Chapter 24

Edited by: Old Fart

The boys made short work of constructing Merantha’s pyre. They even went so far as to have the harpies go and search the forest for wood that was pleasant and aromatic when burned. Perra thought it was a wonderful gesture considering only one of them, Tain, had ever met Kal’s mother. That had only been for a couple of minutes on one of the rare occasions Merantha had been out in the main room and he’d had to ask Kal a question.

Perra had taken to calling them ‘the boys’ shortly after they came to work at the farm. The irony that she was actually the youngest of all of them was not lost on the hired hands or the harpies. Instead of being insulted, they wore the moniker proudly. Telling Kal at one point that there was a degree of status they’d never experienced before among the townsfolk for being one of Master Kal and Lady Perra’s ‘boys.’

Perra and Ikuno watched from the steps of the porch as off in the distance one of the harpies landed next to a young man with an axe hung through a loop on his belt. Standing on one leg she handed him a twig, after a quick inspection and a sniff at the end where she had broken it off, he nodded. The young man turned his back to her and held his arms out. The harpy then carefully hopped onto his shoulders and a moment later they were climbing into the air heading back the way she had come from.

“They make a good team,” said Ikuno, thankful for something to take her mind off recent events.

“Uh-huh,” Perra replied absently as she leaned against one of the large poles holding up the roof of the porch.

“Are you going to be okay, Perra?” Ikuno asked.

Perra gave her a weak smile, “I’ll be fine. No offense intended towards Kal, but losing my own mother and father was much worse. It’s strange how different it feels, when my mother and father died I was so hysterical that the apothecary had to give me something to calm me down. Now,” Perra put a hand over her chest, “it’s more of a dull ache, knowing I’ll never see her again.”

“You and Kal were probably lucky that you knew this was coming for some time, it wasn’t sudden like with your parents.”

Perra nodded, “That’s true. Still, I can’t help being worried about Kal. He was too young to remember his father and grandparents dying. In a way, this is his first time dealing with this kind of loss.”

“Kal is far more resilient than I think you give him credit for. There may be some rough spots in the near future but I’m certain he will be fine in the end.”

“I don’t doubt you, however, I do wish that Master Jurien hadn’t been so insistent on taking care of the legal part of all of this right now. I can feel Kal’s anger bubbling just below the surface.”

Ikuno glanced at the door behind her with a frown before nodding in agreement.

Kal was sitting in the main room thinking the exact same thing as Perra while Jurien explained what was going to happen next. “The next time the council convenes you will be written in as the new owner of this property and a new writ of ownership will be drawn up to reflect your entire holdings. After that, it’s just a matter of updating the maps. All that new paperwork will need your mark to make things official once it’s been drafted.

“Though I hated to see Mera go, It was a good call to have me and Nina here. I know that there were a couple of your mother’s suitors from years ago who had eyes on this property once they heard she fell ill. Now, if they raise a challenge to you taking possession it’s not just your word against theirs but mine and Nina’s as well.”

“It was Perra’s idea,” Kal mumbled, staring down at his hands.

“You’re a lucky one with that girl, she’s got a good head on her shoul...”

“You said, someone might challenge my claim to this property?”

“Aye, not that they would have much to say with me and the wife being here to support you.”

“I understand that part, but how could they expect to have any kind of claim?”

Jurien sighed, “I wish your mother had told you about this instead of leaving it up to me. Women aren’t supposed to be landowners, Kal. When your mother sold her parents’ farm she used most of that money to pay off some of the council members to have her installed officially as your steward. This allowed her to be a landowner until either she passed away or you asserted your claim to the land once you came of age. I’m surprised she never brought it up.”

Kal’s hands clenched, “Oh, she did, many times in fact. I was just too stupid to understand what she was saying and hated the idea of the farm not being hers. As usual, I was being a child about things and not listening. After a while she stopped bugging me about it, that was shortly before she started getting sick.”

