Rune Seeker

Hiral blinked water out of his eyes as he exited the dungeon portal, then looked up at the rain streaming down on top of him.

Rain? Am I outside?

No, that wasn’t it. A huge chunk of the dungeon ceiling above him was simply missing, the pouring rain streaming through the gap and leaving water up to his ankles at his feet. A small step put him on top of the water—thanks to Walk on Water—and he looked around the room.

Carnage and devastation were the first words that came to mind. The entire herd of Great Tusks lay butchered in the water, most of the pieces filling the corner where they’d huddled before, but plenty more strewn about the floor like they’d been pulled apart. Huge blocks of the dungeon’s roof lay collapsed on the other side of the room, and the original ramp down had been more than quadrupled in size, as if something massive had torn its way in.

“What… happened?” Nivian asked, holding his shield above his head to block some of the rain.

A flash of lightning and a boom of thunder overhead punctuated the question.

“Nothing good,” his twin said quietly, just barely audible over the constant thrumming of rain.

“Seeyela and the others?” Seena asked.

“I don’t see them,” Hiral said, then turned to the dungeon pedestal. The smashed dungeon pedestal. “Damn.”

He walked over to it and crouched to find the interface crystal. Maybe it’d still work if he could just… There! He pushed aside small pieces of rubble, then waved his hand over the crystal.

Nothing.

“Is that the crystal?” Seena asked.

“Yes, but it doesn’t look like it works anymore,” Hiral said. “No way to check the clear times.”

“Or go back in,” Yanily said.

“Now is not the time to think about experience,” Nivian said, a slight reprimand in his voice.

“I wasn’t,” Yanily said. “At least, not entirely. Really. Look. We went in to escape something, right? Well, we don’t have that option anymore.”

“We need to get to the next dungeon,” Vix said.

“One more and we can enter the Asylum,” Wule agreed, then quickly turned to Seena. “Not that I’m suggesting we leave before Seeyela and the others get out.”

“I know you aren’t,” Seena said.

“We finished a couple of minutes earlier than the four hours,” Hiral said. “I’m sure they’ll be out any minute now. We should see if our supplies survived while we wait, so we’re ready to go as soon as they join us.”

“We’ll take care of it,” Nivian said to Seena. “Vix and Yanily, check on our tents and sleeping bags. Wule and I will see about food and other supplies. Hiral, I know we just got more crystal from this run, but I’ll leave it to you to find what we got from the first one, and get it ready to go.”

“Sure thing,” Hiral said, then he and the others moved off to work on their tasks. A pulse of solar energy brought Left and Right out to join him, and he headed for the back wall.

“I don’t know if I agree with you,” Left said quietly to Hiral.

“Which part?” Hiral asked.

“About thinking the pedestal was destroyed on purpose,” Left said. “The entire room has been trashed, and the Great Tusks slaughtered. It could’ve just been collateral damage.”

“It’s possible,” Hiral said. “But if it wasn’t, that means we’re dealing with something smart or knowledgeable enough to know about how we escaped.”

“We don’t know if whatever did this even knew we were down here,” Right said.

“We do,” Hiral countered, finding one of the odd bags that held way more than it looked like it should. There was some damage along the side, and one of the straps was broken, but the crystals inside seemed fine. “The Great Tusks have been living down here for how many years? Hundreds? More?

“It’s not a coincidence this happened right after we showed up,” Hiral went on. “It’s safer to assume it was the Enemy who did this, and it knew we were here.”

“If that’s true, and they knew what the pedestals do, that would mean they might know about the four-hour time limit, then, too,” Left said.

“Exactly, which is why we need to be ready to go as soon as…” Hiral cut off as the dungeon portal spiraled open, and Seeyela’s party stepped out.

Like Hiral had, they all paused while their brains registered the fact they were getting rained on. Then Seena was there, wrapping her sister in a hug.

“How’d it go?” Seena asked, quiet enough that only Seeyela and Hiral—with his high Atn—heard the question.

“Rough,” Seeyela said. “But we made it through. Those Mid-Bosses were no joke. What’s the story here?”

“We’re just about ready to go,” Nivian said, carrying a pack in each hand. He handed one straight to Lonil. “Pedestal doesn’t work anymore, so we need to get to the last dungeon as soon as possible.”

“The Troblin Throne,” Wule said before walking over to Cal. “Anything I can help with?”

Cal shook her head. “Got everybody patched up in the hour after we completed the dungeon.”

“We’ve got all the crystals we managed to collect from our two runs,” Hiral said, gesturing between himself and his doubles. “I’ve got some ideas what I can do with them when we get to the next dungeon. Should help make us stronger in the long run, assuming it works.”

“Any chance it will explode?” Yanily asked.

“Not… likely…?” Hiral said with a shrug.

“Then we should let Vix try it first,” Yanily said.

“Thanks,” Vix said flatly.

