The Dungeon Fairy: A Dungeon Core Escapade (The Hapless Dungeon Fairy Book 1) by Jonathan Brooks (read novel full .txt) 📕

boss room – dropped a silver coin here and there, along with some weapons and armor that she had to choose from.  Overall, she spent just over 900 Dungeon Force to supply rewards, which sounded like a lot, but when you considered that some were just a few of the lowest-value copper coins it really wasn’t a lot.

“Are you ready, Shale?”

The Dungeon Assistant had been going from room to room over the last day, watching as Tacca made final adjustments to her creature and trap placement, as well as assigning rewards.  She could tell that he was feeling nearly as excited and nervous as she was; the prospect of opening up was a momentous occasion, and it really only happened once in a Dungeon Core’s lifetime.  “Yes, I am…but are you sure about all of this?  Some of what you have seems risky, and I’m a little worried about what you have planned for the Raiders; there are some things in here that you wouldn’t even tell me about, so I’m not even sure what’s going on in a few of your rooms,” Shale said with more than a bit of irritation in his voice.

That was true; she didn’t feel like explaining everything she did, so she left a lot as a mystery to the Dungeon Assistant.  Shale was clearly annoyed by that, but she thought it might be fun to see his reaction.  Tacca had been growing more and more accustomed to him being everywhere and she felt the Bond between them growing stronger every day; she knew that before long some extra benefits of a strengthening Bond would make itself known, though she didn’t actually know when that would happen.  It was apparently different for every Assistant-Core pairing, so it was anyone’s guess.

“Don’t worry, it’ll all make sense when you see it in action.  I’m going to start tunneling out from my topmost room because I’m as ready as I can be for the moment.  I wonder what it looks like outside?”

“Good question.  I’m kind of interested as well, because I haven’t been outside for a while and I have no idea where we are in relation to the world above.  When I get the chance, I’ll fly out and try to ascertain where we are to give you a better idea what to expect from Raiders,” he offered, for which she was thankful.  While she knew she could look outside her entrance, she wouldn’t be able to see any more than a normal person would when peering outside the confines of her dungeon.

Once he did that, it was a possibility that she’d have an even better idea of exactly where they were in relation to the world than Shale, because Tacca had extensively studied dozens of maps and researched Raider cultures from around the world – or at least as much as was known.  When she could pinpoint exactly where her dungeon was located, she could minutely adjust some things based on local information, but for now her dungeon composition was as balanced as it was going to get.

A couple of weeks ago, Tacca had applied her knowledge of how to speed up the construction process of tunnels and rooms, so it didn’t take long to tunnel through the remaining dozen feet to the surface.  All she had to do was use Carve Earth in separate locations at the same time to remove twice or even three times as much dirt and stone from her path – though it quickly ate into her Dungeon Force reserve.  She hadn’t used the technique much, though, because prolonged use might lead to additional cracks in her Core, but for removing the last little bit between her and the outside world it wasn’t that much of a strain.

Tacca held her non-existent breath as the last of the dirt barrier between her dungeon and the outside world disappeared because of her use of Carve Earth.   The first inklings of light poured into her new entrance as she expanded the tunnel leading outside so that it was equal to the rest of the tunnel, hardening the perimeter of it as she went.  She thought that for some reason she couldn’t see anything outside, because all she saw was a wall of bright-white light.  Is this another side effect of my soul being sucked into this Core?

Within seconds, however, she found out the reason everything was all white as big snowflakes blew into her entrance, piling up quickly as the blizzard outside raged, blocking out the view.

My bad luck strikes again.

 

*          *          *

 

“Well, this is just great.  I had all of this planned out, but if no Raiders can get here, then what am I supposed to do?” Tacca exclaimed after watching the storm rage outside her dungeon entrance for almost an hour.  She didn’t want to admit it, but she concluded that no Raiders were stupid enough to travel in that kind of weather – which meant that she wouldn’t see anyone anytime soon.  The raging blizzard was so powerful that a couple of gusts had blown snow all the way into her first room down the long tunnel, though the snowflakes quickly melted when the ambient temperature of her dungeon warmed them up. The warmth or chill of her dungeon was something she could manipulate as easily as the lighting with just a thought, and she turned the heat up a tad, which helped to keep her entrance relatively clear.

Clear for what, she didn’t really know, because there was no way anyone was going to reach her.  She could make out vague dark shapes in the distance during some lulls in the storm, but they were so far away she couldn’t tell for sure what they were; all she knew was that her plans were in jeopardy of failing – and all because of some stupid weather.

“I’m sure this will only be temporary, Tamara; I’ve