Return of the Runebound Professor

Chapter 145: Not dead yet

“What are the chances she goes easy on us?” Todd asked, staring at Moxie’s back as she vanished through the trees.

Lee sprinted past them in another lap, buffeting the three with wind as she went by.

“Zero,” Emily said with a shudder. “We’re dead. She never goes easy.”

“She wouldn’t give us a challenge we had no chance of passing, would she?” Isabel asked.

“I feel like she totally would,” Todd said. He grimaced and rubbed at his aching legs, trying to work some of the pain out of them unsuccessfully. “I bet she’d enjoy it.”

“Moxie just wants to push us,” Emily defended, but she didn’t sound too sure about her own words.

“We need a plan,” Isabel said. “How much energy do your Runes have back?”

“Not nearly enough,” Todd replied. He sent his mind inward, gently checking on his Runes. His grimace grew deeper and he let out a huff. “Almost nothing, actually. I’ve replaced most of my Lesser Runes already, and everything is pretty much completely spent. If we get into a fight anytime in the next hour, I’m dead.”

“Same here,” Emily said. “I don’t even have any Lesser Runes. I never thought I’d say this, but maybe it would have been useful to have one or two, just for the short term benefits of having them pull their energy back faster.”

“We could try to hide somewhere and focus on restoring our energy,” Isabel offered. “Or maybe we could hunt some monsters in the few minutes we have before Moxie comes looking for us?”

Lee sprinted past them again.

“No way we kill them fast enough,” Todd said with a shake of his head. “We’d need something easy to kill with a lot of energy, which is an oxymoron.”

“So it’s hiding or running, then,” Emily concluded. She glanced around the clearing and chewed her lower lip. “Can we hide underground with Isabel’s powers, maybe?”

“I don’t have the strength to do that right now. It’ll be at least a few minutes before I have the energy to move that much earth –probably close to ten or fifteen. It would be cutting things really close.”

“We could run,” Todd offered. Both Emily and Isabel glared at him.

“Like we’d get far doing that,” Emily muttered. “I can barely walk.”

“Well, what are we supposed to do?” Todd asked.

Lee sprinted by them once more. If anything, she was increasing her pace. All three of them paused for a moment as they watched her complete another lap around the camp.

“Maybe we could convince Lee to carry us away?” Isabel wondered.

Emily shook her head. “No. Moxie would definitely consider that cheating. We should probably assume that we’re on our own. Speaking of which, where’d your professor go?”

There was no sign of Vermil anywhere in the clearing. He’d somehow snuck away while they were distracted with Moxie and Lee. Todd snorted.

“Well, he’s certainly not going to be helping us either. Don’t we have any options other than hiding or running?”

“Like what? Fighting?” Emily arched an eyebrow in a remarkably similar manner to Moxie. It wasn’t hard to tell where she’d learned the expression from. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I’d last more than a second in my current state.”

“Hiding or running it is,” Todd decided. “But Moxie is going to be able to find us if we run, and we can’t even properly hide. Maybe we can throw her off our tail somehow?”

“We could try to make a decoy path. If any of us could fly, then that wouldn’t be a bad idea,” Isabel said with a frown. “Two of us could head in one direction, while the other set off in a different one and left heavy tracks to catch her attention. She said the monster wouldn’t be too intelligent, so it would go after the easier option.”

“You’re suggesting we just sacrifice someone?” Emily scratched her chin. “That’s an idea.”

“No,” Isabel said, giving Emily a flat stare. “I mean someone makes a trail and then reconnects with us somehow.”

“Oh,” Emily said. “Right. Of course. How, though? I can’t fly.”

“Neither can I,” Isabel said. “And Todd can’t either.”

“I could use the trees,” Todd offered with a thoughtful expression. “If I use my Body Imbuement, I’ll be a lot faster than both of you. It’s pretty low on energy, but by the time we get far enough, there should be enough for a bit of speed. I can make a trail, then climb a tree and use the canopy to link back with you.”

“How would you even find us?” Emily asked. “You’d just get lost, and then it would be easier to pick us off. We’re better as a team, aren’t we?”

She paused as soon as she finished speaking, her cheeks going red in embarrassment. “Actually, forget–”

“You’re correct,” Isabel said with a nod. “But Todd should be able to find us again.”

“How?”

“I can see heat,” Todd said, tapping the side of his head. “That’s another Body Imbuement I’ve got. Doesn’t take too much energy either, so I could probably pull it off. We won’t buy that much time if this works, though.”

“It might be enough for me to regain enough energy to build a shelter underground,” Isabel said. “And Emily can protect me while I’m working on it.”

Emily blinked in surprise, then nodded. “Yeah. I can do that.”

“Guess it’s our best bet,” Todd said. “What direction are you going? It’ll help me catch up with you if I know where you went.”

Isabel pointed to their north. “Opposite direction that Moxie went. We’ll walk for about six minutes before I stop. It won’t be the most time, but hopefully you pulling her in the wrong direction will buy enough time for you to rejoin with us before she arrives.”

The three of them glanced at each other, then nodded. They set off as confidently and quickly as they could – which was really more of a staggering mix of a walk and a jog away from the camp.

