Spread of the Dungeons: III of the Dungeon Hive Trilogy

By Roy Lim

Years has passed since the Dungeon Hive created the Werewolves and in that time, the Kin has grown in strength and numbers. In a bid to unite the Kin, the Speaker launches an audacious war against the Humans. Will she succeed? More importantly, will the actions of the Dungeon Hive help or hinder her plans?
This is the last and FINAL adventure of The Dungeon Hive!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Roy Lim
• Release date: Jun 25, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463885161

Roy Lim

Born in 1976 in Singapore, Roy Lim wasn't always an avid reader of fiction. That all changed when he picked up "The Clan of the Cave Bear" by Jean M. Auel at age 13. Since that book, he has been devouring almost every fantasy and sci-fi novels out there and imagining his own worlds and stories. He first started The Dungeon Hive as an online web serial on Royal Road Legends under the pen name of 'Ghostman' and was encouraged by the following he got. He then decided to turn the story into a book and thus began his career as a wannabe author. Currently he would list his favorite authors as Isaac Asimov, Richard Roberts, and John Scalzi.

Book preview

Spread of the Dungeons

(III of the

Dungeon Hive Trilogy)

Roy Lim

Published by Roy Lim Wee Meng

Copyright © 2019 by Roy Lim Wee Meng

All Rights Reserved

Ebook Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author or publisher.

Contents

I:How to Prepare for War

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

II: How to Win a Battle, and Lose the War

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Aftermath

Epilogue

I:

How to Prepare

for War

Prologue

Are we there yet?

No, we’re not. Now shut up and keep up.

The Fire Eye shot forward and the Water spirit controlling the Dungeon Eye had to speed up to keep with it. They were a strange sight. Two circular balls floating in mid-air; one was a floating ball of fire and the other was a small white eyeball. Magical creations of the only two dungeon cores in the world, the Eyes are the only way the dungeon cores could travel and see the world. This is also a very energy-intensive way to travel.

You’re falling behind again.

We can’t help it. This Eye is almost out of energy. When you Fire idiots say you have something interesting to show us, we thought you idiots meant something a lot nearer than this. Just how far south are we anyway?

We’re almost there. See, there’s the lake. We just need to go into the water.

We need to go where?

Just keep up!

The Fire Eye maintained its speed and the Dungeon Eye had no choice but to follow. It had seen the small lake in the distance some time ago, but as the Eyes got nearer, the spirit controlling the Dungeon Eye noticed something else.

What’s that?

The Fire Eye knew actually what the Eye was talking about. That’s a new village the demons are building.

Really? We’re quite a distance from Mount Morningstar. Why are they building a village all the way out here?

Blame the humans. They began building a city here on their way to attack us. After their defeat, the humans abandoned the construction and left. Our demons just took over. Come on, we’re here already. Follow us down.

The spirit controlling the Dungeon Eye wanted to take in more of the budding demon village, but figuring that it could do that later, it followed the Fire Eye into the water. The water was dark, but the spirit had no problem following the Fire Eye, which became a shining red beacon in the murky waters. The two Eyes went down toward the bottom of the lake and the Dungeon Eye soon saw the thing the Fire Eye was trying to show it.

Lying at the bottom of the lake was a creature the Dungeon Eye had never seen before. The creature had a massive body with numerous tentacles protruding out of it. The creature was eyeless with only a big circular mouth that was opening and closing. The Dungeon Eye could see hundreds of sharp teeth within the mouth. Then the creature surprised the Dungeon Hive. A tentacle rose up and moved side to side. It was a wave and the Dungeon Eye sensed something different from this creature.

What is this? it asked.

This is one of our Bosses.

The spirit controlling the Dungeon Eye was shocked. The Hives could create various Bosses to defend themselves, but the Bosses were always made of energy. This creature was not. The creature was real. It was a creature of bone, blood, and body. As the spirit was part of the Dungeon Hive, its shock was shared by all the spirits of the Hive. Several of the spirits within the Hive shouted at the Dungeon Eye to get closer and the Eye happily obliged. Closer in, the Dungeon Eye saw something that puzzled it. Parts of the creature were disappearing and reappearing. It was as if the creature was fading in and out of existence, but there was no doubt that the Fire Hive had done something new and interesting. More than a little annoyed that the Fire Hive had managed to put one over on them again, the Dungeon Eye spoke gruffly.

