Chapter 2

“We’re almost there,” said Tetas, pointing ahead as they came around a sharp curve in the road. “Up ahead is the only bridge along the pass and the first place to see the Sulerin Desert. I guess the Dwarves didn’t feel like going around, not that I can blame them.”

The wind was constant at this altitude, but the walls on either side of the road blocked the worst of it. The tone changed as they drew closer to the bridge, adding a quiet but constant rushing to the ambient noise. Kal could see the far side of the crevice and had to agree with the Dwarves who built it. It was as wide as the road but only about fifty paces across.

Approaching the bridge, Kal leaned toward the front of the cart, hoping to catch his first glimpse of the desert, and accidentally bumping his head against Reez’s back. Giving the winemaker’s son an apologetic smile, he turned back in time to see the expanse of the Sulerin Desert open up before them.

“Whoa,” whispered Kal as Tetas brought the cart to a stop. The mage sat in awe, trying to wrap his mind around the view. At the beginning of his venture onto the Lantaran Plains, he found it interesting to see grass stretching to the horizon in every direction. But it was just grass, and grass was everywhere. For him, sand was something he occasionally saw on the banks of a stream or river and was the stuff windows were made out of. The sight of yellow dunes as far as the eye could see and knowing it took weeks of travel to cross was straining his capacity for comprehension.

Far below them on the edge of the desert, he could make out the city of Fazal. He knew it was larger than Carriston or Lantaris from Jerran and Vadha’s talk but from this height, it looked tiny.

The temperature had been steadily rising during their descent, but the air quickly became stifling as they sat on the bridge. Warm currents rose from the bottom of the narrow valley, flowing constantly upward on either side of the span.

From his time gliding with Kuto and the other harpies, Kal knew quite well what to do with a thermal. He didn’t know if he could really call it a thermal since it was more likely to be the push of air against the mountain causing the updraft than temperature, but it didn’t matter much, the effect was the same. He stood up and spun his cloak around to his front, tucking the hood down and against his chest as he threaded his feet into sturdy loops sewn into the bottom hem.

“What are you doing?” asked Tetas, curious why Kal was now wearing the piece of clothing backwards.

Grinning, he climbed on top of one of the barrels before hopping off the cart. “Mage stuff,” he said with a smile.

“He’s getting a better view,” Ria deadpanned, flitting up from her seat next to Kal to talk with Tetas and Reez, making the men in the cart jump. She hadn’t said much since the run-in with the bandits and they had forgotten about her.

“Coming?” Kal asked the avatar.

Ria shook her head while waving a hand and summoning a speck of light from the bag on his hip. “I’ll stay here so these two don’t think you’ve killed yourself,” she answered. As the mote touched her the sprite’s body pulsed, turning from aqua to white again as wisps of light began floating off her. “As long as I’m here, he is fine,” she explained to Tetas.

“Keep going, I’ll catch up,” Kal added.

“What?” Reez asked them in confusion. A moment later he jumped to his feet, nearly falling out of the cart in shock as Kal took a couple of hopping steps and threw himself over the side of the bridge.

Tetas turned and gave the sprite a questioning look.

“Give him a second,” Ria assured him.

The man grunted, “In a couple of seconds he’ll be—” the winemaker was interrupted by a whoop of happiness. They spun around to see Kal rising up on the opposite side of the bridge. His arms and legs were splayed out with the cloak between them catching the updraft as a rune on his leather arm guard glowed white.

“Our passenger appears to have turned into a flying squirrel,” said the winemaker. “Too bad he couldn’t have done that before running into those raiders.” With a flick of the reins, the horses started moving again.

Reez was still staring with wonder at the shrinking image of the mage.

“Before you get any ideas, he can glide because a magic spell makes him extremely light,” Ria told him. “Neither Kal nor I want to come back this way and find out you strapped a tent to your back and jumped off a cliff.”

“I ... I wasn’t...” the boy stammered.

“Suuure you weren’t,” said the sprite as they left the bridge with a small bump and rode into the shade from the pass’s towering walls.

