Noah let his eyes drift open in Moxie’s room once more. A dull headache throbbed at the back of his skull and prodded at his temples, the rewards of his efforts within his soul. It was workable. He wouldn’t have exactly chosen to be in this particular state, but the damage wasn’t anywhere near as bad as it had been a short while ago. He could push through this without too much trouble.

Just have to make sure I avoid getting killed too many times within the next half day. Shouldn’t be too difficult. Can probably afford to kill myself once or twice if I really need to. More than enough to go fucking around in the Inquisitors’ house… though I should probably be extra careful. They’ve got ways to directly attack Demon Runes.

Even though I don’t really have a proper one of those, Sunder is close enough that they can definitely chip away at my soul under the right circumstances. Don’t want that happening.

Noah pinched the bridge of his nose and blew out a sigh — and he nearly jumped right of his own skin as the bathroom door slammed open. Moxie shot out from within it, her eyes affixed on him like he was going to try and make a run for it.

“Moxie!” Noah exclaimed, pressing a hand to his chest and letting out a relieved sigh. She was okay. He’d known that from the response his note had gotten, but actually seeing it was different. “Shit. You scared the life out of me. Did you—”

“Damage?” Moxie asked curtly.

“Not too bad. Just a bit of pain. And—”

“Forget your soul. It’s always damaged,” Moxie said curtly. “I meant the situation. What in the Damned Plains happened? What should we expect?”

“Oh.” Noah coughed into his fist. “Right. I got kidnapped by the Apostles.”

“The Apostles?” Moxie asked, her voice terse. “Are they coming after you?”

Noah thought for a moment. Then he shook his head. “If they haven’t shown up yet, then no. I somehow gave them the slip. That’s actually kind of impressive. Garina must have covered for my ass pretty hard. I guess I owe her a drink or something.”

“What exactly happened?” Moxie asked, blowing out a slow sigh. “And are you okay? You’ve clearly gone and killed yourself again. You looked bad, Noah. Really bad. Like you were tearing apart from the inside.”

“It was bad,” Noah admitted. “I’m sorry about that. I had to kill myself after setting myself on fire to steal a rune from the Apostles’ disciples — oh, they’ve got disciples, by the way. Don’t worry. I’m pretty sure most of them now hate me. But one or two might not.”

Moxie leveled a flat stare at him. Noah cleared his throat.

“Sorry. I should probably start from the beginning.”

“No, I think I’m following well enough. You got kidnapped. The Apostles took you into some sort of contest or competition with their disciples. I presume the prize was a rune of some sort. You tricked them by blowing yourself up and stealing the rune out from under their noses. Then you actually died. Accurate?”

Noah blinked in surprise. “Whoa. Did you get a Mind Rune?”

“I just know you,” Moxie replied, shaking her head and letting out a small laugh. “Did I miss anything?”

“Just a few small things. We hate people who have normal names spelled in odd ways. Especially if they’re Apostles. If any stuffy looking prick ever shows up calling himself Kyyle, run away.”

“Noted,” Moxie said. “Though I highly doubt the Apostles are going to have even the slightest amount of interest in me. They have to have better things to be doing with their lives. I doubt they even care about you stealing that rune. It was a contest, right?”

“Yeah. Though I may have given them a rude gesture as I died.”

“Of course you did. Did you kick their cat on the way out as well?”

Noah winced.

Moxie did too.

They both fell silent for a moment. This normally would have been when Mascot popped up to glare at them, but the small bastard was nowhere to be found. A heavy silence lingered in the air for several seconds before Noah broke it again.

“It might be a bit before we see Garina. It looked like she was in a bit of trouble with the other Apostles,” Noah said quietly. “But I think she should be okay. If the Apostles haven’t popped up yet, we don’t have to worry about them for now. That’s going to change once we get out of the empire. And we should definitely be thinking about doing that soon. Father…”

“Yeah.” Moxie nodded. “I know. Arbitage is still in chaos. The other Bastions aren’t much better. The information coming in isn’t good. From the looks of things, the Night’s Shadow has destroyed enormous portions of the empire. People are terrified. And the noble houses aren’t taking it well.”

“Fragmenting?” Noah guessed.

Moxie nodded. “It’s only been hours, and groups are already starting to form. We’re on the brink of war. And I’m not talking some organized war between the families. I’m talking a tribe war. Dozens of different groups, all trying to claim power. The empire will collapse.”

“Shit,” Noah said. He blew out a sigh. “Damn Father. I hate that wrinkly old bastard. And correct me if I’m wrong… but he totally sent the Night’s Shadow after us, right? It’s too big of a coincidence for one of the tentacles to pop up right next to us.”

“It’s possible. I shudder to think about the possibility that he can actually control such a powerful monster, but I don’t know what other explanation would make sense.”

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

Noah’s jaw set. “He has to die. We can’t coexist in this world.”

“Maybe focus on surviving the shit he’s kicked off first,” Moxie said gently. “We’re nowhere near strong enough to challenge Father.”

“Not yet. But I’ve got our next step toward rectifying that issue,” Noah said with a cold smile. He glanced across the room to where his massive grimoire leaned against the wall. With a grunt, Noah swung his legs over and rose to his feet. The world swam around him for a moment.

He blinked the dizziness away and made his way over to the book, scooping it up and bringing it back over to Moxie. Noah plopped it down on the bed and flipped it open to a blank page.

“How many runes did you steal?” Moxie asked, catching onto where he was taking things. “I thought you said it was one.”

“Technically, it was. I just broke it. The Rune was a Rank 6.”

“You broke a Rank 6?” Moxie’s eyes went wide.

