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 49
Tibs missed Carina that morning in their room. Or, he suspected, she hadn't slept there again. He walked the roofs, trying to figure out where she might be. He didn't hide where he was, roof walking was allowed, but it meant the guards paid attention to him since it wasn't a normal thing to do. So long as they didn't see him when he did it at night, he didn't mind.
The height gave him a sense of places where gaps were. Most were planned spaces, like courtyards some houses shared. Another was an opening where potential shops would be added. A market square, Tibs expected, for once the town produced enough to sell.
What it also showed him were places where construction wasn't done, and it was in one of those Tibs found her. The site looked halted, with the way lumber was stacked and some foundations partially built. The guild no longer governed how buildings were built, it was the responsibility of the people who bought the parcel of land from them. So it led to some buildings not being finished because the money ran dry first.
Tibs didn't understand most of it, but he picked a lot from listening to people talk in the inns and taverns, and hanging around the guild building when he had nothing else to do. It caused Harry to glare at him anytime he saw Tibs there, but he was doing nothing wrong. So the guard leader left him be.
Carina moved about the space, almost like she was dancing, and where she went, the air moved with her, not just close to her, but he saw a wave in the sand move away and back, fly up, and moves around her.
He stood watching once he was down from the roof, amazed at what she could do. He'd seen none of the sorcerers do anything like that. Studying the essence inside her, he thought it was different, had a darker tint than the first time he'd looked at it. What she did now certainly showed she was improving.
She noticed him, stumbled, and the sand fell. A lot on her, and he had trouble not snickering. With a huff and a stomp of the foot, the sand blew off her, and her long hair went in all directions before falling back. He set his face into something neutral.
"Tibs," she greeted him, the joy he'd seen on her moments before gone. "How did you find me?"
"I asked around. Someone mentioned you wanted a place with space, I can see those from the roofs. I walked around and found you here."
"Why were you looking for me?"
"Because you're my friend, and I don't like that you're avoiding me and the others."
"Tibs," she said in annoyance, "has it occurred to you there are reasons I'm not spending time with anyone right now?"
"You're angry at me. Jackal pissed you off and Khumdar's comment about you having white blood scared you."
She stared at him, surprised. "I forget how observant you are sometimes."
He shrugged. "It helped me stay alive. I can't do anything about the others, but I'd like it if I could fix things between us. I don't have a lot of friends."
She sighed and looked around. "I don't know if it's something that can be fixed. I'm not angry anymore," she added as he felt his hopes crumble. "I'm more annoyed, in part at you, but at me too. I think I'm expecting too much from you."
"With the letters."
She nodded, motioned to a pile of lumber stacked to sitting height, and the sand flew off it. She sat and patted next to her.
"You're so curious about everything, except letters. It's frustrating."
"Letters are hard," he said, unable to keep from sounding mournful.
"But they get easier. And they open up so much. Think of the books you'll be able to learn from. I explained about contracts and how the guild uses them."