The Crafter's Defense: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 2)
Page 26
* Before you leave, I was wondering – has anyone given any thought to helping me contact the Elves? It would hopefully only take about a half hour or less, and it would assure them that I haven’t stolen away their friend for nefarious purposes. I really don’t want to be destroyed because of a misunderstanding. *
The Gnomes all looked at each other without saying anything, before turning away as if ashamed. Sandra couldn’t blame them; going into another people’s land when you couldn’t communicate with them was inherently dangerous. She wasn’t going to force any of them, of course, but she was hoping that someone would volunteer—
“I’ll do it.”
Sandra was surprised by the volunteer; Junipar was the only other Gnome woman in the bunch and she had rarely said more than a word at a time for the entire length of her stay in Sandra’s dungeon. In fact, most times the Dungeon Core even forgot that she was there, as she tended to like to blend into the background – almost as if she wanted to be left alone.
“Juni, are you sure you want to do that? It’ll be extremely dangerous,” Violet asked from the side of the room. The others chimed in and suggested against it, but the small Gnome was steadfast.
“I think it’s only fair that we help the dungeon when it has done so much for us. Despite what most of you think – I’ve heard your conversations when you thought you were being quiet – I don’t believe this dungeon…Sandra…meant for everything to happen in Glimmerton like it did. She didn’t have to save us from certain death from that massive lizard, she didn’t have to heal Felbar, she didn’t have to provide us with food and shelter, and she didn’t have to create all of these supplies for us to bring back with us. Now, if that isn’t worth at least trying to speak to the Elves, then I don’t know what would be,” Junipar continued, making that the most words she’d put together in the last day and a half.
The others looked shamefaced at her statement as they looked away, though Sandra noticed that none of them jumped in to volunteer for the young Gnome woman. A Mechanical Wolf came in from outside, the sound of its metal footsteps loud against the stone floor in the near-silent room. Junipar headed over to it and was about to climb on the back of Sandra’s construct, when Violet spoke up.
“You’re right, Juni – we owe Sandra at least this much for her help, but as the most-senior one here, it should be me. Actually, it should be Felbar, but from what I know he’s still unconscious,” the Apprentice Enchanter stated.
“You’re too drained from your enchanting to go, Violet. I’ll do it,” Lankas said, which prompted a flood of volunteers from the rest.
* If Junipar wants to do it, I’d love for her to go for me. Unless you all want to go? *
“Uh…I think only one of us should go if we’re doing this thing,” Jortor said, to which everyone agreed. And then they argued for another few minutes on who should go, before Junipar just jumped on the back of Sandra’s construct.
“I said that I’m going – just be ready to head out when I get back,” the young Gnome said from Wolf-back. Before things could progress into another argument, Sandra had the construct start forward gently until Junipar was able to adjust her balance – and then it raced out of the tunnel that emerged in the Bearlings’ old lair and out into the wastelands.
“You better not let anything happen to her,” Violet said, trying but failing to sound menacing when she was now quite exhausted. Sandra thought that she was more drained from just the expenditure of Spirit elemental energy; the healing must’ve had at least a temporary effect on her overall health. That made sense – the Repair Drones could only repair what was there, and it was more than likely that something had been consumed in the process. She didn’t think it was permanent, however – though it might also explain why those that were horribly injured during the bonding process tended to stay unconscious for a while, giving their bodies a chance to recover fully.
* Don’t worry, I’m not planning on it; she’ll be back here as soon as I can manage it and then you all can go home. I promise. *
Violet nodded, apparently satisfied with her response. Now all Sandra had to do was keep that promise.
Chapter 33
Sandra watched the Mechanical Wolf holding Junipar the entire way to the Elven village. It was only a few hours after sunrise and most of the Dungeon Monster hunters that she had seen frequently leaving the village had already gone out for the day, all except for the male Elf that had ended up finding Echo’s bow outside of Sandra’s Dungeon. She hadn’t been able to hear whatever conversation he had with the leader of the village when he returned the day before – as her Shears couldn’t get close enough – but there were grim expressions on everyone’s faces all throughout that day.
From what little she observed that morning, the grim atmosphere hadn’t changed much. And luck would have it, the same Elf that had discovered Echo’s disappearance just happened to be the first that encountered Junipar on her Mechanical Wolf.
Afterward, Sandra regretted not thinking the entire operation through; the appearance of one of her constructs – despite it having a Gnome on its back – sent the male Elf into a rage. Junipar tried to call out a greeting, but as she spoke Gnomish, it likely sounded like gibberish to the other race. Instead, the Elf screamed insults directed toward her Wolf and basically ignored the small form on its back – and she found out why moments later.
“…not only did you kill my friend, but somehow you’re now working with goblins, those filthy monsters! I can’t wait until the Elites get here to wipe out your entire dungeon…too bad you won’t be there to see it!” he said, before swiftly nocking an arrow, casting some sort of spell using Earth elemental energy, and then sending it hurtling towards Junipar.
