Return of the Runebound Professor

The moment the words ‘Rising Moon’ slipped from Taleel’s mouth, Pirren realized just how badly she’d gotten herself caught in politics that she had absolutely no right being in. There were a lot of demons in Treadon, and only a few of them had a name known to every single demon within the city.

Yoku the Rising Moon was one of them. Her name was just about the only thing that anyone could agree on about her. There were more rumors about Yoku than there were failed demons lurking in the Wastes.

Some said she was a towering beast devoid of reason and driven entirely by instinct trapped somewhere deep within the city. Other rumors said that she had strings running to nearly every single high-ranking demon in Treadon and had been controlling them for hundreds of years.

Pirren had heard talk of Yoku being Lord Belkus’ greatest foe and ally alike, and her age ranged from somewhere between a few hundred years old to being twice as ancient as Treadon itself.

None of it mattered. Pirren didn’t care if Yoku was a force of nature or just a clever demon taking advantage of rumors to further her strength. The only thing she cared about was that she was being forced to meet her.

No matter what the truth about Yoku was, there was no doubt that she was powerful. A Rank 6 at the absolute minimum, and possibly even a Rank 7. There had been a few rumors claiming that Yoku was actually a Rank 8, but Pirren didn’t believe those in the slightest. A Rank 8 wouldn’t have had to lurk in the night and rely on mystery to manipulate people. They would have just taken what they wanted to by force.

But, as far as Pirren was concerned, a Rank 6 and a Rank 8 were just about the same thing. Both of them could kill her with little more than a thought. Spider be damned — if Pirren could have turned and run for her life, she would have.

Taleel didn’t give her the opportunity. Even though the shadowy demon wasn’t looking at her, she could feel his attention prickling against her skin. Even if she could have slipped him now, he knew where she lived.

He knew where her children were. No matter how fast Pirren was, she wasn’t faster than Yoku was powerful. It didn’t matter if she could escape if it cost her the lives of her children in the process. And so, Pirren did the only thing she could. She followed behind Taleel and let him take her to meet his mistress.

The exact duration of the trip slipped Pirren’s mind. She and Taleel wound through the shadowed streets as her panicked thoughts bounced through her mind — and then they had arrived.

Taleel pulled open a plain doorway in the side of a nondescript alleyway that looked identical to every other one in the city. Pale white light rolled out from within it and lit the city as if the moon itself had been trapped behind the door.

He looked back at Pirren. Not a word had to leave his mouth. The intention was clear. Pirren swallowed, her back as stiff as a steel rod, and stepped into the glow. She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the bright light.

A passageway stretched out before her, sloping down toward the center of the city. Taleel stepped inside behind Pirren and closed the door behind him with a soft click. She glanced back at him and he nodded, gesturing for her to continue forward.

Neither of them spoke for the next few minutes. Her fear and anticipation heightened with every step. Every rumor she’d ever heard of the Rising Moon lengthened in her mind like shadows in the setting sun. The pathway stretched on and on, making Pirren wonder if there was even an end or if this was just meant to be some form of torture.

But, finally, they arrived. As with her arrival at the door in the alleyway, she barely even realized when it happened. Pirren had been so focused on her own thoughts and the drumming echo of their footsteps in the pathway that she didn’t register a stone door before her until she was directly upon it. A crescent moon had been engraved into its front, but there was nothing else extraordinary about it.

“Do not look into her eyes. Do not look into the shadows. If you do, the one that leaves this room will not be you,” Taleel warned, his voice soft in reverence.

He didn’t give Pirren the chance to ask what he meant. He reached over her shoulder and pressed his hand to the door. It swung open soundlessly. An icy chill wrapped Pirren’s body and prickled against her scales.

A sea of pitch black stretched out before her. Its form twisted and churned like oil in water. Something lurked within it, and its presence squeezed Pirren’s heart like a ripe tomato. She jerked her eyes toward the center of the room.

The dark was broken by a gentle beam of silver light cascading down from somewhere far above. A young girl sat in the center of the room, long hair running from her head and covering the ground around her. She had two pale blue eyes, as flat as the surface of the sea on a windless day. Her arms were wrapped around her legs, hugging her knees to her chest. No horns graced the top of her head. If it weren’t for her eyes and hair, the girl would have looked to be completely human.

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This is Yoku? She doesn’t look anything like literally any of the rumors said she would. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not.

Pirren stood at the edge of the darkness, her entire body frozen in terror. Taleel gave Pirren a firm push in the back, sending her stumbling into the shadows. His words echoed in her mind and Pirren focused her attention the girl’s hands, unwilling to let her gaze stray.

“I brought the one you requested, mistress,” Taleel said as he shut the door gently behind them.

“Thank you, Taleel,” Yoku said. Her voice was so soft that it should have been impossible to make out, but it rang as clear as a death knell in Pirren’s ears. “Come forward.”

