Rune Seeker - Book 3: Chapter 61: He Would’ve Gotten An Achievement

The Spear of Clouds, less than a toothpick compared to the enormous tentacles, met them head on—and then cleaved them in two.

Like when Yanily had used his empowered Skyfall, the whole dungeon went black and white, color fleeing entirely in the face of absolute power. No, that wasn’t quite right. It wasn’t power; it was Separation. Just like Hiral’s rune, but on a continental scale, the Spear of Clouds used the same force to part the giant tentacles.

Like a hot knife through butter, the collision between spear and Enemy resulted in the appendages flipping off sideways, completely severed from the main body. Yanily’s cut didn’t end there, though, with the whole sky beyond the tentacles separating in a wide arc. Rain, clouds—everything slanted off to the side, like the pieces didn’t fit together anymore.

Rain no longer fell straight, instead running down the line of Separation like it was a pane of glass. The previously thunderous storm clouds drooped and fell like melted wax beyond where the slice bisected them. Even the boundary of the dungeon lay perfectly pierced, a glowing line running along the distant sky—a scar that would never heal.

Just like the wound of losing Yanily.

The Enemy, for its part, let out a horrific screech of pain at losing its limbs, the stumps recoiling back into the clouds and luminescent metallic liquid spilling like a waterfall. Far across the valley, the other tentacles crushed what was left of the Builder island to absolute ruin, then also retracted into the sky.

“Yanily?” Seena asked.

CLANG. Something hit the ground right in front of the party, its thin form shivering from the impact while the rain continued to fall all around.

The Spear of Clouds.

Lightning still danced along the wobbling haft and across the ground where the crystalline blade lay driven. The awe-inspiring power the weapon had radiated before now lay subdued. Dormant.

Satisfied.

Hiral’s hand stretched out to the weapon of its own accord, different runic energies still lingering from the collision. Was there a clue—an insight—regarding the powers of those runes? Just an inkling of what had happened to his friend? He’d watched carefully as the spear had unleashed its power, but in that moment of contact, Yanily had completely vanished. Consumed by the needy spear? Or annihilated by the impact of the tentacles?

He didn’t know, but maybe the runes would tell him.

There was definitely Separation there, but that was no surprise. He’d seen what the blade did to the Enemy—and to the sky. A glance up showed everything still sitting askew.

The weapon that separated the sky from the clouds indeed.

What else was there?

Rune of Absorption, which made sense, considering the weapon had taken Yanily’s lifeforce to power itself up. Runes of Sealing and Unsealing. Okay, those were a little unusual. He could feel both had been used… The storm dragon? Had it been sealed inside the Spear of Clouds for some reason? And is it back in there now?

Another rune just visible on the blade also pulled his attention. It wasn’t one he was familiar with, and it was complex like his Gravity, Separation, and Energy runes. There wasn’t any way he could figure it out in the short term, but it gave off a feeling of absoluteness. It wasn’t the sensation of supreme power, though the spear surely had that, but more of certainty. It made him think of something unique and definitive… and even that much was giving him a headache, so he moved on.

Was there anything else? Yes… yes, there was something different. Not a rune. Something… reaching from the spear. Reaching where? Hiral streamed solar power into his Rune of Energy and linked it to his eyes. A tiny thread, almost as thin as spiders’ silk, stretched from the weapon and up into the sky. Delicate though it was, it radiated a surprising amount of power. So much so, it was shocking he couldn’t see it without his rune. Tracing it with his gaze, Hiral followed that strange thread past the cut in the sky, beyond the drooping clouds, and through the scar wound in the dungeon itself.

The spear is connecting to something… outside the dungeon.

“Hiral, do you see him?” Seena asked, the tone of her voice suggesting it wasn’t the first time she’d asked.

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Tearing his eyes from the strange thread extending from the spear, he looked over at the woman. His friend. At the tears running down her face, and at her hand clenched in her sister’s. Then he shook his head. “I was watching, but I… I don’t know.”

“Damnit. Damnit, Yan.” Seena turned to glare at the still-swirling clouds. The Enemy had vanished after the brutal injury, but Seena looked like she was considering flying up there and finishing it off.

“We need to get the spear to Hugor,” Dr. Benza said softly. “I’m sorry about your friend, but he bought us the time we need. Because of his… Because of what he did… we can save what’s left.”

“What does it even matter?” Seena asked. “None of this is real. None of this was worth losing Yanily.” Her voice cracked as she shouted, “That stupid bastard!”

Not having any words to make the hurting stop, Hiral simply walked up to the two women and wrapped his arms around them. Pulling them in tight against him, none of them spoke. None of them could.

