Seiren bit her lip. Even for military, although she knew nothing about it, that seemed almost inhumane. And Maura accepted it without a question. Her own father, banished to the toxic wastelands, forever.
So it's not because he cares. It's because he's paid the price for it already and doesn't want it to happen again.
They're not mutually exclusive, you know, said Madeleine.
Footsteps reached Seiren's ears. She looked beyond Maura's shoulder.
"Pardon me, Mages," said the aide at the door. He cleared his throat. "Brigadier General Grader would like you to know we have recovered some intact specimens of the demons from last night and would like your presence to discuss their... composition."
"They aren't rotting away?" Seiren said in surprise. Normally they would turn to dust fairly quickly on death. Maura swept past her and Seiren hurried to keep up. They ascended the narrow stone staircases, their footsteps echoing every step of the way.
"Henley Culpepper specialises in analytical runes," said Maura. "She can keep the bodies intact until we figure out what tricks the Hannans used to climb this wall. We'll figure out their tricks by sunfall."
The aide took them along the ground level again before descending down spiralling stone steps once more. Guards allowed them to pass, weapons in their hands. Security had increased since last night's events. They walked along the underground tunnel before it opened up to a larger chamber with metal bars running up and down each opening.
And within one of those dungeon rooms lay the dead demon and a rune mage crouched beside it. Brigadier General Grader stood in the far corner, arms crossed, murmuring to one of the other soldiers to his left. To Seiren's surprise, knelt before them was a spindly, haggard woman with leathery skin. Blood stained the front of her long dress that went down to her ankles, but the hem was ripped up to the knees.
A Hannan.
"There's no doubt about it. They're runes."
The temperature in the air dropped by several degrees. The room fell silent. Henley Culpepper stood up, her rainbow-lined black cloak swishing, and she tucked a strand of greying brown hair behind her ear. Her eyes flashed behind her spectacles. Maura stepped in and circled the dead demon in the middle of the dungeon floor. Five runes sat in a circle around the body, bathing it in a mix of green and violet. Seiren recognised the pattern: it slowed biological progress, meaning the body rotted at a slower rate. The analysing rune Culpepper had placed on the body fizzled away.
"How would Hannans get a hold of runes?" said Grader, his jaw twitching.
"That's the question, isn't it? Why don't you ask her?" said Maura, pausing and pursing her lips at the Hannan female.
Seiren's eyes darted back to the creature. It was quite a comical-looking demon were its destructive powers not so great. Its thick blue tongue lolled out of its mouth. Its head was the same width as its lengthy body. Its stumpy legs folded at its side, with some of the long claws snapped off. In the centre of its head was a vicious burn weld with several holes boring into its skull.
She turned back to the Hannan, whose head was bowed. She wasn't even sure if the woman was conscious.
"She won't talk," said Grader. "My men and I already interrogated her for the past five hours. She doesn't respond to physical pain or traditional torture methods."
"Any chance you can trace it to the creator, Culpepper?" said Maura, studying the Hannan and rubbing her chin.
"I'm good, but not that good," Culpepper said with a growl, crossing her arms. "If you need something that specialist, you'll need Kristen Harred or Kommora Haigh. Not me."
A draught crept through one of the crevices in the ceiling. Seiren shivered. Maura continued to pace around the chamber, her footsteps echoing off the walls.
"That matters not." She stopped again before the Hannan and took out chalk and paper. "Hannans are notorious for being difficult to persuade to out their own countrymen. They would rather die. Their bodies do not betray them... but their minds can."
Henley Culpepper scoffed. Maura swiftly sketched some light runes and replaced the ones lighting the cell chamber with them, bathing everyone in a softer, more ochre yellow light. She then sat cross-legged on the ground with the chalk and paper laid out in front of her. The room was silent for several minutes, punctuated by the sound of Maura's chalk on paper and the Hannan's shallow, rapid heaves. Grader and his men nodded and left the woman shackled on the dungeon floor.
"Are you going to stay, Nithercott?" said Culpepper, raising an eyebrow. "Maura Woodbead's indigo runes are not a pretty sight."
Seiren cast an eye over the meditating mage. Indigo runes. Of course. That explains Maura's words. "No. I'll stay."
"You're either brave or stupid," Culpepper muttered and left, leaving Seiren and Maura alone with the Hannan. Maura made no acknowledgement of Seiren's choice. Seiren waited with anticipation and apprehension, her back pressed against the icy metal bars of the cell.
Indigo runes were the most advanced type of rune magic, followed by violet. They'd had a month's teaching on it in her final year with the warning of 'without a still mind, an indigo rune is more dangerous for the user than all of the other runes combined'. The end of the lecture had ended with most of the students pale and swearing they would never do indigo runes in their lives and a select few bragging about their plans to practise on dormitory mates that irritate them. Seiren, at that point on the cusp of doing violet runes independently, hadn't given indigo runes much thought.
