Rune Seeker

It took hours for Seena to tell Grandmother about their… adventure… on the surface. Details about the dungeons and what was inside them, their strange encounters in the Lost dungeons… and the very real threat of the Urn of Ur’Thul. She spoke at length about Dr. Benza, the constant rain, and, most importantly, the Enemy.

All the while, though Hiral listened intently and added what he could to the retelling, his neck couldn’t stop craning back for him to look at the ceiling of the house. Fallen Reach was so close. With Drake’s power, he could be home within the hour. And yet, here he stayed, Grandmother’s knowing eyes darting over to him every time he even thought about excusing himself.

And, really, it’s probably for the best. I need the others to help me stop the Fallen from waking up—unless we already stopped that when we killed the thing inside Picoli.

“… and that’s when you probably saw us fighting the Rocs,” Seena said, a teacup in her hand and Li’l Ur standing on the saucer, one hand gently stirring the tea like he was fascinated by it.

“We’ve never seen the birds come so close before,” Grandmother said with a nod. “And certainly never one that size! Oh, ho, ho, if you’d managed to bring that beast down, imagine the experience you young’uns would’ve gotten. And how well we could’ve eaten for a full rotation.”

“It was only D-Rank,” Yanily said.

“And Elite,” Seeyela added.

“What’s e-leet, Mom?” Favela asked from where she sat between Seeyela and Hiral. Even though she had a cookie in one hand, she hadn’t let go of her mother since they’d been reunited. She’d also been surprisingly happy to see Hiral as well—which meant he couldn’t say no when she insisted, with all the determination a kid her age could muster, that he sit beside her.

“Just something we call really strong monsters,” Seeyela said.

“Says the guy who it wasn’t trying to eat,” Seena said.

“There’s a big difference between trying and succeeding; quit your complaining,” Yanily said, waving his hand as if to dismiss the whole idea.

Grandmother let the banter continue for a moment while she absorbed the end of the story, then put her teacup down with a soft clink. That sound cut off the Growers’ chatter as effectively as any shout could have. There was a lot of respect floating around for this old woman.

“You’ve told me quite the tale, the likes of which I haven’t heard in all my years,” Grandmother said. “I never would’ve imagined what the dungeons really were, or the truth behind the origins of our PIMs… or that a race of flying squids is in control of our entire world outside the ring of sunny skies provided by Fallen Reach.”

“That may not even stay true if we let the Fallen wake up,” Hiral reminded them. “We should get back up to Fallen Reach. Soon.”

Grandmother watched Hiral for several long seconds while the others remained silent, then finally nodded. “He’s right. You will need to go… soon.”

The way she paused at the end there had Hiral’s eyebrow starting up his forehead, but she continued like nothing was amiss.

“The others may be disappointed they prepared a feast, and the guests of honor won’t be there, but I’ll explain things,” the older woman continued. Her eyes settled on Hiral, a weight to her gaze like she was once again using her View-like ability. Was she really going to let them go? Or, did she have some reason to stop them? To stop him? Old prejudice?

“Thank you, Grandmother,” Seeyela said, apparently not picking up on the matron’s stare—or ignoring it completely.

“Where are we going, Mom?” Favela asked.

“Mom has to go with Auntie Seena, Yanily, and Hiral up to Fallen Reach,” Seeyela said, pointing straight up while she spoke. “I won’t be gone long, though.”

“I’m going with you,” Favela said sternly.

“No, my dear, you can’t come. It might not be safe.”

“Then why are you going?” Favela whined. “You just got back. I don’t want you to leave again.”

Seeyela put a hand on her daughter’s head. “I know, kiddo. I don’t want to go either.”

“Then don’t!” Favela said, using crystal-clear kid-logic.

“I have to,” Seeyela said. “It might be dangerous, but not too dangerous for me. And there’s something bad going on up there we have to stop, so you and the others stay safe. It’s important.”

“And it has to be you?”

“Who else is going to keep Yanily out of trouble?” Seena asked.

“Pretty sure I’ve been keeping her out of trouble recently,” Yanily said.

Favela stared hard up at her mother—who looked back down lovingly—then snapped her head around to look at Hiral. “Will you keep my mom safe?”

“Me?” Hiral asked.

“You,” Favela said.

“Uh… sure,” Hiral said, the child’s stare having a surprising amount of power to it.

“Promise?” Favela asked.

Hiral let out a breath, then nodded. “I promise to keep your mom safe. I’ll even jump off another island to catch her if I have to.”

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“No, no touching her,” Favela said. “Daddy wouldn’t like it.”

“O… kay. I’ll keep her safe without touching her.”

“Good. I’ll let you be my husband when I get older, then,” Favela said with pure certainty.

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible,” Li’l Ur said as Hiral’s mouth worked to form his own response. “He is destined to be my apprentice. There won’t be time for… husbandly duties.”

“Can we not talk about husbandly duties with a child?” Hiral asked.

“I know what husbands do,” Favela said.

Hiral quickly looked up at Seeyela, but Favela continued, “They make breakfast when moms are too lazy to get up. And they buy pretty things when moms start yelling. And they always say moms are right, even if their faces look like they just ate a lemon.”

Now everybody was looking at Seeyela, Grandmother included.

“What?” Seeyela asked like nothing was wrong. “I married a smart man.”

“Back to… the important things,” Hiral said, making sure he didn’t meet Favela’s eyes again.

“Yeah,” Seena said. “We need to tell... the families of the people who didn’t make it, before we go up.” Then she looked at Hiral. “I can tell by the look on your face you think we’ve stayed too long already, but we need to do this.”

