NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 32: Sticky Runes
The people of the Iron Vein are a race of human origin, but have grown to have an average height of 7 to 8 feet. The abnormal height predates the access to the Primordial and is likely due to the introduction of giant blood into the gene pool.
Lidian’s Manual to Magical Fauna, 283rd ed
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While he read the short note, Kole felt a strange sensation at the back of his skull and then heard a small whoosh of air. He looked up to find Theral gone.
Kole reflected on the sensation. Wizards and sorcerers eventually gained the ability to sense the casting of magic around them. He was far from acquiring such a skill, but from what he’d read on it, what he’d just felt could be nothing else. It was said that the most powerful magics could be sensed even by those without an ounce of magical talent.
Could this teleportation effect have been that strong? He wondered.
Kole had been around teleporting mages before—or wizards he supposed if Tallen was right about that—but he’d never sensed their magic.
How far did he just travel?
He set the thoughts aside and looked up at the door where he was supposed to hang the note. Cautiously, he walked towards it and cracked it slightly. Beyond the door stood another library, though this one was not so grand in scale as the one in the Dahn. An illusionary depiction of Kaltis sat in the middle, and tables and chairs were arrayed around it. Beyond that, bookshelves lined the walls of the circular room. It was hard to tell from just their spines, but Kole sensed that these books were far more valuable than those he’d left behind in the library proper. The books outside this room had a uniformity that these lacked. Each book here was entirely unique, be that a worn and battered journal to a spine of pure gold etched with silver lettering.
I don’t think I’m supposed to be here.
Kole looked down at the note. Whoever it was written to, it was probably best he listened to Theral and posted it on the door. He moved to do just that but realized the door was stone and he had nothing to use to adhere it. It was then that he noticed that the back of the page had runes all over it. He didn’t recognize most of it, but the symbol for the Font of Bonds was clear.
“Sticky runes?” he questioned aloud.
Not sure what else to do, he pressed the page against the door, where it stuck.
“Weird,” he said, wondering why that young wizard—or mage—had a pre-prepared adhesive-backed rune in his spellbook ready to stick to a door. From what little he knew of runes, that shouldn’t work—or at least not work for very long.
As he stood contemplating asking Amara to prepare some runed pages for himself, he heard a door open somewhere in the private library.
Flood! He cursed himself, turning invisible.
He couldn’t open the door, it hadn’t been silent when he’d come in and he doubted he could make it so now.
He heard a voice next, half singing half humming a tune Kole didn’t know with evident musical talent, growing closer. Afraid to even breathe, Kole held his breath, waiting for the unseen singer to move on.
The humming continued as Kole felt his lungs begin to burn and he realized holding his breath had been a terrible idea, as now he felt the urge to expel his air quickly and gulp in more. As if taunting him, he felt a slight breeze blow past his face as the humming continued, and he considered making a run for it if his breath would give him away in any case.
Before he could make a decision, he felt an icy cold pinprick at the back of his neck.
“How did you get in here,” the beautiful singing voice asked from behind, even as it continued to sing out among the books unseen.
As soon as the blade had touched his neck, Kole’s invisibility had dropped. Slowly, he raised his hands above his head in surrender, but before he could conjure some sort of explanation or plead for the mysterious woman to look at the note he’d just placed on the door, she let out a sigh.
“Oh, it's you,” she said, disappointed.
In a much less menacing and much more annoyed tone, she asked, “How did you get in here? Zale didn’t let you in here, did she? No, she wouldn’t, but Runt might have.”
The names provided context for the voice, and suddenly Kole recognized it as Zale’s mother. Thoughts of his imminent death fled, only to come back as he recalled Zale’s mention of her mother’s sadistic nature.
“N-n-no,” Kole stammered.
“Oh, put your hands down, I’m probably not going to kill you…” she trailed off, finally noticing the book in Kole’s hand. “How’d you… where’d you…”
She stopped talking, sounding uncertain for the first time since he’d met her.
“It is? He did?” Shalia asked, disbelieving and talking to someone that Kole couldn't hear.
Kole relaxed slightly when he heard the sound of her blade sheathing.
“Turn around I’m not going to kill you. Did you meet someone in there?” she asked gesturing to the door behind her.
No longer fearing death, but still quite worried, Kole pointed to the note.
When Zale’s mother read the note, she broke out into a manic laughter.
“I’m going to kill that little bastard. You’re the kid? I was wondering why he was being so cold. I thought that might have been because of where you’re from.”
“What?” Kole asked, confused.
“Oh, nothing. Sorry if I scared you. You can calm down now. Tell me what happened.”
The words didn’t help alleviate Kole’s anxiety at the situation.
Kole explained how Theral had appeared, and how he’d teleported them to the room he’d previously discovered.
“Now why did he need to do that?” Shalia asked, knowingly.
“I, uh… was being chased by some divination students.”
“I thought that was you. Carry on.
Kole continued, wondering how this woman had even heard about that, it hadn’t been that long ago.
“Feel free to stick around in that room. I take it you’re living in the library?” she said, after he’d finished the short tale.
Kole nodded, shamefaced.
“Don’t worry, I don’t care about that. You’re not the first. As a general rule, if a door opens for you in this place, you’re allowed to go through it.”
Kole perked up at that, and his eyes glanced towards the books.
Shalia caught the look and added, “But that doesn’t give you a right to the things found behind the door. There’s a reason these books aren’t in the library proper. If you touch any of these, I won’t have to kill you, you’ll probably just die in a horrible magical accident or kill yourself from the horror of what you learned.”
Kole wasn’t sure what to say after that. He’d been tempted to inspect the books, but now thought better of it.
“Any questions?” Shalia asked after an uncomfortably long pause.
“So, I can stay in here? Use the tables.”
She thought about it for a moment and then shook her head.
“No, best not to tempt you.”
“Is Zale okay?” He asked after a brief internal struggle. “She’s been a little upset after a run-in with Harold and Gray.”
Kole thought he’d been scared of Zale’s mother before, but the steel that entered her eyes at the mention of her daughter made him view the points leading up to them as a pleasant chat.
“So that's what happened,” she said. “She’ll be fine. She’s a tough girl. She’ll learn she’s too good for that idiot one of these days. Speaking of my daughter, you should probably get some rest. You only have a few hours until you're supposed to meet her for breakfast.”
“Flood,” Kole cursed, realizing how late it was and that he’d not had the most restful night.
“Thank you,” he added as he turned to leave, though he wasn’t sure what exactly he was thanking her for, only that it felt appropriate.
“One last thing,” Shalia said as Kole reached for the door. “Don’t tell Theral that you met me. And don’t tell anyone you met him. And I mean anyone.”
When Kole turned around to ask why, he found Zale’s mother was gone. He was pretty sure that whatever she’d done to vanish, she was still somewhere in the room, so he bit back a comment on her being overly dramatic and simply left to his new room. He lay down on the bed and was asleep in an instant.
Twenty minutes later, his alarm went off from where it’d landed on the floor after the teleportation.