Rune mage

Chapter 12: lock and key

Fredric was at the tavern when I arrived. He shuffled his feet and then looked at Steph. "It is my fault he cannot lift for three days. I will carry his work during this time."

I blinked. My mind had been so focused on the idea I had for the healer, I had dismissed the questions I had had about Fredric's actions. "Why did you hit me? I didn't say anything to you?" I remembered he had accused me of calling him something.

Fredric smiled, a tight little grin that disappeared quickly. I was pretty sure it was something like regret, but I wasn't the best at telling emotions.

"Henry was going to do murder on you," he said. "He was bouncing around, ready to attack you. I figured I would hit you hard enough to send you to the healer, but you didn't even try to land properly. I saw how your arm bent. That wasn't proper. I don't know how it didn't break."

I tilted my head and thought about the moments right before Fredric hit me. Henry had been staring at me. The only time fights were allowed was in the arena. He had been trying to goad me into fighting outside of the arena since the first day.

"I have a rune that prevents breaks," I said slowly. "I activate it on instinct now. The moment you pushed me, I activated it without thinking."

Steph huffed. "Seems like your quick thinking made it so Logan is able to walk today. Unlike the last time he faced Henry. Still, I would like your help to carry drinks."

I held up my bag. "I have extra assignments. And I am going to make a small adjustment to some work I've done on the runes. Are there any places that are problematic?"

Steph shook her head. "Everything works perfectly. Your addition won't cause problems will it? Not going to blow up part of my roof?"

I sighed. "One time I blew up half your kitchen and now that's the first thing you ask. No, I am not going to be doing anything volatile."

With Fredric running the drinks, I was able to get my assignments done and carve out both a lock rune and a key rune to test. My test run went exactly as expected, so I looked around and found the best hidden spot to weave the lock into the design. It had me crawling under tables and booths, but no one seemed to mind. The few who asked got different tales of woe: Steph was having me polish the undersides of tables for becoming too injured to do my job, or I was assigned to look at each inch of wood for signs of pests.

When the lock rune was in place, I ran another test that my key rune worked.

Then I carved the key rune into the charm with the healer's blood, careful to make it so the key and lock designs had specific intentions worked into them. It would be bad to overwhelm the healer with the full extent of power this web offered, since this web was powering the roof charms.

I tested the final lock and key several times and then packed up my gear and went to help Steph however I could with one hand.

I was waiting for the healer when she arrived to her station early the next morning.

"Have you been hurt again already?" She asked, concerned.

I shook my head and looked around to make sure we were alone. "Will you come to the tavern I work at today?"

She frowned. "I like you, Logan, but not enough to"

"Not like that," I interrupted. I held out the charm. "I need to run a test and having you go there is easier."

She took the rune, her eyes widened as she looked at the smooth outside but carved inside. "How do you even manage this?"

"I have made some special tools. Will you come? Stepping inside just for a moment should replenish your power. Stepping out will stop the flow of power. I'm worried that it needs an automatic shut off, but I cannot test this unless I see how it works with you using it."

She looked at the bead. "Do I braid it into my hair? Wear it?"

Her hair was long enough, "your hair is a good choice." I lifted a patch of my hair so she could see the beads hidden in my hair. Then I put the hair back down. "People see them sometimes, but most of the time they are judging me for having long hair."

"Is each of those an active rune?" She asked, eyes wide.

I shook my head. "No." I shrugged. "Some are blank in case I need a bead and don't have one. Will you come?"

"You're at the Boar's head?"

I nodded. "I know it's far. If it works I will make something closer."

She sighed, her fingers already braiding the bead into place. "Tonight, yes. Remember, no lifting."

Some how I made it through the day. It was a miracle, since I was still required to go to the arena even though my healers mark made it clear I could not partake. I asked to meditate instead, and then was kicked by several of the students.

The class work I had accomplished was overall determined merely good enough. Professor Lutsel spent half the class picking apart my essay, then told me to redo it by tomorrow. Because giving me one night to write out an essay had worked so well.

When I finally made it to the tavern, I was already exhausted. I pulled on an apron and activated an awake rune and a strength rune. It was better and quicker than any tea I could have drank.

I was cleaning tables one handed when the healer stepped into the tavern.

"Logan. What...what did you do?" She said, and swayed a little. Then she straightened and smiled. "I can say it works, whatever it is. But it's a bit like getting kicked in the ribs to start."

I frowned and activated the awareness rune so I could see the magic flow. "Is it unworkable, or just takes getting used to?"

She smiled brightly at me. "If I need more power, I'm not going to care that it has a kick. But I better go before I explode."

I felt my eyes widen. "I promised Steph no explosions."

The healer laughed and took a few steps back. Her body relaxed as she got closer to the door. "The range is limited."

I nodded. "Were you going to explode?"

"No," she laughed again. "But when a healer leaks magic, generally we put people to sleep."

I smiled and waved my goodbye even as she walked out.

It had worked. Almost too well.

"Did you make it so the healer could...recharge her power by visiting the tavern?" Steph asked, tone incredulous.

I shrugged. "She keeps putting me back together, and sometimes uses her proper magic when she is supposed to be using lesser magics."

"Is it wise?" She asked.

I wiped down another table. "Steph, by the end of this year my life will change drastically or I will be killed. My power will not be allowed to be rouge. If I do not create for others, there is little argument to keep me alive."

Steph frowned in thought and then sighed. "You are going to get yourself killed."

"Or no one will want the runes to stop working and enough people will argue for my continued existence that they will have to keep me alive. As long as I live, my runes continue to work. Once I die, they become decorations."

"Even the runes that are powered like what you have here? Through emotions and lingering magical energy?"

I nodded. "Everything I have found, including old runes, indicates that some part of my life powers the runes. When I find old runes from past rune mage students, the runes have no spark. I cannot activate them."

Steph's eyes tightened. She was probably thinking that she would be one of the people demanding I be let to live. She benefited significantly from my runes.

"I like the mercenary way you're thinking."