Rune Seeker - Book 3: Chapter 33: A Thorny Welcome

With Drake’s powerful wingbeats racing them along, Hiral followed Seena as they rounded the hanging column of mist—instead of risking going through—and then angled straight for a familiar dock. By the number of people waiting on the nearby islands with weapons drawn, the party hadn’t quite succeeded at the whole sneaking thing.

More people rushed up and down connecting roots as they figured out where the flyers were planning to land, and solar energy began to radiate off the gathered crowd. Front lines made of burly men and women, shields and thick armor covering their bodies… They had to all be tanks like Nivian. Behind them, Hiral could almost see the other classes by the way they circulated solar energy through their bodies.

There were ranged attackers like Seena and her sister in the back row, while healers and melee fighters like Yanily took up position in the second and third rows. They didn’t know who was approaching their islands, but it was so unusual—so impossible—they were preparing for the worst.

“They don’t look happy to see us,” Hiral said, their mounts slowing down so they didn’t provoke a violent response. “Maybe we should…”

Bamf, right behind him, and Hiral felt Seeyela’s weight vanish from Drake’s back. Not even the blink of an eye later, there was a purple flash behind the lines of Growers, so fast and unexpected nobody even noticed Seeyela appearing.

Had she been there to attack, half a dozen Growers would’ve fallen before the first even reacted.

But she wasn’t there to attack. She ripped her helm off, dropped it to the ground, and ran towards a huddled group near one of the buildings.

“Favela!” Seeyela shouted, her arms going wide.

For her part, Favela initially hid behind Caaven’s larger body until the voice reached her ears. Even at a distance, Hiral’s high Atn let him watch the young girl’s eyes narrow at hearing her name called by the stranger in terrifying armor, then widen as she recognized the voice.

“Mom?” Favela asked, her voice coming out weak, but still clear over the clamor of Growers turning around at the sudden commotion behind them.

“It’s me, kiddo,” Seeyela said, slowing down in her ivory-white armor to make sure Favela got a good look at her face. It didn’t take a second more before the young girl dashed out and into her mother’s waiting arms.

“Mom! Mom! I thought… I thought…” Favela started and stopped, sniffles interrupting her before she got any further. “I thought you were…”

“I’m not,” Seeyela said, hugging her daughter tight to her body, tears running down her own cheeks.

“Seeyela, is that really you?” Caaven asked, holding up a hand as the armed Growers finally spotted her behind them.

More than one weapon was aimed in her direction, solar energy gathering while the rest of the Growers kept their eyes on Hiral, Seena, and Yanily. A second gesture to wait from Caaven stopped anybody from attacking for the moment, though.

“Yeah, and not just me,” Seeyela said, keeping her daughter in a tight hug as she stood up. Favela wrapped her arms and legs around her mother like she wasn’t planning to let go anytime soon. “Seena is with me too,” she went on, pointing back towards the three mounts hovering in place.

“Seena?” Caaven asked, his face clearly displaying the shock of finding out the two sisters were still alive.

“Hey, Unc, miss us?” Seena shouted down with a wave, her face visible.

“This is unexpected,” a new woman’s voice said, and somebody stepped out from between the line of tanks.

Barely up to most others’ shoulders, the woman didn’t do the word old justice. Her skin looked like wrinkled bark, and she walked with a cane of twisted wood in one hand, while her other sat on the small of her stooped back. Physical appearances aside, however, she glowed to Hiral’s senses, solar energy on a scale unlike any of the others present. If she wasn’t A-Rank, Hiral would eat Yanily’s cooking.

“Grandmother,” Seena said, her voice respectful as she bowed from the back of her phoenix.

The grandmother’s eyes went from Seena to Yanily, her gaze lingering there for several long seconds each, then finally turned to Hiral. Under the weight of her stare, he felt metaphysical layers of himself peeled back. The older woman may’ve never been in a dungeon, but she obviously had some kind of ability like View.

“An Islander?” Grandmother said, and weapons bristled again in the rows behind her. A simple turn and a raised eyebrow had a dozen heads lowering in shame, and their owners’ weapons with them. “You must be the one who jumped off the island to save the little one, yes?” she asked, a flick of her eyes indicating she was talking about Favela.

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All the attention made Hiral want to pull his hood up out of reflex, but he left it where it was and gave the elderly woman a nod.

“That’s him,” Seeyela said, walking through the rows of Growers that parted for her—either because she was going to go talk to the older woman, or because of the intimidating armor she wore. Actually, from the looks on the faces, it was a combination of the two. “And it wasn’t just Favela he saved. It was me too.”

Grandmother looked long at Seeyela, then seemed to turn her focus on the air around the three flyers. “There are… less of you returning than I’d hoped,” she finally said, the weight of the losses churning again in Hiral’s stomach. “And I suspect you have quite the story to tell. Come, come, enough people look down on me. I don’t need you all flying up there and making me crane my neck.”