“Vix, Yanily, do you have the tents?” Nivian asked, cutting off the banter.

“Salvaged what we could,” Yanily said. “Half of them look like they got buried when the roof caved in.”

“Same with the sleeping bags and a good amount of the food,” Vix added.

“Even if the next dungeon doesn’t give us supplies, we still have more than enough,” Nivian said. “And maybe we can find some of those Tri-Horns that made the tracks.”

“We’ll worry about that after we get to the Asylum,” Seeyela said. “Thanks for getting our stuff ready too. Since that’s done, let’s get going before whatever did this”—she slowly turned her head around the destroyed room—“thinks to come back and take another look.”

Taking one of the packs with the crystals in them, Hiral jogged across the surface of the water to the entrance to the ramp. “Part of it caved in, but I think we can get through here. I’m going to head up first and make sure it’s clear.”

“Be careful,” Seena said. “Just because you have a good attunement it doesn’t make you any harder to spot.”

“I know,” Hiral said, drawing one of his RHCs and starting up the tunnel.

Water ran down the slope like a small river from the heavy rain, but his feet didn’t move with it. If anything, he had better traction than he expected, and he jogged about halfway up before he got to the collapsed area. Some of the glowing roots were still visible, giving him enough light to see by, and he crouched down to look through the space.

It wasn’t tight enough he’d need to crawl, but a shimmy was definitely in order.

“Maybe one of us should go first,” Right offered.

“You’re not expendable,” Hiral said, dropping the pack off his shoulder into his hand and squeezing under the fallen slab of rock.

His arm brushed against the cool stone as he passed, his RHC leading the way. Would it actually do any good against an Enemy? The tunnel seemed to close around him with each step he took, forcing him to crouch lower and lower. The roots in the caved-in area themselves were crushed and lifeless, but light beckoned from not more than ten feet ahead. He slowed to gaze out at the storm.

Wind lashed the rain against the side of the tunnel, slapping against the rocks and spattering in all directions. Whatever magic had kept the elements out before had obviously been lost when the dungeon entrance had been destroyed. Lightning flashed, illuminating the scraggly trees littering the swamp, then again and again, their branches bent to the side by the fury of nature.

Was something out there waiting for him? For anything trying to leave the dungeon? Well, he wouldn’t find out just crouching there, so he took another step forward. A second step, and the pack in his hand caught on something behind him. He half-turned in reflex to look, and at the same time, something darted past the entrance to the tunnel.

Hiral froze, his weapon aimed at the mouth of the ramp, waiting. One second, two, three… ten. He waited for something to come charging in at him.

“Everything okay?” Left asked quietly from just behind him.

“I think I saw something run past the entrance,” Hiral said. “Might’ve been my imagination.”

“Better to assume it wasn’t,” Left said. “Is there room ahead for more than one of us?”

“Yeah,” Hiral said. “I’m going.”

“And we’re right behind you,” Left said. “Because you’re not expendable either.”

“Fair,” Hiral said. “The pack is caught. Think you could…?”

“Done,” Left said, and the pack’s weight settled in Hiral’s hand again.

“Thanks.” He moved as quickly as he could out of the tight space, his weapon trained on the tunnel entrance the entire time. As soon as he was out, he moved to the side, Left and Right following in quick succession.

“I told the others you might’ve seen something,” Right said. “They’re coming, but there isn’t room for all of us here. If it’s going to be a fight, we need more space.”

“We’re going out,” Hiral said. “Left… uh… you’ve got the left side.”

“Don’t even bother telling me,” Right deadpanned.

“Go,” Hiral said, quick-stepping to the tunnel exit and out into the rain, his doubles fanning out to both sides beside him.

“Clear,” Left said.

“Same here,” Right added.

Hiral’s eyes scanned the darkness ahead as lightning flashed. He quickly turned around to check and make sure nothing was waiting for them above the tunnel entrance. Clear.

“I guess it was my imagination,” Hiral said.

“No, there are tracks here,” Left said. “Another one of those Tri-Horns, I think.”

“Could Tri-Horns be the Enemy?” Hiral asked.

“More likely the prey,” Left said. “And if it was running…”

“We should be thinking about doing the same thing. That path there,” he said, pointing off to one side. “That’s the one to Splitfang Keep, yeah? Which means that one”—he pointed in the other direction, the opposite way the Tri-Horn had gone—"should lead to the Troblin Throne.”

“Directly toward whatever the Tri-Horn was running from,” Left pointed out.

“Any better suggestions?” Hiral asked him.

“No,” Left admitted.

“Right, tell the others it’s as clear as it’s going to get. It’s time to leave.” Hiral looked down the path of glowing vines. Whether the Enemy was that way or not, they had to go in that direction.

Hiral glanced behind him at the ruins of the dungeon entrance.

Hopefully, the Asylum is a bit sturdier…

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