Chapter 9

Kal and Gerda stepped into the cave where the golem and her sister decided to meet. While they waited for Sandy to arrive, Gerda began explaining how her new method of geomancy worked while creating a couple of places for them to sit.

“Work with pebble,” she said, after making a table and detaching a tiny round stone from her brassiere. She appeared to think that her naked breasts and sex were too much of a distraction for the mage.

Kal created a tiny magical rope from one of his fingers and attached it to the pebble. Concentrating hard, he attempted to push the stone away from him. To his surprise, it moved but in the wrong direction, instead, rolling off to the side towards Gerda.

She caught the tiny rock as it rolled off the edge, shaking her head, “Finger moved.” The golem placed the pebble back on the table then came over and placed his hand on the table, covering it with hers and pressing down.

“Ouch,” said Kal, glaring at her for mashing his fingers into the smooth tabletop.

Gerda glared at the slight red glow coming from his vambrace. “Finger cannot move, use spinning magic.”

Kal had a momentary epiphany and found himself wondering why both of his protection spells were attached to runes for other spells. Returning to his task, he switched from the strength rune to his haste rune, spinning it up so the protection phrase on the outside activated. Staring intently at the rock, he again extended a tiny cord of magic towards it.

The pebble moved slightly, making Kal growl in annoyance. With her hand pressing on his, he felt his muscles twitch just before the stone went into motion. On many attempts, he reached out with a new cord in the direction he wanted the tiny rock to move but eventually gave up. He just didn’t understand what she meant by pushing and pulling at the same time. Using this new method in front of him didn’t help because it didn’t look like she was doing anything. Despite that, the magic tethers she used appeared to bend at odd angles when creating his chair.

He let the haste rune fade, cutting the flow of magic to it while extricating his hand from beneath the golem’s. With a flash from the healing rune on his back, the slight pain in his fingers faded.

Leaning back, he looked up at Gerda who was giving him a puzzled look. “I’m not getting anywhere and it’s giving me a headache trying to figure this out. I’d like to try again before Sandy gets here but I’m done for now.”

Gerda nodded in understanding. She had felt the large number of attempts he made while under the influence of his haste rune, though little time had passed for her. This sparked an interesting new idea for the golem that she planned on sharing with Kal once he had recuperated. For now, she allowed the pebbles covering her breasts and bottom to shrink and fade away. The golem then let Kal know that his lap looked like a far more comfortable seat than the other chair. The strength rune glowed a dim red as the golem curled up against his chest, laying her head on his shoulder with a smile.

Perra was fighting hard to not scowl at the man sitting across from her at her kitchen table.

“You’re leaving,” it was a statement more than a question.

“Yes ma’am,” responded Corben, stiffly.

“You will abide by the terms of the deal you made with Kal?”

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll leave Telsin without looking back and never speak of any of your acquaintances.”

“And?” she prompted.

The man glared back at her, “No drinking for a year.”

“Right, no going back on your promise in a fit of drunken rambling. I’m curious, does your firstborn being a son mean so much to you? Even with a human, there’s a chance you may end up with a daughter anyway.”

Corben’s face hardened, “You spoke with Kuto.”

“No,” Perra was having a difficult time not snarling at the farmhand. “I didn’t just speak with her, I held her as she cried herself to sleep over you. Did you think for half a second that harpies get to decide when they have children? Did you stop for a moment and consider talking with her about what you wanted? Seeing if she would wait for you to find a human woman and form a triad like Rone, Felli, and Marda?” She stood and walked over to one of the kitchen cupboards. “No,” she said reaching behind some pots and pans and grabbing a small bag. “Instead, you looked at her and saw that she couldn’t do what you wanted, then threw her away.” She tossed the satchel onto the table where it landed with a clink of coins then slid to the edge in front of him. “Three months wages, now get off of my property.”

“It would be wise not to make an enemy of someone who knows so many of your secrets,” he said in a low voice before standing up and pocketing the coins.

Her eyes narrowed, “Threatening me? I thought you were smarter than that Corben. I said ‘my property’ we both know who actually owns this land. I may just be one of Kal’s lovers, but you surely understand that raising a hand to me means your life is forfeit.”

