Rune Seeker - Book 3: Chapter 84: We’re In Trouble, Aren’t We?

“Mom,” Hiral said, his eyes going from her face to the glyph on her stomach.

As soon as she saw where he was looking, she pulled the ragged bottom of her shirt across to cover herself. “Hiral,” she responded, some of the usual ice from her voice missing.

When was the last time she even talked to me?

Nat and Milly looked from their mother to Hiral, then back to their mother again.

“Mom, Hiral saved us!” Nat said. “Did you see that?”

“Your tattoos?” his mother said. “Did you…?”

The tattoos. Of course. Still the only thing she cares about.

Hiral shook his head. “They’ll never work for me. I… found another way.”

“You’re…” she started.

“Yeah, still a failure in the only way that matters to you,” Hiral said, the words coming out before he could censor himself.

“Hiral, that’s not it,” Milly said.

“It’s fine,” he responded, pushing himself to his feet. His solar energy had already regenerated fairly well, as had his health, thanks to High-Speed Regeneration+. That really was a top-notch ability. “Anyway, as much as I’d love to stay and catch up, we need to get going. Time limit.”

“Hiral, are you sure?” Nat said. “You… Your head was gone.”

“I’m sure. And, look, Hizix here will go with you to help keep you safe. And, on top of that, I brought something else so you can protect yourselves.”

Hiral threaded solar energy into the Arsenal of Amin Thett. As soon as the ring began to glow, dozens—then hundreds—of crystal weapons streamed out of it to float around him. Within seconds, the arena was practically filled with hanging swords, spears, rifles, axes, and every other kind of weapon he could imagine.

“What are all these?” Milly asked.

“Gauto found them. You can use them with just a touch of solar energy. These ones are all D-Rank. They won’t do much against anybody C or above, but that’s what Hizix will be there for.” A thought lowered the weapons softly to the ground, and then Hiral released his hold on them.

“And where are you going?” Nat asked.

Thunder boomed across the island, and all heads turned towards the storm wall visible above the edge of the open-air amphitheatre. Lightning danced within the nearly black clouds, bolt after bolt streaking from side to side like something angry lurked within. And something did. More thunder and lightning serenaded the group, and Hiral turned to Nat.

“We’re going to stop that.”

“How?”

“There’s a Grower—a Nomad—somewhere in Fallen Reach who has the key to doing it. Don’t worry. I got this.”

Nat opened her mouth as if she was going to object again, but then her jaw closed slowly, and she smiled. “You do got this.” His little sister stepped forward to wrap her arms around his chest. “You got this,” she repeated while she nuzzled her face up against his chest.

“You just wanted to touch my coat again, didn’t you?”

“It’s so soft,” she said. “Milly, come hug him. No, don’t argue, just come here.”

Milly shrugged without saying anything, then joined Nat, and the three siblings shared a hug. Then, just as Hiral was about to push them away—again—a notification window sprang up in front of his face.

Dynamic Quest Complete

Congratulations. Achievement unlocked – We’re Busting Outta Here

You have defeated the guards and rescued the prisoners.

Please access a Dungeon Interface to unlock class-specific reward.

Note: Since linked quests have both been completed, no zone-wide announcement will go out.

“You two good over there?” Hiral asked.

“Finally,” Seena said, breathing heavily. “These B-Rank Shapers are no joke. What are they even made of?”

“Seriously,” Seeyela said. “It’s a good thing you had Left and Right helping you over there.”

“Uh… yeah, it was,” Hiral said quickly, holding a finger to his lips and looking at his doubles. Left gave him a flat stare, and Right just shrugged. “So, boss, what’s the plan?”

“Sitting,” Seena said. “Your friend went to talk to the prisoners. Hopefully one of them will know where we can find Fitch.”

“Probably at one of the towers,” Hiral said. “Which one, is the question.”

“I’m assuming you got the people there out okay?”

“Yeah. They’re here with me now, but Nat is going to take them to her school.”

“Your little sister?”

“Who is he talking to?” Milly asked at his chest.

“No idea,” Nat replied. “Just ignore his crazy and enjoy the coat.”

“Yes, my annoying little sister,” Hiral told Seena, making sure his voice was just loud enough for his sisters to hear. “Actually, they’re both pretty annoying, but I still love them anyway.”

Nat turned her head to look up at him and stuck out her tongue.

“C’mere, girls, our coats are just as soft as his,” Right said, holding his arms open.

“That somehow sounded exceptionally creepy,” Left said.

“You’re sure the other Hirals are safe?” Milly asked Nat.

“Totally safe—and that one’s mine,” Nat said, letting go of Hiral and heading over to wrap her arms around Right. “He’s my new favorite.”

