Dungeon Heart 03 - Hell Gate, page 37
“It’s fine. I’m fine,” Smit said finally, clearing his throat as he shook his head. It was too early to celebrate. The angel had said that healing the bodies was up to them. He still had work to do. “Right, let's try this again. Ziggurd, Arturus. Try to use healing magic. I’ll feed you guys mana. Let’s see what we can do to set them right.”
“Yes!” the two said in unison, seeming a bit reenergized by their good fortune. Ziggurd particularly felt blessed now. Twice he had escaped death, and all because of his new family. Smit didn’t know this, but Ziggurd was starting to see him in a whole new light.
<<<>>>
Congratulations! Acquired [Relic of the Ancient God]
Hidden conditions met.
New value unlocked: Faith
New value locked: Divinity
New value: Faith Reg.
New value: Divinity Reg. (locked)
<<<>>>
<<<>>>
Analyzing achievements. Analyzing new paths.
<<<>>>
<<<>>>
Analysis complete. Special conditions met.
Congratulations! Multiple criteria have been met. Granting rewards.
<<<>>>
<<<>>>
Special actions by individual [Smit] have resulted in the following:
Title [The Last Believer] granted.
Title [He Who Resist Evil] granted.
Title [On The Path To Divinity] granted.
Ability [Gather faith]
Ability [Convert faith]
Ability [Wield divinity] (locked)
<<<>>>
<<<>>>
Status
Species: True Dungeon
Rank: 4
Name: Smit
Age: 8 months
Mana: 21,269
Anima: 1,001
Mana Reg.: 1992 MP/h
Anima Reg.: 21.71 AP/day
Faith: 1
Divinity: 0
Faith Reg.: 1/day
Divinity Reg.: 0/day
Floors: 10 (Max Floors available: 20)
Inhabitants: 88 Species
Titles: Abnormal One; Creator of Dungeon Laws; Creator; Father of Monsters; Guide of the Bloody Evolution; He Who Resist Evil; Legendary Craftsman; Master of Concentration; On The Path To Divinity; Reincarnated One; The Last Believer; The Negotiator
Abilities: Absorb matter; Alter environment; Bestow knowledge; Break down components; Convert faith; Craftsmanship; Creation; Digging; Destroy creation; Dungeon laws; Enhancement; Equivalent exchange; Ether manipulation; Evolution; Gather faith; Interdimensional storage; Life bestowal; Life-energy harnessing; Loot craft; Luck of the draw; Mana absorption; Masterful mana manipulation; Modification of creations; Monster link; Telepathy; Selective speciation; Trap building; Transfer dungeon; Treasure management; Wield divinity
Resistances: Magic (general); Mind control
<<<>>>
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The village of Nam had, against all odds, survived what would later be called the “Imp Parade” and be hailed a town of heroes. A village with a barely prepared militia had managed to repel a half dozen demons with the aid of some adventurers and a few of the king’s men. That was an extraordinary achievement, especially considering one of the demons was a summoner. The dastardly evil being had summoned hundreds of tiny lesser demons, all of them no larger than a fat house cat.
Harmless as they might seem, the creatures were terribly cruel, dive-bombing villagers with sharp little spears, stabbing any vulnerable area that would cause the people pain. Be it their eyes, the back of their hands, or even slicing the Achilles tendons of some unsuspecting prey, the sheer number of imps made it hard to deal with the larger, much more dangerous demons. The grey ones caused the people the most trouble, and thirty people from the militia were either killed or seriously injured due to those four.
The success of the defense was a costly one, proportionally to the number of people that had participated, at least. On the flip side, the village of Nam had now firmly cemented itself as one of the few villages in the entire history of the kingdom to have survived a demon invasion. Furthermore, legend would have it that streaks of light cut across the dissipating clouds of darkness as the last demon fell, as if the gods were celebrating their victory.