“Peace, Lady Perra,” he said holding up his hands, “I only wanted you to stop lecturing me. Believe it or not, I’m not doing this out of hatred. I wish Kuto the best and hope that she finds a man who can love her the way Thom and Tain love Ruce and Ghoss. Having their first with the girls then finding a human woman to have a son with may work for them, but not for me. You may find this difficult to believe but I only want one woman in my life, and yes having a son is that important to me.”

Perra regarded him for a moment. “Dammit,” she growled, “it was easier to hate you.”

“If I were so shallow, I don’t think you and Master Kal would have hired me.”

“True. Now leave, Corben, and don’t come back. You’ve still hurt someone I care for and I won’t be able to forgive you for a very long time.”

“Fair enough,” the man replied, dipping his head and heading for the door. As he reached for the handle there was the sound of someone coming up the steps followed by a timid knock.

Corben spun and looked at Perra “If it’s Kuto I don’t want her to see me,” he whispered.

Perra couldn’t tell from his face if he was speaking out of cowardice or kindness. Regardless, she shooed him into Kal’s old room, which had now become a nursery.

“Who is it?” she called, she wasn’t expecting anyone today except possibly Daxas’s pack. However, Kal’s guess had them arriving sometime this afternoon and it was only mid-morning.

“Lady Perra?”

The woman rolled her eyes and threw the door open. “I’m having a bad day already and I’m not in the mood to be yelled at, Elta,” she growled.

Marda’s older sister stood outside the door. Her white gilded robes gleaming in the morning sunlight and a haughty look upon her face. “Since you are expecting, I came to see if the venue was suitable for birthing,” she said, her voice barely above a sneer.

Perra glowered at the cleric before leaning back and calling out, “You can leave now Corben, it’s just the priestess.”

The ex-farmhand emerged from the room with a look of relief on his face. Stepping out the door and around Elta, he gave the cleric a slight nod in acknowledgment. Marda’s sister looked scandalized as the man stepped off the porch and around the side of the farmhouse to where he had left his belongings.

“Lady Perra!” she huffed, “I can hardly believe that you would be unfaithful to...”

Perra held up a finger, silencing the woman before pointing off to the side where they heard the crunching of boots along the road. The cleric looked and saw Corben loaded down with all his belongings making his way along the trail to town.

“Corben no longer works for Kal and I. There was an altercation with one of our other workers,” said Perra when the woman looked back at her. “Sorry to ruin any hopes you had of labeling me a harlot among the townsfolk.”

“I wasn’t...”

“Lying should be above a cleric of the church,” she said, her tone leaving little doubt of her certainty of the cleric’s intentions.

“How dare you... !”

“No, Elta,” she interrupted in a calm even tone. The cleric found this to be more disconcerting than the farmgirl’s previous aggression. “How dare you assume that you were going to be there for the birth of my child. Since the day you arrived, you have been hateful toward me and Kal, decrying his good works for the town as acts of evil. Failing to understand that Kal is not some wizard who insinuated himself into the townsfolk. Failing to understand that he was born here, in this very house where I will give birth to his child. Failing to understand that the people of Telsin watched him grow up and helped raise him. Only a couple of years ago did he discover he could use magic and what has he done with it? Given back to the people who played a part in him becoming the man he is today.”

“For a price!” the cleric sputtered indignantly.

Perra shook her head, “Only to keep the townspeople from calling upon him for every tiny ache and pain. Kal is wealthy enough he doesn’t need money from the villagers.”

“He learned magic only two years ago? That sounds suspicious,” said the cleric, her eyes narrowing.

The pregnant woman’s face fell as she remembered the tale told in Merantha’s final moments. “If you knew the whole story, it wouldn’t,” she said.

“I’d like to hear that story,” offered Elta, her voice suspiciously sympathetic.

“My apologies, but it’s not my story to tell and even if it were I wouldn’t give you any possible leverage against my man.”

The acolyte’s face went red at the implication, but she kept her mouth shut. That was exactly what she had been hoping for and didn’t relish the thought of this woman calling her out as a liar a second time. “I came to inspect where the birthing will take place,” said Elta through clenched teeth.

