Rune Seeker - Book 3: Chapter 47: The Cause Of The End

Down in the tunnel, Hiral followed the others while listening to Dr. Benza and inspecting the stone walls. So narrow his shoulders almost touched both sides, the rock seemed perfectly carved, and veins of the crystal sparkled under the light coming from the occasional glowing block in the ceiling. Tracing his fingers along the so-called roots, small sparks of solar energy caused a pleasant tingle to run up his hand.

“Even without the Fallen in place, the island is passively absorbing solar energy, which is why some of the systems—like the lights and floors—are already operational,” Dr. Benza said. “More than that, though, such as getting us up in the sky, is impossible without the Fallen. Once we have them… installed, you’ll get to see some truly impressive things.”

“How did you ever catch the Fallen?” Yanily asked. “If they’re so strong, I can’t imagine it would’ve been easy.”

“It wasn’t,” Dr. Benza said. “It cost us most of what was left of our armies, and even then, we only succeeded—barely—because of the Fallen’s pride. They knew it was a trap. They had to. But still they came, because they believed there was nothing we could do that would threaten them. Maybe even more than that, they felt like they had to prove it.

“And that cost them. Their own overconfidence did what our armies couldn’t—kept them in one place long enough for the seals to activate. Even then, some of them stayed just to try to prove they could escape. By the time the others realized that wasn’t going to happen, it was too late. If I’m being honest, we put years of planning and resources into that battle.

“And the only reason we won was a fluke.”

“Sometimes luck is more important than strategy,” Seena said.

“Helps to have both,” Dr. Benza said, finally stepping out of the hall into a large, circular room.

Actually, circular wasn’t exactly right. More like a wheel, with the bottom of the tower where the axle would be. Even then, the nearly indestructible white stone barely went halfway to the floor. The rest of the space below was filled with dozens—hundreds—of the crystal roots, burrowing into the floor.

A quick look—along with some insight from Cycling+—and Hiral followed the sensation of streams of energy flowing outward from the room. Biggest of all was a gap at the bottom, leading deeper still into the island.

“This is where we think the problem could start,” Dr. Benza said. “Catchin, would you like to explain?”

“Certainly, Doctor,” Catchin said, walking out from the group and up to the base of the white stone. “As you can see here and here, we’ve used runes alongside the Masons’ magic to increase the durability of the tower.”

“Masons?” Yanily asked.

“Short for stonemasons,” Hiral said. “Like Sander and Korkin.”

“Got it,” Yanily said.

“Correct,” Catchin said. “Their magic is strong enough to make normal buildings last for thousands of years with little wear and tear. However, the solar energy absorbed and transferred from the Fallen will put additional, extreme pressure on the towers. Given our projections, without additional aids, the towers would likely crumble within a few hundred years.”

“While we hope everything to be resolved by then,” Dr. Benza interjected, “we don’t want to take the risk.”

“Yeah, that hope didn’t pan out so well,” Yanily whispered just loud enough to be heard through the party chat.

“To extend the life of the towers, we’ve added runes that manipulate time,” Catchin said. “More specifically, that slow it down.”

“My Rune of Time Dilation,” Hiral said.

Catchin nodded. “However, even with the two magics in place, the towers will not last forever.”

“And that’s why the Fallen will wake up?” Seeyela asked, and Catchin was already shaking her head.

“Long before the towers fail, we… suspect we may begin to see a buildup of solar energy within the roots in this area,” Catchin said, pointing at where the crystal formation connected with the white of the tower. “This buildup is like a plaque, or gunk in a pipe. It will restrict the solar energy passing through, and more importantly, allow some—little more than a trickle—to return to the Fallen.”

“What’s causing it?” Hiral asked.

Catchin tapped the visible rune etched in the stone. “These runes along the base of the tower. Their influence extends just barely below the stone, and impacts the flow of solar energy on such a minor scale we didn’t even notice it until we began more extensive monitoring.”

