In the heart of the cavernous Underlands, where the torchless shadows tangled with the echoes of unseen creatures, she awoke to an impossible reality. She blinked, or rather, summoned the sensation closest to blinking as crystalline awareness pulsed through her being. For she had not simply opened her eyes; she had awakened as a dungeon core.

  The sudden shift from flesh to shimmering stone was bewildering. Moments ago - or perhaps eternities in this place where time seemed to oscillate like a pendulum without edges - she had flashes of visions, sunlight, fields of green, laughter, warmth, they flickered hazily and then vanished. Only darkness and a cloying silence remained. Though, the darkness was not complete. She could see. But her sight did not feel right. Suddenly, she felt, humor. What is funny?

  What? What is going on? Where am I? It took El a few moments, for some reason her thoughts were coming to her sluggishly, but if she had the time to rhyme then she knew she must be at least in some modicome of safety. If only she could remember… well, anything. She knew her name was El. She went to raise her arms to her head, she had an odd pounding headache, the kind you just wanted to smoosh your temples together to pop. Unfortunately, there would be no smooshing or popping.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  What the hell, where are my hands, my arms? A sudden, complete and overwhelming panic shook El, she was in a small space and appeared to have no corporeal form. She had no hands or arms as she tried to look down at herself. Am I a… a… ghost? I’m. I’m dead. Oh my god. What the everlasting fried pork on a stick!? El tried to breathe in gasping draws, like any truly dramatic southern belle should, but unfortunately, she found she also had no lungs, or mouth.

  A short time later, El felt her panic subside, replaced by a strange, detached curiosity. She couldn't explain it, but somehow she knew she wasn't dead. This was... different.

  As her awareness expanded, she began to sense the cavern around her. It wasn't just darkness anymore; she could feel the contours of the stone, the pockets of air, even the faintest trickle of water somewhere in the distance. And at the center of it all was... her.

  She was a glowing, pulsing crystal, anchored to the cavern floor. Energy coursed through her, connecting her to the very essence of this underground realm. With each pulse, she felt a little bit more stable.

  "I'm a... dungeon core?" The thought materialized, bringing with it a sense that there were specific and particular skills she had, though she didn’t know exactly what this feeling entailed. She did get the sense she was the heart of this place, its guardian and shaper. And she had work to do.