Return of the Runebound Professor

Liquid magma pumped through Aylin’s veins. His entire body felt like it had grown ten degrees hotter. He could feel every single one of his nerves — and not in a good way.

“So?” Violet asked, eagerness and trepidation mixing in her voice. “Do you feel different?”

Her heartbeat thudded in her ears, a constant rhythm that cut his words off every time he tried to form them. Aylin’s brow furrowed in concentration as he blocked it out.

“Yeah. It’s… strange. I don’t know how I’m supposed to describe it.” Aylin rubbed his fingers together. The beds of his fingers warmed and a crackle of energy ran between them. He flinched, freezing in place. “I’m so much more aware. It’s like I was walking around with my ears sewn shut before. Now there’s so much information that I can barely handle it.” He caught the concern in Violet’s expression and quickly amended, “but I can tell that I’ll adapt to it. My body is just different. Not worse.”

Violet glanced over her shoulder. “He’s not here, is he?”

Aylin hesitated for a second before shaking his head. He was pretty sure nobody was in the tent other than them right now, but after what he’d seen Spider and his companions do, he had absolutely no plans of betting against any of them. “I don’t think so, but I don’t know.”

“I can’t believe he just… made you a Rank 3,” Violet said. She stared down at her hands. “Just like that.”

“It wasn’t for free,” Aylin muttered. “I’m supposed to be a streetlord. How am I meant to do that when the only people here only know me as the rat that lived in the gutters at the edge of their territory?”

“Most of them probably won’t recognize you at all,” Violet pointed out. “And nobody is going to challenge Spider.”

“Not Spider. Not anytime soon, at least,” Aylin agreed with a small nod. “But me? I’m a different story. The moment he isn’t paying attention, someone will try their hand. Why wouldn’t they? One subordinate is just as good as another. If someone can take me out quickly, nobody would assume Spider gives a shit.”

Violet gritted her teeth. She knew he was right, but they really didn’t have much option. Fleeing was impossible. Any chance of escaping Spider’s clutches had evaporated the instant he’d taken food from the demon — and taking runes from him had only solidified Aylin’s position even further.

“Maybe he won’t be so bad,” Violet said. “He ordered the gang to bring Torick and Edda here. Maybe we’re just useful to him as we are right now.”

“More likely he’s bringing them here to remind me what he’s doing for us,” Aylin said with a shake of his head. “But you’re right. For a demon as powerful as Spider is, he’s treating us way better than I would have expected. Tools or not, I’m strong enough to actually get food now. We can eat.”

A small laugh slipped from Violet’s lips. “I guess that means taking the food from him was actually the right call. Your instincts aren’t completely broken after all.”

“More like I got lucky. Everything you said back in the hideout was right.” Aylin’s breath felt hot as he let out a sigh. His entire body brimmed with energy that he’d never felt before, to the point where he held Violet’s hand as limply as he could just to make sure he didn’t actually break anything.

She’d always been stronger than him — not by all that much, since they both had only had a single Demon Rune, but hers had been better. But now… Aylin had seen what a Rank 3 could do. Even sneezing while touching Violet could hurt her.

I wonder if Spider would be willing to make Violet and the others Rank 3s as well — no. I can’t go down that line of thought. If I start relying on him for everything, then we’ll all become so indebted to Spider that we completely lose ourselves. I owe him too much, but the others don’t. Not yet.

Aylin’s ears twitched as conversation from outside the tent reached them. He still wasn’t used to their new sensitivity and the new flavors flooding the air like invisible broth, but he picked up something familiar.

Torick and Edda were nearby — and they weren’t alone. Aylin’s eyes narrowed and he released Violet’s hand, sliding down from the throne and dropping to his feet. Rank 3 or not, his body hadn’t grown very much in size, so Golon’s chair was far too large for him.

“What is it?” Violet asked.

“Torick and Edda are here, but something’s holding them up,” Aylin said. He paused for a moment, his ears twitching. “I think. I can’t really tell.”

Spider might have put him under protection, but that didn’t necessarily extend to Violet and the others. Aylin’s eyes narrowed and he strode toward the exit. Violet hopped down from the chair and hurried after Aylin as he stepped out of the tent. Spider hadn’t told them to stay put, after all.

A small group of demons had gathered near the edge of the old market square, and Aylin recognized Robon near their center. Aylin and Violet pushed through the demons, weaving through the crowd until they broke through it.

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“Violet! Aylin!” Torick exclaimed, spotting them almost instantly. He was doing a good job of hiding the terror in his expression, but his scrunched shoulders and the darting path of his gaze told Aylin that Torick was just as scared as he had been a few hours ago.

Actually, I’m still terrified. Just of Spider instead of the rest of these demons.

“Come on,” Aylin said, all too aware of the gazes boring into his and Violets’ backs. The sooner they got out of the public, the better. They didn’t need attention. Especially not when Spider wasn’t immediately around. “Let’s head back to the tent.”

“Throwing commands around already?” a demon that Aylin didn’t recognize asked with a cold laugh. “Didn’t take you long to get used to leeching off Spider’s power, did it?”

Aylin didn’t respond. The rules to survival were staying out of sight and attention. Every instinct he had screamed at him to hide, but he couldn’t. Spider had made that impossible.

