The Crafter's Dominion: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 5) Jonathan Brooks (books that read to you txt) 📖

“I may be many things, girl, but crazy isn’t one of them.”  The Elder then pointed down towards the south, in a different heading than where Echo was vaguely sure the clearing was located.  “Over there; if you can have this bird hover there, I can drop down onto that shelter’s walkway.  I have to check on some things first before I head to the capital to lend my aid in convincing the King and Queen about the danger coming to our land.”

Echo could see a vague wooden structure sticking out of a taller patch of trees; it was so well-hidden that if it hadn’t been pointed out, she would never have seen it.  The closer they got to it, the more she could see that it wasn’t just camouflaged from the air, but that there was enough foliage beneath the treetop shelter that it would be practically invisible from below.  What is that doing there?  I’ve never heard of something like that before.

Before she could ponder it further, they had arrived.  Giving a verbal command to the gigantic Aerie Roc, she managed to make it dive down (which caused her stomach to do flips from the maneuver) and then somehow hover in place by flapping its enormous wings to maintain the same height.  To be fair, it wasn’t exactly “in place,” nor at the same height, because it dipped down before rising again with each flap of its wings, but it was as stable as possible.

While Echo was distracted trying to get the bird to do all of that, the Elder had unstrapped herself and was ready to go; as soon as they were about 100 feet above the shelter, the other Elf said, “You go on to the capital and I’ll be there soon.”  She paused for a second, before continuing in a serious tone.  “And take care of yourself.  Things in the Lyringlade may not be all they seem.”  Then she was gone, flinging herself off of the bird to the shelter below.

Echo’s breath had caught in her throat at the abrupt departure, and for the fact that it appeared as though the Elder was going to miss her mark.  However, as she fell, the older Elf gestured with her hands and branches writhed below, assembling themselves with a basket-like quality with a bedding of leaves.  Almost as if she had planned it that way (Echo wouldn’t put it past the Elder to have done just that), the falling Elf landed safely and softly in the bed of leaves, before being carried over to the shelter. 

Within seconds, the Elder had disappeared inside the tree-top structure, but not before Echo caught a glimpse of a few others inside, as if they had been waiting for her.  With nowhere to land and no ability to get down – not to mention a task that needed to be taken care of – Echo instructed the Roc to continue on, which was a bit harrowing in its execution.  Because it had arrested its momentum as it hovered, the only way it could gain that kind of speed again was by diving – so that is what it did. 

Skimming the treetops with the barest clearance, Echo held onto the giant bird’s harness straps for her life.  “I’m going to dieeeeeeeeeee!” she screamed out as the Roc was inches away from colliding with the field of wooden spears – that most people just called trees – and she closed her eyes waiting for the inevitable to happen.  When the end didn’t come, and the bird’s wings started to flap, raising the monster into the air, the prone ranger relaxed her white-knuckled grip and opened her eyes.

Contrary to what she had expected, the bird monster – and by extension, herself – was fine.  It didn’t take long for them to arrive the few miles to the clearing where she could land, which seemed much smaller than she remembered; from high up above, it seemed entirely too small for their landing.  However, as they dove down closer, she found her perception of the space had been deceiving – it was much longer than it was wide. She was relatively certain that they could squeeze inside, even with the Roc’s wings at full extension…but it would be close.

Landing was a frightening affair, because she kept having flashbacks of nearly colliding with the trees not so long ago.  As if to disprove her fears, the Aerie Roc slowly glided in and gently touched down, giving her a relatively pleasant experience that calmed her nerves somewhat.  Of course, she couldn’t get out of the straps holding her to the harness quick enough to suit her needs, and in less than a minute she had scrambled off her ride, her wobbly legs practically making her collapse into a thankful heap as she touched solid ground.  When she could finally pull herself together, she looked up at the sound of something behind her – and it wasn’t the massive bird she had just vacated.   

She was surrounded.  By very dangerous-looking Royal Elite Guards.

“Emmalyra Arlen – you need to come with us.”  The use of her given name, as well as the Guards surrounding her with weapons bared without seemingly being concerned about the bird monster 15 feet away from the nearest of them, made her knees finally collapse underneath her. 

As they were dragging her away, refusing to give a reason why she was being detained – only to say that it was for her “protection” – she looked back at the Aerie Roc sitting silent and still in the middle of the clearing.  It was only then that she noticed that the crate of Energy Orbs that they had brought with them, along with the special bow and explosive bolts