the life force of whomever is wounded by them, transferring magic and life force to the person who wields the weapon.” Upon concluding his examination Petrus’ face was simultaneously green and pale.

  “Inform the Temple I want Exorcists up here to cleanse their corpses and to purify the castle. I refuse to let their taint stink up the place any longer than necessary,” the queen growled.

  I kept my distance from the bodies, feeling ill just being close to the tainted magic.

  “Jelly…” Liliana began, gazing at me with worry, but was cut off by a grunt from her mother. Orleen hastily picked me up, and I was grateful for her help. I still felt woozy and unsteady.

  “The two of you are sleeping in my room tonight,” Queen Amdora announced to her children and smiles filled their expressions.

  “Sleepover?” Julius asked, and he got a nod in confirmation. Slightly cheered up, the mood that had settled over them lightened a touch. Still, uneasiness remained, and there likely would be a few nightmares to tend to the next few days.

  Chapter 21: A triumphant return

  It had only been a week since the assassination attempt, and the effects from that were still rippling throughout the entire city. Rumors had swept the populace about the attack, and by now the assassins were everything from Dragonslave Fanatics, Orc Separatists, and, my personal favorite, Gnome Revolutionaries. But the point remained that there had been an attack, and I had helped foil it. That was something that had been circulated amidst all the rumors, and I gained a degree of fame thanks to that.

  Oh, and speaking of myself, something very strange happened in the aftermath of the incident. I had actual started to shrink in size the morning after, and I’ll admit, I panicked a bit. So did Liliana when she woke up and found me bouncing around the room and half my previous mass.

  After a checkup from both Petrus and Queen Amdora, they announced I was completely fine. In fact, I had just broken several laws of magic!

  “I just don’t understand this!” Petrus moaned, flipping through various tomes as I sat on a table, my owner hovering nearby. The queen just sighed at the young man’s actions.

  “When you attacked the female assassin, you practically tore her in half. In the process of ripping into her, you must have consumed a very unique item; A Bag of Holding. Enchanted to hold far more than it normally could with space bending magic, these items are expensive but well worth it. Nobles, merchants, as well as adventurers, all sorts found them useful for storing and hiding important artifacts.” Queen Amdora was the one who explained this all to me and my owner while the mage had a mental breakdown.

  She had actually started talking at me like I was a person, now, and it made me grateful. It seemed the queen could not deny that her daughter’s pet was as intelligent as she was.

  “What happened when you ate it seems to be that you assimilated its magic into your own being. You now have the same ability that a Bag of Holding does, though in a very odd way.”

  That explained the nausea I had felt after devouring a portion of the invader, as well as why my body shrunk.

  I now had a dimensional ‘hole’ or ‘pocket’ inside my core, where I could store physical objects as well excess mass. In this way, even if I grew to the size of a horse, I could suck it all up and put it away in storage for later. If I got injured I could quick reintegrate excess mass to heal myself, and I could keep important items like potions on hand in case of emergencies with my owner.

  Needless to say I was ecstatic. I had been so worried about my constant growth, and a solution was practically offer to me. Also, it gave something else for Liliana and Petrus to investigate about me. There was already a vast list of things they wanted to experiment with. What was one more?

  The start of winter also heralded the victory of King Tiberus and his march back from the Edelstein region.

  The king returned to Sanc Aldet just as the first snows began to fall. It was a close thing, as the weather had been growing colder and windier with each passing day. As it was, when the triumphant army led by the victorious king marched up the Red Road into the capitol, tiny flakes of snow fluttered down onto the gawkers and parade watchers and dusted them white.

  My owner and the rest of the royal family were waiting for King Tiberius just outside the outer gate of Palestone Castle, dressed in warm, sensible finery. We were surrounded by numerous Dire Swords who formed a cordon around us, as well as taking up hidden positions here and there. Furthermore, Sanc Aldet had been in lockdown for several days and had only been eased open when word of the returning king was
brought in.

  Liliana’s father rode up to his home on a beautiful black and white steed. A roan, befitting the family name and coat of arms.

  “That’s Ergesel: Trample, in the Elder Tongue. He is the royal steed, descended from the roan of the same name that my ancestor King Gregor once rode. Supposedly there’s a bit of Dire Horse in it,” Liliana explained to me under her breath.

  As she saw her father approaching a wide smile began to split her face and for the first time in a long while not a trace of melancholy could be seen on her.

  With a cry of joy, the king brought his mount to a halt in front of the palace gates and leapt off, leaving Ergesel to the stable hands that rushed out to lead him away.

  “I’m so glad you’re all safe!” King Tiberius exclaimed, striding forward and gazing lovingly at his wife and children. He was still in public, with many high profile figures around him. He couldn’t go around hugging them and nuzzling them, no matter how much he wanted to.

  And he really wanted to. I could see his desire to sweep his queen off her feet and play with his adorable children who were staring at him with relief and unbridled joy. But for the sake of his image, he restrained himself.

  “Your Majesty, we should move inside for now. It is growing colder and it would be unwise to keep Prince Julius and Princess Liliana out in the snow for too long,” Sir Blaine suggested, keeping pace with his lord at his back. It had been a while since I’d laid eyes on the commander of the Dire Swords, and he looked fine. He was limping though and his right arm moved stiffly. Had he been injured on the battlefield? I couldn’t recall any gossip about that, so it must have been suppressed, or at least gone unnoticed.

  “Excellent idea,” King Tiberius agreed and hastily ushered his family back into the palace.

  “Oh, dear, I’m so glad you’re safe!”

  “I’m so glad you’re safe as well!”