Return of the Runebound Professor

Noah stood at the book for several minutes, just staring at the page. No matter how he looked at it, the contents within it made no sense. He’d met with Father enough times to be completely confident that he’d been interacting with the same man every time.

Beside that – Father was far too paranoid to get killed. Noah refused to believe he’d died. That could only mean that he’d never actually known the real Father at all, and the person he’d been interacting with was a fake.

But why? And how?

The answers to those questions didn’t come. The hair on the back of Noah’s neck stuck out on end. He was pretty sure he’d just found something that he definitely shouldn’t have. If someone had really killed Father and taken his place, they were both strong enough to defeat a Rank 6 Mage and likely determined to keep that secret very hidden.

If anyone found out he’d seen it…

Noah grimaced. He carefully closed the book. Revealing it to the Linwick Family would mean revealing himself as well. He lifted a hand off the cover of the book. Instantly, a high-pitched whine picked up from within its pages as energy erupted all around it.

He slammed his hand back down. The whine faded, then disappeared as the energy sank back into it.

“You’re shitting me,” Noah muttered. He didn’t know what the noise had meant, but it wasn’t hard to guess it was some sort of alarm or summons – one that appeared to only go off when he released the book.

Oh, goddamn it. This is a trap for people within the Linwick family, not people outside it. Anyone that isn’t a Linwick gets blasted for touching the book, and I’d assume that any Linwicks that try to read it without permission – like me – open the stupid thing wrong and have to sit around like an idiot until you give in and take your hand off, summoning someone.

That meant only one thing.

Noah dug his brain for a better idea, but nothing came to mind. Heaving a sigh, he gathered Natural Disaster’s energy. Then he lifted the book off the stone.

As soon as it left the table, a groan echoed through the catacombs. Noah didn’t wait around to see why. He sprinted for the doorway, unleashing a blast of wind to accelerate himself. The door started to rumble shut, but he flew through it an instant before a door slammed shut behind him with a resounding crash.

The rumbling didn’t stop, and Noah didn’t plan to see what else his actions had caused. He clutched the book to his chest as he bounded across the floor, skidding around corners and nearly flattening his face against the walls in the process.

What moron builds a catacomb to store things in and then destroys it when a single book gets stolen? You’ve just ruined everything else in the process!

All around him, dirt and rock rained down. The ground cracked and bucked beneath him, knocking him off balance. Noah released a burst of wind as he fell, turning his fall into a clumsy flip. He landed on his feet and continued sprinting.

The walls groaned. Noah dove as a huge stone crashed down in the middle of the hall, nearly squashing him. He hit the ground with a grunt, launching himself back upright and charging onward.

The shaking continued to intensify. Every step he took threatened to send him crashing to the ground, but with Natural Disaster to aid him, he was just barely able to keep himself moving. But, with every step he took, the damage intensified.

Huge chunks of the ground crumbled away, falling into a growing chasm beneath him. It wasn’t just in the area around him – the whole catacomb was falling in on itself. Noah launched himself into the air, using huge bursts of wind to jump from piece to piece of the collapsing underground pathway.

A rock struck him on the shoulder with enough force to pop his arm out of its socket. Noah grit his teeth in pain and stumbled, nearly falling straight into a hole that opened up before him.

He twisted at the last second, grabbing his shoulder and shoving it back into place as he bit back a scream of pain. Unleashing another blast of wind, Noah threw himself forward just as another boulder obliterated the ground where he’d been standing.

His feet beat against the ground as he moved faster than he’d ever moved on foot before, ducking and dipping through the corridors. Natural Disaster was starting to run out of energy, and the gaps in the ground were growing larger and more frequent.

A massive section of the wall crumbled in on itself before Noah, blocking the path off. Without even stopping, he grabbed at Sunder and ripped power from the Master Rune, driving it into the stone.

The rocks split apart and Noah burst through them in a shower of rubble, stumbling for a moment as he landed on the other side but quickly resuming his desperate dash. All the dust filling the air was making it difficult to see where he was going, and he was running half on instinct. He couldn’t risk stopping for even a second.

Noah skidded past a bend, tremors racing up his legs from the ground beneath him and nearly tripped over half of the Frost Wight’s body. The other half had already pitched into a growing hole before him.

Calling on the last of Natural Disaster’s power, Noah catapulted himself. He shot out like a bullet, hurtling through the air. He crossed his arms before him, hitting the ground in a painful roll.

Stones tore his skin and caught at his jacket, ripping it apart. He lurched upright, blood and sweat tinging his vision, as he caught a flash of white snow and light trickling in from the exit. It had already been largely sealed off by falling rocks and was well on its way to being completely buried.

Calling on Sunder once more, Noah sent the Master Rune’s power out even as he threw himself into the rubble. It split apart and he tumbled into the open air, skidding across the wet snow. Behind him, rubble continued to pour into the catacomb, filling the air with a dull rumble.

His breath came in deep, ragged gasps. Aching bruises and cuts covered Noah’s entire body, but he forced himself upright nonetheless. Somehow, he was still holding onto the book. It was covered with blood and dust.

“Shit,” Noah breathed, coughing into a fist. He remained there, listening to the catacombs crumble from within. It was nearly ten minutes before the shaking finally stopped and he had enough energy to move again.

