Return of the Runebound Professor

Lee and Moxie left early the following morning to get breakfast – at least, that was what the note they’d left Noah said. He’d woken up just a little while after sunrise, but somehow that still wasn’t early enough to catch them.

He didn’t particularly mind, though. The alone time gave him an opportunity to practice more with his violin and read through Revin’s book on formations. As music started to come more and more naturally to him once again, Noah was starting to see the methods in which it could work in Formations.

It was far from a sure thing – the book didn’t go too deeply into music, as the majority of people just preferred to make them with magical circles. Even though it was more tedious, the process was more reliable than music, where a single mistimed note could send everything crashing down on the player’s head.

The actual concept for Formations was surprisingly simple. It boiled down to coaxing magic out of one Rune at a time, then pinning it in place while energy from the other Runes gathered.

That was much easier said than done, as people couldn’t actually draw on multiple Runes at once. Noah tried it – and found that he wasn’t exempt from that rule. As soon as he swapped from one Rune to the other, the energy he’d gathered from the first one faded away.

Formations were a way to keep that magic in place. It could be done with music, by Imbuing the very song with the power from the Runes, or through precisely made magical circles that perfectly housed the magical energy without letting it leak out or twist its purpose.

Music is certainly easier to get into, but it’s also more dangerous. If you spend the time making a magic circle, then you know exactly what to do to make it work correctly every single time. You could carry it around and just have the Formation on call – even if it takes much, much longer to get it to work properly.

With song, it doesn’t matter how well you know it. Screw up one note and fail to recover or redirect the magic in time… boom. No more Formation – and no more mage.

At some point while Noah read the book, the cat arrived at his bedside. It pawed at his arm, but he ignored it. Now that he could tell the monster wasn’t actively screwing with them, he was more willing to let it hang around.

Besides, it had helped make the gift for Moxie. As reluctant as Noah was to owe favors to anything, the cat had done him a favor. He idly fed it a strip of jerky, not taking his eyes from his reading.

The cat batted Noah on the nose.

He let out a curse, sitting straight upright. Sunlight filtered through the window and onto Noah’s face. He blinked at the sudden warmth, lowering the Formations book. He’d completely lost track of time – it had been nearly three or four hours since he’d woken up.

Wait. Where the hell are Lee and Moxie? There’s no way getting breakfast takes this long. Damn it. How’d I zone out so badly?

Noah lowered the book, his brow furrowing as he slipped out of bed and grabbed his jacket, pulling it on. The cat vanished in a puff of smoke just as a knock echoed against the door. He pulled it open.

“Finally. What took you guys so…” Noah trailed off, the smile falling from his face. It was Lee and Moxie, but they weren’t alone. Contessa stood beside them, and all of their expressions were grim.

“We need to talk,” Moxie said, stepping past Noah and into the room. Noah’s stomach dropped. Not once in life had anything good ever followed up that line.

“Contessa’s here?” Noah asked, stepping back and letting them in. “What’s going on?”

Contessa looked like she wanted to sink into the ground. Her skin was pale and her lips nearly white because all the blood had drained from her face. The only person whose expression he could read was Lee, and she was alternating between looking panicked and furious.

“Evergreen sent me,” Contessa said. She stopped to swallow. “She’s recalling Moxie.”

“The hell does that mean?”

“It means she’s decided that I’m too much of a liability to keep around,” Moxie said. Her voice trembled and her hands clenched at her sides. “I can’t say I didn’t see it coming. Honestly, if anything, I’m just surprised it took this long.”

“I’m going to need some clarification here.” Noah’s chest clenched at the expression on her face – something was seriously wrong. “Can someone tell me what in the world is going on?”

“Evergreen has decided that Moxie is no longer needed to teach Emily,” Contessa moved her eyes to look at anything but Noah. “She’s ordered her to return home immediately. I’m sorry.”

The apology felt wrong. It wasn’t sympathy – it was fear.

