Rune Seeker

Hiral’s smile from successfully completing the dungeon vanished as soon as he stepped out of the portal. Something was wrong. It wasn’t just the nervous energy he’d expected from Seeyela and her party at the lengthy dungeon run, though there was some of that almost physically hanging in the air as well.

The Great Tusks all huddled in one corner of the room, seemingly trying to get as far from the entrance and the pedestal both. Their oinks and huffs filled the small space with noise, while the largest of the beasts stood in a protective ring around the smaller, hooved feet scratching at the floor as if they’d need to charge.

“What’s going on?” Hiral asked, but found at least part of the answer when he looked over at the entrance. At the bottom of the ramp lay half a Great Tusk body—just its head and front legs, really—with a thick line of blood leading back up the ramp. “Did you go hunting?”

Most of Seeyela’s party looked over when Hiral and the others emerged from the portal, and the sisters shared a quick hug, but it was obvious even they’d been standing ready for a fight.

“That wasn’t us,” Seeyela said.

“Pigs started going crazy about thirty minutes ago,” Lonil said. “All kinds of noise, then they all rumbled to that corner over there. That’s when we saw… that,” he finished, pointing at the remains.

“We were sitting over here, talking about our upcoming dungeon run and grabbing something to eat,” Seeyela added. “Didn’t see what happened.”

“Have you gone over to inspect the corpse?” Hiral asked. “See if you can figure out what did it?”

“Every time we move a little closer, the pigs get even louder. It’s eerie,” Picoli said. “It’s like they’re trying to warn us it’s dangerous.”

“Or they expect you to eat their friend,” Yanily said, but even he had both hands on his spear, and he hadn’t once mentioned his evolution.

“That blood trail leading up the ramp—do you know if it’s from the body coming in, or from the other half getting dragged out?” Hiral asked.

“Weren’t you listening, Islander? We didn’t see what happened,” Fitch snapped.

“Whoa there, Fitch,” Seena said, holding up a calming hand. “It’s a good question, but we’ve got the answer now, thanks. Seeyela, since that we’re all here, what do you want to do? Check it out?”

“It’s probably just one of the snakes up there hunting,” Seeyela said. “Caught a boar while it was coming back to shelter and… well… that happened,” she said, gesturing over to the body.

“Probably,” Seena said, but she looked over at Hiral and mouthed, “Enemy?”

He shrugged. The thought had crossed his mind too. The pigs’ behavior wasn’t normal—even if he’d never seen them before. “I’m going to go take a look. With my attunement and dexterity, I should be able to react fast enough if anything happens. Rest of you stay here for now.”

“Be careful,” Seena said.

“Not too careful,” Fitch added in a whisper loud enough for everybody to hear.

Hiral ignored the expected comment and drew his RHC in his right hand. He could probably pull the body across the floor with his Rune of Attraction, but there was no telling how the Great Tusks would react to that, or if it would damage any evidence of what had happened.

Like Picoli had said, as soon as Hiral started moving toward the remains, the other animals increased the volume of their oinking, their hooves slapping gently against the stone floor. They didn’t look like they were going to charge, though. It really was like they were trying to warn him.

“It’s okay,” he said quietly to the herd of animals, patting the air before slowly continuing across the room toward the corpse. It wasn’t like there was anything in his way, but the atmosphere in the room was pressing down on his shoulders like a weight. Probably just a snake, he told himself, but a few feet further, and he stopped cold.

The Great Tusks had stopped making any noise at all. Not an oink, a scratching hoof, or even a deep breath.

Hiral glanced back. Every single one of the pigs stood stone-still, barely shifting as their dark eyes watched him. Red health bars appeared above their heads beside their names as he stared—some longer than others—but that only added to the unnerving atmosphere. Holding their stares for a minute more, he looked from them over to the party. Seena shrugged in response—she had no idea either—and nobody else said a word. Then, there in that silence, another sound reached Hiral’s ears.

Thunder.

The storm must’ve picked up outside. The others probably couldn’t hear it—he barely noticed it with his higher Atn—but there was no mistaking it now. Thunder pealed like the beating of a drum, and as he looked closer at the entrance of the ramp, he could make out the faint flashes from lightning.

