Fantasy Shorts: Deathly Doo-Dads

The gnome, a tinkerer as luck would have it, stood precariously at the head of his party as the stairwell rumbled. He fumbled with something in his hand as the party watched on in horror. They were all halted by a solid brick wall erected in an archway that blocked the bottom landing. The cleric looked over the gnome's shoulders while the rogue and the wizard stood at the rear watching the dungeon staircase fall step by step into a slowly growing dark abyss behind them.

"Hurry up!" the rogue shouted.

"We're not gonna make it, are we?" the gnome asked, nervously fidgeting the half-made melon-sized device grasped in his black-stained hands.

"No," the cleric sighed, resplendent in their armor, "I'm afraid not."

The wizard seemed to be growing irate at this point, her cheeks and the tips of her elven ears growing somewhat red. "'We're not gonna make it?' No! Of course not! We are not going to make it! What possessed you to think an improvised black powder explosive would be useful in this situation? We are right next to the secret door! It would likely blow us off the stairs before the trap could even catch us!"

"Aw," the tinkerer hung his head in childish disappointment.

"Where did you even store that much powder, anyway?" asked the cleric thoughtfully.

The gnome grinned devilishly behind his clouded glass goggles and wiry moustache.

"I don't think I want to know," said the wizard, "but now's not the time to-"

Suddenly, the wall holding them on the stairs slid into the ceiling. The rogue halfling was standing in a passage on the other side holding a brick aloft.

"Got it," he said trying to hold back a cackle.

The other three stared at each other for a moment, their eyes wider than teacup saucers.

"Move, move, move!" shouted the wizard as she felt the bricks beginning to slip away underneath her boots.

She and the cleric shoved past the gnome who was busily admiring the architecture. The wizard's hip accidentally battered the gnome, which caused him to teeter on the edge and drop the bomb. The device fell below for a solid moment before an earth-shattering boom and a blast of heat rocked the chamber from below. The gnome smiled with glee at his creation as the last step was beginning to fall from beneath him.

"Oh, no you don't!" cried the cleric as he grabbed the gnome's collar and pulled him into the new passage.

The tinkerer then laid on the floor giggling with glee. "Hehehe, boom!"

The wizard looked above the gnome to the empty void beyond where the staircase once stood. She sighed.

"That one concerns me, he does."

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This new installment to Fantasy Shorts was inspired by L.C. Schäfer's One Dollar Challenge for August. I do recommend giving it a crack if you have a chance.

This short was heavily inspired by fantasy role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons and anime like Delicious in Dungeon. I tried to capture the high-energy suspense and unpredictable chaotic shenanigans that usually come up around around a gaming table during a heated encounter. Who says silliness can't have story?

That being said, I hope you enjoyed reading it! Check out my catalog of free articles and stories below and consider subscribing. Every little bit helps.