Breaking Step (Dungeon Runner 3)

Breaking Step, Chapter 88

"What's wrong?" Jackal asked, turning to stone as Tibs froze.

Tibs sensed the fog, tried to push further than it reduced it, but this was different from the one Ganny had filled the third floor with.

"The fog is back," he whispered. Trying to understand what it meant.

"Are you sure?" Don asked.

Tibs stared at the sorcerer. "Can't you sense it? You could before."

Don closed his eyes, and soon after shook his head.

Was that what was different about it? This targeted his sense specifically?

"What does it mean for the run?" Jackal asked.

"I think the real question is, why did it return now?" Don said.

"And how we need to deal with it for the run," Jackal snapped. "If Tibs can't sense anything, we have to change our strategies."

"I still can." He tried to get a sense of how far he could reach. "Two blocks for sure. Maybe three. It's not as uniform as it was on the third floor."

"Is that why none of the golem people have magic?" Mez asked. "The dungeon was keeping it for this?"

"Possibly," Don answered, rubbing his temple. "There are too many unknowns."

"We can keep going," Tibs said. "The doorways have always opened close enough I'll still be able to sense them, and two blocks is enough to prepare for approaching guards."

"How about the dogs?" Jackal asked. "Can you still sense them?"

"There aren't any now, but I should be able to. They're strong enough their essence is dense."

"Just stay on guard for them while we continue."

* * * * *

The library was large enough Tibs couldn't sense it completely. They walked along the sandy colored stones of its wall for two blocks of houses before reaching the doors, and it continued as far past it. Columns of darker stones had gone up between the windows, as well as on each side of the double doors, up the three stories and seemed to support the roof.

"Is it safe to go in?" Don asked, grinning the way Jackal did when loot was in sight.

There were no essence triggers, and looking over the lock, hinges and frame did not reveal traps. It didn't reassure him. With the fog targeting him specifically, he couldn't know what else it kept him from sensing.

He had sensed the triggers within the house, as well as the golem people that had waited in ambush, but was that because his sense wasn't affected that way? Or was it Ganny trying to trick him?

He grabbed the door's handle before Don could, glaring at the sorcerer. When he tested with a pull, the door creaked open, and dry, dusty air pushed out.

It was enough unlike any of the other buildings that he looked at Don, who sniffed, smiled, then squeezed into the gap, vanishing inside as Jackal ordered him to stay.

Tibs didn't rush in after the sorcerer. Don knew better, and if a trap caught him, he could wait until Tibs made sure there weren't others as he made his way to him.

The entryway was the size of the inn. The floor was in the same sandy stone as the outside, but polished until the light stones on the columns supporting the ceiling reflected on it. The walls were close enough to white Tibs could imagine purity having been applied to the sandy color until it became this. Faded paintings of people lined the two walls demarcating the entryway.