High above, Kal reveled in the feeling of the wind whipping past him as he glided about on the thermal. The joy he felt when flying had cooled since he left Prentas’s tower and it became an everyday occurrence, but he still loved it. Focusing on the piece of leather attached to the inside of his trousers the flight rune glowed slightly. Kal found the portion of the spell he wanted and pushed more magic toward it until the air around his head shimmered for a moment. The wind rushing past his face immediately died down, allowing him to breathe a little easier.

Looking down, he could see the remainder of the pass winding and snaking the rest of the way to the base of the mountain range before straightening out in the foothills and making its way to Fazal. Kal was surprised at the sheer length of the road they had yet to go but quickly realized it was probably for the best. Tetas’s horses were having no trouble keeping the heavy cart from running away on the pass’s shallow slope. A steeper grade would be quicker, but more dangerous at the same time.

Continuing to rise, he discovered his new vantage point didn’t offer much benefit. Though the view was more impressive because he could see further, there wasn’t really more to see. It was still nothing but an ocean of sand all the way to the horizon. Looking up and down this side of the mountain range was much more visually interesting.

As he rose out of the deep crevice running up the side of the mountain, the wind began to buffet and toss him around. Unsure of the cause of the sudden turbulence, he angled himself away from the mountainside just in case a stray gust tried to throw him against the rock face. The confusing air currents continued to pummel him far longer than expected but when he finally broke free of the chaotic mountain winds a strong and much cooler downdraft forced him right back into the roiling currents. More confused than scared since he still had his flight rune to fall back on, Kal was quickly getting sick of being tossed about. Pulling his arms in, he dove for the ravine he had exited moments ago. At least there he knew he could escape this punishing wind.

Reaching the calmer air, Kal spread his arms again and took a moment to try to figure out what was going on. Far below him the crevice widened out like the bell of a horn on the mountain’s lower slopes. He guessed the warm air rising from the sunbaked rocks below flowed upward and into the gap where it passed by the bridge. If the cooler air coming over the mountain was trying to fall down this side as this warm air moved up, it explained the turbulence and the unexpected downdraft he encountered.

Felli’s peak and the mountain range north of Telsin, where he did most of his gliding prior to the flight rune, was significantly smaller than the mountains here. Running east and west with the direction of the weather instead of north and south like these massive peaks must have made these odd air currents less noticeable back home. Concluding this venture turned out far worse than he hoped; Kal located the bridge and began making his way along the pass looking for the winemaker’s cart. Once he left the ravine there wasn’t enough of a continuous updraft to keep him aloft with just his cloak and the featherfall rune. Unwilling to go higher and chance getting caught up in the roiling air above him, he pulled some power from the four crystals in a pouch on his belt and activated the rest of the flight rune.

Either Tetas was going slower than he realized or his entire flight took much less time than he expected as Kal caught up with them near the bridge. Swooping over top of the cart with his arms still extended as though gliding, he landed a short distance ahead and got his cloak turned back around before jumping up into his seat as they passed.

“I thought you’d look happier after flitting about like a bird,” commented the winemaker.

“Things were a bit rougher than I expected,” Kal replied with a frown, “but that’s not what I’m unhappy about. I caught a glimpse of a line of carts further down the road with what might have been some brightly dressed patrolmen at the front. It’s hard to tell from so far up but they might be holding up traffic until the bandits did their work.”

“That explains a lot,” grumbled Tetas. “This road isn’t busy by any means but to have seen no one this far along is unusual.”

Kal tried to get a little more comfortable in his seat atop the barrel as Ria landed on his shoulder. “They are still quite away ahead, so we have time to plan how we want to handle them, and I doubt they will try to do anything to us with bystanders there.”

“Good point, let me think about it,” replied the winemaker before lapsing into silence.

The shadows were just beginning to lengthen when they came around a corner and saw the patrol from earlier with a long train of merchant and farmer’s carts stopped behind them. No one was surprised to see them, the echoing between the rock faces on either side informed everyone of their approach some time ago.