He rose to his feet, the adrenaline coursing through him making his limbs shake. The race out had somehow been more intense than many of the actual fights he’d been in. Noah drew a slow breath and let it out to steady himself.

There was no sign of Moxie, Lee, or Karina. That was for the best – Moxie and Lee had probably gone back to town to hide out incase he’d gotten himself killed. Part of him felt like leaving the book in the rubble might have actually been a good way to bury it, but releasing the distress signal would probably let whoever was searching for the book find it, even if it was buried.

A pang of disappointment throbbed in his heart for all the artifacts that he hadn’t been able to take, but the book in his hands was far more valuable than any other artifact ever could have been – and he hadn’t exactly had much time to liberate anything else with the catacombs crashing down all around him. He tucked it under his arm and tossed his flying sword to the ground, mounting it.

Noah took off, flying back toward the town. Hopefully, Moxie and Lee would be in the guest houses.

***

Noah landed his flying sword a short distance away from the town and walked the rest of the way. He headed over to the guest house that they’d used the previous time and raised his hand to knock on the door.

Before he could, Lee yanked it open.

“You’re hurt,” Lee said.

Noah lifted the book to make sure she didn’t accidentally touch it. “Careful. I’ve got a really dangerous thing here. And don’t worry. I’m fine.”

Lee moved back and Noah headed inside. The huge book artifact rested against the wall beside Moxie, who sat on the bed. She stood as she spotted the condition Noah was in. “What happened?”

“Collapsed the entire catacombs on accident,” Noah said with a grimace. “Can’t say I didn’t realize it would happen, though. It was kind of planned. I mean, I didn’t know the thing would collapse, but I knew there was a trap.”

“Slow down,” Moxie said, raising her hands. “I can practically hear the adrenaline pumping in you. What in the Damned Plains went down in there? Why’d you set off a trap like that? Are you being chased?”

“Now you’re the one speaking too fast,” Noah said with a chuckle. He tapped the cover of the book with one finger. “I got this thing. Don’t get anywhere near it. There’s a warning that says anyone other than a Linwick can get immediately killed just by touching it.”

“You’re kidding me. What kind of powerful artifact is that?”

Noah turned the book around so she could see the front. “A ledger. One that contains the name of every Linwick that’s ever lived, as far as I can tell.”

“And you went through all the trouble to take that out… why?”

“It had Vermil’s name on it,” Noah said grimly. “Also, the moment my hand comes off it, it starts screaming and will probably set off a summoning signal similar to the one the Hellreaver had. So… for the time being, I can’t take my hand off it.”

“Damn,” Moxie said, understanding washing over her features. “That’s bad. Are you just going to lug it around until we can remove the Imbuement?”

“Probably, but that’s nothing compared to this,” Noah said, flipping through the books pages. He was well aware that he was expressly disobeying the orders at the front of the book, but he couldn’t have cared less. He found Father’s page and turned it around so Moxie and Lee could see it.

“What in the Damned Plains?” Moxie squinted at the page, baffled. “That makes no sense. He got killed? How? By whom?”

Noah closed the book and pulled the paper out of his pocket. “He’s not dead.”

“Oh, shit.” Moxie paled. “Someone took his place.”

“Like you and Vermil,” Lee observed. She kept a good distance from the book and squinted at it suspiciously. “You’re really alike.”

“That’s true.” Noah chuckled despite the severity of the situation. “I don’t know if we should do anything with this thing yet – or ever – but I think you can see why I took it.”

Moxie nodded. “The catacombs are gone, then?”

“I think so. They’re buried in rubble. I barely made it out alive.”

“I could tell,” Moxie said dryly. “It’s a good thing you didn’t get squished right at the entrance. Digging the book out would have been a real problem.”

“Lucky me. Where’s Karina?”

“Already left town,” Lee said. “She left as soon as we got back.”

“Good for her,” Noah said. “With any luck, she’s learned her lesson. I honestly started feeling bad for her at the end, there.”

“We can worry about her later,” Moxie said, sending a pointed glance at the book in Noah’s hands. “If that can really kill us with a touch, I’d love if we could get it covered up somehow.”

That was a strikingly good idea. Lee pulled one of Noah’s spare sets of clothes out and threw him the jacket. He wrapped it around the book, then stood back and stared at it. It was still huge – hardly something he could carry around easily.

“Maybe I should just swing it at people,” Noah mused. “Decent weapon, no?”

Moxie snorted. “Just keep it away from me.”

“For now, maybe we should just figure out what the actual artifact we got does?” Lee suggested. “I want to open it.”

Noah looked over to the other book. For all intents and purposes, they’d just had the world’s most exciting trip to a library.

Who enters an ancient crypt and comes out with two damn books instead of a cool sword or something? Damn. How the mighty have fallen.

“I want to open it too,” Noah admitted, adjusting his grip on the bulky ledger and tucking it under his arm. It was still in contact with him, so it seemed fine with how things were. “We’ll figure out where to store the death-book later. There should be infinite Catchpaper in this thing. Shall we find out if Karina scammed us?”

Lee and Moxie both backed up to the edge of the room. Noah frowned.

“What?”

“Just making sure we can get out of here if you blow yourself up using it,” Moxie said, only half joking. “Try not to do that, though.”

“No promises.” Noah walked up to the large book and knelt beside it. He wasn’t sure how to test it except for the most obvious way. “Ready?”

Lee and Moxie both nodded.

Noah opened the book.

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