Rune Seeker

“What happened here?” Hiral asked, eyes scanning across the destruction while his sensory domain ballooned out. Shattered branches, broken trees, and fragments of glowing roots covered almost every inch of ground, only a half-dozen feet or so around the dungeon entrance spared from the destruction. Despite the lake near them, the shards of faintly glowing roots almost made the ground look like a sea in the falling rain, with the flickers of light the fish swimming beneath the surface.

“Drahn,” Seena said, and the tracker immediately moved ahead to inspect the ground. Around him, the others spread, weapons drawn and solar energy primed.

“It wasn’t like this when you came in either?” Nivian asked Seena.

“No, the woods here were fine,” she said.

“The Enemy?” Seeyela offered. “Looking for us after Right and Left vanished?”

“Whatever it was,” Hiral said, “it must’ve happened while we were inside the actual dungeon. This much destruction would’ve made a lot of noise.”

“That lines up with what I’m seeing,” Drahn said. “Stampede, from the looks of things.”

“The herd of Voltaic Plains Sprinters?” Hiral asked.

“Among other things,” Drahn said, grimacing. “I’m also seeing Runeoceros tracks and prints from some of those Chimera things we fought. Other tracks I don’t recognize as well, but they look like some kind of big cat to me. All heading in that direction.” Drahn pointed opposite the way the party had originally come from.

“Could be any number of things,” Drahn said, eyes lingering on the torn ground. “From the number of different types of tracks I’m seeing, though, I doubt this is common. If it was, we wouldn’t have found this patch of forest in the first place. So, something uncommon probably triggered this.”

“Like a massive Enemy flattening a forest?” Hiral asked.

“Something exactly like that,” Drahn said. “Such an outburst could’ve caused a sequence of events where both predators and prey moved away from the initial occurrence. Like a building wave, they would’ve picked up more animals with them, the flight of the prey continuing, while the previously running predators changed tactics. Seeing so much to hunt in front of them, they would’ve gone from fleeing to chasing. And picked up more hunters along the way, making it even more important for the potential prey to keep trying to escape.”

“Which way is the raid zone?” Yanily asked Left, and the double pointed roughly forty-five degrees off from where the stampede had gone. “Phew. Looks like that’s one less thing for us to worry about it.”

“I’m… afraid not,” Left said slowly, staring hard at where the stampede had gone. “While the raid zone isn’t in that direction, the Bonder community most certainly is.”

“Of course it is,” Seeyela said. “Seena?”

The party leader put her hand to her chin in thought. “We’re a few hours behind, at the least. How far would you say the Bonders are, Left?”

“Not exactly close,” Left said. “At the speed the sprinters move, they’d probably have already arrived, if they went that far. From the look of the map we saw, the Bonders had some natural geographic protection from things in the savanna, so it’s unlikely the herd bypassed that. If anything, it would’ve driven them more south.

“And, from what we saw of the Chimeras, they don’t move nearly as fast.”

“But,” Hiral said. “What if the herd led the Chimeras to the Bonders? By accident, of course. Would the terrain stop them?”

“Stop? No, probably not,” Left said after some thought. “It didn’t look completely impassible. Hiral does have a point, though. If any of the herd gets too close – and the Chimeras follow them – there is a chance the Bonders could get found.”

“A chance,” Seena said, as if tasting the word, then looked up at the sky. While the rain still fell – it never seemed to stop – it was light. What little thunder and lightning there was flashed distant in the huge sky.

“You’re worried about the Bonders?” Nivian asked.

“We don’t know how strong they are,” Seena said.

“They better be pretty strong, if they’re going to help us with the raid zone,” Igwanda said.

“Yes and no,” Seena said. “They may have some strong people, but the overall community might be like our islands. Mostly E- through C-Rank, with a few B-Ranks, and a handful of A-. If that. Those Chimeras were tough, even for us and our gear.”

“I’m up for a rematch,” Yanily said, cracking his knuckles in one hand while sparks ran up the length of his spear.

“Me too,” Hiral said. “And… I can probably get us there pretty quickly.”

“More groping?” Seeyela asked.

“More groping,” Hiral sighed. “Seena? What do you want to do?”

“I’m worried about the raid zone,” the party leader admitted. “Left, you’re sure we have time before it opens?”

