Chapter 22

Edited by: Old Fart

Scowling, Ikuno looked on as Silma and Kal went through the molting process again, she was bothered by last night’s dream but that wasn’t what was making her unhappy at the moment.

“What the hell happened to your hair?” the oni growled as they walked over to her.

Kal blushed and ran a hand over his bare scalp, “It’s a side effect of cooling down so fast.”

Silma nodded in agreement as she stepped up beside him, “It was this or wait a day there and a day back for him to cool down.” The salamander held out her fist, Ikuno held her hand out and Silma dropped the stone the oni had used to summon her into it. “I won’t complain if you don’t wait as long to use that again, especially if you bring him back with you,” she said with a smile. “Kal told me you were disappointed you couldn’t join us. I’m sorry Ikuno, as beautiful as you are, I’ve never had any kind of desire for another woman.”

Ikuno raised an eyebrow, “If the opportunity arose would you mind if he licked me while you rode him?”

“Hmm ... no, I suppose not,” said the salamander after a moment’s thought.

Ikuno grinned, “Good, then a threesome with you and Kal isn’t completely out of the picture. I’ll warn you though, if that ever comes to pass and you start pawing my tits then you should expect the same treatment.”

“Ladies? It’s my dick and my face that you are talking about riding. I’d appreciate being a larger part of the conversation as more than just the handy cock and tongue,” interrupted Kal.

Ikuno and Silma laughed as the oni pulled Kal’s bag of holding out of his pack, “Ria,” she called.

The image of the winged sprite appeared above the bag a few moments later. Ria nodded to Ikuno then looked around for Kal, “Hello Mas ... What happened to your hair?!” she exclaimed, her eyes widening at Kal’s new look. The young wizard’s shoulders slumped as he sighed heavily.

“Ria,” said Ikuno getting her attention, “we need the box with the egg in it.”

The bag’s avatar nodded and a mote of light sailed out of the pouch’s opening down to the floor, turning into the container holding Felli’s egg. The oni laid the bag on the ground and quickly retrieved the box’s contents before handing it to Silma.

While Ikuno was taking care of the egg, Kal went over to his pack and began dressing. “Ria, could you get my staff as well, please?” he said after pulling his trousers on. Ria nodded and waited patiently as he pulled his shirt over his head and did up the top few fasteners. Kal looked at the floor by his feet then gave the sprite a questioning look.

“Hold out our hand,” she said in response. Kal did as she asked and Ria sighed with exasperation, “Sideways, Master Kal, like you are about to hold onto a staff.”

Kal turned his hand and a ball of light floated over from the bag, turning into his new staff as it touched his palm. “That’s handy,” he said. Picking up his cloak, he looked over to see Silma had put a hand on the top and bottom of the egg and a light show had started inside. Kal hadn’t seen Ikuno punch a hole in the top with one of her claws but he could see sparks and embers occasionally escape from under the salamander’s hand as the contents were turned into a fiery maelstrom that somehow lit the shell up without breaking it.

As the lights inside the shell faded, Ikuno looked down at Ria. “Could you store this, please?” she asked pointing at the egg still in Silma’s hands.

“So long as you understand that it will come out just as hot as when it went in.” Ikuno nodded and the sprite waved a hand, the egg vanishing into a speck of light and floating into the bag.

“This too,” said Kal holding up his cloak, at the moment it was too warm to wear it. “Perhaps my pack as well,” Kal hastily grabbed the box for the egg and stuffed into the pack before letting Ria take it. “What about yours Ikuno?”

“I’m good. I still have a couple of potions I want access to if needed.” Kal and Ria gave the oni a confused look. “Ria, get out Kal’s waterskin please.” Understanding dawned on the sprite’s face while Kal continued to look confused. A moment later Kal’s entire pack with the waterskin attached to the side appeared on the floor near his feet.

“Oh, so things have to come out the same way they went in, you couldn’t take a potion out of the pockets of Ikuno’s pack if she needed them.”

“That’s correct Master Kal,” she said.

“Well I don’t have any potions to worry about,” Kal dug through his pack and retrieved a few portions of rations wrapped in cloth then laid them out on the ground next to the waterskin. “Would you store all of these, please?”

