Dungeon Runner
The Tiger Writes
sciencefiction
sciencefiction
31K5
Tibs survived by picking pockets; until he's caught.
Instead of losing a hand, he's sent away and told he must now survive a dungeon.
How is a kid who knew nothing more than his ...Bottom Rung, Chapter 46
His body didn't hurt.
That was good or bad, Tibs remembered the heat, the pain that was so much it disappeared. He was either hurt so badly his mind couldn't comprehend it, or he wasn't hurt. A dungeon had been involved, so either was possible.
He sensed within. His reserve was bright to him, the essence spilling out through his body. He sensed nothing different about the other four, the same small reserves on the surface of the larger one. He wondered what his essence did and pushed his awareness to see if it was around him.
He felt it in two parts of the room he was in, and unlike how water, earth, and air usually registered—as shapeless masses—this had form. That of a person. The arms and legs, torso, and the head. He grunted in surprise.
"I think he's waking up," Carina said, and one of the forms moved. He focused on her. The essence inside her body was different from that of his reserve. It registered to him with a blue-gray tint, like a paler version of her eyes. The other person approached. The essence through his body was slightly brown.
Tibs considered not doing anything. If he didn't move, if he didn't acknowledge he was awake, he didn't have to find out if the lack of pain was good or back.
"Are you sure?" Jackal whispered, and the worry in his voice pushed Tibs to open an eye. The fighter quickly wiped at his eyes. "There you are. You know, if you wanted us to carry you out of the dungeon, you could have just asked."
"How are you feeling?" Carina asked, looking at him with concern and taking his hand.
There was no pain. He felt her touch, not just the pressure, but the texture of her fingers. Why wasn't there any pain?
"Where are we?" he asked to test his voice. The heat had eaten him from the inside, but he sounded fine. The room was spacious; one window with curtains, a large dresser.
"The inn," Jackal said. "We were going to take you to our room, but word made it to Kro before we got there and he wouldn't hear of you staying there. You do know I've never gotten a room to myself in this place, right? I always have to share."
Tibs snorted. "Like you'd want to be only with Kroseph just a few doors away."
Carina squeezed his hand. And again, there was no pain.
"What happened?" Tibs asked, unable to stop himself. He didn't want to know what state he was in, but he wanted to know how it was they were back in the town, how it was he wasn't dead.
"You mean besides you almost dying?" Jackal snapped and Carina glared at the fighter.
Tibs swallowed at the hurt in the man's voice.
"Fuck Tibs," Jackal whispered, looking at the ceiling. "I'm the one who does stupid stuff like that. You're supposed to be the smart one."
Tibs tried to say something. To play it off as a joke, to tell Jackal now he'd have to try harder, but he'd hurt his friends.
"I'm sorry."
"You better damned be," Carina said, although her tone was gentle. "What were you thinking, Tibs? That was a room filled with fire."
"His element," Jackal snapped. "Did it work at least?"
"Jackal," Carina chided him.
"No, he's the one going about not dying." The fighter wiped at his eyes again. "He isn't the only one for whom this team's a family, okay? What the fuck am I going to do if he dies? I'm too stupid to function without his brains."
Tibs snorted again.
"Don't start Tibs, I'm not in the mood."
"He didn't die," Carina said.