Another quick look at the Great Tusk remains by the ramp, and Hiral moved instead to the wall next to the ramp. From there, he got an unpleasantly good look at the garish wound that had no doubt killed the boar. He was no expert by any stretch, but it wasn’t a clean cut. Not like a sword or spear. And there weren’t the same kind of puncture wounds Lonil had from getting squeezed by the snake.

Bitten in half? No, that’s not quite right either. It looks more like it was… pulled apart.The way it’s… stretched.

Hiral turned away from the assessment, his stomach rolling as his imagination played out what could’ve caused the trauma. Nothing good. He looked over at Seena, shaking his head that he didn’t know what had happened, then put his back firmly to the wall. The stone was surprisingly warm, considering the atmosphere in the room, and he took a deep breath, fingers tightening around the handle of his RHC. Sliding his feet quietly along the floor, he reached the edge of the doorway to the ramp, the thick line of gore almost perfectly center, then carefully, carefully, carefully leaned just his eye past the corner.

A bright flash made him leap back, RHC up and his finger on the trigger, breath caught in his throat.

“Hiral,” Seena hissed, “you okay?”

His hand holding the RHC shook slightly, but he didn’t lower it, and looked back at Seena. He opened his mouth to respond but wasn’t quite able to get the words out, so he just held up a hand instead.

Just lightning. Nothing terrible and trying to eat me.

His brain showed him an image of the Princeof the Swamp to conveniently remind him lightning didn’t necessarily mean something wasn’t looking to put him on the menu. He took another look at the Great Tusk corpse—was that his imagination, or were those burns around the edges?

Could there be hydras in the swamp? Is that the Enemy? No, hydras would be too… simple. Not nearly enough to bring an entire world to its knees.

Hiral patted the air one more time, partly for Seena and partly for himself, then steeled his nerves and focused on steadying his hand. One breath, two… three. There… back under control. Lightning flashed, just barely reflecting on the trail of blood, and Hiral stalked up to the corner again. One more breath, and he peeked around the edge, managing not to flinch back at the next flash from the end of the tunnel.

Rain poured down like a sheet of water over the opening to the dungeon ramp, but not a drop of it seemed able to come in. With each flash of lightning, he could see the trail of blood running up the ramp, all the way to the top, and in an almost perfectly straight line. Straight didn’t rule out one half coming in—or the other half going out.

No, Hiral, don’t be an idiot. If it happened down here, there should be more…

Hiral looked at the pool of blood around the torn end of the Great Tusk. That could just be from the boar bleeding out, but… His eyes trailed along the floor, and even the wall beside him. There was blood there too. Spatters of it. Like a waterskin had popped.

Whatever happened to the boar happened inside.

Fallen’s balls. But, what came inside? Seena said most monsters couldn’t enter. Most…?

Hiral turned his attention away from the remains and again looked back up the tunnel. The heavy rain made it tough to see out, but the occasional flash of lightning gave him enough light to barely make out the silhouettes of the scraggly trees outside the entrance. Should he risk going up for a look? If he moved quickly and quietly…

Another flash of lightning, and a red bar appeared at the top of ramp where Hiral had been staring, a blinking notification screaming to life in front of his eyes.

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

ENEMY DETECTED!

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

Hiral yanked himself around the corner, back to the wall, and his breathing quickened. That had been a long health bar, and pretty high up for him to see it. Whatever the Enemy was… it was big. Really big. The question was—had it seen him too?

He dismissed the notification with some effort, then blew the air out gently between his lips. He waited for a crash of thunder and two more flashes of lightning before peeking around the corner. Nothing there.

Hiral backed away from the entrance to the ramp, but his eyes settled again on the Great Tusk corpse. If the Enemy was that big, how did it kill the boar down the ramp? Something didn’t add up. Or, maybe he was just wrong about where it was killed. The splatter could’ve been from the corpse getting thrown down the ramp…?

Without an answer, or a real way to get one, he shook his head, then jogged back over to the group, thirteen sets of anxious eyes practically boring into him.

“Well?” Seena asked.

“The Enemy,” Hiral said.

“You saw one?” Seeyela asked.

