Rune Seeker

Chapter 19: Trust

It didn’t take Hiral long to catch up to the others; the injured caused them to move more slowly, and he ran up join Seena. She had one of the four women from the other Grower party—her sister, by the resemblance—beside her, and both of them immediately turned their heads at his arrival.

“You won’t take us back…” the sister started.

“What was that all about?” Seena asked at the same time, then had to put herself between Hiral and Seeyela as the sister lunged at him. “Slow down. He’s not with them. I don’t think, at least. He’s about to explain things very clearly right now.”

“I don’t know,” Hiral said, but Nivian and one of the new additions joined them as they continued moving through the woods, the sounds of the fight echoing behind them.

“Explanations will have to wait,” Nivian said. “We need to get further away before any of those Islanders come after us. And we’re already making too much noise.”

WHAM. Something shook again behind them, reminding them that everything from that clearing was well beyond their Rank, and the group continued on in silence.

They found the path a few minutes later, but still kept moving, their voices silent until almost an hour of hard-pressed running later, the injured and barely conscious Grower finally needed a break. He’d pushed on valiantly, only pausing for the most minor of healings, but his body was at its limit, desperately needing a rest.

From the looks on everybody’s faces, he wasn’t the only one. The woman with the broken arm grimaced like she was barely holding the pain back.

“Now,” Seeyela said sternly, looking from Seena to Hiral, the uninjured members of the other Grower party shifting so they could watch, “explain. Why do you have an Islander with you? Do you know what they were doing down here?”

“He saved Favela’s life,” Seena answered after a second’s thought, and the mention of her daughter seemed to pause whatever Seeyela was going to say next. “She was playing too close to the edge of the island. It’s a long story, but she… fell…”

“How… how could you let…?” Seeyela started.

“I’m sorry, but we can talk about that later. The rest of it is this: Hiral jumped off and saved her. In return for that, he asked to come down to the surface with us to look for you. He got an achievement notification while he was saving Favela, and it mentioned the dungeon interface. Instead of letting him go back up to Fallen Reach and start talking about it there, I thought it was best to bring him down with us.”

Seeyela groaned at the mention of the dungeon interface. “Favela is alright?”

“She’s fine,” Seena said. “Honestly, I think she’s a little taken by Hiral here. She wouldn’t let him go after he saved her.”

“She’s usually such a good judge of character too,” Seeyela said.

Ouch.

“So, what does he know about the Islanders who attacked us? The ones who killed the Quillbacks?” Seeyela went on, her voice rising.

“He is right here,” Hiral said before Seena could speak for him. “And, look, I get why you don’t trust me. I wouldn’t, if I was in your shoes. Er, boots… or whatever those things you’re wearing are.” He gestured at her feet with both hands. “But, really, I have no idea what those Shapers were doing down here. You’re saying they’re the ones who killed the Quillbacks we saw back at the dungeon?”

Seeyela narrowed her eyes and looked at Seena. “You took him to the dungeon?”

“We checked there first for you, of course,” Seena said, no hint of apology on her face.

“Whatever,” Seeyela said. “Yes. They killed the Quillbacks. Were killing them when we walked in. As soon as we saw what was happening, we got out of there. They caught up to us in the woods before we could get to the jump point. Started questioning us about how to harvest the quills. None too gently, I might add.” She nodded toward the Grower with the broken arm. “Why do you look familiar?”

“Hrm?” Hiral half-asked, his brain running through what it could mean for Shapers to be on the surface. “I work with Arty, who trades with your uncle.”

“So,” Seeyela said, standing straighter, “the two people who know the most about the quills. And, when we come down to the surface to harvest them. You are involved, aren’t you?”

“Yes, obviously,” Hiral snapped back. “Because that’s why I’m down on the surface now, surrounded by a group of hostile Nomads who are considering whether or not to string me up from the closest tree or bury me under it. Just stop accusing me for a second and think about things.

“One of the Shapers had a Disc of Passage tattoo, and she was B-Rank. The disc tattoo isn’t common; there are maybe half a dozen people who have them and can use them. But! If they had access to it, watching your people come down to the surface wouldn’t be a challenge at all. The disc has a lot of functions, one of which makes it practically invisible to anybody looking. Bends light around it… but the details don’t matter.

“Yes, people from Fallen Reach were down here, and I’m sorry about what happened to you, but I’m not apologizing because I was involved in it. Maybe you saw the part where they were ready to kill me just as quickly as you?”

“And, as for Arty—your uncle’s trust of him aside—he makes his living off trading with your family,” Hiral went on, partially thinking out loud. “Shapers coming down and undermining that business would be the last thing he wants. No, if anything, we’re the people you can trust the most.”

“That’s convenient,” Seeyela said.

“It is,” Seena said back. “And, honestly, that’s all I think it is. We can talk to Uncle Caav when we get back up to the islands to see what he has to say. You know Arty has always been good to us. And I don’t just mean the trading.”

“It’s true,” Hiral said. “The fertility glyphs he does for you could get him into a lot of trouble on Fallen Reach. They’re very illegal in the city. He’s risking his neck every time he does one.”

Seena and her sister looked at each other, and Seeyela’s hands instinctively went to her stomach.

Ah. So not just Caaven’s wife.

“Okay, let’s say for a minute I believe you’re on the level. Where do we go from here?” Seeyela asked.

“How about to the jump point?” Yanily offered. “Wule and Cal got Fitch awake and walking. Picoli says her broken arm won’t slow her down, and we’re literally running out of time here.” He pointed back along the path toward where the top of the storm-wall could just be seen.

“It could be dangerous,” Hiral said. “If they’ve actually been watching your patterns when you harvest, they could go to the jump point ahead of us on the disc.”

“Do you have a better suggestion?” Seena asked, though there wasn’t contempt in her voice. It was a legitimate question.

Hiral opened his mouth to answer, then shook his head. “No, I don’t. It’s the only way back up?”

“It’s the only jump point that’ll get us to the islands between here and the Needle Mountains,” Seeyela said.

“And there’s really no way to climb the Needles?” Hiral asked.

“None,” Seena said.

“Then I guess we don’t have any choice but to risk it,” Hiral said with a shrug.

“Anybody else? Open to suggestions here,” Seena said, turning her attention to the other Growers, but they all shook their heads. “That settles it, then. We’re continuing to the jump point, and hoping we get there first.”

“Do you think those Islanders actually even made it out of that clearing?” Vix asked. “Last I looked, they didn’t seem to be doing any better than we did against that crystal thing.”

“They were all at least C-Rank,” Hiral said. “The monster caught them off guard, but do you really think it could’ve taken down five C-Rank Shapers, and one or two B-Ranks?”

Vix shrugged. “Just saying what I saw. You tell me if they could take that thing or not.”

“Actually, that’s not a bad idea,” Seena said, but she stood up again. “While we move, Hiral, tell us everything you can about those Islanders and what they might be capable of. I’m really hoping they don’t know about the jump point, but if they do, it’s better we have an idea what we’re getting into.”

“Assuming he’s willing to sell his friends out like that,” Seeyela said, also standing.

“Not my friends. They were planning on killing me too,” Hiral reminded her. “And yes, I’ll tell you what I know. How far is it from here now?”

“Just a couple hours, and we’re cutting it close. Everybody ready to go?” Seena asked, and the others nodded at her. “Great. Let’s go home.”