Return of the Runebound Professor

Chapter 117: Problems

Brayden stepped out of the portal and it snapped shut behind him with a faint hiss. A short man stood in the center of the paved path, long black robes ending just slightly above his feet. His hood was pulled back, revealing a clean shaven head and a sharp, pointed face. His robes hung low on his arms, draping and obscuring his hands.

“Who are you?” Brayden asked, drawing his sword and letting it rest on the ground.

“Inquisitor Inaros,” the man replied. He spread his arms, but Brayden still couldn’t see the man’s hands within his robes. “You need not draw your blade unless you are a demon.”

Brayden’s eyes narrowed. “An Inquisitor? What are you doing here?”

“My job,” the Inquisitor replied primely. He reached into one of his sleeves and pulled out a long string of prayer beads, somehow all without actually revealing any part of his hands. The beads just hung from the darkness within them.

Brayden grunted, keeping his face as flat as he could manage. “Go ahead. Why were you leaking Runic energy like that? I thought you were a monster.”

Inaros approached Brayden, lifting the beads slightly. Brayden just watched them with a dour, skeptical expression. It was several moments before the Inquisitor spoke again.

“A challenge. Some demons are drawn to them,” Inaros replied, lowering the beads. “You are clean. You may continue on your way.”

He stepped past Brayden, starting down the road. Brayden’s hand fell on the man’s shoulder. Inaros turned slowly, looking back at Brayden.

“Yes?”

“You never answered my question,” Brayden rumbled. “There are a lot of places for an Inquisitor to be, but the Linwick Estate?”

“We received a report of demonic activity in the area,” Inaros replied with an easygoing smile. “Clearly, nothing that has affected you. Fear not. You have nothing to fear from me. Despite what the rumors may suggest, Inquisitors do not seek needless death. We work to protect the common man from the terrors of the Damned Plains.”

Brayden’s expression tightened. He shifted his stance. “Don’t Inquisitors typically travel in pairs?”

“Indeed we do. You’re well versed in our work,” Inaros said with a chuckle. The Runic energy pouring off the man intensified and Brayden lifted his hand, grimacing as the pressure washing off Inaros pushed him a step back. “My partner is currently investigating the rest of your group. Nothing to concern yourself with.”

Rank 4 at the minimum. He’s got a domain. And, more importantly, Vermil isn’t going to pass their checkup.

Brayden rolled his neck and plastered a smile across his face. He’d never been very good at lying, but if there was ever a time to start, this was it. Brayden extended a hand. As he reached out, Brayden released his own domain. His domain expanded, an invisible sphere of power enveloping him. It negated the power pushing out from Inaros and allowed him to approach.

Rank 4 for sure, then. A rank 5 would be able to overwhelm my domain, and I don’t see any traces of a physical manifestation of his powers that would come with a rank 5 domain.

“I’ve always been a huge fan of your line of work. I never thought I’d get to meet an Inquisitor as strong as yourself in person,” Brayden said. “Would you be willing to tell me a little more about your organization?”

Inaros paused, then turned back to face Brayden. He reached out with a sleeve-covered hand and took Brayden’s hand, giving it a shake. “I suppose I could spare–”

Brayden’s blade blurred. It slammed into the ground as Inaros threw his weight to the side. Brayden kept his grip on the man’s hand, but Inaros managed to completely twist his body, wrenching his arm out of the socket in order to avoid the strike.

A blast of Runic Energy slammed into Brayden, sending him skidding back and breaking his grip on Inaros. The Inquisitor grabbed his dislocated arm and jerked it back into place with a grunt.

“Damn it,” Brayden said, raising his sword with a sigh.

“Poor decision,” Inaros drawled, pressing his hands together within the cover of his sleeves. “I suppose the onus of failure is on me. I thought you untainted, but anyone associated with a demon must be purged. I will rectify the mistake.”

A black wind kicked up around Inaros, swirling around his body and rising up above his body in the shape of a viper. Brayden rolled his shoulders and lowered his stance, calling on his own magic.

For an instant, neither of them moved. Each watched the other, not wanting to make the first move and risk getting caught off guard. Inaros smiled.

“I’m more than content to wait here. My partner is more than enough to handle the demon and the others.”

Brayden snarled. He blurred forward, the runes Imbued within his body flaring with power. He leapt into the air, rearing back to bring his sword down on Inaros. The Inquisitor smirked and flicked a hand at Brayden.

The black snake whipped out, its mouth expanding as it reared back to bite him. As its jaws closed, Brayden vanished in a spark of purple energy. Inaros only had an instant to blink in surprise before he found Brayden standing beside him, his massive sword hurtling for Inaros’ head.

Inaros dove to the side – and straight into a purple portal that spat him back out right into the path of the sword once more. Inaros’ eyes widened and he let out a roar. A blast of Runic Energy sent Brayden skidding across the ground again, and he was forced to slam his sword into the dirt to keep from getting thrown even farther away.

“Space magic,” Inaros spat. “Why is a fat mountain of a man like you using something meant for assassins? Did the demon give you your runes?”

A portal opened behind Brayden and he stepped back, vanishing into it. Six portals snapped open around Inaros, even as the misty snake shot back to swirl back around the Inquisitor.

