The Crafter's Dominion: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 5)

by Jonathan Brooks

  She just shrugged, not quite sure what to say. For one, she was glad that they hadn’t killed the Guards and had only put them to sleep somehow; for another, if they could do that to 4 powerful Royal Guards in less than a second, how powerful were The Rebels she had just allied with?

  The journey up the rest of the Royal Tree seemed to take forever, as they had to slow down and be very careful; the branch that consisted of the main pathway upwards became much narrower as they ascended, and avoiding not only Guards but the few residents of the tree was much more difficult. I guess it’s a good thing that there aren’t a lot of people living here, otherwise this would’ve been literally impossible.

  Eventually, she thought, their luck in avoiding discovery thus far would give out, and they would have to make a run for it. When that happened, Echo was worried that there could be some casualties as a result, which was why she was being as quiet and obedient as possible. She didn’t want to be the cause of unnecessary deaths if keeping her mouth shut and staying in her place in the group was all it took to prevent that from happening.

  Strangely, as they neared the Royal Bowery, they saw fewer and fewer Guards. Whether they figured the topmost portion of the Royal Tree was already more secure, or if they didn’t have enough Guards to station or patrol everywhere at once, Echo wasn’t sure – but it was eerie to see fewer people blocking their way towards their goal than there was down below. Eventually, they arrived at the top of the Tree, where the upper branches all met together in a ring around the top of the trunk, creating a massive area between them that formed the Bowery. Echo had never been inside that she could remember, but she had heard that it was one of the most beautiful sights that could be seen throughout all of Symenora.

  It didn’t take long to see and confirm that, indeed, the sight of the massively thick branches extending up and outwards, creating a crown of leaves that left the very center of the Bowery open to the sunlight, was enough to take her breath away. Or, more likely, the reason her breath was suddenly taken from her was the sight of nearly 100 Royal Guards assembled in the middle of the Bowery. They appeared to be protecting two people on thrones made of exquisitely shaped wood and a smug-looking Elf in pompous-looking robes, and the Guards were on edge, as if they were waiting for something.

  Such as the arrival of The Rebels.

  Chapter 25

  “Ah, our guests have arrived!”

  How—?

  Before she could complete that thought, a large disk made from pure ice appeared above the group of Guards, reflecting the bright sunlight coming down from above, angled perfectly to fully envelop The Rebels. Cries of shock and surprise erupted from the group as Echo found that the sunlight was bright enough to fully reveal them, with only a slight haziness that evidenced the shadowy cloud that had been hiding them. After a moment, even that fell away as Mordecai dropped the spell, as it was obvious to everyone that it wasn’t working anymore.

  “See here, my King and Queen, I spoke the truth! These individuals, led by Herrlot and Churven, have come to usurp your rightful place!” the smug-looking Elf continued, waving his hand in their direction, as The Rebels stood stock still in surprise at the revelation of their presence. How did the Chamberlain, whom I assume this pompous fool is, know we would be here? And how did he see us?

  Echo was staring at the Chamberlain, trying to figure out if what she had been told was true about him; the vibe he was putting off was that he was the sort of person that lived for being in charge and wouldn’t take no for an answer, as well as walking over anyone in his way to get what he wanted. But does that mean he’s controlling the minds of the King and Queen, or is he just a mean, inconsiderate person?

  She thought she got her answer a moment later as she saw the Royal couple flinch almost imperceptibly, before issuing an order. “Guards! Capture them so that we can get to the bottom of this!” they said in unison, word for word.

  Ok, if that isn’t a sign that something is going on, I don’t know what is.

  “No, Chamberlain. It is you that has been trying to usurp the King and Queen’s authority, and you need to be stopped,” the Elder said, stepping forward confidently. As she spoke, her staff holding the Natural Energy Orb flashed once and a wall of branches suddenly sprang into existence 5 feet tall, nominally cutting off the rushing Guards from reaching them.

  “Nonsense! It is you, by your actions right now, who has shown your treachery!” the Chamberlain shouted, before giggling under his breath. “I would think that someone as old as you would know that casting any spell in the Bowery is punishable as treason against the Royal Family.”

  Echo had known that, but she hadn’t really thought about it when the Elder had talked about infiltrating the Bowery. With surprise and brute force, she figured the plan was to take out the Chamberlain and deal with the fallout afterwards. What she also knew, at least by rumor, was that there was reportedly a bubble of magical negation that the Royal Tree could create in the Bowery itself, similar to how it protected its trunk from nearly all harm. Reportedly, this bubble canceled all spells as soon as they were cast, meaning that most of The Rebels – despite their powerful strength in manipulating elemental energy – were practically useless. So how was the Elder able to cast the spell that created the wall of branches?

  An inaudible *pop* reverberated through the entire Bowery, and suddenly the world felt muted somehow. Echo had a suspicion of what it was, and a quick experimentation of using her Holy energy to turn herself invisible was met with instant failure as the energy just seemed to dissipate as soon as it left her body. I was right; somehow, the Chamberlain is able to turn that bubble on and off.

  “You were right, Chamberlain. It was a risk lowering the Negation Sphere for a time, but it allowed us to see these unwelcome invaders for who they really are,” the Queen said with conviction, though it sounded a bit wooden to Echo. Almost as if the Queen had rehearsed the conversation – or had been forced to say it.

  “Guards! Capture them so that we can get to the bottom of this!” the two Royals repeated again in unison, using the exact same words as before. Ok…I’m now convinced that even if they aren’t being controlled, there is something seriously wrong with them.