“I’m liking you more and more Master Kal, someone who gets how to use me as more than a glorified footlocker or set of shelves,” said Ria with a wave of her hand.

He smiled at the compliment and turned to Ikuno, “Are we ready to go?”

The oni nodded and Silma gave Kal a hug and a smoldering kiss before wrapping her arms around a slightly startled Ikuno. “Thank you for keeping your promise,” she told the oni whose expression went from surprised to confused.

“Master Kal, I have a request before we go,” Ria said as Kal picked up her bag. He was still having a difficult time wrapping his head around Ria and the bag being a single entity.

“What’s that?”

The sprite’s cheeks darkened slightly, “Could you have your salamander friend hold me upside down over that,” she said pointing at the river of lava in the middle of the chamber.

“Why on earth would you want to do that?” he asked.

Ria began looking very uncomfortable, “If you are holding a coin and put your hand in me then leave the coin, I will automatically store it.” Kal thought that was an odd and very precisely worded description but nodded his head in understanding. “My former master left some things in me that only he found to be of value, now that he is dead I’d like to be rid of them. Permanently.”

Kal was about to ask what she could have that was only of value to her former master but then remembered the question she had asked right after he and Ikuno first found her. Ria hid her face in her hands out of embarrassment as Kal and Ikuno cringed, Silma just looked on in confusion.

Ikuno leaned over and whispered in Silma’s ear. The salamander’s eyes widened for a moment before she held out her hand to Kal, “I promise I will give her back to you.”

With her body glowing bright orange, Silma gave a final wave before diving smoothly into the river of lava. Ikuno and Kal, with Ria sitting on his shoulder, turned and headed back the way they had come the previous day.

“You must have made quite the impression, she’s never been that affectionate with me before. Then again all I’d brought down here before were ruffians. Probably not the best of men for impressing her,” said Ikuno.

“We certainly did enjoy ourselves last night, I think she was most impressed that I started while we were still swimming there.”

“Wait, you actually had sex with her in the lava?”

Kal nodded, “I thought it might be something she would enjoy, it turned out to be a really good idea from how she acted towards me afterward. Silma said it was close to how she imagined making love with a male salamander.”

“I must applaud your initiative, I don’t think I would have been able to do the same in your situation,” the oni said with a shudder. “The funny part is I have actually made love in a column of flame before, but we were both well protected and he was a pyromancer. Somehow lava seems far scarier, viscous, soupy, and probably quite a bit hotter than what I did.”

“It wasn’t that viscous but Silma said that was because she heated it up, so it was easier to move through.”

“So, it was hotter than normal? You honestly amaze me sometimes, Kal,” said Ikuno shaking her head.

“Enough about my night, did anything interesting happen out here?” Kal looked over and saw Ikuno’s scowl, “Uh oh,” he said.

“Uh oh, is right,” responded the oni and proceeded to tell him about her dream. “I slept the rest of the night with my club in my hand, he must have stopped attacking because at some point I let go of it in my sleep and found it a little way away when I woke up in the morning. I’m absolutely worthless at Astral school spells but I guess I’m going to have to figure a few out to protect myself from whoever this is.”

“Still no clues as to the identity?”

“Sadly no, in fact, I have more questions than answers now. The voice sounded human, but all of the human wizards I knew before coming here should be long dead. Even if they did something to extend their lives they would be old and frail and judging by the voice it was neither. More confusing was that it appeared to be a necromancer, I’m guessing the same one that sent the wolf after me. If that’s the case, then he must be getting help from an astral mage to attack me like this, the two affinities are complete opposites and don’t work well together.”

“Is there a chance it could be an elf?”

Ikuno shook her head, “First, elves have a lilt to their voice from learning the elven language first and I didn’t hear any of that. Second, elves have a very strong connection with nature and one becoming a necromancer is unheard of. I’m not saying it’s impossible, just extremely unlikely.”

“You said you couldn’t think of any wizards you’ve pissed off enough to want to kill you?” asked Kal.

“None that would still be alive.”

“Is there a chance the ice mage survived?”

Ikuno shook her head again, “None. Her body was ... let’s just say she was very dead when her brother told me to leave.”