Those who defended the village were not the only heroes, as it would later be discovered. That night, just as the people had gathered the bodies of the fallen heroes and buried them, Ikfes came down from the mountain with a handful of soldiers. They all looked far worse for wear. Among them, only ten soldiers remained, a handful of adventurers, and two knights, who looked so pale and drained that they had to rely on Ensa and Sonja to support their weight.
The people welcomed them in a hurry, not needing much context to understand what had happened. Or at least, their minds gave context to what had happened based on the few words that Ikfes provided them. Given how damaged Ikfes’s armor was, and the lack of men, it didn’t take much to put two and two together, given the circumstances. In their minds, Ikfes had clearly taken some of the best men and mounted a preemptive assault on the demons, engaging them in a deadly battle to save the small village of Nam.
They could not fathom any other reason for the state of affairs, as no mad man would have dived into the mountain, where the demons came from, for any other reason. Thus Ikfes and the few people who returned were hailed as great heroes responsible for holding back the majority of the demons. Ikfes didn’t bother correcting them either, because in a sense, they were not wrong. They had indeed held back a tide of demons, and it had been a lengthy and costly battle, but it seemed that it had been worth it.
One way or another, the dungeon had somehow managed to deal with the remaining four demons, the village was safe, and the hell gate had fizzled out. Now all that was left was sanctifying the area of the hell gate, just to make sure that no traces of evil remained in the area. Oh, and of course, to provide the dungeon more of those rare ores as payment for “breach of contract” as the dungeon had put it.
Ikfes couldn’t help but to wonder why the dungeon had been so agitated and adamant about getting more rare materials. If anything, he assumed that the dungeon would be worried about its allies, or angry that they had failed to protect it. Instead it had asked for materials, such as rare metals and crystals, and some specific additives that Ikfes didn’t quite recognize, while arguing that they were imperative for repairs.
Ikfes had wanted to ask how on earth it was even aware of the names of things it had listed, but he had no energy to argue, and the dungeon had kept its part of the deal. Ikfes had no choice but to have a talk with the king in the near future about the dungeon. Its logic was simply too far outside the norm for Ikfes to follow it properly.
Sighing, Ikfes laid down that night and let sleep take him readily. He had not felt this sore in years, his body aching and full of wounds. Tomorrow he could mourn his fallen allies and discuss things with the king. Tonight, he needed sleep.
Lots and lots of sleep.
While mortals rejoiced, in the depths of the hellish abyss a certain creature still simmered in great anger. Baahumaz was not one to forgive easily, nor one to forget. The loss of some of her most reliable troops was a blow that had made her lose some of her reputation in the netherworld, making her look weak and incompetent. As a result, now she had several irreverent young demons and old foes that were more than eager to pick a fight with her, even going as far as to try to encroach on her territory.
Worse, with some of her valuable troops gone, in particular one of her best commanders, it made things more difficult to deal with. In her eyes this was an insult that she would be sure to pay back to both the humans and the dungeon in full. She would grind the humans to a paste slowly, and ensure they suffered for as long as possible before they expired. As for the dungeon, she would make sure to get every bit of use out of it that she could. She would shackle it to herself if she had to, and turn it into the most useful of her slaves.
But first, she would deal with the trash at her doorstep, and show them that the failings of a small group of her subordinates meant nothing to her. And then? Then the world of the living would know pain.
Back in the world of the living, far from the realm where demons wrought destruction upon each other, some places witnessed something amazing happening. Many temples around the continent received what seemed to be sacred items in a streak of light. The temple of the goddess of beauty, Eprha, had a statue of the goddess land in the middle of the central garden. The temple of the god of war, Mares, had a blood red spear penetrate the roof of the temple, and land directly on the altar. The temple of the northern god of snow and ice, Horthum, had a beautiful hammer land at their room of worship.
