Return of the Runebound Professor

When Noah sat up, the last dregs of the Mind Meld potion wearing off, Moxie had a strange expression on her face. She looked to be balancing on the precipice of enlighten and frustration, teetering back and forth but somehow managing to keep her spot right in the center.

“Moxie?” Noah asked, rubbing his eyes.

She blinked, then shook her head. “Did things work out for Lee?”

“Yeah,” Noah said, though he paused a second before answering. “Azel showed up. He… gave Lee his Runes, for some reason.”

“He what?”

“Yeah, that’s what I said.” Noah shook his head and shrugged. “He said it was a favor because he needed Lee alive. I’m not sure what he was playing at, but he said something about how, as a Demon, Lee needed to keep a certain amount of Demon Runes.”

“I’ve never heard of anything like that, but we don’t know all that much about monster runes.” Moxie rubbed the side of her neck in thought. “It’s possible he’s telling the truth. I guess that would make a certain amount of sense. Demons feed off emotion, and that’s got to come from somewhere. It’s only logical that it would be tied to a Rune.”

Moxie had come to the exact same conclusion that Noah had, though he was pretty sure she’d come to it nearly twice as fast as he did. That likely had something to do with the fact that Moxie had been actively researching Skinwalkers before they’d started spending time together, so she knew more about monsters than the average person.

“As long as it checks out for you as well.” Noah stood up and brushed the dirt off his pants. He looked down at Lee, whose eyes were closed in what he hoped to be peaceful slumber. “Lee should be fine soon. She said we might need to carry her for today, but she’ll be back up and good soon after.”

Her lips parted, then closed again as she looked away. Noah’s brow furrowed. Moxie wasn’t saying something.

“Moxie? What’s going on?”

“What? Nothing. Just thinking about the future.”

“No, that definitely wasn’t it. You’re thinking of something.” Noah arched an eyebrow, doing a spectacular impression of Moxie’s signature look. “Come on with it. What is it?”

Moxie let out a mixture between a laugh and a sigh. “Fine, fine. I was thinking a lot tonight.”

“And?”

“I… I think I might have figured out something that might work against Evergreen.”

Noah nearly tripped over his own feet. “What? What is it?”

“Not yet,” Moxie said. “It would depend a ton on Lee, and I don’t want to tell you before she knows everything. There would be too much pressure on her to say yes.”

“I wouldn’t do something like that to her,” Noah said, hurt.

“I know. But – and this isn’t a bad thing – you’re a really bad liar. Not as bad as Brayden, but not by much better. When you’re putting on an act, you’re great. But Lee’s going to read you like a book. I was hoping I could just mention it when she was awake.”

“Sorry,” Noah said, not meaning it in the slightest. “So are you going to tell me now?”

“No. Be patient.”

Noah heaved a sigh. “That’s just cold.”

Moxie shook her head in response. “Let’s just get a move on. We don’t have time to waste. The less Evergreen suspects, the better.”

Pulling out his flying sword, Noah tossed it to the ground. They both glanced down at Lee.

“It’s too bad she didn’t turn into a bird first.” Moxie scrunched her nose. “At least she’s tiny. We’ll just keep a good hold on her.”

Noah carefully picked Lee up, then positioned her between himself and Moxie. Moxie tied Lee down with several vines and they all got onto the flying sword. It was far from the most graceful setup, but it worked.

That day, Noah didn’t get as much done as he would have liked. He barely managed to focus on his Formation practice as he flew. Moxie’s revelation had distracted him so much that it was basically all he could think about.

“This is why I didn’t want to tell you yet,” Moxie had called over the wind. “It’s your fault, really.”

There wasn’t much Noah could respond to that with, so they flew in silence. He wasn’t sure if he wanted the day to pass faster so he could hear Moxie’s plan or slower so he could savor the remaining time before they reached Evergreen, but the day passed regardless of his desires.

Night fell, and even after they’d had a slightly rougher than normal landing, Lee was still asleep. It only took one look at Moxie to tell Noah that she had absolutely no plans of spilling the beans yet, so he just settled down beside her and studied Formations.

“You know, you’ve had to have some time to practice your violin a bit,” Moxie said, sending Noah a look out of the corners of her eyes. “Are you going to let me hear? I’d rather listen to it before I get killed.”

“I thought you had a plan?”

“I do, but you never know.”

Noah grunted. “No. You get to hear the violin after we win, so you better make sure that idea of yours is damn good.”

She stared at him in disbelief for a moment, then burst into laughter. “Seriously? What if it was my dying wish?”

“Then I’d tell you not to die.” Noah crossed his arms. “You’ll try harder if you’ve got something you’re working toward.”

“Is living normally not enough?”

“Can never have too much to live for. Trust me, I’d know better than anyone.” Noah’s eyes unfocused for a moment before he shook his head and snapped his Formation book shut. “I’m not going to get shit accomplished tonight. This is your fault.”

Moxie smirked. “Lee will be up tomorrow. Be patient.”

And that was what he had to do. The rest of the night passed, and after taking first watch, Noah woke Moxie up and headed to try and study his Formations book or sleep until the following morning dawned.

Lee woke an hour before sunrise, sitting bolt upright and drawing in a loud gasp that woke Noah up. Moxie had been covering the morning watch, so she didn’t have the privilege of getting scared out of her sleep.

“Lee? Are you okay?” Moxie asked, rushing over to her.

“I’m fine,” Lee said, letting out a slow huff and leaning back. “I did it. My Runes worked.”

