“This would be your subordinate,” Noah replied, hoisting Axil slightly. “She’s a bit smaller than normal, but if you take a close look, you’ll see who it is. Ah — we did confiscate her axe. Spoils of war.”

“Not her,” Zath snapped. “That is obviously Axil. I am referring to…”

The demon’s words trailed off. His head tilted to the side. For several seconds, he said nothing. Then he arched an eyebrow and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Zath tapped a foot on the ground, nodding slightly as if agreeing with someone.

Noah and Moxie exchanged a glance.

“What’s up with him?” Moxie whispered.

“I was hoping you were going to have the answer to that,” Noah replied. He rotated Axil around so he could look at her face. The demoness’ eyes were still screwed shut and her face was twisted into a grimace. Noah shook her slightly. “Oi. Wake up.”

“What is it?” Axil asked, making absolutely no move to open her eyes.

“What’s your boss doing?” Noah asked, glancing over Axil’s head at Zath. The demon now muttering something under his breath, staring at an empty patch of air in the middle of the Web’s camp.

Every single interaction he had with Sievan’s men made Noah suspect that there was something seriously wrong with all of their heads. Then again, there had to be something wrong with anybody that voluntarily decided that they wanted to serve the literal embodiment of death.

“He’s talking,” Axil said.

Ah, yes. I couldn’t tell that bit.

“You disgust me,” Zath informed the empty patch of air.

Axil nodded in agreement, even though she’d yet to open her eyes.

“To whom?” Noah asked in exasperation.

Axil screwed her lips up. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and said nothing else. Noah blew out a sigh. He glanced over his shoulder at Lee, who gave him a small shrug. She didn’t seem to have the slightest idea of what was going on either.

“I will not be doing that,” Zath informed the air.

Noah coughed into a fist. Zath ignored him.

“That’s hardly a good reason,” Zath said, now shaking his head. The disgust on his features had turned to mild curiosity, but there was still an edge in his posture that made it clear he was uncomfortable.

If anything, that was what started to ring alarm bells in Noah’s own head.

A Rank 7 demon, one who served under Sievan, the literal Lord of Death in the Damned Plains, was uncomfortable.

Zath had looked uncomfortable when he’d seen Noah come back out of the tent with Axil, but he’d made it clear that the source of his disgust wasn’t the fact that Axil shrinkflation-ed herself.

The only other change that had occurred in the span of Noah’s departure and return from the tent…

His eyes lifted to the book on his back. Axil had reacted horribly to it because of all the squished up demon corpses that made it up. But Zath was actively talking to something. Unless he’d gone completely insane —

“Don’t even try to eat me,” Zath said, his eyes sharpening in anger. “I swear to Lord Sievan, if you bring those disgusting paws of yours anywhere near me, I am going to rip you into shreds and stuff you into the nearest outhouse.”

Okay. Decent chance he’s insane. Pretty sure he has been from the start. But this is a bit much. There has to be more to it than this. Is there really something so special about my grimoire that it’s tripping up every single one of Sievan’s group that sees it?

“Is it the book?” Noah asked Axil.

Axil didn’t respond. It looked like she’d decided that her conversation was done for the day. Noah’s lips pressed thin. Whatever the book was, she was more scared of it than she was of him. Maybe it was something about the actual corpses that made the book up.

Do I have the equivalent of a bunch of religious figures stuffed in there? Maybe it’s like I’m accidentally defacing their culture. That would definitely be rude. Can’t imagine it would cause someone to start speaking to the air, though.

Does that mean there’s actually something there? Something only Zath and Axil can see?

Stolen novel; please report.

Noah squinted in the direction that Zath was looking at. He extended his domain and drew on his tremorsenses, trying to see if there was anything there that was somehow evading his eyes.

Nothing he tried found anything. As far as Noah could tell, Zath was just speaking to nothing. But that couldn’t be the case. Zath wasn’t insane in that way. There was something there, and he couldn’t make it out.

“I will not,” Zath said. “Find your own runes, leech.”

Something that wants runes?

Could be the book. Could also be literally any other living creature in the history of the Damned Plains. Every single sentient thing in existence wants more runes. Gods, this is annoying.

“Who are you talking to?” Noah asked. “You haven’t forgotten me already, have you?”

“Go do whatever it was you needed to do,” Zath said, not so much as glancing in his direction. “You requested time to work with your new runes. I am giving it to you. Return once you have finished.”

Then he went right back to speaking to the air.

Noah would have been offended if he hadn’t just gotten exactly what he’d wanted. He hesitated for a second longer, held in place by curiosity and unease. He did not like the idea of the book being… well, more than a book.

