Dungeon Runner (Book 1 and 2)

Stepping Up, Chapter 29

"You can't seriously be doing this," Jackal told Pyan as he and Tibs reached her table. She was alone again, only this time it wasn't because her team had abandoned her. It was because she'd abandoned them. "You're the team leader, you can't just walk away from them and join another one." There were four tankards before her, and as she reached for one, Jackal took it.

She glared at him. "What has being a leader gotten me?" she demanded. "Geoff's dead."

To Tibs's surprise, instead of drinking the tankard's content, Jackal sniffed it and made a face. "You shouldn't be drinking this stuff, Pyan, especially if you have a run today."

"What do you care?" she asked, taking the tankard from him and downing it. "You're always drinking, even when you have runs."

"Ale, not this stuff. That's going to kill you."

"Good," she snarled. "That's what I deserve for getting Geoff killed."

"You didn't—" Jackal ground his teeth and looked at Tibs, his expression inviting him to jump in and help.

But Tibs didn't know what to say. Or rather, he couldn't think of anything that disagreed with her. He'd come down from his excitement at being rid of the pain of the corruption in his essence to the memory of Fedora's death, and it still hurt. Enough that he thought about not getting out of bed this morning.

Wouldn't have, if Jackal hadn't dragged him out.

Numbing the pain with whatever she was drinking had a certain appeal. As did ending it completely so he would never have to feel like this again. If not for his friends and how his death would make them feel, Tibs might have done it already.

"At least get a different team, Pyan," Jackal said.

"Why? Tihomil's a good leader."

"He's an Omega," the fighter replied, exasperated. "His entire team is. They're just doing the first floor. You're not going to get anything out of that. There's got to be an Upsilon team in need of a fighter, there's been a lot of them not making it out of the dungeon too."

"At least I have a chance of keeping them alive on the first floor." She raised her tankard and motioned to her table.

"You're hurt," Jackal said, looking at Tibs again. "Don't make this decision now. Help them for this run, then rest. Grieve."

"Don't you fucking tell me what to do." She was up and in Jackal's face. "Your man's still here." She pointed to the approaching Kroseph. "He's safe. You see how you feel when he's dead and it's your fault."

"Geoffrey's death wasn't your fault," Kroseph said, putting the tankard on the table. "And this is your last one. You have a run today."

"Don't tell me what to do either," she ordered. "I have the coin, you're going to keep bringing them to me." She threw a silver at him and the server caught it with the ease of a man who had many of them thrown at him by angry customers and customers too drunk to aim.

"I want you to come back and spend more of your well-earned coins." Kroseph placed the coin on the table. "So yes, I can tell you that this is the last Itricion I will be serving you."

"I'll take my coins elsewhere," she threatened. "What's the owner going to say then?"

"My dad's going to say he doesn't want your death to be because of something I let you do. There are plenty of taverns that won't care about more than the coin you're giving them right now. We aren't one of those."

"Fine." She sat and drank angrily.

Tibs could see that she'd go to one of the taverns. She'd lost her special man, her pain was stronger than what Fedora caused him. He'd only known her for a short while and as nothing more than a friend he tried to help survive the dungeon.