Rune Seeker

Chapter 78: Run

Hiral ran.

He didn’t try to speak, and he sure as hell didn’t try to think. Thinking just conjured images of Balyo dying. Of the thing that had been Picoli smiling at him.

That was the Enemy? How were they supposed to ever beat that?

Hiral slapped himself in the face as he ran with the group, utterly failing at not thinking.

“You felt like you needed more abuse?” Right asked from beside him, Cal still cradled in his arms and mercifully unconscious. She was lucky she didn’t have to see that… but maybe she wouldn’t feel so lucky when she woke up to find three of her closest friends dead?

“Needed to stop thinking about what just happened,” Hiral said.

“Is it going to come after us?” Wule asked from a few paces ahead where he ran with Nivian.

“Yes,” Hiral said simply.

“We’re not stopping again until we get to the dungeon,” Seena said. “Then we’re clearing it and getting right to the Asylum.”

“Balyo…” Yanily said, his voice unusually lifeless.

“I’m sorry, Yan,” Seena said.

Yanily glanced at Seeyela and Cal, the last two of the six party members, and shook his head. “She was… kind of badass, wasn’t she?”

“She was,” Seeyela said. “Always.”

The simple words, forced out through the pain and grief on Seeyela’s face, seemed to sum up what everybody was feeling—or at least forcing themselves to feel. The truth of it was just too much. After that, they ran in silence. Ran for hours, until finally, they came upon the ruins of a massive old building, made of thick logs that had somehow withstood the ravages of time. Their glowing root path led right in the front door.

“This isn’t the same construction as the lizard town,” Hiral said, the group slowing down to peer at the building. “Not the same as Fallen Reach or that other town either. A Troblin castle?”

“Maybe,” Seena said. “The dungeon is called The Troblin Throne, after all.”

Hiral nodded—more out of habit than because he agreed with anything in particular—and ran his gaze up and down the building. Yes, the overall construction was very similar to the keep they’d found in the appropriately named Troblin Keep dungeon, though on a grander scale. Where the keep had been something more akin to a massive treehouse, this place was a very much a castle.

A castle made for war.

The wall that had once ringed the building stood in ruins, though the remnants were easily twenty feet thick, and Hiral spotted sections that were more than twice that in height. Beyond the outer wall, the castle itself was dotted with narrow windows and sheltered parapets, easy vantage points for those crossbow-wielding Troblins. The courtyard itself was oddly clear, but then again, those magic-enhanced warriors were formidable, and there would be plenty of places for the Shamans to direct a melee from. It was simple, but played to the Troblins’ strengths.

“We going in?” Yanily said, glancing back the way they’d come.

“Hiral, see any signs of life?” Seena asked him.

“Nothing. This place looks abandoned, and I think I know why,” he said, pointing at the ruined roof. Whatever had attacked had completely skipped the towering walls and killing ground beyond them. The Enemy had gone straight through the roof to the heart of the building.

“They must’ve put the dungeon interface in after the Troblins were attacked?” Wule asked.

“Not our problem,” Seeyela said. “Keep an eye out, but we’re going in. I’m tired of this damn rain.”

Hiral drew his RHCs and started forward again with Nivian at his side, the man’s lips a tight line.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Hiral said quietly so that only the tank could hear him.

“Maybe, but it was my job,” Nivian said. “First Fitch and Lonil—nothing I could do about them, I guess. But Cal? Then Picoli and Balyo. I promised to keep them safe. I didn’t.”

“None of us did,” Hiral said weakly. “I had the best chance, and I couldn’t stop her.” He thought back to his point-blank shot.

“At least you acted. The rest of us just stood there, frozen, until it was too late,” Nivian growled, the anger at himself seething out through his clenched jaw.

“Picoli was a friend. I don’t blame you for hesitating,” Hiral said as they passed the outer wall and entered the courtyard. Glowing roots had long since overtaken the grounds, running haphazardly around, then up the walls and through the windows. “What the Enemy did—taking over her body like that—we had no idea they could do that.”

“Something tells me that’s not all they can do,” Nivian said. “That thing Picoli… that it did with her punches… You know something about that, don’t you?”

Hiral hesitated before answering, but then nodded. “Yes. She was using the Rune of Impact somehow. I think I saw Attraction too.”

“How are they using your runes?” Nivian asked, glancing at Hiral.

“No idea,” Hiral said, the pair leaving the courtyard and entering the building. The main entry wasn’t anything fancy, but it was big, and their glowing route led toward the center of the structure. “I’m hoping Dr. Benza can tell me when we get to the Asylum, though.”

“And I hope it’s not far from here,” Nivian said, glancing back to where Right carried Cal. “We’re already going to have to run the dungeon twice to make sure everybody gets the clear. Is Cal even going to get credit if she doesn’t wake up?”

“I think she will,” Hiral said. “The interface scans our PIMs when we go in. I think that and being in the dungeon will be enough, like how you guys got experience when I killed those Lizardmen.”

“And if you’re wrong?” Nivian asked.

“Then we find another way,” Hiral said as the pair reached a large intersection of hallways. The sound of falling rain came from straight ahead, where the Enemy had likely invaded, but the glowing path instead turned to the right. “Guess we’re not going to the actual throne room.”

“Maybe The Troblin Throneis actually a toilet reference?” Nivian suggested.

“I don’t even want to imagine what kind of… monsters… we’d fight in there,” Hiral said, sighing, as they turned down the hall and continued to follow the glowing path.

“Thought we’d be going to the center of the building,” Seena said from behind them.

“The dungeon interface may not even be in the building,” Hiral reasoned out loud. “The path might just be taking us through it.”

