Chapter 18

Shared, Lifted, Connected

Edited by: Old Fart

“I must say, it feels rather homey in here,” said Kal looking around the roc’s cavern.

Ikuno stared at him like he had grown a second head, “Have you lost your ever-loving mind? How on earth could this place feel ‘homey’?”

Many hours ago, they had gone exploring the roc’s cavern, a task that turned out to be much larger than expected. at the top of the slope was a crossroads that split off in three directions, instead of being a single large cavern. The southern path sloped down before opening up into a circular chamber large enough to hold the entire town of Telsin beneath its domed roof. The northern path sloped upward and opened into another chamber about twice the size of the first. The final chamber was twice again as large as the upper one and lay to the east, straight ahead from the cave entrance. Even making his small light spell as bright as possible, Kal still couldn’t see the top of the final cavern.

Each of the upper chambers had a small pond worked into the stone floor with overflow tubes that ran down into the pond in the lower southern chamber, apparently for keeping the gigantic young bird watered. The southern pond had its own larger overflow that disappeared straight down into the depths of the mountain.

The chambers were also warmed magically from an ancient spell cast onto the floors, keeping the areas a comfortable temperature for the two explorers. A few mosses and lichens along with the occasional glowing fungus had managed to find enough resources for a meager living in the thick layer of dust covering everything but the pools. Unsurprisingly, bugs had not been able to make it up to these heights, so the layers of dust had remained untouched for what Ikuno believed to be many thousands of years.

Sadly, they never did find any trace of a roc’s feather or egg shard. With his eyes glowing blue, Kal scanned as much of the floor as he could. His thinking was that a shard with the degree of magic Ikuno was talking about would shine brightly to his ability to see magic. Despite being weak in the divination school, Ikuno attempted to use a finder’s spell to locate eggshells in the southern, and their first, cavern. Kal had almost fallen over laughing as they followed the small dancing purple flame back to the room with Rone and the harpy’s nest, only to float over to the wall opposite the nest and alight on the broken shelves.

Rone skittered over toward the nest when Ikuno barked, “Shells! Not ‘shelves’, you moronic little flame!” The oni dismissed the spell before stomping over to the passage they had just come from and ducking inside. Kal wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes then followed her with a quick wave goodbye at Rone.

The same story was repeated for each of the other chambers with the flame dancing off towards the Felli’s nest before Ikuno canceled it.

They now stood back at the crossroads with Ikuno looking down at Kal like he had gone insane.

“I’m just saying I can see a lot of potential here. Butcher, Tanner, Blacksmith and other tradesmen in the lower cave. Perhaps an inn and a merchant’s area in the upper chamber along with a good-sized storehouse. Up ahead of us could be the living areas for the people here,” said Kal pointing in each direction respectively, the light from the orb above them glinting off the iron gloves he had donned just in case the caverns were already occupied. While he was being cautious he had also hung his mask around his neck thinking there might be places with stale, stagnant, or even toxic air. It wasn’t the first time he envied the oni and all of her natural immunities.

Ikuno gave him a sideways glance, “The frightening part is, now that I can see what you are talking about, it honestly doesn’t seem like a bad idea.” The oni chuckled, “Give a farmer a little bit of magic and he starts thinking about making his own city in a mountain.”

“I’m just saying it’s a possibility, not like I’m planning on doing it tomorrow,” Kal said as he started down the slope towards Felli’s nest. His light continued to float next to him since the sun had gone down while they were investigating the roc’s nest. “Besides,” he continued after a moment, “relations between harpies and humans would have to improve far beyond what they are now to get their assistance with carrying construction materials up here.”

“You seem to be putting an awful lot of thought into this for just a flight of fancy,” said Ikuno falling into step next to him.

Kal shrugged, “Perhaps if I become some bigshot mage I’ll want to settle down somewhere, like Prentas did. Up here there’s no chance of a repeat of Te’thalas. You can’t kill people you can’t reach.”

Ikuno had to admit that he had a point.

As they approached the tunnel to the harpy’s nest they could smell the scent of seared meat and hear an argument coming from inside.

“Why must you ruin a perfectly good rabbit by putting it on that heated rock!” came an unfamiliar female voice.

