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

but it turned out that the Raider was just angry and protective of the other Hill Dwarf; he took one look at her injuries and current state of consciousness and picked himself up off the ground, before absolutely destroying the three Jackals still trying to attack him.

There was still absolutely no skill involved in his attacks, but his lack of expertise didn’t really matter as he swung his sword and essentially beat all of the creatures to death; it was almost as if he forgot that his weapon had an edge to it.  He didn’t come through without injury, though, as one of the Branch Jackals managed to bite his left knee and wrench it severely as it tried to tear the joint apart, but it wasn’t enough to stop the destructive force of the enraged Hill Dwarf.

In less than a minute, all of the attacking creatures were dead, leaving behind a Rusty Iron Mace and 24 copper pieces, though the male Raider completely ignored it all.  Instead, his anger sated with the destruction of the remaining Jackals, he collapsed on his knees – which elicited a wince of pain when he landed on his wrenched knee – next to the other Hill Dwarf in her torn and blood-stained robe.  His face looked full of sorrow at first, before he noticed that she was still breathing.

“Gwenda!  You’re alive!” he practically shouted, before shaking her gently.  “Wake up, those beasts are dead.  Gwenda?  What’s wrong?”

Nothing he could do would wake her up, though Shale knew she would eventually; he’d been taught that when spell-casting or healer-type Raiders exhausted themselves of their magic power, they could be knocked out for minutes or even hours.  From what he’d been told, there were no real long-term effects from exhausting themselves like that, though being unconscious in a dungeon usually didn’t work long if one wanted to survive.

“I’m getting you out of here, hold on,” the Hill Dwarf said, before picking up the unconscious Raider in his arms.  He almost fell forward as her weight added to what was evidently already pressing down on his hurt knee, but he persisted.  Each step looked painful and the Raider in leather armor appeared to be almost as exhausted as the woman in his arms, but nothing was stopping him now.  He kept on walking even through a rictus of pain on his face, obviously determined to leave the dungeon and get help for himself and the other Hill Dwarf.

That would certainly be the right thing to do in that situation, except that during the whole “fear” induced state and subsequent fight, the Raider obviously got turned around.  The entrance and exit of the third room looked essentially identical, so Shale didn’t think it was that hard to see how it happened; regardless of the reason, though, instead of leaving, the Hill Dwarf brought his friend deeper into the dungeon.

Chapter 24

Sterge was practically blind with the pain shooting through his knee and leg as he walked, but he knew that no matter what he did, he needed to get Gwenda to a healer.  He wasn’t sure why she wasn’t waking up, because the pain in her crushed and bloody wrist and leg should’ve been enough to keep her awake and screaming in agony, but for some reason she was staying asleep no matter how much he tried to wake her up.  Maybe it’s for the best until I can get her some help.

The strangest thing about her unconsciousness, though, was the fact that she hadn’t let go of her stick—staff.  Her hand was clutched around it in a crushing grip for some reason, and he could see the strain of her hand around the wooden weapon, even though the rest of her body was essentially limp and dead weight.  No, not dead weight – she’s not dead yet.  The bleeding from her injuries had stopped, fortunately, though he could tell it wasn’t because she was running out; he’d been hurt or seen others hurt more than enough over the years to see that the blood was already clotting – which meant that her body was fighting to keep her alive.  Hill Dwarves were a hearty bunch, after all.

He walked down the tunnel towards the second room of the dungeon, knowing that it would be difficult – and probably painful – to maneuver around the ferns, but he knew it was only a short way until the exit.  He was more worried about the trip down the mountain, because he wasn’t looking forward to the steep inclines, especially with his own injury.  Well, injuries.  He could feel a few places where he had been bitten on his arm and even his side, though nothing was as bad as his leg and busted-up knee.

It wasn’t long until he saw the light from the room up above, though it looked a little different than he expected; he remembered it as being a little dim compared the first room of the dungeon, but he was also in serious pain as he walked – so he thought he might be either imagining things or misremembering them.  It wasn’t until he walked into the room a couple of paces and looked around that he realized he had made a mistake – he had gone the wrong way.  Of all the stupid— he thought, as he turned around.

Twisting wasn’t a good idea, as his injured leg gave out from underneath him; with a cry, he fell forward into the daylight-bright room, sending Gwenda flying forward out of his arms.  He watched as her fall was fortunately broken by the masses of wildflowers filling the entire floor of the small room, crushing dozens in the process.  As Sterge crashed forward with his leg unable to support him, he felt the tell-tale tingle of a trap pass over his face.  Noooo!

He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but a healing numbness passed