Chapter 114: Ominous

Chapter 114: Ominous

A black line carved through the center of the Catchpaper, cleaving the Bleak Howling Maelstrom rune in two. For an instant, nothing happened. The hair on the back of Noah’s neck prickled.

He drew in a sharp breath as energy sprouted from within the paper. It expanded rapidly, swirling out into the air before him. His skin tingled and arcs of Runic magic danced across his flesh. Noah could feel the Runes within himself shudder as they pushed back against the pressure coming off from the paper.

Light blossomed so brightly that Noah had to squint. One by one, seven Runes lifted into the air, floating before him. He suppressed the urge to cheer in victory. It had worked the exact same way it had worked in the vision that Sunder had given him, but Noah had absolutely no idea how long the Runes would stick around and wait for him to work with them. He focused intently on the Runes, memorizing them as quickly as he could.

Three Howling Maelstrom Runes, Three Darkened Night Runes, and one Broken Gale Rune. Screw the Darkened Night crap. That’s probably what threw this off in the first place, but I don’t know if that’s the only issue.

Noah started with the Howling Maelstrom Runes, memorizing them as quickly as he could without making mistakes. Once he was confident he had a strong picture of the Rune in his mind, he touched the first of the Howling Maelstrom Runes and closed his eyes.

Energy coursed through his hand, even as he looked out into his mindspace. Noah quickly drew the Rune from his memory, but the first attempt failed and the Rune shattered, unable to take shape. He gritted his teeth and tried again, moving slightly slower.

This time, there was a sharp buzz. The new Rune snapped to life before him, its long, sweeping strokes and surprisingly simple – at least for a Rank 2 Rune – design shimmering with light. It was a little bit less than seventy percent full.

That meant that the rest of the Runes probably weren’t going to be very stable and would soon fade away. Noah quickly opened his eyes and nearly swore. They were fading at alarming rates, their energy dissipating into the air.

Noah quickly moved his hand to the next Howling Maelstrom Rune and closed his eyes once more. This one was easy to gather, as he’d already obtained the design. It snapped to life within his mindspace, just under fifty percent full. But, even though it was simple, it had cost him several precious seconds.

Returning to the real world, Noah turned his attention to the Broken Gale Rune. The other Howling Maelstrom Rune was tempting, but even the tiny amount of time it would take him to absorb the rune could mean that there wouldn’t be anything left of the other Runes. He already had two Howling Maelstrom Runes, so he turned his attention to the lone Broken Gale Rune.

Noah studied the sharp, twisting lines that made up the shifting Rune before him. It faded with every second he spent, but he didn’t dare rush. Something told Noah he’d only have time for one more attempt before there was nothing left to work with.

Finally, he closed his eyes and touched the Rune. He let his finger move with firm, precise movements, refusing to rush and risk making a mistake. Noah didn’t have time for mistakes.

He didn’t let himself think about how long it was taking, or how much energy would be left to harvest – assuming there was any at all. Noah simply just drew. His finger traced the final line and he pulled back, watching the Rune warily.

There was a pop, and a tiny ripple of pressure washed over him. A huge grin stretched across Noah’s face and he let out a relieved sigh, allowing his hand to drop. Floating in the air before him was a Broken Gale Rune that sat at just over five percent full. He’d barely made it in time.

Noah’s relief lasted about as long as his sigh. As soon as the tension started to leave his shoulders, a strange feeling gathered in his chest. It was a squeezing sensation, like something was pressing in on him from every direction and trying to crush his chest.

“Oh, shit,” Noah muttered, grimacing as the pressure around him started to build. “I just added three Runes to my soul in rapid succession. Is that going to–”

A wave of pain slammed into Noah. He let out a strangled gasp that turned into a string of curses as his body shuddered. Energy slammed at the edges of his mind, and all of his Runes burned with energy as they pushed against each other, their pressure forcing his soul to expand.

Wind whipped. Noah had just envisioned a blade of wind, but the Rune had a mind of its own. A churning swirl of air materialized in his palm, spinning like a top for a few moments. The Rune lived up to its name a moment later, as a keening howl started to emerge from within the wind.

Noah flicked his hand and sent the magic flying. It landed on the ground, ripping a small trail through the loose dirt before dissipating.

Okay, It really likes that whole maelstrom aspect. It didn’t really want to just make a normal blade of wind. I guess that’s the drawback of getting more specific. It’s pretty damn loud, though. If I get varying sizes of these, I wonder if I could make a whole wind instrument section – a literal one.

Noah chuckled to himself. The miniature tornado hadn’t sounded even slightly good, so he was pretty sure a whole orchestra of them was about as horrendous of a noise as he was going to get. But, with a little tweaking, he was certain he could turn anything into music.

“Did it go well?” Lee’s voice came from the house.

Noah turned as Lee headed out of the door. She glanced at the scrolls that Noah had left leaning against the building, then back to him. “Judging by the look on your face, I think it did.”

“Really damn well,” Noah replied. “There were some great Runes that fit me very well. I’ve got five total Runes now. Six, if you count my Rank 1.”

“Only two more Rank 2 Runes, then. Are you going to try to combine the Rank 1?”

“Not sure yet,” Noah replied. “I’m going to need to settle in with these a bit first.”

And I’ll have to repair the absolute travesty that is this Gale Rune – or rip it up for components. Poor, crippled thing.

“Are you going to... you know.”

Noah followed Lee’s gaze back to his scrolls. He scrunched his nose in annoyance and strode over to them, picking everything back up.

“Not until I absolutely have to. He’s got to have noticed they’re missing by now, but since he hasn’t said anything, I’m not going to mention it either. I’ll give it to Jancie before we leave – Dayton’s, at least. I don’t want to be a liar, especially if he can somehow use that against us. But this technically isn’t lying.”

Lee shrugged. “Whatever you think is best. I was just wondering if Janice would stop feeding us if you kept it.”

“We’re only here for – what, two more days?” Noah asked. “You’ll live.”

“Actually, no. That’s why I came to get you. Brayden is here, and he wants to leave early.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Something happened,” Lee replied. “He wouldn’t say what, but apparently he thinks the roads are going to get dangerous really soon. Todd and Isabel are both already packing. Brayden said we’re going to leave tomorrow morning at first light.”