“We were just finishing up our logistical assessment, and since there doesn’t seem to be any major issues we’ve foreseen, we can start—” Brinda continued, but stopped when a voice outside the tent made her lose her concentration.
“—will not be held against my will! I demand to accompany this Force so that I can avenge my family!”
In walked Princess Celeste, geared up in a hard leather outfit that provided excellent protection while still allowing easy movement. The Princess was carrying a pair of hatchets that glowed with enchantments, probably Sharpness and Durability, and her face was a thundercloud of emotion; anger, disappointment, and determination warred with each other as she stared down everyone in the room.
Out of the entire Royal family, it made the most sense that the Princess had stayed home while the others had left. Unlike most Gnomes, Celeste wasn’t as interested in Enchantments, though it wasn’t as if their use was unknown to her; instead, she concentrated on more of the martial aspect of culling dungeon monsters and frequently joined the Defensive Forces as they beat back the constant appearance of so many foes. Visiting Sandra’s dungeon to learn about new Enchantment techniques, to see the Enchantment Repository, and to discuss the finer points of material selection for a certain Enchantment sequence wouldn’t really interest her.
So, even while it made sense that she would want to join in the Defensive Forces as they left on their assault, the Council Leader had different plans. “I’ve told you before, Princess, we need you to stay here in case something goes wrong. Even if elevating you to the title of Queen when we get back doesn’t interest you, we can’t have the last member of the Royal Family venturing into danger—”
“You can’t order me to stay, Brinda; I outrank you even as a Princess, and if I want to go, I will go.” Celeste folded her arms over her chest as if her words were final and she had just made a proclamation. Which, to be fair, was exactly what had happened, but the Council Leader didn’t see it that way.
“I can’t order you, no…but I urge you to reconsider. What will happen to our people if you were to fall in battle?”
“They’ll be fine; they’ll do what they’ve been doing all along – listening to you and the council dictate how to live their lives,” she responded with a huff, before waving off her words. “Not that I would have it any other way. It’s no secret that I have no desire to rule, so I might as well try to be useful if it’s the last thing I do.”
Brinda appeared as if she wanted to continue arguing, but one look from the Royal Gnome and her severe, scar-streaked face was enough to cease her objections. As much as I agree with the Council Leader, I have to admit that we can always use more help.
Slumping visibly in place, Brinda conceded the point. “Fine. But if you can promise me one thing?”
“Maybe.”
“Try to stay out of the thick of battle and retreat if it looks like things are going badly?”
Princess Celeste barked out a laugh. “Ha! That was two things…but I will do my best. I don’t want to die, after all.”
“I guess that’s all I can ask.”
“Good – so let’s get moving! I’m eager for some payback.” There was a slight hitch in the Princess’ voice, though it was entirely possible that Violet imagined it. I bet she’s still suffering from what happened. I know how she feels; I don’t think I’ll ever get over the deaths of my parents, either.
Things moved quickly from there. Not just figuratively, but physically; the multiple oversized Haulers had been improved upon since the one that Sandra built in her dungeon, and they could move much faster than before. Using an Energy Orb to provide more speed was a necessary expense, because they didn’t want to travel for a week to get to where they needed to go – they could get there in a little less than a day. Not as fast as the Aerie Roc that brought Violet and Felbar home, but faster than anything most had seen before.
Speaking of the gigantic bird, it was following them overhead as per Violet’s orders while the Journeyman Enchanter rode with the rest of the Defensive Force on the Haulers. There was plenty of room to carry dozens of them atop the roof, though the 10 Haulers they had were practically filled to the brim. Also, staying true to their name, each of them were hauling additional Weapons of War.
In one wagon being hauled were stacks of Flame Thumpers lined up and ready to be distributed when they arrived. In another were boxes filled with Ice and Absorption Bombs, carefully packed so that they wouldn’t be activated when those were also distributed to the Force. A third had corded bundles of extra Mass Accelerator bolts, though the Haulers also had reserves on board. The fourth Hauler had the rest of the random non-Energy Orb Weapons that had been designed, though whether they would be effective was something else entirely.
As for the remaining 6 Haulers, they were bringing along their most important cargo: their Orb-charged Weapons of War. Inspiration based on one of Sandra’s constructs made up half of them (2 per Hauler), and they were going to be deadly; with a Roaring Blademaster as the model, their deadliness only made sense.
Standing 15 feet tall was a wooden cone with the point facing upwards, a flat disk at the bottom, and a wide 10-foot base. The outside of the cone was generally smooth and perfectly proportioned, though it wasn’t free of decoration; dozens of 8-foot-long, thick steel-link chains were attached securely to the cone, where they draped down and dragged along the ground. That was it – a relatively simple design, which was precisely what they needed.
A hidden hatch on the side of the “Shredder Cone” allowed access to the inside, which was where all of the magic happened. A chair set on a swivel was perched in the middle, where a member of the Defensive Force could sit and operate the different enchantment sequences inside by pushing the Energy Orbs against them. First, a Natural Orb was constantly supplying a low-energy enchantment that opened up small slits in the side of the cone so that the Gnome inside could see outside; when it was pushed up against another rune sequence, though, it also started to rotate the entire Cone in place.
