A wave of a nearly invisible force quickly shot out from his body in a spherical bubble, passing through everything in her dungeon room and extending out nearly 50 feet in every direction. Tacca thought it might be some sort of attack, but it didn’t seem to be dangerous in any way. Instead, the 4 Root Foxes she had hiding near the base of the trees near the exit were highlighted in a glowing red outline, easily marking their presence.
The appearance of the glowing outlines seemed to shock the Fighter; she watched as he looked at the pinpointed appearance of the creatures waiting for them ahead with widened eyes…just before he tripped over his own feet because his attention was somewhere else. None of the others seemed to see the red outlines, or to even witness the wave of force blasting out of the Hill Dwarf’s body; Tacca knew where they were, of course, since she was a Dungeon Core and could locate anything in her dungeon, but no one else seemed to be aware that anything had happened.
That must be the Dungeon Sight Ability the two Hill Dwarves received from the Bond. If that’s the case, then the Ability is even more powerful than I thought. From his description of it when he was there last, Tacca knew that it required a bit of his Stamina to keep such a thing going; nevertheless, it was extremely powerful to be able to identify dangers before they ran into them. She wasn’t positive, but she was 99% sure that it would identify any traps that she placed as well, as easily as she could see them. They named it Dungeon Sight for a reason.
“Whoa, are you ok? Did you get hurt in that last fight and I didn’t see it?” the Caster asked, concerned at him practically falling on his face. The Fighter picked himself up and shook his head, only saying that he was fine and that he was just thinking about one of his Abilities – and he had a smile on his face.
Soon after, as the others looked at him with awkward skepticism, another wave of force identical to the first blasted out of the Caster, though she didn’t trip – but she did look shocked. The emotion was missed by the others because they were looking at the other Hill Dwarf, who at that point had recovered enough that he appeared back to normal.
“Ok, I think I’m fine. Uh…if I remember correctly, there are 4 of those same brown foxes we just fought…there, there, there, and there,” the smaller Fighter said, pointing precisely where Tacca’s creatures were hiding, ready to emerge from their hiding places. They were camouflaged so well that if the Dungeon Core didn’t know where they were, even she would be hard-pressed to identify their locations – and yet, the Hill Dwarf did precisely that.
The Scout looked at the tree roots from a distance, trying to see if what the Fighter had said was accurate; even though he seemed fairly observant, he obviously couldn’t see the Foxes there. Nevertheless, he shrugged and pulled out one of his throwing knives from the brace on his left arm, holding it loosely in his right hand. Then, so quickly Tacca could barely see it, he raised his arm up, flicked his hand forward, and released the knife in one fluid motion that indicated a lot of practice.
*Thunk*
Despite not being able to see his target camouflaged in the tree roots, the Gnome’s toss had been “luckily” accurate based on the general information he received from the Hill Dwarf regarding its location. The Root Fox had been watching them the entire time with its eyes open, one of which was now embedded with a knife, piercing through to its brain and killing it instantly. Tacca wasn’t sure who was more surprised: The Fox or the Scout, as the Gnome saw that his throw had flown true.
The other 3 creatures hiding in wait immediately attacked after one of their brethren was killed, and a second Fox was incapacitated by another knife pulled out and thrown quickly by the Scout; this throw wasn’t as accurate as the first, but instead hit the brown creature in the throat with enough force that it connected with the Fox’s spine, causing it to collapse as its limbs became unresponsive. The other 2 creatures stood no chance as the Fighters stepped forward and caught their attention, bashing or slicing them up until they quickly succumbed to the assault.
“Wow – good memory!” the Healer exclaimed, all trace of his earlier annoyance gone. “They were exactly where you said they’d be.”
“Yes…well, now that I’m focused on that, I seem to remember a lot more,” the small Fighter said, as the others were picking up the rewards dropped by the creatures they had slain.
His “memory” proved to be extremely accurate, as the next room he was able to mark out the boundaries of the Rage-inducing trap, as well as identifying where the Frond Coyotes were hiding behind the ferns in the room. Tacca had been correct when she thought he could “see” her traps as easily as her creatures, and with precise descriptions of where everything was located, the group was able to lure the creatures into attacking before they ever stepped foot in the trap – which was usually when they attacked. In fact, they were able to completely avoid the trap by going around the edge of it, so it was essentially nullified by their knowledge of its exact dimensions.
Hmm…this could be bad if they chose to hunt for my Core; it’s mainly protected by traps – and those creatures wearing the enchanted gear, of course – and if they can bypass them this easily, well then…. It was yet another reason why she was trying to avoid Bonding with anyone, because that kind of Ability was dangerous. Thankfully, she didn’t believe she had anything to fear from the two Hill Dwarves and their group, mainly because they seemed like they were only there to delve – not to destroy her Core. Besides, if what I heard from them was correct, they had “moved up” in the world because of my dungeon’s presence here.
