Chapter 33: Chapter 32

“You can stop screaming, silly.” The voice was light, moving around him. “There’s nothing for you to hit here.”

“Help!” Tibs reached for the voice, but there was only more wind. Wind screaming all around as he fell.

“I am,” the giggle forced him to open his eyes and look for who was speaking. The form was wisps of air and dust ever-shifting among them. It looked small and fragile. The dust gave her form, petite, slim, providing shadows that didn’t quite resemble a person.

Tibs reached for the form, hoping she was solid. He needed to stop his fall before he hit the ledge.

She flitted away. “A game!”

“Stop!” Reaching for her sent him into a tumble.

“Catch me if you can,” she sing-sang, and then all that was left was the howling of the wind.

There had to be something, some way to stop his fall. If she wasn’t going to help, it was up to him to —

“You didn’t chase me,” she said, disappointed. “I thought we had a game.”

He reached for her, and she giggled, staying out of reach. “Come back,” he called. “I need to get it.” It was there, it had to be, within her. He just had to get her to stay still long enough to make it out.

“Oh, it’s you!” she was over him, and he waggled his arms until he had the wind turn him over, but he couldn’t make her out. “You made it!” she was to his side. “You came!” under him. “I’m so happy you came!”

He bit back his annoyance, remembering he had to treat her with respect. Even if she sounded like a child, she was an element, she was Air. He spread an arm, used the wind to turn himself over until he sort of faced her. Stopping his turn proved more difficult, but she followed him, giggling as he worked to settle his position. He ended on his side, compared to the direction of the wind.

He looked around, there was nothing. No ledge, no ground. Just as there had only been water and then earth, there was nothing other than air, and the dust that let him make her form out easier.

“Please, can I have it?” why did she stay out of his reach? Where was the shape, the shadow of the shape?

“The old meanie said I shouldn’t give it to you.” She said. Tibs thought she crossed her arms over her chest. “He was all. ‘He. Must. Earn. It.’ She lowered her voice and spoke slowly. Tibs chuckled at her attempt to imitate Earth. “I was so bored. He’s so boring. He never plays games.” She giggled and was gone.

He maneuvered himself, saw her on his side, upside-down compared to him. Was he falling up? Was he falling at all? If there was nothing to fall toward, was it still falling, or was it like when he floated on the lake in his mind? He groaned. Why was this so complicated?

She giggled, and he focused on her. If he wasn’t going to hit anything, he needed to find the shadow and get it. It was why he was here. He reached for her, his hand open; it caught the wind, and he was tumbling again, screaming in fear.

He got the fear under control, then fought the wind to steady himself. The exercise leaving him panting.

“Are you not playing anymore?” Air asked, disappointed.

“Just let me catch my breath,” he said. “I’ll try again after that.”

She laughed. “Catch your breath!” she laughed harder, tumbling away. “Why did you let it get away from you?” she steadied herself effortlessly and drifted back. She reached within her and gathered the dust into a form. “Is this your breath?”

Tibs stared. Of course, it hadn’t been dust; dust was earth. It didn’t belong here. He opened his mouth to say yes and stopped himself. What would happen if he lied to Air? Nothing good, he expected.

“No, it isn’t. But I still need it.”

“No,” she said, all trace of humor gone. “You don’t. This will unmake you, little thing of human.” She gazed at it. “It unmade those who tried before you.”

“What is it?” Tibs asked.

She looked at him as if surprised he was there, giggled, and flitted away. “The prize!”

Tibs was too slow to reach for her, but as he shifted to an angle against the wind, he noticed he was moving closer to her. Or maybe she was the one gliding back toward him? He wished there were buildings so he could tell what was going on.

He flew by her. Air waving at him as she giggled.

He turned and extended his arm to catch the wind and stop himself. He’d lost sight of her in the distance, but her giggling reached him. Was he slowing or not?

Since it seemed like he needed to give the wind resistance to move, he called his earth essence and carefully extended it from his arms, widening them. He ground his teeth in focus as the wind tried to rip the earth from him, but he thought he felt it slow.

“I think that’s cheating,” she said, closer. She didn’t sound angry, just pensive.

“I’m a Rogue,” he answered. “It’s sort of what we do.” She was before him, with the wind at his back. If he tried reaching for the shadow, she’d fly away, if the wind didn’t send him tumbling first. He needed to surprise her, so he could act before she did.