Noah just grinned in response. He splayed his fingers out on the page of the book before him.

Might as well pop this one out. It hasn’t had any time to set into my soul, so removing it now will keep it from doing any real damage when it’s time for it to come out — and I have no plans of using a Rune I don’t understand.

“No eating these,” Noah warned. “They’re not for you.”

A second dragged by.

Then ink spilled across the pages of the book from within. It twisted across the paper to form into words in a beautiful, flowing script.

Screw you. I’m hungry.

Moxie coughed into her fist. She’d definitely read over his shoulder. It seemed that Grim was a little irritable today.

“Goddamn it,” Noah muttered. “I’ll feed you later. You can’t have this one.”

No deal. I don’t trust you. You’re going to leave me behind again.

“You would have been lost if you came with me! I die too often!”

Die less.

“No.”

Fair enough.

Noah cleared his throat. “As I was saying. Don’t eat the runes—”

Before he’d even finished speaking, words had twisted across the grimoire’s pages once more.

Still eating the runes.

“No, you aren’t.”

Yes, I am. Or you could go find a different piece of Catchpaper strong enough to hold a component of a Rank 6.

Noah’s eye twitched. They didn’t have anything like that. The words on the page changed before he got a chance to respond.

Or… you could make a deal.

“You and your deals,” Noah snapped. “What do you want? I can get you some snacks soon. I’m going to raid the Inquisitors. I’ll bring you some stuff back. How’s that sound?”

Better. But no. I want to come. Take me with you.

Noah paused for a moment. It wasn’t that Grim wasn’t useful. The creature that lived within the Grimore’s pages was incredibly powerful. It had saved him and his students on more than one occasion. But even still…

“I’m not lugging a big ass book through the Inquisitor’s quarters. What if I get killed?”

I want to come.

Noah sighed. “I think I’ve raised a child.”

“Poorly, by the looks of things,” Moxie said, suppressing a laugh. “You might have a ways to go before becoming a parent.”

Noah rolled his eyes and looked back to Grim. He really did want to get Moxie her rune before he met Fuyin… assuming she was still coming.

“What if I do end up getting killed?” Noah challenged. “You’d be left behind. We can’t have that. I value you too much. Can’t you choose something else?”

No. I’m coming. You are a liar. We both know this.

Noah pinched his brow. Grim wasn’t exactly wrong. Noah had a slight

reputation for bending the truth just a little bit. He definitely wasn’t going to be winning any scale-off matches against an innocent heart.

“Goddamn it. Fine. I’m sure I can handle one mission without getting killed,” Noah said. “But if you get lost, it’s your fault.”

The Inquisitors pose the Herald no threat. We will crush their bodies and drink their Runes. The kindling of this empire has been laid for your pyre. Light the flame.

“Whoa. Tone it back a bit,” Noah muttered. “The shit about being the Herald again? If you’re going to talk about it, then tell me what it is you’re talking about!”

No.

“The hell’s gotten into you?”

I am hungry.

Noah paused for a moment. It was pretty difficult to argue with that. And, if he was totally honest, having Grim as backup would make the job a lot easier. He just had to make sure not to get himself killed.

“I guess that’s a reasonable enough answer.” Noah cleared his throat. “Fair enough. Now, if you would…”

He pressed his palm back to the page. All the ink scrawled across its surface vanished. And, with a thought and a several seconds of concentration, Noah imbued Creeping Death into the book.

Moxie’s eyes went wide as she read the rune over his shoulder.

“Holy shit. That’s one hell of a rune.”

“It’s a Rank 5,” Noah said. “I’m not sure how close you are—”

“Close. Not quite there, but very close. Don’t break this up. I think I could use it. I just need to make a push on my runes. Bird mentioned having access to some that would be really useful for me. I was going to follow up on that soon.” Moxie paused. “It is for me, right?”

“Well, now that you mention it… I’ve gotten some pretty big offers for this kind of thing, you know? It might be pretty expensive.”

Moxie didn’t even say anything. She just arched an eyebrow.

“Though none of them are nearly quite as persuasive as you are,” Noah said. “What, did you actually think I’d waste this on someone else?”

“No.” Moxie grinned at him. “But I wanted to make sure. Thank you. I’ll put this to good use as soon as I can. But… Noah, you’re certain you’re in good shape?”

“Huh?” Noah blinked at the sudden change in topic. “I’m close enough to it. I’ve been better, but I’ve been much worse as well. But what brought that up?”

“Just making sure,” Moxie said. “If you’re feeling well enough, you should probably get a move on.”

“Why? I’m waiting for Fuyin.” Noah’s brow furrowed. “I don’t want to leave before she shows up.”

“Actually, Fuyin is waiting for you.”

Noah paused. “What?”

“She’s in your old room with Karina and Contessa,” Moxie said. She scratched at the back of her neck. “She showed up to collect you a little while ago. I told her to wait until you woke up.”

“Huh. She didn’t strike me as the type to wait.” Noah grabbed his grimoire off the bed and slung the large book over his shoulder. “Lucky me.”

Then he paused. He glanced back at Moxie. She looked sheepish.

“She wasn’t.” Moxie coughed into her fist. “I might have yelled at her for trying to get to you while you were recovering.”

“You yelled at a Rank 5 Inquisitor?”

“Yes.”

“Badass,” Noah said with a grin. “Well, let’s go see what she’s up to, shall we? A good wait will make anyone eager to go rob a few Inquisitors. Maybe she won’t complain too much if I desecrate the place.”

Grim ruffled his pages in approval on Noah’s back as they headed out of Moxie’s room. It seemed the grimoire was more excited about this than any of them.

And that, if anything, should have been a good warning.