“Brother?”

The oni sighed, “He was the pyromancer I was talking about earlier. He and I were lovers for a couple of years and it made her insanely jealous. Unfortunately, I didn’t find that out until she tried to kill me, same as with her being an ice mage.”

“Brother and sister, pyromancer and ... what is an ice mage called?”

“Cryomancer,” came the unexpected response from Ria, “Masters of Entropy affinity spells.”

“Entropy, why does that word sound so familiar? Can you tell me anything else about this entropy school?” asked Kal.

“Sorry no, I only remember things from when I’m active, I had some chalk one of my masters needed and he forgot to dismiss me afterward. It just so happened that he was making a list of all the different types of mages and their related affinities. I thought it was interesting, so I stuck around and watched,” said the sprite.

“Any other interesting tidbits in there that you can remember? Not necessarily about Entropy.”

“Anything said or events that happened which may have been of personal importance to my former masters were scrubbed from my memory upon you taking ownership of me. Things of general or low importance that I witnessed will be recalled based upon hearing key words.”

“You confuse me Ria. Sometimes you act so alive and others you seem so mechanical, like you just read all of that out of a book,” said Kal.

“My apologies Master Kal, since I have displeased you I will not speak in such a manner any longer.” Ria jumped off Kal’s shoulder and flew down to the bag hanging from his belt before disappearing.

Ikuno laughed while Kal grumbled about how that wasn’t what he meant as he untied the bag and held it up, “Ria,” he called.

“Yes, Master Kal?” said the sprite after appearing a few moments later, Kal thought her tone seemed a bit cooler than normal.

“I said that you confused me, not that you displeased me. If you wish to return to the bag you are welcome to do so. However, I would appreciate your company and whatever input you can provide concerning what is going on with Ikuno.”

Ria gave him a skeptical look, “You want my company?”

“Yes?” Kal wasn’t sure if he had said something wrong.

“You’re a strange one, not many in my past have treated me as more than a thing,” she said flying back to Kal’s shoulder as he returned the bag to his belt.

“Back to the brother and sister?” said Kal looking back at Ikuno.

“Azrin and Midora, they had a hold on the side of a volcano just above the snow line. Azrin and I met by chance as he was down in a local town, purchasing supplies that would be delivered weekly over the next month. We chatted for a bit over a few mugs of ale then we went up to our rooms. Separate rooms mind you, though even then I wouldn’t have minded taking him for a tumble. The locals were tolerant of me as long as I didn’t make a fuss and my coin was good but tripping a man into bed was proving difficult.

“He went back to his hold and I wandered around the town for a bit longer until someone’s brat got mauled by a dog and the mother tried to blame it on me. Thankfully the kid wasn’t dead yet, after explaining that I was a magic user the constable escorted me to the woman’s house where I healed the boy. The mother retracted her story but then spit on me, the woman who just saved her son’s life, saying that mongrels like me weren’t wanted in this town.

“The constable told me not to worry about her too much, but the story had already spread, and the damage was done. My coin was no good anymore and people in the streets gave me a wide berth. When I returned to the inn I discovered the merchant delivering supplies to Azrin’s hold was looking for porters. I figured that was as good of an excuse as any to get out of town and make a little bit of money doing it. Upon speaking with the merchant, it turned out he cared more about a strong back than whether I was human or not. It did make him nervous when I asked him to bring my pay along with until I explained that I knew Azrin and was planning on staying at the hold once we were done. I had already decided that I was going to strike out from there even if he turned me away.

“The couple of servants Azrin and Midora had thought I was joking at first when I asked to speak to the Lord of the Hold once we were finished unloading. Thankfully, Azrin welcomed me with open arms into his home and a few days later into his bed. Midora took an immediate disliking to me which got worse once her brother and I started sleeping together. Over the next couple of years, things were wonderful between Azrin and I. We talked in depth about his and my studies of magic and he constantly teased me about not settling on a specific school or affinity to focus on and study, as he had with pyromancy. Sadly, things between him and his sister got worse the longer I stayed, numerous times I heard them arguing and Midora was none too kind in her descriptions of me. I even offered to leave more than once after those arguments but each time Azrin convinced me to stay. Had I known what was going to happen I would have left even if he had gotten on his knees and begged me not to go,” said Ikuno, sadness tinging her voice.

