The Crafter's Darkness: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 4) by Jonathan Brooks (e book reading free txt) 📕

There was so much in his last speech that Wyrlin needed to be unpacked and evaluated, but the Warlord didn’t afford him the time.

“So, while I can appreciate how determined you were to survive, that leads me to why you were brought here and why you weren’t told to return to your lands.  It’s a rather simple question, but it also needs to be answered truthfully.  What do you know about the death of my son?”

The question took them all off-guard, and Fyola was so stunned by the unexpected question that she couldn’t even answer.  Fortunately, Mercyll asked what Wyrlin was sure was being thought by all of the Elves.

“Who is your son, and what do you think happened to him?”

“Razochek was leading his own Warband near Grongbak when he was reportedly killed by a dungeon in the area.  I have my doubts about that, but I have it on dubious authority that what I was told was true.  However, upon further investigation and the destruction of two dungeons nearby, I have learned that there might be another dungeon nearby that had a hand in his death.  Above all else, I want revenge,” the Warlord said, slamming his fist down on the arm of his throne, which cracked the wood underneath his hand worriedly.

“Wait – you destroyed two dungeons?  And destroyed their dungeon hearts as well?” Fyola suddenly asked, horror tinging her voice.  Wyrlin could sympathize; everyone knew that if you destroyed more than one, nearby dungeons would become a little bit stronger.  His worry intensified even further when he heard Warlord Bloodskull’s next words.

“Yes, but it’s really nothing to worry about,” the massive Orc said, waving his hand dismissively as if the destruction of two dungeons was unimportant.  “It was near the wastelands, so it won’t affect the rest of our people.”

“You fool—”

“Hold on,” Wyrlin cut her off as something clicked in his head.  “Is this ‘Grongbak’ your village right next to the wasteland border?”

Fyola stared daggers at his interruption, but he was beyond caring at that point.

“That’s right – what do you know about it?” the Warlord asked eagerly, leaning forward in his throne.

“Oh, I think I’m uniquely qualified out of all of us to help you out here,” Wyrlin said cautiously, while his insides were quivering.  If it was true that the Orcs had destroyed the two closest dungeons to the wastelands, then it wasn’t just two dungeons that were destroyed near each other – but three.  What that meant, the Ranger wasn’t exactly sure, but he knew it couldn’t be good.

“What do you mean?  What do you know?”

Everyone else with him had caught on quickly, including Fyola and the other Elites, but for once the Elite leader let him continue instead of trying to take over.

“Because, if I’m not mistaken, I’ve seen this dungeon that killed your son.”

Chapter 29

Not only had the two Dungeon Cores near the Elven lands expanded enough to fully overlap their village of Avensglen, but they – along with the two Dwarven ones – had stretched their new Areas of Influence to reach halfway inside of the wastelands.  Such rapid growth worried Sandra because they were getting uncomfortably close to attacking her dungeon, which wasn’t good.  Within a few minutes of their upgrades being completed, each of the Cores sent out some more of their Dungeon Monsters, which immediately ran into Sandra’s assembled forces composed of Shieldmen, Rangers, constructs, and Wyvines.  Now that her forces had an advantage, they were prepared to keep it as long as they could to prevent as much expansion as possible.

This lasted for about an hour or two, depending on the dungeon, before the single Monsters or even small groups stopped coming out of their dungeon entrances.  Each of the Cores had a typical second, larger entrance that Sandra had located earlier, and when they tried to push through their Dungeon Monsters through these back doors, additional forces were there to stop them.  After another hour or so of nothing but setbacks, the flow completely stopped out of either entrance.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if they start to gather up a larger force then send them all at once,” Delarthe said when things had quieted down.

* That’s what I suspect they will do as well.  Be careful, of course, but I think you should be able to handle this.  If you think you’ll be overwhelmed, fall back, regroup, and start whittling them down one at a time if necessary; the point is to make their push as expensive as possible for them, while minimizing your casualties.  And remember, when in doubt – run! *

Sandra suspected that the Dwarves had more than enough help to defeat whatever came out of those entrances, even if it were some larger “boss”-type Dungeon Monsters.  They might have to fall back and take them out piecemeal, but she had full confidence in them.  The Elves, on the other hand, might have a little more difficulty because they relied on stealth to inflict their attacks for the most part.  There wasn’t really any surprise involved when they were obviously there guarding the entrances, but gathered together they were an excellent ranged force that could inflict some major damage if it came to it.

* Chryla – stay safe.  It’s been my experience that each dungeon is unique in that they can be unpredictable, so don’t be afraid to run and retreat back to your village. *

“Will do, Sandra – and thank you.”

After that, it was a bit of a waiting game.  There wasn’t anything they could do other than wait and watch, and Sandra wasn’t about to send one of her constructs inside one of the entrances to check them out.  It was one thing preventing them from gaining a foothold outside, it was something else entirely acting like they were going to invade.  She