With movements that flowed like water, Maura sketched her indigo rune on the paper. Indigo runes were unlike all the other six types of rune magic as it relied not on the construction nor the shape of the sketch, but on the user themselves. The rune's shape mattered the least compared with the other types. Maura kept her drawing simple. Eight circle locks, six of them filled, and the middle of the rune was filled with a sketch of the dead reptile behind her.
She eased out a breath. The Hannan only watched, her battered and bruised face betraying no fear in the dimmed yellow rune light. Maura clapped her hands together. The rune before her glowed indigo. With deft fingers, she picked it up and pressed it to the Hannan's chest. The indigo light encased her whole body. Seiren's breath left her chest.
The Hannan's body shook violently. Her eyes squeezed shut. Maura clapped both hands on the Hannan's shoulder. The rune continued to glow and supply the flow of indigo light all over the captive.
After a while, the seizing stopped. The Hannan woman eased out a gasp. Maura spoke in a haunting voice.
"You will answer my questions in truth, and nothing but the truth. Do you understand?"
"Yes." The woman spoke for the first time in a typical nasally, thick Hannan accent. Her eyes -- a pale lavender -- opened and they held a glazed look; her mouth hung open.
"How many of you are there?"
"Fifty thousand."
"Soldiers?"
"Yes."
"Who do you work for?"
"Prince Fautos."
Maura's voice kept perfectly steady. Seiren felt as if blood would burst out of her ears.
"Are you and your comrades in possession of rune magic?"
"Yes."
Seiren stifled a gasp. Maura's concentration must not be broken.
"Who provided them to you?"
Silence. Seiren frowned. It was impossible to resist indigo runes provided the user was proficient enough, and Maura seemed more than just competent.
"Did the runes come from Karma?"
Silence.
"Did the runes come from a source external to Hanna?"
"Yes."
She was probably bound by some oath or magic that prevented her from spilling the secrets of the providers. Maura must have arrived at the same conclusion as she didn't press the issue further.
"Why does Prince Fautos have orders to execute an invasion? He is not Hanna's ruler."
"King Mephis has been dead for a week. Prince Lufer and Princess Gerta are both dead. Prince Magus is Prince Fautos's prisoner of war."
"So Prince Fautos is the current ruler of Hanna."
"Yes."
"What were your instructions once Acrise falls to Hanna?"
"Await the rest of the amassed army to take base and then we move southwards to Ebbsfleet and then to Ospringe and Wainscott to destroy Karman food sources."
Maura's shoulders tensed slightly. Seiren knew why: Ospringe was her dedicated town, a lush, spreading place with endless farms and forests surrounding it.
"Will there be another attack tonight?"
"Yes."
"What is the plan for the attack?"
"Storming the wall with the entire army."
"I see." Maura's voice could have created frost on the dungeon walls. She blinked. The indigo rune dissolved, leaving no traces behind. The Hannan gasped, the vacant look replaced by confusion and then fear.
Maura sat back and drew another rune. A tracing rune, but more complex than the ones Seiren knew.
"Now let's see whose runes lock your secrets."
The woman's eyes widened and spoke voluntarily for the first time. "No! No! No!"
She attempted to kick, but her ankles were shackled. The metal clanged against each other. She screeched; the sound reverberated off the walls, making Seiren wince. It didn't put off Maura, who simply slapped the rune onto the nearest patch of flesh and clapped her hands together. The rune glowed violet and spread all over the Hannan's body, searching for the runes within her.
The Hannan's panicked shouts stopped without warning. She arched her back, mouth open in a silent scream. Once again, her eyes rolled back. Guttural noises emanated from her throat. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and froth foamed at the corners of her mouth. Spasm after spasm rippled across her body and she thrashed, her head banging against the floor, her limbs flailing against the restraints, and grunts emitted from her throat.
And then she fell limp, silent. She eased out a breath... and became still.
"What...?!" Seiren's word was loud in the quietened room. Her limbs locked together as she stared in shock at the motionless Hannan. Maura stood up and dusted her mage's cloak, pocketing her paper and chalk.
"A silencing rune," said Maura, nonchalantly studying the woman through half-closed eyes. "If she spoke about forbidden topics, she pays for it with her life."
"But..." Seiren stepped forward and stared. The woman was definitely dead. "She didn't."
"Meddling with the rune incorrectly will have the same result."
"So you killed her on purpose?" Seiren's mouth fell open. She saw Maura Woodbead in a new light: not the wronged, proud version of Rowan, but a merciless source of power more like Portendorfer. Maura noticed her look and her nostrils flared.
"You so easily place judgement on people, Nithercott. Not everyone is like Portendorfer."
No, but the military was.
"Even if the military placed little value in prisoners of war, I do not delight in killing." Maura sniffed. "This was a very advanced rune. I've specialised in rune magic for seven years and I haven't seen something of this quality in many years."
The rhythmic clack of military boots on stone floor alerted them to the return of Brigadier General Grader.
"Well, Mage Woodbead?"
"We have a situation on our hands, Brigadier General," Maura said in a soft voice.
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