Runeguard 046

“What did you find?” I asked and held my breath, dreading her answer.

“The amphitheater still stands. Its gates are barred, and hundreds of humans are sheltered within.”

The tension drained from me. The matron had done it. She had gotten the town’s players to safety. “What about the ratkin?” I asked.

“They are camped at the base of the hill, directly across the road heading to the amphitheater’s exit. They are not presently attacking.”

My lips turned down. Still, I had expected no less. “What are their numbers?”

“I make out three thousand,” Night said. “They appear to be readying themselves to bed down for the night.”

I nodded slowly. Three thousand were a lot, but still manageable numbers. “Anything else?”

I felt the black dragon hesitate. “Something approaches from the west,” she said eventually. “Whatever is there is still too far for me to see clearly, but it appears a large force moving by torchlight.”

“Ah,” I exhaled. It had to be the Wardens returning from the dungeon. “How long do you think it will take them to get here?”

“Perhaps an hour.”

Should I go out to meet them? I wondered. I rubbed my chin. No, I decided. The Wardens would be here soon enough, and I could use that time to see to my own preparations.

“Alright, Night, stay aloft and keep watch on the force approaching from the west, and the ratkin one, too. Let me know if anything changes.”

“What will you be doing?”

“First, I must contact the players in the amphitheater and let them know I am alive.”

“And then?”

“And then I have a town to loot.”

✵ ✵ ✵

I penned messages to both Bayan and Evelyn, and after a moment’s thought, another to Beth, all the while biting my lip at the cost. 

Ten gold per message was damned expensive, after all.

All three messages were short and to the point.

I’m alive and in town. Wardens almost here. Stay frosty. Will message again as soon as we have a plan. Dace.

Using the System messenger was simplicity itself, and it took me all of five minutes to send my missives.

On my way out of the room, my gaze was caught by the respawn marker. I paused, struck by a thought.

“Adi,” I asked curiously, “what would have happened if the ratkin wrecked the respawn marker?”

“If the marker was destroyed, you would not have been resurrected.”

I swallowed. The System was more unforgiving than I expected. “Does the same hold true when respawning outside the Creche as well?”

“Correct. But there are multiple respawn points outside the Creche, and a player may choose both a primary and secondary marker to which to bind himself. However, if both those markers are destroyed, the player cannot be revived.”

Great, I thought, more complications to keep track of. It seemed having enough rebirth tokens was not sufficient in of itself. I would also have to make sure my spawn points were well-protected.

I left the room and paused on the threshold of the townhall’s entrance, wondering where to begin my scavenging.

It was not greed that prompted my enterprise—not entirely. Foremost in my thoughts, was what Adi had said about a player’s belongings. Most, if not all of them, would have been killed by the ratkin, which meant their equipment would be free for me to loot.

And some of them surely had items that would be of use in the upcoming confrontation with the ratkin. My gaze was drawn north. Especially the alchemists. 

Perhaps there are still firebombs to be found in their workshop.

With a thoughtful step, I set off for the town’s northeast corner. 

✵ ✵ ✵

Nearly an hour later, I was done. 

Or at least, I’d done as much as I could stomach. The task had not been nearly so glamorous as I had first envisioned. Instead, looting the dead proved tedious, tiresome—and gruesome.

On more than one occasion, I had come close to throwing up. I had no doubt that images of madly splayed limbs, contorted faces, half-eaten remains, blood-spattered chambers, and trailing entrails would haunt my dreams for days to come.

Yet, my scavenging was successful. Wildly successful if I was being honest. Sitting down in the empty townhall, I scrutinized my most important finds again.

You have acquired: 80 gold and 4 silver.

You have acquired the life magic scrolls: lesser wisp summoning and lesser bless.

You have acquired: 19 x cat’s eyes potions, 16 x terror bombs, 12 x oil flasks, and 4 x firebombs.

Most of the player’ remains had contained little of value, and the ratkin uniformly only yielded one silver apiece, but the alchemist’s workshop—even half-burnt—had proven to be a treasure trove.

The cat’s eye potions were especially useful and gave us a range of options beyond what I had hoped for. I had found it on the body of a dead alchemist, and it led me to wonder if Alexis and the other alchemists who had escaped had more of them.

I hoped so.

Next, I turned my attention to the two life scrolls I had found. I had no use for them anymore. Installing the Rune Essence prevented me from using any scrolls and spellbooks, yet curiosity had still led me to set them aside for further inspection.

