Chapter 115: Departure

Chapter 115: Departure

Noah hurried into the house after Lee, nearly running straight into Brayden as they stepped inside. Lee expertly squished to the side, sliding past him and leaving Noah to skid to a stop before he barreled into the larger man.

“Brayden!” Noah exclaimed, shifting the scroll in his grip. “What’s going on?”

“Ill omens,” Brayden replied with a grunt. He was dressed to travel, his sword slung over his back – even though they supposedly weren’t leaving until the following morning. “Janice gave me some reports of pretty high ranking monsters on the road back, and it looks like there might be more soon.”The original appearance of this chapter can be found at Ñøv€lß1n.

“What? I thought the area should be safe because we’re in Linwick territory.”

“Monsters don’t exactly listen to rules, you know,” Brayden said with a bassy chuckle. “They occasionally migrate. It’s starting to get colder, although it’s a lot earlier than I would have expected.”

“What kind of monsters?” Lee asked from behind Brayden. He craned his neck back to look at her.

“Not sure. Janice just had reports of attacks, and that means it’s only going to get a lot worse. I wasn’t quite able to get the investigative committee to agree that you’re clear from suspicion, Vermil. They don’t want you staying here too long because there’s a chance something could happen.”

“Something could happen?” Noah repeated. “Like what? Do they think I’m going to make a run for it?”

Brayden chuckled again. “More like they think you’re going to get assassinated because you saw something you didn’t. I don’t really know. They’re being a bit tight on the detail since we’re family, but the replacement Great Monster is smoothing things over a lot. You might get a bit of shit when you get back to Arbitage, but as long as you keep your nose down and don’t do anything else too stupid – and as long as they don’t get any more info – you’ll be fine.”

“So as long as nobody spills anything,” Lee concluded.

“Which is exactly why I won’t be staying in Arbitage for any longer than absolutely necessary. As soon as I’ve dropped you off, I’ll be setting off to look for signs of a group meddling with the Hellreaver.” Brayden shook his head and let out a huff. “What a waste of time. As if anyone would bother attacking any of the Bastions. They’re just bored and want something to do. Doesn’t matter now. All of you make sure to sleep well. I don’t know how long the roads will be.”

“What about Moxie?” Noah asked.

“Already handled. Sent a runner to warn her and have her meet us at the edge of the Deadlands,” Brayden replied. “One of the guards volunteered. Frederick.”

Noah recalled the kindly guard that had spoken to him when he’d first arrived at the Linwick Estate. He’d never actually gotten a chance to visit the man for dinner. He’d gotten a bit too wrapped up with the Runes.

“He’s a nice bloke,” Noah said.

Brayden nodded in agreement. “It’s unfortunate he never developed the taste for fighting. He’s a nice guy, but he’ll never make it much beyond his current station.”

I hope he finds something he can do that lets him visit his daughter more often.

“And do Isabel and Todd already know?”

“They’re already asleep. I caught them training in the middle of the night yesterday, so we ended up having a makeshift class,” Lee said.

Noah chuckled. “I’m not sure if that’s responsible or not, but thanks for filling in for me when I get distracted.”

Lee shrugged. “It’s fun.”

“They already returned a week ago,” Brayden said, squeezing himself through the door and out into the crisp early morning air. The rest of them followed him out. If it wasn’t for the warmth of Combustion, Noah was pretty sure the air would have prickled against his skin. Instead, it was just pleasant.

The sun had yet to even start considering its ascent through the sky, and the city was only lit by the faint flickers of yellow light from lanterns lining the streets. A shadow hung over everything, casting it in a peaceful feeling. Even though it was chilly, there were no clouds and the sky was clear and starry above them.

Brayden wasn’t one to sit around and appreciate the weather. He set off at a brisk pace that Noah had almost forgotten, forcing the rest of them to jog to keep up with him.

It didn’t take them long to trek through the city and exit through the same gate they’d come through. A guard standing watch gave them a silent nod, but the early morning was clearly too much for him to bother with conversation.

The aggressive pace that Brayden set wasn’t the easiest to keep up with, but Noah was pleased to find that he was doing far better than he had on the way over. He wasn’t sure if it was because of the extra energy his body would have been absorbing from all the new Runes he’d formed, or if it was because of all the training they were doing.

Probably a mixture of both.

Noah threw a glance back at the Linwick Estate as it receded in the distance behind them. He’d expected... more. Exactly what, he couldn’t place. Father had just given him the grimoire for enough time to Noah to pick through it, figuring out exactly which Runes would be the most useful for him and even taking a few of them.

I know the grimoire probably wasn’t worth too much to him, but it’s... odd.

There was nothing to be done about it, though. The hours started to drag on and the sun rose over the horizon. The grassy plains turned a faint golden as it rose into the sky. Brayden, if anything, increased his pace.

They continued at the same rate for almost six hours before Brayden finally raised a hand, coming to a stop. There was still a good bit of light out, as the day hadn’t even moved into the afternoon yet. They all slowed beside him, grateful for the chance to rest. Well, most of them were. Noah was pretty sure Lee could have run a few laps around them and still not have been winded.

“Are we camping already?” Todd asked with a confused look around them. He wiped some of the sweat from his brow. “Is it because there might be monsters roaming around so its less safe at night?”

“No.” Brayden shook his head, then paused. “Well, yes. But that isn’t why we paused.”

“What is?” Isabel asked.

Brayden jerked his chin in the direction they were headed. “I’m sensing some fairly powerful Runes up ahead. Something pretty strong.”

“Maybe we should take another path?” Lee suggested.

“It’s in the general direction we’re heading. There’s no way to path around it if I don’t know exactly where it is,” Brayden replied. “I’m going to go find it. I don’t think it’s too strong for me to handle on my own, but I won’t be able to take care of it while the four of you are with me. I can’t waste energy protecting you and fight at the same time.”

“You sure you can do it alone?” Noah asked. “Lee and I are both–”

“Alone,” Brayden said with a grunt. “I’m not an easy man to kill. Don’t worry. You’ll hear if I’m in trouble. Run back for the Linwick Estate if things go really wrong, but I don’t think the threat is that significant. Just wait here a few hours until I get back.”

Noah and the others nodded reluctantly, and Brayden jogged off, leaving them standing in the afternoon light. As Brayden ran, his body shimmered with purple light. A portal snapped open before him and he stepped into it, vanishing.

Not a single one of them noticed the hooded man that stood on a slight hill behind them, somehow completely hidden from vision despite standing in plain sight. But, if they had, they would have seen a string of silver prayer beads hanging from his clasped hands and swaying in the wind. The beads shimmered with a faint glow that coiled around his body like golden mist.

“The report was correct,” the man breathed, his words lost to the wind before any could hear them. “I have located the demon. Grant me protection as I cleanse it from this realm.”