Rune Seeker

Hiral watched as the shapes of Wule and Nivian grew smaller and smaller, then finally faded from sight as the Disc of Passage sped away.

“This isn’t right,” Seena said from beside him, her sister and Yanily both shaking their heads at the situation. “We should stop the disc and go back. Make them come with us. Or… or stay with them and help.”

“It’s not right, not at all,” Hiral agreed. “But it’s what they wanted.”

“Who cares what they want?” Seena snapped. “What about what I want? First Cal back in the Asylum, now them in a city full of undead? We stopped the Urn of Ur’Thul from spreading its power. Practically saved the world, if we believe what Odi was saying. And what do we get for it? How many friends do we have to leave behind? How many friends do we have to… lose…?”

“They aren’t dead,” Yanily said. “Well, Wule isn’t. Not sure about Nivian, with the whole undead thing, but that doesn’t matter. They aren’t gone. We’ll see them again.”

“Will we?” Seena asked. “It’s them against an entire city.”

“Seeing what Nivian did to Ur’Thul, I feel bad for the city,” Hiral said.

“This isn’t funny, Hiral,” Seena said, turning from where she’d been watching the hall behind the speeding Disc of Passage.

“And I’m not laughing,” Hiral said, tears running down both his cheeks and a pit like some endless whirlpool in his stomach. “I may not have known them as long as you all have, but they were my friends too. I didn’t want them to stay behind any more than you do. But… they stayed behind. We didn’t leave them behind.

“They chose. Nivian’s advanced class—and what the Urn of Ur’Thul did to him—changed him. Made him into an undead of some kind. He was afraid of what he might do to us if the hunger overwhelmed him. You saw it in his eyes as much as I did. Can you imagine what it would’ve done to him if he’d lost control? If he’d hurt—or worse, killed—one of us?”

“He’s right,” Seeyela said, her voice hitching. “I hate it too, Seena, but he’s right. Nivian is fighting against something inside him. Something we can’t understand.”

“We could’ve tried. Been there for him,” Seena said, but there was less heat in her voice. “We were so close to being free of that stupid city.”

“He’s still got his brother with him,” Yanily said. “And Wule’s advanced class will help Nivian stay in control, and heal him if he gets hurt. Kind of strange he doesn’t have solar energy anymore, just health, but…”

“Probably the only reason he can still use his healing abilities on Nivian,” Hiral said. “Pure solar energy hurts the undead.”

“Lucky.” Yanily shook his head. “Or… was that the PIMP? Giving them the chance to survive?”

“Probably,” Hiral said. “I bet the influence of the Urn had something to do with it, too, but either way, if anybody can survive this, it’s them.”

“Mistress, they made the right choice,” Li’l Ur, the Lizardman mini-lich floating at Seena’s shoulder, said. “The hunger isn’t to be underestimated, but neither are your friends. There is hope to see them again, if what Odi said is true. And the one called Nivian is now a Death Knight; there are few classes more powerful among the undead.

“It is second only to being a lich.”

“What about a Dracolich?” Hiral asked.

“Those don’t count. They’re cheating,” Li’l Ur said. “If anything can reach the heights needed to stave off the hunger, it’s a Death Knight.”

“Did you suffer from it?” Seena asked Li’l Ur.

“As the first undead, I did not. If anything, I… created… the hunger…” Realization dawned on the little lich’s tiny face, only to be replaced by panic. “Uh… Mistress, I’m sorry, I…”

“Don’t blame you, Li’l Ur,” Seena said, gently patting the lich on the head and forcing a smile. “I know that wasn’t you. It was that jerk Nivian pounded into bone-dust back in the city. Good riddance to him. Do you really think Nivian can beat this thing?”

“I do, mistress,” Li’l Ur said, clearly relieved Seena wasn’t blaming him.

“He’s not the only one who believes that,” Hiral said. “We all do… you included.”

Seena blew out a breath between her lips, then nodded. “Yeah, I guess so. Never known either of those two to give up on something, especially not each other. With Wule there supporting him, Nivian won’t stop until he succeeds.

“I just wish we could’ve stayed to support him too.”

“We will go back, if he doesn’t catch up first,” Seeyela said. “After we save Fallen Reach. Since we know about the Asylums, we can just take these discs back and find him as soon as things are wrapped up on the islands.”

“Won’t be that easy,” Seena said.

“It could be,” Seeyela countered, but then she shrugged. “No, who am I kidding? It won’t be. Never is. Still, doesn’t change that we’ll be coming back.”

“Fine,” Seena said. “I know you’re right—they were right—it just doesn’t make it any easier.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Yanily said, going over to Seena and putting an arm over her shoulders. “But, hey, as long as we have their Party Interface buff from Till Death Do Us Part, we know they’re okay.”

“You just want the bonus stats,” Hiral said, punching Yanily gently in the shoulder.

“Not just…” the spearman said. “I mean, I’m not complaining about them…”

But Seena didn’t seem to be listening. Her eyes were glazed over, likely staring at a notification window or something.

Probably looking at her status window to make sure we have the attribute bonus. Yanily is… actually right. As long as we have the bonus, we know they’re okay.

“Thanks, Yan,” Seena said, her eyes focusing again. “It’s good to remember that.”

“See, she likes the bonus too,” Yanily said, but Hiral and Seeyela just shook their heads.

