The Dungeon Fairy: A Dungeon Core Escapade (The Hapless Dungeon Fairy Book 1) Jonathan Brooks (the dot read aloud TXT) 📖

very draining on the Raiders that cast it unless they were extraordinarily strong; she was proven right as the Elf released the spell when the lead Ooze was only inches away from reaching her and she collapsed backwards as her eyes rolled up in her head

The condensed orb of air exploded outwards, with thousands of invisible sharp blades slicing through the air at incredible speed.  The Oozes along the ground were literally shredded apart, and they disappeared almost as quickly, leaving behind…nothing.  Jeremy must’ve forgotten to assign rewards to them—

She didn’t finish that thought, as the sharp Windblades crashed into the Dungeon Core, shattering it and flinging tiny shards of the former Jeremy Miller everywhere.  Tacca barely felt the small shard that flung itself down the tunnel she was watching from and shear through both of her left-side wings; the pain of a Bond being involuntarily broken from the death of a Core was like nothing she had ever experienced before – or could even imagine in her nightmares.  She was vaguely aware that she fell at an angle as the fluttering of her intact wings caused her to crash into the tunnel wall and slide down it, only to land in a heap.

It felt like her chest was on fire and that flames were spreading throughout her body, until there was nothing but burning pain; the initial break of the bond had felt like she had crashed full-speed into a mountain, but that was far overshadowed by the extreme torture she felt afterwards.  During every second of the unbelievable agony Tacca wished that she would just die, as her body locked up in a terrible contortion of suffering.

Then, after some unknown length of time later, the pain and torture disappeared as if it had never been there.  The world came back into focus as she opened her eyes while still breathing hard and bracing against phantom aches, only to see that the room where Jeremy had been was dark and lifeless.  There was no sight of the Raiders, nor were there any shards of his Core left anywhere she could see.  Tacca stood up gingerly, her muscles feeling like jelly, and started to flutter her wings to fly forward and take a better look, when agony flared up in her left side.

Looking over to that side and behind her back, she saw and vaguely remembered what had happened; the pain only occurred when she fluttered her wings, though it was nowhere near what she had just experienced.  Nevertheless, she needed to fix herself up before she could move from her current position and eventually even leave.

Tacca knew that she’d eventually get an Ability that could be used to quickly heal herself and even a Core’s creatures using Fairy Mana, but that was obviously unavailable right now. However, she did have one that would heal her – but it would take a bit more time: Hibernate.  It was an Ability that was usually used by Dungeon Assistant Fairies to help pass the time in certain out-of-the-way dungeons where it could be months or even years in between invasions by Raiders.  It caused a Fairy to sleep deeply enough that the passage of time was barely noticeable, but it also had the advantage of healing almost any non-fatal injuries at the same time.

Luckily, it also had the advantage of waking her up if anything came near her during her healing sleep, so she knew she was fairly safe using the ability even in the middle of a dungeon.  Thoughts of how empty it was now made her sorrowful, as she remembered that her Core had been destroyed – and it hadn’t even been a full day; there was a hollowness that she could feel inside of her where the Bond had been, and it made her question her choices.

Should I have come straight here instead of sleeping last night? If I had arrived earlier or found him immediately after coming here, could this all have been avoided? Should I have tried harder to get Jeremy to see reason while he was in his panicked state?  Was there something else that could’ve been done to save him?  Why don’t I feel as sad over the destruction of my Core as I thought I would?  Those thoughts – and more – were running through her mind as she lay down on the cold stone floor of the now-empty dungeon floor and activated her Hibernate Ability.

As her eyes were forcibly closed and her mind drifted off, she couldn’t help but remember the pain of the Bond being broken – and how the only way to repair that invisible, soul-crushing wound was to succeed somewhere else with another Core.

Chapter 5

Tacca eventually woke up, though how long she was actually asleep was hard to tell.  As she opened her eyes, she could see that the dungeon looked exactly the same as it had when she had used her Hibernate Ability, though she could only clearly see the tunnel and some of the first room.  Looking back at her wings as she stood up, feeling much better throughout her body, she saw that her wings were now completely healed as if they had never been damaged.

Cautiously moving them, she found no pain anywhere; because of that, she quickly lifted herself off the ground and flew towards where her Core had met his final end, looking for any indication that anyone had been in and out of the now-defunct dungeon since his destruction.  There was a bit of dirt and dust that had likely blown in over time near the entrance, but there was no sign of anything else; in short, the room and the rest of the dungeon was as empty as the spot in her body that used to house her Bond with Jeremy.

Despite how devastating his death was, Tacca knew she was fortunate; if she had been Bonded