Breaking Step (Dungeon Runner 3)

Breaking Step, Chapter 09

"What?" The sorcerer looked at them as if only now realizing he wasn't alone. "I'm not—" His protest was cut short by Jackal.

"You know the game, don't you? King Killer is what Tibs said you call it."

Don looked at Tibs, and there was flash of anger—as if he'd shared some secret when mentioning the game—then it was gone and he looked away.

"I shouldn't. I'm not in charge."

"I'm in charge," Jackal stated. "You've pulled your weight in the fights, and now I was you to do the same here." He motioned to the room. "How do we do this?"

Don hesitated, then stepped to the door. "The first thing we need to do is determine which pieces each of us represents."

"I'm the lord," Jackal stated.

"What?" Don replied in dismay. "No."

"Let me guess," Jackal said derisively. "You're the lord."

"Of course not," the sorcerer replied, sounding like his confidence was returning. "Why would you want to have a king on the board?"

"Because," the fighter said, "without a lord, we lose the game."

"Only if this is a standard match." Don motioned to the room. "We lose this game if we die. Have you done this before? How the fuck did you survive it?"

"They cheated," Sto said.

"More like exploited how I think," Ganny said.

"Same thing."

Jackal and Khumdar exchanged a look.

"We got lucky," the fighter admitted.

"Luck's not a thing," Tibs and Don said at the same time. Tibs did so reflexively, while Don sounded annoyed at having to point it out. They stared at one another in surprise, then the sorcerer shrunk in slightly.

"Don." Jackal pointed to the room when the sorcerer remained silent.

He studied the golem people in the room. "Jackal and Tibs are Infantry. Khumdar, you're the queen. Mezano, you're an archer and I'm a sorcerer." A few seconds looking the placement over and he pointed to the position each was to occupy.

"Now, what?" Mez asked once they were all in place, his bow at the ready.

"We wait for the dungeon to make its move," Don replied.

"You think I can wait them out and get them to move first?" Ganny asked, and Tibs glared at the ceiling.

"What's your thoughts on the dungeon, Don?" Mez asked.

"How about you try that with the next team?" Sto replied.

"I don't have any."

Ganny's archer moved as Sto snorted. "Okay, what did you do to him? He has more idea about what I am and how I think than anyone. More than even that noble sorcerer who claimed to have read an entire library explaining everything there is to know about us."

"Jackal, one forward."

"Don, you're a sorcerer," Mez insisted. "You have to have read something on dungeons. Carina had..." The silence that fell was complete for a few seconds. "Sorry, Tibs."

Tibs nodded.

Don sighed. "According to a treatise I got my hands on, dungeons evolved as a way to keep the flood of monsters that came from the World Rifts under control, back in the Days of the Dawn." Ganny moved one of her infantry forward. "It's why nearly every dungeon has the same set of base templates. Like those Gnolls. They come from those original dungeons, so they know what they knew. As they grow, they can make more and more powerful types of creatures. Khumdar, a diagonal to your right, three squares."