Return of the Runebound Professor

Several hours of flight later, Noah finally got his first look at a demon city — and it became quite clear that something had gotten lost in translation. He’d been picturing a group of nomadic demons carrying their belongings around on their backs and packing up tents whenever they moved around.

That couldn’t have been farther from the truth. The city wasn’t made from tarps and poles.

It was a monster.

A turtle, so large that it took Noah several seconds to even realize what he was looking at, loomed before them. The monster had a black-scaled shell, weathered from years upon years of travel through the Damned Plains.

Huge structures rose up from the turtle’s back, made from grey and black stone. They stabbed into the sky and cut through the swirling energy in the air far above. The demons had built an entire city upon its back, and it was easily several times larger than Arbitage.

Lifts and rigging hung off the side of the turtle’s shell, running all the way down to the ground and swaying dangerously. A massive yellow eye on the turtle’s wrinkled face stared off into the distance.

One of the turtle’s feet was several hundred spans off the ground, seemingly in the process of taking a step. Based on the speed it was moving, it would be quite some time before the foot landed.

Noah nearly lost his concentration and crashed the flying sword, but he managed to keep them off the ground. They weren’t too far from the turtle now, though it’s ridiculous size definitely made it seem closer than it actually was.

“What the fuck is that?” Noah screamed over the howl of the wind.

“When you said moving, that was not what I was picturing!”

“How else would it move?”

“Don’t act like this is normal!”

“It is, though.”

Okay, fair point.

“Where exactly are we supposed to land?” Moxie yelled, twisting her neck to look over her shoulder and back at them. “Do we just fly up onto the turtle’s back?”

“No. We need to give the sacrifice. Go to the lifts hanging from it and we can get into one of the lines. But… once we’re there, if something goes wrong, it might be really hard to get away. Are we sure this is the right move?”

“I don’t think we have many other options. We can’t just hide in the Wastes forever. There’s only so much we can accomplish there. The only path forward is through a city.”

Noah directed the sword toward the lifts at the bottom of the turtle and started mentally preparing himself. It had been a bit since he’d had to put on a front like this one, but he did have some practice pretending to be a demon from back during his first visit to the Linwick Estate.

It’ll probably be a bit harder to convince demons than humans, but I had Azel knocking around in my head for long enough to get a good feel for how they act.

“Any last-minute warnings before we land?” Noah called as they grew closer to the milling crowd around the base of the turtle. “And get your game faces on. From here on out, we’re all demons.”

“Yeah. Don’t let them know you’re human,” Lee said. “And if you start a fight, finish it. Mercy isn’t something that people respect here. Only strength.”

Silvertide’s words passed from back in Wizen’s sanctum passed through Noah’s mind and his jaw set. “Yeah. I know.”

He landed the sword on the ground before they got too close to anyone. Flying in might not have been the most inconspicuous way to make an arrival. They all stepped off and Noah scooped it up, sliding it back into its place at his side. Moxie’s vines lifted the bodies they’d been dragging along into the air behind her, and Noah took the lead as they headed over to join the people waiting beside one of the lifts.

After about thirty minutes of walking, they drew near enough that Noah could make out the individual forms in the crowd. A slight twinge of apprehension ran through him. At first glance, every single one of them were clearly demons.

Almost none of them looked identical. Some had horns and claws, while others were covered with matted fur. There were a number of them with tails or jutting spikes protruding from their backs.

While not all of them were completely humanoid, most were. There were, however, almost none that looked completely human. A number of them probably could have passed as a normal person if they’d covered up scales or other anomalies, but it didn’t seem like they had any desire to do so.

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“I thought a lot of demons just looked human,” Noah said under his breath.

“Most strong demons aren’t going to come in like this,” Lee replied. “They’ve got connections. We don’t.”

Now that they were a bit closer, Noah couldn’t help but wonder how stable the lifts actually were. They were made of dull red metal and connected with ropey sinew and black chains. The platforms were flat pieces of stone covered with runic inscriptions that looked like they’d been made hundreds of years ago.

Each platform was large enough to hold somewhere between fifty and one hundred people, depending on how close they were willing to get with each other. And, fortunately, it didn’t look like there were nearly that many demons gathered around the lift that they’d arrived by.

It was roughly half full, and another group climbed a chain ladder hanging from the platform as they watched. A seven-foot-tall demon with gray skin clad in heavy red metal armor stood at the base of the platform, a huge halberd in his hands. He was joined by a second demon, this one female, clad in the same armor. She had the same skin tone, but two massive wings jutting from her back. Even folded up, they took up a considerable amount of space.

Guards? The guy could have passed for human if it wasn’t for the skin color. It’s kind of hard to tell how strong demons actually are if there aren’t any domains. That’s slightly annoying.