“Anyway,” Seena said with a roll of her eyes, “what’s in the sack Nivian left? My money’s on sandwiches.”

“Plenty of those, for sure,” Left said, crouching in front of the open bag. “Looks like they put the currency we can exchange in the Asylum—what we got from Ur’Thul—in here as well.”

“They could’ve held on to it,” Seena said. “They can come to the Asylum if they need a breather.”

“You know they won’t do that,” Seeyela said. “They’re both too stubborn to take a real break. Well, Nivian is, and he’ll strongarm Wule into keeping up.”

“You sure?” Hiral asked. “I always thought it was because Seena was such a taskmast—” Noticing the scowl coming his way, he quickly amended to, “Uh, motivational leader…”

“Nah, he was just making excuses,” Seena said. “Back before you joined up with us, on our surface runs, he was always the first one up and the last one to sleep.”

“To make sure we were okay and to cook breakfast,” Yanily said. “I’m going to miss the guy.”

“Guess meals are on you now, Yanily,” Hiral said. “Unless you’d prefer Seena or Seeyela to handle it?”

A look of pure horror passed over Yanily’s face, and he shook his head. “Sandwiches. We have sandwiches. And we’ll be back up on the islands in… what? How long now, Left?”

“Around a hundred hours,” Left said. “At most.”

“See! We have plenty of sandwiches for that,” Yanily said. “It’s not like Left or Right need to eat...”

“Nice, Yan, nice,” Hiral said before turning to Left. “Any idea how far we are from the Asylum?”

“Like the first time, a couple of hours, I think,” Left said. “I suspect the tunnel has to be long enough the Enemy can’t follow. There is probably some kind of protection to dissuade the Infested as well.”

“I was kind of wondering why the thing inside Picoli didn’t just use the Rune of Attraction to run along the wall. Maybe there’s more runes too…” Hiral trailed off as he turned to inspect the walls blurring by. He barely shifted before a hand grabbed his chin and twisted him back around to face Seena.

“Nuh-uh,” she said, shaking her head. “The disc isn’t nearly big enough for you to explode.”

“I wasn’t…” Hiral started, but a not-so-gentle squeeze on his chin made him stop that line of excuses. “Pwobabwy fow da bestu,” he forced out.

“I thought so,” Seena said, giving one more friendly squeeze before she let go. “I need some time to… process all of this.” Then she looked at Left and Right. “Keep him out of trouble.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Right said.

Seena walked to the front end of the Disc of Passage and plopped herself down. Then her shoulders started shaking, and Hiral took a step in her direction before a hand caught his arm.

“If you like living, don’t go over there right now,” Yanily said, letting go of Hiral’s arm.

“Just give her some space,” Seeyela said. “And take Yanily’s advice. She does not like when people see her cry. There’s nowhere to Bamf if she tries to blow you up.”

“That bad?” Hiral asked.

“She was scary before she had the magic firepower to wipe out a city,” Yanily said. “I really don’t want to push her.”

“You probably have a point,” Hiral said. “Hey, Left, give me one of those sandwiches, and maybe you guys can tell me some of those stories about your first trips down to the surface?”

“Hah, tell him about the second time we came down,” Yanily said, taking an offered sandwich as well and sitting down. “The time Nivian missed the landing spot and we had to go get him down from the tree.”

Seeyela groaned and leaned her head back. “How that man—well, boy then—managed to get stuck on the top branch, I will never understand.” She dove into the story, and when it was finished, Yanily started on another. By the time they’d gotten to the third story—this one about Wule and the time he was reading instead of healing—Seena came over to join them.

One story led to another, hours passing for the group, until the Disc of Passage slowed beneath them, then came to a stop.

“We must be here,” Left said, looking straight up at the wide shaft stretching above. No sooner had he said that than the disc shot upwards, hundreds of feet passing by in a heartbeat, until it stopped again in a wide, familiar room.

“We’re… uh… sure this is a differentAsylum, right?” Yanily asked.

“Left?” Hiral prompted.

“According to the map we saw in the last one, this should be a new location,” Left said. “One much closer to the jump point we need. And, if you look there…” The double pointed to a wide crack that ran along the floor and up the wall. “That wasn’t present at the last Asylum.”

“It also makes me nervous,” Hiral said, lifting his RHCs off his thighs.

And he wasn’t the only one getting his weapons out.

“Keep your eyes open,” Seena said, raising her arm as if to give Nivian the shoulder tap. Instead, her hand sort of hung in the air, her mouth open until she purposely closed her lips and lowered her arm. “Going to be a tough habit to break,” she said quietly.

“You can tap Yanily’s shoulder,” Right offered.

“No way I’m going first,” Yanily said.

“Somebody has to,” Left pointed out.

“I’ll go first,” Hiral said. “I’ve got the best chance of spotting anything out of the ordinary anyway.”

“There, he said it,” Yanily said. “Seena, give him the shoulder tap and let’s get moving.”

“Do you need it?” Seena asked Hiral.

“If it’ll make you feel better…” Hiral said, shrugging.

Seena reached out and tapped Hiral on the shoulder, then gave him a wink. “Don’t die.”

“You never said that to Nivian!” Hiral said.

“I’m being a motivational leader,” she said before giving Hiral a shove towards the tunnel that should lead into the main part of the Asylum.

“Rah, rah,” Hiral said under his breath. He squeezed his fingers around the grips of his weapons, then started down the tunnel.