The people stuck at the impromptu roadblock were elated to see the winemaker’s cart coming towards them. The same could not be said for the patrolmen. The lead merchant jumped off his cart and started toward them at the same time the patrol’s Captain and Lieutenant wheeled their horses to approach.

Before either of the patrolmen got to speak, the merchant yelled, “Is the road clear?! They told us there was a group of bandits up ahead!”

Kal snickered quietly as heads popped out from the line of carts. The echoes he cursed earlier were going to prove handy now.

Before the Captain could open his mouth Tetas called back, “The road is clear! The few raiders that aren’t dead are in no shape to bother you.”

“Wonderful news!” said the merchant, coming to a halt. He beamed a smile at the Captain, “It sounds like your boys did a good job! We may be able to make it through the pass before nightfall!” Turning around, the man hurried back to his cart and jumped into the driver’s seat. Flicking the reins, he guided his horses around the remaining three soldiers and started up the road, quickly followed by those waiting behind him.

Kal watched the Captain and his second-in-command closely during all of this. When Tetas said the men who tried to rob them were dead, the Lieutenant’s face went deathly pale. Now that he looked more closely, the man bore a faint resemblance to the bandit with the short swords.

A couple of whispered words to the Captain and the second-in-command whistled for the attention of the other soldiers. “We are going ahead to check if what this man says is true. Form up behind the Captain!”

Seconds later the echoes of hooves pounding against stone became deafening as the five men spurred their horses to a gallop and sprinted up the sloping road.

A few of the wagons passed by Tetas with a wave and words of thanks but the fourth one veered slightly and pulled closer to the winemaker’s cart.

“Tetas,” said the man with a nod of acknowledgment. He appeared to be around the same age as the winemaker and wore similar styles of clothing. Kal wondered if they lived in the same area.

“Nuls,” Tetas replied, returning the gesture.

“This whole situation seems off, what really happened?”

“What did they tell you?”

“Hey! Get moving!” yelled the next man in line. Instead of shouting back, Nuls waved him forward, beckoning the man to join them. “What do you want?” he snapped a few seconds later as he walked up between the two wagons.

“Just listen,” he said before turning back to Tetas. “They told us that there were bandits up ahead and that the rest of the men went ahead to deal with them. It seemed strange for a Captain to stay behind and manage the roadblock while his men ran off to kill some ruffians.”

The winemaker shook his head. “The only soldiers we have seen were those five, there are no ‘rest of the men.’”

“Then what of the bandits?”

“As I said, a couple are dead and the rest can’t bother you.”

“I’m hardly going to believe that your boy and his bow took out a band of raiders,” said the man standing between them.

“I can claim two, but the rest were the work of our passenger, who I found is a skilled adventurer. Reez’s arm was injured during the ambush.” Behind Tetas, his son lifted his arm where he had been shot, some flakes of dried blood remained but most of them had been brushed off or taken by the mountain wind.

Seeing Nuls and the other man’s skeptical looks, Kal pulled a small vial out of one of his belt pouches and pushed some magic into it until it glowed blue. “Healing potion,” he said holding it up, he hated the lie but it was easier than trying to explain how someone his age could use healing spells.

“Ah,” said the stranger, “It sounds like those soldiers were working with the bandits.”

“So it seems,” said Nuls. “Most of us will be camping near each other tonight. I’ll make sure to get the word out to everyone about what really happened.”

“And why would you trust him?” asked the stranger.

“Because his sister is my wife and he’s the one who introduced us.”

“Oh.”

“Speaking of which, tell her hello and give her my love. I need to be on my way.”

“Will do.”

The stranger returned to his cart and after a final farewell to his brother-in-law, Tetas snapped the reins to get the horses moving again.

“Are we going to say something to the King when we go to the palace?” asked Reez once the rest of the wagons stopped by the roadblock had passed by.

Tetas shook his head, smiling. “The King doesn’t care about such small matters. We will spread a rumor that this bunch of soldiers is working with bandits. When Nuls and the others come back with similar stories in a few months it will sound like a number of different instances instead of the one. That should be enough to make the higher ranks take notice and either remove or put a leash on him. Hopefully, what happened today will slow them down enough the pass will be safe until then.”

