Rune Magic

2-5: 20,000 Leagues

.^^ Boris, the Young One ^^

— James —

The trail that Rafaela's emotions left me was vague, at best, because she'd only been feeling curiosity, not the more potent emotions, such as fear and anger. Still, it was possible to follow, so I opened the portal, and we walked through.

"What did she need in Texas?" I asked blandly, looking at the massive sign in front of me, 'Welcome to Texas, the Lone Star State!'

Manny shrugged. "How should I know? It was probably the squid who was leading her."

I hummed, and nodded, following the feeling again, through another portal. On the third iteration, I snarled at the sky from the top of the Eiffel Tower, and sat down. "Someone is sending our psychic to randomly generated locations... trying to wear me out? I don't get it... was the squid a rat?"

Manny laughed. "I've always wanted to go to Paris... it's dirtier than I expected." He hummed.

"Hello? Earth to Manny? Your Mum has disappeared just after a creature from an Eldritch-Dimension attacked us, and there very well may be a connection between the two events?!?" I frowned.

He shrugged easily. "We'll find her, and when we do, she'll have dealt with the situation already. She always does, that's just how she is. No use getting bent outa shape over it."

I shook my head. "You say that, but has she ever had a Keeper of Souls after her?"

He paused. "Well... no. That's new. Also, are you sure it was after her, instead of Zaire? I mean, the timing was a little suspect."

"I've considered that, yes, but either way, we need to find her. Hold out your hand." I motioned towards me. He held out his hand easily, trusting me, and I smiled. "I'm flattered you trust me so much! Now hold still, this will hurt a lot."

Before he could respond, I snipped off the fingertip of his pinkie, and halted the bleeding. He roared in pain, punching my ear, and I nodded. "You done? It'll grow back, don't be a baby." I waved him off, and used the dismembered finger to draw a circle of his own blood, on the metal floor.

I drew Runes with the nub, carefully crafting them, and ended up with a full transmutation circle.

"What's that supposed to do?" He asked, still cradling his hand away from me.

"It's a transmutation circle. I'm turning your finger into polarized wolfram, and then I'm making a Keening with it." I explained casually.

He took a large step back. "You know Keening's kill their users, right?"

"Only if you use it for a purpose the original owner would condemn. I'm using it to find your mother, who I think has been kidnapped. Also, I'm immortal, so I don't think it could kill me if it tried." I shrugged, and let the spell complete.

The blood and fingertip melted, and then collected, the liquid slowly gaining a metallic sheen. Then it cooled to room temperature, and I picked up the disk of metal. "Perfect... maybe not a Keening, then, but a compass..."

"As much as I don't want you to make a Keening, a Compass would probably not point between dimensions." Manny sighed.

I nodded. "True, but you also don't want me to make the Keening... that means it'll likely attack me. Scrying-Bowl/Compass it is..." I shaped the disk carefully, heating up my fingers until the metal moved under my hands like wet clay. I gave the disk a small lip, enough to fill it with whatever you were scrying into, and also made a needle, for the compass function.