So on and so forth, across the land many temples were graced by gifts of such wonderful quality, and holding just a touch of divinity, that they could not deny that they belonged to the heavens. Some of them were artifacts that had been lost long ago, or heard of only in myth and rumors. The questions in everyone’s mind were simple: Where had they originated from? Why had they all appeared overnight in their respective temples?
In turn, it was not just mere mortals whose attention was captivated. Gods across the land witnessed in surprise long lost items and creations that they had never seen brought to completion returned to their temples. Almost immediately after, they felt a boost of faith from their followers, as many returned to the temples to pray once the legend of the relics reached their ears.
Feeling their influence rise, many gods now also wondered where the items had come from. The only person who could have made them had vanished from their gaze many years ago. Even the god of death was not sure where the dwarf had disappeared to, for his soul had not passed on to the afterlife. But now the artifacts offered a clue.
And they were so very interested in finding out more about him.
THE END
Dungeon Heart: Hell Gate
MORE DUNGEON ADVENTURES…
Looking for more exciting adventures, and need them right this minute? Check out Rogue Dungeon (The Rogue Dungeon Book 1)
Build. Evolve. Conquer. Welcome to the Dungeon...
Roark von Graf—hedge mage and lesser noble of Traisbin—is one of only a handful of Freedom fighters left, and he knows the Resistance’s days are numbered. Unless they do something drastic…
But when a daring plan to unseat the Tyrant King goes awry, Roark finds himself on the run through an interdimensional portal, which strands him in a very unexpected location: an ultra-immersive fantasy video game called Hearthworld. He can’t log out, his magic is on the fritz, and worst of all, he’s not even human. He’s a low-class, run-of-the-mill Dungeon monster. Some disgusting, blue-skinned creature called a Troll. At least there’s one small silver lining—Roark managed to grab a powerful magic artifact on his way through the portal, and with it he might just be able to save his world after all.
Unless, of course, the Tyrant King gets to him first …
“An excellent start to a series, this book has everything I look for in a fantasy novel: action, intrigue, and evolution!” — Dakota Krout, author of the Divine Dungeon and the Completionist Chronicles
From James A. Hunter, author of the litRPG epic Viridian Gate Online, and eden Hudson, author of Path of the Thunderbird and the Jubal Van Zandt Series, comes an exciting litRPG, dungeon-core adventure you won’t want to put down!
BOOKS AND REVIEWS
If you loved Dungeon Heart: Hell Gate and would like stay in the loop about the latest book releases, deals, and giveaways, be sure to subscribe to the Shadow Alley Press Mailing List. Sign up now and get a free copy of our bestselling anthology, Viridian Gate Online: Side Quests! Your email address will never be shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Word-of-mouth and book reviews are beyond helpful for the success of any writer, so please consider leaving a rating or a short, honest review HERE—just a couple of lines about your overall reading experience. Thank you in advance!
You can also connect with us on our Facebook Page where we do even more giveaways: Shadow Alley Press on Facebook
BOOKS BY SHADOW ALLEY PRESS
ENTER THE SHADOW ALLEY LIBRARY to take a peek at all of our amazing Gamelit, Fantasy, and Science Fiction books! Viridian Gate Online, Rogue Dungeon, Snake’s Life, Dungeon Heart, Path of the Thunderbird, School of Swords and Serpents, the FiveFold Universe, and so many more... Your next favorite book is waiting for you inside!
LITRPG ON FACEBOOK
You can find even more books and awesome recommendations by checking out the litRPG Group on Facebook!
GAMELIT ON FACEBOOK
And, if you love litRPG and want to find more of wonky books like Viridian Gate Online, check out the GameLit Society on Facebook!
EVEN MORE LITRPG ON FACEBOOK
You can find even more books and awesome recommendations by checking out LitRPG Books on Facebook!
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank my family and friends, who supported my hobby of writing that led to this book. Honestly, they have been a good source of inspiration too. I would also like to thank my fans from Royal Road who encouraged me to keep writing, and put up with endless spelling errors on my part. As I promised to you, dear readers that have followed me from RR, the story has continued to evolve into a different direction, and given you more to sink your teeth into!
