by R. A. Mejia
Her smile was a mile wide as she said, “I’m off duty now that the council meeting is over.”
I looked down at her and said, “Then why don’t the two of us go out on that date now?”
She nodded, and leaned into me as we walked away together.
Epilogue
“Snatched from my bed! How dare you. Don’t you know who I am?” I said as I stood there, arms tied behind my back, wearing just my embroidered nightgown, my knees shaking from the cold stone floors.
“No, tell me gob,” said one of the men sarcastically.
The two masked men had kidnapped me from my home, but I’d show them they’d made a mistake. “I am Dobliao Dungflinger, head of the Scavenger Guild! I know people in high places that will make you wish you were never born. Now untie and release me!”
Both men laughed and one said, “You think your precious guild makes you someone important? Well, not here it doesn’t.”
The statement gave me pause and for the first time in a long while I felt the chill of fear. Throughout the city, being a guild master gave you authority. You were one of the elite, one that had influence over the policies and rules that shaped the city. Killbo had shown me that and it's why I’d taken it from him. But these men did not have an ounce of respect for the title. Either they were fools or they had some other power backing them.
The heavy wooden doors we’d been waiting in front of creaked as they opened and a woman in a familiar purple robe stepped through. “The Master will see him now.”
“No!” I yelled as I realized who had taken me and was dragged through the doorway and thrown before the figure. I looked up and saw crimson eyes staring down at me, the rest of him cloaked in shadow so black it made his eyes look like they were floating in the dark room. I knew he wore a different face in the light of day, one that had appeared a little less than a year ago and one that had some major influence. But despite how hard my sources had looked, I could not discover his identity. Only that he had power and coin to spend on those that served him. I got to my knees, lowered my head, and asked, “How can I serve, master? I would have come at your call. There was no need to send men for me.”
I was almost proud that I’d kept most of the fear I was feeling out of my voice. I’d seen some of the twisted ceremonies that his acolytes had done to the wretches that they’d snatched off the street. The blood and violence still haunted my dreams. But the power they offered was too much to pass up.
“You have failed me Dungflinger.”
The five words were the ones I’d feared most hearing and I dropped to the ground and groveled, a long-held goblin survival technique. “How has this one failed you, master? Please tell me and I shall make it right.”
“My shipment of infernal powder is late and my agent has disappeared. You promised me you were the best and yet I wait.”
“It is not my fault, great one. If you will allow it, I will go and check on my goblins. If they have failed, I will punish them within an inch of their miserable lives. I promise.”
“No, my agents are already investigating,” he paused and even though I could not see him, I felt him lean down and heard him speak. “And if they find that the powder is damaged or confiscated, I will allow my acolytes to use you to gain a few levels.”
I shook with terror and felt the wetness that flowed unbidden down my legs. I found that I could say nothing only whimper and pray to the dark gods that nothing had happened to the infernal powder.
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This ends Book Two of The Mechanical Crafter Series.
From the Author
I want to thank I want to thank Sean Hickinbotham, who was kind enough to provide some background and personal experiences with a flintlock rifle.
Thanks for reading book 2 of the Mechanical Crafter series. It’s taken me a long time to write and edit the story. I hope you enjoyed it!
If you liked the story, you may also like my other series: Adventures on Terra, Project Alpha, and Planet Bound
Also, please do me a favor and leave a review. Even if it’s only a couple words, it helps a self-publishing author like myself tremendously. Plus, it helps other readers find the book.
If you want to read the next story in the series as it’s being written and get exclusive artwork, support me on Patreon.
https://www.patreon.com/ramejiawriter
Some of the great Patreon Supporters even got put into the novel. You might recognize some of these names in some form. Thanks guys for your support on Patreon.
Andrew McDonald
Mr Nyxt
Jacob Zimmer
Kenneth R. Powers
If you liked this story you might like others in the LitRPG genre. For a list of recommended LitRPG books, you can visit http://www.litrpgpodcast.com/lit-rpg-novels/
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There is also a great community of LitRPG authors and readers on Facebook.
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Some quick recommendations for some great LitRPG novels from some other great authors
Dakota Krout is the puniest author in LitRPG and has two amazing series, one from the perspective of a dungeon, The Divine Dungeon series. The other series is more MMO OP character with some great powers and some funny action adventures, The Completionist Chronicles.
Also check out Charles Dean, the Bearded One, he has several great series. One with a guy who gets transported to an MMO while still wearing his bathrobe, The Bathrobe Knight. Another with a poor IT guy being drawn into a game of the gods and sent to a RPG world where he has to fight against other chosen ones. The story gets a little dark and brutal as the series goes on but is also one of the best progressions of a character over the course of a series, War Aeternus. Lastly, his newest series tells the story of a guy who just wants to hangout in an MMO but is forced to become the villain of the game to save it, The Heroic Villain.
Blaise Corvin, the shy one, has written multiple LitRPG and GameLit novels that are beloved by his fans. Including Delvers LLC, Nora Hazard, and the First Song series. He writes action packed stories that you won’t be able to put down.