It was time for the monthly extraction. Something Edgar silently dreaded, but was accustomed to.
It was Madam Shelley who knocked on his door at around five in the morning. The butler hadn’t gotten a wink of rest, and there stood the aged stubby Vykker, tapping her lengthy nails on the door in a disorderly rhythm. “Ahem.” Her voice was shrill and unpleasant, like an out-of-tune violin. “Come on then! Out of bed, do not keep Lord Bramm waiting!” The Madam pressed impatiently, the exhausted Edgar rubbing his eyes as he clambered out of his makeshift bed.
“I am, terribly sorry, Madam.” The Mudokon apologised with a small bow of his head. Madam Shelley tutted in response, barely acknowledging the apology and folded her arms as she walked away. This had all happened countless times before, so Edgar didn’t need to be told to follow her. He had no time to dress himself; any delay on his part would cause him to be put through more pain, so he was more chilly than usual as he walked through the long corridors. Of course Madam Shelley didn’t walk down the stairs when they arrived to them; she used her stairlift, slowly descending while sneering at the Mudokon butler.
Some minutes later, Edgar entered the extraction chamber after Madam Shelley; the ones of importance had to be present in the room first to listen to Lord Bramm’s speech. A peculiar rule, but a rule nonetheless, and rules had to be strictly followed.
Edgar walked further into the room. The extraction chamber was an undecorated, long grey hall with a high ceiling- almost every ceiling in the manor was incredibly far up since they had to accommodate for the CEO’s towering frame. At the end of the hall was where his masters were; Sir Albert stood aside, Madam Shelley was by the lever, and next to Sir Howard was Lord Bramm. And there he stood, forebodingly, situated before the extractor, welcoming Edgar with a hardened glare.
I was in a fantasy mood so I doodled my little rogue.
Bendy has always gravitated towards trees, as they gave him a good vantage point to watch for others as he traveled and often slept in them. He still spends a lot of time in trees even after being freed by Sir Howard, though he enjoys the peace of nature as well now. He took up whittling a little after joining Sir Howard, finding it relaxing and a constructive use for the knives he’s always carrying. And of course, he has to show every piece he creates to Sir Howard.
When Bendy gains his wings and tail, he finds a new position to sleep in trees. The first he ended up like that was while he was asleep and he was surprised when he first woke, causing him to fall out of the tree.
“Watch Harlots,” they said, “It’s got lots of great female characters and Edward Hogg,” they said, somehow neglecting to tell me about the most Extra™ man who ever lived.
Just a friendly conversation between Sir Howard and Lord Drew...
Joey's design belongs to @inkspottie
Once Sir Howard frees Bendy and learns the truth about Lord Drew, he sets out to stop Joey’s plans. Joey does realize Bendy’s still alive at first, but he eventually figures out that Bendy is with Sir Howard. Sir Howard and Joey often run across each other in public social events and Joey just loves to taunt Sir Howard, knowing that Sir Howard can’t act against him in public.
This is Sir Howard (my version of Henry), a Holy Paladin and warrior for justice that only kills when there’s no other choice. While he usually serves the king of the land, his true calling is combating the forces of evil and doing what he knows to be right. There have been several times where he has gone against the orders he’s been given because he either believed them to be unjust or believes there is a better way to handle a situation such as when he met Bendy. Henry had been on sent on a mission to kill Bendy but rather than taking the little devil’s life, Henry spared him and took him under his care.
Sir Howard calmly removed his armor, giving no indication that anything was different than a regular night. King Henry had sent him on a mission to find the mysterious assassin referred to as the "Demon's Shadow." No one had ever gotten a clear look at the assassin, but they always left an inky smear in the shape of devil's horns at the sight of the kill. Many believed that this assassin was a minion to the rumored "Ink Demon" who was behind the ink monsters that had been appearing in the woods around the edges of the land. Some even believed the assassin was the Demon himself attempting to weaken the heart of the Kingdom and bring fear to all of them. No matter what this assassin truly was, Sir Howard would find him and stop his murderous ways.
Sir Howard had arrived in this town earlier that morning and had spent the time investigating the latest crime scene. As he examined the room the victim had been killed in and questioned the guards and nearby townsfolk for any information, Sir Howard became aware that there was someone watching him. He never saw anything whenever he checked his surroundings, but Sir Howard knew better than to dismiss what his instincts were telling him. Deciding to lull his watcher into a false sense of security, Sir Howard continued about his business as normal.