Furthermore, I would like to thank Anne van Dalfsen, who stuck with me through months of writing in Royal Road, and helped edit and digitalize the initial drafts for some of my work. Even now he occasionally provides advice, which I am thankful for. I also cannot forget Shan, who put up with endless bursts of random ideas and discussions about my book, and also helped inspire some of the characters. She continues to listen to my endless rants to this day, despite some of the ideas just getting stuck in loops of arguments. Bless her heart and patience.
I’d also like to thank Brian Oles, who scouted me and introduced me to Shadow Alley, and Jake Goodrich, who helped me manage my story all the way. Without these two, this book may never have been published. Brian also spends a rather concerning amount of time mulling over my stories, but I appreciate every minute he spends on it, as he is fantastic to talk about feedback. I can’t forget to give a big thank you to Shadow Alley Press, as they are an amazing team that helped in a hundred different ways. Thank you all for your help. This was only possible thanks to you.
Lastly, thank you dear reader, for following the story. I hope that you are enjoying it so far. If you would ever like to hear more about the Dungeon Heart story, or simply ask a question, you can follow my twitter, @heart_dungeon
Thanks!
Dungeon Heart: Hell Gate is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2022 by David Sanchez-Ponton and Shadow Alley Press, Inc.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, email the publisher, subject line “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the email address below.
JStrode@ShadowAlleyPress.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Sanchez-Ponton is a geologist, hydrologist, and author who resides in Canada. A man of many hobbies and a master of none, David has been a long-time fan of fantasy, science fiction, cultivation, and rebirth stories. After earning his Master's degree in hydrology in the Netherlands during the 2020 pandemic, he teamed up with Shadow Alley Press to release his first book, Dungeon Heart: The Singing Mountain. The influence of hundreds of different stories and a thousand chaotic thoughts can be felt in his writing, blended together in that tortuous maze of insanity that he calls a brain, to produce surprisingly coherent stories.
David Sanchez-Ponton, Dungeon Heart 03 - Hell Gate
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“Yes!” the two said in unison, seeming a bit reenergized by their good fortune. Ziggurd particularly felt blessed now. Twice he had escaped death, and all because of his new family. Smit didn’t know this, but Ziggurd was starting to see him in a whole new light.
<<<>>>
Congratulations! Acquired [Relic of the Ancient God]
Hidden conditions met.
New value unlocked: Faith
New value locked: Divinity
New value: Faith Reg.
New value: Divinity Reg. (locked)
<<<>>>
<<<>>>
Analyzing achievements. Analyzing new paths.
<<<>>>
<<<>>>
Analysis complete. Special conditions met.
Congratulations! Multiple criteria have been met. Granting rewards.
<<<>>>
<<<>>>
Special actions by individual [Smit] have resulted in the following:
Title [The Last Believer] granted.
Title [He Who Resist Evil] granted.
Title [On The Path To Divinity] granted.