Yanily acted the idiot sometimes, but underneath the easygoing façade, he’d cared for his friends more than anything else. He’d been there when they needed him, be it with a piece of advice, a smile, or just playing his role to ground everybody again.

And Fallen’s balls, Hiral would miss him.

“He wouldn’t want us to give up,” Seeyela said quietly.

“I’m not giving up,” Seena whispered.

“It’s true.” Li’l Ur floated above their heads. “She’s considering how much solar energy it would take to burn the entire sky down.”

“Damn right I am,” Seena seethed. She took a deep breath, her arm squeezing Hiral. “I don’t know if this is real, but Yan asked us to save these people. The friends we made over the last year. So that’s what we’re going to do. Any objections?”

“Do I get to stab something?” Seeyela asked. “I really want to stab something. A lot.”

“We still have a Boss to deal with,” Hiral reminded them.

“Good.” Seena pushed back. “I’ll burn it. You stab it. Hiral… you… You…” She looked at him, and her eyes said it all. Don’t die.

“Got it, boss,” he said quietly.

“Dr. Benza, what are you just standing around for?” Seena said as she spun on the doctor. “We have to get this spear to Grandfather.”

Dr. Benza’s mouth worked, but no words came out.

“Heeeeeey! Heeeeeey, is anybody alive over heeeeeere?” Laseen’s voice called, and Hiral turned around to find the Disc of Passage speeding their way. Left, Right, and Fenil stood on the edge as it got closer, and the doubles hopped down as soon as it arrived.

They both looked at the Spear of Clouds still embedded in the ground, then to the three tear-streaked faces.

“That giant dragon was Yanily?” Right asked.

Hiral just nodded.

“We saw what happened with the Enemy,” Left said. “I bet he would’ve gotten an achievement from that.”

“And a whole lot of experience,” Right added, the small jokes their way of paying tribute to their fallen friend.

“He would’ve,” Hiral said, patting his doubles on the shoulders. He could see on their faces this was just as tough for them.

“Hiral, can you take the spear?” Seena asked. “I don’t think I can bring myself to touch it.”

“Yeah, sure.” Hiral gave his doubles one more pat on the shoulders, then walked over to the weapon stabbed into the ground. The lightning had faded from where it ran along the blade, and the whole thing felt like it was asleep. Would it still have the power it needed for whatever Grandfather was going to do with it?

Hiral would just have to trust it did, and he pried the spear out of the ground. Considering it was made of solid crystal, the weapon was light, though maybe it just had its own Rune of Gravity. “Ready,” he told Seena.

“I really am sorry about your friend,” Dr. Benza said to the five of them.

“We know,” Seeyela said. “We’ve just lost too many friends recently. It’s hard not to get angry at it all.”

Dr. Benza didn’t say anything else immediately, instead looking out across the devastation wrought upon the islands in the pouring rain. The Builder and Bonder islands had been completed destroyed. The rubble of thousands of buildings—and hundreds of thousands of lives—lay strewn about the ground in scattered piles.

On the Grower island where they now stood, not a single structure was left undamaged. At least half of them had been ground completely flat, while the other half looked like they’d fall over at any moment. There was no way to know how many had died, or if any had survived. With the storm once again raging around them, anybody with a lick of sense would stay hidden if they could.

Finally, back the way they’d come, Hiral followed the doctor’s gaze to look at the Maker island. At what would become Fallen Reach. Still outside the spreading rain, it had been spared the worst of the destruction, but that didn’t mean it was safe. Maybe it was his imagination, or maybe his high Atn, but Hiral could almost see the people fighting against the horde of Bristle Rats still pouring out of the portals.

Are Sander and Korkin over there fighting? Have more Abominations come out? Something worse?

Some part of Hiral knew the answer to all of those questions. Yes.

Seena had said none of this was real, but if the PIMP had done one thing, it was definitely making Hiral question what was “real.” Was it what he could see? Well, he certainly saw the dungeon around him. Something he could touch? His fingers closed tighter around the Spear of Clouds in his hands, and his feet shuffled on the ground beneath them. He was definitely touching the dungeon, so did that make it real?

What about his feelings or memories? He’d told Seena those were the truth. Everything that made them who they were was found in the past—in their memories. And, looking back at Fallen Reach, he felt hope his friends back there would be okay.

They’ll only have a chance if we deliver this spear. Quest or not, it’s what needs to be done. Yanily knew that.

“This is real,” Hiral whispered, but Seeyela and Seena obviously heard him, their heads turning in his direction.

“Yeah, I guess it is,” Seena said. “Which means we should really get going. Everybody on the disc. Time to do what Yan asked us to.”