The darkness was filled with sounds.

“Why isn’t he waking up?” a woman demanded, and the answer dissolved into mist.

The sounds weren’t alone. Shadows flitted around the darkness, sometimes in unison with the sounds, others not.

“No. I am not leaving,” a man said. “You clerics had your chance. Tibs is going to pull out of this without your help.”

He was Tibs.

He was in the darkness. But he didn’t remember why. Why he’d come here. Why he’d wanted to cut himself from… why he’d done this.

With the darkness came sensations. Discomfort. Something he didn’t want to feel anymore.

“Why didn’t you call for me!” a man yelled.

“What would you have done, Alistair?” another man answered. “You think I don’t have enough to deal with already? The nobles are demanding to be let into the dungeon because they paid for it.”

“Let them,” Alistair snapped. “Let the dungeon eat them instead of these children.”

“I would if I could, but it’s closed off again. We barely got the boy, his team, and Bardik out before another slab of dungeon stone came down. Any later and we would have been trapped in there, eaten ourselves.”

The man was wrong.

Tibs didn’t know how he knew, but the dungeon wouldn’t have kept them in, he’d waited until they were all out before sealing himself shut. Why had he sealed himself?

In the darkness came memories of pain.

A woman lying on rags, a boy curled up against her, clutching to her corpse, unable to understand that he was alone now.

Cold, cutting through him, the rags on his back not enough to keep him warm. The pain of not sleeping because he was afraid that his small fire would go out and with it so would his life.

A beating when he wasn’t fast enough from snatching the cooling bread on the windowsill, but the satisfaction of having taken a few bites out of it before he was caught. Of finally having something to quiet his stomach.

The pain of landing on hard dirt, the fear of what was coming. Looking for a way out of the cell, but the guard had taken all that was his, and they were watching them in the cell, laughing. This was the end for him, he knew. A thief with only one hand didn’t live long.

The pain of making friends. A girl with a bow, a woman with a sword, a man with an amulet, others; there and then dead.

He’d be joining them.

Dungeon food, that was all he was good for. That was why he’d been sent here. To feed the dungeon.

“How did you know?” a man asked. He knew the voice, had heard it in the darkness, talking to Alistair. “It’s my job to protect this place, and he managed to sneak all that corruption under my nose. How did you know what he was doing?”

Tibs knew, he realized, because he’d played a part in it.

“This thing lets anyone follow where I’ve been,” Bardik had told him, indicating the brand on his left wrist. “And I’d rather no one knows I’m involved in this.”

So he’d gotten Tibs to drop the message stones. Signals the time was right for… Something.

He knew what Bardik was up to because the dungeon had called for him. Yelled in pain, and Tibs had heard. It was something Tibs could do that no one else did. Something about him was different.

“Clever boy,” an old man had said, “but not clever enough.”

Pain.

Pain so deep it would erase him completely. Pain he took on so the dungeon wouldn’t have to. He’d already suffered enough.

* * * * *

Tibs cried out and sat. He coated his leg with water and iced it to keep the man from hurting him.

The man cursed and stepped away, shaking his hand. White robes. A scowl. “Well, you’re awake.” Tibs noticed the eyes before the man turned and headed for the door. How pale they were. Not pale, something else. Something that had to do with the white robes.

Where was he? How had he gotten here?

The room was small; walls with tapestries. The bed was softer than the one in his room. The room he shared with his team. Softer than even the one in the inn. This was a noble’s room. Not one he should be caught in.

He threw his legs off the side and nearly fell as pain lanced through his body. He swallowed the cry. He couldn’t let them know he was here. Nobles didn’t take kindly to anyone who snuck into their homes, let alone slept in their beds.

“Tibs,” a man said, and he tried to run for the window. He could jump out. Once outside, there would be more places to hide. Wait until he was better.

Hands raised him off the floor.

“Tibs, you need to stay in bed.” They placed him back there, pulled the covers over his body.

“Alistair? Where am I?”

