“The Mists?”

“Can he do that?”

“Pantheon above.”

“I wanted to go swimming!”

The rumble of disapproval that went through the collected Runners wasn’t something that Myles wanted to be on the other end of, but standing there in front of the masses was a dwarven man that seemed unconcerned with the bile and hate being spewed his way. If anything, he was ignoring the words as if they were a summer breeze. It took Myles a moment to recognize him since he was conscious and standing upright this time. People looked vastly different being dragged away from a discussion with a swollen cheek.

Dane, the dwarf he had seen smashed by Sindra’s slap before the battle with Shardking, stood there defiantly before the masses. With his quest given, he waited smugly as his hand moved across an unseen surface, ignoring the jeers.

After a few more moments, a building flashed into existence on the lake. Like Myles’s own had almost a month ago, the building seemed to come from nothing and, unlike his, sat dead center on the lake as if it had been there the entire time without even a ripple to mark its coming. It wasn't exactly floating though. Just below the crystal clear surface, Myles could just catch the appearance of pillars reaching down into the darkness of the water’s depths. Even without it actually having to float, the building was still impressive to be sure with its four towers, long marble walkway, floating lanterns, and some sort of enchantment that didn’t even seem to allow the water to brush against its walls. It was more a castle than it was a home.

Turning to survey the work done by the Grand Dungeon without a thought of those around him, Dane gave an approving nod before turning back around. Facing the crowd once more, he spoke.

“Aye! Welcome to our lake, and now if you’d so kindly…” he said with an air of importance that made Myles sympathize with Sindra’s approach, if only for a moment. “Get the Mists off our land unless ya want to join up.”

“Join up with you?”

Speak of the devil, Myles thought to himself. As if on cue, he felt Ashra and Squishy’s confusion and explained the expression as Sindra’s voice rang out again.

“Why should anyone have to join up with you?” As the crowd voiced their ideas about the situation, though quieter than the Runner leader, Sindra wiggled her way through the crowd, out-pacing her party and joining the group of Runners still waiting on the shore as the timer for the quest ticked down. “We’re all Runners. We’re in this together.”

Dane didn’t mince words or hide the vitriol in his tone as he locked onto Sindra’s face.

“Oh, look who it is! It’s Miss Namby-Pamby-Soft-Ass. Well, Miss Soft-Ass, excuse me if your words are ringing a bit hollow in the old halls. If I remember correctly, and boys, correct me if I’m wrong with this, you exiled me and my men. So I may be a Runner, but I’ve been cut off.” He grinned like a hunter zeroing in on its prey and even without the two at his side, Myles could sense the danger in it. “And, I couldn’t be happier. What the boys and I earn is ours.” The stout voice bellowed, raising his hands high. “No taxes, and no distribution to those that didn’t earn it! We have lived by the sweat of our brows and the power of our muscle! It’s how we cleared the lake, after all. ”

Dane’s voice rang out across the lakefront, and all too quickly, the rumblings began to turn.

“I exiled you because you talked of abandoning Runners! We take care of our own!” Sindra replied.

“And we take care of ourselves!” Dane countered. “We are Runners, or we aren’t! We aren’t merchants! We aren’t crafters, and we ain’t rulers! We’re the icons of the kingdom. We’re the law of the land in all by name. We’re heroes, and we cannot save our kingdom and her people if we cannot take care of ourselves.”

There was another ripple of noise as Dane’s words settled in the ears of others, but it didn’t sit long or right with Myles. That wasn’t how the Run was done. You didn’t leave others behind. You didn’t abandon your own.

Sindra stepped forward as far as she dared, nearly setting foot on Dane’s walkway to the stone castle at the center of the lake. Her voice wasn’t angry anymore, almost pleading as she made her case. “We have been over this! We make ourselves stronger by making sure we’re all taken care of. We’re stronger together, Dane.”

“It is the right way to think,” Ashra agreed. “You are strongest together, and the strongest of you in body and mind must lead.”