Inaros stood still, tilting his head slightly to the side as he waited for Brayden to strike. Several seconds passed. Brayden’s blade thrust out of the portal behind Inaros. The misty snake whipped around, slamming into the blade.

Brayden yanked it back into the portal before the apparition could rip it from his hands. He didn’t hesitate, thrusting it out from another portal on Inaros’ side. Black mist poured out of the Inquisitor’s sleeves, solidifying into a plate in the path of the sword.

It rang off with a loud clang. Inaros flicked his hand and the snake shot into one of the portals. An instant later, Brayden dove out of a different one and the other portals snapped shut. Inaros smirked. He raised a hand and the snake slithered out of his sleeves, coiling around his body once more.

“That won’t work, I’m afraid. I’ve got more miasma than you could ever possibly shunt away with your Runes. Doesn’t your kind prefer to attack from afar?”

Brayden ground his teeth together. He twisted his hand and the air around them vibrated. Letting out a roar, Brayden lunged forward. Space warped between him and Inaros, and his sword suddenly leapt forward.

Inaros’ stance shifted and he brought his shield of miasma up. A thin purple portal snapped open directly in front of the shield and Brayden’s sword sank into it, reemerging from another portal that he’d formed directly behind the man’s back.

Brayden felt the blade bite into something and sink in deep. A grin crossed his face, but it vanished as Inaros stepped to the side, revealing that Brayden had just stabbed a thick cloud of swirling black mist.

He yanked the sword back. Almost a quarter of it had turned to sludge. The melted parts of the sword sloughed off it, splattering and sizzling as they hit the ground. Inaros’ snake snapped out at Brayden, and he jumped back into a portal to avoid letting it bite down on him.

Brayden stepped out of the portal a dozen feet away from Inaros and looked down at his damaged sword with a grimace. Inaros smiled and extended his arms out to either side. “Done already, demonkin? I hope you’ve got more than that.”

Anger creased Brayden’s brow. He bared his teeth and drove his sword into the ground, leaving it buried in the dirt and stepping forward. He reached out, digging his hands into the air like it was made of pudding, and yanked.

A flicker of surprised danced across Inaros’ face a moment before he suddenly found himself hurtling straight toward Brayden. A massive fist whipped out, slamming into Inaros’ face with the force of a runaway train.

The Inquisitor slammed into the ground so hard that he bounced, blood splattering from his mouth. Hissing in fury, the miasma snake snapped at Brayden’s neck. Brayden flickered, disappearing and reforming behind Inaros as the man started to rise.

His foot slammed into the inquisitor’s back, but this time, Inaros was ready. A wave of miasma erupted from his body and forced Brayden to teleport backward. Inaros rose to his feet, rubbing his cheek and drawing in a ragged breath.

He wiped the blood from his nose and spat on the dirt. “A good blow. I didn’t expect that from someone in a backwater place like this.”

“I’ll show you backwater when I leave you floating face down in a lake,” Brayden growled.

“We’ll see about that,” Inaros replied. He extended his hands and miasma poured out from his sleeves, gathering into two massive wings. They curled around his body and the snake slithered back to him, slipping into one of his sleeves and taking the place of a hand. Another snake curled out of the other sleeve, hissing in conjunction with the first.

The miasma didn’t stop there. It kept pouring out of Inaros, until it towered like a tidal wave behind him, blocking out the sun.

Brayden’s eyes narrowed, and Inaros smiled.

“What are you waiting for?” Inaros asked. “Time runs out for your friends, and I know you cannot fight two Inquisitors at once.”

Brayden blinked, vanishing. Inaros roared with laughter, bringing the wave of miasma crashing down on top of himself. Wherever the black mist rolled across the ground, grass rotted and withered away.

A sphere of clean air carved through the miasma directly above Inaros’ head as Brayden appeared from a portal above the man, his domain burning away the miasma before it could touch him.

He kicked at Inaros, but the Inquisitor leaned out of the way. One of his wings whipped around, reaching for Brayden. It hissed as it passed into Brayden’s domain, but it didn’t stop. Brayden’s eyes widened and he vanished again. A portal dumped him out at the edge of the pool of miasma, out of harm’s way.

“What’s wrong?” Inaros asked, turning to face Brayden again. “Done already? Unfortunate. I suppose it’s my turn, then.”

His wings swelled as he flapped them downward, launching himself toward Brayden with blinding speed. Brayden vanished, landing on the other side of the pool of miasma. A trickle of sweat beaded up on his forehead and rolled down. Inaros turned, his massive wings flapping once more.

Brayden teleported out of the way once more, reappearing behind his sword. He staggered as he arrived, the strain on his Runes starting to intensify.

Teleporting takes too much damn energy, and short distances like this are the most I can do. I won’t be able to get to the others in time at this rate.

“Worrying about the demon?” Inaros asked. “You won’t have to for much longer. Space Runes chew up quite a bit of energy. Last I heard, there wasn’t a combination for them that was perfectly efficient. How much energy do they have left? Enough for a few more spells, perhaps?”

Brayden gritted his teeth, not answering the other man.

This might be a problem.