“I know,” Hiral said, his eyes sliding over to Grandmother. There was something about the pinch in her face that made his stomach drop, but he looked back to Seena and completed his thoughts. “I didn’t know them as well as you did, but they were my friends as well. Other than Fitch. That guy was always a jerk to me.”

“He was honestly kind of a jerk to everybody, but, yeah, you got it worse than most,” Yanily said.

“Don’t talk about him like that, Yan,” Seena said. “We all have our faults. His were just… more vocal than most. Anyway, after we explain what happened, we’ll go.”

“No,” Grandmother said, voice firm.

“You’ll tell them for us?” Seena asked, but Hiral was already shaking his head. The matron’s face was too serious for that.

“I will,” she said, surprising Hiral. “But that’s not what I was saying no to. I won’t let you—can’t let you—go to Fallen Reach now.”

There it was. Hiral stood, solar energy gathering to activate Foundational Split. He’d gotten so used to his party accepting him, he’d forgotten there were generations of mistrust and outright hate between the two peoples. Of course the oldest person among the Growers would harbor some of that; she’d been around the longest and suffered the most.

Well, he wouldn’t just sit idly by and be a target for that like he’d been for Fitch. If she tried to stop him…

“Hiral?” Seena said.

“Grandmother?” Seeyela said at the same time.

“Oh, sit down,” Grandmother said, her own solar energy flaring with the words, and an intangible force practically demanded he follow her suggestion.

But Hiral’s ability, I Bow to No One, kicked in, and he shoved off the influence from the higher-Rank Grower.

“Both of you,” Seena shouted, jumping to her feet, “quit it!”

“She’s like Fitch,” Hiral said through gritted teeth. Even though he’d resisted her command to sit, the pressure of her words was still like a physical thing on his shoulders.

“She’s not,” Seena said. “And you…” She turned on Grandmother. “Is this how we host guests in our homes?”

Grandmother’s eyes narrowed at somebody so junior taking that tone, but then her gaze softened, and she broke out into a soft chuckle. “Oh, ho, ho, how long has it been since somebody talked to me like that? Or actually disobeyed me?” She looked back at Hiral. “You’re right, though. I’ve completely forgotten my manners.”

Just like that, the pressure on Hiral vanished like it’d never been there, and he forced himself not to gasp as he pulled air into his lungs.

“So, you’ll let us go?” he asked, staying on his feet.

“No,” Grandmother said, only to hold up one finger. “Not yet.”

“Why not, Grandmother?” Seeyela asked, somehow on her feet with Favela behind her.

Instead of answering the question, Grandmother looked from Seeyela to Hiral to Seena—holding each of their gazes for a few seconds—and then finally to Yanily. “At least one of you isn’t outright diso…” She trailed off.

Daring to take his eyes off the powerful, older woman for only a second, Hiral glanced over at Yanily to see what had gotten her attention.

Oh.

The spearman leaned forward in his seat, elbows on his spread knees and hands clasped in front of himself. While the position itself was serious, it was the lightning crackling along his body and stretching off his back like a pair of wings that really grabbed attention. In his eyes, storms raged, and the air in the room began to pop in small bursts of ionized energy.

“You’re not like Fitch,” Yanily said. “Never have been. What’s going on, Grandmother?”

In response, the matron lifted a hand and tapped her lip with one finger, then nodded. “Good. Good. You all really have grown from your time on the surface.”

“You didn’t answer our questions,” Yanily pointed out.

Then somebody pounded on the building’s door.

“Mom?” Favela asked quietly from where she stood behind her mother’s legs.

“Grandmother!” a strong voice called, followed by more pounding on the door. “Grandmother, is everything okay in there? What’s that solar energy?”

“Everything’s fine,” Seeyela said. “Isn’t it, Grandmother?”

“I can’t believe any of you,” Seena said, but her body turned so she was facing the old woman as well, Li’l Ur floating beside her shoulder.

Small circles of blue flame burned into existence beside the lich’s hands, and he began to chuckle at the tension in the room.

“Grandmother, please, what’s going on?” Seena asked, but there was no pleading in her voice—just steel.

With a blink, Grandmother let go of her solar energy, a void at its absence practically sucking at the energy of others in the room, but the old woman was smiling. “Stop hammering on my door, you nitwits!” she shouted at the door. “What’ll I do if you break it down? Have tea in a drafty room?’

“Grandmother…” the earlier voice said, a hint of embarrassment replacing the worry. “You’re… fine?”

“Of course I am! Who do you think I am?” she called back, her aura rolling over the party in the room and to the building’s door. Like a tree reaching from ground to sky, hers was an almost impossible presence, age and strength coiled in its thick roots, while its strong branches carried the future on its thousands of leaves.

Within that small glimpse, Hiral got a true picture of the might of the A-Rank individual in front of him. As confident as he was in his own abilities, if she really wanted to stop them, it would be a miracle for them to prevent it.

“Sorry… for disturbing you and your guests…” the voice said, and Hiral heard faint steps walking away.

Grandmother’s aura retracted in the next second, and the small woman picked up her teacup again. “Now, then. Back to what we were talking about. As you know”—she looked at the three Growers —“I have two abilities unique to our people. Roots of the Past and Branches of Fate. The first lets me verify the truth of things and make connections to events that have occurred. The second, well… it lets me catch glimpses of the future.”

“What did you see?” Seena asked.

“Two things,” Grandmother said. “One in each direction.”

“And?”

“Fitch is alive,” Grandmother said.