Sandra reacted entirely too slow, as everything happened way too fast for her to comprehend, and since the arrow wasn’t aimed at her construct, it didn’t think to move; she jerked it to the side at the very last moment, which allowed the Gnome to avoid an arrow straight through her eye. Instead, it impacted her shoulder and slid deep inside her body, the tremendous force behind the arrow tearing through flesh, muscle, and bone like it was nothing. She cried out in pain after the shock of the injury wore off, before the blood in her pierced lung cut it off.
Sandra immediately stopped her Wolf and turned it around, heading straight back to her dungeon running full speed. The Elf tried to fire again as it retreated, but Sandra was ready for the arrow and was able to completely dodge it as it came screaming by. By the time he could fire again, they were already out of range, which was a good thing – because Junipar lost consciousness and tumbled to the ground as she lost her grip.
She had her construct lift her gently up in its jaws and run back with her impaled and bleeding body hanging limply to either side of its mouth. The sharp teeth of the Wolf probably didn’t help matters, but by that time the additional wounds it inflicted were inconsequential – if she didn’t get help soon, she was going to die.
Sandra had dispatched a literal army of constructs out of her first room as soon as she was injured, fortunately, which included four Repair Drones that were being transported faster than they could normally travel. Within minutes of frantic racing in approaching directions, they met up and her Repair Drones were able to get to work. She was still bleeding profusely, so she was thankfully still alive – but just barely.
How come everyone in or near my dungeon keeps ending up horribly injured and unconscious?
“You’re just lucky, I guess,” Winxa said as the Dungeon Fairy broke into her thoughts as she responded to Sandra’s internal comment. It was only after silence from the before-talkative bunch in her Assembly and Storage Room that the Dungeon Core realized she had broadcasted those thoughts to everyone who was bonded to her.
“What happened?” Lankas demanded.
* The Elves weren’t quite as…receptive as I had hoped. Junipar was injured pretty badly, but my Repair Drones are healing her right now. Soon enough she’ll be back and good as new. *
* I apologize profusely. I didn’t think they would mistake her for a goblin, so I wasn’t able to protect her the way I promised. However, she’s alive and headed back right now, in fact. *
Sandra’s four Repair Drones had worked miracles on the nearly dead body of Junipar; as one, they pumped Holy elemental energy into her that amazingly sped up her recovery faster than the Core had seen before. The arrow practically pushed itself out the Gnome’s body and plopped onto the ground, and the wound it exited from quickly sealed itself up. She couldn’t see the internal damage being repaired, of course, but within seconds her Repair Drones had finished and put their pads and arms away.
One of the Apes that had come with her little army of rescue constructs picked up the unconscious Gnome and started to run back to Sandra’s dungeon; halfway there, though, Junipar woke up screaming for a few seconds before she registered where she was.
* I’m sorry about that, Junipar; you’re safe now and you’ve been completely healed, though you may be inordinately tired for a couple of days. My Ape is bringing you back to my dungeon, where you and the rest can depart on your journey.
* I appreciate what you tried to do for me, and I apologize again for what happened. I just didn’t think they would attack you outright like that; though, from what he was saying, I think he believed you were a goblin for some reason. *
“Stupid, racist, too-tall Elves,” Junipar responded weakly but with fervor. “That’s one of the reasons my parents told me we don’t deal with their kind anymore; they think anyone smaller than them are monsters or goblins,” she added with a little sadness in her voice. “And I’m sorry, too, that I couldn’t help more, but I think it’s time we all get back home.”
* I agree; by the time you get back, the rest should be ready to go. You can join them as soon as you are ready, and I would suggest sleeping along the way if you can until you regain all of your strength. Again, I apologize, but I do appreciate you trying. *
“I’d say ‘any time’, but that wouldn’t really be true.” Junipar smiled weakly as she responded, and by that time they were already approaching the new entrance through the Bearlings’ old lair. Sandra had already told the others to start preparing for their journey, so they were ready to go as soon as she arrived.
* Junipar and Violet are going to need a little rest, but they’ll be fine after a day or two. As for the rest of you, I want to thank you all for your help providing my new Enchantment Repository examples of your runes; I am hoping to expand it someday soon and teach others how to use runes just as effectively as you all do naturally. Though, I have to admit, I am in awe of your natural ability – I’ve never seen anything like it.
* I’m going to send a force of my constructs with you as far as they can roam past your village, but after that you’re all on your own. Have a safe journey, and may the Creator watch over you. *
Sandra added that last part in hopes that the Creator was listening – since it seemed as though she was some sort of pet project – and that they would be protected on their way back to their capital. She doubted that the Creator could actually do anything, but it didn’t hurt to try.
Junipar was a little weak, but she was able to climb on board one of the wagons without needing any help. The others got into their places – with Lankas piloting the Hauler – and double-checked that everything was secure. Jortor turned to Violet, who was still leaning up against the far wall and said, “Let’s go, Violet – we’re all here except for you!”
“I’m…not going,” Violet responded with thinly veiled reluctance.