Now he was in the room he had rented for stay, preparing for bed knowing his watcher, who was most likely the assassin he was meant to find, was still nearby. Subtly making sure his sword and knife would be in easy grabbing distance, Sir Howard blew out his light out and settled into the bed. Very connivingly, Howard slowly settled down and slowed his breathing in feigning a deep sleep.
After nearly an hour of pretending to be asleep, Howard heard a quiet squeak of the window opening and shutting, followed by nearly silent footsteps sneaking their way closer. If Howard hadn't been paying close attention for just those sort of noises, he would never have known something was wrong. Howard made sure to give no visible reaction but began to prepare himself as the intruder drew closer. When Howard sensed the intruder standing over him with the subtlest noise of a knife being drawn, he stuck out with all his strength.
The assassin was a lot smaller then Howard was expecting, so he was able to send the unprepared figure flying across the room with his blow. The assassin let out a yelp, one that sounded like a very young boy to Howard, as he was hit and a pained gasp as he slammed into the wall. The assassin managed to land on his feet and Howard was able to get a good look at him.
He was about the size of a child, covered in dark clothes to help him blend into the shadows. Howard could not make out any details because of the clothes except for glowing yellow eyes peering him at him. Howard was through of guard a little bit by those eyes. He had seen the eyes of killers many times, usually full of anger, hate, and vile blood lust. But this assassin's eyes were full of fear, sadness, and resignation. Howard didn't have time to dwell on that though as the assassin readied his knife and lunged forward.
Howard grabbed his own knife and managed to easily block the blow to his heart. The assassin was incredibly nimble and quick, able to bounce around from all the furniture to dart at Howard from all sorts of angles, aiming with deadly precision. But Howard wasn't just a Holy Paladin in the title, he had many years of experience fighting all sorts of enemies and monsters, so he was able to easily fend off all of the assassin's attacks.
As they fought through, something pulled at Howard's senses. Keeping a careful eye on the assassin, Howard allowed divine energy to start flowing through him and increase his awareness. Only all of the training and experience Howard had kept him from gasping at the amount of dark and evil energy coming from the small assassin. Most of the energy seemed to be concentrated on the assassin's back, indicating some sort of magical seal there. Howard wasn't exactly sure what the seal did, but he knew he needed to break it.
With a new goal in mind, Howard watched the little assassin carefully for his next move. When the assassin lunged again, instead of blocking the blow, Howard latched onto the assassin's wrist, keeping the blade away from him. Kneeling down to get a better angle, divine energy filled Howard's hand and he gently placed it on the assassin's back. The assassin struggled and tried to escape and flinched away from Howard's touch.
"Be patient little one," Howard murmured encouragingly. "I'm trying to free you from the seal that has been placed upon you."
The assassin froze and looked up at Howard with wide eyes. After a moment, he relaxed and didn't try and escape from Howard's grip. Satisfied the assassin wasn't going to try anything, Howard focused on the seal. He could tell now that it was a seal of obedience, one of the strongest and darkest kinds. Howard frowned as he realized he wouldn't be able to remove it, but he should be able to at least break the seal so it would lose its power. Divine energy began to glow even brighter, causing a whimper of pain from the assassin as the energy did its work.
"There you go little one," Sir Howard smiled encouragingly as he finished breaking the seal, letting the divine energy fade away. "You are free to make your own choices."
The little assassin's stiff posture slumped and his glowing eyes showed nothing but relief as he whispered a soft "Thank you."
Howard only nodded, sitting back to catch his breath, tired out from using so much divine energy. After taking a moment, Howard looked back at the little assassin, who hadn't moved and was staring at him with a look that clearly said: "Now what?" Howard blinked and pondered just what they should do next as his mission concerning the assassin had taken a very unexpected turn.
"You and I have a lot to talk about," Howard sighed, getting a slow nod from the little assassin. Howard had a lot to learn about this little assassin, but there's one thing he knew now. No matter what, he would protect this little assassin from whoever had put the seal on him and forced him to do such horrible things. He would keep this little one safe.
