Rune Seeker

As if sensing their arrival, the Infested smoothly stood, then turned to face the group. Like Hiral, she had the same double-helix showing down her arms and across her shaved head, though they were accompanied by the tentacles of the Enemy within her. Dressed in a simple no-sleeve top and loose pants, no shoes or boots adorned her feet, while most of the tentacles were hidden beneath her clothes.

The woman had to be a Refined Infested – and most likely the Boss of the dungeon. Would she attack immediately or…?

Casually – almost lazily – her left hand rose at her side, and the orchestra ceased.

“It’s been a long time since I seen a face that wasn’ made of crystal,” the woman said, with a slight drawl to her O’s and A’s. “Was it y’all makin’ that commotion up above?”

Hiral exchanged a glance with Seena at the question. Dr. Benza had mentioned the Refined Infested possessed intelligence, and Fitch certainly had. To find one talking in a dungeon though… that was new.

“Well?” the Infested asked. “Did y’all forget how ta talk? Or maybe ya speak a different language?” A finger went to her chin in an all-too-human gesture as she lifted her head in thought.

Another shared glance between Hiral and Seena, and the party leader stepped forward. “We understand you,” she said. “We were just surprised to find somebody down here.”

“Hah!” the Infested said with a snap of her fingers. “Finally! Somebody ta talk ta. Somebody other than myself. And these guys sure don’t talk much.” She thumbed over her shoulder at the orchestra.

“You’re alone?” Seena asked.

“Aye-yeah. Why else would I spend my time with this group? Sure do play a mighty fine tune, but conversationalists they are not,” the Infested said with a wide grin. A sharp clap of her hands echoed through the room like a great stone snapping. “Now though, let’s us have a chat. Ya found the grumpy tree?”

“Grumpy…?” Seena asked. “The Fiendish Tree?”

“Ah, I wouldn’ go so far as ta call it fiendish, just misunderstood is all,” the Infested said. “How would y’all feel if ya got pulled from another realm and reborn as a tree? A tree. Sure, the thinkin’ was alright if y’all are one of those researcher-types. Breed a new type of plant that can actively use solar energy by mergin’ it with somethin’ that naturally can.

“Thinkin’ they got the idea from that fella they had on the other island. What did they call him? Granpappy, that’s it. Tryin’ ta make another Granpappy ta protect us. Pity the thing they pulled over and planted wasn’ so interested in the deal.” The Infested laughed at that like it was a pretty good joke. “Knowin’ them, though, they probably didn’ learn any better. Always stickin’ their noses where they didn’ belong.”

“How long have you been here?” Hiral asked.

The Infested raised an eyebrow. “Didn’ anyone ever teach ya it wasn’ polite ta ask a lady about her age? Ah, but, maybe I can give ya a break. Been down here a long time. So long I don’ even know how long. Days kind of run together when there’s nothin’ to break them up. Ya know?”

“And you’re a Builder?”

The woman looked down at her arms, the double-helix under the tentacles glowing slightly. “I was,” she said. “Long time ago. Like you are now, which is makin’ me wonder about y’all. I was told I was the last Builder by my buddy, but here ya be standin’, fresh as a daisy. And the rest of y’all are different too. You two look like them tattooed ones they be plannin’ for one of the other islands, though I’m not sure what’s up with the matchin’ outfits. Y’all in a band?” she asked Left and Right.

Next, she turned to the Growers. “And ya three. Y’all have enough solar energy I can practically hear it over here, but ya sure ain’t Builders or Tattooers. Are ya like that Granpappy?” The Infested took her chin in her hand like she was thinking hard. “None of this is makin’ sense.”

“You’re not the only one a bit confused,” Hiral said. “What’s your name?”

“Hoo boy, y’are the forward one, ain’t ya?” the Infested asked with almost a twinkle in her eye. “But it’s true. Where are my manners? Ahem,” she said, standing up straighter and putting a hand to the center of her chest. “I’m Banst, sole survivor of a very bad day.”

“You survived the island falling?” Hiral asked, thinking back to what he’d seen happen to the Builder island in the Rise of Fallen Reach dungeon.

The Infested – Banst – paused at that, then narrowed her eyes at Hiral. “The island,” she said slowly. “Not islands. Plural. Did some of them survive? Is that how y’all be here?”

Hiral glanced over at Seena, and by the look on the party leader’s face, she was wondering the same thing he was – how much was safe to tell this Banst. Then again, they were in a collapsed cave however far underground, and they’d only gotten in through a dungeon portal. Real or not, Banst probably wasn’t getting out.

