Return of the Runebound Professor

“Isabel, I don’t think he’s coming.” Todd said. It had been nearly three hours since they’d arrived at Dayton’s mansion, and they’d been sitting at the bench ever since. Isabel ground her teeth together.

“What if he shows up after we leave? I need to know how strong he’s gotten. I won’t just let this go.”

“It’s not letting anything go,” Todd said. “It’s just taking calculated risks. We’ve been here a while. You’ve gone this long without actually doing anything. Just wait a bit longer and–”

“That’s the problem,” Isabel hissed. “I’ve done nothing! It’s been years. I have to make progress. Do something, somewhere.”

“You are making progress. You’re getting stronger. Look at me, Isabel. You know things are off when I’m the voice of reason. I know it’s difficult to be so close, but the physical proximity isn’t going to get us any closer to actually killing the bastard. It’s just a risk.”

Isabel clenched her fists and looked down at the cobbled road. “I know.”

“You were hoping you’d get an opportunity or something because we’d be at the Linwick Estate, weren’t you?” Todd asked gently.

“I know it’s stupid.” Isabel looked away. “I thought maybe I’d be able to use surprise to my advantage. If he hadn’t reached Rank 4 yet, then there’s a good chance it would have worked.”

“And then what?” Todd asked. “You’d be dead, and there’d be more of them still wandering around.”

Isabel let out a heavy sigh. “Yeah. I know. You’re right. Sorry. This was a waste of time.”

“Just go back to being the one that makes the smart decisions, please,” Todd said, rising to his feet and helping Isabel up. “I don’t like being the smart one. It’s too stressful.”

“Giving yourself a bit too much credit there,” Isabel said with a slight smile. “You did follow me here, after all. It would have been smarter to stay back.”

“There are limits,” Todd grumbled. “Let’s go.”

Isabel nodded. She sent one last glance back at Dayton’s mansion as they turned to leave – and froze.

“Todd,” Isabel hissed.

“What?”

“Look.”

The door was open. A tall man had stepped out into the night, lit from the back by yellow light within the house. Long blonde hair framed a sharp, thin face with a hawklike nose. A thin scar ran along the man’s chin, just barely visible in the night. He wore clothes made of a vibrant blue cloth and interwoven with flowing gold designs – Imbued, no doubt.

“That’s him,” Isabel whispered. “I recognize his nose.”

“Good. Let’s go,” Todd said, grabbing Isabel’s hand. She dragged her feet, looking over her shoulder at Dayton.

“What if–”

“No,” Todd hissed. “Snap out of it, Isabel. Come on.”

She shook her head and forced her gaze away from Dayton. “Right. Sorry. I just–”

“Doesn’t matter,” Todd said. “Let’s just get out of here.”

Isabel’s eyes remained directed over her shoulder, back at Dayton as they strode away, and then he was blocked from her sight by the gaudy bushes surrounding his house. Even as they left, she kept looking in the house’s direction and letting Todd lead her.

It was silent, aside from the sound of their fast-paced footfalls echoing through the thin streets. They’d only made it a street down before Todd suddenly skidded to a stop. Isabel stumbled, turning her head to look straight ahead again.

A heavily armored guard stood before them, his helmet tucked under one of his arms and a large polearm in his other.

“What are you two doing out so late in this area of town?” the guard asked, a note of disapproval in his voice. “What branch are you part of? I don’t recognize you.”

Todd and Isabel glanced at each other.

“We’re visiting,” Todd said.

“Visiting or scoping out houses? I was coming to check out a report of some people about sitting around Dayton Linwick’s residence. That wouldn’t happen to be you, would it? I’m not seeing anyone else on the road. Spies, perhaps?”

“What? No,” Todd said. “We were just sitting on the bench.”

“Are you even a city guard?” Isabel asked, squinting at the guard. “You’ve got Dayton’s crest on your breastplate. Aren’t guards affiliated with the Linwick Estate, not just an individual branch? We aren’t on his residence right now, so I don’t think you’ve got any authority.”

The guard’s eyes narrowed. “That’s none of your concern. And I’ve got all the authority needed when I suspect you’re doing something malicious. You’ll both be coming with me.”

“Ah. You’ve found my wayward students.” All of them turned as Vermil stepped out of an alleyway, adjusting his jacket. “I was wondering where you two had run off to.”

The guard’s eyes narrowed. “Who are you?”

“Magus Vermil, under Father’s branch,” Vermil replied, coming to a stop between the students and the guard. “They slipped away while I was in a talk. I hope they haven’t gotten into much trouble.”

“They have,” the guard said. “They’ll be coming with me to report back to Dayton. A servant in the household mentioned it looked like they were scoping the area out, and they’ve been sitting around in front of it for several hours.”

“In a bench!” Todd protested.

“Is sitting in a place where people are meant to sit not allowed?” Vermil asked, tilting his head to the side. “Odd. I’m afraid it’s past their bedtimes, and they get cranky when they’re out too late. Dayton can visit us if he’s so curious to know why people are using a bench in the way it’s meant to be used.”

“That wasn’t a suggestion,” the guard said, a dangerous note entering his voice. He tapped his polearm on the ground. “Come with me. Now.”

“What Rank are you?” Vermil asked. “I won’t be taking orders from someone a lower Rank than me.”

“I’m a Rank 3 mage,” the guard replied, narrowing his eyes. “Do you have a problem with–”

Vermil flickered, his body fading as the clouds shifted over the moon and cast him into a shadow for an instant. The guard spun, searching for the professor.

“Where’d he–”

A hand erupted from his neck. The guard’s eyes widened and he choked, his eyes shifting down to look at his neck in disbelief. Blood bubbled up from his lips as they worked. Vermil’s form slipped back into vision behind the guard as Vermil planted his boot on the man’s back and shoved him forward, ripping a huge chunk of his neck out in the process.

His armor rang as he crashed to the ground and blood quickly started to pool at his feet. Vermil looked down at the man, blood still dripping from his hand.

“Rank 3 isn’t enough to be concerned about. Let’s go.”

Todd and Isabel stared at Vermil in wide-eyed shock.

“What?” Vermil demanded. “Are you going to sit around and wait for more of that idiot’s goons to show up and try to take you in? Move.”

That spurred them into action. The three slipped into the alley, leaving the man’s corpse on the ground behind them. Vermil moved at a brisk pace, forcing Isabel and Todd to jog to keep up with him as the ducked through the alleys.

“What in the Damned Plains?” Todd mouthed to Isabel, jerking his head in Vermil’s direction.

Isabel shook her head in disbelief, unable to even put words to what they’d just seen. Vermil had killed the man without even blinking, and then he’d just left the corpse lying in the street like it was nothing.

Matching that up with the kind-natured man that had been teaching them for the past month felt difficult at best. It was like he was a different person. After they’d been walking for a few minutes, Vermil came to an abrupt stop.

“What’s going on?” Todd whispered. “How’d you know we were there? I can’t believe you just killed that guard.”

“I followed you when you left the house. I was just watching to see how things would go. I didn’t think anyone would have problems with you sitting and doing nothing, but I saw someone in the mansion spot you and head out to get the guards. I distracted them for a while, but you ended up getting caught as you left. Unfortunate timing.”

“You were following us?” Todd asked, blinking. “How? You were talking to Janice.”

Vermil turned and raised an eyebrow. Isabel’s eyes flicked down to his waist – there was no gourd or book. He didn’t have his travel bag either.

“You’re his clone,” Isabel muttered. “You aren’t Vermil.”

“That was fast,” Vermil said, raising a bloody finger to his lips. “Between us, yeah? Vermil doesn’t need all his secrets getting out.”

“Thank you,” Isabel said, swallowing heavily and glancing over her shoulder. “If you hadn’t showed up…”

“Stupid decision,” Vermil said with a nod. “I don’t know what you were doing, but that was damn stupid. You’ve clearly got a grudge against whoever lives in that mansion. Letting him know that you’re going for him is probably the dumbest thing you could have done. He’s a Rank 5.”

“Rank 5?” Isabel asked, her eyes bulging. “He was stuck at Rank 3 for years. How did he suddenly get so much stronger?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Vermil replied. “You aren’t anywhere strong enough to go after him. What were you hoping to accomplish?”

Isabel pressed her lips together. “I was hoping to see–”

“No you weren’t. If you’ve got such a strong grudge that you’d take a risk like this, you remember exactly what he looks like. You were hoping he’d see you. You want him scared that you’re coming after him.”

Isabel opened her mouth, then closed it again. She turned her eyes away as Todd sent her a small frown.

“You aren’t strong enough for this sort of game yet.” Vermil’s clone shook his head. “It isn’t going to make you feel any better. Just kill the bastard when you’re strong enough. All the revenge games will only end up getting you killed as well.”

Isabel nodded mutely.

“Get back to the house,” Vermil said. “It’s just around the corner. The real Vermil hasn’t noticed you’re missing yet. He’s too busy terrifying the woman that Father sent over to answer his questions. And seriously – don’t try this again. You’ll be lucky if Dayton doesn’t try to put feelers out and figure out what was going on, especially after what happened to his guards.”

“There was only one, though,” Todd said.

Vermil’s clone stared at him.

Todd swallowed. “Right. Thank you.”

“Just don’t do it again until you’re actually ready to deal with the consequences.”

Todd pulled Isabel away, heading down the alley and toward the window that they’d left open. Once they’d left, Vermil turned away and hunched over. A shudder wracked his body as it shifted, warping and shrinking.

Lee looked at her now-too long clothes and sighed. She quickly pulled a spare set of clothes out from where she’d stuffed them into the back of the oversized shirt and stripped out of Vermil’s training robes, swapping them for her normal ones.

“It’s a little odd that he had guards that were so on edge, though,” Lee muttered to herself as she folded Vermil’s clothes up. “It was like they were actually waiting for someone suspicious. Something’s going on over there.”

She glanced in the direction that Todd and Isabel had headed. Despite what Lee had said, she’d overheard just about everything the two had said. After all, she’d been following just a few feet behind them, cloaked by the power of her Runes, ever since they’d left the house.

“I should probably let Vermil know what’s going on,” Lee mused. “But I don’t actually have any useful information yet. I’ve already caused a little chaos tonight, so I might as well take advantage of it. There’s a demon loose in the city, after all.”

Lee snickered to herself and turned away from the house, heading back in the direction of Dayton’s mansion. The night was still far from over.