Return of the Runebound Professor

The world was a spiral of black. Noah couldn’t tell up from down; left from right. Confusion assaulted his pained mind from every single direction. His body spun helplessly, no point of reference with which to regain his bearings. He couldn’t even see Somnus anymore.

There was only the dark.

But then there wasn’t.

The confusion assaulting Noah faltered as he realized that darkness wasn’t just around him. It was pulling at his vision. More than pulling. It was pooling.

No. Not darkness.

Shadow.

The world around Noah shattered.

Darkness all fell away, spinning stopped. All was still. Noah found himself sitting on a wooden chair in a plain stone cave, no sign of a portal or Moxie or the T building whatsoever.

Somnus stood before him. The gaunt man’s molten eyes met Noah’s gaze with calm curiosity.

“You broke out,” Somnus said, his head tilting to the side so far that it touched his shoulder. He looked more like a strangled owl than a human. “That’s twice, now. You’ve got a source within your soul snapping you out of the illusion. That is fascinating. Have you dealt with another that bears runes like mine?”

“I — it was a dream?” Noah rasped. “Another one?”

“A dream within a dream within a dream,” Somnus said. A smile split across his features. “Sometimes, even I wonder where it ends.”

The back of Noah’s neck chilled. He was completely helpless. There was no way to even know if he was awake right now. Everything that he’d seen was just fake. He didn’t know where he was. If Moxie was in danger… or if she’d ever been in danger.

Everything could be fake.

This was the true power of one of the Seven Apostles. It was incredible and unlike anything that he’d ever come up against before.

And, finally, it struck Noah that he was in deep shit.

Deep, deep shit.

***

An icy noose felt like it was winding around Noah’s neck and pulling taut. This was a situation that he had never found himself in before. One that he’d never even considered a possibility, and he didn’t like that. He didn’t like that at all.

This was a situation that killing himself would not solve the problem. In fact, killing himself had the very real possibility of actively making it worse. Considerably worse.

If I’m in a dream right now, then I don’t know if anything I do matters. There’s no way for me to know just how deep his control goes. Killing myself won’t get me out of this if I only dream that I’m doing it. All I’d do is show him that I want to die for some reason. The same goes for Sunder. If I call on it to free myself, I might just go showing him that I have Decras’ powers… which would be even worse.

Noah’s cards were all laid out on the table before him. If he tried to play any of them, all he’d do was show Somnus exactly what they were. But he couldn’t just sit around and wait. Noah didn’t know where he was. He didn’t know if Moxie was safe or if they were even still in Arbitage.

The look in Somnus’ eyes told Noah exactly what the other man was thinking.

I lose the game no matter what I do, huh? Either I don’t play and let you control how things go, or I show you what I’m capable of and things end up worse than before. There’s no way I can outright beat a Rank 7 yet. So even if I do manage to free myself from this bullshit, I’d still be playing right into his hand.

But if Somnus thinks I’m going to give up and sit around waiting for him to finish whatever it is he’s doing, he’s sorely mistaken. I’ve yet to meet a single problem that can’t be broken by smashing my head into it hard enough.

“You’ve got one nasty ability,” Noah said.

“My position among the Apostles was well-earned,” Somnus replied. There wasn’t any smugness in his tone. The man was just stating a fact. He was powerful and he knew it.

“So what’s the point of all this? Do you just like peeping on people’s dreams? Because I really can’t say I’m a fan. I doubt Garina would be either.”

“Garina is aware of our purpose. She will not be pleased, but she rarely is,” Somnus replied. “You should be honored. It is rare that I would go to lengths like this just to ferry a Rank 5. Crone is scared of you. I’d love to know how that happened.”

“I’d be happy to show you.”

Somnus chuckled. “I’m sure you would, but I am not so easily baited. We are not in your soul, nor do I have any desire to travel to that place. I have learned enough from Crone to know that it would be unwise, even for me.”

Interesting. That means his actual consciousness is present here. This isn’t some recorded automaton. If I could get him into my soul and drop his guard, I’d be able to give him the same treatment I gave Crone… but that’s not very likely. I can’t overwhelm his defenses if he doesn’t let me by them.

But either way — he can be hurt. That’s good to know.

“So what’s the point of all this?” Noah asked. “It feels a bit excessive. You could have just shown up to have a chat, you know. This whole kidnapping business is annoying at best. Haven’t you ever heard of having a normal conversation?”