“Don’t worry, I’m less strange than Right,” Left said. “And I think I have some candy here somewhere…”

“You may want to rethink your definition of creepy,” Milly said before looking up at Hiral. She gave him one more squeeze, then went over to talk to Left.

That just left Hiral with his Party Interface. And his mother.

One hand still holding her shirt in place, she opened her mouth to…

Hiral turned and walked away.

“Sorry, had to step away from the crowd,” Hiral told Seena, walking to the edge of the arena where the Emperor’s Greatsword had cut a crevice through the wall. “Like I was saying, the people here are safe. Nat will take them to her school. Apparently, it’s safe there. Did you run into any Shapers on your way to the prison?”

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“Saw a couple groups, but Seeyela got us past without any trouble… barely,” Seena said. “Your friend is about as stealthy as a one-legged rock.”

“A one-legged…?”

“Sounded better in my head.”

“Do one-legged rocks wear shoes?”

“Shut up.”

“What about socks?”

“You’re lucky you’re way over wherever the hell you are. I take it from the joking your family is fine?”

Hiral blew out a breath. “Yeah, they’re fine. My mother is here.”

“Oof. Did she say anything to you?”

“Asked about my tattoos.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“Bitch.”

“Whoa, now,” Seeyela interrupted over the party chat. “Is that called for?”

“His tattoos are the only thing she cares about,” Seena said. “She stopped talking to you, what… when you were eight?”

“Nine,” Hiral clarified. “As soon as I failed my first Shaper test, well, I might as well have been dead to her. Completely started avoiding me after I failed the second time.”

“The test you needed to be a Maker to pass?” Seeyela asked. “Did you tell her you’re not a… hrm. That could be an awkward conversation.”

“It could be. I’ll talk to Dad about it at some point.”

“Seena, how do you know so much about Hiral’s mom?” Seeyela asked.

“I…” Seena started. “Memories from the Rise of Fallen Reach. We had a lot of nights to sit and talk about things.”

“Talking is all you better have been doing,” Seeyela said, and Hiral could practically feel her threatening him with one of her daggers despite the distance.

“Don’t be a prude,” Seena said. “You had Favela when you were my age.”

“I was married!”

“No, you weren’t,” Hiral made the mistake of saying.

“Excuse me!?” Seeyela said. “Seena.” Her voice came out low and dangerous.

“He jumped off an island for her! She came up in conversation. And, in my defense, there was wine involved. Oh, oh, look! Gauto is back, and he brought friends. We should totally see what they have to say. Yup, look at me, going to see what they have to say.”

“We’re in trouble, aren’t we?” Hiral said, focusing his thoughts so the message went to just Seena.

“Likely going to get murdered in our sleep,” Seena said with a chuckle. “Seriously, though, maybe you should talk to your mom?”

“What’s the point? No, I’ll talk to Dad when I see him. He actually cares about me.”

“Huh, he looks a lot like you too.”

“I guess he might… but why would you say that?”

“One of the friends Gauto brought with him has to be your father. Couple of big Shapers too. Hope they’re friendlier than the last ones.”

“Is one of them Loan?”

“I can ask,” Seena said, and then the party chat went quiet like she’d muted it. “Yeah. Loan, your father, and somebody named Ilrolik. She… reminds me of Grandmother.”

“She’s one of the elder Shapers on the island. Still B-Rank, but on the cusp of A-Rank if the rumors are true. I’m glad she’s on our side. Uh, say hi to Dad for me. Let him know I’m okay.”

“Sure,” Seena said, and her voice cut off again.

“Oh, your father is pretty huggy,” Seeyela cut in. “And now he’s shaking Seena and talking to her like you can hear him. He’s a… What did you call his class? An Artist?”

“Yeah. Shaking or not, he shouldn’t have the stats to hurt her. She okay?”

“I’m fine. Yes, I’m talking to Hiral. No, he can’t hear you no matter how loud you yell. Yes, he’s fine. No… his tattoos don’t… Eating his vegetables? What? I mean, we’re… friends?”

“Big sis coming to the rescue,” Seeyela said smoothly, and then both women went quiet for a few seconds.

“Oh, thank goodness,” Seena said a minute later.

“Sorry. He can be a bit excitable,” Hiral said.

“To be fair, he did just find out his son was back from the dead,” Seena said. “The crying was kind of cute. He really does love you, Hiral.”

“I know.”

“He asked about his wife and daughters. I hope you don’t mind I told him they were with you, and that they were fine.”

“Thanks. He shouldn’t have to worry about them. My family drama aside, did you ask them where Fitch is?”