“Two of the islands survived,” Hiral said. That wasn’t a secret to the Enemy or the Infested, so there was no reason not to share it. “But how did you survive?”

“Two, huh?” Banst said, hand back to rubbing her chin in thought. “An’ y’all are sayin’ y’are from one of them islands. I guess that explains the solar energy I feel from each of ya. Y’ve got one of those PIM things like me, so I guess that adds up. They actually succeeded. That changes things. Tsk.”

“Why does it change things?” Seena asked, though the atmosphere in the theatre had very quickly gone from oddly light to very tense, as if Hiral had used his Intimidating Aura.

“Answer ta that is the same as ta how I survived,” Banst said, then pointed at her stomach. “When we were thinkin’ I was the last survivor of the islands, my buddy here wasn’ in any rush to get out. Not that we didn’ try. This rubble is just a little too strong to punch through, ya know? But if y’all are here, there’s a way in.

“And a way in means a way out. And if that’s the case, well, vacation’s over, I guess. Wait. Maybe not. Which islands survived? Did one of them have them towers on it?”

Another shared look between Hiral and Seena, and Banst snapped her fingers again.

“Never ya mind, ya just answered that for me. I got me some islands that need destroyin’,” Banst said with a sigh.

“Why would you need to do that?” Seeyela asked.

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“Well, ya see, me and my buddy, we was just relaxin’ down here until we figured a way out. We thought all them islands were already gone, no need ta rush. But, then in y’all come waltzin’ in and tellin’ us that nope, them islands might actually be floatin’. Worse, the one with the towers made it. That’s just no good. Just no good at all.

“Now, I’m a little miffed somebody else didn’ go and do it already. What they been up ta this whole time?” Banst complained, then sheepishly looked back at the golem-orchestra behind her. “Guess I’m not really one ta talk.”

“You want to free the Fallen, don’t you?” Hiral said.

Banst’s eyes narrowed again when she turned back around to face Hiral. “Usin’ that name around me ain’t going ta make us friends. They was heroes. They had the answer ta this whole damn war, and they was ready ta lead us out of it. I’m guessin’ the Enemy – a name without a whit of creativity, I tell ya – is still around? Squishin’ anybody that gets in their way? Ya don’ need ta answer, I can see by the look on y’alls faces.

“Doin’ what was done ta the ‘Fallen’,” Banst used air quotes when she said it, “lost us our chance at freedom. They was the only ones that could of kicked the Enemy out of our world. Given it back ta us. Small minds didn’ agree with the path ta freedom, and what did they do? Bottle them up and turn them inta batteries.”

“How?” Hiral asked. “How would they have kicked the Enemy out?”

“Power,” Banst said. “Plain and simple. They used the same power the Enemy does. Sure, my buddy an’ I can use some of it too, but nothin’ compared to the heroes.” She emphasized that last word.

“Runes,” Hiral said. “Runes can get rid of the Enemy somehow. Maybe close the door they came through.”

“Aye-yeah,” Banst said. “Sounds like ya see the right of it. So, why don’ we be joinin’ sides. Hold hands all friendly like. Ya take me ta how ya got in – so I can get out – then ya make a choice. Go on y’alls way and hope we never meet again.

“Or,” Banst said, taking a step forward on the stage. “Join with me. Help me free the only people who can lead us against the squids. That can beat the squids. Then we can all take back our world. Save it. Has a nice ring ta it, don’ it?

“Save the world.”

“Less fun than conquering the world,” Li’l Ur muttered, barely loud enough for Hiral to hear him.

But, apparently, Hiral wasn’t the only one, and Banst laughed. “Little guy is funny. But. Save. Conquer. Not much of a difference there, really.”

“Before we decide,” Seena said. “Can you explain a few things to me?”

Banst crossed her arms slowly and chewed on her lip. “I guess so. I been down here a long time. A few more minutes won’ kill me.”

The way she said that last word sent a shiver down Hiral’s spine. Yeah, there was a loosely veiled threat in there. The Infested had offered them a way out, but one way or another, she was going to leave.

Try to leave.

“If you were a follower of the Fa… er… the heroes,” Seena corrected quickly. “Why do you have a PIM? Why were you on this island to begin with?”

