{-Llewel-}
“I was wondering,” Rhodes began nearly as soon as they left the city, “if you happen to be who I think you are.”
“If you have to ask, then you’re probably right,” Llewel remarked. They would’ve gotten to that point anyway—they didn’t avoid it with anyone else, no use in trying to start now.
Rhodes chuckled. “Well, I suppose so. There’s not many out there like the two of you.”
“I’m assuming you heard through rumors?”
“Actually, Duuzlo told me himself.”
Myr was the one that asked, confused, “Duuzlo told you?”
Rhodes nodded. “It was a bit more recently than what you might be imagining. He contacted most of us, I believe—all the ones to remember you or your mother. The ones he knew would help, regardless of the consequences. He told us that we might run into you—he didn’t say where, just that we might—and that we should help, if we need to. It’s quite admirable, how much he wants to keep the two of you safe.”
“Did he say anything else?” Myr questioned, honestly getting a bit too hopeful to hear something. Llewel didn’t blame her, home was the kind of comfort they probably both wished for with things as they were here. But he didn’t expect anything special, either, in case he ended up being disappointed.
“Well…” Rhodes looked like he was about to say no, before looking at her and glancing at each of the others. “I know that he’s doing well. And I’m sure he’d be glad to hear when I tell him that you two are, too.”
That seemed to be enough for Myr, if not just because she didn’t say anything else about it.
“What, exactly, do you need us to help with?” Zetai prompted after a moment of silence.
“What I need to check on has a tendency of making monsters spawn around the area. I can’t handle them on my own so I need the five of you to make sure they don’t bother me or my work,” Rhodes answered simply.
“Are they normal monsters or rune beasts?” Tinath asked.
“Usually just normal monsters. I’ve never encountered a rune beast, though I was beginning to hear rumors that other people had. I still doubt we’d run into any of them—it’s awfully out of the way for them, and what’s happening shouldn’t disrupt them that much. Either way, I’m sure you’ll be able to handle it. You look like a reliable bunch.”
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It took a moment for the words to gain significance but, once they did, Reynneak questioned, “Do you know what’s going on with the runes?”
“Duuzlo is very close to the developers, you know. He’s the first of any of us to hear any of their plans and try to give sometimes-futile suggestions according to them. Just as the inn and shopkeepers are often kept up-to-date, so are most of the priests, except our jobs are more similar to seeing how they affect other things in the game. So, yes, I would say I have a rather good understanding of the current events.”
“Could you tell us anything more that you know?” Llewel requested. “Do you know anything about why they’re not doing anything in this area, even though it leaves a large area unaffected?”
“I don’t believe I can be much help generally, but I can answer that part. I’ve been working in this section of the mountain for quite some time—my several tasks all require me to be here. This area was originally designed as a ‘safe spot’ of sorts within Ilataesi. Very little to no runes are supposed to be present here at all and they made great care to ensure that that didn’t change with time. After all, several other things here fluctuate—what could be a good spot for monster hunting last month may no longer hold many beasts, and so on. They didn’t want this area to, at any point, have that amount of runes within it. It’s set apart from the other areas—not only would it require the code to add more, but all the previous code relating to the rune spawns would have to be rewritten. My assumption is, at that point, it’s simply too much work for the goal that they’re trying to achieve.”
“Yeah, they’re probably trying to get this over with as soon as possible,” Tinath remarked.
“What happens if they start getting even more desperate, though?” Reynneak dared to question. “Wouldn’t there be a chance that they would try?”
She shrugged. “By then, we’ll be out of Ilataesi. What they’re trying to do is only this easy here—the next place they might be able to pull it off is in Anseshara, but I doubt they’re going to mess with anything there. Put too much effort into it and the players are going to start talking about it, too. They’d either have to make up some excuse or have to plan an event around it to keep the players satisfied, and that’s definitely a waste of too much time for them.”
“Well, it doesn’t seem like they have a record for pleasing their playerbase half the time,” Zetai pointed out in something closer to a mumble. “I definitely wouldn’t find it too much of a stretch if they end up just poorly covering it up.”
“Trust me, they need all the player support they can get. There’s only so far they can go before they risk too much of their already unsteady hold on them.”
Llewel, only half understanding what they were talking about, simply took away one thing from that: it was unlikely that things could get much worse. It wasn’t nearly as reassuring as he wished it was, but it was something.
“I’m sure you’ll all be fine,” Rhodes said after a few moments, “as long as you use your heads. Duuzlo wouldn’t have let the three of you go with the twins if he wasn’t sure that you were capable. And he wouldn’t have let the twins leave, either, if he didn’t think they were ready for it.”
The time of being confident in the fact alone was long gone, but it still held a fragment of reassurance. They’d been together long enough to know what they were capable of; they knew there was truth behind those words.
It took a little bit but, eventually, Rhodes announced, “We’re where I need to be. Keep an eye out, now—none of it is particularly difficult, unless you happen to get caught off guard by it. I should only be there for a couple of minutes. I’m sure you can handle things until then.”