Hope Seeker: Thunder Struck

The storm was still raging in the late afternoon sky as Seeker ran as fast as his injured body would allow. Lightning followed as him closely as to not lose sight of him through the sheets of rain that continued to pour down freely from the black clouds above. Seeker felt he had taken too much time to bandage not only his own popped stitch back together, but the thin scratches along Lightning’s side as well. Time was not on their side by any means, ticking away precious seconds that could determine the life or death of the murders next target.

The library staff had been almost completely destroyed, leaving no lead on who the next target could be. There was the possibility that the murders would stop once all the staff members were dead, but with the power that this pony could wield, it was unlikely that he would be satisfied with only three targets eliminated. The only resort was to track down the origin of the spell using the silver necklace that was used as the murder weapon.

Seeker had packed a light saddlebag before heading out into the rain. He did his best to keep it dry beneath his jacket in an attempt to preserve the book that he had placed inside. Other baubles and trinkets rattled around gently from within the bag. Seeker wanted to be prepared for anything after facing down the Hellhound that had been summoned in his living room.

Using his horn to suspend the far end of the chain in the air, he allowed the pendant of the necklace to pull itself forward into the city. It aimed like compass towards the source of the curse that had been channeled through it. Turn after turn, Seeker and Lightning made their way further into the city, following the necklace’s direction.

Seeker began to see familiar land marks as their destination came closer with every step. The university came into view as they rounded another corner, and the necklace was pointing directly towards it. The pair of ponies continued into the school grounds, the necklace turning upwards as they proceeded. Seeker eyes tracked its angle to see a tower hiding behind the school’s main building. Tarps and exposed beams gave the impression that this tower was still under construction and not yet finished.

Seeker motioned to Lightning with his hoof towards the towers upper levels, unable to yell audibly of the wind and rain. Lightning nodded to him in understanding from under her black raincoat. Seeker led the way to the towers base to stand beneath a simple overhang that had constructed. He checked to make sure Lightning was still with him before walking past the caution tape that covered where the main door was to be installed.

The sounds from outside were muffled by the stone walls and iron beams that made up the base of the tower structure. The walls were bare, vacant of any source of permanent light sources. Only the occasional flash of lightning that flared through from the outside providing any light in the black shadows.

Seeker illuminated his horn with his magic to light the bottom floors interior. Layers of sawdust and dirt covered the unfinished stone under their feet, clinging to the moisture they had trodden in. Other hoof prints in the sawdust were present around the room, but one set was more vivid than the rest, presumably made with wet hooves from the rain and puddles outside. Several passes of the same set of prints marked a path back and forth from the front door to a wooden staircase leading upwards. The necklace that Seeker still head aloft was aiming almost strait upwards towards the higher levels of the tower.

“Looks like we’re going up.” Lightning said through her teeth, a flashlight she had pulled from her saddle bag was no held in her mouth to provide her own light.

“Keep your head down. I don’t know what is going to be waiting for us up there.” Seeker said. Thoughts of Hellhounds and other beasts from the book in his pack began to manifest in his mind, carried away with the fear of not knowing what was lurking above. He quickly tried to think of something else to take his mind of the nightmarish images that flashed in his head. “It doesn’t look like anyone has been working here for several days. Why did they stop?”

Lightning chuckled to herself as she thought of an answer. “You expect them to do construction on school grounds while most of the students are taking a break over the summer? I swear they schedule the most inconvenient times to build things in an effort to piss the most people off at once.”

Seeker couldn’t help but to let out a quiet laugh as he began climbing the stairs upwards. The stairs circled the round interior of the wall as they ascended, giving them a full view of each floor in its fledgling state. The walls that would late be built to divide each floor into separate rooms had not yet to be set into place on their wooden frames. Stacks or stone, wood, and plaster were stocked near each landing to supply the construction crews with the materials they would need when the storms died down enough to allow assembly to continue.