She thinks I’m going to kill her because Moxie has to go home for a bit? Did I really terrify her that badly?

“That’s stupid,” Noah said. “But this was still a fun vacation, even if Evergreen cut it short. We can just meet back up at Arbitage at the start of school then, right? I don’t imagine Evergreen will let me tag along to her house.”

Moxie let out a short, pained laugh. “Noah, that’s not what getting recalled means. I was raised specifically to act as a guard and tutor for Emily. I know too much, and I have too much influence over her. I’m not going to come back to Arbitage. I’m sorry. I don’t think I’m going to get to hunt that Great Monster with you. Evergreen is going to have me killed when I get home.”

Noah stared at Moxie, waiting for all three of them to start laughing. It sounded like a terrible joke – but nobody’s expression changed.

“That can’t be right. Just don’t go back!”

“That’s not a possibility. Do you really think Evergreen doesn’t have a way to keep track of me, Noah? She knows where I am. I have to return. If I don’t leave soon, the Rune Oaths will start eating away at me. They aren’t that restrictive most of the time, but ignoring a direct order won’t fly.”

Noah shook his head, mentally reeling. “Hell no. Can’t you just break the Rune Oaths? You know what I’m capable of.”

Moxie sent Noah a sad smile. “I considered that, except you realize what that would mean, don’t you? You – a member of the Linwick family – would be directly interfering with Evergreen.” Even if you’re not high up enough to cause a war, you’ll still get killers sent after you.”

“So what? I’ve dealt with–”

“And Isabel? Todd?” Moxie demanded, her eyes tightening in anger. “Are you forgetting everything you told me about how much you care about teaching, Noah? Are you going to put them at risk as well? Because they’ll be right up there as targets together with you. Or are you going to abandon them? If you interfere, you’d be on the run for the rest of your life.”

Noah ground his teeth and spun toward Contessa. “You. Is this serious? Evergreen is just going to off Moxie? For no reason? Why now? What changed?”

“Not for no reason.” Contessa cringed away from Noah. “She was actively starting to move against Evergreen. Emily was rebelling. You saw it during the exam. She wasn’t doing what Evergreen ordered. Moxie was a negative influence in Evergreen’s eyes. I don't know why she waited until we got home to give me the orders, but she gave them almost immediately once we arrived. I just… tried to take as long of a route to get here as possible.”

“I hate her, but it isn’t her fault,” Moxie said. “Contessa is just following orders. Listen to me, Noah. Evergreen isn’t someone we can fight against. She literally owns me. Every single Rune I possess came from Evergreen, and she has complete control of my magic. The moment she wants, I lose all of it. There’s nothing I can do against her. I had more freedom in these past months than I ever have – but I can’t fight against this.”

Something in Moxie’s eyes gave Noah pause. Her words were defeated, but she didn’t feel like a woman that had given up.

“For Emily’s sake. For your sake – I have to go,” Moxie said, putting a hand on Noah’s shoulder. “Isabel and Todd. Lee, too. All of you. She knows where I am, and there’s nothing I can do against her. It’s better to go out dignified than running like a coward. I’ll return to the Torrins and face her on – and I’ll die free.”

Noah’s skin prickled. No, the way Moxie was speaking wasn’t defeated at all. It was resigned. Not to death, but to victory. His eyes flicked to Contessa. Another piece clicked. She wasn’t completely terrified of just Noah – she was terrified of what was about to happen.

Evergreen doesn’t know about the rune I gave Moxie, or how she modified her Runes with Sunder. Moxie knows that. She’s planning to try to get the jump on Evergreen and kill her, isn’t she?

But… that won’t work. Evergreen is a Rank 6. Even if Moxie somehow managed to off her, the rest of the Torrins wouldn’t let her live. She’s planning to die for everyone else’s sake. Contessa knows, and she’s realized that no matter how this ends up, she’s dead. Either I kill her or Evergreen does.

