Rune Seeker

“This isn’t the dungeon,” Hiral said, almost ten hours—and just as many encounters—later. He pointed at the trail as it transformed into a paved street. “But it’s definitely something.”

The ruins of dozens of stone buildings filled the clearing in the forest. The tallest had to have been at least four stories tall in its prime, with thick walls, ornate windows—some of which still held glass—and stylized trim. Plants glowing faintly with solar energy crawled up the walls and draped through holes in the roofs, giving the whole place a multicolored aura in the falling rain.

But, despite the alien atmosphere created by the different hues of the plants, there was a familiarity to it. The way the roofs angled at the edges, the engravings around the windows, and even the spacing between the buildings.

This wasn’t a city, like Fallen Reach, but the similarity in the architecture was unmistakable.

“There are differences, but I think the same people who built Fallen Reach must have built these buildings too,” Hiral said.

“This place isn’t floating,” Vix pointed out.

“Okay, maybe not the same same people,” Hiral admitted, unable to take his eyes off the buildings. His mind conjured images of people strolling down the streets in the afternoon sun. Even the look of the streets between the buildings was the same. “But, at least, people from the same time? Or, homeland? Or something. I could definitely imagine seeing these buildings in a corner of Fallen Reach.

“That one there; that would be a shop—a bakery, I think, by the size of the window in the front and the chimney in the back. That one over there; I think it’s a blacksmith. And that cluster of buildings at the edge of the woods; those are homes. At the far end of this path; that has to be some kind of… inn? We don’t have a lot of them in Fallen Reach, but the city is big enough we need places for people to stay if they’re visiting different neighborhoods. That building looks just like them.”

“Do you think we’ll find any people here?” Yanily asked, though he still had his spear held firmly in both hands.

“I’d be shocked,” Wule answered quietly. “Look at this place. It’s falling apart.”

“Worse than that,” Nivian said. “Look at some of the damage to the buildings. Especially the roofs. I don’t think it’s all natural.”

“You think the town was attacked?” Hiral asked, and the question had everybody turning their heads to make sure nothing was sneaking up on them from behind.

“It’s one explanation,” Nivian said.

“The Enemy Dr. Benza was talking about?” Seena asked.

“Could just be those lizards,” Fitch replied.

“You guys never found anything like this before?” Hiral asked Seena, all the Growers more on edge than he’d seen them before.

“Never,” she said. “At least, never that we were told about. This path we’re on, I’m pretty sure it leads away from the EnSath River.”

“Meaning it’s taking us away from the jump points that would get us back up to the islands,” Hiral reasoned.

“Exactly. This is outside the safe range of travel.”

“Why didn’t we ever notice it from above?” Hiral asked, looking up to the rain falling directly on his face.

“Maybe the angle? The trees are pretty tall all around the town. Or maybe we just never saw it because we didn’t expect to see it?”

“It could be, but the glowing path to the next dungeon passes straight through the town and down the street like it was meant to be there,” Wule said. “The roots, or whatever they are, practically look like part of the design.” He pointed at the two glowing lines that spread out to each side of the street, then continued on through the town.

“Enough talk,” Seeyela interrupted, her voice cutting through the sound of falling rain. “This looks as good a place as any to set up camp and get some sleep. We’ve pushed pretty hard since we left the dungeon. Let’s check that inn at the end of the street and see if we can’t find a dry corner.”

“Can we look around the other buildings a bit?” Hiral asked, curiosity gnawing at the edges of his mind.

Seeyela didn’t answer immediately, and when she did, there was obvious hesitance in her voice. “We’ll see. These woods have been anything but safe, and I don’t want to risk anybody if we don’t have to.”

“But, this could give us clues to what happened here. How Fallen Reach is connected,” Hiral said. “Even what was going on before we were all on floating islands in the sky. Aren’t you curious?”

“I said we’ll see,” Seeyela said, her voice rock-hard and leaving no room for argument. From the looks on the Growers’ faces, they’d heard that tone before, and it wasn’t promising.

“Sorry,” Seena said quietly, for just his ears, and gave a small shrug.

Hiral just shook his head in the rain.

How can they just pass this by? Maybe I can send Left or Right to look around. That wouldn’t be so dangerous, would it?

“Let’s go,” Seeyela said. “Keep an eye on side alleys and higher levels. No telling where something might attack from. If we’re thinking of using this place to shelter from the rain, something else is too.”

Lonil immediately moved forward, his skin hardening to stone, and the rest of the party fell in line without question.

Like before, Seena’s group waited until the others had moved ahead, then started to form up.

“Seems like the kind of place where we’d find Troblins,” Wule finally said, breaking the relative silence.

“You think so?” Vix asked. “Looks pretty different than Splitfang Keep.”

“Doesn’t mean we won’t find squatters,” Wule said.

“He’s right,” Seena said. “Let’s follow the others. If the inn is safe, we can talk about what comes next.” Her last words came out as she looked at Hiral.

“Got it, boss,” Nivian said, taking the lead with Left beside him. The rest fell in shortly after that, though Seena lingered back with Hiral and Right.

“Sorry about my sister,” Seena said. “She has a good point, though.”