Out of everyone, the two Bonded Hill Dwarves would have the most to lose if she were to be destroyed, so she was fairly confident that they had no ill intent towards her. That didn’t mean that there weren’t still some Raiders out there that wanted her gone, but she didn’t have to worry about this group. In fact, since they were so fully on her side – at least as far as the two Hill Dwarves – she thought that they were the only ones she could trust, if she could trust any Raiders. With that being the case, and with it being likely that they had no awareness of the threat she had been under by that group of “Merchants” a few weeks ago, she thought it might be a good idea to let them know.
With a quick check on Shale to see that he was still firmly asleep in his Hibernation, she carved something into the stone floor of the exit staircase tunnel, just outside of the Boss room. Seeing how they were easily handling the third room, she had no doubt that the group would face the final room’s inhabitants and finish her dungeon; therefore, as a secondary reward, they would receive her warning. It was a slight risk, because the other members of the Raider group would see it; regardless, she thought it was important enough to communicate what had happened to risk it.
Her assumptions had again been correct, as the 2 Hill Dwarves and their group methodically destroyed the rest of the creatures in her dungeon – without activating more than one of her traps in the process. The Confusion-based trap in the sixth room was nearly unavoidable, and after making their Healer voluntarily trigger it, they pulled him back while the inhabitants of the room attacked. It was a smart strategy, since it allowed them to have their strongest group members face the attack free of confusion, all of whom quickly finished off the wave of Canines that streamed forth to do battle.
The Boss room was a little harder than the others for them, due to the sheer numbers arrayed against them, but they avoided the Slowing-based Enchantment trap entirely – which had occasionally contributed to a death. That, and the fact that the 3 new members of the group had all increased their Level – to some exclamations of surprise – earlier, helped them overcome the difficult room. At the end, the two Hill Dwarves appeared pleased as well, as they too leveled up to Level 3 – or so they said. She wasn’t sure exactly how fast they normally increased their level, but she couldn’t remember any of the other Raider groups delving through her dungeon mentioning that they had hit Level 3 already – even the ones that had gone through twice already. Must be that Power Boost Ability they
had mentioned last time they were here.
As they congratulated themselves, picked up the rewards in the chest specifically in the Boss Room for that purpose and left via the exit staircase, Tacca braced herself for how they would react to her message. Again, she hid direct communication in the form of a hastily developed poem, but she thought it was plain enough that they would understand it. After taking a few steps into the staircase, the Scout was the first one to notice it.
“What’s this? I hadn’t heard that there were messages in the exit – anyone else heard differently?”
They all shook their heads to indicate that they hadn’t, before the Elven Fighter said, “No, but look what it says.
Caution be with those that tread deeper inside,
As deadly traps allow the Core to hide.
Keeping safe against the Merchants of death,
Protecting this dungeon with its last breath.
Beware the danger of a powerful knave,
That seeks to destroy the Core inside this cave.
Those with means are filled with envious greed,
Their attempt to doom this dungeon a heinous deed.
Repaid in kind, to their own demise,
Showed that their thinking was not wise.
Though future threats are likely imminent,
This warning goes out to the settlement.”
They listened as the Elf incanted Tacca’s stern, coded caveat. When she was done, they all looked at each other in surprise and confusion – though the Hill Dwarves seemed a lot less surprised: They had seen something like this, after all.
“Uh…what does that mean? Is that supposed to be poetry? Better yet – why is it here in the first place?” the Healer finally asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had fallen over them all.
“We…saw something like this last time we were here,” the Hill Dwarf Caster slowly admitted. “The last one we saw didn’t make much sense, but I think I understand what this is saying.”
“Wait – you’ve had the dungeon communicate with you?” the Elf inquired, plainly skeptical.
“I don’t know if I’d go so far as to say that, but there was a warning of sorts last time as well.” Before anyone asked her to explain that, she went on. “I think this means that, somehow, there was a group of Merchants that snuck in and tried to destroy the Core of this dungeon. Obviously, they didn’t succeed, but instead were killed for trespassing further down past this last room.”
“Why would they do that? They have all of their people here, don’t they? That doesn’t make any sense.” Tacca had a fairly good answer to the Scout’s question, though she received some better context when the Caster explained.
“The Minister has been trying to acquire this land since they arrived, and I’ve rebuffed him at every opportunity. This entire area is being leased by the crown, which means he has no way to gain control of it through any other means but through the villagers, who have entrusted me to make decisions regarding the entire situation.” The Hill Dwarf thought about it all for a moment. “It doesn’t surprise me that they would try something like this, though; after everything I’ve learned about them, they’d rather something didn’t exist if they can’t control it. Though, to be fair, I’ve heard plenty of stories describing Raiders being just as ruthless when it comes to controlling access to dungeons; that’s the main reason why we decided to stay neutral and retain the lease to this land rather than trade it away to either faction.”
“That’s probably a good idea,” the Gnome said, to the surprise of the other two new Raiders. “What?” he asked of their expressions. “I’ve heard more than a few stories that back up what she’s saying. It was one of the reasons I hesitated even joining the Raider Clan, but it was either this or starve on the streets of Galberton. Despite the rocky start, this is proving to be much more lucrative than…my previous profession.”
