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 16
Jackal talked with Zarkane as they walked to the entrance. The previous group exited a member short, and Tibs noticed they all had normal eyes. Inside the dungeon, the fighter was talking with Claudia and kept on talking as they reached the trap room, not stopping with the others.
"Stop!" Tibs called.
"We're fine," Jackal replied. "I know this room by heart, crossed it over a dozen times by now."
"Jack!" Walter yelled, "The marks are gone!"
Tibs crouched as the fighter looked down and froze, foot in the air. "Oh shit," he looked around. "Oh shit, oh shit. Tibs, what do I do?"
"Just put your foot back on the previous stone. Not that one, the one to the left. The other left." The tension eased once Jackal had both feet on the floor. "Do you remember which stones got you there?"
"I wasn't looking, I just know that on this side of the room the triggers are that one, that one, this one, and that one over there." He pointed to the blank stones, and Tibs was impressed with the fighter's memory. He'd relied on the marks to know which stones were which, even after multiple times of the triggers being the same.
He reached over to the closest one and first felt for the slight play, then pressed on it. "This stone is no longer a trigger. Not only did the dungeon remove the marks, but it changed the triggers too." Tibs tried to remember who it was that said no changes in a dungeon ever made things easier.
Jackal looked sickly pale. "You mean I could have stepped on a trigger?" He looked around at them and crouched down for a jump.
"Don't do it!" Claudia said before Tibs could. "You're safe where you are. If you can't make the jump, you might end up sprawled over multiple triggers."
"Tibs, you've got to get me out of this."
"I will. Claudia's right; right now where you're standing is the safest place."
Of course, that was only true while he wasn't testing the stones. Once he had to activate one, he'd have to take into account both their positions when looking for the stone spear's path. He felt for the usual play in the closest stones before stepping onto the floor and testing the next one.
He looked behind. "Does anyone have a charcoal stick so I can mark the stones that are safe?"
When they all shook their heads, Claudia covered her hand in fire. "I can follow after you and scorch them."
"Stay out of the room for now, but scorch that one, that one, and that one if you can reach it." Once she was done, he tested the next stone and moved forward.
The click it made as it sunk was followed by Jackal's scream. Tibs was face on the floor, then looking around as the stone spear, inches from the fighter, retracted. He glanced at the stone he'd stepped on. There had been none of the play in it that indicated it was a trigger.
"Tibs," Zarkane called, "you look worried."
"Things just got much more complicated," he answered. "The dungeon didn't just remove the marks, it changed the triggers. I need to come up with a new way to test them."
"While you're doing that," Jackal said, sounding calmer. "Can you find where the loot's hidden? It changes with every run."
"I don't think now's the time to have Tibs distracted," Claudia replied.
"It's there," Tibs pointed to what was, to him, the obvious hiding place.
They all look across the room.
"I was hoping it would be closer," Jackal said, disappointed.
"Were you really thinking of testing how good my skill at finding the triggers is just for a piece of clothing?"