Rune Seeker

Just over two hours later – and the scenic route on Drake’s back – Hiral and the others had dropped Nat and Milly off, and were on the way to meet the tracker Seena had talked about.

“He already said he’d come and help us?” Hiral asked.

“Yeah,” Seena said from beside him, her shoulder comfortably bumping against his as they walked. “Drahn knows Nivian and Wule as well, even though he was a much higher rank than us.”

“He used to babysit us,” Yanily said. “When our parents went down to the surface.”

“You all really did grow up together, didn’t you?” Hiral said.

“Mostly.” Seena nodded. “Though Seeyela was too cool to spend much time with us when we were really young.”

“You were troublemakers,” Seeyela said without missing a beat. “Especially you and all your heists.”

“Most of which got us caught,” Yanily chuckled. “They were fun though. Especially that time we…”

The spearman cut off as Seena slapped her hand over his mouth and shook her head. “I have no idea what you’re going to say, but I’m ninety-nine percent sure it will get us in trouble. So, don’t. Okay?”

“Good,” Seena said. “Back to Drahn. He’s… geez, twenty-five years older than us?”

“Twenty five older than me,” Seeyela said. “Which puts him thirty years older than you.”

“Thirty years… and he’s B-Rank?” Hiral mused.

“And he got there pretty fast,” Yanily said. “Until we came along.”

“Dungeons – and dungeon experience – have really changed things,” Seena said. “We’ve already had a few people rank-up more than a year ahead of schedule. And they were the ones who were already on the cusp after years of surface runs. The Elite monster experience, along with the bonus for completing the dungeon itself has sped things up a lot.

“There is one interesting tidbit I’ve heard, too, and maybe your friend Gauto should look into it.”

“What’s that?” Hiral asked.

“Seems like people aren’t getting as much experience as we were in the dungeons. Even for dungeons of the same rank we ran.”

“Maybe because we did a lot of wild dungeons?” Hiral suggested. “Or… is it something else? Because we were the only ones running dungeons?” Then he chuckled with a nod. “Yeah, this is exactly something Gauto would love to look into. I can already imagine what he’s going to test.”

“Your friend being excited over the small fact, aside, the extra experience isn’t all good news, though,” Seeyela said as they continued to walk across one of the Growers’ islands. “There’s a lot more danger. The surface is dangerous, yes, but we were always so careful before, we rarely had casualties. We’ve had more serious injuries in that worm dungeon than we had the entire rotation before that. Casualties are going to follow.”

“People are excited and greedy,” Seena said. “Taking risks they shouldn’t.”

“Should we do something about it?” Hiral asked. “In a way, it’s kind of our fault.”

“Nah, leave it to Grandmother and Ilrolik,” Seena said with a wave of her hand. “We have something else we need to be doing now.”

“Maybe two things?” Hiral offered.

“You mean Caleon?” Seeyela asked, then waved her hand a second time. “There’s another party going for her soon, since they know exactly where she’s waiting. Probably leaving in the next few hours.”

“Oh, that’s good,” Hiral said. “What rank are they?”

“B-Ranks,” Seena said. “Group of five, so Caleon can join them, and they can run her through dungeons to get her back. They even have a Shaper as a tank.”

“It’s one of the few groups that seem to have hit it off,” Seena explained. “So, Grandmother asked them to go get Caleon. They get experience and to run some dungeons at the same time, so it’s no real loss.”

“Not much experience for them in lower-Rank dungeons,” Yanily pointed out. “Or achievements.”

“No, but it’s a little, and a good opportunity for learning.”

“And maybe those item upgrade potions we got in the last one,” Hiral added.

“That’s a good point, and a nice bonus if they get them,” Seena said with a nod. “Anyway, we can talk more about it later if you want – there’s Drahn.”

As she said that, a man with salt-and-pepper hair, leather armor, a green cloak, and a quiver of arrows over his shoulder pushed himself off from the building he’d been leaning against. He picked up a bow resting against the wall beside him, then walked in their direction.

“Well, well, well,” he said. “Look at you all strutting around in your fancy get-ups.”

“You’re just jealous,” Yanily said, actually posing in his Hydra-Scale Armor. The light seemed to hit it just right, and even Hiral had to admit the spearman looked pretty impressive.

“Just relieved I probably won’t have to change your diapers,” Drahn said with only half-a-smile. “Probably.”

“It’s good to see you too, Drahn,” Seeyela said, walking over to give the man a hug.

“That’s quite the outfit you’ve got yourself,” he said after the brief embrace. “I hear you might even know how to use it. Don’t worry, though, if things get rough, I’ll make sure you get back to your husband and little girl.”

Does… he not know just how scary Seeyela is…?

“And this must be the Islander.” Drahn stepped away from Seeyela to look Hiral up and down. Then his gaze went to the almost identically dressed doubles at his sides. His head turned to Seena as he spoke again. “Triplets? I thought you only had one of them with you. What’s the deal with the matching outfits? Trying to confuse the monsters?”