Todd caught his last glimpse of Isabel and Emily as they stepped into the woods before he entered it at an angle, moving as quickly as his body would still permit him to. Twinges of pain occasionally ran down his neck and into his shoulder blade, but he ignored them.

I don’t know if I’d say I’m getting used to it or if I’m just getting better at ignoring it, but I’ll take what I can get. It isn’t too bad when I’m not sprinting around.

Todd dragged his feet along the ground, leaving a thick furrow in the dirt behind him as he went. It wasn’t hard to do. He could barely muster the energy to lift his legs properly. Every single muscle in the lower half of his body ached furiously, and the emptiness in his Runes was a sharp pang in his soul.

On top of all that, his stomach grumbled. Todd suppressed a sigh. Of course he was hungry.

He trudged on, sending a tiny trickle of energy into the Imbuements in his eyes to activate his heat vision. As weary as he was, he didn’t want to get attacked by a monster that he didn’t see. Todd was pretty sure he wouldn’t have the energy to dodge a surprise blow.

As he pressed deeper into the forest, Todd kept a rough count of the time under his breath. He was pretty sure he lost count a few times, but he was almost too tired to care. He just kept moving, dragging his feet through the dirt.

Man, it would be hilarious if Moxie ended up just following the other two anyway. I might just show up to find that she’s defeated them and turn into the hypothetical monster’s lunch because I’m completely spent from all of this.

Todd suppressed a snicker. He didn’t have the energy to waste on laughter. He just kept trudging on. His runes slowly refilled, but nowhere near as fast as he would have liked. When he finally reached his count of six minutes, there was still very little power to work with in each of his Runes.

At least there hadn’t been any monsters in his direct path. Todd let out a sigh, then turned toward the direction that Isabel and Emily had set off in. He gathered his energy and sent it into the Body Imbuements in his legs. They warmed as power started to pump through them.

Todd lowered his stance, wincing as his body groaned in exhaustion, then launched himself at the nearest tree. He grabbed onto a low hanging branch with a grunt, then clambered onto it over the course of the next few seconds.

Cursing under his breath, Todd pulled himself up to the next branch. His neck twinged as he twisted it at an awkward angle, nearly causing him to lose his grip and plummet to the ground. Todd managed to grab the tree at the last moment, keeping himself still until the pain passed.

He carefully rose to his feet, then jumped to the nearest tree. His empowered legs, as weary as they were, still had enough power to easily carry him into it. He slapped into the trunk with a meaty smack, clutching onto the rough bark.

“They owe me for this,” Todd muttered under his breath as he took a step and jumped toward the next tree.

In that manner, he cut across the forest in the direction – at least, he hoped it was the direction – that Emily and Isabel had gone in. The process was a lot more difficult than he’d expected. If he’d had all his energy, it wouldn’t have been too bad, but Todd had discounted just how difficult it was to move around when he was completely and utterly drained.

Hopping through the treetops like a monkey with a severe brain injury, Todd scanned the forest ground in search of any human forms. Minutes ticked by. He wasn’t sure exactly how much time had passed, but it was definitely more than ten minutes. Moxie would already be on the hunt.

And then Todd spotted a flicker of heat at the edge of his vision. A grin crossed his face as he focused in on it, pausing to squint. Two female forms sat on the ground level of the forest, just a little over a dozen trees away from him.

Thank the gods. I don’t think I would have made it much –

A branch snapped on the ground not too far away from Todd. He jerked his head back, sending a lance of pain through his neck in the process. Another form was striding through the forest, heading straight toward him.

Moxie.

Damn it. I was too slow. But, if I really rush, then I might be able to make it to the hole in time for Isabel to seal it over. There’s an equal chance that I just lead Moxie straight to them, though. She’s following my trail right now, not them.

Todd didn’t have much time to decide. He bit his lower lip, then swore under his breath as he came to a decision. Moxie was nearly below him now. It would just be a few seconds. Todd swung his legs over the branch and dropped, landing on the ground directly in front of her with a grunt.

Moxie came to a stop, watching him with a flat expression. “That was fast, Todd. Not even a minute.”

“I’m not dead yet,” Todd said, increasing the amount of energy flowing into his legs as he lowered his aching body into a fighting stance.

I just need to buy more time for Isabel and Emily while letting them know I got caught. That’ll give them more time to finish the hiding spot and warn them that Moxie is near.

“You will be,” Moxie said. A vine whipped out from behind her, shooting for Todd’s leg. His Body Imbuements burned as he lunged to the side, blurring out of the way. Another vine shot out for him, but Todd activated the Imbuements in his arms and vaulted off the ground, throwing himself at Moxie.

She shifted to the side, and Todd flew past her harmlessly. He hit the ground in a grunt and rolled to a stop, shoving himself back to his feet and striking his bracelets against each other. He barely had energy to work with, but he still managed to form a small ball of flame in his hands.

“Not dead yet,” Todd repeated, panting.

A smile crossed Moxie’s face and vines rose up around her like the heads of a hydra. “Let’s see what you’ve got left, then. I’m not going to go easy on you.”