“I hope that’s not the case,” she replied, and thunder boomed overhead, the echo through the building causing everybody to pause and look up and down the halls.

“I’m starting to think the movement of the storm isn’t coincidental,” Wule said.

“Pick up the pace,” Seeyela instructed.

“Good idea,” Hiral said, jogging further ahead to the top of a staircase leading down, their glowing root path clearly indicating that was the way to go.

“Basement?” Nivian asked.

Hiral just nodded, about to take the first step down when a tremendous crash and the sound of shattering wood echoed from the building behind them.

“What the…?” Seena started to ask, but the answer came almost immediately with another CRASH, and one of the hallway walls exploded inward. Wood bounced off the floor and ceiling at the same time as a figure skidded to a stop in the middle of the hall.

The woman stood up, light glowing from behind her eyes, her ruined nose, and the malicious grin on her face. What remained of Picoli’s clothing—and flesh—was a charred mess, the sound of her skin cracking with each movement somehow carrying over the falling rain and peals of thunder outside. Only the tentacles looked untouched by the fire, and the woman took a step in their direction, a rune glowing to life in front of the knuckles of her one fist.

“Go!” Seena shouted to the others, a wall of Spearing Roots bursting from the ground and slamming into the ceiling, creating a thick wall between them and Picoli. “That won’t hold her long…”

WHAM. The whole building shook from the impact, and cracks spread across the root wall from just the single blow.

Hiral didn’t need to be told a second time, dashing down the stairs two at a time while a second WHAM shook the building. Cool air rushed up to meet him, the stairs narrowing to little wider than his shoulders, and the walls changing from wood to natural stone. Twenty steps, fifty steps, a hundred, and he finally reached the bottom. He glanced back to make sure the others were still with him, then ran down the slender hall ahead of him. The only light down there came from the two roots of their path, and every step of his run threw wild shadows along the wall, like the memories of dozens of other people running with him.

Two hundred feet and he reached the end of the hall, bursting out into a small room with the dungeon interface pedestal sitting in the middle.

“She’s through the first wall!” Seena shouted from behind them, and Hiral rushed ahead, Nivian close at his heels. “I’ve put up another one, but it won’t buy us much time.”

As soon as two of the colored circles lit up on the pedestal, Hiral swiped his hand over the interface crystal, and an image of Dr. Benza sprang to life.

“Welcome, challengers, to The Troblin Throne Dungeon. Please choose an option,” the image said, and a blue notification window sprang up beside him.

Tutorial

Enter Dungeon

Help

“Enter Dungeon!” Hiral snapped.

A portal formed as the others caught up, though everybody skidded to a stop, looking from one another to the glowing doorway.

“There’s too many of us,” Wule said.

“I’ll stay and deal with Picoli,” Seeyela said. “Somebody else will have to…”

“You can’t!” Seena objected immediately.

“We don’t have time to argue about this,” Seeyela snapped.

“You’re right—we don’t,” Hiral said, moving to stand in front of Seeyela. Then he winced. “Sorry,” he said, hitting her with his Rune of Rejection and sending her straight through the open portal.

“What are you…?” Seena asked.

“She’s gonna be pissssssssed,” Yanily said at the same time.

“All of you, go through now,” Hiral ordered them. “I’ll take Cal through a second portal as soon as you’re gone. Hurry, before Picoli gets here. Maybe she won’t know where we went.” Or be here when we finish.

“Hiral, you can’t clear…” Seena started.

“I won’t try. We’ll stay in the entry room until the dungeon kicks us out. Now, go!”

Seena’s eyes narrowed like she was going to argue, but Nivian put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s a good plan. Come on.”

Seena forced her breath out between her clenched jaws. “We’ll clear it with five, then get you two through it next. Don’t die before that,” she finally said, then spun on her heel and stomped through the portal.

“See you soon,” Wule said, following Seena with Yanily close behind after a sharp wave.

Nivian, the last to go, let his eyes linger on Cal. “I’d take her with us if you didn’t need her to open your own portal. Take good care of her.”

“I will,” Hiral said, then Nivian turned and went through the portal.

A WHAM echoed down the hall behind him, far too close for comfort, and Hiral swiped his hand over the interface crystal and said, “Enter Dungeon.”

“Only five of six party members have entered the current portal. Close portal and open a new one?” Dr. Benza asked.

“Yes,” Hiral practically snapped at the image, though the man just nodded, the first portal closing with a slight pop. A second later, a new portal opened to replace it. “Right, give me Cal, then you two need to rejoin me.”

Right handed the woman over, then he and Left put their hands on Hiral’s shoulders. Hiral absorbed them with a thought—another WHAM and CRASH signaled Picoli was through the final barricade—and he stepped into the portal.

As soon as he was through, he activated Foundational Split, Right and Left peeling off him, and turned around.

The portal was still open.

“Dr. Benza, close portal,” he shouted through the portal at same time a blue notification window popped up in front of him.

The Troblin Throne – Dungeon

E-Rank

Top Clear Times

XXX : --:--

YYY : --:--

ZZZ : --:--

Attempt Dungeon?

Yes / No

Hiral ignored the window, pushing it aside, and shouted again at Dr. Benza when the portal remained open. “Close portal!” Nothing changed, so Hiral attempted to step back out, but he ran into something like an invisible wall, banging his head in the process.

“One-way portal,” Left said. “Picoli will see it.”

“And she might be able to come in,” Right said. “Not good.”

“No, not good at all,” Hiral said.

Options. What are my options? The best thing would be that she didn’t know we entered a portal at all.

Hiral’s eyes went to the blue notification window, specifically at the Attempt Dungeon option.

Reckless, but what choice do I have?

He took a breath and slapped Yes.

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