Enough with this suspense. What is this creature and how did you idiots make it?

Like we said, this is one of our Bosses.

This is no Boss. It is not made of energy. It is a real creature…even if parts of it seem to be disappearing.

That’s because it takes a lot of energy to maintain the Boss. Sometimes parts of it disappear and reappear; we’re not exactly sure why that happens, but we call it the fade.

The fade? Wait, what do you mean ‘maintain the Boss’? Why are you guys maintaining it in the first place? There are no humans around.

There used to be some, the Fire Eye explained. We created this Boss to attack the human settlement, but the Water spirit in charge of the Boss likes the lake so much, it is refusing to let go of the spirit beast.

So? Just cut off the energy and the Boss would disappear. It’s not difficult.

We never got around to that. The Fire Eye sounded embarrassed by that admission. Honestly, we didn’t need the energy we spent on the upkeep of the Boss, so we just let it be. In time, the energy that made up the Boss just…solidified and as you guys can see, the Boss is now on its way to becoming a real creature.

That’s ridiculous! How long have you guys been maintaining this Boss?

Since the humans attacked Mount Morningstar. So about three seasons already.

Three…that’s a long time to maintain a Boss you’re not using.

Ha…what can we say, we’re wasteful.

That at least was not in doubt, but the Eye was intrigued by this Boss-turned-creature. It asked the Fire Eye for a favor.

This creature is too far from the Keg Mountains. Can you guys tell us its letters?

Better yet! We can show you.

The Fire Eye began to do something crazy. Even though they were far from Mount Morningstar, it began releasing energy over the creature as well as the Dungeon Eye at the same time. The Eye wondered what the Fire Eye was trying to do and soon got its answer. It began to feel a link to the creature and realized the Fire Hive had somehow found a way to link creatures with energy. The Eye half-wondered how much time and energy the Fire Hive wasted to get this spell right, but it couldn’t argue with the results.

•  Species: Octopus

•  Sub-Species: ???

•  Sex: Female

•  Attack: B

•  Defense: A

•  Health: A

•  Strength: B

•  Agility: C

•  Stamina: A

The Dungeon Eye immediately noticed that the spell the Fire Eye cast did not give it some information, like weapons and skills, but the Eye was still impressed.

Well, at least something useful came from your wastefulness this time, the Dungeon Eye said. Why is the sub-species of this creature just question marks? What are you fire idiots calling this creature?

We’re not sure yet. We think it’s because this creature is the first of its kind; there’s no name for it yet. Anyway, it’s not finished yet, so we still have time to decide. It’s not a normal creature so some of us think we should give this creature some special name when it is finished.

True. The Dungeon Eye agreed and some of the spirits within the Hive remembered something. The first time the humans came to visit, one of them called You-Who-Are-Not-Bear a spirit beast.

Hey, you guys are right! Some of us remember that. So if our normal Boss is a spirit beast, this creature would be…a Great Spirit Beast!

Makes sense to us. Thanks for the hint by the way. We’ll…

Hold on! Not so fast. This information is not free. We need payment for it.

Not a problem. What do you Fire idiots want?

You see, it takes a lot of energy to maintain a Boss. We can create another one just fine, but we just can’t maintain two Bosses at the same time. We’d tried. Since this Boss hasn’t fully solidified, we need…

Just tell us the payment you guys want.

Well, we’re busy with this Boss so…can you guys make a dragon?

Chapter 1

The idea of family within the races is different, but one thing is almost universal: the love of children.

— World Atlas: Cultures & Civilizations

Argh! Argh! Argh!

Screams and laughter filled the air as the cubs ran for safety. Accalia, Thomir, and Draug immediately ran to their mother, but Lyno and Fenir were a little bit more unfortunate. The Big Bad Wolf placed himself between the duo and safety. The two cubs shared a look before splitting up. They ran to either side of the enemy, and it pretended to be confused about which of the cubs to chase. In a flash, the duo ran past the enemy and hid safely behind their mother. The Speaker smiled as the Big Bad Wolf turned toward them and showed off his sharp teeth.