Jurien looked at the boy with concern, Kal had yet to look up from his hands. Clearing his throat, he continued, “The reason there might be challengers is that what she did wasn’t exactly “legal” and a few people found out about it. Stewardship is supposed to be reserved for nobles and the such, not commoners like us. Also, stewards of male heirs are supposed to be men themselves. People could say that the property was never truly hers to pass on to you because she never should have been allowed to keep it without marrying again.”

Kal watched as his knuckles turned white. “Fine, let them come,” he said through gritted teeth, “if they want to dirty my mother’s name after all she did for me then let anyone who challenges my right to this property know that, in turn, I challenge them to an old-fashioned duel.” His voice dropped into a snarl, “Just to keep things interesting I won’t use any magic either. They can’t claim my land if they’re dead.”

Jurien leaned forward and covered Kal’s hands with his own, “That’s enough, Kal, you won’t be killing anyone.” It took everything in his power not to flinch away from the glowing blue eyes that looked up at him. The apothecary could see the anger in the boy’s face and immediately regretted mentioning the possibility someone might try to interfere with his inheritance. The simple fact was that, regardless of his and Nina’s word, the chances of someone speaking up against the young mage were slim to none. Even ignoring the excellent reputation Kal had built in town, most people were quite aware that pissing off a wizard was rarely conducive to a long and peaceful life.

“I know that look,” said Jurien, “I wore it when my own father passed away. Angry at the world and willing to punch your way through a tree if it got in your way.”

Kal slowly nodded, that was a fairly accurate description of how he felt right now.

Jurien leaned back in his chair, “Back then, I ran. Saddled up one of the horses and damn near rode it to death. Screamed my head off and bawled like a newborn babe till I couldn’t scream or cry anymore.”

Kal glared at him, “Is that what you suggest I do? Run away?”

“No,” said the apothecary, shaking his head, “You’ll need to be back by sundown to say your final goodbyes. I am suggesting that you burn off some of that anger you’re keeping bottled up before you hurt someone you care about more than you already have.”

Kal’s eyes narrowed, “What do you mean I’ve been right here since mother passed.”

“Think about your women. If what Lady Perra said is true about this ‘bonding’ thing, they can’t be enjoying your mood.” Master Jurien knew it was mildly unfair to use the women against the boy, however, from the look on Kal’s face, it worked.

Kal closed his eyes for a moment, looking closely through the bond at each of the girls. They all told the same story, they wanted to console him and be supportive during this difficult time but kept quiet in fear of turning his anger towards them. Cursing himself for being blind to the feelings of the people he claimed to love he stood up and willed his cloak from the peg where it hung by the door to his hand.

Without even glancing back at Master Jurien he walked out the door, stopping next to Ikuno and Perra who were still sitting on the steps.

“Kal?” Perra quietly asked when he didn’t say anything for a minute.

Hearing her voice, he looked over at Perra, then Ikuno, then off toward the northeast, roughly in the direction of Aradelle, Bea, Gerda, and Bas. “Forgive me, but I need to be alone. Truly alone. I’m sorry.” Perra looked on with dismay as his thoughts faded from her mind. Ikuno, however, doubled over, a look of pain etched on her face.

“There I go again,” said Kal bitterly, “hurting the ones I love.” He put two fingers under her chin lifted her head up till she was looking into his eyes.

“Please, don’t,” she whispered.

“It’s only for a few hours. I need this Ikuno.”

The oni took his hand in hers and pressed it against her cheek, then kissed his palm before letting go. “Hurry back,” she pleaded.

Kal nodded and stepped off the porch as his haste rune spun up. He looked north toward the trail he and Ikuno had taken along the base of the mountain ridge then south toward Telsin and the main roads extending out from the small hamlet. Deciding on north, Kal streaked off towards the forest edge. Perra and Ikuno watched as he launched himself high up into the air with a flash of red light from the strength rune, then used his cloak to pick a landing spot among the trees. He dropped below the canopy and a few moments later they saw him jump high above the treetops again a bit further on.