“No, you didn’t. You came looking for something to use against me and Kal. Then, for some foolish reason, thought that I would let you into my home.” Perra sighed, “You know what? It’s been a rough day so far. My feet hurt from standing here, and my back is hurting from all the extra weight up front. If you want to look around then come on in,” she said stepping back from the doorway.

The cleric darted inside. Summoning a magic circle and pressing it to her chest before peering intently about the room.

“Aha!” she yelled in triumph stepping over to the iron wood stove and picking up a small rock lying nearby. Her glee vanished as she saw the runes for a light spell etched into it. Putting the rock back where she had found it, she continued looking about. Her eyes came to rest on something within the coals of the kitchen fireplace.

“Be careful with that. Don’t say the activation word if you are holding it, you’ll get burned,” Perra warned the woman from her lounging chair. The boys made it for her a couple of months ago and it was wonderful for dealing with some of the aches and pains from her gravid condition.

Elta used a quick spell that snuffed flame and cooled ashes before using a poker to shuffle things about. She soon uncovered another rock with runes on it, only these were carved into the stone and not etched. A first-year’s fire spell, nothing more than an easy way to relight the fire each morning and hardly incriminating. Her frustration mounted as she wandered about the house. Desperately looking for some magical item she could hold up in front of the council to show them the mage was in league with demons. After all, no magic-user was so skilled at such a young age as they made Kal out to be. Not without some sort of demonic contract at least.

The wizard’s woman kept up a steady commentary that only served to infuriate the cleric more. Warning her to not touch the ratty children’s reading books in the nursery. Then telling her not to sniff the smooth stone phallus in her nightstand unless she was really curious what the woman’s sex smelled like. In which case, she could get a better idea sticking her head underneath her dress.

Stomping back out into the living area, the cleric saw a blue glow coming from under Perra’s shift wink out, signaling the end of her magic detection.

She stalked up to the reclining woman, “What’s under your shirt?”

Perra pulled the pendant out and let it rest on top of her clothes. “Kal made this for my eighteenth birthday.”

The moonstone set into a large amethyst was stunningly beautiful. The light streaming through the windows hid the jewel’s internal glow as it danced off of the gem’s facets.

“Let me see it,” she said holding out her hand.

Perra shook her head. “Absolutely not, the only thing more precious to me than this necklace will be here in about a month,” she said, running a hand over her large belly.

“Can’t say I blame you,” said the cleric, her hand falling limply to her side as she stared at the gem. “I don’t think I would let anyone else touch it even if it wasn’t magic. What does it do?”

“It wasn’t intended to do anything but look pretty, but gems impart things upon the wearer when powered. This,” she pointed at the moonstone, “keeps me in contact with Kal over long distances. The amethyst is supposed to give me clarity of mind. The only other magic is the rune on the back that prevents anyone from stealing it.” Perra intentionally left out its ability to help convince people to see things her way. The woman’s reaction to the pendant was already strong enough to make her uncomfortable. “If you’ve looked around enough then I believe it’s time for you to go,” she suggested

Elta sighed, dragging her eyes away from the jewel to look at the other woman’s face. She nodded, “I suppose you are correct.”

Perra got up and walked the woman to the door, “Don’t waste your time coming back and looking for more of Kal’s stuff. He has a bag of holding and took it all with him except for what you have already seen. The only things he left were some healing potions in case someone gets seriously hurt.”

“I understand, I won’t,” she said in an almost dreamy tone as she walked out the front door and across the porch. The cleric stopped at the bottom step, confusion written on her features. When did she decide she was finished with the woman? Elta’s head snapped up. She hadn’t! The wizard’s whore must have controlled her somehow! She spun around and glared at Perra, hatred burning in her eyes. “Heathen bitch! I’ll not be taken in by your trickery!” she screamed, pulling a small rod out of a pocket in her robe and pressing a button near the top. Thin strips of white leather burst from the end of the rod turning it into a lash used for punishment.