First, he needed to close the distance between them, which meant getting more wind under him. He still had some in his reserve, but he wasn’t sure how much more he could maintain against the wind. He studied Air, who watched him, amused. She hadn’t said or done anything. She was waiting on him, keeping pace.

He had an idea, a way to cheat again, but if she was too fast, it would leave him with nothing else to try. Still, it wasn’t like he’d win Air’s game the way he was going.

He pushed out as much of his water essence at the edge of the earth quickly and iced it. The wind ripped it away almost as soon as it formed and the shock caused him to lose hold of the earth, but the result was Air crashing through him.

He grabbed the shadow, felt it meld with him. The void expanded, and a third reserve formed on its surface between earth and water.

Air laughed.

Only one more to go.

“Oh, Tibs?” Air called, giggling. It took some effort, but he turned himself to face the wind, narrowing his eyes to find her. He barely made her out, now that she was just air. She waved at him. “Mind the landing.”

The what?

* * * * *

Tibs hit something hard, then darkness.

* * * * *

Tibs opened his eyes slowly. His eyelids were so heavy. Maybe he should go back to sleep.

“There you are,” a soft voice said, a man’s voice, gentle, caring. A face came into view. Wrinkled skin, hair much more gray than brown, and a beard more brown than gray, trimmed to a point. “You gave us something of a scare. How are you feeling?”

His eyes. There was something wrong with the man's eyes. Tibs thought he should be worried, but he was so tired. The pupil seemed to float into nothing. Not darkness, the opposite… no, that wasn’t right either. It wasn’t light. It was… Tibs couldn’t find the words. It reminded him of when he’d tried to define his essence and only came up with an approximation of what it really was, only here he couldn’t even come up with that.

The pupil floated among the suggestion of irises.

“Tibs?” Carina called, then she was next to him. “You’re alive! Are you okay? I was so scared you’d die.”

The man chuckled. “He was alive when I arrived, child. Do you trust me so little you thought I’d fail you?”

“No, of course not.” She sounded flustered. “Thank you. Thank you so very much.”

“What happened?” Tibs asked, confused. Why would she think he’d die? Who was the man? Why were his eyes so… something?

“You fell,” Jackal said from his other side. “Tell me, how does a Rogue lose his footing? You’re like a wall spider, always climbing things. How do you fall? And why were you at the cliff’s edge to start with?”

“Looking,” Tibs said, smiling at the memory of the view. “Did you look? It’s so beautiful.”

“We were a little busy watching you fall off the cliff,” the fighter said.

“The cliff!” Tibs sat as the rest came to him, and then the impact. So much pain in one instant. He ran his hand over himself. Everything seemed to be intact, there was no pain.

He looked at the smiling man, with the eyes that were so much of something he couldn’t define them; as if whatever color it had been was purified to the point it no longer registered. The white robes he wore finally triggered memories of stories.

“You’re a cleric!”

The man inclined his head.

“Where are we?” He looked around at the room, the dresser, the stone walls. This wasn’t one of the hostels.

“Back in the city,” Carina said.

“How?” Tibs looked at himself again.

“We carried you back,” Jackal answered.

“No, how am I still alive if I fell to the bottom?”

“You didn’t,” the man said.

“I tried to catch you.” Carina sat on the edge of the bed, holding Tibs’s hand. “But you were moving too fast, the air was too thin…” she trailed off.

“She nudged you closer to the cliff,” Jackal said, and Tibs vaguely remembered the wind tumbling him in that direction, a worry he’d hit it. “So you landed on a ledge. I climbed down and brought you back up. Just so you know, I don’t like heights, so do appreciate what I did.” Jackal grinned.

“We made a stretcher from branches and carried you down the mountain,” Carina added. “Once we were here, I called for…” she looked at the cleric as if realizing something.

The man smiled. “Call me Paul.”

“Thank you,” Tibs said, then bit his lower lip. “How do I repay you?”

“There’s no need.”

Tibs narrowed his eyes. The Street had taught him better than to believe that, and the guild had only reinforced it.

“It is okay, Tibs,” Carina said. “I… I called in a favor.”

Tibs looked at Jackal, who shrugged. How did a cleric owe a favor to Carina?

Paul patted Tibs’s shoulder. “Since you are awake, and well, I will take my leave.”

Carina hugged the man. “Thank you, Paul, thank you so very much.”