“And have Garina show up while we were trying to speak with you?” Somnus tilted his head to the side. “Do you think we’re that stupid? We do not want a fight among our own number. Especially not now.”

So whatever Father is doing is significant enough to affect all the Apostles, not just Garina. I kind of figured that they wouldn’t give too much of a a shit about him. That’s… concerning. How big of a threat is he?

“And you don’t think this will piss her off?” Noah asked.

“She will be displeased, but we all play within the established rules of our organization. I have no quarrel with Garina. It his her own fault that this is happening. She has only herself to blame, and she is not petty enough to blame you for her own failings.”

Wait. Is… this even about me?

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Could you tell me why the hell you’re kidnapping me?” Noah asked. “Just to clear some things up.”

“I don’t see why not,” Somnus replied. “You have been called to stand testimony against Garina.”

“Testimony?” Noah blinked in confusion. “Aren’t there like… seven of you? The hell is the point of that? Do you even have an actual organizational structure? I was kind of under the impression you just all wanted to chat to the same dude.”

“We have an agreement,” Somnus said. “All of us serve a purpose. That agreement entails staying out of each other’s way and upholding certain tasks. Garina is under suspicion of failing to hold up her end of the deal.”

“I don’t know how much I’d know about that,” Noah said. “She’s always seemed pretty dedicated to me. She’s meant to protect the Empire, isn’t she?”

“That is among her tasks,” Somnus said with a nod. “We have interest in keeping the Empire as it is. But that is not the limit of her — or any of our — duties. We are meant to ensure that certain things do not come to be… and we do not permit for distractions. That was what all of us agreed upon.”

“Are you implying that I’m a distraction?” Noah asked. He glanced around the plain cave, searching for a way out of here. Getting information from Somnus was great, but his main goal was finding a way to escape. He wasn’t about to just sit around and do nothing forever. “I take offense to that.”

“We will see what you are,” Somnus said. “But it is not you that we suspect. The bigger issue is Chaos. Do you know of it?”

Noah stared at Somnus for a moment.

“Nope. Never heard of the thing.”

“Then it seems Garina has not been teaching you well. Chaos is the unraveling force of the universe. It is creation itself… but it is dangerous. It draws the attention of immensely powerful beings. Attention that we do not want. And, as of recently, there have been immense amounts of Chaos and Order energy emerging from Arbalest. Garina has kept us out of the empire, but she has not upheld her duties in suppressing such forces.”

“I see,” Noah said. “So you’re calling me up to see… what, if she’s not doing her job? What if she isn’t?”

“Then we will arrive at the Empire and do what she should have done ourselves,” Somnus replied simply. “And she will either destroy her distractions or be removed from our ranks.”

Noah didn’t let it show on his face, but dread wrapped around his thoughts. He didn’t know all that much about Garina’s social life. She wasn’t really the talkative sort. But he’d seen enough snippets to put things together.

She liked Ferdinand. Garina had mentioned him once or twice during their training. It had been brief, but he recognized the look in her eyes from the one that he’d felt in his own when talking about Moxie.

And something told Noah that romantic relationships were among the list of things the Apostles disavowed. If they decided that Garina had failed in her tasks and that her personal connections had to be severed…

Yeah, right. They’re not getting any info out of me even if they try to cut it free with a knife.

Noah flexed his fingers, then focused on the ground before him. There was a pool of shadow building at his feet. Somnus didn’t seem to notice it. It seemed he couldn’t see the shadows, and that worked just fine for Noah.

I’m still in a dream, then. Guess that’s no surprise. He said as much.

I’ve got enough information for now. I can’t stay on the backfoot.

“I see,” Noah said. He stretched his arms over his head with a yawn. “That’s all great to hear… but why am I supposed to give a shit about any of this? I can’t believe you’re kidnapping me for something so worthless.”

Somnus tilted his head to the other side. “She is your teacher.”

“And you’re a bag of bones,” Noah pointed out. “I really don’t give a damn about Garina. I know what the Apostles are about, Somnus. Power. That’s why I accepted the offer Garina gave me. That’s why Crone went running like a spanked child after he took a look into my soul. So why waste my time? Let’s just cut to the chase.”

“Cut to the chase?” Somnus’ face shifted as if he were arching an eyebrow. The skeletal man didn’t exactly have any hair to lift, but Noah got the point. “We have no desire to waste time. I am transporting you to the Apostles as we speak. We will—”

“You could just ask me the questions yourself. Now.”

