Breaking Step (Dungeon Runner 3)

Breaking Step, Chapter 07

Tirania glanced at Tibs as they walked and pursed her lips. "I should let you take the time to clean up."

Tibs pushed essence to the surface of his skin, through his armor, and made it water, which coated him. He moved the water to his hand, and it brought with it the blood, dirt and anything else that had been on him. He absorbed most of the water back, leaving only enough to keep the foreign matter suspended in the now darkish liquid. He could absorb all the essence, leaving the rest to drift to the floor, but he suspected Tirania would be displeased.

She raised an eyebrow at the display. "That is a rather...pedestrian use of your element."

"It's faster than getting a bath ready," he replied with a shrug. "Even if you have someone heat all the water at once. Where do you want me to put this?"

"There's a latrine on the way to my office."

Unlike the bucket in Tibs's room, here the latrine was its own room, with stalls for people to do their business over holes that had complex weaves of essence inside them. The dirty water vanished as soon as it passed into the hole, with the essences that made everything in it breaking down, then moving deeper within the building until Tibs lost track of them.

Not for the first time, Tibs wished such a system was in place in his housing building, so he wouldn't have to take the bucket to the outhouse to empty it.

He followed Tirania inside her office and immediately stopped, glaring at the back of the seated sorcerer in deep purple robes with the hood up and shoulders slumped forward. She sat behind her desk and motioned for Tibs to take the other seat.

"As I told Commander Irdian, the runs will soon start again."

Tibs forced himself to look away from Don, who hadn't acknowledged his presence, as he sat.

"I've sent for the new batch of Omegas and they should be here within days, but there are enough Runners to form teams and have runs until then. With the training defending the town provided, I expect everyone will find their floors easier, and it'll be years before the dungeon has a fourth floor."

She steepled her fingers on the desk. "Since teams have to be complete, Don will join your team, Tibs."

He stared at her, so surprised it was a few seconds before the ice cracked and he said a disgusted, "No."

"You've had ample time to—"

"I'm not letting that abyss kissing, selfish asshole on my team. I don't care what you want. You can't make me take him."

Don didn't react to the insults.

She leaned back and studied Tibs. "I understand that while you protected the town, there were difficulties working together. But you overcame them, and—"

"He got his team killed," Tibs said through gritted teeth, filling the cracks. "All he cares about is looking important. Put him on a team that can deal with not trusting him."

Tibs paused to let Don rant. Retort with all the ways what had happened hadn't been his fault. Tibs was ready to counter with how Don had also left him to die at the hand of Sebastian's thugs. But the sorcerer remained silent; he didn't even move. If not for sensing the essence coursing through the man, Tibs might have wondered if he'd died while waiting for them to arrive.

"You don't have a sorcerer," she pointed out.

"I'll find one."

"You had ample time. You're the only team with a role that isn't filled, and Don is the only sorcerer who isn't assigned to a team."