Myles felt that was more of a jab for him to step forward than an agreement with Sindra, but he took it at least as a positive step. Squishy just radiated agreement with Ashra, but she also gave him a fair amount of confusion. Myles did his best to fill her in on what had happened between Sindra and Dane before the crowd hushed.

“Those are the words of the weak.” Dane stepped off his marble path and back onto the beach. He was less than five feet from the current Runner leader now and scoffed. “Those that fight are taken care of. Those that don’t need to support themselves.”

Then, Dane cleared his throat and spat directly in Sindra’s face. She dodged in what looked like a blur of motion without actually moving and looked ready to counter his words as her [Paladin] Micha Reese stepped in, ready to strike.

“You dare to—“

Sindra raised a hand. “Don’t”

Micha nearly fell out of step but caught herself before hissing a soft reply. “You must stop this.”

Sindra didn’t even bother to pull out her weapon as she spoke. Her words were sharp enough to cut down Micha and Dane at the same time. “I’m not a dictator, Micha. If people can’t see through his empty words or my efforts for what they are, they don’t deserve our time.”

Dane smiled, and Myles felt as though she’d walked straight into his waiting trap.

“Did’cha hear that? You aren’t worth her time if you can’t see through me ‘empty words.’” He spoke the words as though he were the ultimate authority, and Sindra’s face fell. Shed realized the mistake in her words too late. “Ya left me for dead. You left my men for dead, exiling us for simply speaking our minds, but we didn’t die like yer broken mutts! The Elders looked out for us as we scrounged for what was ours, saved every scrap of what we earned, and fought our way through every night in the wild with nay but the armor on our back and the weapons in our inventory.”

Sindra opened her mouth to speak, but Dane had the floor now, shorter or not, he held the stage and his voice bellowed through the air with the help of his regional ownership.

“We are exiles, but we still fought for the Run! We were there in the thick of it, fighting side by side with you when Shardking fell, doing our part for the Runners, but chu…” He glared as he spoke the next words with a fire only matched by the heart of the great ovens of the capital city. “Where were you?”

“Leading, “Micha said, defending Sindra.

“Micha!” Sindra said coldly. “That’s enough.”

Unfortunately, it wasn’t as the [Paladin] continued. “Sindra led our way to a victory that night! She’s the reason we survived!”

The smile never wavered from Dane’s face, and if looks could kill, Micha would have been a pile of smoldering ash.

“Of course, she was,” the dwarf agreed, smiling like a cat as every word dug up a new rock he could throw at Sindra’s glass house. His eyes turned to Sindra, and even Squishy flinched at the malice in his eyes. “Then why was it that Rising Star felled the beast alone? Why was it that their team had ta make their way ta the beast’s heart alone and unsupported?” Of course, he didn’t let her answer as he continued the assault. “Better yet, why did ya threaten ta punish them for defying your orders and saving countless lives?” That raised an entirely new echo of words across the lakefront. Myles had almost forgotten about that promise himself. Knowing Sindra, it could have just been a bad attempt at a joke. Dane took it and ran with his ill-gotten gains. “If that wasn’t enough to tell us where your loyalty lies, tell us, oh mighty Sindra, why is it that one of your own men felt the need ta abandon you ta protect us?”

And there it was.

The trap sprang almost quietly as the sounds of intense murmuring grew by the moment like a slowly filling brook as the dwarf smiled. “Please, oh great one, Daughter of the [Barbarian Queen], tell us why. We’re waiting.”

Sindra kept her cool for her part, but the babbling brook of noise grew into a raging, storm-swelled river as many of the others picked up on the title Dane had used. It was a title Myles knew as well as Darwin the Everchanging. The [Barbarian Queen] of the Fourth Run, Kia the Relentless, was a legend as renowned for her brutal efficiency as she was for her bold leadership and passion for combat. Knowing Sindra was her daughter, a lot of things began to fall into place.

Sindra knew so much about the functions because her mother was in charge of Runner’s Plaza before her.

