The Runesmith Chronicles Ch. 23

'I don't know!' he responded as his mother continued crying into his shoulder.

Perra threw her hands up in exasperation before deciding to leave Kal and his mother alone and go work on supper.

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Kal came into his and Perra's room after helping his mother to bed. She had been weak to the point where she couldn't walk, even with Kal's assistance, and he had ended up carrying her into his old bedroom.

"Is it just me, or did she get worse over the course of the day?" he asked Perra.

The younger woman sighed as she crawled under the covers, "Something similar happened a while back on one of the nights you were gone. I think it was after your encounter with the gargoyles if I'm not mistaken. She came to check on me and fell hitting her head. I came out and helped her up into her chair and we sat there and talked for a while, mostly about you, until the bleeding stopped. When I took her back to bed I nearly had to carry her, much like you did when you went and got her today. It wouldn't have been so noticeable except that she had mostly gotten herself into the chair only a few minutes earlier."

"As awful as this sounds maybe this is why I 'forgot' to tell her about what happened to the werewolf. It seems like certain things make her suddenly worse." He looked at the wall separating their rooms, strain apparent on his face. "Now I'm wishing I hadn't told her," he said remembering how moments ago his mother had been struggling just to keep her head raised and not let it loll as she was carried to bed.

"I'm sorry, Kal, I wish there was more I could do, but I really don't understand what's going on with her," said Perra, with sadness and concern for her lover in her eyes.

Kal gave her a weak smile, "Don't feel bad Perra, no one does. Except for Ikuno perhaps, but she's so tight-lipped about anything to do with my mother I can't help but wonder what the connection between them is." Kal quickly undressed and joined Perra in bed but not before she gave him an appreciative whistle for his clean-shaven groin. "I know you had something special planned for tonight, I hope you don't mind but I'm not really feeling up for it."

"It's fine," she said pressing her back up against his chest and suddenly missing the feeling of his chest hair, "To be honest I may have been a bit quick to make that offer. Fingers and tongue seem to be okay but when I think about you taking me that way, I mean really imagining that you are about to enter me, my whole body locks up and I have to fight down the fear of it hurting." She gave him an apologetic look over her shoulder, "Give me a bit more time."

Kal wrapped his arms around her, "Take all of the time you need, I'm in no hurry."

"Hmph, I'd imagine not with women like Ikuno who bend over and spread their cheeks wide while begging to be taken that way."

A very vivid image popped into Kal's head. Despite his insistence that he wasn't really in the mood, his body reacted anyway.

"That's what I was hoping for," said Perra feeling him harden. She lifted a leg and reached down placing him at the entrance of her sex. With a groan, she slid down on him as far as she could manage from this angle before lowering her leg again. With a contented sigh, she adjusted herself so she was comfortable. "I love you, Kal, goodnight."

Kal chuckled and draped an arm over the woman in front of him cupping one of her breasts. Flexing his cock, he got a pleasing squeak from the girl before he kissed her on the back of the head. "Goodnight, Perra, I love you too."

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A couple of days later Gerda contacted him, her excitement apparent through their bond. Sandy had come back!

After his and Sandy's first encounter Kal wasn't nearly as enthusiastic as the Gerda. It was with more than a little regret that he bid his mother and Perra farewell and headed to Ikuno's where the golem girl was waiting to take her to her sister. On his way there he conversed as best he could with Gerda through their bond to make sure he wasn't wasting his time. She assured him that she had explained everything as best she could to the younger golem and that there shouldn't be any issues.

He was mildly disappointed when he and Gerda arrived in her cavern to find it empty. Gerda, on the other hand, had a big smile on her face and began making a 'come here' motion at the wall. A couple of seconds later Sandy walked out, with a motion from Gerda the pebbles covering her breasts and groin melted away and her rocky body parts shrunk to more human proportions.

She looked to be about the same age as Perra but Kal knew that was misleading and that she would actually be just over two-hundred years old. Besides being noticeably younger than Gerda, her body was set up much the same way as far as her parts that were made of rock, one arm, both legs below the knees and the top left quarter of her head were all tan colored sandstone. As she slowly moved toward Kal and Gerda he noticed they weren't truly tan. Striations in her rocky parts that ran from white, to red, to deep brown in a seemingly random pattern gave the impression of a tan color from afar. Also, like her older sister she had a large ruby for her left eye.

Kal stood quietly holding out his hand to the girl as she cautiously approached. With a look that flickered between fear and determination, she stopped right in front of them.

"I am sorry," she said quietly, "when Lime explained things to me I realized you were right, that was no way to make my first daughter." Kal was very appreciative of the earpiece, Gerda's voice bordered on melodic when compared to the younger golem's.

Kal smiled as he continued to hold out his hand. Sandy finally reached out and put her human hand in his. The young wizard pulled her in and tilted her head up with his other hand. The young golem gasped as he bent down and started placing small kisses along her jawline on his way to her neck. Forgetting for a moment that there wasn't really an ear on that side with lobes for nibbling on, Kal instead moved his mouth to hers and kissed her hard as he held her body tight to his.

"Now let's do this in a way that will make you smile every time you look down and see your belly growing," he said. The young golem just nodded and stared back at him, amazed that this human had barely touched her, and she could already feel the fluids from her sex running down her thigh.

