The Dungeon Fairy: A Dungeon Core Escapade (The Hapless Dungeon Fairy Book 1)

by Jonathan Brooks

  The condensed orb of air exploded outwards, with thousands of invisible sharp blades slicing through the air at incredible speed. The Oozes along the ground were literally shredded apart, and they disappeared almost as quickly, leaving behind…nothing. Jeremy must’ve forgotten to assign rewards to them—

  She didn’t finish that thought, as the sharp Windblades crashed into the Dungeon Core, shattering it and flinging tiny shards of the former Jeremy Miller everywhere. Tacca barely felt the small shard that flung itself down the tunnel she was watching from and shear through both of her left-side wings; the pain of a Bond being involuntarily broken from the death of a Core was like nothing she had ever experienced before – or could even imagine in her nightmares. She was vaguely aware that she fell at an angle as the fluttering of her intact wings caused her to crash into the tunnel wall and slide down it, only to land in a heap.

  It felt like her chest was on fire and that flames were spreading throughout her body, until there was nothing but burning pain; the initial break of the bond had felt like she had crashed full-speed into a mountain, but that was far overshadowed by the extreme torture she felt afterwards. During every second of the unbelievable agony Tacca wished that she would just die, as her body locked up in a terrible contortion of suffering.

  Then, after some unknown length of time later, the pain and torture disappeared as if it had never been there. The world came back into focus as she opened her eyes while still breathing hard and bracing against phantom aches, only to see that the room where Jeremy had been was dark and lifeless. There was no sight of the Raiders, nor were there any shards of his Core left anywhere she could see. Tacca stood up gingerly, her muscles feeling like jelly, and started to flutter her wings to fly forward and take a better look, when agony flared up in her left side.

  Looking over to that side and behind her back, she saw and vaguely remembered what had happened; the pain only occurred when she fluttered her wings, though it was nowhere near what she had just experienced. Nevertheless, she needed to fix herself up before she could move from her current position and eventually even leave.

  Tacca knew that she’d eventually get an Ability that could be used to quickly heal herself and even a Core’s creatures using Fairy Mana, but that was obviously unavailable right now. However, she did have one that would heal her – but it would take a bit more time: Hibernate. It was an Ability that was usually used by Dungeon Assistant Fairies to help pass the time in certain out-of-the-way dungeons where it could be months or even years in between invasions by Raiders. It caused a Fairy to sleep deeply enough that the passage of time was barely noticeable, but it also had the advantage of healing almost any non-fatal injuries at the same time.

  Luckily, it also had the advantage of waking her up if anything came near her during her healing sleep, so she knew she was fairly safe using the ability even in the middle of a dungeon. Thoughts of how empty it was now made her sorrowful, as she remembered that her Core had been destroyed – and it hadn’t even been a full day; there was a hollowness that she could feel inside of her where the Bond had been, and it made her question her choices.

  Should I have come straight here instead of sleeping last night? If I had arrived earlier or found him immediately after coming here, could this all have been avoided? Should I have tried harder to get Jeremy to see reason while he was in his panicked state? Was there something else that could’ve been done to save him? Why don’t I feel as sad over the destruction of my Core as I thought I would? Those thoughts – and more – were running through her mind as she lay down on the cold stone floor of the now-empty dungeon floor and activated her Hibernate Ability.

  As her eyes were forcibly closed and her mind drifted off, she couldn’t help but remember the pain of the Bond being broken – and how the only way to repair that invisible, soul-crushing wound was to succeed somewhere else with another Core.

  Chapter 5

  Tacca eventually woke up, though how long she was actually asleep was hard to tell. As she opened her eyes, she could see that the dungeon looked exactly the same as it had when she had used her Hibernate Ability, though she could only clearly see the tunnel and some of the first room. Looking back at her wings as she stood up, feeling much better throughout her body, she saw that her wings were now completely healed as if they had never been damaged.

  Cautiously moving them, she found no pain anywhere; because of that, she quickly lifted herself off the ground and flew towards where her Core had met his final end, looking for any indication that anyone had been in and out of the now-defunct dungeon since his destruction. There was a bit of dirt and dust that had likely blown in over time near the entrance, but there was no sign of anything else; in short, the room and the rest of the dungeon was as empty as the spot in her body that used to house her Bond with Jeremy.

  Despite how devastating his death was, Tacca knew she was fortunate; if she had been Bonded with him for a year or more, his destruction would’ve killed her outright instead of just causing unbelievable pain – just like her Mentor, Expert Assistant Cobalt, had been. Of course, she would’ve rather he not be shattered in the first place, but the more she thought about her choices and actions, the more she knew that there hadn’t been much chance that he would’ve survived even if she had arrived earlier. Jeremy was so out of his mind when she first met him that nothing she could do would’ve stopped him from his incessant need to open up to the outside world.

  There was nothing left for her there, so Tacca flew to the middle of the room and started to activate her Translocation Ability. Looking down, however, she saw that her Mood Dress was completely black again, where it had been lightening up to a dark-grey over the last few days as she was looking forward to being Mentored and the subsequent assignment to a Core. I guess so much death and destruction isn’t that great for my mood.