I picked up the lesser bless scroll. What will happen if I opened it? I mused, fingering the parchment.

 I knew I couldn’t use the scroll, but would I still be mesmerized by its Runes? Would I still be unable to remember its contents? I unfurled the scroll.

Runes stared back at me. 

I blinked, waiting for something else to happen, but nothing did. All I saw was writing—as mundane-looking and indecipherable as any other piece of foreign text.

Well, not quite. 

The writing on this piece of parchment was intricate and complex, far beyond anything else I had ever seen. It was difficult to tell where one letter ended and another began. Indeed, it was only assumption that led me to believe the writing contained anything like individual characters. 

For all I knew, every short stroke and flowing curve on the paper was part of the self-same Rune. Trying to get a better feel for the mysterious writing, I idly traced my right index finger along some of the parchment’s scribbles.

The scroll disintegrated in my hands.

My eyes widened in shock. “Adi, what just happened?”

“The impossible,” Adi said, sounding shocked herself. “You better see the System messages for yourself,” she added before I could say anything further.

You have gained the Rune skill: runic lore!

Your runic lore skill has reached its cap.

You have acquired a new Creche task!

Creche Task 08: Learn the Rune of Life

Congratulations, you are the first human to have begun unearthing the secrets of the life Rune. You have been awarded the following task: learn the Rune of life.

Main Objective: Advance your runic lore skill and absorb further knowledge of the life Rune by studying more life magic scrolls and spellbooks.

Rewards: +2 ranks in Rune.

“Well, isn’t that interesting,” I breathed. I knew now what I had to do to learn more about the Creators’ Runes. And I had gained my first Rune skill!

I tore open the second life magic scroll. After a moment staring at its writing—which on first glance appeared little different from that in lesser bless scroll—I traced my finger along the text.

Nothing happened.

“Adi, why isn’t anything happening?” I complained.

She was silent for a second. “This is as new to me as you, Dace, but I would suggest it’s because your runic lore skill has already reached its cap. I believe after you have raised your Rune Essence rank you will have better success.”

I bowed my head, thinking. “You’re right,” I said finally. I would have to level up before I continued my investigations in the Rune Essence. Storing the scroll back in my inventory, I rose to my feet.

“Dace,” Night called from afar. I sensed she was about a hundred yards west of me, nearly at the very limit of her spirit tether.

I tilted my head to the side. “You have something to report?”

“The first of Wardens’ scouts have reached the town’s western boundary.”

I smiled. “Excellent timing,” I said and strode out to go and find them.

✵ ✵ ✵

The two Warden scouts recognized me immediately and wasted no time in hustling me to where the Warden column waited alongside the shallow river to the town’s southwest.

“Dace! Am I glad to see you,” Everett exclaimed on catching sight of me.

I strode forward to the tall ranger and taking his hand in mine, pumped it vigorously. “As I am, you,” I replied.

The guildmaster waved me toward a circle of seated figures. “Come, sit with me and my men and fill us in on what’s happening.”

I took my seat beside Everett and ran my gaze over the players spread out nearby. The majority were resting or eating. “You’ve decided to camp here?” I asked.

Everett shook his head. “No, but I judged it unwise to enter the town until I knew more of the situation. I am still waiting for some of my scouts to report back.” He gestured at me. “And now, here you are as well.” 

The guildmaster’s face turned grave. “What’s going on, Dace? The initial reports I’ve received from my scouts doesn’t bode well… and the System messages...” He fell silent for a moment. “Well, there is no hiding it,” he said quietly. “I’m worried.”

I nodded. “The situation is bad,” I admitted. “But not hopeless.” I spent the next thirty minutes filling in Everett and his captains on everything I knew or suspected.

As I spoke, the faces of the Wardens fell and filled with sorrow and guilt. They had not been there when the town needed them most, and while that was none of their own fault, they—like me—felt a measure of responsibility for the town’s destruction nonetheless.

But one and all, the Wardens seemed hardened men and women. Whatever and whoever they had been on Earth, it appeared they were well used to adversity, and it was not long before another emotion filled their faces: determination.

Studying the men and women around me, I felt hopeful. 

“You have a plan, Dace?” Everett asked me when I was done.

I nodded. “I do, but first we have to sneak into the amphitheater to coordinate with the others,” I said. “How good are your men at climbing?”