Return of the Runebound Professor

“A Great Monster? Near Dawnforge?” Noah could practically hear the warning in Moxie’s voice. “Are you sure–”

“I checked with Thaddius. He said that it wasn’t under protection or anything. At least according to him, there aren’t any protected monsters outside of the city.”

“And you happened to stumble upon one?” Moxie sent Noah a suspicious look. “Nothing else? There isn’t something happening?”

“Nothing like that. I just went to a forest to the south of the city hunting some Sand Wylves,” Noah explained. “I wanted to make a little money and it looked pretty easy. They fought in a pretty similar pattern, which is indicative of a Great Monster. So, I figure we could head on over there and clear out the monster. Get ourselves an easy Master Rune.”

“I’m not so sure we’re going to find the fight that easy,” Moxie said, but some of her caution had receded. “Not every Great Monster is the same as the Hellreaver, Noah. Don’t forget that the Hellreaver was a relatively weak monster overall. This new one could easily be a Rank 3 or 4 Great Monster – and that might be a bit much for us to handle.”

Noah paused, then cleared his throat. “That… is actually a good point. I wasn’t really thinking about that. I just kind of figured that–”

“You could throw yourself against it until you won?” Moxie arched an eyebrow.

“Yeah.”

“I figured.” Moxie shook her head, laughing. “I’m not against it. Getting our hands on a Master Rune could be pretty convenient. Lots of uses for one, even if it just boils down to us selling it.”

“We could send Noah in first,” Lee offered. “He can figure out how strong it is. If it’s within reason, we can fight it. Otherwise, we pull back.”

“That’s a great idea,” Noah said enthusiastically.

Moxie crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Of course you like it. It results in you dying. I do have to agree that it seems like a relatively good move, and we do need something to do. I’m not against it, I suppose. We’ll just have to take things slowly and make sure we don’t stumble into a monster way beyond what we can deal with.”

“Yes!” Lee exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air. The motion knocked one of the pies from her lap and she shot forward, her neck extending as she chomped the entire thing out of the air, swallowing it in one bite. Noah and Moxie stared at Lee as her neck retracted. She returned their gazes. “What?”

“Nothing,” Noah said, clearing his throat into a fist. “It’s settled, then. We’ll fly over tomorrow morning and check out the Great Monster. I’ll go first and test things out, and as long as the fight looks reasonable, we can all take it. Sounds good?”

Moxie and Lee nodded. Lee stuffed the last of her pies into her mouth, polishing them all off before sucking the crumbs off the bed and sliding beneath the covers in one smooth motion.

It was actually somewhat impressive.

“Okay. Let’s sleep now so the morning comes sooner. I want to fight stuff,” Lee said from beneath the protection of her sheets. “Can you turn the lights off already?”

Noah took another bite out of his own meat pie, as it was still only half-finished, then walked over to the window and pulled the curtains shut. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to how quickly you–”

A loud snore came out from Lee’s bed. Moxie snickered and carefully took the cloak off her shoulders, hanging it over the foot of the bed before sitting down on it.

“I’m jealous,” Noah muttered, finishing the rest of his dinner before joining Moxie. He pulled his jacket off and tossed it onto the ground, taking a clean one from his bag and hanging it beside Moxie’s new coat.

Moxie leaned against Noah, winding her fingers through his as he settled down.

“Thanks for the cloak – and the stuffed cat,” Moxie said, whispering into Noah’s ear to avoid waking Lee up. “I know I already said it, but it was really thoughtful of you. I appreciate it.”

Noah nudged her with his shoulder. “As if they could ever compare to the violin. I’m not sure anything can.”

“A song can,” Moxie said, sending him a wry look. She laid back, pulling Noah down beside her.

“I’m working on it. I want it to be–”

“I know, I know. I can wait.”

Moxie didn’t even have to add on unlike some people. Noah could tell from the sparkle in her eyes that she knew he’d filled the rest of the sentence in for her.

She leaned her head against his shoulder and her breathing slowed. Noah laid there, her body warm against his. Through all the thoughts running through his head, somehow, only a single one rose up.

How is it that everyone other than me can fall asleep at the blink of an eye?

***

There was blood everywhere. It was on the ceiling. It covered the walls and blocked out the windows. Rivulets of it ran down the wooden table in the center of the room and pooled in the cracks at the edges of the walls.

Alexandra nearly threw up, but she stopped herself. Her sword flew from its sheathe and she kept it raised before her as she stepped into her room for the first time since escaping Gentil’s grasp.

It had taken her a while to muster up the courage to actually return to her apartment. She’d spent the first day in an inn after washing dishes to pay for her stay, then had wandered the streets ever since.

Eventually, she’d managed to convince herself that Gentil was well and truly gone. There was no way he’d have anything left set up for her. She shouldn’t have been important enough, and he wasn’t a genius that had expected her to escape.

As far as Gentil should have known, there was no way Alexandra could have escaped his grasp. But, as the blood squelched beneath her boots, Alexandra couldn’t help but feel like the dead man’s gaze was burning into her back.

“What in the Damned Plains is this?” Alexandra breathed, her grip tightening around the shaft of her blade to take what solace she could in its presence. No matter how badly she wanted to leave, a small part of her refused to back down.

Not again. I won’t let myself run. I’ll take everything head on, under my own terms. I’m not being controlled anymore.

“It’s a necessary precaution.”

The door slammed shut, plunging the entire room into pitch black darkness. Alexandra spun toward the source of the voice, fire igniting along the hilt of her Imbued sword and illuminating the area around her.