Behind the winemaker and his son, Kal felt a small pressure on his shoulder. A moment later, wisps of light formed the silhouette of a small female body just before Ria appeared and sat down. “You probably don’t need to worry about that for a very long time, but I’ll have to tell you what happened later. Being invisible wears me out and I need to rest,” she said with an apologetic look at Kal before her body faded away.

Tetas glared at the spot where Ria vanished before raising an eyebrow at the mage, “A bit of a tease isn’t she?”

Kal nodded, “In more ways than one.”

The rock walls of the pass dipped down, shrinking until they finally disappeared as the cart entered the foothills. The winemaker informed his passenger they would make it out of the rolling landscape just before nightfall. Like Kal, Tetas and his son planned on camping for the night in the scrubland and arriving at the city first thing in the morning.

To the south, Kal could finally get a good look at the aqueduct Tetas spoke of. True to his description, it looked like a long bridge running across the landscape, though it was too far away to see the water running across it. Thinking back to Carriston’s history he thought it was amazing the lengths people would go to for water.

He felt a little guilty at the same time. Never in his life could he remember a time when water was scarce. Growing up on his farm, he always had the well out back to draw from. If that were to ever dry up, myriad ice-cold streams ran off the mountains to the north of his home. When he set out on this journey he was lucky enough to have Ikuno’s magical tent as a shelter. The most he ever had to do was wait a couple of hours after setting it up and he could have as much of the crystal clear water as he wanted. The wait was sometimes inconvenient but hardly compared to the people of Fazal who were, in essence, slaves to whoever controlled the water.

Part of Vadha and Jerran’s warning about not disrupting the Fazalan way of life was the accounts of how uprisings were dealt with. The military would section off a quarter of the city and the palace would cut the flow of water to that area until the rebels were handed over for execution. There was no talk of trials or justice, only summary execution. It was a bloody and messy affair for those involved but required little energy on the part of the city’s army. The last rebellion occurred generations ago. With such heavy-handed tactics, it was easier for those who were dissatisfied to just find somewhere else to live.

Kal’s musings were interrupted by the sun vanishing over the horizon, leaving them in twilight. As they came down off the final hill and into the flat scrubland leading up to the city, the mage was a little surprised when the city disappeared beyond the horizon. It hadn’t seemed like it was that far away up in the foothills.

Tetas turned off the road and Kal finally took notice of their surroundings in the waning light. Bushes and small trees that barely reached the top of his head dotted the landscape. Occasional patches of sand and rock broke up the blanket of yellow and green grass. Coming from the lush forests further west, he couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to live in such an unwelcoming place.

Reez immediately jumped out of his seat as Tetas brought the wagon to a stop.

“Should have stopped sooner,” the winemaker grumbled to Kal. “There’s scorpions and snakes out there that can kill a man in minutes and he’s gathering firewood with barely any light.”

“I can fix that,” said the mage. Drawing a rune in the air, a small ball of light appeared above his hand. “Reez!” he called out, getting the younger man’s attention. The glowing orb floated away from Kal’s hand and took up a position above Reez’s head. As the winemaker’s son moved his head, the light did its best to stay directly above him. Giving the mage a salute of thanks, he went back to gathering sticks and twigs for their campfire.

“Are all magic-users this handy to have around?” Tetas asked. Jumping down, he opened up a compartment below his seat and began pulling out poles and canvas. “If so, I might need to look for a group that has one in the next set of guards I hire.” Picking a spot a few paces from the cart, he dropped the items on the ground. As the winemaker bent to begin assembling his tent he stopped and looked up at Kal. “Does your lady friend have someplace for you to sleep? I thank you for everything you’ve done for us but I’m not up for cuddling up with a stranger.”

Kal smiled, “Ria,” he called out softly.

A second later the sprite appeared next to her bag and flitted up to take her seat on his shoulder. “Time for bed?” she asked while looking up at the quickly darkening sky.

“Not yet but soon. I need the tent, please.”

