Breaking Step (Dungeon Runner 3)

Breaking Step, Chapter 94

Tibs's strength lasted until he made it up the stairs. Then his legs gave out, and he slumped against the wall.

"Are you okay?" Jackal asked.

He shook his head, hugging himself. He tried not to think about it. He wanted to forget about that wrongness. How could anything be that wrong? It was beyond something that had been done incorrectly. This was a wrongness that registered almost at the level of the elements.

A gong sounded.

"Tibs. Get up," Jackal ordered.

Whatever was in that room shouldn't exist in the world.

He was yanked to his feet. "Tibs, snap out of it. We have incoming."

Jackal was worried, and with reason. That thing would end them all if—his head rang from hitting the wall and before he could wonder why, a crowd filled the hall. One brushed against him and then they roared and Tibs was defending himself, understanding the clerks had returned.

He blocked with his shield, then stumbled against the wall from the punch. He slashed with his sword and missed.

What was the point?

Three came at him and Tibs had no idea how to—Jackal barreled through them.

"Get your head in the now, Tibs!"

"Sorry." They were fighting. He had to help. Pull his weight. What was the best way to help his team now? Other than Jackal, he couldn't see them.

Had it gotten them?

Jackal punched the closest one, staggering it into others and faced Tibs. "You need to fight, Tibs. We're going to die if you don't." A sword came down and sliced through the fighter's side.

"Jackal!" Tibs's etching formed ice on the golems it touched, slowing them. A flaming arrow shattered many and corruption melted more. Tibs stepped between the golems and Jackal, his cuts leaving ice spreading in the wounds.

He blocked another sword, then a punch in the shoulder left the arm dangling, his sword remaining in his unfeeling hand purely through holding onto its essence.

"Leave him alone!" Jackal broke the golem's head, then had his back to Tibs. "You good?"

"No. But this is more important than how I feel right now. Don is so going to hate me for this." He added air to his sword. Ike would be needed in the filigree. Gur because otherwise it would still be too heavy, probably. Then fey to counteract Gur's etherealness, and he really hoped this didn't blow up.

His sword launched forward, pulling him off balance until he disconnected it from his hand. He regained his footing in time to catch a blow with his shield and shoved the golem clerk away. He couldn't do more. Most of his attention was on keeping control of his sword. Ike had given it the motion it needed to fly, along with air, but he didn't know of an Arcanus that let him control how it flew, so he needed to will it, and changing the direction it went in felt like fighting someone else's arm.

It certainly did damage. From what Tibs saw, the blade cut through the bodies with ease, leaving pieces falling as it—

"Mez, down!"

The archer dropped, and the sword flew over his head.

"Tibs!" Don yelled. "What are you doing?"

"I have it under control." Well, mostly. It was turning around. "Just make sure you aren't in the way."

"That isn't 'having it under control'," the sorcerer countered.

A staff caught a blow meant for Don's head. "It would be wiser to focus on surviving so you can then chastize Tibs on how he is removing many of the golems."