“I already told you twice Felli. Humans don’t eat raw meat, we can get very sick from it. Now let me be, I haven’t eaten since yesterday,” responded Rone.

“After you eat will you come to the nest with me?”

There was a moment’s hesitation before Rone said, “No Felli. I’m not sleeping with you.” Kal could hear the lack of conviction in the man’s voice all the way down the tunnel.

“Yay! You at least thought about it this time!” Felli said followed by a strange clicking sound. Kal had gotten far enough around the long bend in the tunnel to peer inside the room and saw the harpy jumping about happily, the long claws on her feet clicking against the stone. Kal couldn’t see Rone from where he was standing but the smell of cooked rabbit wafting up the tunnel was making his mouth water. He smiled when he heard Ikuno smack her lips together quietly above and behind him, at least he wasn’t alone.

A few seconds later there was a surprised squawk followed by frantic flapping and a light thump.

“Who put this thing here?!” complained the harpy.

Rone’s exasperation at Felli’s poor memory was almost tangible, “I told you the first time you tripped over it. Kal, the wizard from my village, made it to sit on when he was here.” His voice took on an annoyed tone, “I’m guessing they found what they needed up in the caves and already left.”

Kal stepped out from around the corner and began walking towards the harpy’s living area. “Not yet we haven’t!” he called out. “Especially when you have something that smells so delicious cooking,” he continued as he entered the room.

Felli’s eyes lit up as Kal walked into the room, likely from the prospect of another potential husband. When Ikuno came in right behind him a look of fear crossed the harpy’s face as the oni stood up to her full height. Felli quickly bound over to Rone just as he was about to return Kal’s greeting and grabbed him with the small clawed hands at the joints of her wings. Tossing the man into the same corner he had been hiding in earlier, she stood in front of him and glared at the large blue woman.

“You can’t have my husband!” the harpy shrieked at Ikuno. Felli folded her wings back to bring her clawed hands to bear while raising up one of her bird-like feet and brandishing a set of wicked looking talons.

Kal took the moment of tense silence to get his first good look at a harpy. Her hair was shoulder length and had a pretty three-colored pattern with the top being a shimmering deep copper with blue-gray on the sides and a streak of jet-black that started right behind her ears. Kal couldn’t place what seemed strange about her eyes until he realized her dark brown irises took up nearly her entire eye with whites only visible in the very corners. The way her brow came down as she glared at Ikuno along with the slightly elongated black tipped canines that looked a lot like the end of a hawk’s beak left little doubt that her ancestors had been created from a line of raptors. The tops of her wings continued the blue-gray color of her hair but with black spots while the bottom edge switched to black with white spots along the feathers. Felli’s abdomen was covered with tiny, extremely fine feathers that could easily be mistaken for fur and was a much paler copper color than her head, fading almost completely to white at her waist and dotted with small black spots like her wings. Her breasts seemed to be oddly shaped, starting at her shoulders and almost oval until Kal realized that those were the muscles she used for flying and that her breasts, though not very large, were in the normal place for a human. Protruding from her lower back and looking like a half skirt were some rich copper colored tail feathers with black tips. The only thing Kal was having a hard time wrapping his head around was her legs. The white fur-like feathers continued all the way down her legs to her feet and was all completely bird-like, even to the point of having her knees bend backwards. He did think that the odd shape of her legs must be why it was so easy for her to make a showing of her talons, as she was currently doing towards Ikuno.

Kal was certain that Felli was only a hair taller than Aradelle and the size difference between oni and harpy made the threatening display almost comical. However, he would think twice about stepping in range of those claws, they looked extremely sharp. Kal was also very curious how she had managed to throw a man twice her size and likely more than three times her weight into a corner so easily, or how she had managed to carry him up here in the first place.

Rone placed a hand on Felli’s shoulder, “She belongs to Master Kal, she isn’t here to steal me away,” he said softly.