“On one of Azrin’s trips for their monthly supplies I was practicing in a large arena him and his sister had carved into the mountain for just that purpose. Midora waited until she thought her brother was gone and came to the arena to confront me, I didn’t know I was under attack until I was encased in a block of ice and couldn’t breathe. Luckily for me summoning my iron club displaces whatever is around it and with the extra strength I was able to break free...”

“Why won’t you just fucking die, you freak!” screamed Midora as a hail of ice spikes crashed against Ikuno’s magic shield. The oni had dismissed her club almost immediately, even though she could throw it, the weapon wasn’t very good for dealing with enemies at range. Walls of ice formed on either side of her and Ikuno dove forward into a roll as they came together and shattered. Even as she regained her feet she had to throw herself to the side as the ice mage turned the rubble of the shattered walls into a large spike that came at her from behind. Ikuno sprinted to the other side of the arena before Midora could launch another attack.

“Why are you doing this Midora?” the oni called out. “What did I do to deserve this?”

“You’re stealing my brother away from me you whore!” she yelled as the pile of ice turned into snow and swirled around to either side of the blue woman, “I’m the only woman he needs! That he will ever need!” Midora raised her arms in a cross in front of her and spikes appeared from the clouds of snow crossing where the oni had been standing a moment before.

Ikuno had expected the attack and jumped at the last moment, landing just behind the spikes she reached up and snapped off both pointed tips. With a flick of the wrist, one went spinning up into the air as she launched the other back at the ice mage like a javelin. Plucking the first one out of the air, with a quick mental thanks to a street performer from her homeland who taught her how to juggle, Ikuno sent it flying at her opponent right behind the first.

Since she was using ice against an ice mage, Ikuno hadn’t expected much of a result. She also wasn’t really trying to kill the woman out of respect for her brother and aimed slightly off to the side. The first spike dissolving into snow was expected but the oni couldn’t hide her surprise when the second caught Midora in the arm, spinning the woman around as she leaned over and grabbed the wound with a scream. Ikuno could have sworn the mage had actually moved into the path of the projectile.

“Listen, if you want me gone I’ll pack my stuff and be out of here within the hour. There’s no point in this nonsense.”

The laughter coming from the ice mage as she straightened up bordered on maniacal. “No, you will die here. I won’t give him some reason to run off after your blue pussy when he can have mine any time he wants. You will die here, and he will hate you for the rest of his life once he finds out you attacked me out of jealousy.” She pulled her hand away from the bloody gash on her arm and held it up, “and now I have the proof that you attacked me.” She brought the other hand up and a huge wall of ice began forming in front of Ikuno.

The oni shook her head, seeing already that she wouldn’t be able to go around or over this particular barrier, leaving her only one option. “It’s really too bad,” she said quietly as she summoned her iron club, “a brother-sister threesome would have been sexy as hell.”

Midora sent the thick sheet of ice forward, trying to crush the oni against the stone behind her. The center of the ice suddenly exploded outward showering the mage with snow and bits of her wall. When the mage could see again the oni stood there calmly holding a spell out towards her, a large spiked club laying on the ground next to her feet.

“Please don’t,” said Ikuno with a deep sadness that came from knowing her words were falling on deaf ears.

The ice mage screamed in rage and formed a large sickle of ice, sending it flying at the oni. Ikuno had her spell at the ready and the crescent of energy moved far faster than the ice. The blade of magic sliced clean through Midori’s spell and on into the woman behind it. The cryomancer’s sickle fell to the floor and shattered, tiny bits of ice sliding into Ikuno’s feet as she closed her eyes before her spell struck, holding them closed until she was certain that the mage had passed. It was a gruesome thing to do to a living being, but undeniably effective.

“Midora!” came Azrin’s voice from the entrance to the arena. “No, no, no, no!” he yelled as he came skidding on his knees next to his sister’s head and leaned over the upper half of her body sobbing her name over and over.

“I’m sorry Azrin, but she att...”