She knew how to lead and organize because her mother had before her.

She knew how to set everything up so easily because she had first-hand knowledge no one else could have.

“Tell us why we should continue ta trust chu when ya wouldn’t even tell us you were the child of one of the most infamous Runners in the history of the Kessivan Dungeon? How many could have been saved if ya shared what ya knew rather than horde it like the dragon ya are.”

That should have been a comfort for Myles to know they were being led by someone who knew their stuff, but knowing what happened between Kia, Darwin, and the others of the fourth Run didn’t comfort him. There was a reason Kia faded from the public eye within the first year or two she was out. According to the recordings from the Fourth Run, she had nearly killed half of the Runners on the second to last floor when her low Willpower had her mind puppet-ed by the floor boss. It had been bloody, brutal, and traumatizing for everyone involved, and the Run nearly ended until Inktail talked her out of ‘the death she deserved.’

Sindra was handling it better than Myles would have as she stepped from Micha and stood tall at the comment. As he waited, she took every moment to consider what was said.

“Sindra the Dragon… I’ll gladly take that name,” Sindra smiled darkly, refusing to acknowledge the name he’d tried to weaponize, “but you speak of things you don’t understand, Dane. Just another reason why you aren’t one of us. You’re in it for yourself.”

Dane glared, faltering for only a moment. “I’m in it for the Runners, not the tag-along. As I am a Runner, I have an offer to my brothers and sisters here today, and I won’t mince mah words.” With that, he turned from Sindra to the Runners. “Ya may live at the lake free of Sindra’s taxes or scalping. You’ll keep what ya earn and have nay more than that. We’ll ask for nothing but yar loyalty in return.”

The rumblings were unsure as Runners seemed to weigh the two sides within their groups. Myles’s team had their own thoughts about it.

Will thought the entire thing was something to stroke his ego since he’d been so thoroughly embarrassed by the Runner leader.

Kendra just wanted Dane to shut up.

Tail listened curiously but discarded much of what he said when he began spouting it was for them, not him.

Lyna was too busy using her clear slime whetstone to sharpen a knife to care what either of them said. She’d go wherever Myles led. It was oddly touching in its own way.

Mitchel…

Mitchel felt shame for the crack he’d left in Sindra’s armor, but he didn’t regret it. He was confident he’d done the right thing for himself and the others. If Myles read things right, he’d have done it again in a heartbeat.

As for his monsters, they didn’t care much. Squishy was simply enjoying the feeling of her new permanent limbs while Ashra was unconcerned with anything that didn’t concern Myles or Squishy.

Despite that, they all agreed with the words Sindra spoke next.

“If we don’t take care of our own, who will care of us when we need it?”

Even Myles could get behind that, but Dane roared his response back with all the power of a dragon.

“We will stand on our own or nay at all!”

A second dragon replied with her authority, regal but collected compared to the first’s raging fires.

“We need to be each other’s strength, Dane. We can’t just cast each other aside the second we become injured. We are not weapons to be traded up.”

“Like ya did me?” Dane countered, bringing his anger into line as he created a dangerous blade with each word. “Like ya would do to all of us the instant we won’t tip the scales?”

“You were a cancer that needed to be removed for us to survive!” Sindra snapped, finally losing what cool she had left. Under his dragon fire, her gaze forged itself into a weapon of cold steel. Her face was hard and her expression dripped with violent intent. Looking like that, Myles half-expected her to let Micha off her leash to take him down right there and then.

But, she didn’t.

Instead, Sindra took a breath and released her anger. After a moment, she continued as calmly as she could in front of the collected Runners. “We are a team, and those that hinder our growth have to be removed.”

Dane ignored the jab and continued to grandstand, latching onto the end of her speech. “We each need ta be our own bodies ,or we’ll all die when we lose our head! We need ta be of our own minds and spirits so that we can survive! Join us, and survive this Run the way it was meant to be!”

A moment later, a new message flashed across the interface of the Runners.

