‘Escape to the Above’ by Adam Jay Epstein

When a questing hero races through a tomb — pursued by an enormous boulder or bombarded with a flight of poisoned darts — do you ever think about whose job it must’ve been to set up those lavish obstacles?

Wily Snare is a “trapsmith,” employed by a reclusive wizard who jealously guards his treasure. Wily has worked for the wizard Stalag for as long as he can remember: keeping the traps in working order, cleaning up after and coaching the “monsters” who help to guard the tomb, and clearing away the latest set of unconscious heroes before the next “visitors” arrive.

Wily has never been above-ground because Stalag convinced him that he would die if he was exposed to sunlight. Stalag has told him a lot of things, actually. But an unusual set of tomb-raiding adventurers bring unimaginable change to Wily’s ordered existence.

Escape to the Above is an exciting tale, told from the perspective of a skilled technician who understands the dungeon’s secrets in a way that few others do. I look forward to further adventures of Wily and his friends.