  “Retreat!” the Elder suddenly yelled, even as half of the Guards were running around the branch wall, while the other half were chopping at it with the weapons they had pulled from their side. Echo turned around and ran with the rest, but she collided with the unmovable bulk of Winter as he abruptly stopped. Wha—?

  Oh. The entrance of the Bowery was filled with Guards as well, ones that she recognized. Not personally, of course, but the way some of their damp clothes and bloodshot eyes stared at them without any type of sympathy, she identified them as the Guards that The Rebels had frozen, trussed up with vines, and put to sleep on their way up the Tree. How they woke up, escaped, and arrived shortly after they did wasn’t important; the fact that they were there and blocking their way was enough to stop Echo and the others from leaving.

  But she could at least try to impart her information before they were captured – or killed, as she wasn’t sure where this would stop.

  “Your Highnesses! I must tell you about the danger that is threatening our people!” she yelled toward the two on the elevated thrones, hoping to be heard over the rush of Guards quickly surrounding The Rebels. Her fellow “conspirators” had pulled out their weapons and were facing off against at least 3 or 4 times their number, but she was trying to get the attention of the 2 people that could make a difference. Or at least, should be able to make a difference.

  It seemed as though her words got through, but not quite as she intended. “What is this? I won’t hear any other slander towards the Chamberlain; we’ve already seen your traitorous—”

  Echo couldn’t help but interrupt the King, and a startled look came over his perfectly symmetrical face, framed by his golden-colored long hair. “No! I don’t care about the Chamberlain; I came here to warn you that 4 dungeons have be
en destroyed near the wasteland—”

  That got a reaction. Both the King and Queen froze with their mouths open, as if they had just heard something so unexpected that they couldn’t believe it. What was more likely, Echo figured, was that the knowledge of the danger she hinted at was so problematic that it was messing with the Chamberlain’s mind control spell.

  “Lies! These traitors would say anything to save their skin. Ignore these untruths—”

  “Wait.” The Queen struggled to speak as she bent forward in an effort to hear better, and Echo could see the sweat on her pale-skinned forehead even from nearly 100 feet away. Although she wasn’t necessarily talking to the Guards, the deadly and annoyed-looking Elves surrounding The Rebels paused in their encirclement and gradual encroachment. At the moment, they were at a standstill. “We…would like to…hear what this young one has to say.”

  The effort that went into those words seemed monumental to Echo, and the Ranger felt pride in the Royal family in fighting the influence of the Chamberlain as much as they could. Because, as much as she had doubted it before, there was too much evidence to her eyes and ears to discount the information provided by Churven and the Elder. The King and Queen had been compromised, and The Rebels had been in the right to try to free them from the evil Chamberlain’s grasp.

  “NO! These are all lies meant to confuse you!” The smug look was gone from the pompous Elf, replaced by desperation and intense concentration. Echo glanced at the Queen and saw the worried and defiant glint in her eye suddenly disappear, and the Royal Elf collapsed back in the throne, all fight completely drained from her. The King had also collapsed in the seat as well, different from his interested posture earlier, looking as if someone had just cut his legs out from under him.

  How is he able to do that with the Negation Sphere? She thought about what she had heard about it and figured it out quickly; the negation only affected new spells as they were cast, not existing ones like the ones embedded in the Royal couple’s mind. As well as the ones that were likely infecting all of the Guards. They were screwed, to put it lightly.

  The smug look was back on the Chamberlain’s face, though he looked exhausted; reinforcing his spell must have required a lot of energy. The King and Queen suddenly sat up straight, a blank look on their faces. “Guards! Capture them so that we can get to the bottom of this!”

  There was the same phrase again, recited by rote from the instructions imparted by the Chamberlain. Echo suddenly found her bow in her hand, as she unconsciously equipped it with the intent to defend herself. She found one of the explosive bolts from her quiver and prepared to fire it at the nearest Guards…she hesitated, however, because she really didn’t want to kill anyone. Anyone but the one that should be killed to end this, however….

  She quickly whipped around and fired at the same moment, releasing her arrow towards the Chamberlain still looking smug and unconcerned next to the Royal couple. She vaguely heard the Elder yell, “No!” as she released, but by that time it was too late.

  The bolt flew true, aiming straight for the heart of the smiling Elf; 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 ou
r 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 especially not the King and Queen, who almost seemed catatonic at that point – reacted to the evil one’s words, showing that they were indeed mind-controlled, if to a lesser extent than the Royal couple. Echo looked around and saw the angry faces on The Rebels, however, though they weren’t directed towards the one that betrayed them – they were directed towards the Chamberlain.

  She felt the same way, and she couldn’t even blame Sheelagh for her betrayal; while she wasn’t entirely absolved for what she did, everyone understood why she did it. That…thing…needs to die.

  “Guards! Take them away, if you would.” The Chamberlain waved negligently in their direction, as if they were of no consequence.

  Not yet! I need to kill him before I’m stuck somewhere before my execution! I won’t get another chance—but I can’t break free of these ropes, there are over 100 Royal Guards around, they confiscated my bow, there’s a barrier protecting him from arrows and bolts, and I can’t use any spells! I can’t do it….

  She began to despair, just as something strange brushed her senses. A shadow fell over the Bowery again for less than a second as a cloud briefly hid the sun—wait! What she sensed wasn’t a cloud, it was something else entirely.