Rune Seeker

Picoli whipped around, her shattered forearm trailing an arc of blood as she went, but Seeyela was already gone. Instead, Right swept in with a flurry of punches. Forgoing his usual haymakers, he hit the Infested with a lightning-quick combo, each fist slamming into one of the wounds left by Seeyela’s daggers before moving on. Chest, shoulder, chin, then temple, his blows rattled her bones and staggered her backwards directly into a clawed slash from Left.

The Chord of the Primal Echo chimed its approval of the attacks, and three glowing, runic circles appeared in line with the barrel of Hiral’s RHC.

You have been buffed by Piercing Shot.

Your next ranged attack will ignore target’s defense and inflict additional damage based on Atn. Chance to pierce target and strike additional targets in a line based on Dex.

Up went his weapon as the Infested stumbled to the side, glowing green blood oozing out of the wounds in her stomach, and veins of the same color running through the tentacles. There was a good chance the monster inside Picoli was already dead—even if it didn’t know it yet—but Hiral wasn’t going to take the chance.

Feeding solar energy into his Rune of Time Dilation, the world around him slowed to a crawl, then seemed to pause. He ignored the familiar pressure in the back of his skull as reality tried to reassert itself—he wasn’t stopping time for long—and took aim at his target. A squeeze of the trigger, and Hiral let go of his hold on time.

The shot burst out of the barrel of his RHC, passed through the three runic circles that further empowered the blast, and then pierced straight through Picoli’s abdomen, all within the blink of an eye. It seemed to happen so fast the Infested didn’t see the shot coming, and only looked down when it felt a hole clean through it.

Across its arm and legs, the glow within the tentacles sputtered, like a heart struggling for its final beats. Then the Infested dropped to its knees.

Seena and Yanily ran up beside Hiral, their feet sliding in the dirt as they stopped. Flames danced on one side of him, while lightning crackled on the other. They were holding their barrage to see if it was over, but if the Infested so much as twitched funny, they had destruction on their fingertips.

Beyond where Picoli knelt, the stump of her ruined arm going to her stomach and its thick, leaking goop, Left, Right, and Seeyela stood at the ready to charge back in.

Not that it would be necessary.

Thanks to his practice with Cycling, Hiral knew the solar energy gushing out of Picoli along with the blood was a clear sign things were over. The only question was…

Picoli lifted her head, the skin charred and horribly burned from the multiple battles, and turned to the side to look at Seeyela.

“Thank you,” she rasped out through ruined lips. Then she toppled face-first to the ground without another word.

The solar energy flooding out of her stopped abruptly, the tentacles wrapping her arms and legs drying out and withering where they sat. For a long moment, nothing—nobody—moved. Then, all at once, the party rushed forward.

“Picoli!” Seeyela said, reaching the ruined body of her friend first and carefully rolling the woman onto her back. Five other sets of eyes stayed glued on the hole in her stomach, but nothing moved within or crawled out.

They’d actually done it. Killed one of the Enemy.

Hiral looked at the broken woman in Seeyela’s arms.

And all it took was killing their friend too…

Achievement unlocked – Goodbye, Old Friend

Left with no other choice, you killed the Infested that had stolen your friend.

Please access a Dungeon Interface to unlock class-specific reward.

Hiral swiped the message closed without reading it, though the magic of the PIM made sure he knew what it said. At least it removed the “Congratulations” from the achievement notification this time.

“I hate this,” Yanily seethed beside him, driving the butt of his spear into the ground before lifting it back up and repeating the motion. Over and over, he slammed his spear down. “I know we had to do it that way to be sure. We couldn’t let it escape… but…”

“You’re right; we couldn’t,” Hiral said, putting a hand on Yanily’s shoulder. “And Picoli wouldn’t have wanted us to.”

“The potion isn’t working,” Seeyela said, tipping the red contents of a vial into Picoli’s mouth. It didn’t go any further than that, though, leaking out the sides to run down her charcoal-like cheek and drop to the ground.

“She’s gone,” Seena said, crouching down beside her sister and laying her hand on Picoli’s leg.

“She was there… just for a second,” Seeyela said, her voice cracking behind her helmet.