Once Kal was out of sight and she turned back toward the oni, “Ikuno! Are you alright?” asked Perra in a worried tone. The large blue woman looked like she was on the verge of tears.

“No, I’m not. None of us will be until he lets us back in. This is the first time since he claimed me that I haven’t been able to feel him, it’s like a part of me is missing.”

Seeing the pain in the oni’s eyes Perra suddenly wondered if she really wanted to share a similar bond with her lover.

Kal reached the base of the mountain range and looked to the east and west. West led to Felli’s mountain cavern and east would take him to the fissure that led to Silma. Overall it didn’t matter so Kal faced east and sped off along the game trail. Trees and shrubs whipped past him at breakneck speeds as the world became blurry. Taking Master Jurien’s advice he felt the anger slowly drain out of him as his tears were stripped away by the wind. Remembering the second part of what the apothecary said, he took a deep breath...

The sun was just disappearing beneath the treetops as Kal arrived back at the farm. Perra had been with Ikuno when he opened up the bond and told them he was on his way home, the shift in the oni’s mood had been nothing short of stunning to the girl. She knew well enough that Ikuno loved Kal as much as she did but the look of pure joy on the oni’s face when Kal started talking to them again showed Perra just how important he was to the large blue woman. As he crossed the fields, approaching where they were standing waiting for him, for just a moment Perra saw that same kind of happiness in his face when he looked at Ikuno. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw a similar expression as his gaze turned to her.

They built his mother’s pyre right next to where his father’s had been, on the southwestern edge of the fields. As Kal approached he noticed that there were a few more people there than anticipated. Perra, Ikuno, the boys along with the harpies, and Master Jurien with Lady Nina were all expected. However, Rone, Marda, and Felli were not.

Kal exchanged handshakes and thanks for being there with Rone and Marda, who now had a bit of a baby bump. Felli wrapped her wings around him in a tight hug, her eyes brimming with tears for the young mage’s loss. After greeting Rone’s family he went and stood between Ikuno and Perra. Jurien and Nina both said a few words about his mother then offered to let him speak. Kal shook his head, not trusting his voice. Jurien motioned to one of the boys, Corben, who then handed the apothecary something.

“Would you do the honors?” Master Jurien asked, holding out the flint and steel.

Kal nodded but pushed the firestarter aside. Walking up to the pyre he saw that Lady Nina had done an excellent job, his mother looked wonderful. The apothecary’s wife had put her into one of her favorite dresses with a crown of summer flowers that Perra had picked and woven together circling her head. There were more flowers scattered about her body as well as the platform where Ikuno had laid her. As a final show of respect, the oni had offered to be the one to move the body from the bed to here,

He reached up and placed his hand over his mother’s, “Say hello to father for me.”

Stepping back, he summoned a ball of flame in each hand. Kal poured more power into the flames until they were columns that shot up over his head. Carefully turning his hands, he directed the jets of fire at the base of the funeral pyre and began walking around it, quickly igniting all of the tinder the boys had placed near the bottom. When he came back to where he started, the flames shooting from his hands sputtered and died as he ran out of magic, having burnt through most of it during his cathartic run earlier.

Perra and Ikuno came up on either side of him, both putting a hand on his shoulder. “The boys said they would keep an eye on things,” said Perra, “Let’s go home.”

Kal silently nodded as he allowed them to lead him away.

The world felt gray the first week his mother was gone. Little things that he had never paid attention to were now stark reminders that she was no longer here. Her chair in the living room, pots and pans that Perra now used to make their meals, even crawling into bed at night knowing that this had been his mother’s bed for years sent him sinking into depression.

By the second week, he began to pull out of his funk. The ache from her loss was still there and his old room was still off limits, but he began smiling more and even started being more affectionate towards Perra.

Towards the end of that second week, he woke up to an empty bed and the smell of breakfast cooking. After finishing up his morning routine he discovered that food was not the first thing on his mind. Coming up behind Perra as she worked in the kitchen he slid his arms under hers and cupped her breasts through her dress as he began to kiss and nibble on her neck.

