Rune Seeker

“Pardon?” Seena said.

Hiral searched Grandmother’s face for any sign she could be lying. Nothing. The woman believed what she was saying. Was it true, though? Could she really see the past and future?

“Fitch didn’t die, as you believe,” Grandmother said. “In fact, he returned briefly.”

“Briefly?” Hiral asked, locking on that last word.

“Alive?” Seeyela asked, a flicker of hope in her voice. “And he’s back here?”

“Not anymore,” Hiral said. “Right?”

“Right,” Grandmother said. “I didn’t see him myself, but when you mentioned him and then going to Fallen Reach, my Roots of the Past ability activated. Fitch visited our islands briefly, stopping at the Grandfather, and then got picked up by Islanders on one of their flying discs.”

“A Disc of Passage?” Hiral asked. “Where did they take him?”

“Up to Fallen Reach,” Grandmother said.

“He went willingly,” Grandmother said, her eyes glazing over slightly like she was looking at a status window. “In fact, it’s as if they were there at his request.”

Or, maybe she’s looking at the vision again?

“That can’t be right,” Seeyela said. “Fitch, going willingly with Islanders? He’d never do that.”

“Something was… different… about him,” Grandmother said. “He didn’t stop to talk to anybody, and, in fact, snuck to the Grandfather without being seen beneath his cloak. Even I can’t see anything more than his face through my vision.”

“The missing jumpsuit from the camp,” Yanily said. “That must’ve been him, right?”

“I… guess?” Seena said. “But we aren’t even at the Horns yet. We wouldn’t be up here if we didn’t have flying mounts. If he had one too, he wouldn’t need the jumpsuit. And, if he didn’t have a mount, how did he get up here ahead of us?”

“The jump point Yanily’s father talked about?” Seeyela suggested.

“I think we’re missing a much bigger question,” Hiral said, and the others stopped to look at him. “How did he even get to this zone in the first place? He couldn’t have gone through the Asylums like we did, since he couldn’t clear the dungeons without a party. So, how did he get across the Sea of White?”

That question made everybody pause.

“Why would he go to the Grandfather?” Seena asked, moving past Hiral’s question. “An evolution? If he survived and got back up here, he must be stronger now, right?”

“I don’t know,” Grandmother said, “which leads me to the second reason I can’t let you go to Fallen Reach yet. My Branches of Fate tells me we need to visit the Grandfather together. Maybe it’s because of Fitch, or maybe it’s something else. But, for you to succeed in Fallen Reach, you need to come with me.”

“You’ll let us go after that?” Hiral asked. He’d released the solar energy he’d prepared for Foundational Split during the revelation of Fitch being alive, but despite the odds, if the old woman…

“Yes,” she said. “The Roots and Branches have shown me hints of what will happen if you fail. Glimpses of a past somehow… forgotten… and a future soaked with rain and blood.”

“So, you’ll help us, then?” Seena asked. “Come up with us?”

Grandmother shook her head. “Help you? Yes. Go with you? No. Something tells me I need to stay here, with the others. Perhaps we’ll find out why when we go see the Grandfather.”

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“If you believe us and saw the future, what could be more important than stopping the Fallen from awakening?” Hiral asked.

“That is a very good question, isn’t it?” Grandmother said. “And one that makes me even more sure I need to stay here and find the answer. But that’s for later. For now, we need to go to the Grandfather. Though, little one”—she looked at Favela—“you need to stay here.”

Favela hid a little further behind her mother, obviously torn between her respect for Grandmother and her desire to stay with her mom.

“Does she?” Seeyela asked. “There’s no danger going to the Grandfather.”

“Normally, no,” Grandmother said. “These aren’t normal times, I think. Leave your daughter here, where she’ll be safe.”

Seeyela looked long at Grandmother, then finally nodded and turned to her daughter. Crouching down, she put her hands on Favela’s shoulders. “You’re going to stay here while Mommy goes and takes care of some things.”

