Dungeon of Chance: Even Odds: A Dungeon Core Novel (Serious Probabilities Book 1) Jonathan Brooks (book recommendations txt) 📖

blood coloring the fur of the monster, but they were more likely from superficial scratches than actual wounds.  And the gigantic red bar of Health that was superimposed over her vision had barely even budged from the attacks.

“Arcen, run!  We can’t—” she shouted, seeing that her brother was seconds from death.  She knew he was strong, but she also had seen him killed dozens of times in the dungeon and knew that even strength was no match for the deadliness of monsters out to kill him.  Her shout was cut short, however, as a blur of blue streaked across her vision from the air and abruptly impacted the forehead of the Cat.

It only took her a moment as it bounced off for her to recognize it, as a thin sheen of frost covered the Cat Champion’s fur for a moment before disappearing.  Jeska and the others had seen it hundreds of times over the last few weeks, so the blue form was unmistakable – though she never thought she would see it outside of the dungeon.

It was an Ice Bat.  The accuracy of that was confirmed moments later when she saw its name above its head, just like she saw down in the depths of the dungeon.  “What?  How?”

Her confusion was echoed by the others, but it was short-lived.  A quick swipe of a paw into the air, as if swatting a fly, was all it took to kill the Ice Bat.  It hit the ground with tremendous force and was basically obliterated, so completely destroyed that it was unrecognizable.  My brother is going to look like that if we don’t do something soon!

“It’s an ambush!  Defend from the rear!” Jeska suddenly heard the roar of Percy’s voice, coming up from behind the group.  She whipped around and saw the mostly healed Fighter racing up the crevice with his Healer in tow, but he was focused behind him.  She couldn’t blame him, because there seemed to be a force of more monsters following him up the incline.

Jeska was torn between helping from behind and saving her brother.  Making a decision, she grabbed Rosara and Kelty and raced towards Arcen, hoping to arrive before he was killed; it wasn’t entirely through a desire to escape that fate, but more of a thought of retreating and regrouping when they could face their challenges on better footing.

“Fall back onto the plateau!” she heard from the larger group.  Good, at least I’m not the only one that had that idea.  “We need to regroup and concentrate on one threat at a time!”

“You all go, I’ll try to hold this thing off while you figure out a way to kill it!” Arcen shouted to the other Fighters, heroically yet foolishly sacrificing himself so that others would live.  Tears sprouted in her eyes as she ran for her own life, refusing to watch her brother be killed; as much as she wanted to scream at him to run, she knew it would be futile.  He was just too devoted to helping other people for his own good and would refuse.

She ran with the rest of the group of Mages, Healers, Supports, and the remaining Fighters onto the plateau, putting a little distance between them and the monsters in order to give them time to plan.  All while trying not to listen to her brother being killed behind her – and not having the power to do anything about it.

Tears were streaming down her face at this point, and she wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her robe as she skidded to a stop with the others.  She nearly refused to turn around to see what had happened to Arcen, but she knew she would have to see what was going on so that she could plan their final defense.  Jeska looked to where the Tornado Cat Champion had been stalking her brother—only to find that he was still alive and backing up towards the large group of Heroes.

Because, contrary to their assumption, the monsters coming from down below weren’t there to ambush them; instead, they were there to ambush the Threat.

Chapter 34

Jeska recognized the gigantic Colossal Serpent from the one look inside of the room at the end of hallway #3, which let her know that it, and the few other monsters she saw, was from the dungeon itself.  Just like the Ice Bat they had seen earlier, it seemed as though the dungeon was coming to their rescue – as insane as that sounded.

“What is going on?” Arcen shouted back at them as he inched closer to the group, keeping his shield raised and towards the other monsters as he moved.

“I have no idea!” Jeska shouted back, a mixture of confusion and relief flooding her voice.  She was happy that her brother wasn’t dead, but she wasn’t sure what was going on.  I wonder…is this what that other part of the message meant by, “certain restrictions being lifted”?  She had no way of knowing for sure, but she assumed that it was likely the case.

Staying out of the fight seemed like the best idea, especially since they were outmatched by both the Cat Champion and the new dungeon monsters.  As Arcen finally reached them, everyone just stood there and watched the events unfold, as there was no point in trying to plan until they knew the outcome.

In addition to the Colossal Serpent, there were 3 other monsters that arrived with it.  One was a Giant Bush Spider, which was a large green-and-brown-colored spider, even taller than Arcen, covered in small bumps that fluttered just like little leaves.  It was currently in motion, but she could see how it could pull its legs in and camouflage itself so that it appeared just like…well, a bush.

The second monster was a collection of large rocks held together by some magical force, looking vaguely humanoid in appearance.  The Stone