The whole situation didn’t sound good to Tacca; fights over access to her dungeon could only be bad for her. For one, if one of these “factions” the Caster was talking about gained control of the land, then they could limit access to her dungeon to only a specific number of people. Right now, she was relying on quantity over quality, so a reduction in the number of delves could be detrimental to her growth.
Secondly, and probably the most important thing, was that she was in danger of being destroyed by one side or the other, if only to be “kept out of the hands” of the other faction. That was not something that she relished; being so popular felt good, she had to admit, but it also came with the danger of being too popular – something she hadn’t thought was possible until now.
The group left not long afterward, promising to each other that they would keep the “communication” by the dungeon a secret. Not necessarily to protect the dungeon, but to protect themselves in case word got out about the nature of Tacca’s message – namely, that the “Merchants” were up to some shady things. Regardless, she was happy to hear that her rule-breaking communication wouldn’t be bandied about for all the world to hear.
It didn’t take long for the dungeon to be ready for the next group, since Tacca only had to replace one trap – in addition to the creatures the 2 Hill Dwarves and their group had slain, of course. As soon as they left the vicinity of her dungeon, the Dungeon Core felt like a light, a small warmth left the area, and she couldn’t feel them anymore.
Back to the grind, I guess.
Chapter 17
While at DAPS, Tacca had learned that the creatures and Variants to which Dungeon Cores had access were originally created through experimentation over thousands of years. No one alive, even the most wizened of Dungeon Fairies, knew exactly how this was accomplished; it was mentioned only as something interesting to know and as part of the curriculum that all Dungeon Assistants were required to learn. Personally, Tacca thought that it was a lesson in the origins of Dungeon Cores and Assistants, because it was also mentioned that the two had not always coexisted peacefully together. Again, there was no real record or accounting of how the relationship between them used to be, only that it was…difficult for them both.
It was during that “difficult” time that the majority of the creatures and Variants came into existence, shared among the Cores at the time. The only thing that was known (and which continued until today) was that all of the Cores in the world were connected together by the systems from which they operated. Her Dungeon Core Status, the initial selections when she first became a Core, the way she used her different Points to “purchase” things – these were the same amongst all Cores, because they all shared the same information. It was only her unique situation that had caused some deviation from that, with the permanent sub-Bond with her former Fairy form and differences in her initial available DF, DF Regeneration, and other abnormalities – such as the Bond she could form with the Raiders delving through her dungeon.
The point being, that there must be some way that the original Cores that existed in a time so long ago had created all of the different creatures. From what she knew, more than 80% of the creatures available to her and every other Core weren’t even present in the outer world – as in outside of a dungeon. Therefore, logically, the older Cores had created them somehow; although it was a mystery of how they had done it, that didn’t remove the fact that they did. Tacca now wanted to discover the secret; she had the time and a few resources to throw at the experimentation, as well as an overwhelming need to keep herself busy while groups of Raiders continued to delve through her dungeon.
As a result, she sunk most of her attention down into her deeper rooms; one in particular, 5 rooms up from where she was hiding in the bottommost room, she designated as her experimentation room. She planned to use it to create all manner of different creatures, starting with some unique combinations of her Canines that had never been seen before. Tacca went into her experiment with dreams of discovering the trick to crafting unique creatures…and was quickly frustrated by a lack of progress in any direction.
&
nbsp; She first absorbed one of her enchanted-gear-wearing creatures down below to give her some available Control Limit to use. Then, thinking to combine one of her Root Foxes with one of her Branch Jackals – thereby designing something that would combine the strengths of both creatures – she thought about placing them next to each other, pumped some Dungeon Force into them, and then mentally imagined them combining together.
Wonder of wonders…that didn’t work. In fact, nothing seemed to happen, and the silhouettes of each creature slowly filled in and became more substantial as they fully developed. One thing she did learn was that she could halt the materialization of a creature by absorbing it before it was finished, and it would happen immediately; that new knowledge certainly helped when her experiments failed. Which happened over…and over…and over. Nothing Tacca seemed to try worked.
Multiple attempts produced no results. She tried just imagining their forms without inserting any DF into them…which did nothing; she tried to forcibly combine them once they were nearly or fully created…and ended up with a bit of a gory mess; she tried focusing on exactly what she wanted to form for her, even down to the smallest details…and nothing happened; she attempted to use other Canines in different combinations, even adding three or four together to see if that would make a difference…which, inevitably it seemed, it didn’t.
Against her better judgement (because Tacca wasn’t sure what it would do), she even used her new creatures – the Human, Elf, Gnome, Hill Dwarves, and even the new Orc she had finally obtained as an option via a Bond with a dying Raider – in different combinations, both with Canines and intermixed between them…and the results were the same as every other experiment.
Which is where Shale found her concentration when he finally woke up from his Hibernation, a confused look on his face when he felt the frustration pouring out of her Core. “Uh…what are you working on, Tacca?” he asked cautiously.
The Dungeon Fairy: Two Choices: A Dungeon Core Escapade (The Hapless Dungeon Fairy Book 2) Page 19