Dungeon Runner (Book 1 and 2)

Stepping Up, Chapter 19

Tibs got looks from the guards and the Runners as he paced along the waiting field, just outside of Sto's range. He didn't want to know how Fedora's run was going. He wanted to hope her team was managing the run well. Sto would want to keep him appraised, and Tibs was worried that the dungeon would go easy on Fedora's team because of Tibs's involvement with her.

Sto said he didn't play favorites, but there had been multiple demonstrations already that that wasn't true.

Motion at the door, two people exiting; Tibs breathed easier. Fedora was being supported until the cleric placed a hand on her, then on the fighter. After that, they walked down the steps, still looking as if they were injured.

The two placed their armor and weapons on the table, along with a handful of copper. No extra equipment meant they didn't get to keep any, and Tibs had warned her against trying to hide one on her person. He'd heard stories, back in the early days, of those who tried it. They were always caught. The guild had magic, not just suspicions.

The fighter headed for the town, but Fedora noticed Tibs and, after hesitating, headed for him. He wanted to say something to her but found he didn't know what. He remembered how he felt after that first time, confused, hurt, afraid. About the only thing he could offer was the confidence he'd be there after each of her runs, no matter how many teammates she lost.

"It was hard," she said, as he fell into steps with her. "Those traps, they were horrible. We lost the archer. I don't know her name, and the way she just melted..." She shuddered. "I tried to convince the fighter—" she nodded in the guy's direction. "—that we should turn around right there, like you said we should once we lose someone, but he was determined to make it to the last room. We lost the other two in the boulder room." She shuddered again. "I used to not mind rats."

He nodded. "It won't be quick, but it gets easier. You'll figure out how the dungeon works, how he... thinks, for lack of a better word," he added. "Those who survive their runs will know better than to push needlessly."

"I wish you could just tell me what we need to do to win."

"There isn't much more I can tell you. The dungeon changes things around. The clues were on the floor tiles when I first went through." He noticed the surprised, then thoughtful, look she gave him. She hadn't worked out what the walls were about. No wonder she'd thought the trap room had been hard, having to test each tile as they went. He was impressed with her skill that she hadn't died in the process, or only lost one person there.

"Do you know when I'll have to go in again?"

"No. Unlike those at Upsilon, they'll pick you at random while you're in the field."

"So if I don't go to the field when we're told to, I won't have to go back in."

"When they called you out, did they tell you what the consequences are for not going to the field in the morning?"

"We don't get food or a bed." She shrugged. "I don't need a bed, and I can get food anywhere."

He rounded on her and she had to stop. "No. You don't steal in town."

"They won't know." She spoke with the confidence of someone who didn't understand how this town was different from her city.

"They will. Kragle Rock is too small to have a Street for you to hide in." And it never would have one if he had anything to do with it. "Harry isn't going to actively hunt you down, but the moment one of the townsfolk complains to a guard about something going missing, they will be looking for you. It'll just be a cell when you're caught, but you're going to fall behind and that will end up getting you killed."