The harpy looked back at him and studied his face for a moment, “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely,” said Rone, “she didn’t try to run off with me earlier and I’m certain she won’t now. Could you please let me out before my food burns?” Felli hesitantly allowed Rone out of the corner but stayed right by his side as he walked over to the stone cooktop. Tapping one of the runes on the side of the small stove, the sizzling coming from the pieces of meat quickly died away as Rone attempted to roll them around and keep them from burning.

Kal was surprised to see Rone knocking the food about with belt knife not much different from his own. He was about to ask the man why he didn’t use it to attain his freedom from the harpy when he was kidnapped. Thankfully the answer came to him moments before asking, waving a knife at something that picked you up and carried you hundreds of feet into the air would be akin to suicide.

Rone looked around the room for a moment before sighing and stabbing one of the cooked pieces of meat and biting a piece off. Kal chuckled and stepped over next to the stool he had made earlier. Setting his pack off to the side and hanging his iron gloves from his belt he checked for any magical warming of the floor like in the larger caverns. Figuring that the warmth in the room must purely come from the cooktop, Kal made the now familiar circular motion with his hand before raising a table from the stone next to the stool. Going around the table he made a larger seat for Ikuno then another that was human-sized. The third he made slightly smaller before looking closely at Felli’s legs and feet then pushing it back into the stone, instead, lifting up a smaller post and bending it over to create a stone perch.

As she tentatively stepped up onto the perch Kal was amazed at how much she looked like a bird compared to Bea who only had a handful of visible butterfly characteristics. Trade out Felli’s nose and mouth for a beak and she would look like a giant sparrow hawk, though strangely her colors matched that of the male sparrow hawks instead of the females. Since Felli was the one trying to attract mates, it made a strange kind of sense.

“You two are a godsend,” said Rone as Kal smoothed the top of the table and Ikuno handed him a small wooden plate she had dug out of her travel pack. The man only hesitated for a moment before taking the plate from the oni with a nod of thanks then started loading it up with the food from the cooktop.

Felli was stuck somewhere between amazement at what the human had just done and annoyance from all of the new stuff that was now in her living area. However, she genuinely appreciated the perch he made especially for her, walking on the hard stone for too long would start to hurt her feet.

Having already eaten the other rabbit she caught before coming home, the harpy felt somewhat out of place as the rest of them sat down for supper. The two newcomers pulled out small packages of dried meat, dried fruits, and cheese from their bags before joining her husband. She became especially curious when the other human slid a small container over to Rone. Her husband unscrewed the cap and looked inside before groaning in delight and sprinkling the white crystals over his food.

Felli looked on in confusion as there was a small round of bartering and trading between the three, her husband swapping pieces of his burnt meat for bits of cheese from the man and even some of the dried fruits from the big blue woman.

The harpy’s confusion grew when the man reached over and plucked the piece of meat the blue woman had just traded for from her hand, something that ruffled her feathers in annoyance. The large woman looked on in disappointment but never attempted to take the food back. A moment later the man cut off a small piece and offered it back to her, smiling the woman leaned forward and gingerly took it from his fingers. He repeated this with the rest of the meat, then did the same with the one he himself had traded for, only keeping the last piece, which he ate with obvious pleasure.

Felli was so caught up in the interplay between Kal and Ikuno that she missed the look Kal gave Rone, glancing down at Rone’s plate then over to the harpy. As the two strangers tucked into the rest of their meal a voice came from off to the harpy’s side.

“Felli?” said Rone, holding up a small chunk of meat.

Though she wasn’t hungry, the fact that her husband was offering her some of his food filled the harpy with a strange kind of elation. Felli resisted the urge to snap the food from his fingers and she gently took it from him after remembering what the woman across the table had done. As soon as it touched her tongue Felli understood why the others chewed their food so slowly, it tasted amazing!

The harpy didn’t have a crop like her smaller cousins to catch the things she couldn’t digest; however, she still had the natural habit of stripping the meat off her prey and swallowing it whole, her claws and talons allowing her to avoid eating things like bones and fur. Chewing her food, and cooked food at that, was a very new experience for her. After Rone had eaten a bite, she made a chirping noise that sounded very close to ‘Please?’

Rone offered Felli every other bite, the harpy’s expression becoming more adoring with each piece she took from his fingers. Unfortunately, this meant that his meal ended up far smaller than he had hoped. Rone couldn’t hide his appreciation when Ikuno stated that she was full and pushed her remaining bit of cheese and dried fruit over to him.

