Dungeon Runner (Book 1 and 2)

Stepping Up, Chapter 65

"How is the defense really going?" Tibs asked as he, Jackal, and Carina left the inn, both to know, and because he didn't want to think about how Kroseph held him responsible for not being here to protect the town. He could have explained how getting purity was better in the long run, but that wouldn't take away how his friend had been attacked.

"It's going well," Jackal answered as they walked through the alleys, "in that we haven't lost any of the runners already here. It's going bad in that my father's caught a lot of people returning. I don't know how many of them are Runners, and what he's done with them, but I've yet to see anyone they brought to that building get out of it. He's also taken control of a lot of the town. Mostly housing, since we were already watching the shops and a lot of taverns."

"Can't let him control the ale?" Carina asked.

Jackal tried for a smirk and failed. That, more than the words, told Tibs how bad things were. "If he gets hold of any more of them, we might as well let him have everything. With everyone we need to house and feed, we need all their kitchens. Not that we have that much food left."

"I'll talk with Sto, see if he's ready to open. I can ask him to make sure there's more meat and vegetable. Maybe if there's a small barrel of ale, I can bring that to him and he can add those to the drops."

"That'll be good," Jackal said, "but I doubt my father's going to let us just go in to do runs. He can't let us do anything that will make us stronger, and him weaker, in return."

Tibs made sure the street was clear before they hurried to the other side. "Do you think he killed the Runners he captured?"

Jackal didn't answer immediately, and Tibs glanced at him. He was worried. "It depends what he's really after. He isn't stupid, so he isn't going to anger the guild needlessly. Trying to take the town isn't doing it, and somehow he must have known that, but outright killing one of us? We're the guild's property, so that's going to give him pause. Of course, if he's after the dungeon, then he's already planned for dealing with the guild's reprisal, and we don't matter." He paused. "But if he somehow found a way to take control of a dungeon from the guild, why bother with the town?"

At the next road, they had to wait until a patrol walked by after Jackal confirmed they weren't part of the town's defense.

"Don't take this the wrong way, Jackal," Carina said once they were in the alleys again. "But how in the abyss does your father have so many people here? How come you haven't wiped them out already? There's no way they're tougher than the dungeon."

"Me and what army?" the fighter snapped. He looked away and cursed quietly. "Everyone left when the dungeon closed. I'm not blaming them. If I didn't have Kro, I'd have been the first on the platform, but that didn't leave me much to work with. The conscripts are skilled and we have as much of the town as we do because some of them are great at this kind of stuff. If you had doubts about Quig's stories, you can consider them confirmed. But the few who have an element are Upsilon. I think some are ready to get an element out of this, but we have no one to take them to their audience. And unlike you, I don't think they're willing to throw themselves off a cliff or into a fire for the chance."

Another empty road and they were in alleys, getting close.

"My father holds a city, Tibs. With nothing more than the people he controls and his coins. He's been holding it for decades now. I'm not going to claim his people are better than the king's army, but then, neither are we. And for every one we do take down, he brings in three more. They're the only ones who arrive and don't get shot. They have a signal, but we haven't figured out what it is, or how to give it to anyone on their way here if we were to get it. Even Serba hasn't been able to find out what it is."