“It’s okay,” Moxie said, her lips turning up faintly. “Don’t, Noah. I enjoyed these few months more than just about anything else, but there’s only so much we can push fate. This is the only thing I can do now.”

“Fuck that.”

Moxie’s eye twitched. “What?”

“You think we’re just going to sit around while you kill yourself? That’s my goddamn move,” Noah snapped, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “Making it melodramatic doesn’t give you the right to crimp my shit.”

A snort of laughter slipped out of Moxie’s lips before she could stop herself. “I’ll miss you, Noah. I’m not sure if I should be worried about how quickly you read me, but I hope Evergreen isn’t that perceptive. There really isn’t another choice, though. This isn’t something you can just throw yourself against. If I rebel against a direct order from Evergreen, the consequences are going to be tremendous. Even if I somehow shatter the Rune Oaths and escape, I’ll be on the run until I die. That’s not how I want to live. And don’t even think about offering to join me. You’ve got students. You are not to abandon them.”

“As if I’d do that,” Noah said, crossing his arms. “But I think you’ve given up too damn quickly.”

“Quickly?” A flash of anger crossed over Moxie’s features. “Quickly? We’ve spent nearly five hours trying to figure this shit out, Noah. Contessa knows what’s going to happen to her when this all goes down. She’s the closest to Evergreen out of all of us. She would know if there was literally any way out of this – but the only one where anyone other than me ends this alive is with Evergreen dead. And nobody has any chance of doing that but me.”

“As if you’ll be able to kill her. She’s a Rank 6. You’ll die for nothing.”

“At least I’ll go out on my own terms. You helped me get my independence back – and, if by some miracle Evergreen lets me live, then that’ll be gone. No. I won’t let that happen, and I won’t let anyone else die with me. There’s nothing you can do against Evergreen, Noah. Not the real one.”

“So what? Am I supposed to just sit here and watch you kill yourself?” Noah demanded. “After everything, you’re just giving up?”

“I’m not giving up!” Moxie screamed, pounding a fist into the wall. She drew a ragged breath and pressed her lips together before continuing. “I’m doing the only damn thing I still can, Noah. Even if Azel decided he was going to go all out to help, Evergreen would crush all of us.”

They were silent for a few moments.

Moxie put her hand on his shoulder, her expression softening. “I just don’t want this all to be in vain, Noah. Will you tell Emily what happened? Evergreen will try to blame it on someone, but Emily trusts you.”

Noah held her gaze for several seconds, his stomach so tight that it felt like it would rip. Just last night they’d been talking about going out and enjoying the summer, taking on Great Monsters and traveling together. And now… this.

“No.”

Moxie blinked. “I – what?”

“I said, no.”

“Idiot. If you try to kill Evergreen, she’ll crush you. You stand no chance against her.”

“I don’t need to,” Noah replied. “You’re damn smart, Moxie. Smarter than me. But you’re too focused on doing one thing at a time.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Noah drew a deep breath, reaching within himself. He wasn’t sure exactly what it was he was looking for, but he knew it was there somewhere.

He wasn’t sure if he found it, but the air swirled before him. The cat emerged before him, spiraling out from a mote of red. It looked up, matching his gaze with its own dark, hungry eyes.

“You can go just about anywhere you want, can’t you?” Noah asked.

The cat didn’t respond, but he knew it understood him.

“You think this can kill Evergreen?” Moxie asked in disbelief. “You’re grasping at straws, Noah. I don’t want this either, but don’t do this to yourself.”

Noah ignored her. Moxie was great at dealing with one problem at a time. That was good, for the most part. But Noah had way more than one issue that he had to deal with, and when one had enough problems, then when one rose up that he couldn’t deal with, all he had to do was add another one in and change the issue entirely.

“I want you to go find Father,” Noah told the cat, kneeling beside it. “Find him, and tell him that I want to talk.”

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