When supper had been cleaned up and everyone seemed settled Kal spoke up, “My apologies Felli, Rone told us your name when we met earlier but we haven’t been properly introduced. My name is Kal and I am the local wizard of the town Rone is from. This here is my companion and teacher Ikuno, she is an oni from the far east who settled in this area. We came up here in hopes of being able to trade for one of your eggs, unfertilized of course.”

“Why?” she asked.

“We need it for something special, but it will be destroyed in the process, so it needs to be unfertilized. Not that we would take one that would become a chick anyways.”

“You’re a wizard! Can you make my husband want to stay with me?” Felli asked with hope in her eyes. Rone looked at Kal, terrified for a moment that he might be able to do such a thing.

Kal chuckled, “No, I can’t do that kind of magic. Even if I could, I wouldn’t. You will have to find a way to get him to stay on your own.”

“Then I don’t think you have anything that I need.”

Kal cringed, “Actually I do, it’s a suggestion that I’m going to give you both that I strongly recommend you follow. Though I can’t guarantee a good outcome I think it’s the best option for getting you both what you are wanting, enough so that I think it would be worth one of your eggs. Do we have a deal?” said Kal holding out his hand.

“He’s going to suggest WHAT!?” yelled Marda.

“Preposterous!” cried Master Jurien.

Lady Nina just stared at Perra, shocked beyond words.

Perra rubbed her temples. The apothecary had been kind enough to invite her in for supper after her declaration earlier, in hopes of gleaning more information about Rone. This latest tidbit was, unfortunately, going over about as well as she had expected.

“All the girl really wants is the chance to have a child,” Perra indicated towards Marda’s belly, “you of all people should be able to understand that right now.”

Marda and Nina gasped in shock as Jurien looked on in confusion.

“How the hell are ya knowin’ that Lady Perra,” Marda said in little more than a whisper.

“Knowin’ what?” asked Jurien.

Nina turned to her husband, “Marda believed she was with child when she came here, I confirmed it just before Lady Perra arrived. Until now, only Marda, Rone and I knew”

“HOW THE HELL DID YA KNOW THAT!” yelled Marda.

Perra glared at the woman and said through gritted teeth, “Like I told your father. I. Don’t. Know.”

Felli looked over at Rone, the man shrugged and said, “He hasn’t told me anything about this plan of his.”

The harpy looked back to Kal, “I’m happy with how things are, I see no reason to give up an egg for something that ‘might’ work.”

Kal leaned back, “That’s part of why I want to make this suggestion. By the end of the week, Rone will be gone from here.”

Felli squawked and hopped off her perch running over to fold her wings protectively around her husband, “No! You can’t take him!”

“I won’t but one of my women will and there’s nothing you can do about it. One moment you will be talking to him and the next he will be gone, on his way back to his proper wife.”

“Nooo!” the harpy wailed in despair, clutching Rone tightly she started to sob.

“You’re a bastard Kal,” said Rone, glaring at the young wizard as he pulled Felli around and cradled her in his arms. “Doing this to her after you told me about the difference in her eggs and knew I wouldn’t be able to see her as just a monster anymore. I see what you’re doing and you’re a right bastard for it.” Despite his seething words he started rocking and comforting the distraught harpy. “There’s a storage room across the cave entrance, it’s heated like this one. I think you should leave us alone for a couple hours.”

Kal nodded and looked over at Ikuno, her disapproval written plainly on her face. He sighed as he got up and made his way towards the exit, Ikuno following close behind. Outside, Kal stopped and turned to speak to Ikuno only to find her leaning down with her face inches from his own.

“I know why you did that,” she growled, eyes glowing red in the faint moonlight coming into the cave. “For their sake, I hope whatever plan you have works out. Still. That was a dick move, no pussy for you tonight,” she said, stalking off towards the storeroom entrance. Kal would have argued his certainty that this was going to work out for the best, but despite his good intentions he felt like a complete asshole and that Ikuno’s words were deserved.