“Yes, she was,” Seena said quietly. “Just long enough to thank you for saving her.”

“You call this saving her?” Seeyela asked, but there was no fire in her voice. They’d talked about this, and all had agreed. Not that it made looking at the results any easier.

“If she had the chance to say thank you, that means she was in there the whole time,” Yanily said. “She knew everything that happened since… since she got taken over. It wasn’t her fault—I know that—but do you think she would’ve felt the same way?”

Seeyela shook her head. “No, she would’ve blamed herself the entire time for what happened with Balyo. Probably thought she deserved to die…”

“She didn’t,” Seena said.

“No, she didn’t,” Seeyela agreed.

“How… how do you honor your dead?” Hiral asked. This was the first time they… had a body.

“We wrap them in plants, place a leaf from the Grandfather with them, and then give them to the sky,” Seena said.

“We throw them off the islands,” Yanily clarified.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“We do something similar,” Hiral said. “I mean, we live pretty long thanks to our Meridian Lines, but…” He trailed off. “It never really felt strange until we came down to the surface.”

“What should we do with her?” Yanily asked. “No Grandfather, and while we could take her back up to the islands with us, it would seem strange to throw her back off later.”

“We can’t leave her for some ant—or other monster—to eat,” Seeyela said.

“We won’t,” Seena said.

“Bury her deep?” Yanily offered.

“Burn the body,” Hiral said, looking at Seena. “Nothing will find her after that.”

“Sis?” Seena asked. “Is that what you want?”

“Want? Not really,” Seeyela said. “But it’s the best option we have. Just let me say goodbye.”

“Of course,” Seena said, standing up to give her sister some space, then coming over to join Hiral and Yanily. She pulled them a few steps further out of earshot, then stopped and let out a breath. “Are we sure it’s dead? That seemed… too easy.”

“We’re not the same party we were last time she found us,” Yanily said.

“He’s right,” Hiral agreed. “That thing was just as strong and fast as she was before—maybe exactly as strong and fast. She didn’t get stronger since we fought her. We did.”

“By a lot,” Yanily said.

“I think it underestimated us,” Hiral said. “Or, at least, how far the PIMP could push our growth.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Seena said.

“My would-be apprentice… and the other one… are correct, mistress,” Li’l Ur said.

“The other one?” Yanily mouthed to Hiral, and he could only shrug.

“You have grown in power since I met you—significantly, I might add,” the little lich went on like he hadn’t said anything strange. “Soon you will be a worthy vassal to… Ahem… I mean…” He stuttered when Seena raised an eyebrow. “Soon you will shake the foundations of the world, as I once did. From your fingers, destruction will flow, the dead will rise to follow your will, and the skies themselves will scream your name in worship.”

“While I think the truth is a little different than what he’s imagining, all those points are true about you,” Hiral said. “Which reminds me. If you do cremate Picoli’s body, can you make sureFrom the Ashes+ doesn’t activate?”

Seena’s eyes widened as she considered the implications of that, and she quickly nodded. “I can make sure that’s disabled. Thanks for reminding me.”

“No problem,” Hiral said, looking at the oncoming storm wall. Lightning constantly danced within it, from the ground all the way up to the distant clouds. The wind was so strong it was impossible to see through it, even though the sunlight had to be right on the other side. For that matter, if the clouds directly above hadn’t been so thick, they probably would’ve been able to see the sun already. “We should get out of the rain,” he finally said.

The others looked up at the sky as if they expected to see the Enemy come swooping down on them.

“You’re right,” Seena said. “We got lucky nothing else showed up while we were fighting the Infested. Back to the dungeon, you think?”

“We could go down into the anthill here,” Yanily suggested, but he then immediately shook his head as his eyes fell on the hundreds of ant corpses. “No, never mind. If we kill many more, nobody else will be able to come to this area to farm for experience.”

“Whoa, look at you being responsible,” Seena said, gently punching the spearman in the arm. “You aiming to take over my party-leader role? Or… or set out and make your own party?” She asked that last part so quietly her voice could barely be heard over the rain.

“Of course not,” Yanily said. “As long as you’re leading a party, I’ll be in it. Right, Hiral?”