The cleric hesitated, looking at Tibs, then Jackal, before wrapping his arms around her. “You are welcome, child. It was a worthwhile way to unburden myself of my debt.” He leaned closer to her ear and whispered. “Be patient with them, Carina, they’ll understand your decision one day. And remember, we are not all angry with you. I’ll continue reminding them that you are making us all proud, in your own way.”

It was soft enough Tibs wasn’t sure Jackal heard.

You are reading story Bottom Rung (Dungeon Runner Book 1) at novel35.com

Carina escorted the priest out of the room and Tibs looked at the fighter.

“She didn’t say anything about him,” he said. “And I’d be an ass to insist she tell us.” He smiled. “You, on the other hand, aren’t hiding anything from us, so feel free to demand away.”

Tibs shrugged, unsettled by the lack of even the memory of pain. “I don’t have anything to hide. I don’t have anything,” he added.

Jackal snorted.

“You used to not have anything,” Carina said, returning. “Now you have us.”

Jackal nodded meaningfully toward her, and Carina raised an eyebrow.

Tibs thought about it. “If I force her to tell me, I’m forcing you too.” To his surprise, Jackal looked like he was considering it.

“Please don’t,” Carina said. “I’m not ready to talk about… Paul.”

“But he’s a relative of yours, right?” Jackal asked. So he had heard some of it.

Her lips tightened. She looked at the door. “It’s not that simple.”

Jackal laughed. “Having a colorful history must come with being able to survive a dungeon.”

Tibs looked at the man. Wondering if he realized what he was implying about himself.

“My history isn’t colorful,” Tibs said. He bent his leg, expecting pain, or just aches, before turning and putting his feet on the floor. “Pants?” he asked, not seeing them.

“You’re the youngest person to be made into a Dungeon Runner,” Carina said.

“I’m not,” Tibs replied, taking the pants Jackal handed him.

“Really?” the fighter asked. “Who else survived it this long while being younger than you?”

“They didn’t survive, but they were sent into the dungeon.” He tried to figure out again how he felt about that, but while he believed Bardik, it was too abstract. It was a story he was told. He knew he should be angry at the guild for doing it, but he had more real reasons for his anger. He stood and cinched the belt.

“Youngest to survive, then,” Carina said.

Tibs moved around the room, stretched, and twisted his body. “I feel like I was never hurt.” He located his shirt on the dresser and shoes next to it.

“Cleric healing does that,” she said. “Purity essence doesn’t just fix injuries, it makes things right.” She shrugged. “I don’t know how to explain it any better, I’m not a cleric.”

“Alright, what do we do now?” Jackal asked. “Do we look for another mountain?” He thought about something and shuddered. “Maybe we just look for a tall building instead. There’s a pretty damned tall tower in the city.”

Tibs smiled. “We don’t need to.” He opened his hand toward the fighter and used his air essence to create a burst at him. He tried to keep hold of the essence as he did for earth when he sent it in the ground to shape it, but it slipped between his mental fingers, leaving as the air moved toward Jackal.

It was hardly anything, but it had the fighter on his feet in surprise. “How? How did it work?”

Tibs shrugged, gauging how much of his essence the puff of air had used up, nearly all of it. “Maybe Carina kept me in the air longer this time.”

“No,” she replied. “My reserve wasn’t full when I tried it. I barely nudged you before I was drained.”

Tibs tried to remember anything, as he put the shirt on, but he’d been so scared. “All I know is that I wish you’d mention how annoyingly playful Air is.”

“Sorry,” she said, chuckling. “But you got your element, right? Is anything different?”

“Only that I have a small reserve for air. Water said nothing would happen until I had all four elements.”

Jackal sighed. “I am not looking forward to setting up your audience with Fire. I buried you alive, you fell off a cliff. Are we going to have to throw you into a bonfire?”

“Maybe we can think about that some other time?” Carina asked. “I’d like to enjoy our vacation now that we’ve accomplished our goal.”

Goal. Tibs cursed.

“What?” Jackal asked.

He cursed again, mentally this time. He looked at the bracelet; still yellow. “How much time did I cost you?”

Jackal looked at Carina questioningly. She shrugged. “You didn’t cost us any time, Tibs.”

“This was for me, but it wasn’t supposed to take long, you were supposed to have time to enjoy yourself.”

