Return of the Runebound Professor

Ulya felt like her eyes were about to pop out of her head. They ached something furious from constantly looking around, staring at anyone that seemed like they were getting too close for comfort.

Every single shadow felt like it was just inches from jumping out to grab her, and she was pretty sure half of the feast on the table was moving. She could barely remember the last time she’d gotten a proper night of sleep even though it had probably only been a day or two ago.

The only person she knew was safe was Vermil. If she trusted his word, then the rest of his group was probably fine as well, but there was no way to know if he’d actually tested all of them. The smug bastard barely even looked concerned about the whole situation.

As soon as Godrick had told everyone to eat, he’d promptly darted right over to the table, shoved Gero out of the way, and started shoveling food into his mouth.

His students had done much of the same, though at least a few of them had been polite enough to spend a little time greeting Gero. Nobody else from the advanced track made any moves to introduce themselves yet – a fact that Ulya was thankful for.

The tension hanging in the room meant nobody was getting too close to her. She couldn’t just go around cutting the back of everyone’s necks to test them. The others would have assumed she was insane at best.

Ulya bit her lower lip, moving to put her back to the wall so she could observe the entire room. Before she could get far, Vermil’s mentor stepped into her path. Ulya paused as she felt his gaze fix on hers from behind the whorls of his wooden mask.

“Who’s the big guy?” the man asked, nodding over Ulya’s shoulder to Godrick.

“That’s the second strongest member of the advanced track. His name is Godrick, and he’s a Rank 5,” Ulya replied, sending a glance toward Godrick. He’d sat back down at the head of the table and was happily eating away, chatting with Verrud, another one of the professors in the program. “Why do you ask?”

“Curiosity,” the man said. The hooded man that had accompanied them walked up to join Ulya, glancing around the room and yawning in clear boredom.

“I hope you’re going to make this more exciting soon.”

Exciting? I certainly hope not. I’d kill for a nice, peaceful night of rest where I’m not worried about a puppet ripping me apart from within.

“We’ll see,” Vermil’s mentor said with a one-shouldered shrug. “I’d request that you avoid taking steps to remedy that yourself, though.”

“Me? I would never,” the hooded figure said, pressing a hand to his chest and letting out a chuckle. Ulya sent a faint tendril of magic out to feel how strong the man was, but it evaporated the literal instant she tried to manifest it.

Why is Vermil’s mentor letting his domain seep out like this? Is he trying to piss everyone off?

Sure enough, there were more than a few peeved looks being sent their way. Generally, it was polite to keep your domain under control unless one was in a combat situation. Letting it roll across the room without any attempt to even control it was a blatant challenge to every single member of the advanced track.

“I’m not sure we were ever properly introduced,” Ulya said, pushing down her apprehension. Puppets didn’t have domains – which meant, even if he was rude, the man was probably safe. “You know my name, but I never found out yours. Is there something I can call you by?”

It was a moment before Vermil’s mentor responded. “Spider.”

“Spider?” the hooded man asked through an amused snort. “That’s cute.”

“I didn’t come up with it.”

“I’d certainly hope not. I’d much rather be something more interesting. A butterfly, maybe. Oh! A hummingbird. Ever seen one of those? Fascinating creatures, really. It’s unfortunate they’re so rare. I’d imagine it’s because the stupid things hum so much that they probably accidentally set off Formations and blow themselves up.”

Spider turned to his friend, tilting his head in what was either confusion or shock. Ulya couldn’t figure out which one it was past his mask.

“Truly?”

“Oh, yes. They’ve got Runes, most of them. Unfortunately, not every song is one suited to be a Formation. Leads to quite the spectacular show when one of them lets a little too much magical energy into their singing. One moment, its beauty incarnate. The next, you’re cleaning pint-sized guts off your face.”

“Fate is cruel,” Spider said. “By the way – this is Ulya. I don’t believe I properly introduced her.”

“Splendid. You can call me Jay,” the hooded man said.

Stolen novel; please report.

Ulya held her hand out. Jay looked down at it, then back up at her. “No thanks. I’ll be honest, I’ve forgotten your name already. I’ll remember it if you do something to keep my attention.”

This guy is definitely an old bastard. I’ve seen that attitude before. Who in the Damned Plains is Vermil? How does he have the backing of not just his teacher, but also another Rank 6?

“You don’t have to look so stressed,” Spider said, scratching the side of his neck and looking around the room. “There’s only one person here that’s a clone.”

Ulya nearly choked on her saliva. “What? I – how–”

“There are ways to tell,” Spider said with a low chuckle. He paused as Vermil grabbed an entire roast chicken and – to the utter bafflement of the entire room, shoved the entire thing down his gullet in a single move.

There were several seconds of silence, broken by a round of applause that started with Gero and wrapped its way around the room. Spider heaved a sigh. “Idiot.”

“That was a little impressive,” Ulya hedged, forgetting what they’d been talking about a moment before – but only for a mere instant. “Wait. You said you could detect the clones?”

