Return of the Runebound Professor

Noah rubbed his nose with the back of his hand and wandered into the bathroom. Mercifully, Vermil actually had a toothbrush and a stone tub of paste beside it that Noah hoped was toothpaste.

He brushed his teeth and headed over to the closet, rifling through it. It was full of the exact same outfit, over and over. Noah rubbed his chin.

“Well, at least he was consistent.” Noah pulled his jacket off and draped it over a wooden hanger in the closet.

A loud knock rang out on the door. Noah froze midway through pulling his shirt off. He slowly turned toward it, not making a noise.

Maybe they’ll think I’m asleep.

The handle clicked and the lock wiggled, turning over. Noah silently slipped up to the door and grabbed the lock, twisting it back shut. The door rattled, and there was a short pause. He grabbed the lock as it started to turn again, keeping it from opening.

Someone shook the door, then let out an annoyed curse. A burse of force slammed into the lock, twisting it out of Noah’s grip. Noah dove to the side as the door slammed open. He rolled to the side and tried to jump up, but he hit his head on the edge of the windowsill.

Noah let out a slew of curses and doubled over. He looked up through squinted eyes as someone stepped into his room – and stepped right onto the pile of papers near the door. They lost their footing and went down with a loud crash.

Several seconds passed as Noah stared at the bottom half of the intruder. He straightened and stepped around the door to get a better look.

“Oh, shit,” Noah muttered. A woman in her early forties laid on the ground, a pool of blood expanding around her head where it had stuck the ground. She wore teacher robes, but he didn’t recognize her – not that he would have recognized most people. Noah nudged her leg with his foot. She didn’t budge.

“Uh…  you okay there?” Noah asked hesitantly. There was no response. He knelt and pressed his head to her heart. There was no beat. Noah ran his hands through his hair and suppressed a groan. “Shit. Seriously? How incompetent can you possibly be?”

Loud thuds echoed from the end of the hall. Noah bolted upright, but it was too late to try to hide or move the body.

Shit, shit, shit. They’re going to think that I –

Moxie dashed down the hall, a shimmering green blade floating in the air before her. Her eyes flicked down to the corpse below Noah, then back up to him. They locked eyes for a moment.

“It’s not what it looks like,” Noah said weakly. He rose to his feet, lifting his hands into the air in surrender.

“You killed it,” Moxie said, letting the sword lower slightly. “I’ll be damned.”

“It was an accident! It’s not my fault!”

“What are you talking about?” Moxie let out a snort of laughter and grabbed her sword. The green light flickered out and it folded inward on itself, vanishing. Moxie strode up to stand beside him and knelt beside the corpse, pressing the back of her hand to its neck. “Did you decide to try and take up comedy as well?”

Noah let out an awkward laugh.

What the hell is going on?

“Still, I’m impressed you actually managed to kill it,” Moxie muttered under her breath. “Have you been training or something?”

“I don’t suppose you could explain what happened here?” Noah asked, ignoring her question. “Who is this?”

Moxie stared at Noah like he was an idiot. “Are you an idiot?”

“Just hypothetically, let’s assume that I am. Just for the time being, mind you.”

“It’s a Skinwalker,” Moxie said, like that was the most logical answer in the world. She saw the blank stare on Noah’s face and rolled her eyes. “You didn’t read the warning that got sent out, did you?”

Noah glanced at the pile of papers in the corner of the room. Now that Moxie mentioned it, he did vaguely recall seeing something about that, but when it was mixed in with all the other garbage that Vermil had stored, it was pretty difficult to realize what was actually relevant.

“Ah. Right.”

“How did you know to kill it if you didn’t even realize this was a Skinwalker?” Moxie demanded.

“Well, it kind of slipped and killed itself,” Noah said, stepping back so Moxie could see the pile of strewn papers on the ground. She blinked heavily, then rubbed her forehead.

“Ah. You’re lucky the stupid thing was already terrified.”

“I suppose I am,” Noah said. He rose to his feet, then looked back at his door. A small frown crossed his lips. A key jutted out of it. He pulled it out and held it up. “How’d a Skinwalker get this?”

Moxie looked to the side and her cheeks flashed with embarrassment. “It might have gotten a slight jump on me.”

Noah’s eyes narrowed. “It tricked you and got inside your room, didn’t it?”

“I had it under control! It was a very convincing Skinwalker, but I figured out what was going on,” Moxie snapped, grabbing the key from Noah’s hand.

“It nearly killed me.”

“It was already wounded. If a crippled Skinwalker killed you, you’d have deserved it,” Moxie said sharply. She nudged the corpse with a foot, then pointed a finger at it. A beam of purple light leapt forth, swallowing the body.

It vanished along with the blood, leaving the floor completely bare. Noah tried not to look too impressed with the display of magic, but he was pretty sure a flicker of surprise crossed his face before he could stop it.

“If it was a Skinwalker, doesn’t that mean it stole someone’s body?” Noah asked.

Moxie looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “Yes. It wasn’t someone that had any powerful runes, though. Probably a maid.”

Noah’s face fell. “Was there any way she could have lived?”

“No. She was already dead,” Moxie said flatly. “How do you not know this? Skinwalkers can only take over the bodies of people who have died. Do you even recall a single thing you learned in school?”

Noah didn’t respond. They stood in silence for a moment. Moxie cleared her throat.

“Maybe we could keep this between us,” Moxie suggested, glancing over her shoulder at the empty hall behind them.

Noah tilted his head to the side. Then a tiny grin flickered across his lips.

“Not for free.”