Rune Seeker

Green bands surrounded Hiral’s biceps and boosted his strength as he brought the Emperor’s Greatsword around and up to cleave a light construct in two. A clear note sounded at the moment of impact, changing immediately to the familiar continuous tone of a wooden pan flute, and Hiral completely released the weapon.

Off soared the sword, while Hiral spun and dropped to a knee, his RHCs coming out in his hands. Left and Right crossed in front of him, that same pan-flute sound following in their wake as they engaged a pair of constructs. Hiral, for his part, put them out of his mind and pulled his triggers. Two chords from his hits joined a trio of rapid notes from Left and Right striking true, resounding in an echoing harmony over the disc, and sickly green light leaked from the barrels of his cannons.

Hiral stood and twisted to the side, pulled a trigger, then kicked up and over with another pull. Two more light constructs tumbled to the ground, the green light from Hiral’s RHCs now infecting them with Ghost-Web Spider Venom. They wouldn’t be getting back up, and the score continued to pull Hiral along anyway.

A glimpse out of the corner of his eyes showed another construct between Left and Right similarly infected with the venomous debuff, and then he was past. Back to his thighs went his RHCs as the climax of the piece took hold of him. One hand out to the side, he pulled with his Rune of Attraction, then charged the final light construct on the platform.

More than twice the size of all the others, this one’s shape constantly shifted, growing new arms and weapons as it charged forward to meet Hiral. A hammer’s head as big as a dog swung for him, but the score led him under, the wind from the powerful swing blowing across his back, then back up and over to flip past a cutting sword strike.

In his wake, a Lost Echo appeared from his dodge, then exploded right on key to stagger the monster back. Left and Right came in at the same time Hiral rolled back to his feet, and the Emperor’s Greatsword slapped into his palm. All at once, the sound of the three pan flutes melded into one, and Left, Right, and Hiral charged in simultaneously.

Glowing symbols appeared on the construct’s body, guiding their strikes and rewarding them with beautiful notes that ignited matching symbols on the wall. Building and building, the chorus rose as the trio danced around and struck their opponent, more symbols flaring on the wall. A quick combination of hits Echoed the Searing Pain debuff he’d experienced back in the Troblin Keep, while the next combo buffed him with a short-duration Nature’s Blade. More and more sequences hit home, the unison between Hiral and his doubles triggering the true power of his new style: Chord of the Primal Echo.

Two more successful hits, then four, eight, and finally, a single clear note sounded across the disc, signaling the crescendo that rose with the Ring of Amin Thett on Hiral’s back. At the same time Hiral lunged in, greatsword in both hands, he activated his Rune of Energy. Pinned as it was by the sword through its gut, and Left and Right holding its arms, the light construct had no chance at defense as the Annihilation of Amin Thett ripped through it in the blink of an eye.

The whole room shook with the closing note, and what was left of the construct shattered like cheap glass.

“That’s the whole score,” Right said, Lashing Vines writhing on his shoulders before they vanished a second later. He pointed at the far wall, where the entire musical piece glowed.

“We did it,” Left agreed, a smile on his face.

“Yes, we did,” Hiral said, patting his doubles on the shoulders.

“Think you can remember all that without the symbols to guide you?” Right asked him.

“Really hoping we get a weapon style like the Growers do,” Hiral said, and he was only half-joking. Perfect execution of the maneuvers resulted in triggered benefits—buffs or debuffs he’d experienced in the past—after certain combinations, but being even a little off meant they didn’t occur. It’d take… a lot more practice to get to the point where he’d be able to replicate it through normal training. “How do you think the others are doing?”

“I think Yanily completed his trial,” Left said. “None of the others yet.”

“How can you tell?” Hiral asked, following Left’s line of sight to the distant wall. Above their musical score, a new symbol had appeared—like a pair of backwards, narrow Cs—and it glowed fiercely. Likewise, above Yanily’s score, something like a cloud with a lightning bolt glowed just as bright. “Ah, I see it.”

“We shouldn’t be surprised Yanily got it,” Right said.

“Apparently he has a knack for this kind of thing,” Hiral agreed.

“Looks like he’s back with Seeyela and Nivian in the middle,” Left said. “Shall we?”

“Yeah,” Hiral said, walking towards that edge of the disc, and then on to the central platform.

“Got it?” Yanily asked, looking up as Hiral and his doubles approached.

“Thanks to your hints,” Hiral said.

“Oh, don’t say that,” Nivian said. “It’ll go straight to his head.”

“It’s true, though,” Hiral said, taking a sandwich as soon as Nivian offered it.

“Doesn’t matter,” Nivian sighed. “Ah, well. That makes two of us.”

“How’s it going for you?” Hiral asked the tank, nodding at Seeyela to make sure she knew she was included in the question.

“Close,” Nivian said. “Just needed a break to regain some solar energy.”

“Same here,” Seeyela said. “The style uses a lot of portals and teleporting, so it’s expensive.”

“Portals too?” Hiral asked. “I would’ve just expected the teleports.”

