Umbral Feast

Chapter 116


<~> Chapter 116

"You'll leave with me where we can talk about the details," Celeste said to our group. Everyone else was leaving the room after King Rigel's dismissal.

Once the soldiers had cleared the way for us, she led us through the doors, down a hallway, and into a new meeting room. The first thing I saw when we entered was Callisto waiting for us. He had a light smile as he looked over our group. I saw his eyes pause for a moment on Luna before glancing at the braid hanging from my shoulder. His smile deepened when his gaze returned to Celeste though.

As soon as Aria closed the door behind us, Callisto came over to Celeste and pulled her into a hug. "I'm glad to finally see you again, Sister. I heard about your children. I am so sorry."

Celeste wrapped her arms around him and let out a choked breath. "It's good to see you again too, Callisto. How have you been faring here?"

He pulled away with a smile. "I wish I could say I have been doing well, but it's been hard. It's felt like so long since you've been away. I wasn't allowed to visit Clyclostro while you were there and now I see why."

Celeste nodded before turning away and gesturing to our group. "This is the delvers I told you about in my letters."

Callisto stepped forward and smiled right at Luna. "This is her, then? Your daughter, Luna?"

Luna's eyes widened and she looked at Celeste for help. The dragon-touched foxkin stepped closer and placed a hand on Luna's shoulder. "It is. I haven't been able to tell you yet, but it appears that she had been wounded and cannot speak on her own. She uses rings of telepathy to communicate with her friends."

He frowned and shared a look with Celeste. "That's why you've been looking around for healers and magic items? My people have heard whispers of your dealings. You aren't as subtle as you should be on these matters."

Celeste shrugged. "I don't mind if they find out that I'm looking to do a favor for a mercenary I picked up. I feel as though being any more secretive would look more suspicious."

Callisto sighed and shook his head. "I admit that the thought has some merit to it, but let me help you look. When people realize you've lost your position, they'll try to take advantage of you."

"Perhaps," Celeste said with a sigh. "I'm frustrated I won't be able to find anything until after we leave for the dungeon I've discovered, though."

"I may be able to find a telepathy item for you in time. Give me a week," he said before turning to Luna. "Hello, dear! I'm your Uncle Callisto! I am glad to finally meet you." He reached out and took Luna's hand before planting a small kiss on it.

("Tell him hello for me, this feels like quite the odd encounter,") Luna said.

I smiled. "Luna says hello, and that this feels like an odd encounter."

("Helena! You weren't supposed to say that part!") Luna said embarrassed.

Callisto laughed. "I assume it would be. Meeting a royal that you didn't even know you were related to until recently. This whole situation must be very difficult for you, and now you're being sent on a mission just to keep suspicious eyes off of you."

Celeste interrupted. "No, this isn't just to hide Luna from them. I think there's something valuable in that dungeon. The royals of Clyclostro had kept it hidden from us for a reason. That worm wasn't supposed to offer it to me. That fact alone made me suspicious about how effective our marriage would have been in the first place. They were planning on keeping it a secret even after I had wed his son. They may have marched on Ironcastle regardless of our agreements."

He sighed and took a step back to look over our group. "I admit, sending your daughter on such a dangerous mission seems like a bad plan. I had assumed you were using this as a cover, not actually sending them inside."

"They're strong," Celeste said confidently. "They're not the strongest group for this, but I believe that they're the most trustworthy for this task, which makes them perfect. They got deep enough into the Fallow dungeon to bring back notes and a pelt of a monster on the unexplored seventeenth floor and documented multiple misplaced monsters there too. I would say that is plenty reason to trust them."

Callisto nodded. "You know them better than I do, I'll trust you on this. Bellatrix has been talking a lot about the unexplained events surrounding Fallow. We don't have anything in our records of events like these in the past. Monsters with abilities they shouldn't have or in places where they shouldn't be. It is all very concerning."

"We've experienced it first hand. The rumors are true," I said.

Callisto turned to me with a smile. "I never said they were rumors. You must be Helena, Luna's fiancé. I've heard a little bit about you... something that Celeste doesn't know about yet. I'm 'friends' with the manager of the Hunter's Association in Fallow and he slipped me some unique information on you."

A wave of concern traveled down my neck. There'd only be one thing that manager would have told him about.

Celeste's head snapped toward Callisto. "You have information on her? Is she a spy as I feared?"

He shook his head. "If she were a spy, I wouldn't have let you bring her this far in. No, the information said that she's a transformed umber hound, as ridiculous as that sounds. Normally, I wouldn't believe a tale like that, but I trust this manager's instincts, something is unique about her. He told me to keep tabs on her in case she did something dangerous. He believed she was safe enough to let her go, but we should be wary of her. There's another interesting piece in there, though. They found her in the dungeon. She didn't exist before then. They went in without her, returned with her, and no solo delvers or missing people match her description. No records of her exist anywhere I've looked. She only could have come from inside the dungeon."

Celeste turned to me with narrowed eyes. "You are a dungeon monster?"

Luna stepped in front of me and blazed with the heat of uncast fire mana. ("Tell her that you aren't! We have to tell her the truth. The only way out from here is through!") Luna said in a panicked voice that betrayed her confident posture.

Celeste's eyes turned to Luna with a perplexed look.

"I am not from the dungeon. I am from a different world entirely. An umber hound with spatial magic attacked me and somehow brought me here. I got lucky and killed it, but it did something to me." I slowly reached up and untied the blindfold. I lowered it and looked at the two of them with my unhidden umber hound eyes.