The tunnel to the storeroom was shaped much like the one to Felli’s home and was just as tall, which Ikuno did not appreciate. As they walked in, crystals set into the ceiling began to glow until the entire area was bathed in light.

“It’s amazing that these enchantments have lasted so long,” said Ikuno as she stretched and worked the kinks out of her back from walking hunched over through the tunnels.

“From everything I’ve learned and what you’ve told me they shouldn’t,” said Kal looking around. There wasn’t much to see, the wooden shelves had all turned to piles of dust over the centuries with only a couple managing to remain as intact as the one in the attendant’s quarters. As in the caverns above there was a thick layer of dust, however, there were various human footprints here and there, as well as a couple made by a harpy, indicative of previous explorers. Other than the lines of dust that used to be shelves it was really just a large rectangular room. It was heated as Rone had said but not by the stove like outcropping in the other smaller cavern, instead, these were oblong stone nodules in the center of each of the walls that seemed to give off just enough heat to keep the room comfortable for humans.

Kal helped Ikuno clear a small area of centuries of dust so they could lay out their bedrolls, then went over to inspect the heating stones. He was curious what could sustain an enchantment like this for so long. Using his magical sight, he was unable to make out any details until he focused inward and filled himself with the energy, as his eyes started to glow the flows of magic became sharper. On the back side of the heating stone, he could make out a brightly glowing circle that he assumed was a rune of some sort but he was unable to make out what was keeping it powered. Seeing nothing if he moved to the right or left of the stone he got down on his hands and knees and looked below it. Through the rock he could make out a faint trace of a line of energy that ran downward, moving to either side he was able to tell that it did not angle away at all. Kal sat back lost deep in thought.

“Everything okay?” asked Ikuno from over by their bedrolls.

“They are being powered from below.”

“Crystals somewhere in the heart of the mountain?”

Kal shook his head, “No, it comes from straight down.” Kal stood up, “I need to check something in the larger caverns, care to come with?”

Ikuno looked around, “That means I’d miss out on all of this stimulating conversation with piles of ancient dust!” she said in mock horror. “Let’s go,” she said smiling as Kal rolled his eyes at her.

Holding the edges of his cloak taut, Kal brought it down with as much force as he could muster with the help of his strength rune. As a huge cloud of dust went billowing away from him and Ikuno exposing the rock beneath, the strength rune flickered out.

Kal swore under his breath as he saw the red glow fade, checking the crystal in his vambrace he confirmed that it was empty. He momentarily thought about asking Ikuno to recharge it since his extras were back in the storeroom but she was annoyed with him right now, best to not make things worse by treating her like a living battery. He swung his cloak over his shoulders and fastened it before kneeling onto the magically warmed floor. Kal’s eyes glowed as he attempted to see the flows of magic through the rock once again. He barely managed to peer through all of the swirls and eddies just below the surface to see a line of magic running straight down.

“You seem to have found something interesting,” Ikuno said as Kal stood and tilted his head back, closing his eyes in concentration.

“What if a roc isn’t insanely magical at birth?”

“Interesting question, where is this coming from?”

The glow faded as he opened his eyes and looked at her, “Why would a developing roc need three separate chambers to grow?”

Ikuno eyed him curiously, “Another good question, but still one I can’t answer.”

“Think of these warming rocks as basking stones for lizards but instead of heat and from sunlight they’re magic for a baby roc.”

Ikuno nodded, “Okay I’m following you there.”

“After a while, the lizard needs to move because the stone beneath him gets cold.”

Catching on, Ikuno continued for him, “In this case, the roc has used up all the magic directly below them and needs to move to one of the other chambers. That begs the question: where is the magic coming from?”

Kal closed his eyes again for a moment, “Unless my estimates of yours and Gerda’s speeds are way off, this mountain is directly above the crystal cavern Gerda and I went to.”

“Impressive. Any way to verify that?” Ikuno asked.

“Not until Gerda gets back, unfortunately.”

“Suddenly your idea of setting up a permanent home here doesn’t seem nearly as ridiculous.”

Kal beamed at the blue oni.

