by D. R. Rosier
Dungeon at War
Dark Dungeon: Book 3
Author: D. R. Rosier
Copyright 2017. This is a work of fiction. Names, Characters, Places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission.
Table of Contents:
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Epilogue
Afterword:
About the Author
Other erotic fantasies by D. R. Rosier:
Non-erotic Fantasy titles:
Book Description
Prologue
“This is your fault,” her older sister Tythys, the goddess of death growled.
The younger sister, Hedea, goddess of music, boggled at her older sister, “I warned you. You dismissed me and banished our brother anyway. I’m telling you, we were set up.”
“Set up?” Tythys mocked, “For what possible reason, we obey the laws.”
Hedea rolled her eyes, “Don’t be naïve, you’re usually cleverer than that. The laws exist to keep the balance, something you and our brothers have managed to get around. The spirit of the law matters far more than the letter. Even the gods aren’t immune to Karma.”
She scowled in annoyance, “That bitch can’t do…”
“Enough!” interjected a loud third voice.
Both sisters turned and looked at their mother, Dasyn, the goddess of light, who didn’t look at all happy with either of them.
“This must be fixed, and this is your fault Tythys, stop trying to blame your younger sister.”
Tythys sighed, “I’ve tried, three times Jennesar has failed to destroy him.”
Their mother snorted, “You need to forget them, he has power now, and is beyond theirs. Someone must make an avatar and take care of it personally, it’s the only way.”
Tythys looked shocked, “Isn’t that against the rules?”
Dasyn said scathingly, “Only if we interfere with mortal affairs. Your brother is not mortal. Now get down there and destroy him, before it’s too late. Our time grows short to fix this.”
Hedea volunteered, perhaps too quickly, “I can go.”
She was denied, “No, your older sister miscalculated and put us all in danger, she can risk a part of her essence to fix it.”
The younger one simply nodded in quick acquiescence, but their mother looked at her suspiciously as she left. She wasn’t worried, those kinds of looks were common, she wasn’t nearly as power hungry as the rest of her family. All she really loved was her music, and listening to the mortals compose new song. What was power next to the beauty and serenity of a well composed and played verse?
She waited patiently, until her older sister started to generate an avatar of her own. When Tythys was completely distracted, and had opened the way to the mortal realm, Hedea slipped out the door unnoticed. She knew exactly what she had to do.
Chapter One
The morning following the battle, in the valley by the southern border of Nysten, brought back the Elves, Dwarves, and other adventurers. It was almost frightening the way they all swarmed my dungeon first thing that morning, as if nothing ever happened.
“Hey sexy,” I said as Ebony popped into the core room.
She was, sexy I mean. She had a different dress on, again, but this time it was more than just a different color and cut. It was demure, beautiful, and possibly even more sexy than the usual revealing dresses she wore. The only exception of course was it was backless, for her wings.
Ebony smiled shyly, “I have something for you.”
She cast the knowledge transfer spell as she did every morning returning from the library, and information flooded my mind. This time not on magic at all, but on more powerful demons that had to be bound by name. A foolish endeavor for a mortal, and certain to jeopardize their very soul. But for my solid, indomitable, and almost infinite will, keeping demons in line was a simple exercise. I didn’t have a use for it, yet, but demons of master level caliber could come in handy at some point, so it was good information to have.
“Excellent. As always little imp.”
I checked on the gnomes, who had almost completely redone their large cavern layout, and had so many things building it took some minimal amount of concentration to follow it all. The most interesting things for me were the extra-large golems, humanoid in appearance and fifteen to twenty feet high. The war golems were also coming along, which were in disparate shapes. Some fierce animal predators, others giant spiderlike things, and the siege golems didn’t look like any animal but were as big as a house.
Most would take another month, perhaps two, I wasn’t sure. The extra-large humanoid ones though only had a week or two left, I think.
“Do you need anything love?”
Ebony blushed, and posed. I loved when she posed, it was cute, and incredibly sexy at the same time.
“I’m okay master, just trying to decide what to do. Outside of the library, most of the things I would do for you are fairly exhausted, like the forest stuff.”
“You need a hobby.”
She looked confused.
“Something you do just for fun.”
She winked, “I can think of one thing I do just for fun.”
Damn, if I wasn’t a crystal that would have made me…
“I mean something selfish, just for you. Although, I’m more than up for that kind of thing if you want?”
When she nodded, I hit her with the mind trap fantasy sex spell, and eagerly followed with my mind…
My avatar looked around the room. It was myself, Lila, Jerrold, Suzy, Catalina, Mina, Carlton, Liren, Selwyn, Diana, and Cary, as well as several of the mages who looked very protective of the new king.
Jerrold said, “We need to make plans of how to hit the city and take out over two hundred paladins and clerics, with the least amount of collateral damage to the city and citizens.”
He looked at me, “Can you use that spell you used on the battlefield?”