“Any way to fix it now so it doesn’t happen later?” Seena asked.

“None,” Catchin said. “Or, at least, not within the time frame we have. We’d need to completely rebuild the system. That would take far longer than the eighteen months we have left.”

“Not to mention we’ll be installing the Fallen in six months, when the main portal opens next,” Dr. Benza said. “No, we can’t prevent it from happening now. The good news, though, is that this will take thousands of years to become a problem. It’s not something that will happen in our lifetimes, so it’s really a low priority.”

“But, just for the sake of discussion,” Hiral said, “let’s say we were to find this plaque buildup occurring. Is there a way we could, I don’t know, clean it out? And, if we were too late and the connected Fallen actually woke up, could they control the island through the roots?”

Dr. Benza raised an eyebrow and shared a look with Fenil and Laseen. “Interesting questions,” he said, tapping his chin like he was thinking. “I don’t have an answer to the first one, and it’s, like I said, a low priority.” He held up a hand at the same time Hiral opened his mouth. “But I understand your reasoning for asking. Fenil, Laseen, run some tests. See if you can come up with something.”

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“Yes, Doctor,” Laseen said, already jotting down notes.

“As for the Fallen being able to control the island…” the doctor continued, turning to look straight at the tower. Long seconds passed as he thought about it, nobody speaking, until finally the man nodded. “I’m afraid it may be possible. Given the Fallen’s control of their own solar energy, and the way information and commands mutually pass through the crystal, they could manipulate any of the built-in functions.”

“What can we do if that happens?” Hiral asked, his stomach dropping at the proclamation. He’d considered it a possibility before, but to have it confirmed as true…

“Short of severing the connection?” Dr. Benza said. “Nothing I can think of off hand.”

“And how could we do that? Sever the connection, I mean?”

In answer, Dr. Benza pointed at the indestructible white stone of the tower. “You can’t. It’s impossible.”

“Not exactly what I wanted to hear,” Seena muttered.

“Don’t look so glum,” Dr. Benza said. “Like we said, there’s no risk of it happening for millennia. We’ll be long gone before it becomes an issue, and I’m sure our descendants will have risen to a level of power through the PIMP where they can directly challenge the Fallen. That’s why we’ve done all this work, after all.”

“Aaaaand another hope that didn’t pan out so well,” Yanily whispered again. Louder, he said, “What would it take to break all this? There must be something? One of those artifacts?”

Dr. Benza started to shake his head, but then stopped to consider. “Out of everything we’ve built, these towers are by far the most durable. None of our own crafted equipment would scratch them. Laseen, Fenil, what do you think? Could A-Rank weapons do it?”

The mention of A-Rank weapons had Hiral perking right up. They had those! Maybe Dr. Benza had just thought it was impossible with B-Rank equipment…

“No chance,” Fenil said. “A-Rank wouldn’t cut it. Uh, literally wouldn’t cut it.”

“S-Rank, theoretically,” Laseen said, rapidly scratching something on her notepad as if she were doing calculations. “Yes, S-Rank could do it. But”—she held up a finger—“it would need to be a High-S-Rank weapon, wielded by an S-Rank individual, so as not to suffer any drop-off from Rank disparity.”

“So, a C-Rank wielding an S-Rank weapon…” Hiral said.

“Wouldn’t be able to do it. Even an A-Rank wielding an S-Rank weapon can only coax around sixty percent of the item’s power out. My math says you need at least ninety percent of a true S-Rank weapon to do any damage, and even then, that’s not taking into account anything an awakened Fallen may be doing to reinforce the tower.”

“Why would a Fallen do that?” Seeyela asked.

“I don’t know; I’m just saying they could,” Laseen replied. “And, if they did, that would completely invalidate my calculations.”

