Return of the Runebound Professor

Moxie pressed her lips together and furrowed her brows in a scowl. “You’re disgusting.”

“What? I just want to ask some questions about Runes. I’m the one that killed the Skinwalker, anyway. Isn’t there a reward or something for doing that? You’re going to make me give it up.”

Moxie fell silent for a moment. “What kind of questions?”

“Not sure, haven’t figured them out yet. I might have gotten hit on the head pretty hard a bit ago, and there are some gaps in my memory.”

Moxie’s eyes narrowed even further. “What?”

“Hey, I’m the one that gets to ask questions, not you. How about an hour of your time tomorrow? You come to my room and answer any question I ask for one hour, and I’ll pretend the Skinwalker thing never happened.”

“Absolutely not. I’m not just going to give you all my knowledge of Rune combinations.”

Noah rolled his eyes. “Fine. Nothing will be specifically about your runes.”

“What? What’s the point of it, then?”

“None of your concern. Deal or no?”

Moxie pursed her lips. “Deal.”

“Lovely. See you tomorrow.” Noah stepped back inside his room and closed the door with a thud. He twisted the lock shut and pressed a hand to his chest, trying to still his thundering heart.

Holy shit. Why are there bloody Skinwalkers running around the school? Shouldn’t it be safe here? What’s going on?

Noah heard Moxie’s footsteps leaving the hall. He waited for a few more seconds before pushing away from the door. He stared at the handle.

Do all other teachers have keys to people’s doors? I need an extra lock. It didn’t look like Moxie recognized the gourd when we first met, so I don’t think she’s the one that tried to kill me, but she could always be a good actor.

Noah unhooked his gourd and walked into the bathroom. He knelt, opening a large cabinet below the sink, and slipped it inside. The cabinet would be just big enough for him to fit into if he curled up. That was better than just coming back to life in the middle of the room if someone stabbed him in his sleep.

He trudged back to his bed and flopped into it. The night was already well underway, but he was determined to get at least a little sleep on a comfy surface before something else interrupted him.

Within seconds, he was snoring.

***

Noah awoke to the sound of knocking. He blinked wearily, rolling over to bury his face in the soft pillow of his bed. Awareness followed a moment later and he pushed himself out of bed with a curse, grabbing the same coat he’d worn the previous day and throwing it over his shoulders as he stumbled over to the door, wiping his eyes.

As he extended a hand for the handle, Noah paused. His eyes narrowed and he knelt, squinting through the crack at the bottom of the door. The shoes on the other side were – well, women’s shoes.

I’m not sure what I was expecting to find, actually. Maybe Skinwalkers all really enjoy a particular type of sandal.

“Who is it?” Noah called, standing back up.

“Who do you think it is, imbecile?”

“Ah. Hello, Moxie,” Noah said, opening the door. He sent a pointed glance at the pile of papers at its base. “Avoid my expertly set up traps on the way in, if you would.”

Moxie gave him a flat stare as she entered the room. “You have ten minutes to ask questions. After that, there’s no debt between us.”

“Fantastic,” Noah said. He pushed the door shut behind Moxie and grabbed the chair from his desk, spinning it around and sitting to face the other teacher. He made no move to offer her a seat – he got the feeling the motion would only offend Moxie.

“Well?” Moxie asked. “Your time has started.”

“Question one: Why are there monsters in the school? Shouldn’t it be safe here?”

Moxie squinted at Noah, as if trying to tell if he were joking or not. When it became clear that he wasn’t making fun of her, she shook her head. “It’s safer here, not safe. The Skinwalkers are a new issue, but it’s not that uncommon for monsters to make their way on to campus grounds. They want our Runes just as much as we want theirs.”

“You mean the energy we get from killing them.”

Moxie rolled her eyes. “Yes. The power stored within runes goes both ways. It wouldn’t really make sense otherwise, would it?”

“Well, the way you put it made it sound like we could actually take the runes straight from monsters.”

“Not unless they’re Great Runes. How do you not know this, Vermil?” Moxie squinted at Noah. “How hard did you hit your head? The questions you’re asking are at the level I’d expect from a child and, as much as I’d like that to be an insult, it isn’t.”

“It’s just some old memories are fuzzy,” Noah said, waving his hand dismissively. He tapped his fingers against his leg.

Great Runes? If that means bigger, then my Sunder rune certainly sounds like one of those. Not sure if it’s worth pushing my luck asking, but I’ve already gotten this deep…

“Are there any monsters with Great Runes nearby?”

“I certainly hope not.” Moxie’s brows furrowed in worry. “The last thing I want to do is have to fight one of those creatures. We might be able to hold it off with the help of half the mages here, but it would be a rough fight. You can’t be thinking of trying to get one for yourself. Not that the Linwick family would care much, but that’s unbelievably stupid.”

“No, nothing like that.” Noah stood and started to walk in circles, forcing Moxie to turn to keep her eye on him. Her eye twitched slightly in annoyance, but he didn’t even notice. “Okay. I know you won’t talk about your personal runes, but the books I got didn’t actually talk about making a new rune. How do I do that?”

Moxie stared at Noah, wordless. He stopped walking and tilted his head to the side.

“Come on. That’s a fair question, and you’re wasting my ten minutes.”

“You need to either find an existing pattern or test patterns out until you find one that holds the energy you channel into it. You know, the whole reason the academies were put together? I’m not sure how you can ask me that question when you’ve got all your research – as worthless as I’m sure it is – in the grimoire at your side?”

“Ah,” Noah said intelligently. “Well, one last question. Do you happen to know who wouldn’t like me?”

“It would be easier to give you a list of people that do like you, and that would probably be more like one or two names. I don’t know everyone you’ve pissed off over the years. You aren’t worth the trouble.”

“Well, that’s it. Thanks.”

Moxie crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Really? That’s what you used your favor on? After all this time, you can’t think of a better question than that?”

“Nope. That’s everything I needed to know right now.”

And I think I’ve already made my ignorance far too apparent. More questions aren’t relevant yet. Getting stronger is.

“And here I was thinking you’d ask me how to deal with the class exams next month,” Moxie said with a dry smile. “I guess I should have known better. Very well. The debt is paid.”

Noah resisted the urge to blurt out the obvious question. Instead, he just gave her a shrug. “I’ll be quite fine.”

“Is that why you came back from the testing ground severely injured and missing some memories?”

Aha. So that’s what Vermil was doing.

“An accident.” Noah shrugged. “I’m all better now. Just a few lagging pieces of memory to fill in. Thanks for your time.”

He opened the door and gave the hall a pointed glance. Moxie studied him with a bemused smile, then walked outside.

“Don’t forget – no mentioning that Skinwalker anywhere,” Moxie warned. “And if you don’t have the memory of what happens when you piss me off, I strongly suggest you work on getting it back.”