“Leave,” he said without looking up, his voice choked with grief, “get your things and get out. The servant who came and got me told me she attacked you first but that didn’t mean you had to kill her. If I ever see you again I swear I will do whatever necessary to see you dead at my feet. Leave.”

Ikuno opened her mouth to speak but thought better of it. No, she hadn’t needed to take Midora’s life, however, she had learned early on in her travels that it was unwise to leave people alive who had tried to kill you. Two years thinking about that particular mistake while rebuilding her lifeforce enough make a new body was a hard lesson.

With a sigh the oni turned and walked out of the arena, leaving her former lover to mourn his sister.

“After that, I packed up and left,” said Ikuno before taking a deep steadying breath.

“I can understand why you didn’t want to talk about it before.” Kal reached out and took her hand bringing it to his lips and kissing the back before giving it a small squeeze and letting go. The difference in their heights didn’t make walking hand in hand feasible.

Ikuno smiled down at him, appreciative of the gesture. “As I said before that happened ages ago. Knowing how long you humans live he would have died about the time that I came to live here.”

“That statement is false,” said Ria from Kal’s shoulder.

Ikuno and Kal both stopped dead and looked at the sprite.

“You mean he isn’t dead?” asked Ikuno.

“No, that part was true, he most certainly died. It was the timeframe that was false, he must have been still been alive when you came to live here. Wherever here is.”

Ikuno breathed a sigh of relief, her and Kal started walking again as Kal looked over at Ria. “You can tell if someone is lying even if they don’t know they are lying?”

“Most times,” said the bag’s avatar, “For instance, you get hurt and you send Ikuno to get a potion from me I can determine that you did request the potion and give it to her. Now add someone else in who lies and tells Ikuno that you were hurt but is just trying to get the potion. I can still tell what she is saying is false even though she didn’t know it, which makes it very useful. Just so we’re clear, normally I wouldn’t have said anything, but you specifically asked for my input.”

“I appreciate that, even if you did tell us in a way that scared the hell out of me for a minute,” said Ikuno. “It actually makes me feel a bit better to know that Azrin lived to a ripe old age.”

Seeing the smile on Ikuno’s face, Ria decided to keep to herself that something was wrong with what the oni had just said.

Wood clacked against wood in Ikuno and Kal’s latest exchange out in the clearing in front of the oni’s cave. Kal’s staff felt extraordinarily light even though when it contacted something like the wooden batons Ikuno was using it seemed to hit with the force of something far heavier.

“I must say you are surprisingly good with that, Kal,” said the oni, stepping back.

He looked at the staff in his hand, “It’s probably the closest thing to a real weapon I have any experience with. I always took a walking stick with me when I would check my fur traps in the winter. It’s kind of necessary when you need to beat off some animal who has found an easy meal in one of your snares. Last year, after the incident with Perra’s brother, I started practicing with it more as a weapon as I checked my trap runs.”

“Careful what you call a ‘real weapon’, staves can be very effective in both offense and defense. Your practice seems to have paid off, though you should have mentioned it earlier,” she said and held the ends of the batons together where they fused into a staff of her own. “We could have worked on this as well as your other training.”

Kal shook his head, “I thought about it, but I wanted to focus on the hand-to-hand part before throwing anything else into the mix.”

“Speaking of which,” Ikuno looked over towards the cave entrance and the small bag with a ghostly sprite sitting on it. “Ria could you store this please?” she said tossing the staff in her direction. With a wave, the oni’s staff turned into a mote of light and flew into the mouth of the bag as the sprite held it open. Kal was about to do the same until Ria held up a hand and stopped him.

“One moment, Master Kal. That staff belonged to a party member of my former master. Since you appear to be planning on using it as a weapon, would you like to know more about it?”

Kal’s eyes lit up, “By all means.”

“My former master identified it as ‘Everyman’s Polearm’” said Ria.

“Polearm?” asked Kal.

“‘Sword on a stick’ as I heard one soldier call them,” quipped Ikuno. “However, polearms are more than that and include halberds, spears, and tridents.”

Ria nodded, “The gold cap is the bottom of the staff and the platinum one will change into whatever polearm you might need. All you have to do is speak the name of the weapon you are wanting.”

