The Crafter's Defense: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 2) Jonathan Brooks (large ebook reader TXT) 📖

he picked up the bow and frowned as he recognized it.  Sandra could see him analyzing some tracks left by her Ape when it had come out of her entrance to pick the woman up, the miniscule drops of dried blood spots on the ground from Echo’s puncture wounds, as well as the slightly deeper prints leading back to the dungeon.  It didn’t take him long to come to a conclusion (however wrong it might actually be) and take off again toward his village, holding Echo’s bow tight to his body.

Well…that’s…not good.

Chapter 27

Violet woke up with the smell of rotting carcasses in her nose; or at least, the rancid remains of an ill-prepared leather hide that wasn’t cured properly to maintain its “freshness”.  She wasn’t an expert on tanning and leathermaking, but when she looked at what she was lying on as she sat up, she saw that it appeared well done, but it was lacking the finishing touches that preserved it for longer.  What those were, exactly, she didn’t know, but she knew that some sort of substance was supposed to help with the process.

Regardless of the smell, the bed was actually quite comfortable; she didn’t remember waking up at all after she lay down…last night?  It was impossible to tell, unfortunately, because the light in the rooms was the steady source-less illumination she was told that all dungeons had in each room.  From what she could tell, it might’ve been only hours since she fell asleep, or it could’ve been days – it was impossible to tell; judging by how refreshed she was, she figured she had slept 8-9 hours straight.

Violet peered around the room at the others still sleeping, passed out from the night before and looking like they had fallen into bed and not moved since then – almost like they had passed on and joined the Creator.  She suddenly remembered all of those that had perished because of a sudden dungeon raid just the day before, and that everyone she saw there were the only ones left.  Well, not everybody; Felbar wasn’t in the room, but she supposed he was still lying unconscious in the other room.  Next to an Elf, to boot – he’s going to rant and rave as soon as he finds out he was sleeping with an Elf!

* Good morning, Violet.  Did you sleep well? *

The voice in her head startled her, as she had momentarily forgotten the voice of the dungeon, Sandra.  Everything else about yesterday came flooding back, and she straightened up on her bed as she tried to comprehend where she was and what it meant that they were still alive in the dungeon.  She half-expected – even after all the Dungeon Core had demonstrated to them – that she wouldn’t wake up in the morning…or whenever it was.

“Yes, I did actually.  I’m hungry again, though,” Violet whispered, not wanting to wake the others up if they weren’t ready to get up yet.  Let them sleep – yesterday was a day none of us want to remember.  Of course, her attempt at being quiet didn’t work too well, as it was completely silent in the room and it woke one of them up.

She couldn’t blame Saryn, honestly, for waking up screaming; the horrors of the previous day were enough to want to do the same thing.  She just wished he wasn’t so loud that everyone else woke up screaming and looking around in fright.  At that moment, of course, one of the metal monkeys walked into their room carrying a tray full of food.

Jortor immediately stopped screaming when he smelled the cooked meat and halved oranges on the large tray. “Ooh, don’t mind if I do.”

Jortor and his food, Violet couldn’t help but inwardly chuckle at his overwhelming love of eating.  Though, you couldn’t tell by looking at him; for as much as he ate, he sometimes looked like he was half-starving.

* Sorry about that, everyone – I didn’t mean to startle you.  Here, eat up.  We have a long day ahead of us. *

Everyone had stopped screaming by that point, and she dug into the meal just as quickly as the others; she didn’t think she’d be that starved after just eating the night before, but she was practically ravenous.  Or it could be because everything smelled so fresh and delicious, whereas they usually had to get food like what they were eating delivered to them from the capital.

“What do you mean about a long day?  What are you going to do with us?” Violet asked, concerned.

* Don’t worry, it’s nothing too strenuous, at least I don’t hope so.  I have need of your enchanting abilities. When you’re finished, we’ll talk about what you’re going to do today as you follow my Ironclad Ape, and what I can do to help you. *

 That was something she could do at least.  Violet finished stuffing her face around the same time as the others and followed the Ape out of the room.  The air felt fresher as soon as she stepped out and she was thankful that the rotting smell of leather was confined to the other room; with a sniff at her clothes, however, she realized that some was going to linger on her for a little while.  They passed through the blacksmith’s forge and to the kitchen-type room where she saw Felbar and the Elf unconscious side-by-side, a Repair Drone – if she got the name right – hovering nearby both of them.

“How long did you say he’s going to be out?” she asked, worried that his condition hadn’t changed even a little bit.

* The last time something like this happened, Kelerim was unconscious for approximately two weeks.  His injury was to his head, however, so I don’t know if that played a factor in the length of time or not. *

Sandra had mentioned Kelerim at