The Dungeon Fairy: Two Choices: A Dungeon Core Escapade (The Hapless Dungeon Fairy Book 2) by Jonathan Brooks (free e books to read .txt) 📗

even a little disappointed when he said he was finished with his questions and that he needed to get moving and do some research regarding what he had learned.  Without even a goodbye, he moved off and Translocated away, and she immediately lost all sense of where he was; the Bond with the Head Instructor and Council Leader were obviously not the same as the one she had with Shale.  For which she was thankful, especially when it came to Lapis.

“I must be going, as well.  After you were…destroyed or whatever it was that happened to you, there was a complete halt in the attacks for quite a long while.  About a week ago, however, we had another one occur under circumstances like yours, so I want to be in the Council Chambers to monitor the map.  I’ll definitely be in touch, Tacca.”

And I’ll definitely be asking for that favor, Council Leader.

He just smiled sadly and flew off a little way from her Core, before Translocating away.  Soon enough, she was left all alone with Shale, who had barely said a word the entire time the other two were there.  Those two were a bit intimidating with their presence alone, so she could quite understand.

“You aren’t mad at me, are you?”

What?  No, of course not.  This was probably the best outcome, when I really think about it.  As much as it felt a little naughty keeping these types of things from the Council, it feels better about getting it all out in the open.  Well, most of it, anyway.

He looked relieved and a little confused.  “What did you keep back?  It sounded to me like you told them everything.”

Not much, honestly.  Mainly just the fact that when I Bonded with them I acquired a Dungeon Fairy as a creature I can create now, as well as 17 different Abilities.

His eyes practically popped out of his head.  “17 Abilities?  What are they?”

I’m not sure yet; they say they’re “Locked”, so I may not be able to use them yet.  Regardless, I’m bound to discover what they are in the future.

He just shrugged, before he smiled softly at her Core.  “Thank you for keeping your promise and staying alive, Tacca.  I missed you these last four months.”

Four months?  I was gone that long?  It seemed like a lot less than that.

“Yes, it was quite aggravating, if fact – feeling that you were still alive and not being able to find or communicate with you.  It was made even worse when the countdown toward my Rank increase completely stopped – as if our Bond was suspended in time or something.  I even flew in here when you were gone, hoping to find you, but there was nothing here; it was just a dark, empty cave like the rest of your dungeon had been,” he said sadly.  Then he perked up a bit.  “So, what’s the plan?”

Plan?  Well, I guess it’s time to rebuild.  Maybe make a few improvements on what I had already, but I think the basic structure I already had in place worked well enough.

“What are you going to do with all of those CIPs you acquired?”  Tacca had explained to the Head Instructor and the Council Leader how much she had obtained from the deaths of the six-armed invaders, and they were equally worried that they weren’t worth more.

I’ll probably save most of it until I can figure out what I’m going to do after the section I was working on is done.  Just using enough of it to fully stock and maintain everything without too much difficulty.

“Sounds good.  When do we start?”

I guess now is as good a time as any….

Chapter 31

Sterge walked slowly up the mountainside, Gwenda at his side with a determined hitch in her stride.  She was using her staff as a walking stick, as she had since they arrived back at The Village earlier that week – just in case, she had said.  He had given in and worn his armor and was carrying his shield and mace, even though he doubted they would need it; when his best friend asked him to do something that didn’t really matter one way or another, however, he was more than happy to oblige.  What is a little more sweat nowadays, anyway?

After the disastrous events more than 6 months ago, when dozens of Raiders had been slaughtered by some unknown enemy upon the mountainside and a full group had been killed inside the dungeon, the entire village had been evacuated.  It caused some angry protests from those who were next up on the list to delve through the dungeon, but when it was revealed that the dungeon’s Core had been destroyed by someone or something, and that the mysterious entity was theoretically still around, the protests stopped quickly enough.  The ones whom Sterge felt the worst about forcing to leave were his fellow villagers, because they were going to have to uproot their lives – once again – and move away from what they had built.

All of the funds that they had accumulated over the months that the dungeon had actually been in operation were divided amongst all of the village members, at least – and it wasn’t a small sum, either.  They had more than enough to move somewhere quiet and settle down for the rest of their lives – as long as they didn’t live extravagantly.  Despite the money, they weren’t necessarily happy about it, but there really wasn’t anything they could do; by decree of the crown – when news of what had happened reached royal ears – no one was allowed south of Heftington for the next 6 months.

While it still seemed a bit too close for comfort, Gwenda convinced Sterge to stick around Heftington until the ban was lifted.  He could certainly understand her wanting to stay close by, though,