The young woman moaned at the sensation, “Please tell me you aren’t joking,” she whispered.

He pressed up against her rear, “I want you in bed, now.”

Perra looked around the kitchen at everything she had going on, “Nope,” she said, hiking up her dress and leaning over the dining table. “You can take me to bed after breakfast. Right now, I need you inside me. I wasn’t expecting anything this morning, so I might be a little dry.”

She had anticipated that Kal would just start out slowly and squealed with surprise when he pulled her cheeks apart and took a couple of long licks from her clit all the way up to her rear entrance. Once he was sure she was ready he happily sunk his hard prick into her willing pussy. Since she was still in the middle of cooking he decided to make a game out of lasting until the food was done, this turned out more difficult than expected after going without for nearly two weeks. Perra made things easier by calling for him to stop every so often so she could stir a pot or check on something baking before bending back over the table and shaking her bottom at him in invitation. It wasn’t until she told him breakfast was almost ready and he needed to finish up that he realized she was making quite a bit more than what the two of them could eat. Putting it out of his mind for the moment he slid into Perra’s sex and grabbed her hips, slamming into her hard and fast. After nearly an hour of slow buildup, Kal came with a yell as he buried himself inside her pussy and did his best to fill her up for the first time in two weeks.

Panting he leaned over and rested his hands on the table as Perra hummed contentedly while milking him with her sex. “I think someone needed that as much as I did,” she purred, resting her head on her arms and relaxing as Kal caught his breath.

“You didn’t...”

“No, I didn’t,” Perra lifted up and twisted partway around so she could look at him, “and you shouldn’t worry about it. I’m sure you will take care of that many times over today,” she said smiling. “As I said, I wasn’t expecting you to be in this kind of mood, so I wasn’t ready.” She turned back around and stretched out like a cat on the tabletop, “After two weeks, like hell I was going to let this chance get away.”

“You make it sound like we won’t be able to do this again.”

“What time of the month is it, Kal?”

“Aww dammit...”

“Yup, that’s why you are going to take me to bed and make love to me the rest of the day as soon as the girls have left.”

“The girls?”

“The harpies. Much as I want you to stay right where you are, they should be here soon, so we should at least be presentable.”

Perra tightened up as Kal slowly pulled back with a disappointed groan. Once he slipped free she spun around and went to her knees. After giving him a thorough inspection, she took his half-hard prick into her mouth and gently cleaned him with her tongue. When her tongue had been over every inch of him numerous times, and Kal felt he was about to start getting hard again, Perra tucked him back into his trousers and pulled them back into place.

She directed him to the chair at the head of the table as she went about making three lunches, each heavily loaded with meats and large enough for two people.

“What’s all this for?”

“Last week I made everyone lunches a couple of times as a way of saying thanks for their help. I decided to make it a once-a-week thing, just to show our appreciation for what they do.”

“As much as the girls are helping out I’m starting to think that we should start paying them too.”

“Don’t you dare bring that up to them,” Perra warned. “When I mentioned it, I thought the biggest one, Ghoss, was going to rip my head off.”

Kal’s eyes widened, “Why?” he asked, looking concerned. Was Perra in danger from the harpies?

“Verbally, Kal, not actually rip my head off,” she explained, guessing at the reason for the look on his face. “The girls have mates who are not trying to run away and a sense of security they’ve never known before, plus I think one or two might have a chick on the way already. As Kuto put it, ‘You’ve given us the world and now you want to pay us as if everything you’ve done already wasn’t good enough.’ That’s why Ghoss got upset at the idea.”

“Sounds like they are happy enough working for their boarding?”

“Correct,” said Perra as she finished assembling the last of the lunches. “Homes, mates, chicks, a backup place to live if something goes wrong here. When you think about it, Kal, you’ve given them quite a bit already.”

