Monster Mansion 2 by Dante King (best way to read ebooks .txt) 📗

“Who?”

“Belinda and… another. One I do not recognize.”

“Agent Fallon?” Astrid asked eagerly.

“I do not know her. She is a Drow elf, green-skinned, not dressed like the rest of you…”

“That’s her!” said Astrid.

A thought struck me. “You said that Agent Fallon was less than impressed with your efforts with the dungeon?” I asked Astrid.

Astrid looked a bit uncomfortable.

“Perhaps,” I said grinning, “now is the perfect opportunity to test our new portal dungeon, and to make an impression at the same time!”

Chapter 9

We ran downstairs together. I was in the lead, with Kyrine at my side. Astrid and Selena were following.

“How close are they?” I asked Kyrine.

“Coming up the drive,” she answered, after a moment’s thought. “Belinda is riding her motorcycle; the drow elf is driving a car.”

“They’ll park up and then come up the stairs. We’ve only got a moment to work. How do we do this?”

“All right,” said Kyrine, as we pulled up behind the main door into the mansion. “You need to take the portal dungeon and place it in the space just behind the door. To line up the entrance to the portal dungeon with the mansion doors, you’ll need to access my dimensional magic. We’ve not done this before, so it might be a bit disorientating, but I’ll walk you through it.”

Through the heavy double doors of the mansion, I heard gravel crunching outside as the cars pulled up.

“Let’s do it!” I said with a grin. Kyrine reached out and took my hands in hers as Astrid and Selena looked on in fascination.

The world whirled around me. Just like that, I was floating above the mansion, hand-in-hand with Kyrine. The roofs were off, and I could see a cutaway of every room. Out front, Amanda Fallon and Belinda the psycher were standing looking up at the mansion.

“Look, here,” said Kyrine, pointing. “See that golden triangle?”

I looked where she pointed. Sure enough, there were golden triangle symbols placed at various points on the view of the mansion—over the central training area, over the suite of rooms that belonged to me, over the massive atrium at the back of the mansion, and over the doors at the main entrance.

“If you grab the triangle over the main doors, you’ll get the options you need,” said Kyrine urgently. Amanda Fallon and Belinda were walking up the stairs.

I did as Kyrine suggested, and a simple set of options appeared on a projected screen over the golden symbol.

Options: Mansion Entrance Door

Link to: Main Entrance Hall. Change?

Yes?

No?

I selected Yes, and a new option flickered up.

Options: Mansion Entrance Door

Link to: (Empty Slot)

Fill Slot?

Portal Dungeon #1?

Mansion Main Entrance?

As Belinda’s hand touched the door knocker, I selected Portal Dungeon #1 for Fill Slot.

The main entrance shimmered, the golden triangle shone brightly, and a new message flashed up on the screen.

Success! Portal Dungeon Applied

Access Dimensional Magic Management System again to end dungeon runner experience.

Engage Sentient Dungeon Experience?

Yes?

No?

The last option took me by surprise. “Holy crap, is that what I think it is?”

I’d heard of dungeons that were physically aware, in real time, of what was going on within their depths. Kyrine was, I supposed, a being like that. She was constantly aware of what was going on within the mansion. Could I be like that?

“It will allow you to be aware of the events within the portal dungeon from the point of view of the dungeon core,” said Kyrine. “Are you ready for such an experience?”

“Oh, hell yeah!” I shouted. “Let’s do it!”

I reached forward and tapped the option.

Nothing I had experienced so far prepared me for the feeling of being transformed into a sentient dungeon.

“Fuuuuuuuuck!” I yelled as a falling sensation took me. I felt like I had fallen 100 miles in the space of a few seconds. All spatial awareness was warped and removed, and then with a shock like a hammer to the head I slammed, body and soul, in the very fabric of the dungeon I’d created.

My skin was the rock of the tunnels and chambers, my nerves running through the stone floors and the rough-hewn walls. My muscles were the doors and locks, the loot and the scattered weapons, and my hands were the triggers that created and moved the monsters. My eyes and ears were everywhere.

I was the dungeon!

“Are you all right?” said Kyrine.

“Ah, I’m glad you’re here!” I exclaimed. I couldn’t have described exactly how we were communicating, but she was here with me. “I had no idea it would be so intense!”

Her warm laughter rippled through my awareness. “Yes, it might take a little getting used to. But look now, here come the agents.”

Sure enough, at that very moment the door creaked open and Belinda’s face peered round. She was surprised to see a torchlit stony cave where she’d expected the plush, familiar surroundings of the mansion.

I was about to laugh at Belinda’s surprised expression, but I felt Kyrine restraining me. “Do not make a sound,” she said, though I could hear the amusement in her own voice too. “You do not know how to contain your voice yet. If you laugh or speak, you may reveal yourself to Belinda and Astrid.”

Belinda stepped into the dungeon hall, followed by the tall, green-skinned Drow elf, Amanda Fallon. Fallon had long, straight hair, high cheekbones, and the distinctive high brown and pointed ears of her outworlder race. In her hand she held a big, old-fashioned revolver.

“Belinda, this is not what you expected to find?” she asked as she came round the door into the dungeon.

“Not at all,” agreed Belinda. “I was expecting the main mansion entrance, and probably Jeremy or Kyrine here to meet us. This is… weird. Much more