“Hi, I’m Hiral,” he said and extended his hand. The man in front of him didn’t move, and Hiral let his hand drop after a second of awkwardness. “This is Left, and this is Right.”

Once again, Drahn seemed to ignore him, and the man turned to fully face Seena. “We don’t need people who can’t pull their weight. The four of us will go get the twins back. Parties can only have six anyway.”

“Uh, you kind of need me,” Hiral pointed out.

“How long do you need to get ready?” Drahn continued without acknowledging Hiral at all. “I got my affairs in order after you came to me with your request, so I’m ready to go anytime. We can meet at your uncle’s to jump, if that’s easier for you to gather anything you need.”

“Drahn,” Seena said, her arms crossed in front of her. “You’re being rude.”

“Am I rushing you to go?”

“Not to me. To Hiral.”

“You didn’t ask me to help you be friendly to an Islander. I know we’re trying the whole play nice thing, but we don’t need any of them for this trip. Let’s just get going,” he said, and started to walk away.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Then I guess you’re going by yourself,” Seena said. “Good luck with that.”

Drahn had gotten half-a-dozen steps before the words clicked in his head, and he slowly turned to look back at the party. The party that was standing protectively at Hiral’s side. “Excuse me?” the tracker said. “You asked me for help.”

“Asked you to help our party, yes,” Seena said.

“Hiral’s part of that,” Seeyela added.

“We’re going with him,” Yanily said. “You can either come with us, or…” He generally waved his hand in the direction Drahn had been walking.

“What do we even need him for?” Drahn said. “He’ll slow us down.”

Yanily actually laughed.

“I can’t wait to see you find out just how wrong that statement was,” Seeyela said, then turned to her sister. “I don’t remember him being this funny. Do you?”

“No,” Seena said without looking at her sister. “This is not how I remember the man we all looked up to.”

Drahn’s face hardened. This wasn’t going the way the man had expected it to. And, as much as he was getting on Hiral’s nerves, having him with them increased their odds of finding Nivian and Wule.

“There are three reasons you need me,” Hiral said, forcefully keeping the annoyance out of his voice. He could play nice if it meant getting the twins back. “First,” he held up a finger. “To get back to where we last saw Nivian and Wule, we need to pass through an Asylum. Have you cleared all three dungeons in this zone?”

Drahn’s teeth ground against each other before he finally made eye contact with Hiral. “Just the Crawling Pits.”

“Then we need to get you through the other two,” Hiral said. “And for that, you need an Islander.”

“We could just walk,” Drahn said.

“Across the Sea of White?” Seeyela asked, then immediately shook her head. “No, we have to go to a zone Fallen Reach doesn’t even fly over. Going through the Asylum is the best way.”

Drahn looked from Seena, to Seeyela, to Yanily, studying each of their faces. He obviously didn’t see any room for changing the party’s arrangement there, so he finally turned back to Hiral. “Fine. You better pull your weight. And do what I tell you, when I tell you.”

“I…” Hiral started.

“Not going to happen,” Seena said. “I’m the party leader. If anything, you’ll do what I tell you, when I tell you.”

“Don’t be silly, girl,” Drahn said, frustration leaking into his voice. “I’ve got thirty years of experience on you. Sure, you’ve ranked up a couple of times and got some fancy clothes, but you’re practically toddlers when it comes to a fight. You’ll follow my lead if you know what’s good for you and want to get your friends back.”

“Do you want to see what I’m like in a fight?” Seena said, stepping forward with flames erupting around her gauntlets.

On her shoulder, Li’l Ur flared with circles of blue magic as his tomes floated beside him. “You would be wise to apologize,” the little lich threatened.

“How about,” Hiral said, slipping in between Seena and Drahn so quickly the man actually took a reflexive step back in surprise. “Instead of fighting here, we go down and find a dungeon to run. One of the other two Drahn needs to get access to the Asylum. He’ll get a chance to see what we can do there, and if he doesn’t think I can pull my weight, he doesn’t have to come with us.”

“You don’t have to prove anything to him, Hiral,” Seena said.

“You’re right, I don’t,” Hiral agreed. “But I want to find Nivian and Wule. If assuaging his worries about what we can do helps get us closer to that, then I’ll prove myself a dozen times if I need to. Then a dozen more.”

Seena forced herself to take a breath before she spoke, then let out a sigh. “Fine. You’re being calmer about it than I would be,” she said before leaning past him to talk to Drahn. “How’s that sound to you? If you don’t like what you see – or we don’t – then we go our separate ways. If everybody is happy, we stop with this nonsense, and go find our friends.”

“You asked me to help,” Drahn said again.

“Doesn’t give you the right to be a bigot,” Seeyela said.