“At the guild, in one of the rooms for visitors.”

“I’m not a visitor. I need to get back to my team. We’ll miss our turn in the dungeon.” That was wrong, but he couldn’t think why.

“You need to rest first. You did something very brave, Tibs, but it came at a cost.”

No. Not again.

He swallowed the pain. As much as he didn’t want to know, he had to. “Who died?”

“You almost did, Tibs.”

“No one else?”

“No one that matters to you.”

“Oh. That’s good then.”

The man said something, but darkness claimed Tibs again

* * * * *

Tibs devoured the bowl of stew as fast as his body let him, which was a lot slower than he preferred. Moving any part of his body came with pain. Pain deep inside him, from the essence coursing through his body. It was no longer white. It had a purple tint to it, as if corruption was his element, but it wasn’t. The tint was the corruption that had infected it. What none of the clerics who tried to heal him could remove from his body. They couldn’t affect essence.

“How are you feeling?” Khumdar asked. He was alone. The guild wouldn’t let more than one of his team visit him at a time to avoid tiring Tibs out, they said.

“Hungry.”

The cleric chuckled. “I can see that.”

“Do they know you saved me?”

Khumdar shook his head. “I did not. You saved yourself, Tibs. You have the strongest will to live I have ever encountered.”

Tibs snorted. “I remember what you did.”

“Then you remember there was too much corruption for me to do anything significant. It spread almost too fast for me to absorb its strength.”

“Almost.” Tibs scraped the bottom of the bowl and wished he had more bread. “When are they going to let me out?”

“Once you are better,” Alistair said from the doorway.

“Like they can do anything anymore,” Tibs said, putting the bowl on the side table. “Can I get more?”

“Maybe later,” his teacher said. “You need to rest now.”

“I will let the others know you are doing better,” Khumdar said, standing.

“Tell Jackal to bring me some candies when he visits.”

“Don’t,” Alistair said. “Tibs needs food, not candies.”

“What I need is to walk a roof,” Tibs grumbled as Khumdar left.

“The door is here, Tibs. If you can reach it without help. You can walk a roof.”

Tibs got out of bed and nearly toppled over as the pain in his leg shot up. Holding on to the bed, he made it to the end, and Alistair stepped into the hall to give Tibs room. The entire wing was rooms for visitors, of which there were few right now. It was six steps to the door.

Tibs made it halfway there before the pain was too much. Alistair caught him and helped him back to his bed.

“Maybe tomorrow,” the man said, and he pulled the covers over Tibs.

* * * * *

“At least you have clothes on now,” Jackal said, closing the door behind him.

“Someone left my door open when they left, and I was walking around the bed. A man walked by, saw me, screamed and Alistair left me clothes after that. City folks are weird.”

“Some can be.” The fighter caught Tibs as he nearly fell, and he felt the lumps of candies in his hand. “Let me help you back to your bed and we can talk. Has anyone told you what’s been going on?”

Tibs sat and snuck the candies under the thick pillow. “The dungeon’s closed. A lot of the nobles are gone.”

“Knuckles questioned everyone they caught that night, but they didn’t say anything. Not who provided them the corruption, not if someone paid them to try to kill the dungeon, not even if Bardik was really their leader.”

Tibs nodded and slipped a candy in his mouth and let the sweetness wash over him. It was a pleasant contrast to the constant pain in his limbs.

“Is the dungeon…?” Jackal trailed off.

Tibs shrugged. The dungeon hadn’t called for him, but he didn’t know if it was because he was too far, or Sto was dead, or still healing. Tibs thought that the closed door was a good sign. Sto wouldn’t have locked everyone out if he’d been dying.

“Tibs, I’m going to be heading to MountainSea with Kro and his family.”

“They’re leaving?”

“Without a dungeon to bring people here, no one’s staying.”

“But he’ll open up again.”

“Do you know when?”

Tibs shook his head.

