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

Chapter 79: Perfection

The light bathed Madeleine in warmth. She breathed in air, but it was all an act. She'd gotten used to it. Air hadn't graced her lungs in over six years. She flexed her muscles, but they, again, were all just in her head. The warmth, the lightness, the breeze on her skin -- they were all in her head.

"What are you doing?" she said to Seiren, then started. She heard her own voice. In her ears. Her voice bounced off the walls. She reached out her mind, but it only extended so far before it stopped, and she couldn't feel Seiren's presence.

Her eyes opened -- ever so slowly. White light bathed her from head to toe -- and she could see herself. She extended her fingers before her in wonderment. Long fingers, neat nails -- Seiren's were always chewed. Slender wrists. She touched her face. Soft skin, a small scar under her chin from a fall when she was young. Blonde hair in two plaits fell past her shoulder.

She was... alive?

No, something still felt unnatural. Her skin was pale, translucent. Her eyes adjusted. She was in a circular room with coloured glass windows surrounding her. Sunlight filtered through, leaving quite picturesque spots on the marble floor. Several figures stood against the sides, their faces difficult to discern with the light in the background.

Below her was a large, complex rune, in a medium she'd never seen before, on some sort of pedestal with stone steps going down in all directions. The magic glistened with an unnatural light and was made of a type of silvery fluid that flowed constantly along the rune. No, she had seen something like this before. Seiren's desperate cries filled her head, along with her overwhelming sense of guilt and despair. Loren's glassy-eyed gaze faced the sky.

Organic magic.

Seeing forbidden magic this close filled her with apprehension and wonderment. Madeleine spun around -- her feet weren't touching the ground. Someone must be activating this. She was anchored to the centre, her amulet directly in the middle of the design. Kneeling on the steps was a woman with white-blonde hair and sweat dripping down her forehead, her brows creased in concentration. Karis Bonneville.

"That's enough. Good job, Karis." One of the figures stepped forward. Butterworth, with a terrifyingly scarred face. Madeleine glared at him, not saying a word. Bonneville stood up and wiped her forehead. "So this is what you look like, Madeleine Harred."

She said nothing to him. No doubt he would try to goad valuable information out of her, and she was not about to disclose anything that would jeopardise Seiren.

"Definitely twins. Even your death stares are alike, even if you still look like a child." He smirked, twisting his scarred face. Madeleine was surprised there wasn't a rune mage proficient enough with green runes to heal that to at least lessen the disfigurement. It must have been some explosion. "How long will this last, Karis?"

"It's just the setup that takes time and energy. As long as the rune gets replenished with flash, it should hold for as long as needs be." Bonneville tucked stray blonde hair behind her ear and tossed her head. "Guess that little brat did manage some variant of organic magic after all."

"Interesting. So she was right."

"What are you talking about?" Madeleine said with a frown.

"We're talking about you, sweetie." Bonneville bore a grin that sent shivers down Madeleine's back. It was the smile of a wolf about to pounce on its prey. She glanced down. Organic magic rune. They must be referring to Seiren.

"The rune Seiren drew on my necklace is... organic magic?"

Mother was researching organic magic? There was so little about it taught at King's it was shrouded almost entirely in mystery.