The sounds of the tarps that had been secured over the top of the building’s exposed upper floor were whipping in the winds above them. They were about to reach the end of the line, and the necklace was pulling against Seekers magic with stronger force with each step he took. The last landing came into view with a sickly greenish glow coming for something above.
Seeker gave Lightning a cautious look over his shoulder. She was only a few steps behind him, but she nodded to acknowledge that she had seen the light as well. Seeker climbed the remaining steps to reach the top floor. The room that came into view was like nothing he had seen before.

The wall frames had yet to be installed, leaving the floor vacant of most the building supplies that had littered the floors below. Centered on the room was a large stone ring that was suspended vertically a few inches above the ground. It was constructed from the same stone that had made up the solid parts of the Hellhound’s body; black smooth faceted surfaces were stretched between sharp jagged edges. Several fragments floated listlessly around the main ring of the structure along with spheres of green fire.

It was the center of the ring that had disturbed Seeker the most. Locked within the rings interior was a surface similar to water that rippled erratically with minor shifting tones in the mostly green color. The muffled sounds of beasts and monsters echoed from beyond the green veil of the ring.

Seeker’s concentration wavered on the silver necklace he was still holding with his magic. With a solid jerk, the pendant pulled itself free of his grasp. It collided with the stone surface of one of the floating rock formations that continued to orbit the ring. The silver sun and moon pendant locked onto the stones surface, leaving the chain to hang limply as it floated around.

It was not till a bolt of lightning flashed outside that Seeker fully understood what this ring was. Runes lit with power along the floor around the floating ring, powered by the energy that the lightning provided. He began to circle around the room as Lightning watched from the top of the staircase, observing the runes that had been put into place with each lightning strike refreshing the symbols brightness.

“Do you appreciate my masterpiece?” A deep voice rang out through the room, echoing off the stone walls. Piercing orange eyes loomed out from the shadows where the voice had come from; watching Seeker’s every move. “Do you recognize it? You should.”

Seeker was familiar with the runes that the lightning uncovered. A transfer of power, sacrificing of resources and components, suspended or stored energy. He identified all of them save for two he had never seen before, but he was able to put the puzzle together without them.

“You were not just murdering the librarians. You were harvesting their lives.” Seeker said.

“Bravo. I think you deserve a gold star.” The voice form the corner chided. “It is flawed however. Even with the three lives that I have acquired the portal remains shut.” The pony stepped forward into the light of the portal with his eyes still on Seeker. He was an older Unicorn that Seeker recognized.

Professor Final Grade was on the board of judges when Seeker was attempting the practical part of his school application tests for the university he stood in now. He remembered their encounter vividly. Final Grade was one of the few instructors that allowed Seeker show his potential at magic with his staff of other tool even after he failed the task originally. Even in these events, Seeker was still denied acceptance as a student, but the chance to prove his point was satisfactory just the same.

Final Grade appeared gaunter than the last time they had met. Shadowy bags had formed beneath his eyes that were withdrawing into his skull. The skin of his cheeks was receding, showing signs of malnutrition. Overall the professor appeared to be on the verge of death, but he stood in the green light of the portal unwaveringly.

“You have failed.” Lightning declared as she too stepped into the light of the portal. “Your silver trinkets are no longer a secret.”

“I See. You managed to figure out the puzzle then?” Final Grade asked, his attention never wavering from Seeker as he spoke. “Yes, I used the necklaces to deliver the spell, but it was the lightning storm that provided me the power to deliver such a blow. I could never take his work as a credit of my own capabilities, but once I have summoned Tirek I will no longer need to summon up a storm to deal justice.”

Seeker mulled the words over in his head. Final Grade was using the power of the lightning bolts to deliver his spells upon the library staff, pulling away their lives to fuel a greater ritual. If Seeker had read all the runes correctly, Final Grade was trying to open a portal to Tartarus, presumably to release Tirek. The demon who he claimed to serve was documented in Stoic Circles research as the “Caller of Storms”.

