Rune Mage [Fantasy/Adventure | Book 1 +2 | Complete]

Chapter 68: Escaping the Blast

For a sewer, it surprisingly didn't smell as bad as Seiren thought -- or it might be due to her nose being frozen and numbed. The remains of her water-freezing rune wore off so the liquid sloshed around her boots, which, luckily, were waterproof. The tunnel was circular, stretching ahead into the darkness, the ceiling just about brushing the top of her head if she bent forward. They were lucky neither of them were particularly tall or gangly. She lit up a yellow rune and held it in front of her, squinting and wishing she'd had a good look at how Maura created her light runes so that the glare avoided the user. She hoped Maura managed to get away, ratty as that woman was. Seiren wanted her to teach her how to use indigo runes one day.

After ten minutes, there was a thump whence they came. A ripple of energy coursed through the air in the tunnels, causing the hairs on Seiren's neck to rise and goosebumps to form on her skin.

"That would be the nullifying rune."

"Did we..." Seiren brought her light rune closer. The magic still glowed. "We aren't caught in its vicinity, right?"

"No, we're not. You're just feeling the residual effects."

"What would have happened if we stayed?"

"We'll be 'a sack of meat', I believe your words were."

Seiren turned around to scowl at him. Rowan had a half-smile on his face. He shooed her forward. With a sniff, she moved ahead, one hand brushing against the curved stone wall to keep steady. There were remains of footprints there, slowly filling with the trickling water and melting away. Good. The citizens had been through this part.

"I know they don't teach nullifying runes at King's. It's very advanced violet runes. They barely teach you any violet at King's as it is. Depending on the extent on the rune, all magic within an area around the centre point becomes negated. You can't connect with your inner core or any magical thing you've infused magic into -- your rune paper or the elements. It's not you that's affected. Think of it like... noise-cancelling."

"And then mages become plebs."

"Well, yes, temporarily, unless you're also military-trained like my sister."

"So what contribution do you intend to make without your magic, Rowan?"

He gave a low, mirthless chuckle. "Tylene and Dent are my subordinates. Their safety is my obligation."

"And yours is theirs when those creatures tear out your spleen."

"Thank you for your concern, Seiren." He paused. "Those things..."

Seiren slowed. She'd been dreading this moment. He didn't believe her. For some reason, this hurt a lot more than she thought it would. Why should his opinion matter to her any more than anyone else's until now?

Because you trust him.

"I was telling the truth, okay?" Her voice wavered. "I can't prove it. But I never developed them this far. I could get them to heal after wounds, deep wounds, devastating wounds, but they were wild, uncontrollable. I thought I'd put all the test subjects down. I thought that was the end of it. I never thought -- never thought--"

A warm hand touched the small of her back and she made an awful attempt to convert a sob to a cough.

"I wasn't going to say that, you idiot."

She laughed weakly; that was interrupted by a hiccup.

"I was going to ask, before you started accusing yourself of being a liar, what would happen to those creatures once the magic leaves their system?"