“They aren’t giving up the inn, but the merchants talked with the guild, and they agreed that without knowing if the dungeon is going to open, they have to think of their businesses. The guild is forcing them to pay a small leasing fee to keep the building, so a lot of the merchants are leaving permanently, but Kro’s dad can pay the one for the inn since they have the one in MountainSea.”

“When are you leaving?”

“Tomorrow, everything’s already packed. You can come visit when you’re better. I know Kro is going to demand you do. You’d get to finally see the sea, since I’m pretty sure you never did the last time.”

Tibs nodded.

The door opened and Harry stood in it.

Jackal sighed. “And that’s my signal to get out of here.”

Harry closed the door once Jackal left.

“Did you know what you were part of?” the man asked.

Tibs shook his head. He didn’t know if he would have told Bardik no if he’d known that killing the dungeon was the plan. Back then, the dungeon was this evil creature that ate everyone Tibs cared about.

“I’m glad. As much of a pain in the ass as Jackie-boy is. All this is turning out to be good for him. And you’re part of that.”

Tibs waited for the questions. He didn’t know how he’d explain things without lying and without revealing secrets, but too much had happened.

Harry just stood there.

“Don’t you want to know why?” Tibs asked, unable to stand the silence.

Harry shook his head.

“You’re lying.”

The man smiled. “I’ve been around long enough to learn there are things I don’t want to know. If I ask you, no matter what you tell me, I’ll know the truth, or a version of it. That isn’t something I can stop doing, the light is too deep in me. So I pick when I ask my questions.”

“Did you question Bardik?”

“I did. And he found the one method to keep me from learning the truth. He kept silent. He’s been sent to a prison. This isn’t the type of crime we can just brand and ignore. That man will never see the sky again.”

If Bardik had remained silent, it was why Harry didn’t know how the man had grown old. How he’d also grown weaker, Tibs suspected. He’d taken so much essence from him he’d lowered his ranking. How much, Tibs didn’t know. He knew his essence was denser now, although that meant the corruption in it also ran deeper.

“Is there anything he can do to gain his freedom?”

“No. I don’t think you understand the severity of what that man did. To destroy a dungeon is to attack the guild at its core. We exist to protect them. If you hadn’t stopped him, there’s no telling what his action might have sparked. Others might think dungeons could just be killed. Kings might decide we can’t maintain our hold on them. We’d go back to the chaos of old. We can’t let that happen, Tibs.”

“So I won’t be able to talk to him?”

“That man will never talk to someone from outside the prison he will be kept in. I know you thought he was your friend, but he’s a criminal.”

“I know.” He pulled the covers up and Harry left him be.

* * * * *

Stepping out of the guild building wasn’t the act of freedom Tibs expected. He was still in pain, but he could endure it.

“What are you doing?” Carina demanded, running in his direction. She was the only person on the street. “I was going to help you.”

“I thought you’d gone home,” Tibs said. Mez had stopped by to say goodbye. Khumdar had been bemused with the bracelet. With his official freedom to come and go as he wanted until he was called back.

“Home isn’t really a place I should go right now.” She took his arms and Tibs fought the urge to pull it out. He’d been in bed for weeks now, the clerics did their things to him so his body didn’t become bed sick, and now that he could move, he didn’t want to be helped.

“Where are you going then?”

“I’m going to visit a few capitals. See if I can gain entry to the study halls. This is opening a lot more doors than just the transport platform.” She indicated the bracelet on her left wrist. “What about you?”

“I’m going to look for home,” he said.

“I can help you if you want.”

Tibs shook his head. “It’s my thing to do.”

“We’re a team, Tibs. That doesn’t stop because the dungeon closed for a while.”

He shrugged. “I want to do it alone.” He didn’t want his team to see what he planned to do with those men once he found them.

“Okay, but if you change your mind, I’m going to leave what city I’m in with Jackal and Kroseph.”

He nodded.

He stopped at the bottom of the stairs to the transport platform.

“Aren’t you coming? I thought we could see those two before we go our separate ways.”