Pirren would have preferred to do literally anything else, but her body had long since stopped listening to her mind’s desires. Following any of them would only get herself and her children killed.

She advanced through the darkness, doing her best to avoid looking at the murky waves roiling through the sea of black around her. Yoku said nothing until Pirren and Taleel stood just a few feet away from her.

“That is sufficient,” Yoku said. “Did you face difficulties, Taleel?”

“I did not. It was as you said.”

Yoku’s head inclined in the slightest of nods. She lifted a thumb to her mouth and chewed on its tip as her pale eyes scored over Pirren’s body like dull knives. It was another several seconds before Yoku spoke.

“You are a coward.”

The words weren’t spoken in the way of an insult. They were nothing more than a mere observation from an impartial observer.

“I survive,” Pirren said. The faintest flicker of anger fizzled in her stomach. Every powerful demon was the same. They all looked down at her, even though she’d had nothing but scraps to work with. She’d dragged herself here, a path of her own blood in her wake, while half of them had just stumbled into or been gifted their power.

“You do,” Yoku murmured. “And you wonder why I have sought you out.”

“What purpose could you possibly have for me? I am beneath the notice of someone like you.”

“I wished to see if you would be useful to me,” Yoku replied. Her head tilted slightly to the side. “No demon is useless. All may serve a purpose so long as they have sufficient motivation.”

The icy hand around Pirren’s heart started to clench even tighter. It didn’t sound like one, but that had been a threat. She was certain of it. Motivation never meant anything else in the Damned Plains.

“This is about Spider, isn’t it?” Pirren asked. “I don’t know anything about him. I can’t hurt him. He just told me to get him access to the auction. That’s it.”

“I know.” Yoku fell silent for several more seconds. Then she removed her thumb from her mouth and let out a dainty sigh. “How disappointing. You are not what I need. Remove her, Taleel.”

What? She dragged me all the way here just to say she doesn’t need me? What was the point of any of that?

“As you wish, mistress.” Taleel asked. The back of Pirren’s neck prickled as her instincts screamed out a warning.

“Stop!” Yoku ordered, her eyes widening slightly in surprise. Her voice had only risen by the faintest pitch, but both Taleel and Pirren fell to their knees as if a thousand pounds of force had slammed down on their backs.

The breath froze in Pirren’s chest and a wave of dizziness threatened to swallow her consciousness entirely. An instant later the sensation vanished, but the breath had been completely driven from her lungs. She dragged in a ragged breath, her heart hammering like a runaway horse.

“Mistress?” Taleel wheezed, confusion evident in his voice.

“Unexpected,” Yoku said, her voice back to its gentle tone. Her head tilted to the side as she observed Pirren. “Forgive me, Taleel. I did not mean to hurt you.”

“I am fine, mistress,” Taleel said, sounding decidedly not fine. “You wish me to stay my hand?”

“Her weight shifted,” the childlike demon murmured. “She was worthless, but the instant you moved to kill her, her weight magnified — and yours vanished.”

Weight? What is she talking about?

“Should you order it, I shall still act, mistress.” Taleel’s tone had shifted once more. Fear and resignation had replaced the confusion, as if he was signing away his own life with his words.

“You are too valuable for that,” Yoku replied. Her eyes lowered to Pirren, who hurriedly focused her attention back on the other demon’s knees to avoid holding her gaze. “Pirren. I desire an explanation.”

“An explanation?” Pirren asked weakly. “For what?”

“If Taleel had killed you just now, he would have joined you in death.” Yoku’s voice was as cold as her icy eyes. “Tell me why. Who protects you?”

What? Nobody. I have nobody but my children, and none of them are anywhere near strong enough to so much as scratch Taleel, much less kill him. There’s nobody —

A thought prickled at the back of Pirren’s mind. And, despite the situation she found herself in, she nearly burst into hysterical laughter.

“Answer the mistress, demonling,” Taleel ordered.

“Spider protects me,” Pirren said as a lifeline finally manifested itself before her. It was thin, but it was the faintest chance to survive the night. As she always had, she clung to life like a shipwrecked man to a plank of wood.

“Spider? What care does he have for you?” Taleel asked. “You are not one of his men.”

Pirren had no clue what had happened or why Yoku believed she was protected. It didn’t matter. If Yoku didn’t know, then Pirren could do what she did best.

Lie.

“He doesn’t care for me,” Pirren agreed, a small smile pulling across her lips as the false confidence she’d called upon thousands of times before finally manifested itself once again. “But he would be quite displeased at the delay if I failed to carry out my task.”

“Spider would kill one of my men?” Yoku asked. “Purely because I inconvenienced him?”

“So it would seem.”

To Pirren’s surprise, a faint smile slipped across Yoku’s lips.

“Then perhaps you may be of use to me after all.”

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