“My Da,” Banst said simply. “He was like the people who built this place.” The Infested chuckled. “What am I sayin’? He was one of the ones who built this place. Cause of my age, he got me a spot on the island. Said I had a knack for this funny letter magic – though it was only a teensy bit true. I gotta say, I was a little proud at the beginnin’. Little ol’ me usin’ the same magic as the heroes. Not that I ever got the chance.

“The day they finally sent me up here, what happened? Stupid squids attacked. Pretty ironic I was on the island that went crashin’ down, isn’ it?”

“I don’t understand something,” Yanily said, his hand in the air. “Maybe a lot. But, wasn’t the Enemy trying to free the Fallen? Why weren’t you helping them?”

Banst scowled at the use of the ‘Fallen’ term, but she didn’t speak out about it. “Don’ be silly,” she said instead. “Them squids weren’ there ta save the heroes. They were there ta kill them before they could get rescued. My buddy here came with his friends ta mount a rescue, but he got caught in the same crashin’ problem I did. Offered me a deal so we could both survive.

“And, lookie here where that got us!” Banst held up her hands to indicate the massive theatre. “Now, then. That’s just about enough of y’alls questions. Back ta mine. Where’s the door?”

“Banst,” Hiral said, purposely using the woman’s name. “Rescuing your heroes would mean the death of everybody on the remaining islands. You can’t want that.”

“No skin off my nose,” she said. “That’s what they get for imprisonin’ them in the first place.”

“But how is that any better than what the Enemy is doing?”

“It’s better because we get our world back!” Banst shouted. “Besides,” she said, calming in an instant. “It’s not like the people there won’ get the same offer I did. Smart ones will even take it. Why wouldn’ they? Joinin’ like this? The power from it? Once they know what it means, they’ll be linin’ up.”

Hiral shook his head, and he wasn’t the only one. “How many will get that offer?” he asked, thinking back to Fitch’s words. Even if it was a good offer – and part of Hiral couldn’t argue with the logic of it – there couldn’t be enough of the Infesting-type squids for the entire population. “Dozens? Hundreds?”

Banst shrugged. “About that.”

“Out of millions? No, that’s not a good deal at all.”

“I was goin’ ta make sure y’all got the offer, for gettin’ me out of here,” Banst said. “Now I’m thinkin’ that’s not in the cards for all of y’all. So, then, I’ll give one of ya the offer. First one ta talk gets it.”

“And the rest?” Seeyela asked, an edge in her voice.

“Ya should stay here and hope I never see ya again,” Banst said.

“There’s no way out,” Hiral said with a shrug. Did this really need to happen? Banst seemed so reasonable at the beginning. Enough it made him wonder if they had to fight the Infested in general. If they could be allies against the Enemy.

“That ain’ true,” Banst said. “Y’all got in. And don’ even think about sayin’ ya been here this whole time. I searched every inch of this cavern. Givin’ ya one more chance before I stop askin’ nicely.”

“No,” Seena said, stepping forward with her flaming sheath bursting to life around her, and Li’l Ur hovering on her shoulder. “You’re the one who should be worried about us not being nice.”

“Oh, girlie, ya don’ know how far in over your head y’are here,” Banst said, likewise stepping forward to the edge of the stage. Slowly – non-threateningly – her right hand came up, and she clenched her fist. Energy pulsed along the tentacle coiled around her arm, and she glared at Seena. “Buddy gave me strength beyond anything our people saw. ‘Cept for the heroes, of course. Ya don’ want ta do this. When I get out of here, I’m goin’ ta find those islands and knock them straight out of the sky. Don’ get in my way.”

“Your heroes, huh?” Seeyela said, taking a step up beside her sister. The Fangs in her hands glowed with deadly venom, and Hiral could feel gravity around the woman fluctuating.

“You mean like that one we ran into the other day?” Yanily asked, stepping up beside Seeyela. The Splinter of the Storm pulsed with electricity, and his half-formed Aspect took shape across his body. “Hiral, remind me how that ended.”

“We killed him,” Hiral said, standing at Seena’s side.

“Tellin’ me that – even as a joke – was a mistake,” Banst said, energy erupting off her, and a name finally appeared over her head to Hiral’s View.

(Boss) Banst The Infested – Unknown Rank

“Now I got ta start killin’ ya until one talks.” With that, the Infested’s clenched hand opened, and another pulse of solar energy rolled outward. Not forward, though. No, this one rolled back over the dozens of sitting golems. But instead of standing to join the attack, the orchestra – as one – began to play. A beating, deep melody Hiral felt right down to his bones.

“See,” Yanily said. “Boss music.”