“No adverse effects?” Noah wiped the sleep from his eyes and sat upright. “You’re totally fine?”

“Totally,” Lee confirmed. She held a hand up and flexed her fingers. “A little stiff, but your Rune is still healing me up a bit. I’ll be good by the time we get to Evergreen’s Estate.”

Noah and Moxie let out a synchronized sighs of relief. That lasted for about a moment before Noah sent Moxie a pointed look. She rolled her eyes.

“Lee, are you in shape to talk about what we’re going to do when we reach Evergreen?” Moxie asked.

“Yeah. I’m all readied up. Are we going to hunt a bunch more monsters and try to get as strong as possible before we make it there?”

“That couldn’t hurt, so long as it doesn’t slow us down,” Moxie allowed, chewing her lower lip. “But… I think I might have a plan.”

Lee’s eyes widened. “Really? What is it?”

“Slow down.” Moxie raised her hands. “I want it to be clear that you don’t have to do this, okay? It’s putting a lot of risk on you, Lee. It’s just an idea. We’ll have time to come up with a different one if it’s too dangerous. I don’t want you dying for me.”

“Yeah, yeah. Tell me what it is!”

Moxie took Lee by the shoulders and stared into the smaller woman’s eyes. “Lee, this is serious. I want you to really think this through before saying yes or no, okay?”

Blinking, Lee gave a small nod. “Okay. I will.”

And then, finally, Moxie told them her plan.

***

Several days later, Noah and Moxie approached the front gates of a large city – Blancwood, by the name embossed on huge panels of wood along the walls. The Torrin family’s home ground was exactly like Noah had expected it to be. Towering wooden buildings rose up like the treehouse of a child’s dreams.

It was a fortress, intricately detailed and interwoven with the huge forest that stood around and within the city. Even large parts of the walls were made from interlocking trees, their trunks pressed together so tightly that they were just a single mass.

The latter half of their journey had been somehow even more stressful than the first. Noah lost count of how many pages he re-read and the monsters the three of them had killed, getting every last scrap of energy prepared.

Rest had become something of a foreign concept, but now that they stood at the precipice, Noah wished more than anything that they’d had just a little more time. Moxie sent him a knowing glance, then turned her gaze back to the city entrance as they drew to a stop before a guard clad in wooden plate armor.

Despite its make, the swirling Imbuements covering the armor and the man’s weapon told Noah that nothing about the guard was ceremonial. The man was probably more than capable of putting up quite a fight.

“Business?” the guard asked, his posture that of a practiced warrior at ease.

“Reporting to Magus Evergreen,” Moxie replied. “I’ve come with an escort.”

“Names?”

“Moxie Torrin. Vermil Linwick.” Moxie answered the question easily, without an instant of hesitation.

The guard’s stance shifted, his eyes narrowing as he prepared to draw his weapon. “Linwick? What is a Linwick doing here?”

“He’s here on behalf of the Linwick family to offer Evergreen something that he retrieved.”

Noah reached down for his bag, then froze as the guard’s sword flashed from its sheath and landed at his neck, just a slight twitch away from slitting his throat open.

“Move slowly,” the guard ordered.

Doing his best sloth impression, Noah pulled his bag open with two fingers, avoiding any sudden movements. He pulled Evergreen’s scroll out an inch at a time, then held it out so the guard could see. “If you could, tell her that this is from Dayton.”

“Noted. This will be reported,” the guard said, gesturing for Noah to put the scroll away. Another guard turned and jogged away. “Remain put. Do not make any sudden moves, Linwick. Peace or not, we will execute you if we have any reason to believe you are hostile.”

“Trust me. No hostility here,” Noah promised. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched a crow sail through the air above the Torrin gate, flying above the wall and disappearing into the maze of buildings behind it.

He and Moxie exchanged a look but said nothing.

Minutes passed. Ten, twenty. Adrenaline swirled in Noah’s stomach, making it a fight to keep his expression even. Finally, the guard that had left returned and gave them a curt nod.

“Evergreen said she’s expecting Moxie. The Linwick is a surprise, but she wants to speak with them both.”

The first guard inclined his head, then stepped to the side, granting them entrance into Blancwood. “Pass, then.”

“Follow me,” the other guard said, turning and setting off down the flower-trimmed street. Noah and Moxie accelerated to keep pace with him.

As they walked, Noah couldn’t help but admire the city around them. Even though they were walking to what could have been Moxie’s end, Blancwood was a beautiful intermixture of nature and mankind.

The air smelled like fresh pine and honey, and no two buildings were the same. The paths seemed more like trails through the forest than proper city roads. They wound back and forth through the trees and buildings, many of which were one and the same.

Their walk ended at the front of a large mansion. Its walls were made of a deep purple bark that looked like it cost more than its weight in gold. The very mansion seemed to be alive, leaves jutting out from it and stretching out to gather the sunlight.

Somehow, the entire house was just one massive, alien tree. Noah suppressed his awe as the guard knocked on the front door and it swung open to reveal a dour-faced butler with dull orange hair. He wore a grey suit and stood with his hands crossed behind his back.

“Magus Moxie,” the butler said, his voice completely devoid of anything that could have been considered emotion. “Come inside.”

After trading one more look, Noah and Moxie stepped into Evergreen’s manor. The butler closed the door behind them with an air of finality.

“Magus Evergreen is occupied at the moment,” the butler said. “Please follow me. She will see you shortly.”

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