Torick and Edda both stepped away from Robon, who did nothing but watch as they hurried over to join him and Violet. But, before they could reunite, the demon that had spoken stepped into their path.

Aylin’s stomach clenched.

“You know, Spider didn’t say anything about what we had to do after they got to camp. He doesn’t care about the other runts,” the demon said. “Who’s to say what happens to them after they get here?”

“Are you an idiot?” Robon asked before Aylin could even get a chance to open his mouth. “Why would Spider call them here if he didn’t care? Are you trying to get yourself killed? Or did you want him to kill all of us?”

“He wants us for a reason,” the other demon countered. “He isn’t going to kill everyone. He’s just someone making a power move. As long as we follow his orders, he won’t care what we do between ourselves.”

“You’re going to get all of us killed with your arrogance,” Robon growled. “We both saw what he was capable of. What makes you think we’re worth an insect’s fart in his eyes? We’re just convenient. He made that clear when he chose a worthless street rat to be our leader. What kind of message do you think he was trying to pound into your thick skull?”

“You know what? I think you’re scared,” the other demon said, his pale gray lips pulling back in a cold smile. “You’re down a hand, Robon. I haven’t seen the new streetlord select a second yet. Maybe you’re worried about what happens when you get replaced.”

The tension in the crowd started to rise as murmurs rolled through it. Aylin sent a panicked look back at Spider’s tent, but the impossibly powerful demon was nowhere to be seen. Either he didn’t know about what was happening or, more likely, he just didn’t care.

Spider wasn’t going to step into every single minor conflict the gang had. And, worse, Aylin got the feeling that the antagonizing demon was right. Robon was scared. Not so long ago, Robon had been an indomitable existence that Aylin couldn’t even dream of so much as even speaking beside.

But now, compared to the other demons in the camp, he wasn’t nearly as powerful as he once had been — and Spider hadn’t said a single thing about leaving the second in command alone.

The crowd pressed tighter, sensing blood. Robon’s jaw clenched and he bared his teeth. “You want to try me? I could kill you with no hands. One is more than enough, Dreek.”

Aylin’s ears prickled as he picked up on a faint movement and a taste brushed across his tongue. His gaze flicked back to Spider’s tent. The masked demon stood before it, watching them silently.

Shit. I have to do something. Spider made it pretty clear that he can turn anyone into a Rank 3 just at a whim. If I can’t prove my worth as a streetlord, then he’ll just replace me.

“Enough,” Aylin said, his voice coming out more as a squeak than a command. It was, unfortunately, just loud enough for everyone in the crowd to turn toward him. Hundreds of eyes bore into Aylin’s skull like sharp nails.

“What’s this?” Dreek asked, his lips pulling back in a smirk. “Does the new streetlord wish something of me?”

“Yeah,” Aylin said. He forced the words out from his mouth before he could falter. “Go do whatever it is you normally do.”

Anger twisted Dreek’s features. “Spider only said you were the streetlord, not that we had to treat you any differently than a normal streetlord. Do you really think he’d have that much problem with a more capable person in your position? You’d best start watching your step more carefully.”

Dreek moved in Torick’s direction. Aylin had absolutely no idea if the demon was planning to try anything. He didn’t get a chance to find out. His body shifted faster than he’d thought it capable of.

He was still halfway through barking out, “Stop!” When he realized that his hand was lodged in Dreek’s back. A shocked silence gripped the crowd of demons like a constricting noose.

Aylin staggered back, ripping his hand free in a spray of viscera. He stared at his bloodied fingers, at the hole in Dreek’s chest just beyond them. Dreek let out a gasping wheeze. His hands clutched at the huge wound and blood bubbled from his lips, muting any final words as the demon collapsed, dead before he hit the ground.

“Rank 3,” Robon whispered. “I know that strength. Impossible. How are you Rank 3?”

Words refused to form at Aylin’s tongue. A rush of violent freezing energy slammed into him, swirling through his soul like the caress of a freezing river.

“Spider willed it,” Violet said, striding forward and throwing her arms around Torick and Edda. “Aylin is the streetlord. There’s a reason for that. Does anyone else want to try him?”

Violet’s demands carved through the crowd like a blade. The demons backed away. Aylin’s ears twitched as he heard Spider step back into his tent, satisfied. Even though the demons’ awed gazes were on Aylin rather than the masked demon, a chill ran down his back.

Was he planning on this when he ordered for Torick and Edda to be brought here?

Aylin didn’t get a chance to think his fears through for long. Aylin’s ears twitched and he turned as a female demon leapt from one of the rooftops, landing on the ground beside him with wide, panicked eyes. The demon tasted like fear.

“Streetlord, we’ve got a problem,” she said nervously. “Vroth’s executioner is heading right for our camp.”

Executioner? I don’t like the sound of that.

“Idiot,” Robon spat. “He must think we’re weak because Golon died. But Vrith isn’t stupid. We haven’t seen her in a while. Is it possible she’s grown stronger? She was already a powerful Rank 3.”

Every single eye in the crowd turned back to Aylin. His heart sank.

Oh, damn it all.

“Do you desire a weapon, streetlord?” Robon asked, his eyes flicking to Aylin’s bloodied hand. “It seems Vrith has come to challenge you.”

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