This was only accomplished by an Earth Orb, which directed an enchantment sequence below the Cone, where it would shape a small sliver of stone that would lift the cone up on a point, held in place by an indentation on the cone’s bottom that was made of steel. It also allowed the Shredder Cone to move by shifting the sliver of stone forward, backward, or side-to-side, using a similar control scheme as Felbar’s War Machine. It was slow, but it worked.
An Air Core was used to both increase the rotation of the Cone and to keep it stable while rotating; if a chain broke or something slammed into its side, the Shredder would wobble and eventually tear itself apart. The Air-based enchantment took a basic Stabilize rune and simply enhanced it multiple times.
Lastly, a Spirit Orb was used to connect everything together, lending itself to the connections that existed between all of the different enchantments. This one was activated immediately upon the initiation of any rotation, and fortunately didn’t have to be adjusted at any point after that.
The result was a mighty Weapon of destruction. Remembering the Golems that had been near the Dwarven village, Felbar recommended putting a heavy solid ball of iron on the end of some of the chains, where they could be used to demolish monsters that were made of material stronger than flesh and blood. When one of them was briefly tested against a small stand of pine trees, the Shredder literally shredded the thick trunks into small scraps and sawdust, earning them their nickname.
Another of the remaining Haulers was bringing their last creation along, which was meant as a purely defensive Weapon; when it was set up somewhere, they could feel reasonably protected against anything on the ground. There were 6 of their “Burning Darkness” Weapons, which were inspired by a few of Sandra’s traps inside of her dungeon. They were fairly unassuming-looking, as they were basically a box filled with thin strips of iron connected to each other via simple wire. The enchantment sequences were placed on the long length of the strips, which were then
rolled up in two rolls and placed within the box; as a place was found where the Weapon was needed for defense, the strips could be rolled out within seconds to either side of the box, lying flat against the ground.
When the box was activated, the Weapon would extend a barrier of darkness upwards, (powered by a Nether Orb) which was 10 feet tall and 50 feet wide – though it was only 2 feet deep. The darkness didn’t do anything by itself, other than to obscure defenders behind it and to hide the two other effects that existed within the fence of Nether energy. One side of the box held strips that – when the iron strips detected something passing over it – an Activation rune was triggered and a burst of extremely hot flames would erupt upwards in one of 3 different sections, obliterating anything made of flesh and bones almost instantly. The duration lasted only a second so as to save energy, but it was enough to get the job done.
On the other side of the box, the complete opposite happened. Instead of extremely hot flames, there was a spray of water vapor that would coat anything passing through, before freezing it to extraordinarily cold temperatures. That might not seem that bad, but testing proved that the cold was so frigid that it literally froze objects enough that they would shatter if hit with enough force.
The last 2 Haulers were pulling two massive wagons filled with 3 War Machines each – all that could be spared – including Felbar’s. Saving their energy was important for the fights ahead, and making them run the distance would only deplete it unnecessarily. Besides, they couldn’t keep up with the sheer speed the new Haulers could put out, as they raced across the countryside, shaking so much that Violet thought her stomach was going to empty itself every minute. No one complained, however, because they realized that there was a price to pay for their incredible acceleration.
They traveled through the entire day without stopping, journeying through the night with the aid of Holy-enchanted poles with an Illuminate rune to light the way. Towards dawn, they started to approach what the leadership – including Felbar – was calling the “danger zone”; this was the border where they expected to experience an attack at any moment, as it was slightly past the last known reach of the nearby dungeons. As a result of passing into the location, the entire group slowed down to a near crawl, unpacked Weapons, armed themselves, and prepared for any sort of surprises that might come their way.
Fortunately, nothing assaulted them right away. If they had, then that would’ve meant that they were waiting for us, and that the area is so overrun that we would have no chance of fighting back. It meant that they had to go searching for the enemy, but that wasn’t too much of a hardship.
“How far do you think we are from the wastelands?”
Felbar jumped at Violet’s whispered question near the Warmaster’s ear, as everyone was trying to stay as silent as possible while they searched the pre-dawn light for hostile monsters. He shook his head slowly, before replying, “I don’t know – maybe 100 miles or so? Well within range of what Sandra said about those ‘enhancements’ – and how they are affecting the dungeons around here.”
She figured that was the case. The King’s large group had traveled nearly 4 days to get to this point, and that was with the use of some of the Kingdom’s faster transportation. Speaking of the King, the ambush site was just ahead, though by all reports it had been cleaned up. Not by the Gnomes, however, but the dungeons themselves; she remembered all too well how Glimmerton had been raided for the stores of dungeon loot that the Gnomes had accumulated from culling. All of the material from their equipment – and even bodies – could be beneficial, as sad and disgusting as the mere contemplation of such an act was to Violet.
The sun finally broke over the horizon, revealing the landscape in the early morning light. For the most part, Gnomeria was filled with gently rolling plains and grasslands, with sparse stands of trees found throughout. There was a small hilly “mountain range” near the center of their lands, but for the most part it was without too much in the way of obstacles. Field of view was limited to the next hill over, which prevented being able to see more than a mile in the distance; even then, unless you crested the hills, you couldn’t see what was on the other side.