Kal nodded, he hadn’t really thought about the harpies’ situations in the way Perra described, but then he hadn’t really talked with them much, preferring to talk with the men.

At the same time Perra finished loading up her and Kal’s plates, there was a loud flapping of three sets of wings as the harpies landed in front of the farmhouse. A few seconds later one of the girls lightly tapped on the door.

Perra flashed Kal a mischievous grin before yelling, “Come in!”

The three harpies entered and made their way towards the table where the lunches were wrapped up and waiting for them. They each bid Perra good morning and seemed especially pleased to see Kal up and about. Kal was mildly embarrassed to think that this was the earliest he had been out of bed since his mother passed. The couple engaged them in some light conversation, however, the longer they talked, the more distracted the harpies seemed to become. Finally, Ghoss excused herself and grabbed the linen-wrapped package meant for her and Tain. A few moments later Ruce and Kuto were right behind, making a hasty retreat to the door then getting airborne as soon as they cleared the porch.

As soon as Kuto was in the air, Perra began laughing so hard she was soon holding her stomach. Kal looked at the woman like she had gone insane, “Care to tell me what’s so humorous?”

Perra wiped tears from the corners of her eyes. “After what you did to Gerda you can’t see why this is so funny?”

Kal groaned leaning back in his chair, “Monster girls are sensitive to scents, and we did it right here on the table only a little while ago.”

Perra giggled, “Don’t expect any work to get done until this afternoon.”

“It’s a good thing they work fast. Did you plan this?”

“No, but it was quite the turn-on watching all three of them getting worked up because of our activities earlier,” she said while giving Kal a look of hunger that had nothing to do with food. “Eat up, we have an appointment to keep in the bedroom.”

They got lucky and Perra didn’t start until the next day. Other than the normal discomforts of this time of the month, she wasn’t complaining. She had gotten her day with Kal and was now insistent that he go visit the other girls to spend some time with them as well.

Shouldering his pack, he was about to step out the door when he received a strong feeling of excitement from Bea. The image she sent to him was what looked like a large amber colored ball with ridges running down the sides. It wasn’t until a moment later that he received a strong feeling of pride for her daughter that Kal realized that this was about the time she said she was going to lay her egg. Kal shook his head, first seeds, now eggs. He was becoming more thankful of Sandy and Bas, at least they had children in a more human fashion. Then again he might want to ask about that, it was entirely possible that they gave birth to a stone shelled egg or something.

Kal shifted his pack and reached for the door when Perra stopped him.

“Kal what are you doing?”

He looked at her in confusion, he had been fairly certain he’d gone over his plans with her already. “First, I’m heading to Ikuno’s, then going to see Aradelle if I have time. Bea just told me that she laid her egg, so I will probably go visit her for a bit then spend some time with Gerda and Bas before she goes back to her home. Why?”

“Not that,” she said rolling her eyes, “Why are you carrying your pack?”

Kal stood there dumbfounded at his own foolishness. Looking down at the pouch tied to his belt he softly called out, “Ria.”

When the ghostly sprite appeared next to the bag she quickly looked around. Not seeing Kal’s mother the top and skirt she was wearing faded until she was nude again. The simple action made Perra and Kal both flinch, Kal’s mother had been the only one to make a fuss about the avatar’s nudity. The reminder hurt Kal, but it no longer felt like he was spiraling into sadness, as he had up until a few days ago.

“How can I help you Master Kal?” asked the sprite as she flew up and sat on the strap of his pack where it rested on his shoulder.

Kal slid his pack off, dislodging the sprite, and held it up, “First, would you store this and get my staff for me, please?” he said, waving goodbye to Perra and walking out the front door. “Second, some things have happened since I summoned you last.”

Every time she was about to leave Bas seemed to find some obscure reason to stay a bit longer. Kal could hardly complain, having the older golem around was doing wonders for Gerda. She showed the younger golem how to smooth out the rock portions of her body in a manner similar to hers as well as giving Gerda a needed talking too about eating too many gems and other ‘sweet rocks.’ By the end of her third week there, the first week since Kal shook off his depression, he could already see a small difference in Gerda’s body.