  Shrugging it off as something she didn’t really have any control over, she used her Translocation Ability to transport herself to the sky above the DPRC, and she saw the same ornate entrance below her leading inside the mountain. With a bit of trepidation, Tacca flew down inside, and was surprised to see another Fairy inside the waiting room.

  “Hello, my name is Tacca—” she started to say as she sat down on the bench beside the other Dungeon Assistant.

  “I know exactly who you are, and I don’t want any of your…essence…to rub off on me,” the other Fairy said, scooting herself as far across the bench as she could as her serene blue Mood Dress quickly turned darker until it was nearly a deep purple.

  Tacca shut her mouth in a snap and turned herself away from the other Assistant, keeping a tight seal on her lips to prevent herself from saying something in response. Looking down in her lap, she saw the black in her dress somehow become deeper, which she didn’t think was even possible.

  Fortunately, it was less than a minute later when a hidden panel in the waiting room wall in front of the two slid open and a Fairy she didn’t recognize stepped out. “Petunia, you can come with me for your placement,” he said, his shirt and pants the same serene blue that she had seen earlier on her bench partner. When he glanced at her, they darkened a little, but it was only temporary and went back to its apparent normal state when he looked away.

  Moments after the panel slid closed behind “Petunia” and what was likely a Placement Council Member, Tacca heard the stern-but-familiar voice of Lily behind her calling for her. “Tacca – you’re alive,” she stated with just the barest hint of surprise. “That’s good, but you’re late again; we had word that your Dungeon Core, one Jeremy Miller, was destroyed three months ago – where have you been?”

  As she started to answer, Lily beckoned her to follow her into her small office. Tacca decided to wait until they were both inside the private space before she told her all that had happened; it was hard reliving the events that led to the destruction of her Dungeon Core, but she made sure to include every detail, including what she had tried to advise Jeremy to do to survive…and how even
ts were already in motion and it was too late to save him. She described her injury and need to Hibernate to fix herself up, which Lily – for a change – seemed to accept without questioning her about it.

  While she was worried that she’d be chastised and stripped of her status of Assistant, that was far from what actually happened. In fact, Lily callously dismissed all that Tacca went through and didn’t seem to care that another Dungeon Core was destroyed – only that the Dungeon Assistant was there now.

  “I’m glad you’re back, because I have another Core that’s perfect for you.”

  Oh, please no. “Perfect? As in perfect because you know it’s going to fail and get destroyed like the last one? I know that a Fairy had Bonded Jeremy before, and you sent me in there with no hope of succeeding,” she angrily accused the Lead Placement Council Member, though she wished she could’ve taken it back as soon as the words left her mouth.

  The fake smile on Lily’s lips never wavered, though her normally light-blue Mood Dress darkened with hints of angry red splotches – which appeared and disappeared with frightening swiftness. “I’m going to forgive that outburst because I realize that losing a Bonded Core is a horrific experience…but I had better not hear anything like that again if you wish to continue being a Dungeon Assistant. Just because we need your help doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t strip you of the privileges you enjoy.”

  “And what privileges are those? Unbelievable pain from a Bond being abruptly broken apart,” she couldn’t stop herself from speaking, as the pain and anger of the entire situation was bubbling to the surface.

  The Lead Placement Council Member’s Mood Dress suddenly changed from the light blue it had been to a deep, nearly black red color that scared Tacca more than anything else she’d ever experienced; and the deadly tone to Lily’s voice only heightened that fear. “Your life, for one – and I would think that would be the most important. It’s only your status as a Dungeon Assistant that has kept you alive for this long; there are hordes of Fairies that would rather you be permanently removed from the world rather than exist because of your portentous birth and appearance.”

  The murderous tone and Dress color abruptly faded, and the Council Member continued. “And then there’s all of the Abilities you were granted and currently enjoy; those would be taken away if you were to be stripped of your position as an Assistant,” Lily said calmly, before shuffling a few papers on her desk. “Now, let’s talk about your next assignment…”

  * * *

  Unlike Jeremy, her “new” Dungeon Core wasn’t brand-new or even relatively new. Instead, it was an older Core that was having some…issues; Lily couldn’t or wouldn’t expound on what those issues entailed, however. The Lead Placement Council Member instead told her that it was better if she didn’t go into it with any expectations – whatever that was supposed to mean.

  Despite having “Hibernated” for over three months, it still felt like that morning that she had lost her first Core and had her Bond forcibly (and painfully) broken; Tacca wasn’t quite sure if she was ready to Bond with another so quickly, but Lily impressed upon her the need for speed, since she had been delayed in returning after Jeremy had been destroyed. Nevertheless, she took some time after she left the DPRC headquarters – without seeing any other Fairies on her way out – to fly around aimlessly throughout the nearby countryside. She was trying to forget everything that had happened – which hadn’t been my fault – and to center her thoughts and stressed mind before she found out what the issue with the next Core was.

  Because she was quite confident that it was going to be something difficult, and, of course, perfect for her.