I assumed he meant when I selectively killed almost every paladin and cleric on the field of battle inside a few seconds.
I shook my head, “No. All I did was instruct the earth elementals to kill anyone with a light affinity. Obviously, we can’t do that in a city, since there will be teens and younger children around, who will be innocent, and the next generation of clerics and paladins.”
Plus, I wouldn’t kill children in cold blood, ever.
Jerrold grunted in dissatisfaction, but he nodded in acceptance.
“Alright, we hit them hard but targeted, no area effect spells. We’ll take out the ones in the temple district first, and any who are drawn to the fighting. That way the hardest part of the battle will be away from most of the innocents. One we wrap up the city, we’ll go in and take the castle.”
Carlton said, “I know I can’t go, but I can advise. The castle will be the hardest part, Verin will have surrounded himself with the highe
st rated clerics and paladins.”
Jerrold replied, “Noted. Any other ideas before we march.”
I said, “Leaving Verin in charge for a week would be bad. I can open a portal for all of us. We can have this wrapped up by the end of the day.”
Technically I’d never been there, but Ebony could teleport over with an enchanted device connected to me, and then I can just open the portal to the device. Although, I hated to interrupt her and myself to ask her to carry it, we were still in bed in her mind, if that makes sense.
Jerrold smiled, “That’s good news. Let’s get it done.”
We all stood, and then headed out to the courtyard. It would only be Jerrold, Suzy, me, Lila, twenty or so mages half masters, and a couple of thousand soldiers to get the job done, and secure the city afterward. Hopefully, it will be easy enough. They outnumbered us, but would be spread out all over the city. If we moved fast enough we could pick them off before they could gather together. I’d very much prefer if I didn’t have to show my true abilities to get this handled.
Once the troops were gathered, I opened a portal to an out of the way empty building near the temple district, and we went through…
Catalina felt like a zombie, and sure she probably looked like hell, or at least, she should. The spell Lila had cast on her yesterday ran out last night, and she’d cried for hours as Mina held her. She really wasn’t in a good place in her mind. She missed her father, but she also resented being stuck in a room with her barons and earls, and performing the responsibilities of Duchess. Responsibilities her father should have had for a long time to come.
If the king was still alive, she’d kill the bastard herself. She kept that thought very private though. She loved Jerrold, hell she’d loved her uncle too, but she blamed him for being unprepared for the betrayal, and falling for Verin’s lies. She also thought it would be doubtful that she’d ever get back into the dungeon. Right now, she didn’t care, everything hurt too much, but she already felt penned in by her duties.
There was a tiny whirlwind on the table in front of her, it gave her something to focus on as she precisely fed it a small stream of magic. She also supposed it would help improve her control and raise her power rating as a mage all by itself, since her control was her weakest attribute. Not that she cared about that in that moment, but it was a point.
It also made her nobles glance nervously at the spell from time to time, but otherwise they didn’t mention it.
Mina, her lover, confidant, and party member for their dungeon dives hadn’t left her side. The raven-haired beauty hadn’t left her side once since the battle, and she felt very grateful for that.
“Wait, what was that Baron Evansly?”
He’d been droning on about his responsibilities, as if she didn’t already know what he did. She was eighteen, not four. But something he said had shocked her out of her internal misery. There were four barons and two earls on her council, and she’d already decided Mina would be an advisor, though she hadn’t told her yet.
Barons Earnly and Nealy were the ones she knew she’d have to watch. The former was a constant kiss ass, but the one her father had trusted least. The latter was oily as well, and had always looked for the advantage in any situation. Baron Collin was the only one who acted as he was, calm, reasonable, and very loyal.
Earl Kemins was the oldest man on the council, and quite stuffy and proper, he’d been very loyal to her father, and no doubt would be for her as well. She also expected their heads to butt with hers quite a bit, she wasn’t proper at all she decided. Earl Bertsen was the youngest on the council, and quite eager but also ambitious. As far as she knew her father hadn’t decided yet where Bertsen would fall on the loyalty scale.
Baron Evansly, the one who was speaking, was stubborn, irritating, and truthfully kind of an asshole. He was also very loyal, and would probably die for her, which is why she hadn’t strangled him yet. It was still very early in the day however.
Baron Evansly replied gruffly, “My apologies Duchess, I know you should be in mourning and not in an emergency council meeting, and normally we would have waited. The simple truth is that we are spread far too thin, and will be even thinner in the fight to reclaim your cousin’s throne. We held the Jennesar at the border yes, and our cities and villages are undamaged, but our capacity to defend ourselves has been severely hampered. The kingdom to the east has always been peaceful, but we’ve never been weaker than now in any point of Nysten’s history. We might have enough simple soldiers, but we lack the warriors, mages, and the church’s might to back them up.”
She clenched her teethe, “I know all that baron, what I don’t know is what I misheard.”