“Not exactly. I saw the health bar from View, and it was really, really long, then I got the same warning notification I got last time.”

“Convenient how it’s just you who sees the Enemy,” Fitch muttered.

“View health bar?” Seeyela asked at the same time. “What’s that?”

“Achievement reward for completing the dungeon,” Seena explained quickly, though her attention stayed on Hiral. “Did it kill the boar?”

“I don’t know,” Hiral said with a shrug. “I thought maybe it did, but from where I saw the health bar in the rain, it had to be pretty big. I don’t know how it could’ve gotten down here to do it.”

“Either way, we need to be careful,” Seeyela said. “Everybody stay away from the entrance.”

“You’re seriously going to trust his word on this?” Fitch asked. “Why is everybody so friendly with this guy? He’s an Islander. They’ve basically treated us like pests our entire lives. You all know how they look at us when they come down to trade, like it smells just being around us. None of you have ever said a good word about one of them, not even that Arty guy.

“Caaven is just nice to him because he’s the only Artist willing to come down and do the fertility glyphs. You all know it.”

“Hiral isn’t like the others,” Wule said.

“Because he was a failure up in Fallen Reach? Because he didn’t have a class? You think he’s going to act the same when he gets back up with his people and suddenly he’s one of them again?”

“I’m not one of them,” Hiral pointed out. “They’re Makers; I’m a Builder, apparently.” The words sounded hollow, even in his ears.

“You’ll still side with them over us,” Fitch seethed, his hand actually going to the hilt of his sword. “Even after all the promises you made to Seena, once you get back, you’ll tell them all about the dungeons.”

Hiral’s fingers tightened around his RHC, while Left and Right not so casually moved to his sides.

“This is not the time for this nonsense,” Seeyela snapped, turning a glare at Fitch and then at Hiral. “Not the time at all. Once we get to the Asylum, we are going to sort out this shit between you two once and for all. Until then, stow it. Got it?”

Fitch’s lips whitened in a tight line, but he didn’t say anything else.

Hiral, for his part, sheathed his weapon on his thigh, then gave Left and Right a tap on the shoulders to make sure they didn’t do anything rash. If he was thinking it, they both definitely were.

“Good,” Seeyela said with one more glare for good measure—obviously where Seena had learned hers from—before looking at the others. “We can’t go outside now, but that wasn’t our plan anyway. Seena, tell us about the dungeon, and we’ll get in there and clear it.”

“Sure,” Seena said, though there was still a tension in her shoulders, and in the others from her party.

Are they angry at me for causing trouble? Or angry at Fitch for making trouble with me?

“Left, could you get started on the locations of the Prince’s totems?” Seena went on.

“Does anybody have something to write with? And on?” Left asked.

“I do. Just give me a minute,” Cal said, going over to her pack and starting to root around.

Left turned to Hiral and asked quietly, so that only he and Right could hear, “You good?”

“Yeah,” Hiral said. “Thanks for standing with me. Both of you.”

Left and Right shared a look, then actually smiled.

“Who else would we stand with?” Right asked. “We’re kind of biased.”

“Still, thanks. Go on, Left. You’re the only one who knows where all the totems are.”

“I could lie about one,” Left said seriously, eying the swordsman.

“Nah, that’d just hurt everybody,” Hiral said.

“Yes, but thought I’d offer,” Left said, then jogged over to join Cal.

At that point, Seena was already explaining the dungeon’s encounters and mechanics to Seeyela and Lonil, with Nivian offering additional input. Vix and Yanily, meanwhile, were talking to the three other damage dealers, and Wule went over to talk to Cal.

“Doesn’t look like they need us for anything,” Hiral said to Right.

“Doesn’t mean they’re trying to exclude you, so stop thinking it,” Right said.

“Could you blame them? I’m sure Fitch isn’t the only one thinking it, even if he’s the only one voicing it,” Hiral said. “They all grew up together. I’ll always be an outsider.”

“Are you seriously still going on about that?” Right asked, but after a moment, he visibly sighed. “Sorry, that’s not fair of me. I know you’ve had a lifetime of trauma related to not fitting in. Sure, I’ve got the memories of it, but it’s not the same. Anyway, you obviously weren’t watching the other people from your party when Fitch was talking.