This wasn’t something he could just ignore — not in the long term, at least. For the time being, it was actually perfectly in his advantage to let whatever was going on play out. If it kept Zath distracted, it would buy him time to let the effects of his headache fade away while figuring out what kind of Mind Rune he’d create. He had to take advantage of every second he had.

“Watch over me while I work?” Noah whispered to Moxie.

She nodded.

“I’ll stay here and keep an eye on things outside,” Lee volunteered. She stared intently at the space where Zath’s attention was focused. “I’m trying to see who he’s talking to.”

“Let me know if you have any luck,” Noah said. He passed Axil off to Lee, who hoisted the other demon like she was a sack of potatoes. Axil didn’t say a word. She didn’t even seem to register that she’d been moved.

Noah and Moxie headed back into their tent. Half of Noah expected Zath to suddenly get mad that the book had vanished from his sight, but he didn’t so much as address Noah’s departure. He continued talking to the air as if nothing had changed.

If anything, that just confused Noah even more.

Is it even the book he’s interested in?

He shook his head and pulled the grimoire off his back as he made his way across the tent and over to Moxie’s bed of vines. He sat down on it, flipping the huge book open in his lap.

“I hope Zath is very distracted, because it’s going to be a few more hours before my magic comes back,” Noah said as Moxie took seat in the viney chair across from him.

She rocked the chair onto its back legs and crossed her arms in front of her chest, giving him a slight nod.

“Sounds like a good opportunity to tell me what happened in Belkus’ estate,” Moxie asked. “I’m thoroughly lost.”

“Yeah. That and plan for what Rune I’m going to make. Just help me think of some excuses to stall Zath out if he decides he wants to leave soon. But, with regard to the estate… let’s see. It’s kind of a long story, but I’ll try to summarize it. Yoru is also Yoku. Our guess about her being older than we thought is right. She’s a Rank 7 demon. One that’s apparently in some huge conflict with Belkus. Also, Mascot showed up.”

“Gathered that bit,” Moxie said dryly. “What did he break?”

“Thus far, nothing. Give him time. I figure he’ll get around to it eventually. But… more importantly, we’ve found Wizen.”

Moxie’s eyes widened slightly. “You have? Where?”

“He’s apparently trying to annoy Sievan into fighting him,” Noah replied with a shrug. “I’ve got no idea why — or how. He’s somehow taking out Rank 7 demons. He even killed a Demon Lord. I think that key has to be helping him against demons somehow. Wizen was strong, but he’s not defeating Rank 7 enemies strong.”

“The artifact should only form a connection between planes,” Moxie said, her forehead creasing in a frown. “I read about it pretty thoroughly. I can’t really see how it would be making Wizen stronger. I’ll think over it and see if I can recall anything that he could be abusing.”

“It could also be his Mind Runes,” Noah said. “With how connected Demons are to their runes…”

“Yeah.” Moxie’s features were grim. “That could be it. I take it that’s why you were talking about Mind Runes when you got back?”

“Belkus gave ‘em to me. He’s surprisingly reasonable. The only thing he wanted in return is for us to get lost and not partner with Yoru against him.” Noah flipped through the pages of the grimoire. They were all blank, which was a surprise. The book was normally more responsive than this. He tapped its pages. “Give me those Mind Runes, please. I need them.”

A second passed. Then the pages abruptly flipped, as if the grimoire had just remembered what it was, and turned to a page covered with Rank 5 Mind Runes. Moxie arched an eyebrow in question; Noah shrugged in response.

His book was weird enough normally. He was just happy it wasn’t trying to draw anything inappropriate.

Moxie looked down at the grimoire, examining the runes in its pages, then lifted her gaze back to Noah as she tilted her head to the side. She didn’t quite look suspicious, but there was a note of discomfort in her expression.

“What are you going for with these? Mind Runes… they’re not really, well…”

“I know,” Noah said. His features darkened. “I have no plans of becoming Wizen. I’m not using the vile shit he does, but I need a way to keep him from using those powers on me. I figure the best way to do that is with more Mind Runes.”

Moxie nodded. Her expression softened slightly. There was no immense relief in her features, but only because it seemed she’d never actually held enough doubt about his actions to feel relieved over avoiding them.

“You’ve got a disaster in mind that somehow relates to the mind, then?”

Noah’s expression tightened. His thoughts drifted back. To the line — to the agony that had ground down on his mind like a mill, ripping away memories and past until only the monotony remained. The mental torture of being able to do nothing but take steps in an endless walk, future unknown and past slipping away.

“Yeah,” Noah replied in a grim tone, placing his hand on the surface of the grimoire. “I think I’ve got an idea.”