“There’s something I need to do before I leave.” He nodded toward the mountain.

“Are you sure?”

He nodded.

“Okay, but you better come visit, or I will chase you down.” She stepped up and the lone person in golden robes by the platform joined her. Once they were gone, Tibs headed for the clearing.

* * * * *

Climbing the stairs left him without breath. He counted to make sure Sto hadn’t added more since the last time, and Tibs had to accept he was in such a bad shape climbing a dozen steps was nearly too much for him. He looked at the wall for any sign of corruption and only found some discolorations where he thought the rip in the stone blocking the door had been.

He leaned against the stone and let himself slide down, sighing once his legs no longer supported his weight.

“How are you doing?” he asked. “Sorry, it took me this long. I’ve been healing too.”

Sto didn’t reply.

He closed his eyes and let the sun warm him. This was much better than a warm room.

“I wish I knew when you’ll reopen. As crazy as it sounds. I like doing the runs. As dangerous as they can be.” He wished he knew for certain if Sto was still alive, but his sense didn’t reach so deep he could feel it in the boulder room.

“Is talking to yourself something you do a lot of?” a woman asked and Tibs only opened his eyes. He didn’t have the strength to act on the spike of fear.

Thump licked his face.

Chuckling, Tibs pushed the dog away.

“What have you done to my dog? Thump isn’t supposed to like anyone.”

“I promised it jerky once.”

“A bribe? You’re taking a bribe from one of Jackie’s friends?”

“The promise of a bribe.” Tibs dug his fingers into the thick fur.

“That’s even worse. Thump, he’s Jackie’s friend, you can’t trust him.”

“What are you doing here, Serba?” Tibs asked. “I thought everyone left.”

“A few of us have to stay to make sure none of the townsfolk who can't leave do anything stupid, like trying to get into the dungeon or stealing the town or something like that. For some reason, Harry decided I get to be one of the lucky ones who doesn’t get to go home.”

“Maybe it’s for the way you treat Jackal.”

She snorted. “Harry doesn’t care what I do to Jackie so long as I don’t break the precious rules. Speaking of which, where is my brother?”

“He left a while back.”

She sighed. “Of course he gets to leave. The world is so unfair.” She whistled and Thump looked at her. She whistled again, and he whined. She raised an eyebrow and pointed to the space next to her.

Tibs chuckled as the dog slowly walked to where she’d indicated and sat, looking mournful.

“So you know, no one’s allowed here. That’s why I came. I saw a form and had to investigate. If I’d had Ripper, I would have sent her at you.” She looked at Thump. “I know she hasn’t picked him over me.”

“I’ll make sure to carry jerky with me from now on,” Tibs said, and she glared at him.

“Do you have any idea how much work it takes to get one of them to be this obedient?”

“The promise of jerky,” Tibs said, and Thump’s ears went up.

“No,” Serba told the dog, who licked its chomps.

“Next time,” Tibs promised.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You can’t be here.”

“I’ll be gone by the time you return with Harry.”

“I don’t need to get him to—”

“I saved the dungeon,” Tibs said. “I think I’m allowed some time to talk with him.”

Serba seemed to look for something to say, then just shook her head and walked down the stairs. Thump looked at him, whined, and joined her when she whistled.

Tibs sighed. “Well, I doubt I’ve made a friend of her. But Jackal doesn’t like her, so it’s fine.” He rested his head on the stone. “It’d be nice to get a sign you’re still there, Sto.”

After a few seconds of silence, Tibs struggled to his feet.

“Tibs?” Ganny said, sounding like she was far. “Sto’s not in a condition to reply, but thank you for what you did.”

Tibs smiled. “You look after him. I’ll stop by every so often to see how he’s doing.”

He felt better walking down the stairs. He was still in pain, but now he knew he’d succeeded, Sto was alive, and it made the pain bearable.

END of Book 1 in the Dungeon Runner Series

Book 2, Stepping Up, is coming