“Right,” Hiral agreed. “You’re the only leader for us.”

“Thanks, guys,” she said, stepping forward and putting an arm around each, then pulling them into a group hug. A few seconds later, another set of arms joined in as Seeyela arrived.

“Thanks for giving me time to… to apologize and say goodbye,” Seeyela said, still squeezing the others tightly. “And, like Yanily said, as long as you’re leading a party, I want to be part of it.”

As she said those words, the group separated, and Seena looked at her older sister. “What are you talking about? You need to lead. You’re…”

“Done with that,” Seeyela said, shaking her head. “Other than Picoli, the only member of my party left alive is Caleon. And what did I do? I left her alone back in an Asylum. I’m not cut out to be a party leader anymore, and I think that’s for the best.”

“I don’t…” Seena started.

“It’s not your decision,” Seeyela said, cutting her off. Then her helmeted head turned to the side as if she were considering something. “Well, it’s your decision if you’ll let me in your party, but not if I’ll lead another one.”

“Of course I’d let you in my party,” Seena said. “You’d tattle to Uncle Caaven if I didn’t.”

“I wouldn’t tattle,” Seeyela said sharply. “I may mention it in the course of normal conversation…”

“You can always be a part of my party, if the others are okay with it,” Seena said, looking at Hiral and Yanily.

“She’ll hurt me if I say no,” Yanily pointed out. “And even without that, she has my yes.”

“Mine too,” Hiral said. “We work well together. Why would we want to break that up?”

“Looks like you have a spot,” Seena said.

“Thanks,” Seeyela said, a weight seemingly lifting from her shoulders. “Now, like Hiral was saying, we should get out of the rain before something shows up.”

“And before that storm wall hits,” Hiral said. “I’m sure you all remember how bad it was the first time.”

“Yeah,” Seeyela said. “Before that…” She turned towards the broken body of her old party member. “Can you…?”

“Mistress,” Li’l Ur said before Seena could reply, “there is another magic circle within my book that could help you. Put the circle around the body, then cast your ability within. The circle will amplify, contain, and feed the spell without you having to do any extra work. It’s the best way to be sure the fire consumes everything.”

“Thanks, Li’l Ur,” Seena said, patting her little lich on the head, then pulling the black tome to float beside her. With a wave of his small hands, Li’l Ur willed the book to open, pages turning rapidly until they arrived at the spell he was looking for. A few more seconds, and the glyphs on the page glowed blue.

“It’s ready for you, mistress. Simply envision where you’d like the circle to be, and I will take care of the rest.”

“This has a long activation time,” Seena said, looking down at the scribble on the page like she could actually read it. “That’s not great in a fight.”

“Many of the abilities within my tome are best when prepared ahead of time,” Li’l Ur said. “Planning is the key to world dominaaaaaaah… To being successful.”

Seena eyed the lich briefly, then put her hand on the tome and pushed solar energy into the page. Then, as the seconds ticked by, glyph after glyph appeared in a circle around Picoli’s body, finally completing with a small flash.

“And now your fire,” Li’l Ur said. “Just one will be more than enough.”

The fireball appeared above Seena’s hand a few seconds later, but she didn’t immediately throw it, her gaze instead lingering on the corpse. “Sorry that it came to this, Picoli. We know it wasn’t your fault, and I wish we didn’t have to do… any of it. I wish we found a way to save you… Why didn’t we find a way?” She asked the last part quietly.

“We saved her the only way we could,” Yanily reminded Seena.

“Yeah, I guess,” the party leader replied. “Goodbye, Picoli.”

“Bye, Pic,” Yanily said.

Hiral just nodded his head, no good words for any of it.

“I won’t forget what I promised you,” Seeyela said. “And I’ll miss you.”

With one more look at the others, Seena cocked back her arm, then tossed the fireball at the body of their fallen friend. Flame whooshed as it landed within the circle of glyphs, flame leaping high into the sky, then churning in a constant stream.

The party watched for long minutes as the pyre burned everything within it to ash and beyond, and then several more minutes after it had faded.

Without a word, they turned one after another and trudged back to the dungeon entrance as the falling rain grew harder and the wind picked up.