Rune mage

Chapter 38: Traps

"Looks like his job was to poison the water," Rudger said.

I considered how successful this would have been. I had runes in the water source that would make poison inert and constantly kept the water from growing molds or housing insects. It wouldn't have been successful, not really. Perhaps enough to cause a few unsettled stomachs. But when I looked at the tunnel I figured he was really there as a stone mage to make a tunnel for attack.

Rudger handed me a scrap of parchment.

It was a map, neatly done and precise, of our fort.

"Do you think we have a traitor?" Rudger asked.

I shrugged. "It's always possible. But it's more likely from the last rotation. Someone who knew they would leave before the fighting started again and so could risk giving away information. After all, they plan to kill everyone. Even a traitor would realize it would be a death sentence to give away information."

I looked again at the new tunnel.

"Do you have questions for him?" I asked Rudger and Howl.

They did.

But he didn't answer any of their questions. I didn't think he would. While I might one day feel it necessary to torture people for answers, I didn't think this was the day.

I unceremoniously pulled away all his power until his life was gone. Then I released the web and let him fall.

"He's...dead?" Howl asked nervously.

"I can kill any mage whose power brushes against mine," I replied and tossed the dead man's body into the tunnel. "I'm setting some traps. Have some men bring the bricks down here and we can wall up this entrance." Then I stepped inside the tunnel and began placing down runes.

I stopped briefly to consult with the healers. They didn't like my initial plan to put contagions upon any who entered the outside part of the tunnel. Wisely they pointed out that any contagion could spread to our men despite wellness runes.

So instead I would pull power from any mage to the point of death, and any non mage would find it difficult to tell up from down. If they made it to the wall, layers of runes would cause them to be violently Ill. I had men place the bricks down in more than one layer, with runes between them on the off chance that they were able to get through the other traps. Between the two outer most barriers I left the naked stone mage and another trap for anyone who was determined enough to break through.

Then I set down runes that would collect power on its own to keep these trap runes running enough to be able to be triggered. The emotions of fear or anger of any intruder would do the rest.

The bricks filled up the hole but left edges. I found a mason among my men and had him place down edges and fill in gaps and then eventually completely fill over the hole so that no one would know it had been there.

While he placed down the thick paste, I drew runes directly into the drying parts, making it stronger.

Then I rejoined the on going battle.

I knew when the tunnel had been entered, just before dark. Their hope had likely been to sneak in and attack as we slept. I felt the power of an air mage, quickly sucked down to nothing to power the other runes.

There were about fifty in the tunnel, likely packed in tight. They were able to get past the vertigo, I assume by crawling. I couldn't see them or tell much about what was going on. But most of them left after reaching the wall.

A few remained.

Those few must have had tools in case they came to a wall, because they managed to break through the first barrier.

I had to imagine their surprise when they came across the body of the stone mage, naked and on display as if a beloved waiting for burial.

If they touched him, they would be stuck there.

One must have. The magic I left reached up and trapped him, wrapping him like a spider would cocoon its next meal. Visible to the others and able to breathe and speak, but otherwise stuck.

Finally my magic triggered a slow version of the runes I used to destroy corpses.

The few who were not trapped didn't stay long.

And the screams of the trapped man followed them out.

"What did you set up?" Howl asked as he noticed the faint echos of screaming.

"I have no mercy for those intent on my death. Let the small number who witnessed return to their camp and speak of a dead man and a living one slowly being devoured by magic, down to the bone. I let the runes start with the smallest parts...cartilage then fingers and toes. It would be horrific to watch your friend be torn asunder and exquisitely painful for the one alive. He will not live long as his skin and tissue is tripped from his bones. And the ones who saw it start, They will never forget it."

Howl turned and retched into thankfully empty space. I triggered a cleaning rune from nearby and the mess vanished.

"You are a cruel man." Howl managed.

I shrugged. "I will not easily be defeated. Any man who comes for me or my men, they have already sealed their fates."

The screaming echos continued and then stopped or perhaps were no longer loud enough to be heard. I had set the trap to be slower at first but to speed up so that witnesses were traumatized but victims only had a short period of torture before death came for them.

I didn't need to tell anyone that.

I lost one that day to fighting, and one to injuries the healers could not overcome.

Their bodies I disposed of late in the night after laying down more runes. The illusion runes were helping, making our men look like they stood to the side of where they were. Now I was adding runes to create images of men who weren't there. I still had over a hundred men in my fort, but I suspected this wouldn't always be true. So I built runes to capture the likeness of sentries who stood nearby and then create the image of them long after they had moved to another station. These runes would be able to learn multiple images. They were extremely complex and each one took over an hour to lay down.

I didn't need sleep yet, so I spend my night laying seven of these runes down in key locations.

I directed the sentries to stand with a boot touching the rune for the first half hour of their shift and then explained that a false image would appear afterward. A few were jittery about this, and I would have to reassure some men that there were no ghosts upon our battlements. I hoped no one struck out against the illusions and hurt anyone else, so I spent too much time explaining to each sentry what to expect.

Then my page brought me breakfast and water and suggested as politely as someone his age could that I get clean.

It was nearly time for the next attack.