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

But the insane entity wasn’t the only one freed from restraints.

STOP!

Her conscience fought back with extreme force, her word filled with powerful conviction and determination.  The withering shadow paused, shrinking back down slightly in its efforts to change her inner self.  What is this?  Go away—

NO!  YOU WILL NOT DO THIS!

This time, there was no shrinkage of the shadow’s efforts, and there was only a slight pausing of its advancement.  After a short amount of time, the withering effect started creeping back up.  I know what is best for us – we need to do this in order to fully destroy our enemies!  No longer will they dare to attack us; once I harvest the Mana from these fools staying in this dungeon, nothing should be able to stand in our way!

It was a bit disconcerting hearing her mind talking to itself, but not quite as disconcerting as the prospect that the people she had given sanctuary to, the Dwarven villagers, were in danger if this entity succeeded.  From what she could tell, it was only her inner self that had managed to keep them – as well as the Elves nearby and the Orcish mercenaries providing assistance – off limits.  That would all change if insane-Sandra succeeded in converting her Human form into a Dungeon Core.

The spread of the destroying shadow sped up, and her conscience started to panic when her words didn’t seem to have any more effect.  She tried pumping everything she had into her commands, but it just wasn’t enough.  She had failed; failed herself, failed her Bonded friends, and failed to craft everything she knew she could if given enough time.  Worst of all, she had failed Winxa, to whom Sandra had promised to do everything she could not to become another Wester.  The Dungeon Fairy would be so disappointed—

The thought of her friend-guide-assistant brought a quick flash of warmth to her mind, and it took her a moment to really analyze what it was – and where it had come from.  Mainly because, in addition to a flash of warmth, it felt as if a jolt of power came with it as well.  Not enough to make a real difference, but with more of it, Sandra thought she might just stand a chance.

The withering shadow was already past her Human form’s waist, and she desperately looked around the strange conglomeration of bubbles in her mind space.  Thinking of Winxa again, she felt the same sense of warmth and power as before, but she also witnessed the bubble indicating her Visitors’ Bonds (and which held an image of Kelerim, of all things) pulse like a beating heart.  Keeping Winxa in her mind, she rapidly thought of each of her other Bonded, including Kelerim, Echo, and all of the Gnomes that had entered her dungeon after their village had been destroyed.  A heat suffused her conscience, lending a large influx of power at the same time.

Without waiting for it to dissipate, she directed it towards the insane shadow.  STOP!

This time, she finally stopped the advancement of the conversion, though she could tell it was only temporary.

What are you doing?!  This is for our own good!

In a short-enough amount of time, the advancement continued, though at a slower pace than before.  I need more power!  Thinking about her Bonded again, she added in all of the Dwarves, the Elves, and even the Orcish mercenaries, feeling an even bigger influx of power suffuse her conscience before she sent it back out at the darkness enveloping her self-image.

The warmth and energy granted to her from her Bonded slammed into the shadow, stopping it and pushing back its advancement to just below her waist.  Yes!  I can do this!  Her conscience gathered up another helping of Bonded power and sent it out again, pushing the insane encroachment back to her knees.

Noooo!!!  This is not how this ends!

Gathering up another helping of energy and feeling victorious, she threw it at the shadow again and expected it to shrink down to her feet – but that wasn’t what happened.  Instead, the advancement paused and even faded a tiny bit, though that tiny bit was quickly overshadowed as the insanity renewed its assault.  Sandra’s conscience built up another attack and released it, but this one barely made it pause.  What’s going on?  Did it build up some sort of resistance?

Regardless of the reason, Sandra knew she was in trouble.  The withering effect was moving even faster now, as if triumphing over the conscience’s efforts had fueled it for another assault.  Each subsequent attack seemed to have less and less effect, until there was absolutely no change when it was hit.  What can I do?  Looking around the mind-space again, her perception lit upon the other bubbles, but nothing seemed to stand out to her – until she came to her crafting knowledge – and the list of crafts she completed.  Hmm…I wonder?

It had helped to keep her sane before, so why not?

Running through her knowledge of crafting created a similar effect, except that it wasn’t warmth she felt, but cold – the cold hard truth of knowledge.  The power she received from it was much greater than even her Bonded, and she threw it at the shadowy entity with renewed confidence.

BAM!  The withering darkness seemed to waver as it shrunk back, losing over half of its advancement over her body, retreating back down to just over her form’s knees.  A horrific screech reverberated through her conscience’s mind, causing her to reel back again in pain.  Before she recovered, the darkness seemed to condense, renewing its attack at even greater speed.  How?  How is it so powerful?  There were no words from the insane entity this time, though she could feel some intense emotions from it leaking out; it was