Kal looked at the staff in his hand with new appreciation. He was unfamiliar with the terms ‘halberd’ or ‘trident’ but he knew what a spear was. “Spear,” he said to the staff and the wood immediately lengthened and the platinum tip formed into a spear point.

“Nice,” said Ikuno.

Kal was decidedly impressed. “Halberd,” he said and to everyone’s confusion, it returned to a staff.

“What on earth?” said Ria.

Kal looked sheepish for a moment, “Um ... does it matter that I don’t know what a halberd is?”

“May I?” asked Ikuno holding out her hand. Kal handed it to her golden end first, she flipped the platinum end upward before saying, “Halberd.” The staff again lengthened and the platinum this time formed into a small, thin, battleax on the end with a hook sticking out the other side and a spearhead coming out the top. “Apparently it does.” Looking over at Ria she asked, “Is there a limit to the number of times it can change?”

“Not that I’m aware of.”

“Watch carefully, Kal,” said the oni before launching into a long list of the different polearms she knew about and how they were used.

“I’m not going to remember half of those, you know that, right?” said Kal as he took his staff back. “Some of those I’m not even sure I can say properly.”

“Perhaps I did overcomplicate things a bit since it seems to react more to what I was visualizing than preset patterns. Just remember, spear, blade, axe, hammer, hook, and pike. Any combination of those should cover just about anything you may need. For now, I’d suggest sticking with the staff; work with what you already know.”

Kal nodded and played around with the staff’s abilities for a few more minutes before tossing it to Ria for safekeeping.

Squaring off in front of Ikuno he brought his hands up and set his legs for a round of sparring with the oni.

His eyes glowed blue and a slight smile played across his lips.

“Ready.”

“Not sure what the hell you’re so damn happy about,” grumbled Ikuno as she helped Kal onto her bed, his healing rune glowing brightly to repair what was most likely a cracked rib.

“I may have lost the war, but I at least won that fight,” he said reaching across with his other hand to gingerly press on the injured area under his arm. His magic sight told him he still had a couple of minutes to go.

“Really? You didn’t even manage to knock me down,” said the oni. Inwardly, she had to give the man credit. He had lifted his arm and stepped into one of her kicks instead of just blocking it, taking a hard hit to the ribs but at the same time trapping her leg against his body. Kal had then used that to pull her forward as he landed a powerful straight kick of his own on her midriff. He’d collapsed holding his ribs immediately afterward, but his hit had been enough to stagger Ikuno, a first in their sparring matches. She told herself that she was withholding praise because she didn’t want him to get a big head about it. However, deep down she knew that taking a hit like that from someone comparatively new to martial arts had hurt her pride, just a little.

“You said Gerda is going to be here with Sandy tomorrow?” Ikuno asked, happy to change the subject.

Kal sat up on the bed, “That’s what it sounded like, which may be a good thing since I’m still not allowed back onto the farm yet,” he said with mild annoyance, it was his farm and his home after all. “Also, I’ve been informed that we are getting some hired hands to help Perra out with me being gone so much.”

Ikuno stopped putting things together for their midday meal and looked over at him, “That seems unfair of her, it’s not like you are over here all the time.”

Kal waved it off, “I think it’s her monthlies talking more than anything, however, she does have a good point. Having some hired hands would free up more of my time so I could come to visit you, ‘Dell, Bea, and Gerda more often, along with focusing more on my studies and training. Speaking of which, I’m going to go grab Ria from outside then spend some time in the library. I want to learn as much as I can about this Entropy she mentioned, I have a feeling it’s something important.”

“I’ll keep working on lunch then just be sure you don’t disturb any of my equipment back there, your ink should be ready to mix sometime tomorrow.”

Kal nodded and looked over at the counter filled with glass tubes and jars tucked into the back corner of her library. She had explained to him the basic concepts of distilling things in order to extract their essence or purify them saying that as he got further into the runesmithing book it would become absolutely necessary when making high-quality inks, but this was the first time he had actually seen it done. In this case, she was just washing the ashes from Felli’s egg repeatedly with pure water and alcohol to remove what she called ‘volatile impurities’ then letting the liquid distill off slowly according to the instructions in the book. Beneath the round flask with the ashes was a magic candle that would never go out until a command was spoken.