“Why did you attack the library staff exclusively? There must have been less conspicuous targets.” Seeker inquired.
Final Grade laughed loudly, his eyes never blinking. “Those fools? There are several reasons I chose them for my spell. Studied Tome did everything she could to keep me from the research I needed to create the portal. It was a simple matter after I singled her out. Both her compatriots carried the same traits I needed for the sacrifice. Virgins are getting hard to come by these days and the hell beasts can’t resist them.”

“That still leaves the question of why.” Lightning demanded with a stomp of her hoof to distract from the pink hue flushing her cheeks. “Why would you want to bring that tyrant here?”

Final Grade’s eyes broke free from the stare they held with Seeker, rounding his piercing gaze upon Lightning. His face degraded from the overly exaggerated smile to a look of pure annoyance. "It would appear that your… companion is not as learned as we are, Seeker. I suppose that is just how it with these winged barbaric beings. They lack the ability to think on their hooves to solve their little questions while we Unicorns have developed the minds to delve into the greatest of magical quandaries. Let me spell it out to you in a way your feeble feathered mind can comprehend. Make yourself comfortable little filly, for it is story time.” The words that escaped through Final Grade’s teeth were dripping with venom that sliced deep into Lightning’s very soul.

Seeker placed a hoof in front of Lightning, forcing her to steady her stance as she prepared to lash out at Final Grade. “You heard the man.” Seeker offered with a sly wink. “Have a seat so he can explain everything to you.” Lightning would have to return the favor once this whole ordeal was over, but for now she played along with the charade. She sat on the spot forcing Seeker’s hoof away from her, waiting for the pretentious professor to tell his little story.

Final Grade cleared his throat as if preparing to lecture a class, pacing back and forth as he lectured. “It was a mere two years ago that I watched Seeker’s display of power. Even though he required an outside aid to assist him in his task, the display was nothing short of miraculous. The sheer control and power that was gifted upon him from nothing more than simple crudely drawn symbols on a wooden surface with nothing more than a pencil was astonishing.

“I urged for you to be allowed into the school, Hope Seeker, I wanted to see your full potential, but the other members of the board did not share my enthusiasm in your talent. They spoke of rules and regulations in an effort to cover the real reason for their rejection of you application. They were afraid of you, afraid of the power you bolstered within your glyphs. Your display of power without any formal training scared them. They could not hope to breach the barriers of magic you could overcome if only given the chance. You would have been more powerful than they could ever hope to be, and they could never accept that.

“I am sorry, but I took your work. The scribbles that you left behind after your test served extremely useful, but my understanding was limited. I only wished to understand the magic you possessed, so I began to study the research of other Unicorns who had been gifted as you had. My hope was to convince the school to allow you into our walls by proving that your magic, despite the aid of the markings, was a viable field study to pursue.

“That was when I stumbled on the works of Stoic Circle and his rituals. It took me years to get the slightest reaction in the glyphs, but it was all I needed at the time. A proof of concept was better than stumbling around in the dark, but I needed more notes on Stoic Circles research. His collections in the library would made available save for the one tome I needed above all else, and that damn mare that ran the library would not give me access to it. I eventually made up some hair brained theory that not only challenged a piece of research that was held in the restricted section of the library, but was a piece of knowledge that Studied Tome had based a paper on while she was a student here.

“Defending her pride, she guided me through the restricted section in an effort to prove me wrong, which I knew she would be able to do rather easily, but while she was pointing out the specifics of the research notes that proved me wrong, I stole Stoic Circles research.” The painfully large smile crept back upon Final Grade’s face as he continued ranting, Seeker doing nothing to interrupt him.

“With your runes Seeker, I was able to fill in all the gaps in Stoic circles notes. To reach the level of power that you could so easily have reached, I required the aid of the most powerful creature Stoic Circle had ever documented. I needed the power that only Tirek could provide. Not by making a pact with him or anything like that. I would not allow that demon a chance to addle my mind. I would instead capture him in this tower with the very runes that Stoic Circle himself designed to imprison that monster.