“No, you’re right. She’s right. It’s better to be safe than sorry. I just… it’s such an opportunity to start learning about what we don’t know. I can’t imagine how you’re not all fascinated by this.” Hiral gestured around, taking the opportunity to check the higher levels for threats. Just because he was curious didn’t mean he’d slack on his job.

“You sound like one of those Academics you were talking about before,” Seena said. “Your people must know about these kinds of towns. Have records about before you were on the island.”

“Not in the least—about the records, I mean. Sure, we have a class called Academics, but the title is kind of a misnomer. Learning and studying isn’t all the class is good at. It allows specialization in a skillset, and the development of abilities particular to that skillset.”

Hiral pointed at the large window of the bakery as they passed it. As he’d guessed, there was a counter and what looked like a large kitchen beyond, just the end of the oven visible.

“You’re saying your Academics bake bread?” Seena asked.

“Some of them. Or make nails and horseshoes.” He pointed at what he guessed was the smithy. “Er… have you ever seen a horse?”

“Just a drawing of one. Not the type of animal that would do well on our islands or the root systems we use to cross them. How many of them are up on Fallen Reach?”

“Just a few hundred. Some carriages in the city, then some out on the farms. That kind of thing. Anyway, only a few Academics study, because there just aren’t a lot of records, and we don’t come down to the surface. The infrastructure is the biggest resource for information, but people are worried about accidentally breaking it while studying it.”

“And you don’t know how to fix it if it breaks?”

“Exactly. But, after getting these”—Hiral pointed at the RHCs on his thighs—“I think I’m starting to understand more. Lots of the systems up in the city just work. We don’t know how. Like the water being drawn up from the river.”

“You think runes are responsible for that,” Seena said, catching on.

“Or something related. What if it’s just something like the Rune of Rejection keeping Fallen Reach in the sky? Or the Rune of Attraction pulling your islands along with it? If we could figure out how that all works, we might be able to make it so your islands don’t fall anymore.

“Fallen’s balls, we might be able to make it so you don’t even need Fallen Reach anymore. You could travel on your own, if you wanted.”

Seena stayed quiet at the declaration, the thoughts of it obviously working behind her eyes. “And there might be clues to that somewhere here in this town,” she said. “I think I understand a bit of why you’re so eager to get a look in these buildings.”

“There might also be nothing,” Hiral admitted. “But it’s worth the time spent to at least check.”

“Let me talk to my sister after we get settled. Explained like this, I think she’ll agree it’s worth the time. Assuming we don’t find a Troblin horde waiting for us.”

She actually saw my side? And agreed with me?

Hiral looked over to find Right looking back at him, then the double nonchalantly dropped back a few steps.

“Seena,” Hiral started, “can… can I ask you something?”

Seena glanced at him sideways, something in his tone getting her attention. “Uh, sure.”

“Why did you accept me into your party?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” she asked right back.

“I didn’t have a class.”

“And I didn’t know that.”

“But I was keeping things from you. You had to know that,” he said.

“And I was keeping things from you right back. Look, Hiral, you jumped off the island to save Favela. Jumped off! Everybody else just stood and watched. You saved my niece’s life.”

“I thought bringing me down to the surface made us even.”

“Nah, nothing will ever make us even for what you did. Not really,” she said. “But, if I’m being honest, that’s not why you’re part of the party.”

“Ah,” Hiral said, Seena’s words confirming his suspicion.

“What’s ah?”

“It’s because you need me to get into the dungeons.”

She slowly turned her head to look at him, one wet eyebrow up in the air, rainwater streaming down her face. “Is that what you think? We’re only keeping you around for dungeon access?”

“You’re not?”

“Well, it’d make sense, but that’s not it. Okay, not the only reason.”

“Then… why?”

“Jumped off the island!” she repeated, then chuckled. “Not just that, though. Hiral, even if I didn’t know you didn’t have a class, you knew. And you still jumped. You still fought the Troblins, and went in alone to face off against a group of Shapers. To save my sister and her party. Even after getting your class—your whole reason for coming down to the surface, if I understand things right—you still kept putting yourself at risk to help us.

“Back in Splitfang Keep, that time on the rope bridge, for example…”

“When you yelled at me.”

“Damn straight I yelled at you! That was reckless. But I know you did it because you thought it was the only choice to keep us safe. I think I’m starting to understand you more, but why you did those things kind of doesn’t matter. The fact you did them, on the other hand, makes me want you in this party. You’re helping keep the people important to me safe.”

“I… see,” Hiral said, letting her words sink in.

Maybe Right was… right. Maybe I did earn this more than I was giving myself credit for.

“Is that it? Was it bugging you or something?” Seena asked.

“I’ve never… had a place I fit in,” Hiral admitted. “The no-class thing. I just… I just wanted to know where we stood.”

“Look, I’m not saying this because we’re all trapped down on the surface, and there’s only the twelve of us. Fourteen, I guess, if we count Left and Right, but whatever. You have a place with our party as long as you want it.” Seena put a hand on Hiral’s shoulder. “You’re one of us now.”

“Thanks, Seena. I needed to hear that.”

“Good, but we’re going to have to pick this up later. Looks like Seeyela is at the inn. Let’s go see if they have any open rooms.”