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

out that I had access to Nether and Spirit energy.”  He shook his head.  “Kids these days have no respect.”

“I don’t understand,” Echo cut in again, now thoroughly confused and horrified at the same time.  “This sounds like a truly dire situation, but what does that have to do with the Energy Orbs?”

“Wow.  Such callousness.  I was right about the youth, I guess.”  Churven sighed, before continuing.  “To answer your question, to those who have been under this spell the longest, any regenerating energy will start to break the hold it has over them.  When they sleep, the regenerative abilities that rest provides towards refilling their energy is counteracted by the spell, because the energy restores at a slow enough rate. The Energy Orbs, however, are much faster and would shatter the spell within an hour, at most.  My assumption is that the Chamberlain discovered the properties of the Orbs and is keeping their existence a secret, or else making others forget about their existence.  Not just the Royal family, but the guards as well; as far as I could tell, even speaking about them anywhere in the Royal Tree can result in you being detained.”

This was all too much for Echo.  She had been coming back to the capital to warn them about the dangers from the dungeons near the wasteland, but now it seemed as if there were unexpected dangers back home.

“So…what does that have to do with me?”

That was the confusing part; she could only assume that those assembled here were planning on somehow subverting the Chamberlain and freeing the Royals – from what the Elder had hinted at – but Echo wasn’t important or powerful.  I’m not even sure if all of this is true; why would they want me to help?

“Now that is a good question.  Why do we need you?” Winter asked with a sneer.  I really don’t like him.

“Because, dear Winter, we need her to take the King and Queen back to the dungeon.”

Chapter 17

“Umm…what?”

That seemed to sum up what the rest of the group was thinking, as everyone looked shocked.

“Are you crazy?  Why would anyone in their right mind want to bring the King and Queen to a dungeon, let alone that one?”  Winter wasn’t as tongue-tied as the others, obviously.  It was strange hearing him say “King” and “Queen” in that inflection, because Echo had never heard them spoken of that way.  Just like the Chamberlain, whenever one became appointed as the non-hereditary head of their people, their name was lost to the winds of time, and very few knew their given names anymore.  Echo certainly didn’t, but it was possible that Churven and Herrlot did, given how old they were – not that they would tell anyone.

The Elder didn’t answer right away; she just looked at Churven as if willing him to speak.  Hesitatingly, she began to explain.  “There’s…a reason why the spell the Chamberlain is using was forbidden so long ago, besides the obvious.  Prolonged affliction can result in a severe reduction of a victim’s usable elemental energy from the constant drain. This could be particularly devastating to the King and Queen, given that they both control 6 elements.”

Wow.  That was certainly something that Echo didn’t know.  She was aware that their Royalty were selected from among those who had the most potential or were the strongest of them, but being able to control 6 different elements each was, frankly, inconceivable.

“But that isn’t even the worst side effect from the spell,” Churven continued.  “Those who have been exposed to it for extensive periods of time – as I suspect is the case with the King and Queen, based on my own clandestine observations – can have their minds completely broken if they manage to be freed from the spell. A broken mind is not something that can be cured or healed through conventional or magical means; after 48 hours, if nothing is done…they will die.”

Silence reigned through the room as everyone took that in, even Winter.  Sheelagh finally stirred next to Echo, asking the question everyone was thinking.  “You mean to say that if we stop the Chamberlain, the King and Queen will die?  I don’t see how this will help anyone, despite that filth controlling them.”

The Elder cleared her throat before speaking.  “Very true.  The loss of our leadership will cause major repercussions throughout all of our people, and we cannot afford a decade-long mourning period where almost all work stops while a new pair of Royals are chosen.  Those traditions are something that can’t be rushed easily, nor would we want to; only the most worthy can be selected for the position, and it usually takes at least that long for the testing, deliberation, and decisions to unfold.  Not only that, but we can’t afford to lose some of our most promising candidates from the field; we need to keep them on the front lines, pushing back the ever-encroaching dungeon monsters attacking us from all sides.”

Herrlot was silent for a moment as she looked around the room.  “If times were not so desperate right now with what is happening near the wasteland, I would leave the Chamberlain to play his little games; yes, what he is doing is very wrong, but if exposing his actions resulted in the deaths of the King and Queen, then I would feel better leaving them alone.  Before this mess with the Energy Orbs, the Chamberlain had actually done an amazingly thorough job of ensuring our people stayed safe, directing the Elites where they needed to go to use them effectively.  In fact, if he had been alive during the last Royal Selection Ceremony, he could’ve been a contender for the position of King.”

There was angry mumbling throughout the assembled Elites at that, which was only understandable given what the Chamberlain was doing.  The Elder held up her hand for silence.

“I know,