Return of the Runebound Professor

Chapter 263: Mine

There was one week of travel between them and the Torrins. And, at least for the next three days, not a second of it went to waste. With no burgeoning ideas on ways to defeat Evergreen, Noah, Moxie, and Lee spent every second of their time training.

Lee and Moxie meditated during the flights, gathering all the power that they could for their Runes. Meanwhile, Noah reviewed formations in his mind. That didn’t make for the smoothest ride, but since there wasn’t exactly anything to run into as long as they were high up enough in the sky, it didn’t matter.

When they landed, Lee would immediately set out and try to gather all the monsters she could. A good number of them never made it back, having died at her hand long before she returned. The groups that she did bring back fell to Moxie and Noah, feeding into their Runes one small increment at a time.

Noah saw the cat pop up several times in their fights, bringing more monsters with it. He strongly suspected that it had been helping Lee gather monsters from the start. The sheer amounts of enemies she’d managed to kite back to the camp were too high for it to just be a coincidence.

It was a stroke of luck, but it wasn’t one that Noah was going to complain about. The cat just had a natural ability to draw monsters to itself – a talent that he would never have thought he’d be grateful for.

But, as his Natural Disaster Rune inched closer and closer to being completely full, he appreciated it more with every passing second. Lee and Moxie’s Runes were growing at equal rates and, while Noah was tempted to use Sunder on some of their kills to harvest Runes, he avoided it.

Right now, they didn’t need more Runes. They needed as much power as they could possibly gather in a short period of time. They trained through large portions of the night, completely skipping sleep in exchange for the energy that came from their kills.

The last time Noah had done anything of the like was when he’d first arrived in the Scorched Acres – but this time, he had people with him. It wasn’t enjoyable by any means, but it was tolerable.

Whenever they weren’t training, they were brainstorming ways to find a chink in Evergreen’s armor. Unfortunately, that was going far worse than their practice. While Lee had already made significant progress filling her Space Runes and both Noah and Moxie were well on their way to filling their Rank 3 Runes, none of them had gotten a single idea as to how Evergreen could be outmaneuvered.

“What if we asked Silvertide for help?” Lee asked through a mouthful of jerky. The campfire that they all sat around illuminated the uncharacteristically serious expression on her face.

“No time,” Noah said. “And, even if we had more time, I don’t think he’d help us. He’s aiding the kids out of the kindness of his heart. Not us. Going up against the entirety of a massive noble house is too much to ask. He has no stake in this fight.”

“Another noble family, maybe?” Moxie chewed her lower lip, then shook her head to dismiss her own idea before anyone else could even answer. “No, that won’t work. The Linwicks were the most likely ones to want to fight the Torrins. Father isn’t going to help without taking more than we’re willing to give.”

Noah pulled a blade of grass from the ground. “Is there really nothing that she cares about other than the Torrins? Something we can use as leverage?”

“Evergreen isn’t as clever as Father is, but her defenses are ironclad. She hasn’t lived this long by being stupid, and she’s a real Rank 6. Getting her staff away from her would definitely weaken her, but it wouldn’t be by enough for us to get anywhere close to fighting her.”

“What if Azel helped?” Lee asked.

“He’s a Rank 5.” Noah pulled another blade of grass up, then crushed it between his fingers with a grimace. “We’re assuming that we actually all make it right up to Evergreen. But, even if we do, she’s been a Rank 6 for some time now. If we had two or three Azels then maybe things would be different. She’d probably be able to defeat Azel – or at least, hold him off for long enough for backup to arrive.”

“Which won’t be long,” Moxie added. “The Torrins value Evergreen. She’s pushy and often doesn’t do what the lower ranked family heads want, but she’s strong enough to warrant protection if she was ever in a situation where she might actually be in trouble. Without her, the other Noble families might make a move.”

The fire crackled between them, a faint breeze passing through their camp and bringing its flames higher. Noah’s stomach churned. With every day that passed, they grew closer to Moxie’s death. The trip was already halfway done, and they were no closer to finding a way to defeat Evergreen than they had been when they left.

“My Space Runes did fill up, though,” Lee said, digging through her pants and pulling out a piece of Catchpaper. Noah had no idea when she’d managed to get her hands on it, but she answered that question a moment later. “I took this from Noah’s book while he was sleeping and Imbued an extra Space Rune on it at the end of the last fight. I’ve got several of them ready to combine now.”

Lee handed it to Noah, who gave her a half-hearted nod. “Great. We can fix your Runes tomorrow morning. That’s a step in the right direction. Between this and the Runes in Dayton’s scroll, do you think you’ve got everything planned out?”

It was several seconds before Lee responded. “Yeah. I do. Tomorrow morning will work.”

“I’ve got the Mind Meld potion.” Moxie put a hand on the side of her travel bag. “Make sure you’re actually ready, Lee. You don’t need to rush and get yourself hurt for my sake.”

“I won’t. I’m ready,” Lee insisted.

Moxie just nodded. “Okay. I just want both of you to promise me something, okay? If we make it to the Torrin Estate and haven’t figured out a single way to take down Evergreen and survive – a realistic one – you have to agree to leave. I don’t want you dying with me.”

Noah opened his mouth to protest, then stopped when he saw the look in Moxie’s eyes. His fists balled at his sides and he ripped up a small clump of grass. “Fine.”

Lee squinted at Moxie, who turned to match her gaze. The only sound was the faint whistle of wind and the crackle of flame from their campfire. Then, finally, Lee nodded once.

“I’m going to bed,” Lee said, rolling up beside the fire. “We’ll figure something out tomorrow.”

Noah and Moxie exchanged a look.

“I’ll take first watch,” Moxie said.

Noah didn’t argue. He had too much research to do. He felt like he’d been making some progress with formations from his studies, but he was still nowhere near where he needed to be. He took out Revin’s book and flipped it open, burying his nose between his pages.

The night was long – but it wasn’t nearly long enough.

***

Lee opened her eyes to a sea of flame. That was somewhat annoying, as she was quite certain that she was supposed to be asleep right now.

She didn’t even need to sniff the air to figure out what was going on. An acrid, familiar smell hung in the air all around her. The flames around Lee pulled back, forming a large ring around her.

Azel emerged from within them, his suit smoldering. The powerful demon’s eyes burned like hot coals as he walked up silently, coming to a stop several feet away from Lee and looking down at her.

“What?” Lee asked. “If you’re going to mess with my sleep, you better have a good reason.”

“This will not take long.” Azel extended his hand and a large turkey leg materialized within it, cooked to perfection and positively dripping with grease. He held it out to Lee. “Besides, why would you want to go back to boring sleep? Your body will be rested regardless – you might as well take advantage of the benefits of being able to shape the world of your soul to be exactly as you will it.”

Lee made no move to take the offered meal. “Because my soul normally isn’t on fire. We don’t like you, Azel. Go away.”

Azel chortled. “We? That’s an odd way for a demon to be thinking, Lee. There is no we. There is only I. Why do you care about some mortals? I admit that Noah is certainly interesting, but–”

The rest of Azel’s sentence was lost as Lee put her fist through Azel’s face. His head popped like a grape, fire splattering across the ground as his body pitched back. Before it could hit the ground, fire rushed out from the ring and into Azel, reforming his head.

He rubbed his jaw. “Aggressive.”

“Get out of my head. They’re my family. Nothing you ever say can change that. No matter what you try to convince me with, it won’t work. You’re just scared about dying yourself.”

Azel’s eyes darkened, the smoldering red turning a deep burgundy. “Why go with them, Lee? There are other mortals. You can find–”

“I won’t! They’re mine.” The flames around them fluttered as a wave of shadow washed out from Lee, smothering them. Azel hissed as his body dimmed significantly. The turkey leg vanished from his hands, disappearing in a puff of ash.

“Why?” Azel demanded. “They won’t win this, Lee. Noah might live, but you aren’t immortal. You’ll die, just as sure as Moxie will.”

“Why do you care?” Lee countered. “It’s my life, Azel. You’re pathetic. Maybe I would have turned out like you if I got stuck in the Damned Plains for a hundred more years, but I didn’t. I’m not going to be like that.”

“So you’ll just throw your life away?”

“It’s not throwing it away. It’s using it to do something I care about. Maybe you’d know the meaning of that if you could do anything but think about yourself,” Lee spat. The fire surrounding the clearing faded even further, the last flames smothered out and turning to wispy ash.

A sea of shadow swirled around the two demons, growing in intensity. Azel’s form grew translucent, and Lee’s Runes materialized in the darkness. Their pressure bore down on Azel, pushing him out from Lee’s soul.

“Idiot,” Azel snarled. “Do you not realize I am trying to save your life? As a fellow demon, I don’t want to see you squandered so pointlessly. I’m not being selfish. You are. We could do so much–”

“Get out,” Lee hissed. “You aren’t a fellow to me in anything. We’re going to beat Evergreen. And then, after we defeat her, we’re going to rip you out of Noah’s soul and kill you too. Maybe you should be more worried about getting out of Noah and saving your own life. Stop screwing with us.”

Azel bared his teeth. The shadows pressing in on him faltered as flames enveloped his body. “You are nothing but a foolish child. Our kind live for the long game, Lee. You’re going to burn your future for a woman that doesn’t matter.”

“It’s my future to burn. I told you to get out!”

A roar ripped out of Azel’s mouth, but the flames enveloping were snuffed out. He vanished, thrust out of Lee’s mindspace. She slammed her mental doors shut on him and her world was plunged back into darkness – darkness that was anything but peaceful.

Lee’s hands clenched and she drew a deep breath to steady herself.

I won’t let them die. Not Moxie. Not Noah. Nobody can take them from me. They’re mine.