“You got it,” a mote of light flew out of her bag and turned into a canvas square upon touching Kal’s hand. He then asked Tetas where the campfire was going to be and picked a spot directly across from the winemaker. The older man watched with curiosity as the magic tent assembled itself.

“That’s a fine piece of magic there, how much would it take for you to part with it?”

“It’s not mine to give, though the owner would argue otherwise. Even if it were, I don’t think you have enough money to purchase it from me.”

“I make wine that is only drunk by those in the royal family and their guests. You may be surprised by what I can afford.”

Kal pulled back the flap covering the entrance of the two-man tent. “See for yourself.”

Momentarily forgetting that he was in the middle of setting up his own shelter, Tetas stared at the inside of the magical tent as he mechanically walked over. The older man looked out above the canvas roof then looked inside then looked over it again, this time waving an arm over top. A quick jog around the back and he waved his arms around behind the tent as well before coming back to stare at the inside. “It’s...”

“Bigger on the inside, I know,” said Kal, grinning wide, “and that’s not all it can do.”

Tetas sighed heavily as he stood up straight, “I’ll have to give you this one. If it were merely a tent that assembled itself, I would have bought it from you in a heartbeat. But this ... I can understand why you won’t sell it.” with another sigh he returned to the pile of sticks and canvas. Casting a final longing look at Kal’s tent, he bent down and began assembling his quarters for the night.

“So, the second-in-command is dead?” Reez asked Ria, incredulous.

The sprite nodded, “From the sounds of it, they only did this a few times a year to bolster their purses. From their conversation, someone higher up was beginning to ask questions about why these bandit raids only happened while the Captain was out on patrol. When his Lieutenant flipped out because his brother, the guy with the short swords, was dead, the captain came up behind him and lopped off his head. As he was crying over his brother’s body! After that, he gathered the other three close to get their stories straight and pin everything on the Lieutenant. That’s when I started flying back.”

“Wow, over his brother’s body? That’s cold,” said Reez. “Are you okay, Kal?” he asked, looking at the mage.

“I’ll be fine,” he said with a frown, “I’m still new to taking the lives of others. It still doesn’t sit well with me but considering what they were going to do to us...” the mage shrugged.

“Interesting as this story has been, I believe it’s time to retire,” said Tetas. “Do you mind taking one of the watches?”

Kal smiled, “I have a better idea. I have a spell that will wake us up if there are intruders, that way we can all sleep.”

The winemaker thought for a moment before nodding. “I probably shouldn’t trust you this much but with a tent like that I’m sure you have enough money to not bother stealing a few barrels of brandy.”

“I like brandy but I prefer ale or wine, so I think your barrels are safe. Ria, I need a small pouch of salt and the small bell.”

“Are you still having trouble with killing those men?” asked Ria.

Kal didn’t answer right away as he bent over the table in the library holding both hands out in front of him. Between them floated liquid ink in an intricate, circular design. The mage was in the process of copying the shield rune into the leather that would eventually be cut, punched, and laced to become his new vambraces.

Touching the ink to the hide, he took a moment to lift off any excess and stream it back into the inkwell sitting nearby. Kal then cast a spell that set the rune into the leather, changing it from a mark on the surface into a tattoo.

Taking a deep breath, he looked at the sprite sitting on the edge of the table. “Yes? No? I’m not sure. It was easy right after the fight and my blood was still pumping. When you told me the man with the short swords was dead and that it was another man’s brother ... It made me wonder how I would feel if I were that soldier and what it would be like to find my own brother dead on the ground, bandit or not.”

“Fair enough. But for all of the lieutenant’s sadness, both he and his brother accepted this risk.”

“I don’t need justification, Ria. In the same situation, I would do it all over again without changing a thing. I just wish it weren’t necessary.”

“Okay then, I’ll shut up.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

Ria shook her head. “Not good enough,” she said with a mischievious grin. “You’ll have to make it up to me when you are done with your new arm guards.”

Kal raised an eyebrow, “Should I be worried?”

“Not this time. Now finish those while I think of a good punishment.”

The mage rolled his eyes and bent back over the piece of leather as ink rose from the inkwell and began forming the next rune.