“I’m sure about what the notification window stated,” Left said. “About anything that could change that?” He shook his head.

“Okay,” Seena said with a nod like she’d made a decision. “We’re all heading to the Bonders. At most we lose a few hours of travel with Hiral ferrying us around. But, if the Bonders need us like we need them, we can’t afford to delay by checking the raid zone first.”

“If they need us, are they even worth saving?” Igwanda asked.

“They are,” Nivian said before anybody else could speak. “Whether it’s for the raid zone or not, they’re an ally against a common enemy. More than that, they’re people, like us. If we can help, we help.”

“Bash smash!” the Troblin exclaimed.

“Getting more information on how to fight Chimeras is bound to help us in the raid zone as well,” Seeyela said.

“As well as getting us experience,” Yanily said. “Along with some payback.”

“It’s decided, then,” Seena said. “Let’s go – maybe – save some Bonders.”

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“Rah rah,” Wule said, a book suddenly in his hand despite the rain. From a quick look, the healer was using the bar of Rejection Hiral had made for him ages ago… as a bookmark. “Well, what are you waiting for?” he asked Hiral. “Let’s get on with the groping so I can get back to my next chapter.”

“I’m not a horse…” Hiral said.

“What horse?” Bash asked Nivian. “Smash horse?”

“No,” Nivian said. “You’ll have plenty of chances to smash soon.”

“Smash!” the not-so-little Troblin said, his massive hammers strapped across his back.

“Okay, well, like last time,” Hiral started, his scarves reaching for the twelve others, but stopped when Yanily held up a hand.

“Carrying all of us is going to be hard on your solar energy,” the spearman said. “Even with your OP ranks. Can’t we take our mounts?”

Hiral looked at the rain again. It was lighter, but it was also a risk. “Drake can carry Drahn, and we’ll need Left with us, but…”

“First things first,” Seena said. “It’s a good idea, Yan, but Nivian, does anybody in your party have a mount?”

Nivian and Wule exchanged looks.

“We all got something called Moto-Rings in that last dungeon,” Wule said. “Is that what you mean?”

“You didn’t get Reflections?” Seena asked.

“No idea what that is,” Wule said. “Unless you mean mirrors?”

“Well, let’s see what these Moto-Rings are, then decide,” Seena said.

“We haven’t had a chance to test them ourselves,” Wule said, and held out his hand. A pulse of solar energy entered his Interspatial Ring, and a few seconds later, a large, vertical ring with a seat hovering in the middle of it appeared in front of him. “That’s… bigger than I expected.”

“Oh, wow,” Hiral said, stepping closer. “It’s using a balance of Runes of Attraction and Rejection to keep the chair locked in place in here. And, I think it’s going to work similarly to our Crystal Skates, but you’ll control how the Ring moves with these handles on the chair’s arms. I see some other runes here that’ll probably keep the rain out and move the ring – kind of like a giant wheel.”

“You want us to sit in the middle of a giant wheel? How fast is it going to go?” Wule asked, obviously less than enthusiastic about the prospect.

“At least it looks like there’s some kind of straps on the seat so you don’t go flying out,” Yanily said.

“It worries me it needs straps,” Wule said quietly.

“WHEEEEE!” Bash shouted, somehow already in his Ring and speeding off at an impressive – and terrifying, by the look on Wule’s face – speed. Broken-but-still-glowing roots and dirt kicked up in the wake of the racing Ring, and Bash cut a hard turn, the seat floating within the empty space as the rest of it went nearly horizontal. Somehow – beyond all reason – the thing didn’t tip, fall, or crash in a fiery mess. Instead, the nearly impossible turn had the Troblin back to the group, smiling like a child with his new favorite toy. “Fun!”

“It doesn’t fly?” Seena asked, looking over at Hiral.

“Why would you want it to?” Wule weakly asked his brother.

“Doesn’t look like it,” Hiral said, ignoring the poor healer. “Maybe with some upgrades…” He shrugged. “Either way, it moved fast enough to keep up with most of our mounts. Probably not Thunderclaws when he gets going.”

“Because Thunderclaws is the best,” Yanily said.

“So, they have mounts,” Seena said. “The only question is if it’s worth the risk.”

