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

Felbar looked skeptical.  “Not that I’m disparaging your abilities, but how do you propose to do that?  And why were you asking about that Roc—oh.”

“Exactly.  Don’t tell me you forgot there is a figurative treasure chest of exactly what we need strapped to the back of that magnificent bird.”

He chuckled a little at that description of the Aerie Roc.  “Magnificent, is it?  I seem to remember you having a bit of trouble even—”

“No need to remind me,” Violet said, holding up her hand for him to stop.  “That’s old news; for now, what that bird possesses is worth a thousand rides on the back of a frightening monster flying at heights that only the Creator would appreciate, especially if it allows us to save our people.”

Felbar immediately got up and started jogging towards the door.  “What are you waiting for, Violet?  Tell the council your plan.”

“But—where are you going?”  His words caused the important council members to turn in her direction, and she shrunk back at their stares.  Being underneath their scrutiny made her shrink upon herself as the thought of trying to convince them of her ideas made her freeze up.

“Someone’s got to get that magnificent bird down here, right?”  For the first time since they had been back, a hint of a smile crossed his face as he disappeared through the open door.

Great; he left me all alone.  Giving a little huff, she got up and squared her shoulders, trying to find the confidence deep down inside her to convince the council of her plan.  As she moved, the pair of Energy Orbs strung around her neck gave her an idea, as well as the opening she needed.

Pulling the strung Orbs from around her neck, she brought them out for the council members to see.  Immediately, she saw two of them react as she got closer to them, one of whom was Council Leader Brinda.  Handing the simple necklace to the most important person in the room she needed to convince, Violet wasn’t surprised to see Brinda touch and hold the Spirit Orb in her hand in open-mouthed fascination.  “I don’t know if Felbar mentioned these Energy Orbs or not, but I’ll try to explain exactly what they are.  Not only that, but it is my belief that these Orbs will end up saving us.”

“What?  These two?”

Violet laughed shortly, before continuing.  “Oh, no – we have quite a few more of these.  A…friend…is holding them for us, which Felbar just left to fetch.”

“These are amazing and impossible at the same time,” Brinda admitted, reluctantly passing the necklace around to the other council members so that they could check them out as well.  “But how can these, uh, ‘Energy Orbs’ – as wonderful as they are – help us?  I’m sure it will help our Enchanters create many more enchantments, which will be a great benefit – don’t get me wrong – but that might only delay the inevitable.”

“That might be true, but I wasn’t thinking of these as being used for our Enchanters, except perhaps initially.  Instead, we’re going to utilize these in a wholly different way I learned about while inside of Sandra’s dungeon.”

A dark cloud eclipsed the faces of the council, but they were curious enough to want to know what she was talking about to not flat-out dismiss any ideas; even if those ideas came from the dungeon that inevitably led to the death of the King and so many others.  “And what is that?”

“As weapons, of course.  We’re going to use our Gnomish ingenuity to create an arsenal of weapons that will solve all our problems.  Better yet, anyone will be able to use these weapons, so we don’t need those trained specifically as part of our defense corps to wield them.”

The council stood in shocked silence for a moment, before Brinda broke the tension in the room.  “What exactly do you have in mind?”

I think I did it; I convinced them.  Now it’s time to put my skills to the test, so I can prove that this can work.  “I thought you’d never ask….”

Chapter 6

I wonder what Kelerim is doing right now….  I hope he’s staying out of trouble.

Echo’s stray thoughts were interrupted as she suddenly felt a subtle shifting in the great tree she was held prisoner within, which made her sit up quickly from where she had been lounging.  What’s going on?  The hollowed-out room in the Royal Family Tree was starting to flex and warp, and the branches making up the roof were starting to writhe like snakes – which understandably caused Echo to shrink back in horror.  Her near-death experience after being bitten by a snake from that Reptile-monster dungeon was enough to make her tense up in momentary fright at the appearance of one of the slithering serpents.

Her attention was pulled away from the frightening scene happening above her head as she heard something occurring outside of her door.  The sounds of heavy thuds hitting the wooden wall that encompassed her room, followed by a cut-off scream, made her instinctively reach behind her back to unsling her bow.  It was only when her hands met nothing that she remembered that she was weaponless; ever since she had been placed in her current confinement “for her own safety”, she had been relatively defenseless.

Well, not entirely defenseless.

Using her Holy elemental energy, she wrapped a light-bending field around her form and retreated to the corner.  Wary of the still-writhing branches above her head, she crouched down and made herself as small and unassuming as possible.  This can’t be good.

The door suddenly slammed open, cracking its painstakingly nurtured façade in the process.  Whispered voices preceded the entrance of four figures, their appearance darkened, blurry, and mostly obscured by some sort of magical or elemental effect.