“What?! Why?” Lankas asked, shocked and confused.
“Have you forgotten who else is still here? Felbar can’t be moved, apparently, and I’m not leaving him here all by himself. If – no, when – he wakes up, I want to make sure there is a friendly face near or otherwise he might make a fool of himself trying to tear up the dungeon,” Violet added with a smile.
“Yeah, I can see him doing that,” Jortor added, nodding along with his words. “But why does it have to be you that stays? One of us…” he said as he looked around, and none of the other Gnomes met his eyes. “Okay…maybe not.”
“No, you all go home, and we’ll follow as soon as we’re able to leave. Get those supplies back to our people – they’re going to need it.”
Most of the Gnomes looked like they were going to protest further, but none of them said anything. Instead, they said their goodbyes and took off before Violet could convince any of them to stay; the Hauler worked beautifully, even when it was pulling three heavy wagons full of supplies. Within a couple of minutes, they were outside of the Bearlings’ old lair entrance and the large complement of Ironclad Apes, Mechanical Wolves and Jaguars, and even a half-dozen Steel Pythons were accompanying them toward the Gnome lands. It would take them a couple hours to get there, unfortunately, because extremely rough terrain required that they take quite a few detours, but they would get there eventually.
“So…just us, I guess?” Violet said to one of the Apes that were still inside the Assembly and Storage room.
* For now; I’m hoping Felbar will wake up soon, as well as Echo. I’m worried about the Elven Elites coming here, but there’s nothing that I can think of to do that hasn’t been done already. I guess only time will tell. *
“I guess so… What should I do now?”
* If I were you, I’d get some rest before you fall down where you’re standing. I don’t think your body has recovered quite yet from the trauma of the…accident…last night, and I don’t want you to overdo it. *
“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. But what will you be doing?” Violet asked.
* Something that I’ve been putting off for a little bit. I may not be available for a couple of days, but I’ll make sure you’ve got plenty of food to eat. You can always visit the growing room and pick as many fruit off of the trees there as you want – just don’t go past the Enchantment Repository. I’ll have some extremely deadly traps set up below that to protect my Core while I’m undergoing…improvements. *
Violet agreed that she wouldn’t and headed downstairs to Kelerim’s old room, which Sandra decided to rename Violet’s Room, as she was going to be staying there for a little while. She was happy that the Gnome had decided to stay, even if it was for someone else’s sake; Sandra figured there was even more that she could learn from the Apprentice Enchanter if she dug far enough.
And, hopefully, with an additional Core Size Upgrade, she’d finally be able to take advantage of that knowledge.
Chapter 34
Violet got a little bit more to eat before crashing in her room, where she looked ready to sleep for the rest of the day, if not more than that. As for Sandra, she worked on replacing the constructs that had left her dungeon to escort the other Gnomes to the border of the wasteland and slightly beyond – just in case. Her Shears that were keeping an eye near the destroyed Gnome village of Glimmerton hadn’t seen even a single lizard or other reptile since the two Ancient Saurians had retreated almost two days ago. That didn’t mean they weren’t just hiding in the forest waiting for someone to walk by, however.
Her own Area of Influence only reached a small distance into the trees, so her flying construct couldn’t see anything dangerous near the forest border. Sandra knew the other Dungeon Core was out there, but she didn’t know in what precise direction and how deep it was in the trees. As a result, she couldn’t accurately predict when or if the Core would attack again, but she estimated that the party of Gnomes had until the end of the day to get out of range.
It took nearly five hours for the Hauler and the three wagons to navigate its way the just over four miles to the border of the wastelands, and by that time Sandra had been able to replace al
most every construct that went with them inside her dungeon. Once they were on flatter, less-destroyed land, they were able to move much swifter and quickly reached the point where they couldn’t travel any farther. When they suddenly stopped, Sandra spoke to them all.
* That’s it, everyone – my constructs can’t go any farther. Good luck and I hope to see you all again sometime! *
They said their goodbyes and departed, moving a bit faster than they were previously as their protective escort was no longer with them. She couldn’t blame them – sometimes speed was its own defense.
Sandra directed her constructs back to her dungeon, where they would act as a sort of reserve force inside her Assembly and Storage room, as their replacements were already in place. They raced back in a fraction of the time it took them to travel with the Gnomes, and when they arrived Sandra started to seal almost everything up. She closed all of the access to the VATS, waited for her Mana to refill a bit before she set up her flame traps meant to destroy anyone entering her Home, and then cooked and salted some more Bearling meat for Violet when she woke up. Of course, she made a whole lot more than the little Gnome could likely eat in a month, but it was necessary on the off chance that Felbar – or even Echo – woke up before Sandra was done with her Upgrade.
She honestly hoped that Echo didn’t wake up when Sandra wasn’t there to speak to her, because she doubted she would be any more accommodating toward Violet and Felbar than the Elven villagers were towards Junipar. As much as it sounded counter-intuitive, she wanted those two to stay unconscious – at least for now.