Argh! Argh! Argh!

Arms outstretched, the Big Bad Wolf slowly approached. The Speaker had to chuckle. Her mate, the father of her children, was a terrible Big Bad Wolf. As he got nearer, the Speaker told him as much. It was a mistake. The Speaker noticed a menacing glint in his eyes.

No!

Too late! The Big Bad Wolf tackled the Speaker to the ground. Lying on top of her, the Big Bad Wolf gave a playful howl and…

Protect Mummy! As they shouted, the five cubs jumped on the Big Bad Wolf and the Speaker’s chuckle became an outright laugh.

Argh! Unfair! There’re five of you. I’m outnumbered!

You’re bigger! Maybe it’s because she’s the only female of the litter, but Accalia was always the most sharp-tongued of her children. Get off Mummy.

In response to the children’s response, Treznor lay heavily on the Speaker and…licked her.

YUCK!

The children got off their father and fled. Now, it was Treznor’s turn to chuckle.

Works every time.

You know, if you lick me more, the children may run farther away.

I would, but we have work to do.

The Speaker couldn’t help but sigh. Werewolves have a great sense of smell and, like her mate, she had picked up the scent of the Chieftain a long time ago. Sometimes she missed the days when she was nothing but a human slave. She shouted to the empty air.

You can come out now. We can smell you.

The Chieftain slowly appeared. The Werewolf couple looked at the young Ratling and, not for the first time, the Speaker felt a tug at the heart. The old Chieftain of the Ratlings had died in the summer, and the Ratlings had chosen a young new Ratling as their leader. Personally, the Speaker thought their selection was a mistake. The young Ratling was only made by the Creator a few winters ago, and she would have been more comfortable if the Ratlings had selected a more experienced Ratling. However, it wasn’t her place to question the decision made by another of the Kin and her doubts weren’t shared by all.

Told you before, Shav, you can hide your presence but not your smell. Unlike the Speaker, Treznor got along famously with the new Chieftain and the young Ratling had a rueful smile on his face.

I know, but I don’t get it. If I’m able to fade my body out of view of everyone, how can you still smell me?

I thought the Fox Mother gave you an explanation of that. The Foxkin were the mages of the Kin and the Fox Mother was undoubtedly the most powerful magic-user the Kin had. Then the Speaker remembered the argument the two leaders had. You still don’t agree?

The Chieftain gave a noncommittal shrug. Sorry to break into your family time, but we have a problem.

Treznor got off of her and asked, What is it this time?

What we feared all along has come to pass. There was a fight between some Beastmen and Beastkin, and this time someone died.

***

Beneath the mountain known as Big Keg, there was a dungeon. Made by a small floating crystal, the dungeon was a series of tunnels connected to each other that went deep into the earth. Home to the small floating crystal known as the Dungeon Hive, the dungeon was designed to have a series of levels, with the fifth level being the pride and joy. The fifth level of the dungeon was a huge cavern that had an underground forest within it, and the Dungeon Hive made its home within this forest.

As deep as the underground forest was, there were still tunnels below it. These deep levels consisted of a series of confusing interconnecting mazelike tunnels that befuddled almost everyone who entered them. Even the Bullmen, Kin who love mazes, did not enter them. That was a good thing for the Dungeon Hive because, down in the 10th level of the tunnels, the Hive had built a huge circular cavern that dwarfed even the underground forest of the fifth level. In this cavern was the most ambitious creature the Hive had tried to make: a Dragon. And the project was not going well.

Can we make it bigger?

We can, but should we?

Why not? Bigger is better, right?

Right. Size matters.

Maybe, but this is already taking way too long.

True. It’s been seven winters since we took the request from those Fire idiots and we’re still not done. Why don’t we just complete the dragon already? It’s almost finished anyway.

Come on, guys! We need to have some pride in our work. We shouldn’t just create a dragon; we need to create a dragon that is better than that red dragon the Fire Hive is currently making.

"Enough with this stupid competition! Those Fire idiots only just started on their dragon and you guys know they only wanted us to start with our dragon so that they could learn from any mistakes we made. There’s no need to be that competitive with them. Some of us spirits actually want to start creating new creatures again, and that’s something that we can’t do because most