Rune mage

Chapter 27: darkness

I was sitting in the dark of the field, creating runes on the last of some caltrops when an idea came to me.

I didn't have to sit and take the attack in Lutsel's office. The attack was power like anything else, which meant I could soak it up.

I finished the group of caltrops and walked toward the school.

I considered asking Fredric to experiment with me, but remembered how badly that worked out last time.

So I would experiment on the very person attacking me.

In the arena, Fa Mai had me run. He couldn't keep attacking me if I didn't fight back. Not if he wanted me to live, and apparently he did. So he had me run at full speed.

I made a point to be as silent as I could, running in such a way that my feet didn't shuffle. I kept my breathing even, my expression blank.

It felt almost peaceful. The darkness was not quite so dark, when I ran.

When class was over I walked equally silent to the field where Lee waited.

She looked so much healthier lately, my wellness daisy stuck into her hair like an ornate barrette.

"There is an enemy squadron advancing. What will you do?"

It was the same question she had asked me for the last week. This time, Instead of staring blankly at her or the field, I activated every caltrop rune out there.

The ground seemed to leap up, dirt flying. I had buried the caltrops just enough to send dust onto the air. Once the caltrops were deployed, it was another quick burst of power to tuck them back. The dirt would be disturbed still, but that didn't matter.

The surprise on Lee's face was almost enough to break through the darkness. Fa Mai stalked Into the field, his whole body alert.

"Caltrops?" He called back after a moment.

I shrugged and turned away. His expression was hopeful. It hurt to look at. So I left them standing in the field, not caring that I was leaving class early.

Each step towards Lutsel's class became slower. I could feel my heart begin to race. Every day since I had nearly died, just getting to the room was a fight against my mind.

Sometimes I would begin to feel as though I was holding fire in my hands.

Since I had time, I detoured and went to the arena to watch Lu.

He could move. Watching him fight was like watching a dancer. I wondered if he could use dance as a design, and lost myself in thought for a while. It was almost like running, where the darkness was not quite as dark.

I stayed in the shadows watching until the bell rang for class to end. Then I headed towards the room Lutsel taught me from.

I entered and sat cross legged in my designated spot. Lutsel looked up but said nothing. He had stopped speaking to me a few days ago, when no amount of berating me or threatening me would get me to do more than sit.

I noticed the moment my breathing became labored, and paid attention to the feel of the magic. I could soak up left over magic just fine. Why not directed magic? I started with a slight tug, pulling the magic using a rune stone on my belt.

My breathing became slightly easier. For the rest of the class I slowly pulled power away until I was breathing almost normally.

I then took the power collected and fed it into one of my final power source tattoos. Most of them were full now, but there was two left to fill and this power, as little as it was, would not come close to filling the rune I sent it to.