Ability [Gather faith]
Ability [Convert faith]
Ability [Wield divinity] (locked)
<<<>>>
<<<>>>
Status
Species: True Dungeon
Rank: 4
Name: Smit
Age: 8 months
Mana: 21,269
Anima: 1,001
Mana Reg.: 1992 MP/h
Anima Reg.: 21.71 AP/day
Faith: 1
Divinity: 0
Faith Reg.: 1/day
Divinity Reg.: 0/day
Floors: 10 (Max Floors available: 20)
Inhabitants: 88 Species
Titles: Abnormal One; Creator of Dungeon Laws; Creator; Father of Monsters; Guide of the Bloody Evolution; He Who Resist Evil; Legendary Craftsman; Master of Concentration; On The Path To Divinity; Reincarnated One; The Last Believer; The Negotiator
Abilities: Absorb matter; Alter environment; Bestow knowledge; Break down components; Convert faith; Craftsmanship; Creation; Digging; Destroy creation; Dungeon laws; Enhancement; Equivalent exchange; Ether manipulation; Evolution; Gather faith; Interdimensional storage; Life bestowal; Life-energy harnessing; Loot craft; Luck of the draw; Mana absorption; Masterful mana manipulation; Modification of creations; Monster link; Telepathy; Selective speciation; Trap building; Transfer dungeon; Treasure management; Wield divinity
Resistances: Magic (general); Mind control
<<<>>>
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The village of Nam had, against all odds, survived what would later be called the “Imp Parade” and be hailed a town of heroes. A village with a barely prepared militia had managed to repel a half dozen demons with the aid of some adventurers and a few of the king’s men. That was an extraordinary achievement, especially considering one of the demons was a summoner. The dastardly evil being had summoned hundreds of tiny lesser demons, all of them no larger than a fat house cat.
Harmless as they might seem, the creatures were terribly cruel, dive-bombing villagers with sharp little spears, stabbing any vulnerable area that would cause the people pain. Be it their eyes, the back of their hands, or even slicing the Achilles tendons of some unsuspecting prey, the sheer number of imps made it hard to deal with the larger, much more dangerous demons. The grey ones caused the people the most trouble, and thirty people from the militia were either killed or seriously injured due to those four.
The success of the defense was a costly one, proportionally to the number of people that had participated, at least. On the flip side, the village of Nam had now firmly cemented itself as one of the few villages in the entire history of the kingdom to have survived a demon invasion. Furthermore, legend would have it that streaks of light cut across the dissipating clouds of darkness as the last demon fell, as if the gods were celebrating their victory.
Those who defended the village were not the only heroes, as it would later be discovered. That night, just as the people had gathered the bodies of the fallen heroes and buried them, Ikfes came down from the mountain with a handful of soldiers. They all looked far worse for wear. Among them, only ten soldiers remained, a handful of adventurers, and two knights, who looked so pale and drained that they had to rely on Ensa and Sonja to support their weight.
The people welcomed them in a hurry, not needing much context to understand what had happened. Or at least, their minds gave context to what had happened based on the few words that Ikfes provided them. Given how damaged Ikfes’s armor was, and the lack of men, it didn’t take much to put two and two together, given the circumstances. In their minds, Ikfes had clearly taken some of the best men and mounted a preemptive assault on the demons, engaging them in a deadly battle to save the small village of Nam.
They could not fathom any other reason for the state of affairs, as no mad man would have dived into the mountain, where the demons came from, for any other reason. Thus Ikfes and the few people who returned were hailed as great heroes responsible for holding back the majority of the demons. Ikfes didn’t bother correcting them either, because in a sense, they were not wrong. They had indeed held back a tide of demons, and it had been a lengthy and costly battle, but it seemed that it had been worth it.
One way or another, the dungeon had somehow managed to deal with the remaining four demons, the village was safe, and the hell gate had fizzled out. Now all that was left was sanctifying the area of the hell gate, just to make sure that no traces of evil remained in the area. Oh, and of course, to provide the dungeon more of those rare ores as payment for “breach of contract” as the dungeon had put it.
Ikfes couldn’t help but to wonder why the dungeon had been so agitated and adamant about getting more rare materials. If anything, he assumed that the dungeon would be worried about its allies, or angry that they had failed to protect it. Instead it had asked for materials, such as rare metals and crystals, and some specific additives that Ikfes didn’t quite recognize, while arguing that they were imperative for repairs.
Ikfes had wanted to ask how on earth it was even aware of the names of things it had listed, but he had no energy to argue, and the dungeon had kept its part of the deal. Ikfes had no choice but to have a talk with the king in the near future about the dungeon. Its logic was simply too far outside the norm for Ikfes to follow it properly.