Your offered quest by the owner of the lake region: Get Off Our Property has been updated!

Quest: Get off Our Property or Join Us!

Difficulty: Easy

Objective: Get your asses off our property in the next eight minutes or agree to join the Brotherhood of Dane.

Victory Condition: Get off our property in eight minutes or Join the Brotherhood of Dane.

Failure Condition: Stay on our property past the fifteen minute mark or do not join the cause.

Reward: We don’t kick your ass or take your stuff.

Failure: We kick your ass, take your stuff, and leave you at the bottom of the lake.

As a member of Rising Star and as this quest was issued by Dane and His Brothers, you can ignore this quest, its rewards, and its failure conditions without consequence. However, actions still can be taken against you personally.

Dane looked at Sindra and smiled in a way that had no right to be cheerful. “I’ve said mah piece, Sindra, Daughter of the [Barbarian Queen]. Let us part ways now, if ya have nay an intent on being a proper leader for the Run.”

He turned his back a moment later and walked onto the stone bridge leading to the center of the lake. Again, Myles half expected Micha to strike him down, but no strike came and Dane didn’t spare them a second glance as he spoke again.

“Those that stay, I’ll review your claims and organize our first hunt later today. We have no time for idle living when we have already nearly reached the end of the dream floors.”

Floors?

That caught Myles’s attention but not as much as what came next.

“We’ll be seeing ya on the tenth, Sindra. Hope ya can keep up.”

***

“Well, well, isn’t this an interesting turn…”

From beyond the bubble, Darwin watched for longer than he’d care to admit, eagerly devouring the drama like a siren drank sailor’s tears. He was a sucker for a good drama and felt the new twist would keep the nation entranced as the factions began to choose their sides.

The dwarf surprised him by challenging Sindra so early. Of course, Darwin had always known it would be coming sooner rather than later since Sindra had shown him mercy.

“She’ll have to learn the hard way.”

Of course, the young Runner had the soft heart of her father, and there was no way she could have known how Dane would react. According to the Grand Dungeon’s admissions test, Dane was reckless but calculating. He had a storied record inside of Copperforge before the run began, and those victories only fed his ego and importance. In his experience, dwarves didn’t need any more ego than they were born with.

Ego aside, Dane was a dwarf to be watched for sure. As he was already a dungeon delver and a proven warrior, he had the potential to be one of the greats if he could get that temper under control. Not that dwarves ever really could get past their egos…

Not that being slapped so hard that he nearly died did him any favors or won Sindra any points.

A familiar anxiety shivered down his back as he watched Sindra make her pleas, but Dane’s argument resonated strongly with the combat-oriented Runners in the group. One by one, he watched as the cohesive unit of Runners began to fracture. Whether it was their greed or concern about how Sindra had treated the Rising Star team, there were enough cracks for their community to begin to fracture.

Though it wasn’t a fifty-fifty split, there was enough by the end that both Runners could contend for the title of Leader of the Run and all the benefits that came with it if they so wished. Darwin thought Dane would be smarter than that though. Pushing too hard, too fast would play his hand. In their little exchange, he had already secured a small victory against her control. He got what he wanted, and it would only take time for his faction to grow unless Sindra could mend the fractures within her lot. At least, it would grow if he could make good on his promises.

A small part of him chimed in a moment later, and he made a note to check in on Kia, Inktail, and the others when things calmed down. After the second floor was cleared, he could probably steal an hour or so to bring them here. Maybe he could get the entire alumni together for a meal…

If they’d accept the offer and if Kia could stand to be in the same room as them, that is.

Darwin considered that for a moment then smiled.

Well, she couldn’t deny the invitation to the party if she didn’t know it was one. Besides, she’d get to see how her little girl was doing. That in itself might be enough to get her here.

In fact…

“Raes,” he said into the air. “Take a letter for me, will you?”

A moment later, a ball of light appeared to hover before him.

“Excellent! I hope you’re eager to write today, and no changing my words this time. We need to bend the truth without breaking it this time.”