“Yes, your party. They were ready to go to war for you, Hiral. If you’d looked away from Fitch for a second, you would’ve seen it. Childhood friends or not, you’ve been there for them in the dungeons. They weren’t amused when he said the things he did. Stop doubting them, even if it’s hard.”

“A little voice in the back of my head agrees with you,” Hiral said.

“That’s literally my voice,” Right said.

“But there’s another big part of me that constantly says it’s wrong. That I’ll never fit in or be good enough.”

“And that’s why we don’t let him out,” Right said without missing a beat, and Hiral opened his mouth, then closed it.

“Pardon?” he finally said.

Right reached out and put a hand on Hiral’s shoulder, then smiled. “Kidding. It’s just me and Left. Nobody else in there. That voice is just an echo of the past. One that’ll fade over time if you stop listening to it for a while.”

Hiral blinked a few times, then blew out his breath. “You had me worried there for a second.”

Right winked at him.

“Finished,” Left told the group, holding out a piece of paper to Seena and Seeyela. “This is assuming they come from the Scholar like we did. These marks here are the totems. I’ve drawn in and labeled some of the notable landmarks nearby to make them easier to find.”

“This is amazing, Left,” Seena said. “I think we’ve gotten most of the major points explained, but let’s go over a few of the details before you go in. Left, can you pull out your banner to top everybody off while we do it?”

“Planning to go back in?” Hiral asked, joining the group.

Seena looked at the huddled group of Great Tusks. “Maybe it’s better we’re in the dungeon than out here for the time being. We’ll get started on the farming.”

Left touched his right hand on the Banner of Courage, then pulled it away with a streamer of glowing smoke. The banner formed a second later, and he drove it into the ground, though he didn’t let it go. The familiar golden dome grew out of the banner, filled the room, and then… vanished.

“That’s… odd,” Seena said, apparently noticing the same thing Hiral did.

A quick look at his status window showed he still had the banner’s buff, so why wasn’t…?

“The dome isn’t constrained by walls,” he said, his eyes widening. “How deep do you think we are? The ramp is what, thirty or forty feet? Which means the dome might be…”

“…visible from up above!” Seena said, catching on.

“Left, cancel it, hurry,” Hiral said.

The double nodded, and the gently flapping banner faded into glowing smoke.

“Do you think anything above noticed?” Seena asked as everybody looked up.

“It was only for a second,” Yanily said.

“A glowing second,” Vix pointed out.

“I’m sure it’s fine,” Yanily countered.

WHAM. The entire room shook, dust and small rocks cascading down from the ceiling, and cracks suddenly split small lines along the far wall. Water splashed down from the ramp, along with chunks of chiseled stone, runes softly glowing in them. WHAM. More rocks bounced down the ramp and into the room while the Great Tusks went crazy.

“Something’s coming in!” Wule said, weapons coming out in everybody’s hands.

“And that’s the only way out,” Seena said.

“Not the only one.” Hiral swept his hand over the interface crystal. “Enter Dungeon,” he said. “Four hours. That’s the maximum we can stay in there, if we include the time after the clear. I suggest we all do that, and hope whatever it is loses interest in the meantime.”

“After you kill the Scholar, there will be a totem,” Seena told her sister, shoving the totem map into her hands. “As soon as you destroy that, you have ten minutes to kill the Prince. Win or lose, wait until the last minute to do that. We’ll see you in four hours.”

WHAM!

“Good luck,” Seeyela said, looking back at where more rocks and water rained down into the entrance room. Then she also waved her hand over the interface crystal and said, “Enter Dungeon.”

“Zero of six party members have entered the current portal. Close portal and open a new one?” Dr. Benza asked.

“Only one can be open at a time?” Hiral asked, then pointed at Seeyela. “You guys go first. I need to be here to open the next one.”

Seeyela looked briefly at her sister, then nodded and waved her party through.

As soon as the portal closed, Hiral said, “Enter Dungeon,” and a second portal mercifully appeared.

With the portal open, Hiral reabsorbed Left and Right, and then the party fled the room before whatever was coming made it in.

I just hope there’s a room to come back to.