Favela’s lips trembled like she wanted to argue, and her eyes grew wet. But, finally, she nodded at her mother, then looked at Hiral. “Remember your promise.”

“I remember,” Hiral said.

“There’s a good girl,” Grandmother said. “Just like your mother and aunt before they got all grown up.” She smirked at the sisters. “Why don’t you go play in the guest room?”

Favela wrapped her arms around her mother’s neck, Seeyela returning the tight hug, then let go and wiped her nose with the back of her arm. “I’ll be waiting for you to come back again.” She then ran off into a side room while she fought back her tears.

“Let’s get this over with so I can spend some time with my daughter,” Seeyela said, her own face a mask of forced stability.

“Yes, follow me,” Grandmother said. “We shouldn’t be seen by the people waiting in the garden for now,” she added with a chuckling ho, ho, ho.

Heading in the same direction Favela had gone, the party passed a partially closed door with a soft sniffling coming from the other side. Seeyela stopped, hand reaching for the door, then shook her head and marched on, the others matching her pace. From there, the matron led them out a side door from the large home seemingly grown directly from huge roots, and then down an alley formed naturally between more traditional homes.

Now that Hiral was closer to the buildings, he recognized similarities to the buildings up on Fallen Reach he’d missed before, simply because they were made of different materials. Most of Fallen Reach’s buildings were made of carved stone, like the towns they’d found on the surface. The Grower buildings, however, were entirely built of wood. Some of it seemed to be like Grandmother’s home—grown into a specific shape as needed—while other parts were clearly carved lumber.

Do they grow their own trees with abilities to produce lumber? Could Seena do that with her Spearing Roots, or is it another kind of ability that just speeds up natural plant growth? If we had this up on Fallen Reach, we could actually build new structures…

Just one more benefit to a better relationship between the Makers of Fallen Reach and the Growers on the islands below.

“You’re actually thinking about the buildings, aren’t you?” Seena asked from behind him, her voice just loud enough for him to hear. “With all this going on, you’re interested in architecture.”

“Maybe,” he admitted. “I can’t believe Fitch is alive, or that he was here, and now he’s up there.” He pointed up at the edge of the massive island floating above them.

“It doesn’t seem real, does it? That he could be alive after all this? Seems almost too good to be true.”

“It does,” Hiral said.

“Which means it probably is,” Seena said, her voice practically a hiss.

“You have a theory.”

“And you would, too, if you weren’t so busy looking at the buildings,” Seena said.

“Fitch is Infested,” Hiral said immediately, and Seena’s steps behind him faltered for a heartbeat before continuing. “It’s the thing that makes the most sense.”

“That’s what I was thinking too,” she said. “The damage at the campsite… It wasn’t Picoli. It was somebody or something with a single claw. Or a sword.”

“And if Picoli got across the Sea of White with the help of an Enemy, Fitch could’ve done the same,” Hiral said, continuing the line of thought.

“Fitch could’ve been captured by Picoli and brought over as some kind of hostage,” Yanily said, his voice carrying over the party chat.

“If that was the case, why did he sneak back up onto the islands?” Seeyela asked. “Why wouldn’t he be screaming about the threat of the Enemy or Picoli? I’d much rather think he was a hostage, but it doesn’t seem as likely.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Yanily agreed. “If he’s sneaking, though, that means he isn’t like Picoli. Not a Feral Infested. He’s like that one we fought back in The Buried City. A… What did Dr. Benza call it?”

“A Refined Infested,” Hiral said. “Somebody who willingly let the Enemy inside of them.”

“You think Fitch would do that?” Seena asked.

“Would he even have a choice?” Seeyela replied. “We thought he was dead. Left him alone to fend for himself. Maybe this was the only way he could survive.”

“What’s he here for now?” Yanily asked, but then his head tilted backwards as he looked up. “Ah, never mind. I can think of one thing Fitch and the Enemy have in common.

“Their hatred for Fallen Reach.”