A fair-haired young man Alexandra’s age stepped into the light, chewing on a toothpick. A purple cloak hanging from his neck framed his lean body, and his hands rested on the hilts of two sheathed swords at his sides.

“Who are you?” Alexandra snarled, lowering into a fighting stance. “And choose your next words carefully, or I’ll run you through. Do you work for Wizen?”

“I know this looks bad,” the man said, raising his hands into the air palm-up. “But I promise it’s not as horrible as it seems. I had to do this.”

“Answer my damn questions,” Alexandra hissed. “And how do you consider covering the entirety of my room in blood anything but horrible?”

“I already told you. It’s a precautionary measure.” He tapped the hilt of one of his swords and a shimmer of magic passed out from his feet, running through the blood. Alexandra’s eyes widened and she lunged, thrusting her sword for the man’s heart.

There was a flash so fast that she couldn’t even follow it and a loud clang rang out. A massive force slammed into Alexandra’s sword, ripping it from her hands despite her best efforts. The blade flew through the air and slammed into the wall, embedding itself within it.

“Please, be calm,” the man said. “My name is Tillian, and I do not work for Wizen.”

“Sure,” Alexandra spat. “Why should I believe that? If you’re going to kill me, then do it. I won’t go back.”

Tillian walked up to the sword and wrapped his hand around it, pulling it free from the wall easily. He spun it around to hold the weapon by its sharp end, then held it out to Alexandra. She stared for a moment, then grabbed the hilt and took it back from him.

“The blood is gruesome, I admit, but it is unfortunately the Rune that I possess,” Tillian said. “And its purpose is only to keep prying eyes and ears out of our conversation.”

“Forgive me for not believing the strange man that broke into my house and ruined literally everything in it. If you aren’t my enemy, then get out of my room.”

“That, I will not be doing. Not yet, at least,” Tillian said with a shake of his head. “I did not say I was not your enemy, miss. I just said I wasn’t working for Wizen.”

“Gentil, then?” Alexandra’s knuckles turned white as she tightened her grip on the sword. It wasn’t like the blade was going to do her much good against Tillian, but there was always a chance that he slipped up and she got a lucky strike.

“That swine? No. Not him, either. I’d die before I worked for Gentil. On the contrary. I’m killing Gentil’s men, not aiding them. Which brings me to you. Originally, I’d planned to cut your throat in an alley and leave it at that.”

The casual manner with which Tillian spoke sent a shiver running down Alexandra’s spine. He spoke about killing like it was a boring job rather than a fight for life and death.

“Then what’s the point of all this?”

“I was hoping you could tell me,” Tillian replied. “You’re one of Gentil’s assassins, but you left together with the ones that killed him. I overheard parts of your conversation, and it’s clear that they knew who you were. So… why did they spare you?”

“If you think I’ll tell you anything about them, then you’re wrong. They gave me my freedom back. I’ll die a free woman before I spill anything on them.”

Tillian tilted his head to the side. “You do realize that is very much a possibility. I’m asking for information here, not for you to kill someone. Refusing to cooperate with me isn’t the safest decision.”

“I’m not telling you shit.”

A few seconds of silence passed. Then Tillian let out a curt laugh. He tapped one of his swords and the hilt split open. The blood covering the room peeled away from the walls, slithering into the weapon’s hilt like a red sea. It snapped shut once every ounce of blood had vanished within its depths.

“Fortunate for me,” Tillian said with a relieved sigh. “It would have been a shame to kill you. It seems that you’ve set your mind, so I trust this means you won’t be throwing your lot in with the likes of Gentil again.”

“He’s dead.” Alexandra’s voice was flat. “And you’re right. I won’t ever make that mistake again.”

“Good. That’s one less body on my hands,” Tillian said. “It was a pleasure speaking with you, then. I’ll be on my way.”

“Wait, what?” Alexandra stared at Tillian. “That’s it? You break into my home, question me, and then just… leave?”

“Yes ma’am. Sums it up about right,” Tillian said with a nod. “You don’t seem to be in need of killing, and Wizen’s men are still out there, even if Gentil’s gang has collapsed.”

Alexandra shook her head. “No. You can’t just do that. You know something about Wizen, don’t you? You said you were hunting his men.”

Tillian shrugged. “I’ve been a thorn in his side for a while, yes. That no longer has anything to do with you, though.”

He reached for the door handle and Alexandra stuck her foot in front of the frame, keeping the door shut.

“Yes it does. It’s my fault that I was stupid enough to get suckered by Gentil, but I’ve got nothing left because of that. If you’re hunting Wizen, then I want to help.”

“You?” Tillian took a step back and crossed his arms. “I don’t mean to belittle you, but you’re – what, a Rank 2? You’d just get yourself killed.”

“That isn’t saying no,” Alexandra pointed out. “I don’t care if I die. I just want revenge.”

“A dark path. One you’re unlikely to come out on top of.”

“I already said I don’t care. If you’ve got literally any way for me to get back at Wizen, I’ll take it. I’ll do whatever I need to.”

“You can’t even take a single strike from me. What makes you think you can handle Wizen?” Tillian asked, already shaking his head. “You’ll just waste your life. I came here to find out if you’d changed your path, and you have. I’m no teacher. I can’t help you. If you want to get revenge against Wizen, just live a good life.”

With that, Tillian vanished. Alexandra felt a rush of wind pass her and the door thunked loudly, but he’d moved so fast that she didn’t even notice the door open or close. She was left staring out the window into the night, standing in a room that couldn’t have felt any less like home.

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