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 08
"Tibs!" an adventurer called from the doorway to the mess hall.
Tibs had just sat down with his bowl of sop after morning training and a walk around the town; two new wooden buildings were being constructed. One of them was going to be very large. He waited, in case someone else would answer, then stood and left his bowl at the table.
"I'm Tibs."
The man was thin, with curled copper hair and an unstrung bow on his back. His armor was leather with colored wooden bands over the arms. "Do you know an archer named Ariana?"
"Yes," he answered cautiously. Had something happened to her? If she'd died in a dungeon would they tell him? He hadn't seen her today, but they usually ate at least one meal together.
"You need to find her and go to the dungeon, you're going in in a few hours." He turned and left.
Tibs stared at his back, wondering how the man expected him to know where Ariana was. He ran for the archery range, not that she had any reason to be there, training was only in the morning, but the field was accessible all day, and he'd noticed that only the sorcerers were more serious about their training than archers.
The range was still crowded, but he managed to find her.
"We're up," he told her.
"Together?" she unstrung the bow and walked to the stand.
"The adventurer said to find you because we're up."
"I wonder if they consider us to be a team because we left a dungeon together."
"I hope not," Tibs grumbled and added at her hurt look. "It means Don's going to be there."
"If he's still alive."
"He is," Tibs said dejectedly. He'd seen the sorcerer in the mess hall and walking around the town, always with a handful of hangers-on.
* * * * *
Don wasn't there and Tibs felt better. This time, their team consisted of another archer, a man who seemed too fat to be a dungeon runner, a sorceress with pale skin, and a fighter.
"Have you all gone through before?" the fighter asked. She adjusted her heavy shirt again as they walked through the uneven tunnel leading to the first room. She had the largest chest Tibs had ever seen, and the shirts they were provided with hadn't been made for someone like her.
"It's my first time," the sorceress said. Unlike many first-timers, she looked determined, rather than scared.
"How far did the rest of you manage?"
"Second room," Tibs and Ariana answered together.
"I made it to the third room," the other archer said, and Tibs looked him over. Did he even fit between the boulders?
The fighter nodded, giving up on her shirt. "Here's how we're going to do this." The light from the first room was becoming visible in the distance. "The rogue is going in first and alone. You're just is to check every stone tile and find us the safe path through. When we cross the room, we step exactly where he tells us. I don't want that room to be responsible for any death, got that?"
"Why don't you just look for the symbol that marks the trigger tiles?" Tibs asked and received incredulous looks from all except Ariana. He looked at them, baffled. He couldn't be the only one who knew. Ariana had told another rogue, so everyone had to know by now.
"Explain," the fighter said.
By the time he tried to work out how to explain it, they'd reached the room, so instead, he gave it a quick look over and stepped in, ignoring the gasps, until he was four steps away from them and turned. Ariana looked amused, those the others stared at him.