The Crafter's Dominion: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 5) by Jonathan Brooks (e ink epub reader .txt) 📕

“Well, that’s a bit of a long story, but the long and short of it is—now don’t freak out—that you’re in a dungeon.”

“WHAT?!”

Echo got to her feet and held her hands out as a reassurance, which only served to highlight the two Energy Orbs embedded in them.  “Now, this may seem a bit strange—”

“What has been done to you?!  I demand to be let out of this place immediately!” the Queen shouted, appearing ready to blast her way out if it was required.  The King wasn’t far behind.

“No, it’s okay; the dungeon heart needed to ‘Bond’ with you in order to repair the damage to your mind, especially after what the Chamberlain did with it.  Elder Herrlot sent me back here with you via the same giant bird I mentioned earlier, and Sandra was able to fix you up.”

“Who is Sandra?  Wait—Herrlot?  She sent you here?  Where are we?”

So many questions were thrown in Echo’s direction, but the Ranger patiently answered them all.  As the next few minutes wore on, the King and Queen eventually relaxed enough so that they didn’t appear ready to rip the dungeon apart.  Finally, the time came when Sandra thought it was about time to talk to them, herself.

* Welcome, your Highnesses.  I am Sandra, whom Echo has described to you as the dungeon; I am the heart, or Core, of my little space here, and I assure you that I only want what is best for everyone around the wasteland.  There’s a lot more that I need to inform you of, but I figure that you’re probably a bit famished after your experience.  Echo can lead you to the kitchen, where you can eat your fill. *

Their surprise was short-lived, especially after the information that Echo imparted to them, and as soon as Sandra stopped talking, they bowed in unison.  “As strange as it is to say it, we owe you a debt that can never be repaid.  Thank you…Sandra.  If there is something within our power to balance this debt a little, please let us know,” the Queen said, before straightening back up.

* As a matter of fact, there is something that you can do for me.  I’ll mention it in a little bit, but I want everyone to hear it at the same time.  And don’t worry, it will benefit your people as much as it will benefit me. *

They looked confused at that, but followed Echo out of their room, nonetheless.

Just one more piece in all of this, and I think we’re ready to begin.

Chapter 43

The initial meeting of the leadership was remarkably amiable, as Princess Celeste, King Mynag, and the King and Queen of the Elves all sat at the same large table in the Kitchen, eating sliced meat, bread, and fruit to their hearts’ content.  And at least 2 full mugs of Ale for the Dwarven King, of course.

Introductions were made at the start of the meal, which caught them all by surprise, because no one had mentioned to them that there were some visiting royalty besides themselves, and it was interesting to see their reactions.  Sandra had been expecting the same sort of racial tension to come out from them as she had seen before, but the only one that seemed even in the least uncomfortable was the Princess.  Whether it was because she was probably the weakest in terms of strength at the table, or because she was too young, she held her tongue for the most part when the others began to talk.

“Was there some specific purpose that all of us were brought here?  It seems like a crazy coincidence that all of us are here in the same place, at the exact same time,” King Mynag asked as soon as they were done eating.  When they were finished with their plates and scraps, Sandra had absorbed it all, which enforced the fact that they were inside of her dungeon.

* I assure you, this was never my intention.  Gerold, Violet, Felbar, and Echo all traveled back to your lands to apprise you of the situation here, as well as the threats to your lands.  Some of you may know a few of the details, but let me fill all you in with the rest. *

Sandra spent some time going over the same sort of information she had shared with Violet and the others not too long ago, and though it was a lot of repeated information for her friends, they didn’t seem bored by the reiteration.  The subject was quite important to everyone, of course, so that didn’t surprise the Dungeon Core.

“This is not good.  We had no idea any of this was happening,” the Elven King said, looking concernedly at his wife.  “I can appreciate what you have done to try to contain these dungeons, but even I can see that you won’t be able to fix everything yourself.  As it is, we were barely maintaining a balance with most of the monster population throughout Symenora; there’s no way we can keep up with these new expansions, let alone overcome them.”

King Mynag added his own viewpoint with a despondent shake of his head, which coincided with the Elves.  “I agree.  Despite the…supplies…that Sandra has generously donated to our cause, we’re already having trouble in our strongholds.  Before we arrived, we just lost Stonebrink Hall, the first stronghold we have ever let fall to the dungeons.  We might be able to stave off the inevitable closer to home with the help we received, but as far as facing this new threat…it’s impossible.”

 “While it’s possible for us to start making a difference in the monster population with our new Weapons of War,” Princess Celeste spoke up, “we’ve lost almost all of our Master Enchanters, a large portion of our Defensive Force, and…I’m all that is left