This was the exact reason the King and his party had been ambushed so successfully, because they weren’t expecting the need for any type of advance scouting party to warn of potential ambushes – especially with a group of their size. The dungeons around Gnomeria had never done something like that, and even if there had been a few monsters, they could’ve easily been taken care of by the scores of Defensive Forces that were along. Against a swarm ambushing them, they were wholly unprepared and paid the ultimate price.
Felbar and the other leaders of their expeditionary Force weren’t going to allow the same fate to befall their group. All 6 of the War Machines were now occupied, and they ranged far ahead, investigating each hill before the rest of their people could succumb to an ambush. Things were quiet for the first hour or so, with not even a hint of a monster in the distance.
That all changed when Violet suddenly saw Felbar in his War Machine rushing back to their location, approximately a half-mile in the distance – with a horde of various dungeon monsters following behind, eager to rip him apart.
Chapter 16
“May I introduce you all to Echo, the first one of us to have become acquainted with the dungeon in the wasteland.” Elder Herrlot was now showing her off to the crowd that had just been introduced to the young Ranger. Echo didn’t know what to say, so she just stood there like she had lost the ability to speak.
“She doesn’t look like much, does she? Remind me why we needed to risk our lives and – even worse – expose our plan prematurely?” This came from one of the Elites up near the front of those assembled, and he was certainly large and intimidating for a fellow Elf. Streaks of dark blue were accenting his leather outfit, standing out just enough to be seen, but would be difficult to notice at a glance.
“Oh, knock it off, Winter. Can’t you see that she’s a bit frazzled from being trussed up and carried here all the way from Lyringlade?”
Before she knew it, the speaker was next to Echo, putting her arm around the Ranger’s shoulders and squeezing tight. Echo looked at her defender, only to see the other Elf giving “Winter” a predatory smile, her long, lilac-colored hair tied up in a messy bun atop her head. A bow was strapped unstrung around her back, which only served to make Echo appreciate the help, coming from a Ranger. Or…an Elite who uses a bow, at least.
“Besides,” her rescuer continued, “I’m sure the Elder was just about to explain.”
“Yes, Sheelagh, I was,” Herrlot responded. “I would have already, if someone hadn’t interrupted me.” Echo was glad that the Elder’s glare wasn’t directed towards her, but Winter seemed entirely unaffected by it.
“Then get on with it, already. Some of us need to get back to our culling, and this just seems like a waste of time.”
Elder Herrlot and most of the others seemed to ignore the Elite’s words, and Echo had to wonder if Winter’s name came from his spell-casting specialties like her own, or because of his icy disposition.
“You all know why we are here, but Echo does not; to say she is ignorant would be putting it lightly,” Herrlot began, which made Echo’s temper rise in response. Not only was she taken from relative safety, wrapped in branches, and then carried halfway across the world (or so it felt like to her), but now she was being called ignorant – like it was some sort of failing on Echo’s part. “Therefore, to explain her importance, I need to cure her ignorance. Some of it, at least; it would take years to solve all of the problems going on—” the older Elf pointed at Echo’s head— “up there.”
“Hey—”
“Now, we all know that there have been shipments coming from the wasteland, crates filled with Energy Orbs, exactly like the ones you all now possess.” For the first time, Echo noticed that every single person in the underground room had an Energy Orb, either on a necklace, on a bracelet, or in o
ne case, in a circlet on their head. “These come from the dungeon found there, and as all of you can attest, these Orbs are powerful; so powerful that they can turn the tide of attrition that has been plaguing our people for decades—centuries, even. We are few; but we are the strong, skilled, and Elite members of our people. Yet our elemental energy can only keep us alive for so long before running out. These Orbs change that, saving countless lives—”
“Yes, we know all of that. Get to the point.” Echo was really starting to dislike this Winter person.
The Elder was really starting to look perturbed. “Hmph. Anyway, we all know how much of a boon these can be…but how easy is it to get one of them? Tell me, Sheelagh, how did you obtain yours?”
“It’s basically impossible. The Royals must be keeping them all for themselves; I only got mine from…you.” Sheelagh seemed confused for some reason, as if she couldn’t figure out why she had to wait to get it from someone who wasn’t even in charge of their people. I’m wondering the same thing. This can’t be true, can it?
“Exactly. All of you here received your Energy Orb from me or one of my associates. Why? I can assure you that it wasn’t to buy your loyalty, because I have no desire to enact some sort of coup to take over and rule. No, like I just recently told Echo, a coup has already happened. Instead, I gave you all the Orbs so that you could use them, to stay alive longer while culling dungeon monsters throughout all of Symenora, to prove to you how useful they could be.”
Echo had to interrupt. “Why in the name of the Creator would you have to prove how useful they could be? Anyone can see that, clearly?”
There was silence throughout the room, and the young Ranger knew she had touched on something important as the faces in the crowd appeared conflicted.
The Crafter's Dominion: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 5) Page 16