Sighing, Ikfes laid down that night and let sleep take him readily. He had not felt this sore in years, his body aching and full of wounds. Tomorrow he could mourn his fallen allies and discuss things with the king. Tonight, he needed sleep.
Lots and lots of sleep.
While mortals rejoiced, in the depths of the hellish abyss a certain creature still simmered in great anger. Baahumaz was not one to forgive easily, nor one to forget. The loss of some of her most reliable troops was a blow that had made her lose some of her reputation in the netherworld, making her look weak and incompetent. As a result, now she had several irreverent young demons and old foes that were more than eager to pick a fight with her, even going as far as to try to encroach on her territory.
Worse, with some of her valuable troops gone, in particular one of her best commanders, it made things more difficult to deal with. In her eyes this was an insult that she would be sure to pay back to both the humans and the dungeon in full. She would grind the humans to a paste slowly, and ensure they suffered for as long as possible before they expired. As for the dungeon, she would make sure to get every bit of use out of it that she could. She would shackle it to herself if she had to, and turn it into the most useful of her slaves.
But first, she would deal with the trash at her doorstep, and show them that the failings of a small group of her subordinates meant nothing to her. And then? Then the world of the living would know pain.
Back in the world of the living, far from the realm where demons wrought destruction upon each other, some places witnessed something amazing happening. Many temples around the continent received what seemed to be sacred items in a streak of light. The temple of the goddess of beauty, Eprha, had a statue of the goddess land in the middle of the central garden. The temple of the god of war, Mares, had a blood red spear penetrate the roof of the temple, and land directly on the altar. The temple of the northern god of snow and ice, Horthum, had a beautiful hammer land at their room of worship.
So on and so forth, across the land many temples were graced by gifts of such wonderful quality, and holding just a touch of divinity, that they could not deny that they belonged to the heavens. Some of them were artifacts that had been lost long ago, or heard of only in myth and rumors. The questions in everyone’s mind were simple: Where had they originated from? Why had they all appeared overnight in their respective temples?
In turn, it was not just mere mortals whose attention was captivated. Gods across the land witnessed in surprise long lost items and creations that they had never seen brought to completion returned to their temples. Almost immediately after, they felt a boost of faith from their followers, as many returned to the temples to pray once the legend of the relics reached their ears.
Feeling their influence rise, many gods now also wondered where the items had come from. The only person who could have made them had vanished from their gaze many years ago. Even the god of death was not sure where the dwarf had disappeared to, for his soul had not passed on to the afterlife. But now the artifacts offered a clue.
And they were so very interested in finding out more about him.
THE END
Dungeon Heart: Hell Gate
MORE DUNGEON ADVENTURES…
Looking for more exciting adventures, and need them right this minute? Check out Rogue Dungeon (The Rogue Dungeon Book 1)
Build. Evolve. Conquer. Welcome to the Dungeon...
Roark von Graf—hedge mage and lesser noble of Traisbin—is one of only a handful of Freedom fighters left, and he knows the Resistance’s days are numbered. Unless they do something drastic…
But when a daring plan to unseat the Tyrant King goes awry, Roark finds himself on the run through an interdimensional portal, which strands him in a very unexpected location: an ultra-immersive fantasy video game called Hearthworld. He can’t log out, his magic is on the fritz, and worst of all, he’s not even human. He’s a low-class, run-of-the-mill Dungeon monster. Some disgusting, blue-skinned creature called a Troll. At least there’s one small silver lining—Roark managed to grab a powerful magic artifact on his way through the portal, and with it he might just be able to save his world after all.
Unless, of course, the Tyrant King gets to him first …
“An excellent start to a series, this book has everything I look for in a fantasy novel: action, intrigue, and evolution!” — Dakota Krout, author of the Divine Dungeon and the Completionist Chronicles
From James A. Hunter, author of the litRPG epic Viridian Gate Online, and eden Hudson, author of Path of the Thunderbird and the Jubal Van Zandt Series, comes an exciting litRPG, dungeon-core adventure you won’t want to put down!