As much it irked Hiral the PIMP seemed like it was choosing his future for him, there were also times he just couldn’t complain about how it prepared them for the challenges ahead. “Taking the mounts would make it a lot easier on me. Getting us all the way – or even close – would probably drain me dry carrying everybody.”

“Mounts it is then,” Seena said. “Gran, you have one of these too?”

“Yes,” the woman said.

“Drahn, you’re with Hiral.”

“Of course I am,” the tracker said, clearly resigned to his fate.

“Stay low,” Seena said as solar energy pooled in her own ring. “No fancy flying. I’d like to avoid attracting any more squids, if we can.”

“Fancy flying?” Igwanda asked. “Did you all get something other than these Moto-Rings?”

Seena only had a second to smirk before an ember floated out of her ring, and then unfurled into a full-sized phoenix as Vili entered the world. Thunderclaws, Bliss, and, of course, Drake followed a second later, though the Dracolich refrained from his usual dramatic entrance.

Gran, Politet, Igwanda, and Bash looked from one mount to the next before finally stopping on the towering, undead dragon.

“A Dracolich,” Gran whispered.

“How?” Politet said. “How does a Breather command a Dracolich?”

“I wouldn’t say command,” Hiral said as he scratched behind Drake’s horn. “More like we’re friends.”

“Friends, with a Dracolich?” Politet nearly spat, though his eyes narrowed and then widened like he’d just noticed something about Hiral.

“What else would be worthy of my would-be-apprentice?” Li’l Ur said, and Bash, Politet, and Igwanda’s heads turned to the lich.

“Your doll talks?” Igwanda asked.

“Doll?” Li’l Ur shouted, while Gran cackled. “I’ll have you know…”

“Ur,” Seena interrupted. “You can explain who you are after we deal with the herd.”

“Of course, Mistress,” Li’l Ur said, blue-flames eyes narrowing. “Then I shall… educate them.”

Hiral scratched Drake behind the horn one more time, while he considered why only Gran would actually recognize who Li’l Ur was. There really had to be something about that vampire. Also, why hadn’t they mentioned anything down by the dungeon when they were talking about the raid zone? But, like Seena said, it was a puzzle for later. “Drahn, you ready?”

“Yes,” the tracker said, standing by Drake’s front claw. From there, it only took a second to get him up to his place behind the saddle.

“Left, you know the way, so you have to ride with me. Right, sorry, I’ll bring you back out when we get there,” Hiral said.

“I won’t object to not sitting in the rain the whole time,” Right said, then looked at Left. “Keep him out of trouble.”

“That’s enough out of you,” Hiral said, then took Right’s hand and reabsorbed the double. “

Then, with a hand – or a claw, more accurately – from Drake, he and Left got up in the saddle. The undead were still mostly looking flabbergasted at the scene, but Nivian quickly got them moving.

On the ground, so far, only Bash and Gran had gotten into their Moto-Rings. For her part, the vampire already had her knitting needles out.

“What? This scarf isn’t going to knit itself,” the vampire said.

“How are you going to steer and knit at the same time?” Hiral asked her.

“Are we going to play twenty questions, or are we going to go save the Bonders from whatever did all this?” Gran asked, simultaneously pointing at the destruction around them while continuing to knit.

“She has a point,” Seena said. “We’re moving. Remember,” she looked at Yanily. Well, at Thunderclaws. “Stay low.”

The gryphon’s head drooped a little like he’d been caught thinking about doing exactly the opposite, but Yanily gave him a pat on his feathered neck. “Don’t worry, buddy, we’ll go for a real fly later,” the spearman said.

“Let’s go,” Hiral said, giving Drake a pat in front of the saddle, and the Dracolich leapt into the air. Blue flames between the fingers of his wide wings radiated powerful magic as they burst forward, Bliss, Thunderclaws, and Vili falling in beside them. Further off to the side, six Moto-Rings tore across the savanna, and the two parties raced in the direction the herd had gone.

In the distance to the south, lightning flashed through the sky, and thunder rumbled long seconds after. The Enemy – if they were out there – weren’t close, for the moment. But, as Hiral turned his attention to the tracks blurring by beneath them, his gut told him they weren’t the biggest concern.

Was it a coincidence the PIMP had shown them the location of the Bonders’ community? And given Nivian’s party the means to get there quickly.

No, probably not.