Surprisingly, he wasn’t very fond of it. Despite having body parts made of rock, Gerda was always the ‘soft’ one. Ikuno was lean and muscular while all the rest, including Bas, were well toned, whether it was by choice as with Bas and ‘Dell or by lifestyle as with Perra and Bea. Still, he was proud of her for making the effort, even if somewhere in the back of his mind he hoped she kept some of her curves.

Bas had also been a huge help to Kal with his geomancy. She had hundreds of years more experience than Gerda and showed it by being totally unimpressed with the young wizard’s abilities, then demonstrating to everyone exactly why she was unimpressed.

Kal and Ikuno took Gerda and Bas up to their small pool with the intent of outlining what Ikuno wanted the shower and pool area to look like eventually. Kal had started on it with Gerda only offering direction for now, later on she would come behind him and do a lot of the finer finish work.

Bas looked at the partial dome structure he had built over the pool and laughed before asking Ikuno what it was they were trying to make. The oni explained in great detail what she was imagining as the basalt colored golem asked a variety of questions before finally nodding in understanding.

Turning around to see what Kal had built she made a dismissive wave of her hand and the structure shattered and crumbled, the action was so quick the mage didn’t even see how she had done it. Nor did he get a chance to be upset that his work had been reduced to gravel before Bas raised a hand and began walking forward, pulling a large upside-down half-circle of hand-thick stone out of the mountainside just above the waterfall. With what looked like no effort she covered the entire bathing area except the pool. When Ikuno mentioned that the shower area was now dark while glancing over at Kal, Bas just nodded before grabbing Gerda’s hand and sinking into the ground.

A little while later they both appeared carrying a number of very large crystals. Gerda quickly went about reducing them to powder as Bas started making large rectangular holes in the roof. Bas took the powder from the crystals and inspected it as she made it flow past her ruby eye, a stream of white particles flowing up into the holes she had just made while darker dust and sand was discarded. When the area was slightly overfilled she stopped the flow of powder.

By this time Kal’s eyes were glowing and he was trying desperately to keep up with what the older golem was doing. He watched in fascination as the magic flowing from Bas formed a container that was holding the white crystal dust. With a motion of her hand, the container took on a fuzzy appearance and began to compact and compress its contents. His eyes widened with surprise as the powder started to glow faintly red. He was just starting to wonder what kind of magic crystals Bas had destroyed to form this white powder when he began to feel the warmth radiating from it and realized she was just heating it up. Kal received another surprise when after a few minutes of glowing red, the powder suddenly got even brighter, right before turning into a liquid. Bas adjusted the container then formed it into the rectangular hole she had made earlier. With that done all they could do was wait until the material cooled. Once it was cold enough to hold its shape Bas dispelled the container and moved on to the next hole.

As Gerda went to get more of the crystals to finish up the skylights, Bas explained to Kal that the crystals were quartz and that she was heating the powder by making the individual pieces vibrate against one another. She also explained that molten and solid rock was still made up of the same thing, therefore geomancy could be used on things like lava and her fused quartz windows. Kal spent the next few hours watching Bas work, trying to memorize and copy the way she used her magic so quickly and efficiently.

Ikuno was absolutely thrilled with the end result. Bas put up a half-dome that covered the pool area on the end of what she had made so far, then put large triangular windows that ran nearly to the apex of the dome around the outside. She also made a number of other modifications that gave Kal and Ikuno the impression that she had done something similar before, such as making a large plate with holes for the water to come through that they could easily fit four people under when taking showers together. By the time the sun was going down all that was left was for Kal to set up the runes for flow control and heat. Thankfully, Bas had shown him the most likely way the ancients had made the water heaters up in Felli’s cave. Kal did take some pride in that what Bas showed him was nearly identical to how he had expected them to work.