“I pulled everything together in order to summon him to the world. The only problem I faced ahead was my inability to power the rituals myself, but that was an easy matter. The lives of the three book lovers should have seen to that, but it would appear my calculations are off. Or are they?” Final Grade stopped in his pacing as a small silver chain caught his eye.
The necklace was still attached to the black stone that had been floating around the portal since its creation. Final Grade used the magic of his horn to pull the pendant lose from the stone surface and brought it closer to his face to inspect it more closely.

“You only have two, Final Grade.” Lightning said as she got to her hooves. She would have said anything to shut him up at this point. “We got to Rough Draft before your spell could finish. It ends here.”

“Does it? The spell only need one final push doesn’t it, Seeker?” Final Grade released another maniacal laugh. “I have already fed the ritual with a Unicorn and Earth Pony. I could always use a Pegasus to finish it off.”

With a solid toss from Final Grade’s magic, the silver pendant flew through the air towards Lightning. Seeker knew that he did not want to let the piece of jewelry touch her, but he could not afford to touch it himself. He whipped the staff from his shoulder using his teeth and swept it through the air like a baseball bat. With the eye patch still obscuring his vision and impairing his ability to determine distance, Seeker was barely able to strike the pendant. The necklaces landed just in front of Final Grade.

“So you have sided with these simpletons, the ones that do not recognize your power?” Final Grade yelled out in rage. “Very well, I will destroy you with them!”

Seeker would feel the magic coalescing around Final Grade’s horn, but the intended spell was going to remain a mystery. The pendant that had been thrown to the floor regained its magnetic attraction to the portal and flew towards it. The necklace never reached its destination, for Final Grade was obstructing its path.

The silver necklace collided with the side of his head in the same instance a bolt of lightning hit the tower. The runes on the floor burst into a blinding light that flooded the entire floor. A crash of thunder that shook the building, a scream of pain, and the smell of burning hair and flesh overloaded Seeker’s senses. The runes, like the spell that he cast in his living room, left a blinding blur of black spots on his vision.

“Are you ok?” Lightning asked him. He felt a hoof touch his shoulder a he rubbed at his only exposed eye, trying to clear away the blindness.
“Can you see?” Seeker asked his friend. His vision was not as bad as it had been in the confined room that the Hellhound was summoned in.

“Yeah, I can see. I had my eyes closed.” Lightning said sheepishly. “Good news: there is no monster standing in the center of the room this time.”

“And the bad news?” Seeker almost regretted asking, but he needed to know what they were dealing with while his vision returned.

“Bad news is that the professor is a singed corpse and the portal is opening.” Lightning answered. With the professor dead, there was no pony to ask about getting the portal closed again. Not by conventional means anyway. Final Grade was right about one thing though. Seeker was a quick thinker when it came to magic.

“Alright, here is what I need you to do.” Seeker said, his vision returning enough to function again. “I need you to get me a storm cloud. Second, I wasn’t you to stop looking at me like that.”

Lightning quickly wipe the look off her face. It was somewhere between bewilderment and “Are you insane”. She gave him a stiff nod before flying through an opening in the tarps above.

While he waited for her to return, Seeker pulled that familiar piece of chalk from his pocket and began scrawling the symbols he needed across the floor around him. It was one of the few times he used his magic to perform a task rather than trying to do it himself, but after the first time he tasted the chalk he decided to make an exception.

The spell that was used to open the portal to Tartarus was stronger than anything Seeker felt comfortable casting. It was true that the glyphs and symbols he used could bolster his strength, but he was going to need all the help he could get if he was going to cancel out a ritual that was fueled by three sacrifices. With a final flourish of his chalk, Seeker was finished with the prep work. He planted his staff at the center of his spell and began illuminating the runes he would need

“I’m back!” Lightning yelled through panting breaths as she pushing a small black cloud through the opening in the tarp. “This was the only one I could get free from that damn storm.”

“Good enough. Position it above the runes I just put down.” Seeker motioned to the area above the circle he stood in.
Lightning heaved the water laden cloud to the space just above his head. “Why would you need such a heavy raincloud?”

