Rune Seeker

The rain greeted him like a long-lost friend, if they were the kind of friend who walked up and said ‘hello’ with a slap to the face. The Coat of Ur’Thul kept the water from his eyes, thanks to the magic of the hood, but it was anything but the light drizzle they’d been dealing with in the first zone they came down to. And, even in the undead city – if it could be called that anymore – it wasn’t as heavy.

Luckily, there didn’t seem to be any major wind, and the broad strokes of lightning flashed far in the distance. If there were Enemies out there, they were probably pretty far away. No wind meant it’d be easier to pick out their movement through the rain as well. Then again, it’d just be better if they didn’t run into any of them at all.

“This way,” Hiral said after the others had a chance to step out of the tunnel and adjust to the falling rain. Then, he started down the path, quickly picking up his pace to a spirited jog. Walk on Water made the muddy trail feel solid beneath his feet, but the squelching behind reminded him not everybody was lucky enough to have the ability.

Good thing Left had an answer to that, with Path of Butterflies spreading to create platforms of pink energy underneath the soles of their feet.

“Stay close to the ground,” Hiral reminded them. Nods were all he got in return, and they pushed away from the relative safety of the tunnel. Though the area near the gate had been cleared of the tall grass, the party left that space within a hundred paces. Soon, thick stalks of grass up to their waists stood tall on both sides, with the path between the glowing roots cutting a clear trail.

“Great place to get ambushed,” Yanily said over the party chat.

“You really think one of those Runeoceroses could sneak up on us?” Seeyela asked. “Ah, scratch that. Like Hiral said, there’s got to be something out here that hunts those things. And I bet whatever it is, it loves all this tall grass.”

“Drahn?” Seena asked. “Thoughts? This is more your area of expertise than ours.”

“Moving quickly like we are will make us less of a target to ambush predators,” Drahn said. “On the other hand, a lot of hunters are triggered by fleeing prey. If something sees us dash by, their instincts may demand they give chase.”

“I almost feel bad for anything that decides it wants to chase us,” Yanily said. “Though I’ll take the experience.”

“And I’d rather we have the chance to see something chasing us, than not seeing it jump out of the grass,” Seena said. “Keep up the pace, but watch those sides.”

“Left, you’re on Enemy duty,” Hiral said.

“Got it,” the double replied.

Like that, they ran for an hour. Then two. As the third hour crept by – the wall nothing more than a distant memory in the darkness – the scene ahead of them finally changed. From tall grass with the occasional tree, the path wound its way into the closest thing they’d seen to a thicket since they’d arrived. It looked to be the same, short trees, but there were dozens of them together.

Another flash of lightning allowed Hiral to correct that assessment. Not dozens, hundreds.

“That looks like an even better place to get ambushed,” Yanily pointed out as the group slowed to a stop.

Agreeing with the spearman’s opinion, Hiral activated Piercing Shot on each of his RHCs, the runic circles barely glowing in the night.

“Tracks in the mud show animals going in here,” Drahn said, crouched off to the side. “I’d say at least one of the Runeoceroses. A small one, though. Maybe an infant separated from the rest? These other tracks are probably some of the herd animals Hiral spotted. There’s also something else. From the print, I’d say it’s a kind of...” he trailed off, his head slowly swiveling as he looked at something.

Without another word, Drahn stood and paced the width of the path, though it was only about twelve feet at the entrance of the woods. The rain continued to fall as the party waited, each of them staying quiet to let the tracker concentrate. He’d obviously spotted something. The only question was: What was it?

“I was wrong,” Drahn finally said. “It’s not a kind of something, it’s a whole pack of something. From the prints, dogs would be my first guess. Maybe wolves? But the tracks are different from anything I’ve seen.”

“How big?” Seena asked.

“Big enough to hunt a small Runeoceros,” Drahn said.

“Still makes it pretty big,” Yanily said.

“How old are the tracks?” Hiral asked.

“Herd animals are barely noticeable,” Drahn said. “If you’d asked me that before I took a longer look at everything, I’d have said the rain is doing a good job of ruining things. That if I can still see them, they’d have to be recent.”

“Sounds like that’s not actually the case,” Seeyela said.

“No, the rain actually isn’t doing a good job of ruining things,” Drahn replied. “Piss poor job, in fact. The tracks will still be gone in forty minutes, tops, but for rain this heavy, I would’ve expected it in ten. There’s something about the mud,” he said, crouching down again and running a finger in a line through the muck.

“Any guesses when these things went in?” Seena asked, while Hiral turned an eye to the sky. Left was keeping a lookout, but the rain felt like it was coming down heavier. And that lightning didn’t seem to be as far away now.

“It could’ve been a few minutes ago, with us running up the path spooking the animals into the trees. It’s likely they’ve got excellent senses for picking out threats in the constant rain and darkness. Or, it could’ve been… maybe… fifteen minutes ago? No more than that,” he said with finality, eyes still on the line he’d drawn.

He’s testing how quickly the rain softens the marks.

Looking for it – and directly at it – Hiral’s high Atn helped him gauge how fast the tracks were blurring. And it wasn’t fast at all.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Did you see anything as we were running up, Hiral?” Seena asked, snapping his attention away from the tracks.

“Nothing, but with the grass and general darkness…” he trailed off, already feeling like he was making excuses. With his Atn – the one he’d been so proud of a second ago – shouldn’t he have seen something?

Surprisingly, it was Drahn who spoke up. “It’s been rainy and dark here for longer than we can imagine. The animals have adapted to it in ways we can’t even begin to guess. They may even have abilities like the Enemy to sense movement in the rain, or other evolutions to help evade said Enemy.