“Or a jerk,” Yanily said. “That’s the deal. You in or out?”

Drahn stepped back and gave a stuttered shrug. “Fine. Fine. Let’s see where this confidence comes from. Since you all seem so ready to go, I’ll meet you at your uncle’s dock in an hour. Then you can show me what the next generation of B-Rankers can do.”

Without waiting for them to respond, the man spun and started to walk away.

“Don’t you, uh, want to know the other two reasons you need me?” Hiral called after him.

“No,” Drahn said simply, then vanished into the crowd that had apparently slowed around the tense atmosphere.

“They were pretty good reasons too,” Hiral said with a shake of his head.

“Was one of them Drake?” Seena asked.

“Yeah.” Hiral nodded. “Figured it would be best to ease him into that one.”

Yanily clapped him on the shoulder. “Nah, it’ll be far more fun to see his reaction when we tell him he has to ride a Dracolich.”

“Gets to ride a Dracolich,” Li’l Ur corrected. “He should consider it an honor… even if Drake is… odd.”

“He just likes to play fetch. And hide-and-seek,” Hiral said.

“He – as a Dracolich – is meant to be an ultimate weapon of war. An absolute presence that strikes fear into the hearts of all that behold him. That burns the life from those who foolishly resist. That crushes hope and conquers in our Mistress’s name. Not… play fetch.”

“Don’t have any wars we need to be fighting at the moment,” Seena said. “And I don’t need any hope crushing or conquering.”

“Everybody needs a little conquering,” Li’l Ur said, though he slouched with a defeated sigh. “But I understand. We shall postpone the world domination.”

“There’s a good lich,” Seena said, patting Li’l Ur on the head.

“So,” Yanily said. “Do we need to get ready before we go?”

“I have to say goodbye to my family,” Seeyela said. “Favela would lose it if I vanished without telling her.”

“Hiral, how about you?” Seena asked him.

“Nat and Milly are going to tell Dad what’s going on,” Hiral said. “Gauto will be a little disappointed, but I’ll bring him back something nice from the surface and tell him we need to study the experience thing. All will be forgiven.”

“What are you going to bring him? Something small?” Yanily asked. “Like a Troblin?”

“As much as I think he’d like that – and I’d get a kick out of it trying to kill him – there weren’t many of them in the undead zone,” Hiral said. “Maybe I’ll find a library in the city on the way back. I’m sure he’d like a couple books.”

“With our Interspatial Rings,” Seeyela said. “You can bring a lot more than a couple. But, look, if we’re really heading down in an hour…”

“We can make Drahn wait,” Seena offered, clearly still annoyed.

“No need to antagonize him,” Seeyela said in her big-sister voice. “I’m going to go find Favela now and explain things. I’ll meet you at Uncle Caaven’s dock in about an hour.”

“Sure, see you then. Don’t feel like you need to rush,” Seena called, as her sister summoned Bliss – the flying nightmare – from her ring. The snobbish, flaming horse didn’t even have a chance to Tsk at the party before Seeyela was on her back and galloping away.

“Was it just me,” Yanily started. “Or did Bliss look disappointed she didn’t get to act superior?”

“She definitely did,” Left said.

“Hiral, you sure you don’t want to go up and tell your dad what’s happening?” Seena changed the subject back. “Or… your mom?”

“I’m sure,” Hiral replied. “We won’t be gone that long.”

“Yeah, but you still need to talk to her about what you saw…”

“We haven’t talked about it for twenty years, it can wait a little longer,” he said, referring to the glyph of fertility he’d seen on her stomach. The glyph that was probably responsible for him being born a Builder instead of a Maker. That’d made it so he couldn’t pass the Shaper test, and had lived as the Everfail for half his life.

Yeah, maybe there’s still some anger there…

“How about you two? Any family you need to tell?” Hiral faced Seena, but glanced at Yanily. There had been some talk of the spearman’s father while they were down on the surface, but something about it had seemed… off. Careful. Like the man – or even the topic – was a sensitive subject.

“My parents aren’t far from Caaven’s,” Seena said. “I can stop in quickly.”

“Nobody I need to tell,” Yanily said. “All the important people are in the party, or down on the surface waiting for us.”

“Shall we go grab a bite then?” Right asked. “A pair of ravenous little sisters ate my stash of pastries.”

“I know just the place!” Yanily said.

“You eat many more of those and I’m going to be rolling you the whole way to find Nivian and Wule,” Seena said.

“We’re about to go run a dungeon where we need to show off for grumpy-Drahn,” Yanily said. “I’ll get plenty of exercise.”

“Ugh, fine,” Seena said. “But let’s get a few extra to bring to my parents and uncle.”

“Don’t let Right carry them, then,” Hiral said. “They won’t make it.”

The double just glared at him while the rest of them chuckled and started for the bakery.

Laughter aside, it was almost time to go back to the surface.

Almost time to get their friends back.