  After just under half a day of wandering around, enjoying the sun shining down on her wings and watching the relatively peaceful landscape passing by far beneath her, Tacca was starting to feel a little better. Amazingly, her Mood Dress was also reflective of her state of mind; instead of the deep black it had been earlier, it was a light grey bordering on the calm blue of serenity. She didn’t know if she’d ever get to the point where it would be fully serene blue, but this was probably the best it was going to get.

  Obviously, her modicum of serenity wasn’t going to last. As soon as she Translocated to the dungeon where she was assigned, she quickly saw what the problem was as she arrived at the edge of her new Dungeon Core’s “Core Room”. While she wasn’t experienced with actually seeing more than basic representations of Core Rooms in her schooling, she was taught about the vast variety of different methods used in their construction; there were supposed to be places where deadly traps could be set, where powerful creatures could be stationed for defense, and also have it relatively hard to get to – obviously.

  One thing that was heavily discouraged, however – if a Dungeon Core wanted to survive for any length of time – was having any type of rewards inside the Core Room. The entire dungeon was supposed to have rewards sprinkled throughout and also assigned to creatures upon their deaths, with a larger amount at the end of the official “dungeon” where Raiders would have to overcome some sort of obstacle – dangerous traps, difficult creatures, or a combination of both. The Core Room was supposed to be the most protected of all, again with the most powerful traps and creatures, but there was supposed to be no rewards; if someone persisted in coming into where the Dungeon Core was located, they would face overwhelming odds for no reason or reward.

  Tacca’s new Core, though, apparently either hadn’t been informed of that, or was completely ignoring the advice the previous Fairy had most likely given. The room was full of what Raiders would consider valuable treasure: gold coins, precious gems, weapons of various types, metal armor pieces, and – scattered around the room and placed rather haphazardly – enchanting scrolls.

  Enchanting scrolls were one of the most prized rewards from dungeons – or so she was taught – because Raiders couldn’t reproduce them on their own. They ran the gamut between the very common Illumination enchantments that were key parts of Amulets of Illumination – or, really, anything (but amulets were the most common) – to Firestrike enchantments that could give weapons the ability to burn anything they came into contact with, to rarer Invisibility enchantments very similar to her own Invisibility that would allow someone to bypass most traps, and even the ultra-rare attribute-increasing enchantments that could boost someone’s strength or speed or any other number of physical and magical attributes.

  In short, this Dungeon Core really did have a treasure trove of “riches”…sitting right below its Core. If any Raiders learned of its existence there, the Core could be in massive danger; not only would they take all of the rewards, but they would likely destroy the one that made the treasure as well. Her schooling had taught her that Raiders tended to be greedy and wanted to prevent others from acquiring the same amount of “wealth” as they did; once they took the massive amount of rewards inside the room, they would probably destroy the Core to prevent anyone else from repeating what they just did. There were multiple examples from history detailing exactly that happening, so it wasn’t just conjecture – though it wasn’t necessarily a sure thing.

  The Dungeon Core couldn’t communicate with her until they bonded, of course, but she detected a strong sense of…suspicion, she thought. It was better than the overwhelming fear and panic from Jeremy, at least, but it was still uncomfortable. As soon as her Fairy Mana regenerated enough – which didn’t take long, since she had deactivated her Invisibility and Repellant Shield as soon as she saw that it was obviously safe – she flew over to the Core. The “suspicious” feeling never really went away and only increased the closer she came, spiking to insane heights as she placed her hand on the warm crystalline form.

  “What are you doing here? Are you here to steal my stuff? I told the last one that I was done with all of this and just want to be left alone with all my precious treasure. You can’t have it!” the female voice of the Core violently shouted at her as soon as the Bond was established.

  “Whoa, I’m not
here to take any of your rewards—”

  “Then you can leave, I don’t want you here.” As quickly as she had formed the Bond just a few seconds ago, it was broken by the Dungeon Core. Tacca reeled back in temporary pain and surprise, as it felt like a taut cord connecting both of them together was cut and rebounded back onto her. Fortunately, it was just a quick sharp stab to her chest which rapidly faded, but she was just barely feeling…whole again…with the Bond she had established with the new Core; the hole in her self now felt doubly empty as the comfort the connection provided was given and taken away so suddenly.

  Ok, this isn’t going well. The suspicion from the Core had dampened down quite a bit since she arrived, but it was still there. I’m going to try again to see if I can get through to her. She didn’t move from where she was using her wings to hover nearby the Core while she waited for her Fairy Mana to regenerate, because she didn’t want anything she did to create any cause for concern. When she finally had enough, she reached out and reestablished the Bond, speaking as she did so to hopefully prevent the Core from breaking it immediately. “Look, I’m here to help you…acquire a larger hoard of treasure,” Tacca started, thinking that would get her attention. “I just need to talk to you for a little bit to see what we can do to make that happen.”

  If the Dungeon Assistant could have the ideal outcome in the situation, it would be to have all of the rewards dispersed throughout the whole dungeon; as it was, she was prepared to work with the Core to perhaps create a separate room to store it all – a room where the Core wasn’t present. Tacca just had to ascertain what exactly was going on and create a workaround, though it would probably require extra defenses to protect the treasure room as well as the Core Room, but it would eventually be doable.