He beckoned the next group — a pair of male demons with long horns and barbed tails — forward. They dumped a pile of dead Ettercaps on the ground before the guard. The demon stared at them, disdain evident in his yellowed eyes.

“This is it?” the guard asked as Noah’s group quietly joined the short line leading up to him. “You come to Treadon and offer Lord Belkus nothing but this?”

“Treadon is the name of the turtle,” Lee whispered into Noah’s ear. “We name our cities after the turtles. Belkus is the Rank 7 that controls the city. I haven’t been to this one before, but I’ve heard of it.”

“This is three times more than we brought last time,” the demon that had dropped the Ettercaps said. He squared his shoulders, but Noah picked up on the tremor that wreathed his words.

“And it is twice less than what you should have brought. We don’t need scum in the city,” the guard spat. He nudged the Ettercaps with a foot, then shook his head. “One Ettercap isn’t enough.”

“One?” the second demon took a step forward. “What do you mean, one? We brought three.”

“No, I’m quite certain I only count one,” the guard said. His lips pulled apart in a cold smile. “I can hold onto these for you while you get the rest.”

The pair of demons exchanged a glance. For a moment, Noah thought they would jump at the guard. Instead, they spun and strode away from the line to head back into the Wastes. The second guard watched them leave, her face impassive.

Well, if they were struggling with the Ettercaps, they couldn’t have been all that strong. Looks like the guards like extorting the people trying to go through the chump entrance.

The next group approached the front of the line. They’d brought an entire sled piled high with hoglike monsters along with them. There must have been ten or fifteen of them. The demons pushed it over to guard’s feet. He examined it for a moment, then took a step back and nodded to the platform.

“Accepted. On you go.”

I don’t recognize the hog thing, but they definitely had quite a few of them. Guess they brought enough for the guard to take a cut without complaining.

The next groups approached the guard and passed on without any trouble, and then it was Noah’s turn. He stepped up to the demon and Moxie’s vines dropped the corpses on the ground between them.

A slight crease ran through the guard’s brow as he studied their distinct lack of any demonic features. Noah held his gaze, but he didn’t miss the female demon shifting her stance to ready her weapon.

The hell? I haven’t even done anything yet.

“Sufficient, I trust?” Noah asked, jerking his chin toward the bodies. “I don’t have all day.”

“You trying to hide something? Drop the human forms,” the demon said. “If you’re banned from the city, changing your appearance won’t make a difference.”

“Ah. No, I won’t be doing that.” Noah scratched the side of his neck. “You can take my word for it. I’m not banned.”

“Yeah. That’s not happening,” the demon said. He tapped his staff on the ground. “You best have a whole lot more than this if you’re trying to slide in unannounced.”

Aha. So you can bribe your way in even if you do get kicked out. There’s no way I’m just going to turn around and go get more shit, though. We’ve already wasted enough time screwing around in the deserts. Besides, I’m pretty sure that leaving now would be a pretty big sign of weakness.

“I’d say that’s more than enough as long as you don’t take half of it,” Noah said dryly. “Those demons had more energy in them than the majority of the other ones you’ve got in that pile behind you.”

“Except those were from people that weren’t trying to hide their identity,” the guard said. He pointed the halberd at Noah. “And if you’re too scared to show your true face, then I think you’d be best off turning right around and not showing your sorry hide here until you’ve got enough to pay the toll.”

I suppose it wouldn’t really make sense for a powerful demon to stroll up here in a disguise, so assuming that I’m just some random little shit that got kicked out of the city is a pretty safe bet.

“You want me to bring a better bribe?” Noah asked innocently. “That one took me so long to get, though. I don’t want to go back into the Wastes.”

“I don’t give a damn about you want.” The guard let out a snort of laughter and pressed the tip of his spear into Noah’s chest. “If you want to save time, I’d suggest leaving quickly. I don’t see any other sacrifices lying around here.”

“You don’t?” Noah asked, tilting his head to the side as energy raced down into his palm. He put a finger against the tip of the halberd. “That’s odd. Maybe you should look again.”

He released Crumbling Space. Tiny white cracks raced out, barely even visible as they collapsed in on themselves. The head of the halberd screeched and warped, folding in on itself and shattering in a rain of metal that fell to the ground at their feet, leaving the guard with nothing more than a stick.

Noah clapped the guard on the shoulder while the man was staring at his weapon in disbelief. It had been some time since he’d called on all the vibration elements he’d imbued Natural Disaster with, but they came easily to him as he sent energy pouring into the demon’s body. A violent tremor ripped through the guard with enough force to make his teeth crack against each other. Noah slammed him down to his knees, then leaned down so their gazes met once more.

“I don’t know about you,” Noah whispered. “But I see one more sacrifice kneeling right in front of me.”

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