Rune Seeker - Book 3: Chapter 37: The Rise Of Fallen Reach

“Is that what I think it is?” Hiral asked. “I mean, I’m not just imagining it, right?”

“A dungeon interface,” Seena said. “I see it too. But, what’s it doing here? Grandmother, did you know it was here?”

“I had no idea,” Grandmother said, moving into the room and examining the smooth walls. “But Fitch didn’t put it here. This room is… old. Almost as old as the Grandfather itself.”

“Which is how old, exactly?” Hiral asked, spotting an interface crystal on top of the pedestal.

While part of him wanted to swipe his hand over it to see what would happen, he instead went over to the carved-out section of the wall. Whatever had been in there before obviously wasn’t meant to be taken out. At least, not by force. Deep gashes lined the wall, while severed roots leaking more of the same thick sap dangled to drip on the floor. The whole injury had to be almost seven feet tall, and somewhere between one and three feet wide.

Not like Fitch was trying to be surgical in his removal of… whatever was here before.

“Did Fitch come here to take this?” Seeyela asked, standing beside Hiral as she pointed at the damaged wall. “Or did he find it here by accident?”

“I think we need to assume he came here looking for it, which means he knew it was here in the first place, and what it was,” Hiral said. “Two things we don’t know. But, how much do you want to bet we can find out?” He turned to look at the dungeon interface.

“It can’t be a coincidence it’s here,” Seena agreed, and the party approached the pedestal in the center of the room. “Grandmother, would you like to do the honors?”

The old woman looked from Seena to the interface. “What do I need to do?”

“Just wave your hand over the little crystal thing,” Yanily told her.

“That’s it?” Grandmother asked.

“That’s it,” Seena said. “As long as we have people from at least two different races here with us. Which we do.”

Grandmother hesitated with her hand held up in front of her, like she was getting ready for something she’d been waiting her whole life for. “Here goes,” she finally said, and waved her hand over the interface. However, instead of Dr. Benza appearing, a notification window sprang to life in front of Hiral’s eyes.

Congratulations! You have discovered a Wild Dungeon – The Rise of Fallen Reach

Dynamic Quest

Complete the Wild Dungeon – The Rise of Fallen Reach to supply power to the magic keeping back the storm.

Note: Wild Dungeons are rare instances containing powerful Lost equipment and unique quests.

Note (2): Wild Dungeons appear randomly and may only be completed once.

Note (3): Wild Dungeons do not usually count towards Asylum access.

Note (4): If the dungeon is not completed within 3 hours of regular time, the magic holding the surrounding storms at bay will completely fail.

Note (5): Time within the Wild Dungeon – The Rise of Fallen Reach passes much more quickly than outside.

Note (6): An advanced class is required to enter Wild Dungeon – The Rise of Fallen Reach.

Enter Dungeon: Yes / No

“That’s… a lot of notes,” Hiral said, reading the whole thing a second, then a third time, but it was note four he finally settled on. “You all see that fourth note?”

“That’s… not good,” Seeyela said. “This room has something to do with keeping the rain back?”

“It must,” Seena said.

“I thought Fallen Reach did that,” Yanily said.

“Apparently not,” Hiral said. “And, whatever Fitch took must’ve been the source of it. It reads like completing the dungeon will buy us some time, but I bet we need to get”—Hiral pointed at the scar in the wall—”that back.”

“And soon,” Seena said. “Rain means Enemies, and there’s no way we can deal with that.”

“They’re really that bad?” Grandmother asked.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“They really are,” Seeyela said. “From the sounds of it, even you would be in danger.”

“Did the three hours start when Fitch took… that…? Or is it starting now?” Seena asked. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. We need to get in there now and get it completed as soon as possible.”

“It doesn’t sound like I can go with you,” Grandmother said.

“The requirement for an advanced class is something new,” Hiral agreed. “But there must be a reason for it.”

“Can you do this without a tank or healer?” Grandmother asked.

“We’ll have to,” Seena said simply. “Everybody ready?”

“You’ll go in, just like that?” Grandmother said. “No supplies or other equipment?”

“We have our Interspatial Rings,” Yanily reminded the older woman. “Don’t worry. This has been our life since we went down to the surface. Clearing dungeons is kind of our thing.”

“I guess I have no choice but to trust you on this,” Grandmother said, chuckling. “It’s not in these old bones to leave the risks to you youngsters.”