“No,” Somnus said. “You will remain here until all the Apostles can speak to you as one.”

Noah sighed. He rose to his feet. “I kind of figured you’d say that. You know, it’s odd. If this is a dream, why is it that you’ve chosen such a drab location?”

“Dreams are made by your mind, not mine,” Somnus replied with a shrug. “I am not fully present. I am just making sure that you do not wake up. If you would like to be more comfortable, feel free to change the world to your desire. I have said it before. I have no quarrel with you. There may even be no quarrel with Garina. That is what this will decide.”

Yeah? That may be true, but I’ve got a problem with you. Moxie might be in danger. And if you made that shit up just to test me… well, we’ve got a problem, all right.

“I can just change the dream?” Noah asked.

“It is your dream. You can’t choose when it ends, but you may decide how it goes.”

That’s bait. He’s trying to get me to show off my powers. Even trying to swap this place to the Line would be a mistake. I’ve got nothing actually keeping Somnus trapped here other than his desire to keep me asleep. If he actually felt like he was in serious danger, he’d pull away and I’d blow a good move.

Damn it. How am I supposed to—

A thought struck Noah.

He fought the urge to let a grin pull at his lips.

I can’t hurt him. Not without risking revealing my magic, and that won’t do anything when I may or may not be stuck in a dream.

But I can certainly annoy him.

“You know, Garina and I have had some pretty extensive conversations. I could just show you what we were doing,” Noah offered. “That seems like it would save me a hell of a lot of trouble.”

Somnus hesitated. “That would be acceptable. It will not stop the audience with the other Apostles, but it could speed some things up.”

Noah smiled. He walked over to Somnus, scratching at the back of his neck as if in reluctant acceptance of the situation.

“Then I suppose we’ll do that. Ready?”

“You control the dream, not—”

Noah’s fist slammed into Somnus’ face.

Bone crunched under his knuckles as the thin Apostle crumpled. His body tumbled back, skidding several feet across the stone before slamming into the wall with a crunch. Noah lunged forward before Somnus could stand, driving his knee into the man’s head and sending it cracking right back into the stone wall with another crunch.

“Idiot. This is a dream,” Somnus said through a snarl. “What do you hope to accomplish?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Noah brought both of his hands down on the Apostle’s hairless skull with another crunch. “You asked for this. This is what Garina and I have been practicing.”

He took a step back as Somnus pushed himself back to his feet, then drove his knee up into the other man’s stomach. Ribs shattered with the force of the blow and Somnus staggered back with a wheeze.

Noah pressed forward, spinning to send a violent kick slamming into the side of his captor’s skull. Somnus flew to the side and slammed right back into what was clearly his favorite wall.

“You cannot kill me,” Somnus said, shaking his head and staggering back upright. All the damage that Noah had just done to him had already evaporated. If his clothes hadn’t been ruffled, it would have looked like nothing had happened.

“Kill you?” Noah repeated in an affronted tone. “I’m not trying to kill you, Somnus. I’m showing you what Garina showed me. Do you really think she would be trying to kill me? I’m only a Rank 5, after all.”

Noah’s fist slammed right back into Somnus’ head. The Apostle’s skull cracked — once again — into the wall. He let out a hiss of anger.

“What do you think this will get you? Are you an ape? This is a dream. My body cannot be hurt here. Especially not by mere physical blows.”

Hoping to see my magic, huh? Sorry, grandpa. That’s not happening. Something tells me someone as withered as you isn’t particularly competent in hand-to-hand combat.

“No, it can’t,” Noah agreed. He cracked his knuckles. “I’d never dream of attacking an Apostle if I were awake. It’s a very good thing that I’m not. All you’ll be left with from this is memories. Great, right?”

“You are a—”

“You were the one that approved my requests to change the dream and demonstrate what Garina and I have been practicing,” Noah said, interrupting Somnus with another blow to the man’s chin that sent his head cracking back. Noah stepped forward and grabbed him by the collar before he could fall. “And don’t you worry. I’m more than willing to run through every single part of what we covered.”

“You’re a fool,” Somnus said. His molten gaze burned into Noah’s eyes. “Do not make a mockery of my mercy.”

“Mercy? I’m just doing as you asked. I swear on everything that I am that this is exactly what we were doing,” Noah said with a cold smile. “Don’t forget. You want this. You’re the one who controls when the dream ends, after all.”