“Don’t be flashing me that smile, boy. Just because I’m impressed doesn’t mean I’m not annoyed with you for making Felli cry. You’re still cut off for tonight. Speaking of which, let’s go see if they are done talking,” she said before making her way back towards the cave entrance.

“Awww,” said Kal as he jogged to catch up with her.

Behind them two sets of glowing, solid red eyes opened and looked down, watching as the intruders left before silently peeling themselves away from the rock face up by the apex of the cavern.

“Wait up a minute, Ikuno,” said Kal as they reached the top of the slope leading to the entrance.

“Hmm?”

“I want you to understand that I feel like an ass for what I did to Felli, and Rone for that matter. I know I’m being a manipulative bastard like Rone said, and to be honest I hate it. Perhaps, more importantly, I need you to understand that I would never do something like this if I didn’t see a positive outcome for them. Huh?” Kal turned toward the chamber they had just come from.

The whistling of wind over stone wings was the only warning they got before clawed feet closed on Kal’s shoulders and dragged him off towards the entrance. As Kal cried out in surprise the leading edge of a wing clipped Ikuno’s arm, spinning her and sending her tumbling down the slope until she stopped by digging claws into the rock below.

A second winged figure went gliding through the place Ikuno had been standing a moment before. With its target already partway down the slope the stone construct angled down and came to rest where the path leveled off, blocking off the blue woman’s exit.

Ikuno picked herself up and calmly walked towards the figure, summoning her club as she strode down the stone ramp. Stopping a few paces away she looked the creature up and down. Bald, long pointed ears, pointed teeth with fangs, wings, clawed hands and feet, long tail. The only thing keeping it from sitting on the corner of some cathedral was the glowing eyes and mottled gray coloration that was likely for camouflage in the large caverns.

“Gargoyle? I must say the last time I saw one of you she was a lot prettier. A bit more ‘correct’ too,” she said indicating the construct’s smooth groin. “Why have you attacked us?”

The gargoyle opened its mouth, but its lips didn’t move as it spoke in an eerie hollow voice, “The crystal cavern must remain a secret. All who know of its existence must be destroyed.”

“You two are doing a piss-poor job of that. The man your partner ran off with had been inside that cave along with another friend of mine.”

“No matter, he will be dead soon. As will you.”

“I wouldn’t count on that,” said Ikuno stepping closer and waving the end of her club in the gargoyle’s face. “We may prove to be harder to kill than you think.”

Few creatures could tell the nature of Ikuno’s club at a glance, the gargoyle was not one of those. Reaching out, the construct’s hand closed around the end of the club, unbothered by the spikes and intending to pull the weapon out of her grasp. Instead, the living statue’s glowing red eyes winked out and its body went solid as the magic was sucked out of it.

“Thought so,” the oni said with a smirk. Ikuno twisted her club free snapping off some of the gargoyle’s fingers. Once released of the oni’s support the statue leaned to one side before crashing to the ground, snapping off the wing it landed on. While almost imperceptible, the inner corners of its eyes began glowing faintly red as the large blue woman walked away.

Ikuno headed towards the entrance, “‘All who know of its existence must be destroyed!’” she muttered, mocking the gargoyle. “How many times have I heard something along those lines? Why can’t it be ‘all who know of its existence shall be fed baklava until they explode!’ Nope, bad idea. Baklava is delicious, people would be lining up to die that way.” Out on the ledge, her club disappeared with a small flash before she summoned the brightest light she could muster to act as a beacon for Kal. “While I’m asking impossible questions: What is the deal with things made of stone stealing Kal from me?” she said looking into the night sky with a worried expression.

Kal was doing his best to maintain a level head after the shock of being lifted into the air and flown out of the roc’s cave. The pain in his shoulders was intense but tolerable, the fabric of his cloak just barely preventing the creature’s claws from penetrating his skin. As the creature flew higher Kal drew the rune for the telekinesis cantrip and used it to lift his mask up to his face then pull one of the straps up as far as it could up the back of his head before the spell gave out. Out in the open, the front rune on the mask glowed dimly, only needing to gather more air from the surrounding area and not having to purify it. As he looked out and began to see the moonlight reflecting off the tops of clouds he wondered just how high this thing was going to take him.