Duke Grandfather Unleashes Hell: The Duke Grandfather Saga, #3.5

By James Maxstadt

How does a simple day at the museum turn out so wrong?

One minute, Duke and Lilly are looking at ancient dwarven artifacts, and the next a Demon-Lord from the Pit is laying waste to the whole town.

It's going to take the combined power of all of Capital City's greatest champions to have any chance of stopping him. And even then, it won't be easy.

Can Duke and Lilly save the day? Or will one of them have to make the ultimate sacrifice?

• Language: English
• Publisher: James Maxstadt
• Release date: Dec 13, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215858486

James Maxstadt

James is the author of more than fifteen fantasy novels. He loves writing books with quirky characters that are full of action, humor, and a lot of adventure. A fan of fantasy since he was young, James thinks a good story that can take a person away from their everyday life is something worth reading. He’s found over the last several years that writing such stories can be just as rewarding. When he does have his head in this world, he can usually be found relaxing at home with his beautiful wife Barb, doing some home renovation or woodworking project, or signing books at comic conventions and Renaissance Faires. Follow him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/DukeGrandfather

Book preview

WELCOME TO CAPITAL CITY!

HELLO AND WELCOME TO Capital City, the home of Duke Grandfather and the world’s most diverse population. Glad you decided to join us.

The story you’re about to read takes place after the events described in the Duke Grandfather Saga. You’ll find a lot of references to things that have gone before as you read this, and if they fire up your curiosity, you can find all the stories in the previous books.

But you don’t have to. You can read it fine on its own. But if you do enjoy it and want to read more, start with Tales of a Nuisance Man.

THE SHIELD

THERE'S NOTHING LIKE the feeling of waking up, the sun shining, the birds singing, and turning your head to see the most beautiful woman in the world lying next to you. Her hair in disarray, some of it sticking to the slight bit of drool that has come out of her mouth and onto her pillow. The little crust at the corners of her eyes, and the slight buzzing of her gentle snoring. It's a magical time, which was befitting such a powerful necromancer.

I don't know if it was her innate magic ability or some other sense that made her eyes flutter open right then. I watched her wake, coming around slowly, before I leaned over to kiss her good morning.

Ugh, she said, covering her mouth with one delicate hand. My mouth tastes like the bottom of a rat-man's cart. And you smell like it.

She rolled out of bed and walked to the bathroom, leaving me there staring at the place where a moment before my love had rested her head. Ah yes, mornings could indeed be magical. Just not this one, apparently.

WHAT'S ON THE AGENDA today? I asked around a bite of the toast I was using to mop up egg-yolk.

Lilly shrugged. Not sure. I don't have anything big going on. You?

It was the weekend, so Lilly didn't have to go into the watchhouse today, and I, being a free-lance Nuisance Man, had every day to make my own. It was one of the reasons that I stuck with the job.

Nothing on my end, I said. How about if we head to the Academy?

Lilly's eye-brows rose. The Academy? You? Why? Do they have an all-you-can-drink history of ale exhibit?

My eyes lost focus for a moment at the thought of an all-you-can-drink ale exhibit, but, No. Although that does sound great. It's something to do, that's all.

The Academy wasn't a school, in sPite of its name. It was a museum, housing the finest art ever produced in CaPital City and abroad. I was no huge art lover, but a lot of the stuff they housed was pretty amazing. Plus, I heard that Brindar was going to be there as a guard for a new exhibit.

They’re showing some of the things the dwarves found in the Deep. Brindar is on guard duty for the big opening, so I thought we could go say hello and offer a little moral support.

Lilly nodded. Forgot about that, actually. Good idea. I can't believe they've been able to get further into that place.

From what I understand, it's still plenty dangerous. The Dokkalfar are still around and they've run into a few things even worse. But when they learned how to harness the power of that big chandelier it opened the place up. The Dokkalfar can't stand against it.

Still, I can't imagine anyone living there.

Brindar says that isn't the plan. They want to explore it, get anything they think is valuable or important out, and then close it back up. Expand Underworld in different directions.

Dwarves are kind of weird, aren't they?

I shrugged. Eh, maybe. Who am I to say?

Lilly gave a short laugh. You sure have come a long way, she said. Sure, let’s go to the Academy.

When we arrived a couple of hours later, there were long lines waiting to get in. An event like this is one of the great equalizers in CaPital City. It brings out the old and the young, the rich and the poor, all mingled together. Well, maybe the young and old; the rich don’t do much mingling.

While the Academy was open to all, free of charge, there was a separate VIP entrance for members and supporters. In other words, if you give large sums of money, you get to go in and see all the old stuff without having to dirty your shoes on floors that the underclasses have walked on first.

They say money can't buy happiness, but it can certainly buy preferential treatment.

Lilly and I were far from being members or supporters. If we were anyone else, or if this was any other exhibit, we would have been out with the nameless rabble, standing in line, waiting for our turn to shuffle through and look past the ropes at what the dwarves had brought out of the darkness.

But, we were who we were, and our good friend, Brindar, the dwarven, and so far only, non-human Nuisance Man was acting as the head of security. All we needed to do was get to him and he'd let us in.

The problem was reaching him. The crowd filled the square in front of the huge, stone building that housed the Academy. People milled about, buying meats on sticks and cold drinks from the vendors wandering the crowd. Some examined the sculptures lining the outside of the square, depicting everything from a famous scholar lost in thought while a rat chewed at his toes, to a knight, holding an unclothed maiden tightly to him while fighting off a huge snake with the other hand.

I didn't know the stories behind those statues, or any of the others, but there were people who made a living studying them, and could tell you all about what the carved figures represented.

I tried to politely push my way through the masses. My excuse mes and pardon mes did nothing. People either ignored me or purposely turned away, sure that I was someone trying to buck the line. Well, what could I say? Technically, I was. But Lilly and I had saved the entire city not very long ago, and I felt that deserved something. Getting in for a sneak peek at