“I think the portals are for you guys, actually. The style is teaching me how to support you all while I’m fighting with these.” Seeyela touched the hilts of her daggers as she spoke. “I don’t even have to hit some of the constructs to make them vanish, just open a portal near them.”

“And I’m pretty sure some of my style involves me taking hits for somebody else,” Nivian said. “Constructs appear and look like they’re swinging at the air. If I don’t get there and block the blow, though, that’s the end of the song.

“It’s not all blocks, though. I’m learning some new ways to use my shield to hit stuff, and there are a couple of things with my whip I never would’ve thought of. Especially now that I have three of them.”

“These Primal styles seem more… complete than our normal weapon styles,” Seeyela said. “We can use little pieces for big benefits. I also feel like there’s more to them than we’re seeing here.”

“And you would be right,” Odi said, coming over to join the group. “What you’re seeing on the walls are what I’d call the prelude to the Primal Symphony. These chords are the introduction to start you on the path.”

“If this is just the introduction, do we have to learn more to pass the trial?” Yanily asked.

Odi shook his head. “No, this trial only exposes you to the symphony. It’s up to you to figure out the rest. Whether that’s writing your own music, or following in the footsteps of one of the other great composers, that’s up to you to figure out.”

“There’s more than we’re seeing on the walls?” Nivian asked.

“Pretty sure I just said that,” Odi grumbled.

“You could try being a little more straight with what you’re saying instead of flowering it up,” Hiral said.

“Don’t be absurd—I have an image to keep up,” Odi said, genuinely looking offended.

“Ah, sorry for… suggesting it…” Hiral said, sharing a look with Seeyela. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Be sure it doesn’t happen again,” Odi replied with a nod.

Hiral took a bite out of his sandwich instead of replying, chewed slowly, and finally turned his attention to Seeyela. “You think you’re going to get a dagger style out of this?”

“I do,” she said. “Doesn’t look like I’ll need you to train me after all. Not that I don’t appreciate the offer.”

“No, it’s probably better this way,” Hiral said. “We don’t have a lot of time to just sit around.”

“Uh…” Yanily started, pointing to each of them literally just sitting around.

“We don’t normally have the time,” Hiral corrected. “Happy?”

“It’s important to be accurate,” Yanily said.

“Of course it…” Hiral started, only to be cut off by another resounding note echoing through the chamber. A quick look at the walls showed a symbol clearly representing fire above Seena’s score. And, looking at the woman herself, it was impossible to miss the huge grin on her face even from a hundred feet away.

“Ah, break’s over,” Nivian said, standing up. “If she’s done, she won’t let up until we get ours.”

Even Seeyela had stood up and… bamf… she was back in the center of her own platform.

“Coward,” Nivian muttered, though he was forced to jog past Seena to get to his own platform.

“I’ll settle for third,” Seena said, her smile still beaming from ear to ear as she sat down where Seeyela had just been.

“Considering how quickly you’re all progressing through these trials, even finishing last will be an achievement for the history books,” Odi said.

“You said somebody else did these trials before?” Hiral asked the Lizardman. “How long did it take them?”

“I believe they completed their third trial sometime after twelve weeks,” Odi said, but he then held up a finger. “However, they had a different first trial, and we don’t yet know what’s in store for the third. You all could still be in here much, much longer. Though I really hope not. Your utensils are like little torture devices, designed to see me starve before we exit and…” He trailed off as Yanily held up a sandwich for him.

“No spoons needed,” Yanily said.

“I saw you eating this strange food with… with your bare hands, like some kind of animal. You really expect me to…?”

“You’ve never had a sandwich?” Hiral asked. “Whatever. Just try it and complain later… if you can,” he added, taking a bite from his own.

“Well, I suppose it’s better than going hungry,” Odi said, taking the foot-long sandwich between his long, scaly forefinger and thumb. A nibble, which was nearly half the sandwich, and then he chewed thoughtfully for a moment.

The other half vanished a second later.

“I can see the appeal,” Odi said.

“I know, right?” Hiral said. “And, now that we’ve fed you, maybe you can answer a question for me.” Odi nodded his permission to ask. “This Urn… How is it going to save your… er… our people?”

Odi sighed. “Of course you didn’t read my three-hundred-page thesis on the subject. Why did I even slave away the better part of my youth if nobody was going to read it? I could’ve just come straight here.”

“The Urn?” Seena prompted. “Uh, and just the summary, if you could.”

“Right, right,” Odi said. “To keep it brief, the Urn is powered by the spirits of those who came before us. Through the Urn, their knowledge—and in a way, their lives—are eternal. I hope to use that to return my people to what they were before.”

“You really think you can save them?” Hiral asked.

“I do.”

“And… if you aren’t able to get the Urn, do you have a back-up plan?” Seena asked, and Hiral could see her fighting to keep her face neutral.

“I don’t,” Odi said. “The Urn is our last hope. Without it, we’ll be wiped out for good.”

Hiral met Seena’s eyes, and he could tell the same thing was going through her head as his. If the Urn really was that powerful, couldn’t they use it to save Fallen Reach? And, if they took it, could they live with themselves afterwards if this was all real?