Hiral looked from the researcher to the white stone and root-like crystals spreading from beneath. They now knew what was the likely cause for the Fallen waking up, but they still didn’t have anything they could do about it. The Dr. Benza of the future had come up with a solution, so maybe this one would figure it out? They did have another eighteen months with the man.

“Thanks for bringing us down here and showing this to us,” Hiral said.

Dr. Benza nodded. “Even though I don’t think this is a problem we’ll live long enough to deal with, the questions you asked were good ones. Got us thinking about things a bit differently. And, it couldn’t hurt to figure out a way to reverse the plaque buildup.

“All that said, anything else you need here?”

Hiral shared a look with the others, but they all gently shook their heads. “No, I think that’s it. When you figure it out—how to reverse it—let us know right away?”

“You’re… quite insistent about this,” Dr. Benza said. “Do you know something we don’t?”

“Nothing more than a suspicion the information will be useful in the future,” Hiral said.

“Hrm. Fine, then. We’ll actively get some people working on it. Fenil, did you…?”

“I made a note, sir,” Fenil said. “I think I know exactly who to put on it.” He scribbled something on his pad, then tapped it several times with his pencil. “Yes. Yes, they’ll be perfect.”

“Good. Then, let’s get out of these cramped tunnels,” Dr. Benza said. “Not you, Fenil. You still have to double-check those readings for me.”

“Ah, yes. I’ll bring you the results as soon as I finish.”

“Good. And I’m sure we all have a lot of work to do today, so let’s get to it,” Dr. Benza said, shooing everybody back down the hall they’d come from.

Hiral let the others shuffle out first, his mind still on the problem of the Fallen and the indestructible tower, until a small cough caught his attention. Turning, he found Seena waiting for him. She was the only other one in the room besides Fenil, but the researcher gave each of them a look and seemed to read something in the atmosphere.

“I’ll… I’ll be over on the other side there, not listening to what you’re saying. La, la, la, la, la, la, la, I’m siiiiiinging to myself.” And with that, he walked along the curvature of the room until he was out of sight.

“He didn’t need to leave,” Seena said.

“Something on your mind?” Hiral asked, his instincts demanding he step closer to her, but his brain telling him to stay put.

“Lots,” she said. “Uh… do… do you have any idea what to do about the Fallen?”

“Maybe,” he said. “But that’s not why you stayed behind.”

“We do need to talk about it.”

“We do,” he agreed. “When we’re with the others. What did you really want to discuss?”

“Go on, mistress,” Li’l Ur quietly coaxed from her shoulder, even going so far as to pat the side of her head. “You can do it. Be strong.”

“We need to talk about… us,” she said. “We have to get to work now, though—both of us—and I don’t want to rush this conversation. Usual spot tonight after we finish our jobs?”

“Usual spot tonight,” Hiral said. “I’ll bring some of that cheese you like and… and… yeah. We’ll talk.”

Seena looked around the curve of the room where Fenil still quietly sang to himself—Hiral could feel the man listening, thanks to his high Atn—then stepped in closer. She opened her mouth as if to say something, then closed it right away. Open again… and closed. “I’ll see you tonight,” she finally said on the third try.

Hiral could only nod, his own words stuck in his throat, and Seena turned and strode down the hall.

“You okay?” Fenil asked, slinking around the curve in the room. “You two make a cute couple, so I hate to see you fighting.”

“Not exactly fighting,” Hiral said.

“Still, want to talk about it? You’ve been there for me when I needed an ear these last few months.”

Hiral nodded as the memory of Fenil ranting about how hard Dr. Benza worked him flitted through his head. Actually, memories, plural. Lots of them. Dozens. “Not sure you can help on this one,” Hiral said.

“Try me,” Fenil said, standing up straight and patting his own chest. “I’m your guy.”

“Fine. What do you do when your entire relationship seems like a dream, but when you wake up, you wonder if it was all just your imagination?”

Fenil looked at Hiral and blinked. Twice.

“Yeah, right, maybe I’m not your guy.”