“I’m sure you’ll be busy enough to keep your mind off things while we’re in there,” Seena said.

“That’s an understatement. If what this notification is saying is true, we may need another way to hold the rain back. I’ll work on a backup plan.” Grandmother frowned. “Though three hours isn’t long.”

“You’ll have more than that,” Yanily said. “We’ll clear this dungeon.”

“Then we’ll go up to Fallen Reach to find Fitch,” Seeyela said. “That man has some explaining to do.”

“You’ve all grown up so much since the last time I saw you,” Grandmother said, clear pride in her voice. Then she looked at Hiral. “Except for you. I have no idea what you were like before.”

“Insecure and apparently friendless,” Seena said matter-of-factly. “He’s changed a lot too.”

“Thank you…?” Hiral said, but he couldn’t stop the smile on his face. They’d all come a long way since the day they’d gone down to the surface looking for Seeyela. Him, probably the most.

“Can we stop talking about it and start doing it?” Yanily asked, his spear-butt tap-tap-tapping on the ground as he waited.

“Do it,” Seena said.

“Enter Dungeon,” Yanily said, and a red-rimmed portal spiraled open on the opposite side of the pedestal. Through the suspended hole in reality, a plain, unadorned room was visible.

“That’s the dungeon?” Grandmother asked, stepping closer to the portal and reaching up to touch it. Like there was a sheet of perfectly clear glass, her fingers pressed up against something and couldn’t pass through. “It looks very… small.”

“It’s some kind of preparation room,” Hiral said. “Maybe to give everybody time to get inside before things get crazy.”

“It… really… won’t…” Grandmother said, the air around her warping as she pushed with her small hand on the portal. Finally, she let out a breath, and the air returned to normal. “It’s no good. I can’t force my way in. Are you sure you can…?” she started to ask, but Yanily slipped by her and stepped through the portal with zero resistance.

“We’re sure,” Seena said. “We’ll see you when we finish.”

Grandmother watched Yanily, and even tested the portal again—it still completely blocked her—before she chuckled, shook her head, and said, “Good luck.”

“You too,” Seena said, and then she followed Yanily through. Seeyela went next, and Hiral absorbed his doubles before stepping up to the portal.

“I never thought I’d see the day we were working with Islanders,” Grandmother mused loudly enough for Hiral to hear.

“It’s a shame it took us this long,” Hiral said. “We’re not so different… and I don’t mean the race thing. We’re all just people.”

“Just because you’ve made it work, things won’t magically get better,” Grandmother warned. “Us old folks don’t forget so quickly. Not down here and not up there.”

“They don’t have to,” Hiral responded, stepping up to the portal. He could see the others waiting for him just on the other side. “This is a start. A… test. One we’re going to pass. Then, when we save Fallen Reach and your islands, others will come around. Sure, it may not be everybody all at once, but our success and the lure of the dungeons will be too much. It’ll be enough to get people to give it a try.

“Then one mixed party will become two. Then three, and so on.”

“You really think it’ll be that easy?” Grandmother asked.

Hiral laughed. “Do you think anything has been easy since I went down to the surface with them?” He turned and looked her in the eye. “It won’t be easy, no, but that won’t stop us. It never has.”

Grandmother opened her mouth to respond, but stopped midway and let out one of her small chuckles. She rapped her cane on the ground once, twice, then lifted it to point at the portal. “Better not keep them waiting. Seena isn’t known for her patience.”

Hiral couldn’t stop the small wince, but he nodded his farewell to the old woman and stepped through the portal.

“What took you so long?” Seena asked immediately, arms crossed and her toe tapping the ground, while Li’l Ur floated in the air mimicking her movements.

“Grandmother wanted to give me some… advice,” Hiral said.

“Oh? And what was it?”

“Don’t fail,” Hiral said.

“Always good advice,” Yanily said, “though I would’ve expected something a bit deeper from somebody her age. Maybe in the form of a cryptic poem or metaphor.”

Seena stared at Hiral a moment longer, but then seemed to accept what he said, and her arms uncrossed. “We all ready?”

Like that was a cue, a new notification window popped up in front of Hiral’s eyes.

The Rise of Fallen – Wild Dungeon

C-Rank

Top Clear Times

XXX : –:–

YYY : –:–

ZZZ : –:–

Attempt Dungeon?

Yes / No

“Let’s do this,” Hiral said. Then he reached out and tapped the Yes button.