“This is different,” said Kal, looking up at the sprite hovering above him as he laid back in his bed. The slime girl back in Prentas’s tower gave him some bottles filled with her slime to use as a personal lubricant during his trip. The substance was extremely slippery and always felt warm to the touch, properties that were much appreciated during his visit home. Ria had him retrieve one of the flasks and he was now laying in his bed with a dollop of Cyrene’s slime in his hand.

“I haven’t gotten to see you fuck anyone since you left the farmhouse,” the sprite pouted. “So, for getting snippy with me earlier you are stuck taking care of yourself and you are going to let me watch.” Kal opened his mouth to speak but Ria interrupted him, “Aaaaand ... I want you to tell me what you are thinking of as you do it.”

“I suppose that’s fair,” he said with a smirk. “Anytime in particular you want to hear about?”

“Hmm ... what about what’s her name ... the mushroom girl?”

“Sita?” he asked. Kal had a chance run-in with a mushroom girl trapped in an underground cave while traveling with Gerda. After dropping him off, the golem collected the woman on her return home at his request. He attempted to name her during one of his visits but with her extremely limited language skills, she thought he was telling her his name. Eventually, he and Gerda, who was continuing to care for her and teach her about the world above ground, decided to let her choose her own name once she could understand them better. During his last visit, he learned she had picked the name, “Sita.”

“No, nevermind. I want to hear about something special, like your first time with Veir. That was what you were thinking about this morning wasn’t it?”

Kal chuckled, “You mean my first flying fuck?”

“Yesss. No! Wait! What about your first time with Perra?!”

The mage looked confused, “I’m certain I’ve told you about that before.”

“Not this latest ‘first,’” said the sprite. Spinning around, she reached back and pulled one asscheek to the side then tapped a finger on her rear entrance.

“Oh. That first time,” smiling, Kal took his cock in hand and smeared Cyrene’s lube all over his prick before starting to slowly stroke himself. Ria landed on his stomach and took up a similar position as the mage, her wings vanishing as she laid back and reached down between her legs. Kal waited until the sprite was situated before speaking. “Perra asked Kuto to take Talin to the bunkhouse after feeding him that night, just before she and I sat down for a late supper...

Kal sat back in his chair, “That ... was amazing.”

“I’m glad you liked it,” said Perra, “I’ve been working hard with the town council to get more trade coming through Telsin. Master Jurien’s only complaint is that he feels like he has more people coming to his apothecary for herbs and spices than for medicine.”

“You’ve done an amazing job. Telsin is half again its size when I left, it was strange seeing all of the new faces.”

“Even Deenah? Though I don’t think you were looking at her face much.”

“Come on, now. It’s hard to not look when her chest is that big. Anyway, yours are only a touch smaller right now.” He said with a lecherous glance at Perra’s cleavage.

The farmgirl stood with a laugh and collected their plates, setting them in the washbasin for later. “I’m not quite that big. I’d enjoy that look a lot more if I knew you could touch them without getting milk everywhere.” Walking around the table, she made a swirling motion with a downward pointing finger. Kal pushed his chair back and turned to face her. Perra then hiked up the skirt of her plain brown work dress and sat on his lap facing him. “Thankfully I have plenty of other places I like to be touched.”

“Happy to oblige,” he said as he reached up and began untying the laces across the top of her dress.

She ground her sex into the growing bulge in his trousers, “Not quite what I meant.”

“I know,” With the laces loosened, he tugged the top of the dress apart and slid it off her shoulders to find a silky shift beneath.

“My dress rubs my nipples and makes them sore without it,” she said apologetically.

Kal tugged her dress down around her stomach, the bunched up material trapping her arms in place. Taking a firm grip with both hands on the collar of her shift, he ripped it down the middle with a quick tug.

“Kal?!” shrieked Perra as her breasts spilled out of the torn fabric. Her amethyst and moonstone pendant stuck to her skin as if glued there.

“Hush,” he said, lifting one of the soft mounds and bringing the nipple to his mouth.

“That was expensive,” she complained, half moaning as his tongue began tracing circles around the stiffening nub.