BOOKS AND REVIEWS
If you loved Dungeon Heart: Hell Gate and would like stay in the loop about the latest book releases, deals, and giveaways, be sure to subscribe to the Shadow Alley Press Mailing List. Sign up now and get a free copy of our bestselling anthology, Viridian Gate Online: Side Quests! Your email address will never be shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Word-of-mouth and book reviews are beyond helpful for the success of any writer, so please consider leaving a rating or a short, honest review HERE—just a couple of lines about your overall reading experience. Thank you in advance!
You can also connect with us on our Facebook Page where we do even more giveaways: Shadow Alley Press on Facebook
BOOKS BY SHADOW ALLEY PRESS
ENTER THE SHADOW ALLEY LIBRARY to take a peek at all of our amazing Gamelit, Fantasy, and Science Fiction books! Viridian Gate Online, Rogue Dungeon, Snake’s Life, Dungeon Heart, Path of the Thunderbird, School of Swords and Serpents, the FiveFold Universe, and so many more... Your next favorite book is waiting for you inside!
LITRPG ON FACEBOOK
You can find even more books and awesome recommendations by checking out the litRPG Group on Facebook!
GAMELIT ON FACEBOOK
And, if you love litRPG and want to find more of wonky books like Viridian Gate Online, check out the GameLit Society on Facebook!
EVEN MORE LITRPG ON FACEBOOK
You can find even more books and awesome recommendations by checking out LitRPG Books on Facebook!
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank my family and friends, who supported my hobby of writing that led to this book. Honestly, they have been a good source of inspiration too. I would also like to thank my fans from Royal Road who encouraged me to keep writing, and put up with endless spelling errors on my part. As I promised to you, dear readers that have followed me from RR, the story has continued to evolve into a different direction, and given you more to sink your teeth into!
Furthermore, I would like to thank Anne van Dalfsen, who stuck with me through months of writing in Royal Road, and helped edit and digitalize the initial drafts for some of my work. Even now he occasionally provides advice, which I am thankful for. I also cannot forget Shan, who put up with endless bursts of random ideas and discussions about my book, and also helped inspire some of the characters. She continues to listen to my endless rants to this day, despite some of the ideas just getting stuck in loops of arguments. Bless her heart and patience.
I’d also like to thank Brian Oles, who scouted me and introduced me to Shadow Alley, and Jake Goodrich, who helped me manage my story all the way. Without these two, this book may never have been published. Brian also spends a rather concerning amount of time mulling over my stories, but I appreciate every minute he spends on it, as he is fantastic to talk about feedback. I can’t forget to give a big thank you to Shadow Alley Press, as they are an amazing team that helped in a hundred different ways. Thank you all for your help. This was only possible thanks to you.
Lastly, thank you dear reader, for following the story. I hope that you are enjoying it so far. If you would ever like to hear more about the Dungeon Heart story, or simply ask a question, you can follow my twitter, @heart_dungeon
Thanks!
Dungeon Heart: Hell Gate is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2022 by David Sanchez-Ponton and Shadow Alley Press, Inc.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, email the publisher, subject line “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the email address below.
JStrode@ShadowAlleyPress.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Sanchez-Ponton is a geologist, hydrologist, and author who resides in Canada. A man of many hobbies and a master of none, David has been a long-time fan of fantasy, science fiction, cultivation, and rebirth stories. After earning his Master's degree in hydrology in the Netherlands during the 2020 pandemic, he teamed up with Shadow Alley Press to release his first book, Dungeon Heart: The Singing Mountain. The influence of hundreds of different stories and a thousand chaotic thoughts can be felt in his writing, blended together in that tortuous maze of insanity that he calls a brain, to produce surprisingly coherent stories.
David Sanchez-Ponton, Dungeon Heart 03 - Hell Gate
