Rune Bound (Arakzeon City Series)
Dec 07, 2024 12:32 pm
Hello Happy Readers!
Only one more week until live date! I'm so excited to hear what you think about this story.
Excerpt from Chapter 10:
My friends darted out of my room to get to their own in order to dress appropriately for combat class. I swapped into my black leather trousers and black tank top and quickly pulled on my boots. My hands were shaking as I buckled the dagger holsters over my thighs.
Shit, shit, shit. I can’t be late.
I fetched my daggers from under my pillow and from the bedside table, and shoved them into their sheaths before rushing out of my room.
I didn’t stop running until I pushed the swinging doors open to the gym and got hit with the smell of disinfectant from the plastic covers of the mats having been cleaned.
The room was filled with students who were all chatting amongst themselves, but I couldn’t see Master Dylan. I removed my boots by the shoe rack, as no one was allowed to wear boots on the mat, and crept along the wall, searching for him.
Come on! Come on! Where are you?
He was nowhere. My heart hurt. Was he really dead?
Panic filled me up as I passed the weights room and found it empty. I continued walking and reached the door leading from the gym into the reception area and offices. Students weren’t allowed in there, but I had to know if he was unharmed. Lightly, I tip-toed on my foot pads and leaned around the second door frame.
“Miss Grav? Why am I not surprised,” Master Dylan sighed, as he saw me.
“What can I do for you…” he observed me as I stood silently by the door, “…little hummingbird?”
He was full of cuts and bruises and I could imagine he had been covered in blood only moments earlier, but he had cleaned himself up. There was a particularly large cut where his wide shoulders met his broad neck. I wanted to gasp, but composed myself. He couldn’t have had much sleep, which was evident in his eyes. I had gossiped all night whilst he had fought a war, been to the infirmary to heal and got himself dressed and ready to teach his next class.
“You look awful.”
“Is that the best compliment you can muster?”
He averted his gaze from me, as I didn’t reply, and focused on carving with the tip of a blade into the side of another blade lying on the desk. He graced it twice and then lifted the knife he had been carving on and blew away the steel dust. Then he held it out to me. “Your trophy.”
I approached him, looking curiously at the knife, and took it. There was an engraving that read.
To student with most orders disobeyed.
Six counted on introduction day.
“Six? It was four.”
“That was before the siren sounded and you talked back to me when I said you had to go to your room. And lastly, you rushed to your room before I had dismissed you. Six.”
“Those were not orders. They don’t count. It was four.”
“And now you already have two this morning. One for coming in here where students aren’t allowed, and two for arguing with me on how many times you argued with me yesterday. If I tell you to go back to class, will there be a number three?”
I shook my head, but stayed when I heard him hiss as he left his seat. He was in pain. He carefully stepped away from the desk and limped over to his weapons’ shelf.
“You’re hurt. You can barely walk. Have another teacher take the class.”
“I feel number three is coming on.”
“I’m not disobeying. I’m-”
“Giving me orders?”
“No… I don’t know… caring.”
His face seemed to discard the hard edges and turn a shade of humble. But I could have been imagining it.
“If I don’t show on the first day, and especially after my students know I have been in battle, they will lose respect for me. But don’t worry about me, little mongrel. This is far easier than keeping you on a leash.”
That reminded me he had already seen me heal. It didn’t matter if I healed him, so that I didn’t have to watch him teach us, knowing he was in such pain.
“Let me at least heal you somewhat, as I’m sure the way you move when in this amount of pain will not instil any respect in the students, either.”
“No!” he shouted, making me take a step backwards.
“Don’t like it if a mongrel touches your pure skin? You’d rather-”
“Don’t be stupid. I have no reservation towards mixed races. Our royal family is of mixed race, for god’s sake.”
I swallowed hard. What had Nickel told him? Did he know? My heart suddenly threatened to hammer itself out of my chest. “Why then?” I asked, hoping I’d find out more about what he knew.
He sighed. “You’re using your healing powers too conspicuously. I never want you to use them ever again.”
“You want me to never heal again?”
“Are you trying to impress me by reiterating my order to ensure you have understood, and will follow?”
“No. I just couldn’t fathom how stupid that order was. I’ll stop healing the day you stop using your lungs.”
“Is that a threat?”
“What? No. I didn’t mean it like that, although now I wished I had realised the meaning when I said it. I just meant that it’s a part of me and I can’t just turn it off. Equally, I wouldn’t change my personality, because you order me to.”
“I never asked you to change.”
“No. Just that I remove a big part of me entirely.”
“I meant it for your own good. Many people would want to imprison a person with a unique healing ability to keep for themselves. Like a life assurance. I doubt birds do well in cages.”
The thought had never crossed my mind, but I could see where he was coming from. But this wasn’t one of those times I would obey him, either. I couldn’t stand watching him in so much pain.
This was going to be undignified, and if he expelled me, then so be it.
Whilst he was still having his back towards me, I went up to him and clasped my small hand around the back of his neck, shooting my most potent power into him. It was the only way to cripple him from pushing me away.
The force of the magic shot up and down my body with short spurts of sharp pain. I whimpered, but was determined to keep the flow until I had healed him fully. He had a particularly bad leg with one of the muscles having a large sprain. I couldn’t tell which one, but the sensation it sent into me was excruciating.
The magic brought Master Dylan to his knees, and he growled lowly from the pain. The multiple ailments drew more strength from me than I had ever utilised whilst healing before, and considering I hadn’t had breakfast, I began feeling faint. The world around me was swimming and my sight was fading at the edges. I dropped the trophy knife he had given me and it clattered to the floor.
Realising it too late, I fell, losing my grip on him. There was no thud to the floor as he caught me in his arms.
“Selena?” he called.
I shook my head and sat up, pulling myself out of his arms, as I knew how inappropriate it was for me to be in them.
I gripped the edge of the desk and pulled myself up to stand, still feeling dizzy. My sight was clearing up, though, so I stretched my arm out and held up three fingers in front of his face.
“That counts as three for today.”
I hope you enjoyed that and start reading Book 1, Magically Bound, which is about Princess Jelena's (AKA Selena) parents and the aftermath of the liberation of the Arakzeon City.
Until next time,
Therese
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