Dungeon Runner

Stepping Up, Chapter 17

Tibs looked around warily before knocking on the door. The last time he'd been here, his annoyance at being treated special had propelled him. Now, and with the halls nearly deserted, he was unsure he should be doing this.

"Enter," Tirania called. She smiled at him. "Mister Light Fingers, this is a surprise. I'd expect you to be watching the caravan, planning how you'd liberate them of some of their valuables."

"No," he stated, his mood darkening, "not you. My name's Tibs," he added at her raised eyebrow. "I don't know why everyone keeps calling me that."

She leaned back in her chair, her smile broadening. "You are someone famous in these parts now. Mister Tibs or Mister Street doesn't quite suit the person who saved a dungeon. Savior of the Dungeon is a little pretentious, even if it is accurate. Seems someone had already given you the moniker Light Fingers, on account of being a rogue, and it's been spreading."

"I've never been caught." He dropped in the chair. It wasn't like she'd reprimand him for stealing; she was a rogue too.

"Anyone in a dungeon town quickly learns that Runners of the rogue persuasion will practice their skills at any and every opportunity. Being caught isn't required. It's one of the reasons I needed to ensure a man like Harry Hard Knuckles knew not to press the rules too hard on the town's rogue population." She lost her smile. "But I expect you aren't here to discuss your moniker. How can I help you?"

Tibs bit his lower lip, unsure how to proceed now that he no longer had a way to distract from what brought him to her.

"Jackal's Lambda."

She didn't react to the statement, and Tibs realized she might not know who that was, so he added: "He's my team leader."

She still didn't react, and Tibs hesitated.

Her smile fell.

"You need to say what you have to say, Tibs." She indicated the desk with the papers spread on it. There were a lot of them, golds worth of them. "I have things to take care of while no one's around to interrupt me."

He nodded and felt foolish. Of course she'd have a lot of work to do, she was in charge of the whole town and everything that dealt with the dungeon. "Harry said that a team can only have one member who's Rho or more, but the dungeon's pushing us hard. There's going to be more than one soon." He looked at her expectantly.

"Then, you'll have to replace one of them with someone who is Upsilon or Omega. There are more of them now, so I'm certain you can find one that will fit with your team."

"But I don't want to change my team." He couldn't keep the whine from his voice. Her statement had hurt too much. "They're my team."

"It's how things are done, Tibs. We can't have a team so powerful the dungeon no longer gains anything out of them."

"But he—" Tibs closed his mouth. As much as he wanted to tell her no one had die for Sto to grow, and that he was already adapting to the increased strength of the teams, explaining how he knew would cause the two of them too much trouble. "What if we don't do any runs until he graduates?"

She rubbed her temple. "It isn't how things go, Tibs." She sighed and reached into a drawer, taking out the communication gem she'd shown him months ago. "Alistair, I no longer care what other duties you have, it's time for you to return and see to your student. He has questions and I am not the one he should be seeking for answers."

Tibs watched and sensed as she used it. The essences were so dense within the small gem that he had trouble making out even those he could identify, and there were many more he couldn't. One of those had to be the essence for mind.