The Dungeon Fairy: Three Lives: A Dungeon Core Escapade (The Hapless Dungeon Fairy Book 3) Jonathan Brooks (read me like a book .txt) 📖

stood with his mouth open again, uncaring, as he took a look inside the massive room.  It went back far enough that he had trouble making out details at the end, and there were columns spaced out at equal distances, which he thought were probably holding up the ceiling.  It was all stark grey stone, plain and unadorned – utilitarian, even – but it had a grand majesty of its own.

The sounds of running water turned his attention to a trio of stone basins in the middle of this great space, where he saw water running down a strange stone pyramid in the center of the basins.  The water seemed to spring from nowhere, but it appeared clear and fresh – and likely cool.  His dry throat practically ached to get a drink of it.

“How?  There’s no way this was just built; this place must have been buried for centuries or something, because this is…magnificent,” Gwenda said in wonder.

“I have no idea, but we should probably check it out.”  Sterge led the way, and the others followed after him in a group.  The first stop was the first water-filled stone basin nearest the entrance, which the Hill Dwarf immediately scooped up and practically inhaled in his efforts to slake his thirst, to the horrified expressions on all but Gwenda’s faces.

“Uh…what?”

“How do you know that isn’t poisoned?” Mordecai asked.

Poison?  I never even thought about that.  He started to empty his hands, but he stopped when – after a moment – he felt fine.  “I think if this water is poisoned or unsafe, then the dungeon wouldn’t go through all the trouble of making everything else you see in here.  I’m pretty sure it’s fine – and some of the purest water I’ve ever tasted.”

Gwenda smiled and copied him, scooping up the cool water in her hands and slurping it up, still smiling as she said, “Ahhh!  That’s the stuff.  Come on; it’s safe.”  She motioned to the others, who hesitatingly did the same, suspicious looks on their faces.

“This is just too good to be true, you have to admit,” Evy said after she got her fill of the water.  Sterge could tell she thought it was delicious, as well.

He just shrugged, not sure what else to say.  “It is a miracle, I will admit, but we still have a lot to check out.  We’ll see if it will work for us, especially with the numbers we’re still seeing traveling down here.”  The living situation near The Village was getting more and more out of hand, with nearly 4,000 Raiders and non-Raiders unable to find a place to sleep other than outside.  They were still frantically building Inns (they were up to 42 now), as well as residences, but it was impossible to keep up with the demand.  Worse than that, they were starting to have shortages of food shipments, though it wasn’t through any sort of Ministry manipulation – they were simply having trouble transporting what was available elsewhere.

After they had all gotten their fill of water and felt revitalized, they started searching the rooms they could see all along the sides of the grand room, which proved to look all the same: large but empty.  That was fine, because they would work well enough for large families, and potentially even 2 groups of Raiders per room if it came down to it.  There weren’t any doors, but they could probably figure out something to allow for more privacy.

“There’s some sort of bathing room!  Come check it out,” Gwenda said excitedly.  The room she was pointing inside was towards the end of the massive space, and it took a second for Sterge to arrive.  Once he did, he saw that everyone else was inside, looking at the large stone tub on one end, with steam coming off of it.

“It’s really warm, but not too hot; it won’t burn you, but it’ll feel good to soak in it,” Evy said, and he could see her eyes grow wide as saucers as she stared at the bath.  Sterge could take it or leave it; he couldn’t remember the last full bath he’d taken.

“What’s this—”

Sterge turned around to see Mordecai reaching above a hole in the ground, where there was a square piece of blue stone on the wall, the first bit of color they’d seen so far.  Just before he touched it, though, he snatched his hand back.

“It’s a trap!  It’s very subtle, but I can sense it.”

Sterge looked at the hole in the ground, looked back at the bath, and then looked at the blue square again.  Then he did it again, a thought tickling the back of his mind about all of it, but Gwenda beat him to the punch.

She walked over without hesitation and slapped her hand across the blue square, jumping back with everyone else as a powerful jet of water appeared out of nowhere above the hole and shot down it, before it disappeared moments later as if nothing had happened.

“It’s a waste disposal system.”

Waste disposal?  What…oh.

William was the first to speak after that revelation.  “That’s incredible, and will help with keeping everyone healthy.  But where does it go?”

Good question, and not one that he wanted to investigate.  As long as it wasn’t dumping into the stone basins full of water out in the main room, the Hall he supposed he should call it, then it didn’t really matter to him.

They explored briefly up the stairs to the next landing, only to discover more of the same: Empty rooms and another bathing space.  Rather than explore every landing, they moved off to the back of the Hall, where another tunnel led deeper into the mountain.  Now that they were a little more confident that the place wasn’t a deathtrap, they moved more quickly – though at the first intersection they hesitated before making a decision.

“Let’s