“I did,” Seeyela interjected. “And, somehow, I bet you won’t be surprised.”

“One of the Fallen’s towers?”

“One we’ve been to,” Seeyela said.

“I’ve been to all of them…” Hiral said slowly, stopping as her word choice settled in. One we’ve been to. There were only two they’d been to as a group. And only one visit was… dramatic. “The eastern tower, on the edge of the island?” he asked, turning to look in that direction. By the looks of things, the storm wall hadn’t reached it yet, but it would soon.

“Exactly that one,” Seeyela said. “We’re going to need to hurry to get there. And… hrm, what’s that? Of course we’re expecting you to come with us. Why else would we break you out?”

“Sis is sweet-talking Ilrolik and Loan into coming with us. Actually, as soon as I said you were here, he said he was coming. Ilrolik and the other Shapers sound like they’re on board too.”

“Good. Think we can use our flying mounts, then? We don’t have to worry about sneaking around so much.”

“The Shapers… they’ll have Discs of Passage or something?” Seena asked, catching on.

“Ilrolik, at least, does,” Hiral said. “The others may have Platforms of Movement or a lesser travel option, but it should work.”

“Okay. We need a bit of time to absorb our solar energy after that fight. Sounds like the Shapers do too. They’re not completely empty, but I don’t want to go up against Fitch and an army of his own Shapers without being ready.”

“I’ll get on Drake and come to you,” Hiral said. “Left can use his Banner of Courage to speed things up for the whole group.”

“A giant, screaming Dracolich might attract attention,” Seena said. “But, at this point, let them follow you. Anybody who does will be in for a mean surprise.”

“Yup. Give me a couple minutes to get Nat and the others moving. Then I’ll be on my way. I’ll see you in ten minutes or less.”

“You can take an extra minute to talk to your mother…”

“Even ten minutes is pushing it,” Hiral said. “See you soon.”

Obviously sensing that was as much as he wanted to say on the topic, Seena let it drop and promised to explain what was going on to the group.

That done, Hiral turned his focus to the group in the arena. Left and Right had extracted themselves from his sisters. They’d probably heard the conversation with Seena and Seeyela and knew what was coming.

“Time for you all to go,” Hiral said, happy to see most of the previous hostages had picked up the crystal weapons he’d provided.

A few were still giving Hizix a dirty look, but Hiral would trust the oath the man had sworn. Sure, it was possible he’d killed Gunimat just to save his own life, but Hiral didn’t really get that feeling. The Shaper had seen them escaping down on the surface, and he’d let them go. He may not be a good man, but he could be.

“I’ll keep them safe,” Hizix said when he noticed Hiral staring at him.

“Thank you.”

“The least I can do.”

“You’re going?” Nat asked, though Milly stayed over with their mother and whispered at her.

“Yeah,” Hiral said. “Here, step back. I think you’ll like this.” Making sure there was plenty of space in front of him, he mentally reached into his Interspatial Ring and activated his Reflection of the Dracolich.

Bone-white smoke billowed out of his ring as a chill like the grave washed across the arena floor. Heavy footsteps seemed to shake the ground as the cloud grew and grew, and then two floating orbs of blue fire shimmered to life within the smoke. A second later, a deafening roar cried at the heavens, blowing away the smoke like it’d never even been there to reveal Drake standing with his wings spread. Blue flames crackled between the bone fingers of his massive wings, and his tail lashed once, twice, three times on the stone floor with an echoing CRACKeach time.

“Show-off,” Hiral said, and Drake cocked his head just slightly to look at Hiral while still holding the obvious pose. “Nat, this is Drake. Drake, this is one of my little sisters, Nat.”

The draconic skull—almost as big as Nat herself—lowered until it was right in front of her. Then it gently nudged forward to nuzzle her chest in greeting.

Nat stood practically frozen looking at the dagger-like teeth, and the massive claws not so far away. Then the Dracolich nudged her, and something like a purr escaped its mouth. A second nudge, and the girl giggled.

“He’s so cute!” Nat finally said, throwing her arms around Drake’s snout.

“You’re so obviously family,” Left said flatly.

“Means she’s your family too,” Hiral pointed out.

Left looked from Hiral to Right, then to Nat and Milly. And he smiled. “I think I’m okay with that.”

“Me too,” Hiral said, smiling until his eyes fell on his mother. As soon as they did, he tapped Drake playfully on the snout and turned away. “Time to stretch your wings, buddy.”

“He flies?” Nat asked. “You so have to take me later.”

“Once the island is safe, we can go,” Hiral said, looking at the storm wall. “Though that might be easier said than done,” he added quietly.