Perra’s eyes widened and she stepped backwards into the house, reaching for the door. Elta came screaming back up the porch steps, waving the lash as the farmgirl slammed the door between them. The younger woman had expected the cleric to run into the door and start beating on it. Instead, the woman’s screams cut off abruptly, followed a few moments later by a whimper of fear.

She was about to go over to the window to see what the cleric was doing when a new voice spoke, “Perra? We have her, you’re safe.”

Perra opened the door a crack and ventured a peek, her jaw going slack at the sight on her porch. The cleric was now down on her knees with four women hovering over her. That wasn’t right, it was four dog girls, all them with hair sprouted over most of their bodies and their faces elongated into muzzles. Two of the women had Elta’s hands in their mouths, preventing her from casting any spells. Another had her head pulled back by the hair as the last dog girl had her jaws wrapped around the cleric’s neck. Every one of them snarled at the tiniest movement by Marda’s sister and looked ready to take off whatever body part they were in charge of.

She stepped through the door as a wolf girl nearly as tall as Kal came up the steps. However, this one wasn’t sporting a muzzle or all the extra hair. “Dax?” she asked, then felt foolish for doing so, it’s not like there were wolf girls passing through here every day.

The tall woman barked a laugh. “That man and his silly nickname. Somehow, I’m hardly surprised to hear it from you,” she said holding her arms out.

Perra did her best to give Daxas a welcoming hug while attempting to show some decorum. Holding back from falling into the woman’s arms like some damsel who had just been saved. Granted, that description fit her at the moment. The farmgirl started in surprise as her head ended up directly between Dax’s breasts. The wolf girl’s height and leaning over because of their protruding bellies putting her in the awkward position.

“We were trying to wait until your visitor left. But when she began trying to attack you, we couldn’t let that happen,” said the wolf, hugging the relieved woman back.

Perra pulled away and looked over at Elta, “I almost wish you had let her. She knows now that Kal and I are consorting with monster girls. That’s going to cause a lot of problems once she reports back to the church.”

“Why would she do that?”

“She’s a priestess, she works for them.”

“Oh ... Uh oh.” Daxas looked back at the cleric, “I’d rather not have to kill her.”

Elta whimpered as Perra shook her head. “We don’t work like that, Dax, she’s the sister to friends of ours as well as the daughter of some prominent people in town.”

“I understand, but I will do whatever it takes to protect Kal, us, and our children.”

Perra nodded. She had harped on Kal for failing to make a similar decision, she couldn’t very well back down when it was her turn. “Death is a last resort only. So far, she hasn’t actually done anything besides be an annoyance. Yet.”

“Dax, the girls are getting tired from staying like this for so long,” called a black-haired dog girl. She had chosen to stand back and monitor the cleric as the human and wolf talked. Perra believed her name to be Alina if Kal’s description was accurate.

The farmgirl went over to Elta and asked, “Did you hear what we were saying?”

The dog girl relaxed her grip on the woman’s hair enough that she could nod.

“You understand that if you do not accept what I’m about to propose, you will die here and now.”

Another, nearly imperceptible nod.

“You will swear an oath that...

Elta fell further into despair as the savvy younger woman outlined the terms of the oath then closed any and every loophole, almost as quickly as the acolyte could find them. By the time Perra finished the priestess was in tears, unable to see any escape from this horrid pledge.

Daxas was decidedly impressed with how thorough Kal’s mate had been. The wolf also didn’t see the point in going to such lengths. There was no way to watch the cleric to be sure that she would uphold everything she was about to agree to.

Closing her eyes, Perra drew up the memory of when she became bonded to Kal, focusing on the feeling of touching the magic in her pendant and pushing it outward for him to accept. She also remembered Kal’s story where Rone accidentally swore a potentially lethal oath. One which he later had to go back and release the farmer from. With this knowledge, Perra gathered the magic in her pendant and pushed it towards the captive woman. Grimacing at the unpleasant purpose behind her actions.

Perra opened her eyes and looked down, “Do you swear an oath to abide by everything I have said until the end of your days or I release you from this oath?” she asked the cleric.

Elta couldn’t see magic like Kal, but being a magic-user, she could feel it. “NO!” she wailed trying to jerk herself away from the dog girls.

