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

5 feet before impact, the tip of the projectile suddenly ran into something.  The explosion was great enough that it knocked over a few of the Royal Guards that were still hacking away at the wall of branches the Elder had created, though it didn’t appear as though they were seriously hurt.

The explosion also revealed a glowing barrier that ran from the floor of the Bowery nearly up to the top of the tree branches a hundred feet above, completely blocking off access to anything behind it – including the King, Queen, and Chamberlain.  Echo recognized it immediately, because it was made entirely of Holy elemental energy; it used the light streaming in from the opening above to form a Light Barrier that prevented energy-based spells and effects – as well as any projectiles moving past a certain speed – from passing through it.  It was usually invisible unless it was activated, which was why she hadn’t seen or even sensed it until the bolt had impacted it.

“I sensed it as soon as we walked in, though I wasn’t sure why it was there,” the Elder said to the silence that echoed through the Bowery.  Ah…so that would explain why no one had taken the chance to shoot the Chamberlain.  Echo was certainly not the only one that used a bow in The Rebels, nor was she the best shot, and it hadn’t occurred to her why they hadn’t fired until now.

The Chamberlain shook his head dramatically, *tsk*ing as he did so.  “Well, well, well.  I guess that just proves my point for the second time.  This time one of them directly attacked a member of the court, in front of all of these witnesses, no less.  And perhaps even injured some?  Such a pity.  Guards!”

Still shocked at what happened, it took Echo a moment to react – a moment too long, as it turned out.  She pulled another bolt from her quiver, seeing that it was an explosive bolt as well and took aim at the approaching Royal Guards…and lowered her bow almost immediately.  Even if she got the shot off, it might kill the Guard and those around him, and perhaps even the Rebels nearby.

“Put your weapons down,” the Elder suddenly said, dropping her own staff on the Bowery floor with a clatter.  There was a momentary hesitation before the rest of the Rebels copied her, with more than a few grumbles.  Echo was stuck standing there staring at the bow in her hands, wondering where everything had gone wrong.

She was violently grabbed by two Royal Guards and the bow ripped from her hands, her strength not nearly enough to keep ahold of it.  She felt the quiver on her back pulled away as well, leaving her weaponless without any way to use her elemental energy to fight back.

“Now, the King and Queen have agreed to be merciful even after what was seen and heard here today,” the Chamberlain said as soon as all The Rebels – including Echo – had been quickly tied up with thick ropes produced by the Royal Guards.  Rope was not normally a common tool to tie up prisoners, especially Elves, because there were countless ways to manipulate just about any element to sever the bonds; since they couldn’t cast anything, the presence of the rope was just another indication that all of this had been planned in advance.

“It took a plea coming from one of these traitors to convince us to sentence them to exile instead of death, but we can’t afford to lose any more of our people these days,” the Chamberlain continued.  A plea?  When?  I didn’t hear anything.

“With their full cooperation, we were informed of this attempted coup, the concerned individual wished to avoid any bloodshed.  Of course—” the smug Elf paused for a moment, before his eyes met Echo’s and he smiled cruelly— “That was before one of them attempted to actually kill one of us.  For that reason, and for spreading lies about the wastelands and these so-called Energy Orbs, the one named Echo will be publicly executed.”

Everyone – excluding the King, Queen, and Chamberlain – exclaimed in surprise, even the Royal Guards keeping them captive.  Echo could understand, she supposed, as there hadn’t been a public execution in centuries.

“That wasn’t the deal!  You said that you would let everyone live!” said a voice coming from within The Rebel group…and Echo wasn’t sure if she was more shocked at who it was or who it wasn’t.  She had expected Winter to be the one that had betrayed them, as he had been a thorn in her side from the beginning and loudly expressed his concerns and complaints over their plan of action.  Instead of him, however, the voice belonged to someone else: Sheelagh, one of the Elite archers that had been so warm and friendly to her almost as soon as she had arrived.

“That was before she tried to kill us, and we can’t allow that kind of action to go without an appropriate response.  If she had succeeded, she could’ve destabilized our entire command structure – and then where would we be?  I—we think this is a fitting punishment.”  The Chamberlain leaned forward and said in an overly dramatic conspiratorial whisper, “And don’t worry, your family will still be fine.”

Her family?  This Creator-forsaken heel of an Elf threatened her family?  That’s a low blow, even coming from someone who is mind-controlling the King and Queen of our people.  Family was sacred to the Elven people, because there were so few of them, and threatening someone’s family with deadly consequences if you didn’t do what they said was almost as bad as murdering a child.  It was…unthinkable.

A cloud’s shadow crossed over the opening above, creating a brief dimming of the sunlight right after the Chamberlain spoke, as if to emphasize how evil he was.  Not a single one of the Guards – and