“And, in case it didn’t occur to you, it’s likely the predators have similar evolutions. We are very literally in their prime hunting grounds.”

“So, really great ambush spot,” Yanily reiterated one more time, in case somebody had missed it.

“Should we go around the woods?” Seeyela asked.

“Left, is it me, or is the rain getting heavier?” Hiral asked instead of answering.

“Definitely heavier,” the double replied. “Having cover from the rain – even if it’s only these trees – may not be a bad idea.”

“We could skirt around the edge,” Yanily suggested. “Just duck in if we need to.”

“How many in the pack, you think?” Seena asked Drahn.

“At least five, maybe six,” the tracker said. “Could be more, especially if they moved through the tall grass. As for size, I’d guess up to my chest. Two, three hundred pounds each.”

“That is a big dog,” Yanily said with a low whistle, then smiled. “They have to be worth good experience.”

“We’re staying on the path,” Seena said. “The dogs might’ve passed all the way through, or maybe not… but if it comes to a fight, we’ll do better with more space. Be ready for anything.”

“Especially a pack of B-Rank dogs,” Yanily added.

“Especially that,” Seena agreed with a chuckle. Then she tapped Hiral on the shoulder, and they crossed the threshold into the low thicket.

As soon as he got inside, the weight of the falling rain on his shoulders noticeably dropped, the canopy doing a surprisingly good job to block the weather. He could still hear the rain pattering against the leaves above and around him, but it’d make it a damn bit harder for the Enemy to sense them under there. Especially if they weren’t moving. Actually, even out in the plains, with the tall grass, if they simply stopped moving and stayed low, would the Enemy be able to notice them?

Hopefully something I never need to test…

Still, using the sound of the rain, Hiral let his senses spread around them as they moved forward. Thanks to the Path of Butterflies, the party was nearly silent behind him, no squelching or sucking sounds from boots in the mud. Then again, even if there was, with his senses, he could probably tune them out.

Actually, I can do better than this…

With a thought, he ran power into his Runes of Connection, Sealing, and Expansion to create a pseudo-domain around him. It extended about a hundred feet in each direction, and then he added just a touch of Rejection.

In the battle against the Enemy in the Rise of Fallen Reach dungeon, he’d used a domain like this to tap into the falling rain, just like the squids did. It’d helped boost his senses and allowed him to react to the squid’s attacks. Here, though, he wasn’t using it to predict movement – just to sense it. And with the rain getting partially blocked by the canopy, well, that was where the hint of Rejection came in. Anything that moved through the brush would have to push just a little harder than normal, and he’d be able to feel it.

I really am some kind of genius, aren’t I?

Somehow, as if Right could sense his thoughts, the double shook his head from where he stalked near Hiral. “I don’t know what you’re thinking,” Right said quietly. “But that look on your face tells me even you’re embarrassed you thought it. Is it about the whips again?”

Hiral’s eyes jerked back to Seena to make sure she hadn’t heard, but her attention was firmly on the trees around them. The same place Hiral’s should’ve been. But, thanks to his sensory domain, he had the luxury of time to glare at his double.

“One of these days,” Hiral started to threaten, but his head snapped ahead of them. Something about the path was different to his domain. “Eighty feet in front of us,” he said into the party chat, RHCs lifted to point straight ahead. “There’s something about the path.”

“A trap?” Seena asked.

Hiral focused his senses – along with a touch more Rejection – and strengthened the power through his Rune of Connection. They were a good few minutes into the thicket, well, more of a forest with how quickly it’d spread around them, and the path felt… squishier to his domain.

“I don’t think so,” he said after a few more seconds. “The path is softer though.”

“Let me take a look,” Drahn said, starting to work his way through the paused party.

“No,” Seena stopped him. “We’ll all move up together. Everybody, eyes open.”

As they advanced cautiously in a group, Hiral kept his weapons raised, and his senses focused on the domain. With each step, though, less and less of his attention stayed on the puddle-like-area he’d noticed before, and more of it went to the side of the path. At the edge, where the roots passed, the brush was broken and crushed. It was like…

“Signs of a struggle,” Drahn said. “Runeoceros tracks end here. So do the ones belonging to the pack, though the herd continues. There was a fight, and the loser was dragged…” he pointed in the same way Hiral had aimed one of his RHCs.

Pushing his senses further in that direction, he felt along the trees and hanging leaves. Even the scant rain triggered his Rejection, but he’d already made that part of his domain – in fact he was even using it to help him. The trail where the body had been dragged didn’t move, so it was harder for him to feel with his senses. Then again, since he knew where it was, it made it a whole lot easier to guess, and he followed its general direction.

Not even sixty feet in, he felt something different. This wasn’t a plant of a tree – it was too low and too big. While it could be a large rock, no, it had to be the Rune-o’s body. Which meant the pack must be nearby.

Where is…?

He found the first one about twenty feet off to the side of the corpse. Why was it there? And where was the rest of the pack?

Hiral’s eyes widened as he realized he’d been wasting the biggest benefits of his domain by focusing on one area. Instantly, he let his senses wander again. Let them spread. And he immediately found five more shapes moving in the party’s direction.

No, from that speed, they weren’t just moving, they were running. Charging.

“Incoming!” Hiral shouted, pulling the trigger on his RHC at the same time he swung the other weapon around.

His searing bolt of Impact cut through the intermittent rain under the canopy at the same time something came snarling out of the bushes.

Massive teeth and fangs flashed – from one of its two heads – as it ducked under Hiral’s shot. Then, paws sliding in the mud, it pivoted and lunged in Seeyela’s direction, the woman’s eyes just now turning in its direction.