“Don’t hurt her!” Perra yelled to the women about to tear the acolyte to shreds.

“NO! NO! NO! I can’t!” she screamed trying to get away from the magic emanating from the girl.

Perra laid a hand on the woman’s head as Elta stared back up at her through her tears, whispering, “I can’t ... I can’t...” over and over as she sobbed.

“You don’t have a choice, Elta. You agree to everything I said, or I walk away, and this girl rips your throat out.”

“I can’t ... Lady Perra ... I can’t...”

A look of deep sadness crossed the young woman’s face. “So be it,” she looked at the reddish-bronze colored dog girl who had Elta’s throat between her teeth. “Let me get back into the house then do what you must. I will have to inform her family, I don’t want to see it as well.”

Perra walked solemnly up the stairs, gritting her teeth at what was about to happen.

Her foot stepped across the threshold.

“Yes! Yes! I accept! I swear! Just please don’t kill me!” screamed the cleric.

Perra had maintained the magic for the oath and felt it snap into place. It felt quite different being on this side of the process. “Thank goodness,” she whispered, worried that the woman would choose martyrdom.

Daxas frowned as the girls released the woman now that she was no threat to them, reverting back to their normal-faced and less-hairy selves. “I don’t like this Perra, this feels too much like slavery and I know Kal told you where he found us.”

“I don’t like it either, but now comes the hard part.”

The wolf raised an eyebrow as she looked down at the farmgirl.

“Getting her on our side so we can release her from the oath.”

Perra looked down where Elta had fallen and curled up into a ball. Wailing even as the girl who had been about to take her life lifted the cleric’s head into her lap and smoothed her hair back.

Daxas took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “This has certainly been exhausting. I remember Kal saying something about a bathhouse and a warm soak?”

Perra brightened. “That sounds wonderful right now. Did you see where Ikuno’s cave was?” Daxas nodded. “Good, go back and take the trail up the mountain, I’ll meet you up there. Bring her along as well,” she said indicating Elta, “She may as well learn about the true origin of the monster girls.”

“I was there for some of Kal and Kelthor’s discussions,” said the wolf. “I may have some interesting news about that.” Giving the woman a questioning look, she asked, “How are you planning on getting there if you aren’t coming with us?”

Smiling, Perra stepped off the porch and walked over to the side of the building. Facing north, she put her pinkies in either side of her mouth and whistled loud enough to make the canines wince. Seconds later, a blue and orange harpy with a long, forked tail rocketed up above the trees before streaking towards them.

She turned and grinned at the wolf, “I have my ways.”

Kal didn’t like this ‘in-between’ where he was close enough to know things were happening back home, yet too far away to do anything about it.

And things had certainly been happening today.

He felt some extremely strong emotions from Perra these last few hours. However, despite being insanely curious, he was trying to not to appear overbearing and she hadn’t reached out to him yet. Then again, it wasn’t like he could do much about whatever was going on from here.

Eventually, things died down back at his farm and Gerda could go back to teaching him how to work earth magic without needing the extra motions. She claimed that Sandy would be there soon, so Kal was trying extra hard. Soon enough, he would leave his instructor behind and continue his journey with the tan-colored golem. Unfortunately, the blasted pebble refused to move. Kal just couldn’t seem to wrap his head around whatever Gerda meant by pushing and pulling at the same time.

About the time he decided to take another break, Sandy arrived. Gerda ran over and gave the other golem a welcoming hug followed by Kal. The sandstone girl melted into his arms, her greeting filled with lusty promises of what was to come over the next few days.

Gerda immediately began cluing her sister in on the limitations of traveling with a human passenger. Sandy soon stopped her.

“Why are you talking like that Lime? You were doing it the last time you visited but now you’ve gotten worse.”

Gerda seemed taken aback by the question and took a long time to answer. “Ikuno always asked me to hurry when I told her a story. Since I can’t talk faster I started taking out extra words, so she won’t have to tell me to hurry when she comes back,” she answered, looking sheepish.

Kal wrapped his arms around her from behind. “Be you, Gerda. That’s the best way to make Ikuno happy. She would appreciate the effort on her behalf but be upset that you changed a part of what you are just to make her a tiny bit happier. That doesn’t balance out.”

