Chapter 35: Rune Oath
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.”Ñøv€l-B1n was the first platform to present this chapter.
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 that I will refrain from killing any humans that do not attack me first. I will work together with the original owner of this body 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.
“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.