Jackal chuckled. “I spent two days with Kro and his family, I definitely enjoyed myself. You should see them pester him about everything we get up to. That family has no shame whatsoever.”

“Being around drunks all the time probably has something to do with that,” Carina said.

“Maybe. And while you were unconscious here, I did go back to town for a day. I told Kro you took a tumble, but that you’re okay.”

“And Tibs, this was for us too. Whatever your element is, if it takes an audience with four of them to make it work, it’s going to be powerful, so making sure you get it will help the whole team.”

“Okay, but my part is done,” Tibs said, putting his shoes on. He avoided focusing on them. “Since we don’t know how long we still have the rest of it is yours.”

“Works for me,” Jackal headed for the door. “What do you two want to do?”

“I thought you’d want to do your own thing,” Tibs said casually. If not for attempting to get Jackal to go away, he’d point out to him this was how you didn’t draw attention to yourself.

Jackal snorted. “Tibs, with our luck, we need to stick together.”

“Don’t you want to spend more time with Kroseph?” Carina asked.

“I’d love to,” Jackal replied, “but he’s in the town, where Hard Knuckle also is. He noticed I was there and if I hadn’t run for the platform, I’m certain I’d be in a cell right now.”

“What did you do?” She asked, suspicious.

“Nothing! I was heading back from enjoying Kro’s company, Hard Knuckle’s an ass and I was in town while he’s still making changes. That’s all it takes with him. What were you thinking of doing Carina?”

She thought about it. “Well, I thought I’d find out where the library is, see how I gain entrance, maybe—”

“No,” Jackal interrupted her. “That’s work.”

“Jackal, I’m a sorcerer, I have to do research.”

“You’re a Dungeon Runner,” he replied, “you need to rest. This is a vacation. I forbid you to go anywhere close to books.”

“How about I spend the time teaching you two how to read and write?”

Tibs groaned and Jackal gagged.

“You will have to learn,” she said. “You can’t depend on me to do all the reading.”

“Noted,” Jackal said. “So we make sure the last two members of our team also know their letters.”

“Jackal,” She said in exasperation. “Maybe you were just Street.”

“Still am.”

“No, you’re a Dungeon Runner. You’re a guild member. An adventurer. You’re going to be dealing with nobility.”

“Oh, I hope not. I hate those,” the fighter said.

“Fine, town elders, then,” she replied. “Who will expect you to be able to read contracts for what they want you to do.”

Jackal smiled. “You’re still going to be part of my team.”

She sighed. “Tibs, how about you? You’re more sensible than the fighter.”

Tibs looked at his shoes, focused on them until the words appeared. Most of the elation at seeing them was gone. This was almost mundane now. But how would it be to look in a book and understand that? But how hard would it be? Trying to understand numbers still gave him headaches.

He bit his lower lip. “I’d like to.” Carina turned to Jackal in victory. “But it’s going to be so hard.”

The fighter grinned at her.

She sighed. “Alright, it isn’t easy, but it is worth it.”

Jackal snorted, and she glared at him.

“How about you, Tibs?” Jackal asked instead of acknowledging it. “You are fun-loving, what do you want to do?”

He closed his eyes. He didn’t want them around while he did what Bardik had told him to, because he didn’t know if it was going to be bad. But short of telling them he didn’t want to be with them, which would only make them suspicious—Tibs did like being with them as much as he could—he had to include them.

“I want to see the sea up close,” he said, “and look at the shops.”

“I could do with some shopping,” Jackal said. “Find something nice for Kro.” He looked at Carina.

“I’m not spending money in a shop,” she stated, “but I will keep you two company. Make sure you don’t get in trouble.” She looked at Jackal.

The fighter pointed to Tibs. “He’s the Rogue,” he said defensively.

“But you’re the child,” she replied.

Tibs chuckled as Jackal fought for a worthy reply and didn’t find one. He looked at Tibs. “I thought you were on my side.”

He grinned at the fighter. “I’m a Rogue, I’m on my side.”

You can find story with these keywords: Bottom Rung (Dungeon Runner Book 1), Read Bottom Rung (Dungeon Runner Book 1), Bottom Rung (Dungeon Runner Book 1) novel, Bottom Rung (Dungeon Runner Book 1) book, Bottom Rung (Dungeon Runner Book 1) story, Bottom Rung (Dungeon Runner Book 1) full, Bottom Rung (Dungeon Runner Book 1) Latest Chapter