Return of the Runebound Professor - Chapter 814

“I’m bored,” Grim said.

“Oh, don’t you start on me now,” Moxie growled. Stones shifted beneath her feet and she pressed her hand against the wall of the cave — though perhaps calling it a cliff face might have been more accurate.

The slope was so steep that it may as well have been a sheer drop. Even a mountain goat would have struggled immensely to try and find purchase on the rock. The only thing keeping Moxie secured were the thin vines twisting around her fingers and worming their way into the cracks in the stone.    

“Can you blame me?” Grim asked. “I’m doing nothing. Nothing! While the Herald is out there somewhere, doubtlessly doing something!”

“You didn’t seem to have any problem with my company at any point in the past few months,” Moxie grumbled as she took another cautious step down, sending more vines into the wall beneath her feet. “You can be patient for a little bit longer.”

She looked down. The ground was still nowhere to be seen. For that matter, if it wasn’t for her domain, she wouldn’t have been able to make out anything at all. The cave was pitch black.

If it weren’t for the ancient imbuements scrawled into the walls of the cliff face she were pressed against, Moxie would have strongly considered a far faster method of descent. She’d already been climbing for hours, and she didn’t even want to think about how long it had taken her to find this place.

“A month, give or take,” Grim said. “Unless you mean overall time spent rather than just for this particular excursion. If you do, it’s a hell of a lot longer.”

“Stop that,” Moxie said. “Don’t poke around in my thoughts.”

“I wasn’t poking around in anything. You just stopped climbing,” Grim replied. “Every time you stop climbing, it’s because you were about to say something about how long you’ve spent chasing rumors and how this set of ruins is definitely going to be the missing piece you’re looking for.”

“It is.” Moxie huffed, then took another cautious step. She couldn’t afford to draw on any more magic than what she was already using. The imbuements deep within the stone were dormant, but only because nothing had triggered them yet.

The smallest overdraw of magic would bring the entire place crashing down around her. She’d found that bit out the hard way. This wasn’t the first time she’d seen imbuements like these.

“Sure,” Grim drawled. “I think you’re just looking for excuses to avoid any interesting interactions. Why would you choose to shuffle through ancient catacombs in search of legends when you could be the legend?”

“Because legends have power,” Moxie replied as she continued her descent down. “Besides, you’re one to talk. Do I need to remind you how Noah found you in the first place? Because it certainly wasn’t sitting around in some tavern.”

“I’m special,” Grim said. “There’s only one of me. You’re not going to find another one. Especially not down here. That’s not what you’re doing, is it? You’re not looking for another one of me, are you?”

“One is more than enough, thank you very much. This is just good training. We know so little about Obsidia. Even with all the time we’ve spent here… this place is foreign. I feel like a baby bird that’s just left the nest. If everyone is going to thrive here, then we need to learn.”

“Ah. Yes. Learn,” Grim drawled. “Commonly done through exploring ruins and searching for scraps of ancient knowledge when you could just spend that time talking to some bored old woman in the countryside.”

Moxie paused her climb. The corners of her lips twitched. “Are you… jealous?”

“What do I look like to you?” Grim snapped. “Some petulant child? I am displeased that you are wasting my time. And what if we miss the tournament? That would be quite the waste. How would we find the others then?”

“We’re not going to miss the tournament,” Moxie said, starting back down the wall. “And some little old woman isn’t going to give me the kind of answers I’m looking for. I’m looking to delve a bit deeper than that.”

Grim let out a long-suffering sigh. It was somewhat impressive. Books didn’t even need to breathe, but that didn’t seem to stop the massive grimoire from very loudly voicing its displeasure at any opportunity.

He was definitely jealous.

“I’m not looking to replace you, Grim,” Moxie said. “And even if I were, you’re not my book. I’m just holding onto you for Noah for a bit. There’s nothing at all to be concerned about. Or are you actually just missing Noah that badly?”

“I am irreplicable,” Grim said. “I have enough knowledge within me to build a dozen libraries. Do you think I am capable of… missing someone? Pathetic. The Herald is—”

“I miss him too,” Moxie said quietly.

Grim paused. “Why would I care if—”

“We’re not going to find Noah by wandering aimlessly around Obsidia,” Moxie said. “You weren’t able to figure out exactly where he popped back up at. So that means he’s looking for all of us. As long as you’re not holding out on me, we don’t have a way to find him. Do we?”

“No,” the grimoire said. “I do not.”

“Then I’m going to be selfish,” Moxie said. “There’s time until the tournament that I don’t plan to spend sitting around and waiting. I never had a chance to really set out and see the world back when I was in Arbalest under Evergreen’s thumb. And even if I had, I don’t think there was anything like this. Obsidia… it’s huge. Ancient. There’s so much lost knowledge just sitting around in wait. And I’m going to find it. You never know how useful information like this can be. We might even find lost runes. But it’s going to be a lot less exciting if you’re complaining the whole way down.”

Grim was silent for a second.

“Very well. We will seek the Herald out at the tournament? And not stop until we find him?”

“Do you really think I’d settle for anything else?” Moxie asked.

“No,” Grim replied. “I suppose you would not.”

“So you’ll stop complaining?” Moxie asked. “Because I’m doing this either way. There’s no way I’m going to give up once I’m finally free to do what I want… but it’ll be more enjoyable if you’re onboard.”

“I was not complaining,” Grim said with a huff. “I was simply observing some inadequacies.”

“I’m not going to grace that with a response,” Moxie said. She took another step down, then paused. A frown creased her lips. There was still no sign at all of the ground. This cave was deeper than any of the others she’d explored. Far deeper.

“Then perhaps we could do something a little more interesting than ambling down one step at a time,” Grim said. “I would be more inclined to participate if there was more at stake.”

“You want me to jump?” Moxie asked with a snort. “The fall would kill me.”

“Not the fall. Falling is fast. Fun, even,” Grim said. “It’s the sudden stop that gets you.”

Moxie’s lips twitched. “You realize you’re stuck here forever if I get myself killed, right?”

“Trust me,” Grim said. “I am more than aware. Such a scenario cannot be allowed to occur.”

“Good. Just wanted to make sure,” Moxie said. “Then never let it be said that I don’t know how to compromise.”

And, with that, she released the wall and plummeted down into the waiting darkness.

***

Noah yawned as he flopped back onto his bed. It wasn’t the most comfortable bed he’d ever slept in, but it certainly felt like it. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d laid in proper sheets. It felt like a cloud.

He’d just chosen the first inn he’d spotted and promised the Innkeeper he’d pay in the morning. That had apparently been sufficient to get himself a room key. Noah didn’t worry too much about how he’d pay for the room.

Such things could be dealt with in the morning. For the time being, he didn’t have interest in doing anything but laying back on his soft bed and letting the welcoming arms of sleep take him.

Noah didn’t even bother taking his clothes off. There was supposedly a bath included with the stay, but it would still be waiting for him tomorrow when he woke up.

He was finally out of the Beyond. Out of the Citadel. Somewhere in Obsidia, everyone was waiting for him. There was still the problem of figuring out exactly how he would find them… but compared to everything else he’d fought through to get here, that would be a trivial problem.

It was only a matter of time.

Darkness prickled at the edges of his vision. It pulled his eyelids closed. Noah didn’t fight it. He let his pillow swallow him as the haze of sleep finally rose up to meet—

Noah’s domain prickled a warning.

His eyes snapped open and he bolted upright.

But it was too late.

The window shattered. Fragments of glass spun through the room as a dark blur streaked toward Noah, moving so fast that he didn’t even have a chance to try and call on his runes. It slammed into his stomach, tackling him out of the bed and sending him and the intruder tumbling across the ground with something between a surprised grunt and a pained wheeze.

Noah slammed into the wall with a loud thud. His attacker had wrapped themselves around him like a snake and were constricting as if to crush the life from his body. He grabbed for his runes, their power already burning through his veins in preparation—

And then he froze.

Even as his domain prickled in delayed recognition, he spotted the horns sprouting from the head of the person attached to him.

He knew those horns.

“Noah!” Lee exclaimed, looking up at him from her hug with a huge grin. “I knew I smelled you! You came back!”