Both of the royals were caught off guard despite the warnings about me. I could feel the swirl of mana in the room. They were on edge too and the situation began to escalate when Luna started to pull mana toward herself.

I placed a hand on Luna's shoulder. "Relax, there's no need for hostilities. I'm friendly to you, and I love Luna. There is no reason to fight."

The mana continued to swirl around the three of them for a long moment. Celeste was the first to relax her control of her mana. "I do not wish to fight my daughter. If she trusts you enough to defend you... and take you as her fiancé, I suppose I have no reason to make an issue of this."

"Are you certain, sister? I hadn't believed this part when I came across the information..." Callisto said apprehensively.

"Yes, cease the posturing. Helena doesn't look as inclined to fight as my daughter does." Celeste said quietly.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Callisto released his held magic and Luna did so a moment later. Luna let out a breath of relief and I patted her shoulder again happily. All things considered, the situation could have gone worse. And I had to admit... Luna stepping in front of me, fully ready to fight for me... It made my heart flutter.

"Do your... changes end at the eyes?" Celeste asked.

"No, I can shift into a full-sized umber hound that walks on two feet," I replied.

Celeste pursed her lips. "I would call you a liar, but your glowing white eyes are intimidating. I hesitate to call anything into question now."

"Can we have a demonstration? I'd love to see it," Callisto said with excitement in his voice.

I raised an eyebrow. "Is that wise? We had just been on the cusp of fighting only a moment ago."

Callisto smiled wide. "I promise not to react with hostility. You've shown yourself to be quite patient with us, despite your curious nature."

I glanced at Celeste, who nodded. "I will not react negatively, but I wish to see the full extent of the powers that my daughter's fiancé wields."

I took a step back and shifted into my umber hound form. My senses sharpened and my dress disappeared as my body grew in size. Luna turned and smiled up at me while the two royals unconsciously took a step back and looked guarded. True to their word though, they didn't take any steps to gather any mana in preparation for a fight.

I crouched down to eye level with them, hopefully to reduce the intimidation of my monstrous form. "So, what do you think?" I asked.

"Oh my, it can talk like that!" Callisto said excitedly.

Luna's expression turned sour. ("Tell them you're a she not an it!")

I chuckled, which did not put them at ease. "Luna told me to correct you, I'm still a she, not an it."

Callisto's eyes trailed down to my featureless groin. "You don't look like a she, like that."

I blushed, the lack of genitals in this form had never come up before and I suddenly felt a bit embarrassed by his staring.

"Callisto! Please! I wouldn't expect that from you," Celeste said quickly.

He raised his hands up in defense. "I apologize, it's just... what came to mind."

Luna laughed at his response, and a lot of the tension faded.

"I'm going to shift back now," I said.

"What happened to your dress?" Celeste asked.

"I'll be wearing it when I return to my regular form," I replied.

I shifted back, and my dress returned to hug my body. It was surprisingly comfortable despite the stiff fabric. Something about it felt odd, though. I couldn't place it right away.

"Uh..." Celeste uttered as the two of them stared at the top of my head.

I reached up with confusion, but there wasn't anything on top of my head. "What's wrong?"

"You forgot about your ears. You were posing as a beastkin, remember?" Aria asked with a laugh.

"There's a hole in your dress... I can see your butt..." Iris said with a giggle. That unfortunately also got laughs from both Aria and Piper.

I reached behind me and felt the small hole where my tail would go. I hadn't thought about it since my tail normally just phased through my clothes, but this dress had been made with a tailed beastkin in mind. I cleared my throat and returned the ears and tail to my body.

"Fascinating." I turned to see Callisto looking up at my ears. "Is that a partial shift, or is it a different shift?"

Reaching up, I touched my ears to make sure they were there. "They are a partial shift. They're the same ears in my umber hound form."

"Is your hearing improved like that?" he asked.

"It is..." I felt a bit uncomfortable with the way he was looking at me now. Like I was a science experiment or something.

"Callisto, that's enough," Celeste said while pulling him away from me. "Give her some space, brother."

Celeste looked me up and down, eyes lingering on my ears. "That form of yours... it improves your fighting capabilities, doesn't it?"

"It does..." I said cautiously.

"You are listed as your team's skirmisher. I would bet that form makes you a lot more resilient. Do you heal like an umber hound does as well?" she asked.

"I do, I've unfortunately had the experience of being bit, cut, slashed, and even impaled. It hadn't been pleasant learning to fight in the dungeon," I admitted.

Her eyebrows rose. "Wait, you say you learned to fight in the dungeon. You weren't a fighter before you came from... wherever you came from?"

I paused. "Uh, no? I was... well, by your standards, a scholar. I had finished my general courses and I was about to pick my field of study before I took a break from it... and becoming lost in the dungeon."

I hadn't been expecting the smile that I had gotten from Celeste at the news of that. Had she been wondering if I was just a muscle head? It was as if she was appraising me all over again. She looked me up from head to toe. I was wearing a dress I hadn't even picked out myself, so I didn't know what she was looking for.

Luna smiled and hugged my arm. ("Tell her that you're perfect for me. An intelligent woman and a fierce fighter in one.")

I blushed and repeated what Luna said verbatim.

Celeste tapped her lip and smiled. "I had been worried that your accent had meant that you were uneducated, but now I can tell that this is a second language. Your value as my daughter's betrothed just keeps increasing."

Callisto laughed in the background. "Careful, things might be even worse for you if it turns out she likes you!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.


Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter