Return of the Runebound Professor

The Skinwalker swallowed. Its eyes darted around, searching the sky for a solution that wasn’t there. Noah tapped his hand on his thigh, watching the sun in the sky above them. He and Isabel had been hunting and practicing for several hours, so it wouldn’t be long until they were pulled back to Arbitage – and he still needed to warn his students that there might be people waiting for them on the other end.

“Time’s running out,” Noah said. “For what it’s worth – and I feel very odd saying this to a bloodthirsty cannibal – I’m sorry. You almost seem amicable.”

“I’m not a cannibal. I’m not human.”

“I – okay, fair. Still a monster, though.”

“Are you any better? You’re slaughtering these monkeys in droves.”

“They did it to me first.”

The Skinwalker went silent for a moment. “Okay, that’s a fair point too. But I don’t want to die. It’s not fair.”

“Maybe you’ll get a better roll in the next life.”

Ash gathered at Noah’s fingertips. The Skinwalker’s eyes widened.

“I’ll swear on my Runes!”

It was Noah’s turn to look confused. “What?”

“My Runes. I’ll swear on them that I won’t betray you. That’s enough, right?”

“Why would I trust a promise?”

“Not a promise,” the Skinwalker snapped. “If I break it, my Runes will all shatter. Just because I’m a monster doesn’t mean I don’t need them, you know. Humans always think they’re so great, but literally everyone can combine Runes. You’re just too arrogant to give a shit about what other races do.”

What the hell is a promise on your Runes? Nobody told me about that. Then again, I barely know anything yet.

“You’re saying if you make a promise bound by your Runes, you’ll be held to it?” Noah asked.

“Are you an idiot? It’s a Rune Oath. Of course it’s binding.”

“Then we’ll test it,” Noah said. “I swear on my Runes that, if you do not do exactly as I tell you to in the next minute, I will kill you.”

A cold spike jabbed into Noah’s back. It turned into an electric current that ran through his body and tingled at his fingertips.

“Would you look at that,” Noah said. It had certainly done something, and judging by how confused the Skinwalker had been when he didn’t recognize the Rune Oath, it was probably real. “It worked. Swear an oath, then – and make sure it covers everything. If it doesn’t, I’m not giving you a second chance.”

The Skinwalker ground its teeth. “On my Runes, I swear to the original owner of this body that I will refrain from killing any humans that do not attack me first. We will work together until we reach an agreement to break this oath. During this time, I will attempt to further both of our interests. In exchange, you will aid me in gathering Runes. I will also keep the secret of your revivals. Is that suitable?”

Noah considered the monster’s oath, running through it in his head to see if it had left any loopholes. It hadn’t exactly promised subservience, but he couldn’t blame it for that. A life lived for another was no life at all. As far as Noah could tell, the offer was fair. If it wasn’t going to indiscriminately kill people, could he really judge that it was deserving of death?

“Yes,” Noah said.

The tension vanished from the Skinwalker’s shoulders and it let out a relieved sigh.

“So long as you keep to your word in good faith, I’ll treat you the same,” Noah said. “Perhaps we can help each other. It’ll be quite useful to be able to ply someone with questions.”

The Skinwalker shook its head. “I am so unlucky.”

“Better that than dead.”

“Agreed,” it said quickly. “I guess we’re partners, then. I never thought I’d be working with a human.”

“Nor I with a Skinwalker. Then again, the world’s been doing a good job of keeping me on my toes as of late,” Noah said. “For now, stay in the Scorched Acres. I’ll be returning tomorrow, should everything go to plan. We will speak further then – and I’ll bring you some new clothes so you can get out of mine. I want those back, actually. They were expensive.”

The Skinwalker scowled. “Can’t I pick out my own? If I’m going to act like a human, I’d like to at least choose my appearance.”

“I’m bringing you a plain shirt and pants. You can figure the rest out later,” Noah declared. “Don’t break that oath – and if I find out there’s a loophole of any sort that you haven’t told me about…”

“You’re killing me. I get it,” the Skinwalker finished. “You better have some good Runes for me.”

“You have no idea,” Noah replied, turning his back on his body and heading back to meet up with Isabel and Todd. He and the Skinwalker had been talking quietly, so hopefully his students hadn’t overheard anything that they shouldn’t have.

Fortunately, Todd and Isabel were both locked in a tense discussion when Noah came back to the clearing. Todd noticed Noah’s approach first and glanced up, nodding to him.

“Do you think the monster was a monkey?”

“Or a human?” Isabel asked.

Probably a Skinwalker.

“Something that hunts for sport,” Noah replied. “I don’t know what it was, and I don’t think we’ll be around to find out today. There isn’t too much time left before we’ll get pulled back to Arbitage.”

Isabel tilted her head to the side. “Why do you sound worried about that?”

“Because I have reason to suspect that we may have people waiting for us when we get back. The little incident that Isabel and I had with Edward may be about to catch up with me.”

“What? Are you sure?” Isabel asked. “How do you know? Why didn’t you say?”

“Just take my word for it. And I didn’t want you to be worried about things like this instead of training,” Noah said. “Either way, neither of you should get involved in it. I spoke with someone and I’m pretty sure it won’t actually be dangerous, but I don’t want you getting involved any further. It’s always possible I’m overreacting. But, if I’m not and there’s someone there, let me do the talking, okay?”

Isabel and Todd gave Noah nervous looks, but after a few moments, they both nodded their understanding.

“If you’re sure,” Todd said. “But if they try to fight, we can help.”

“Absolutely not. I can handle myself. What are the rules on attacking a professor? Do you really think you’d be able to get away with that, especially when the professor is part of a rich family?”

“So are you,” Isabel pointed out.

Noah raised an eyebrow. “Barely.”

Isabel sighed. “Okay. I just hate that you’re only involved in this because of me. It doesn’t feel right that you’re the one that has to deal with the consequences of my actions.”

“As far as I recall, it wasn’t your fist that connected with his face.” Noah chuckled. “We’ve discussed this enough. My clone is out looking for whatever monster might have done that to the monkey, so don’t worry about that either. Once we get back to Arbitage, just return to whatever you were doing as quickly as you can and stay away from any more nobles. Once the exam is done, they’ll get out of our hair.”

“If you’re sure,” Todd said. He squinted up through the treetops at the rising sun. “Are you sure that we’re about to get pulled back, though?”

Noah nodded. “Yeah. It should be any second now.”

***

Two hours of sitting around awkwardly later, Noah felt his body fall apart into blue particles. His sigh of relief was lost in the wind as the TAINT – Noah still shuddered every time he thought of the transport cannon’s actual name – yanked him through space back toward the tower.

Well, they can’t blame me for being off about the time. Part of learning is finding out that your teacher is awful at figuring out what time of day it is.

Noah moved his hands to protect his head a moment before they thumped against metal as he arrived in the tube. He slid out of the turret and rolled to his feet, drawing on his magic, but the only other person in the tower was Tim.

Isabel and Todd arrived in rapid succession after Noah, and Isabel barely managed to scramble away before Todd landed on top of her. They clambered to their feet and glanced around nervously.

Huh. Maybe I read Tim wrong?

“Welcome back, Master Linwick,” Tim said, stressing the last word of the sentence.

Definitely didn’t read him wrong.

“Another fantastic trip. Thank you, Tim.” Noah tapped his chin with a finger. “You know, I was wondering something. The TAINT can send people anywhere within a certain range of campus, right?”

Tim frowned but nodded. “Yes, it can.”

“My two students here didn’t believe me when I said that.” Noah put a hand on Isabel and Todd’s shoulders. “They don’t think the campus counts as part of that area. Do you think you could give them a demonstration and send them to somewhere on campus? Like… I don’t know, maybe the dining hall?”

“What?” Todd asked. “Why would–”

Isabel elbowed him in the side. Todd sputtered and glared at her.

Tim blinked. A flicker of a smile passed over his wrinkled features. “Yes, I think I could do that. Would you like to join them?”

“No, I believe I may have some business to take care of,” Noah replied. “Just the two of them.”

“Are you sure?” Isabel asked.

“No backing out of it now. Shouldn’t have argued so much.”

The turret shuddered as Tim rotated it. It thudded to a halt in its new direction and Tim gave them a thumbs up. “All ready and targeted at the dining hall. At your leisure. I’ve got it set for an hour and a half.”

Isabel gave one last look at Noah as he stepped onto the lift in the center of the room. Noah raised a hand, then nodded to Tim. The platform shuddered and chains clanked as it lowered, taking him down to the stairwell below.

Those too were empty, and Noah was starting to second guess himself again when he stepped to the ground and looked up.

A middle-aged man with a sharp beard and neatly kept hair stood before him, a cold glint in his grey eyes. His uniform had four golden bands running along its shoulders. Beside him stood Edward, boasting a grin so smug that Noah nearly gave him a second teaching experience on the spot.

To his surprise, the two of them weren’t alone. Moxie leaned against a building just beside them, watching through half-lidded eyes with a lazy grin.