“But I wanted to make her happy,” she said sounding dejected.

“When Ikuno comes home she will be so happy to see you she won’t give a damn how fast you talk. If it takes two weeks to tell her all the things you did since she went away, I’m sure she will be perfectly content to sit and listen. While I think what you are trying to do is extremely sweet, I can guarantee that Ikuno will appreciate not having to listen to ‘orc speak’.”

The golem glared at him, “You think I sound like an orc and you didn’t tell me?”

“To be honest, I’ve never seen an orc, but I’ve heard plenty of people making fun of them and it was similar. In fairness, I thought the way you talked now was a part of your new image and it also never got to the point of being annoying,” said Kal, shrugging. He figured that his lack of annoyance was mostly because of the added speed in communicating. It may have been for the wrong reasons, but the golem had certainly been successful in that respect.

Satisfied with his answer, she continued instructing Sandy of the frailties of her traveling companion. By the time Gerda finished, Kal was beginning to feel sorry for himself for being born as a fragile and weak human.

The mage shook off the feelings of self-pity as the golem came over to say goodbye. They shared a long kiss then stood there with their arms around each other. Once they finally separated, Gerda sank into the floor, waving and promising to look after the mushroom girl. Kal sighed as she finally dipped below the surface of the stone. Looking over at Sandy, he saw that she had devised her own form of traveling harness for him and was waiting for him to step into it. As he looked to where Gerda had disappeared he was thankful that the sandstone golem wasn’t in the mood for a more intimate dalliance.

Kal stepped between the stone protrusions coming from Sandy’s body. Growing stone rods that came over his shoulders then dove down to connect to the hoop encircling his waist, she completed the rest of the restraint. Once he was secured they dropped into the floor below and began moving north.

Kuto and Perra were already there and waiting when Elta arrived with the wolves. Perra had stripped down and was sitting on a ledge that ran along the edge of the pool for just that purpose. The harpy wasn’t swimming, claiming that she had splashed about a bit to wash herself off when they first arrived. Her larger feathers got waterlogged easier than normal swallows and she still needed to take Perra home later. For the harpy, swimming was saved for the times when they were going to be there long enough to allow her wings to dry.

The two-our trek there had been mostly silent. The cleric was surprised once they were in the bathhouse and the wolf instructed her to get out her testing box and cast an evil detection spell.

Some wizard other than Kal had told the wolf girl of the small box carried by most magic-users. The crystals inside acted as gauges to let a magic-user know if their detection spells were working. The first held a tiny shard of a demon’s horn as a source of evil. The one beside it was slightly milky and had a tiny piece of mana crystal no bigger than the head of a pin. The third and final crystal contained a small, flat piece of stone with an explosive rune on it. The rune would only detonate if someone spoke a long sequence of numbers forward and backward in one breath. Technically still a trap even if it was nearly impossible to set off. In the lid of the box was a small button with a tiny hole beside it. Pressing the button would cause a curved needle to pop out and poke the side of your finger. Slightly above the button was a small switch to disarm the mechanism. Like the third crystal, it was technically still a trap, even though it was harmless. The final piece of the box was engraved just above the button, a paradoxical phrase that read, “The second sentence is false. The first sentence is true.” Between all these, they covered the detection of evil, magic, magical traps, mechanical traps, and lies.

“Look at us Elta,” said Daxas holding out her arms, “Kelthor told Kal that monster girls were no more prone to evil than normal humans. Look at me, cleric, am I evil?”

Elta hesitantly summoned a glowing circle in front of her hand, unsure if her oath’s restrictions would even allow it. Pressing the circle to her chest she stared at the box and saw a black haze form around the first crystal, then looked up at the wolf.

She waited a few seconds for the haze to form, knowing that it wouldn’t. “We of the church have been versed in your tricks, wolf,” she spat. “We know that you have devised some way to suppress your demonic aura.”

“Elta, while you were studying with the church, how many of your peers were attempting to discover how to combat this ‘suppression’?” asked Perra, her arms folded on the side of the pool with her chin resting on them as her body floated out behind her.