Baron Evansly said, “We can’t possibly launch a punitive expedition into Jennesar, or spare the manpower for it. Now is the time to focus on rebuilding, not going off in anger and the lust for vengeance. I was shocked when I heard you pledge support behind this mage Nurien, and now we will have to find some way to at least delay, if not abrogate the agreement. After all, you weren’t the Duchess when it was agreed to.”
Her spell started to wobble alarmingly on the table, and when she heard a few gasps from her council she latched down on her will and fixed it. She wasn’t sure whether to cry, punch him, or cast a spell at him. She chose none of those of course. She may have been a wreck, but she held on to her duty.
“No.”
Baron Evansly growled, “No? No what your grace?” he spat her title.
She missed a lot of things in that moment. Jerrold and Suzy, the dungeon, the freedom of being just an heir, but most of all she missed her father. Her only comfort in that moment was Mina, but she didn’t dare look over at the woman who sat on her side, she would cry in front of her council if she did, which couldn’t be allowed.
She said firmly, “No, we will not abrogate our agreement. We will at the very least, listen to his plans when he gets done putting Jerrold on the throne. After single handedly shifting the balance of a battle and saving this kingdom to do any less would be past foolish. I don’t believe he is ignorant on our defensive abilities at this time, and I don’t think he wants more than a very small force. I will not say no unless he asks for the unreasonable, is that clear?”
She left off the rest, where she’d die before betraying her own oath of revenge against Jennesar for what they’d done. None of them looked happy, but they all nodded.
She added, “Besides, this coming effort was also approved by Jerrold, if after the fact. I ask for patience, we really should know what we’re objecting to before we object. I certainly won’t be sending all of our remaining magical forces.”
She got their point. They were weak and vulnerable right now, and should hold everything back. But the truth was none of them had seen what she had seen. Nurien and Lila were an army unto themselves. To the north were mountains, and beyond that the Elven forests. To the west was the untamed lands. Neither of those directions were a danger. The eastern human kingdom was peaceful, and until they had an army on her border she wouldn’t give in to fear and panic. The only real danger was to the south, it made sense to take the war to them, especially if Nurien was most of the army they sent.
“Break for lunch, or are we done for the day?”
Baron Collin said diffidently, “Your Grace, I have some economic concerns we should address after the large scale military conscription? Especially relating to the crops, and the treasury. It could be put off if necessary.”
She raised a hand, “That won’t be required, let’s meet back here in an hour.”
She waited for everyone to stand and leave, but Evansly moved slowly, and turned after the rest of the council had left.
“What is it Baron Evansly?”
He looked reluctant, and for a brash man that loved an argument, it had her alarm bells going off. He looked almost… embarrassed.
“Normally this wouldn’t be an issue for quite a long time yet, but your grace, given all the circumstances it would be wise to secure y
ourself a husband, and the next heir. You are the last of your family line, and that might generate unhealthy interest and ambition from certain, quarters.”
She felt Mina stiffen at her side, while Evansly apologetically backed out of the room. She felt like she was about to explode, and her hands curled into fists as her spell lost control and dissipated with a stiff wind.
Hell no.
Chapter Two
Carlton was a bit dumbfounded, and happy as he sat at his old desk. Like an old friend he’d never quite believed he would see again. Liren, his lover, the light of his life, and a woman that constantly dazzled him sat at his side. His oldest friend Selwyn sat across from him. Selwyn was the second most powerful cleric in the legitimate church of light, and a man he trusted very much.
Also in the room, was Diana and Cary. Faithful paladins and friends both, and they’d come a long way together in the last weeks. It was a miracle to be alive. At first, he’d been a little angry at Jerrold’s decision, about him not being able to help take down Verin, but in hindsight it was the best decision. For one, he needed every single person left, only eight clerics and thirty-nine paladins existed in the church, which was probably just a shade less than ten percent of their numbers before Verin’s conspiracy and betrayal.
“Alright, for now we have a few main jobs. Share the word of our pantheon, rebuild trust, and rebuild the church. For now, we’ll stick to Tenemin and the villages, have everyone be on the lookout for any children or teens with a light magic affinity. Since we aren’t welcome in the crown city right now, I’ll send a request to the new king to send any his people find down to us for training.”
He smiled confidently, and declared, “We need to do a better job this time when we build our church, to prevent ambition from running rampant in our ranks. I was actually thinking of using our nobles as an example to follow.”
Selwyn asked, “In what way?”
He smiled, “The highest has always been an absolute ruler and head of the church. I’m not suggesting taking away that authority, but reorganizing. Much like Catalina now has ultimate authority in Tenemin right now, but her council is constantly looking over her shoulder, so much that she can’t do anything without it being public knowledge. Perhaps the highest should head a similar type council, with the other high ranking masters close enough to stop any ambitious betrayals or conspiracies before they can take root.