“I’m not after the water. I need you to strike me with a bolt or two to power the spell. There’s that look again.” Seeker said as his horn began to power the spell, forcing Lightning to wipe the expression from her face yet again. “The portal is opening and we don’t have time to discuss it! Now hit me!”

Lightning Shield reluctantly gave the cloud a half hearted, one legged kick, releasing a rather small bolt of lightning into Seeker. He could feel the energy pulse through him into the spell, but the sensation that crawled across his skin caused his muscle to lock up with the pain. When control was relinquished over his muscles from the electrically fueled spasms, he turned his attention towards Lightning again.

“You call yourself a Pegasus! I said hit me!” Seeker demanded as he braced himself for the next strike. Lightning kicked at the cloud again, this time using both back hooves to deliver a strike as strong as the one she used against the Hellhound.
The small storm cloud belched out several wide bolts of lightning into Seeker. The energy was consumed by his spell, but not before passing through his body. The pain was unimaginable. Like having bugs crawl through your veins while exposed to both frigid cold and blazing heat. Yet the spell was still sort the energy it needed to go off.

“AGAIN!” Seeker demanded as best he could, the sound in his throat wavering from the pain. His broken ribs no longer registering on the scale of pain he was putting himself through now.

“No Seeker! There has to be a better way!” Lightning protested as smoke poured from underneath Seeker’s coat. His horn was crackling with the energy the bolts had provided as he concentrated on the spell.

“We don’t have time for this; I only need one more like that last one!” Seeker yelled out. Lightning wanted to stop striking him with the painful blasts, but she could not deny the resolute gaze of Seeker’s uncovered eye. He needed to do this to close the portal, and he needed her help if he was going to have a chance at doing so.

“One more, but that is it! If you don’t have enough from that then we are finding a different way to stop the portal.” Lightning said defeated. One more well powered kick released the remaining energy from the cloud. The final dose of energy entered Seeker’s body, forcing a scream of agony from within his chest.

The pain lashed at him like whips of flame and ice. His weakened legs dropped him to the floor in a heap, but he maintained his concentration of the spell. Nothing else mattered at this point; not the pain that ran freely through his body, not the throbbing that was coming from his damaged eye, not even the broken ribs that had just been jostled by the solid floor. The only thing that mattered right now was the ritual.

Seeker felt the tangible shift in power as the spell reached a state that was stronger than the portal. With his one good eye to guide him, he aimed his horn at the center of the swirling green vortex before him. He released the spell, channeling it back through his body and out his horn. A solid blast of magic larger than his own body was blasted into the portal’s surface. Seeker was blown across the room with the force of the spell that he just released, rolling him across the floor into the far wall.

“Seeker!” Seeker heard Lightning shout out through his disoriented senses. He felt the floor move as her hooves came to land next to him. “Are you alright?”
Seeker was only able to manage a groan in response. It was after all the second time today that he was thrown through the air by an out of control spell. Every muscle in his body ached, too sore for him to move without causing more pain to shoot through his body. He closed his eye in an attempt to stop the world from spinning around him yet again.

“At least you are conscious this time.” Lightning said with a small chuckle.

“Did it at least close the portal?” Seeker groaned in question.
Lightning looked over her shoulder at the black shards of rubble that covered the floor near the charred remains of what used to be Final Grade. The portal was destroyed along with several of the runes that had powered the spell in the first place.

“I’d say you broke it alright. You did it Seeker.” Lightning said as she pulled him to his feet.

“We did it.” Seeker corrected. “I couldn’t have done it without your help.”
Lightning let out another small laugh. “Just promise me that you won’t have me strike you with lightning like that again.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it. Do you smell something burning?” Seeker asked her. She broke out into a true laugh at that remark. It was a sound that Seeker was happy to hear after experiencing so much death and destruction the last couple days. Seeker felt a smile crawl onto his face even it truly smelled like someone was having a cookout somewhere nearby.