“You may want to step back,” Seena shouted at the group of Growers still milling near the dock. “Not all of us land so… gracefully,” she added, glancing over at Drake.

“Don’t listen to her,” Hiral said to Drake with a pat on the bone in front of the saddle. “You’re very graceful, considering how big you are.”

The Dracolich’s skull turned on the end of its long neck to look back at Hiral, and its eyes seemed to say Are you calling me fat?

“No, of course not!” Hiral said. “Look, we can talk about it later. The others are waiting for us.” He pointed towards the island where Yanily and Seena had already landed. “I promise. And I’ll scratch you behind the horns at the same time. Deal?”

A single nod from Drake’s head, and the Dracolich dove down to land shockingly fast, wind whipping up as it touched down. While some of the unprepared Growers got tossed back by the sudden gust, Grandmother stood as still and stable as a great tree, though she giggled and slapped her knee when she looked at the chaos behind her.

“Ho, ho, ho, your friend likes to make an entrance,” Grandmother said to Hiral, and he could only shrug before leaping nimbly down to the ground.

“He likes the attention,” Hiral said, giving Drake a pat on the neck. “I’ll call you back out later when we have time to talk. Maybe go for a fly or something.” Then he canceled the Reflection. After giving Hiral one nuzzle from the end of its huge, bony snout, Drake vanished into a puff of bone-white smoke that funneled into Hiral’s ring.

The sudden disappearance of the Dracolich, along with that of Seena’s phoenix and Yanily’s gryphon, had Grandmother’s eyes widening.

“Those creatures… weren’t real? Illusions?” She shook her head. “No, not illusions, but also not real… except for you,” she added, looking at the small lich floating beside Seena’s shoulder.

“This is Li’l Ur,” Seena introduced.

“A pleasure to meet you, Matron,” Li’l Ur said.

“Oh, and this one is very polite,” Grandmother said.

“Not usually,” Yanily muttered, glaring at the lich.

“And the others? The ones with wings?” Grandmother asked. “Do they have names as well?”

“They do—have names, I mean,” Seena said. “Ones we gave them. But, they’re also called reflections. And you’re right; we have a lot to tell you. To tell everybody. We got into the dungeons.”

Despite the proclamation, only Grandmother seemed to understand the weight of the words, while the other Growers looked at each other like it was no big deal.

“So?” one of them asked. “We’ve all been…” He trailed off as Grandmother lifted her cane just a few inches off the ground.

As soon as the man’s voice stopped, she lowered the cane again, then looked at Seena. “Inside the dungeons? The true dungeons that our ancestors talked about?”

“Inside the dungeons,” Seena said. “That’s where we got this equipment.” She gestured at the flaming mantle hanging down her back, then at the bloody one on Seeyela’s shoulders playfully poking Favela in the cheek. The small girl giggled at the hand shaped from red liquid and tried to bat it away, but it quickly ducked back, then shaped itself into a replica of Favela to laugh along with the girl.

“Impressive,” Grandmother said, appraising the group a second time.

“It’s also where we leveled up,” Seena said—though Hiral noted she didn’t mention just how much they’d leveled. “And… and where we learned… a lot.” She was clearly uncomfortable with saying more in front of the crowd. And from the look on Grandmother’s face, she understood the meaning.

“Much to tell, much to tell,” the old woman agreed, gently punching the small of her back with her free hand. “But I am too old to stand out here and listen to a long story. Come with me to my house and have some tea. We’ll chat there.”

Two dozen voices quickly spoke up, asking questions to Seena and the others and simultaneously stating they wanted to go with them.

“How did you get in…?”

“What does it do…?”

“Why do you have an Islander…?”

“Will you show us how…?”

The questions came on and on, but Grandmother turned on the spot, and every voice cut off so quickly it was like sound had been Rejected.

Huh… I wonder if I could do that.

“After Seena and the others have told me their tale, we’ll have a gathering to discuss, and a feast to celebrate their return,” Grandmother said. “Start cooking.”

“Their return?” a woman asked, pushing her way through the crowd. “But, what about my boys?” Muscular and tall, it was impossible to miss the resemblance to Nivian and Wule. And, by the look on Seena’s face, this could only be their aunt.

Before Seena or Seeyela even had a chance to open their mouths, Grandmother lifted a hand to forestall them. “I’m sure you aren’t the only one with questions about the young ones not here. Gather the others, bring them to my home, and wait in the garden.”

“Yes, Grandmother,” the twins’ aunt said with a respectful bow of her head.

“As for the rest of you, you don’t look like you’re cooking yet!” Grandmother said, her voice low and even, but somehow still carrying to every corner of the island. And with that, every set of feet began moving. “Good. Now, let’s go hear this story of yours.”