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

“Snow is so annoyingly cold.  Is there any way you can get rid of it?” As usual, everyone ignored her.

I’m not exactly sure, but I thought I felt something.  Whatever it was, I can’t feel it—

A deluge of snow blasted in through the entrance, bringing with it a figure straight out of what would be in her nightmares, if she ever dreamed again.

“Houston, we have a problem.” 

Brandon, now is not the time….

Chapter 28

Malachite had to fight to stay conscious, though he didn’t know why he bothered.  It wasn’t like he could even move, let alone escape his captivity; the sturdy clamps around his ankles, wrists, waist, and neck were more than enough to ensure he couldn’t free himself even if he had the strength.  Unfortunately, his Fairy Mana was also constantly being drained, which made him particularly woozy and light-headed.

How could I have been so stupid! It wasn’t the first time he had chastised himself over the last…however long it had been, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.  I should’ve known I was risking it going into that dungeon to save that Core.  Except, he had been desperate to save as many as he could, and with comparatively few actually agreeing on the move – instead, they believed that they could stand against these monstrous people, rather than moving and starting over.  Malachite had been searching for any that would agree, which led him to where he fell victim to a trap.

Of course, it might not have been an intentional trap; it was entirely possible that he had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Regardless, Translocating into that dungeon to speak with the Core named Christopher – which was entirely too close to the other dungeons that had been invaded and destroyed – ended up being a critical mistake.  Immediately after he *popped* into the Core room and before he could Bond with the CI Level 42 Core, Malachite abruptly felt his access to his Fairy Mana completely cut off.  It was like nothing he had ever experienced before, a feeling of helplessness that not even his younger years before he became a Dungeon Assistant could match.

Aster and Begonia had arrived moments after he had, and while they could Translocate in, none of them could Translocate out.  Panic had ensued, which again was something he wasn’t used to, and he realized what had happened.

The blue-skinned, six-armed invaders were inside the dungeon.  Not only that, it turned out, but they were close.  Malachite and his two helpers had arrived right in the middle of another Core being destroyed.

Before they could do anything, a trio of the monstrous people he had caught far away glimpses of in his investigations up north barged into the Core Room.  Malachite and his two helpers had to quickly fly up toward the ceiling to avoid the gigantic Fire trap that went off just as the invaders stepped foot in the room.  Heat washed over him as he looked back to see the flames continuing to spurt out of the trap, entirely enveloping the hostile figures wielding melee weapons in each of their hands.

Yes!  Hold on…no!

The flames didn’t hurt the six-armed figures at all, though the glow around them dimmed a little in the process. Another step into the room found a pit opening up, and the one in the lead fell into it – only to rise up as if it were floating, setting down safely past the pit.  Its glowing shield-like aspect dimmed even further when that happened, becoming nearly transparent, when a third trap caused dozens of iron spears to project out of the ceiling and nearby walls.  The spears slammed into the one into the lead and the glow disappeared entirely, and Malachite got to see one of them injured as six spears penetrated its skin, impaling its left leg, right shoulder, and a few areas around its torso.  Unfortunately, nothing seemed fatal; it fell to its knees and started to rip out the projectiles from its body, spraying blood everywhere in the process.

The other two weren’t injured at all, though, and they leapt over the pit like it was nothing, triggered a half-dozen other traps as they crossed the distance to the Core floating in the middle of the room, where they launched their weapons at it. Malachite winced as the Core was shattered into pieces, and he felt the invisible shockwave of retreating Dungeon Force start to expand throughout the dungeon.  He knew that in less than a minute, every creature, trap, and environmental object would soon be gone, as they couldn’t exist without the Core controlling them.

Looking down at the three blue-skinned monsters, he saw that the two that were uninjured had turned to help the bleeding one, and he knew it was their chance to escape.

“We have to go now while they’re distracted,” he whispered so softly to Aster and Begonia that he could barely hear himself, but they managed to catch what he was saying and nodded – despite shaking uncontrollably in fear.  He would’ve liked to give into the same fear he was feeling at that moment, but he couldn’t allow himself to pass up this opportunity to escape.

With a quick motion of his hand, he led the two Dungeon Assistants in a straight shot to the exit, passing over the heads of the three invaders, who said something in a language he couldn’t understand.  It didn’t matter, though, because they had left them far behind.

Or so he had thought.

A purple-colored invader walked through the Core Room entrance right as they were flying for it.  The figure raised its hand and Malachite saw him holding something, and the next thing he knew, a black netting was surrounding him and his helpers, trapping