“Yes. It’s rather simple, actually. I can’t tell you how, though.” Spider gave her an apologetic shrug.

“What? Why not?” Ulya demanded. “If you’ve got a way–”

“I’ve learned more information about our opponent, and I have reason to believe that any information spoken aloud has a good chance of reaching his ears. For that reason, you’ll just have to trust me.”

Ulya bit back a snarky response. The one person she couldn’t afford to offend in the room was Spider. She was pretty sure he’d kill her at the drop of a hat, and he’d only shown up as a favor to her in the first place. Talking back to him now was a fool of an idea.

“I see,” Ulya said, crushing the disappointment in her voice. “Who’s the clone? We need to…”

Actually, what would we even do? Accuse them? I have no idea how many clones are around. Accusing him could turn this into a slaughter. Nobody’s ready for a fight, and if I go around secretly alerting people, half of them won’t believe me or think it’s some form of ploy. Damn it.

“We need to what?” Spider asked. “I’d say acting is directly against our best interests.”

“It is?” Ulya frowned. “Why?”

“Because as long as we don’t make a move, we have the upper hand. We know who to suspect and they have no idea we suspect them. That means we should be able to trace the clone back to the source or otherwise get rid of any other clones.”

“You mean through some form of sympathetic magic?” Ulya considered Spider’s words, then nodded slowly. “That makes a lot of sense. That’s genius, actually. I wish we had an Inquisitor with us. Their blood magic excels at sympathetic purposes. I’ve heard they can take out portions of bloodlines if they’re strong enough.”

“Do our targets even have blood?” Spider asked.

Ulya opened her mouth, then closed it again. “Oh. Yeah. Good point. I didn’t think that through – but there should still be some form of sympathetic magic that could work. I think you’re onto something.”

“Perhaps you should look into that,” Spider suggested. “Until then, just stay by Jay’s side. He’s an asshole, but he’ll probably keep you alive.”

That was possibly the least convincing thing that Spider could have said. Ulya caught a flash of a cold grin beneath Jay’s hood that didn’t make her feel even slightly reassured. It looked more like Jay was hoping she’d trip and faceplant on the table.

A few cheers rose into the air as Vermil devoured another roast chicken – along with the plate that it was on. Ulya stared in disbelief, then risked a glance at Spider. She still couldn’t tell what the man was thinking, but she suspected he was one step from blowing steam out of his ears.

Vermil is certainly making an impression. I didn’t think he’d be this much of a party animal, but I suppose some of the rumors going around campus about him were right. At least he hasn’t made any moves toward the other female professors or their students. Maybe Moxie straightened him out?

The commotion died down as footsteps echoed down the stairwell behind them. Everyone other than Vermil, who was occupied dragging another professor’s plate over to himself with two fingers, turned toward the stairwell.

Metallic clicks accompanied every step, and it wasn’t long before two people made their way down the stairs. A large, uncomfortable looking boy took the lead, his hands shoved deep into his pockets and his shoulders hunched.

Behind him strode Silvertide, his leg glistening in the faint light with every step he took. Ulya shot a glance at Spider to see if he’d reacted negatively to the new arrivals, but his stance hadn’t shifted.

That means he’s probably not a clone, right? Who am I kidding – if someone took out Silvertide, we’d all be doomed. Thank whatever gods are listening. Having Silvertide here changes everything in our favor.

“Silvertide!” Godrick exclaimed, raising a hand and beaming. “We were all thrilled to hear you accepted the invitation to join us. That must be your apprentice with you – Tyler, was it?”

Silvertide clapped Tyler on the shoulder. The boy’s back was as stiff as a rod, and his face was ghostly pale. “We appreciate the invite. I’m looking forward to seeing what you all have to offer.”

Ulya’s brow furrowed as she watched Silvertide speak. Something about the demeanor of his apprentice was off. Everything she’d heard about Silvertide said that he was a great teacher and a kind man.

Sure, there was a chance it had been rumor, but Tyler looked terrified.

“Is Peter with you?” Godrick asked when Silvertide and Tyler stepped off the stairs and into the room. “He was meant to escort you here.”

“Peter?” Silvertide tilted his head to the side. His eyes lit with understanding and he nodded. “Ah, Peter. That was the man that came to bring us to the advanced track meeting, was it?”

“Yes, that was him.”

“I’m afraid not,” Silvertide said with a frown. “It would have been rather difficult for Peter to make it.”

“Why’s that?” Godrick asked. “He said he’d be open. Did he give you a message? Everyone that wasn’t currently out on a trip or otherwise tied up was meant to come to meet the new members today. He should have known that.”

“He didn’t give me a message,” Silvertide said, tapping his staff on the ground. There was something brownish on its tip. Ulya squinted closer at it, then paled. It wasn’t brown. It was dark green plant matter.

““I would have been quite impressed if Peter had said anything at all,” Silvertide continued, his gaze cold. “After all, I’ve found that the dead typically don’t speak – and the person using magic to puppet his body certainly wasn’t Peter. Would someone care to explain to me why your group sent a corpse to my apprentice’s door?”

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