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Sandy left the next day, unbonded and without Kal learning her real name. Granted, he hadn't actually asked and from the way she constantly referred to Gerda as Lime he had a feeling that this was a custom among the golem girls. Gerda had been ecstatic after Sandy left, hugging him and telling him profusely how much she appreciated what he had done. Out of nowhere she suddenly blurted out "I love you" then reeled back in horror and promptly sank into the stone out of embarrassment. Kal sat on one of the chairs by the table waiting for her to come back, misjudging her perseverance and drifting off to sleep before she returned. True to Ikuno's prediction, once she woke him up he insisted on spending some alone time with just her in the cave. Gerda was delighted.

Kal got a whoop of excitement from Ikuno as he and Perra were in Telsin looking for possible helpers out at the farm. They, unfortunately, had to turn away their first applicant. News traveled through town fast and when it reached the tanner's, the boy Kal had lifted the tree off of had dropped everything to meet Kal and offer up his services. Perra was the one who noticed the Master Tanner had followed the boy and was watching from the edge of town. His scowling face as the boy spoke to Kal and Perra convinced them to turn the boy down for the sake of keeping the peace, especially with a member of the council.

Shortly after the young man had left Kal felt the oni's burst of elation, from what he could tell she finally managed to cast the spell that would protect her from being attacked from the astral plane. More specifically it anchored her here in the real world and preventing her from being dragged off to where she could be assaulted.

As he was explaining this to Perra a couple of travelers looking for some easy coin came striding out of the inn and demanded jobs. A good number of the patrons had spilled out onto the front porch in anticipation of a fight.

Kal yelled over at those watching, "Can anyone over there speak for these two as being good workers!" There was much shrugging and shaking of heads coming from the onlookers. "I'm sorry," said Kal, "If no one of any reputation in this town will vouch for you then I won't be hiring you to take care of my property."

"No one in this town of mudpuppies has any reputation," spat one of the men as he pulled out a knife and waved it at Kal, "and I'll be damned if I'll let some farmer make me look like a fool just because none of that gaggle of idiots back there will speak for me."

Perra sighed heavily and began walking off towards the stables, about half-way there she made a sharp turn that took her to the front steps of the inn. Meanwhile, Kal ignored the men for a moment and called out to the inn's patrons again, "He called me a farmer! Did no one mention to these two what I am?"

"Nay!" Kahrin yelled back a moment before Perra walked up the steps and gave her a hug. "They heard ye were payin' fer some help at yer farm and high-tailed it out the door!"

The two men were obviously getting agitated by Kal's flippant attitude. The man without the knife looked back and saw the smiling faces and almost jovial atmosphere of those in front of the inn. When he faced Kal again it was clear the man was feeling very uncomfortable.

Kal pulled his cloak to the side, "Ria, can I have my staff please?" he said without taking his eyes from the two men. A mote of light floated up out of the bag tied to his belt and turned into his gold and platinum capped staff when it hit his palm.

"Nice magic trick," sneered the man with the knife, "but..." his friend nudged him to get his attention then shook his head while glancing back towards the inn. The knife wielder looked back an saw the same as the other man. "What? Is this boy your town's champion or something?" He yelled towards the inn. "You all going to hide behind some snot-nosed bra... urk!" When he turned back around he came nose to tip with the point of a spear held by a man with glowing eyes and runes shining from the leather coverings on his forearms.

"I believe it's time for you two gentlemen to leave town," said Kal with a level tone.

The man's eyes crossed for a moment as he tried to focus on the tip of the spear before he looked at the figure holding it. "I may be an asshole, but I'm not a stupid one," he said sheathing his knife. "Well be out of your little mudhole in a couple of minutes." He nodded at his friend and they both started making their way towards the town stables.

Kal turned off the light show and turned the spear back into a staff as he watched the men walk away. Once they had gotten their horses and were on their way out of town he began making his way towards Perra and the inn. When he arrived Kal was treated to an unusual sight, Perra was wandering around collecting a few coppers from various customers as everyone slowly filed back into the dining area.

"What are you doing?" he whispered at her when he got close.

"I made some bets that you could run them off without bloodshed," seeing his frown she patted his cheek. "Don't make that face, I have a plan." Once everyone was settled back in, Kal found two tankards of ale shoved into his hands as Kahrin and Perra pushed him towards Bren's table before having a whispering discussion behind the bar.

When the noise levels returned to normal Kahrin stood up on the bar and got everyone's attention. "There's a few o' ye out there that were foolish enough ta bet against Lady Perra's man." numerous groans were heard across the dining room. "As most o' ye know by now, Master Kal an' Lady Perra are lookin' for some help out on their farm," there was a chorus of agreement that ran through the room. "Lady Perra is offerin' ta give ya back yer coppers if'n you'd be willin' ta head out to some of the farms about town and ask any second sons ye can find if'n they'd be interested in the job."

A couple of those who were on the wrong side of the betting waved off their losses but quite a few approached the bar where Perra counted out their coppers back to them before they exited the inn.

By the time sunset came along Kal and Perra had three young men familiar with farming ready to be put to work, and a big problem. Two of the boys had gotten into fights with their families when they left and had shown up with every possession they had. Perra's reasoning for going after the second son was sound, they wouldn't inherit anything when their father passed on so they would be most likely to jump at the opportunity to make a name for themselves elsewhere. However, she hadn't considered how much of a help a young boy was around a farm and how upset the family would be to lose said help. As it was, Kal told them that their first job would be building themselves a bunkhouse out on his property. Until it was finished they would be staying at the Inn with Kal picking up their tabs. The young mage had a slightly surreal moment as he was telling the men all of this, momentarily unable to wrap his head around the fact that two of them were between him and Perra in age while the last was actually a year older than Kal. Yet here he was giving them orders like someone closer to his mother's age.

The men were warned that Kal kept odd company and he quickly proved it by getting Felli to help with the construction of the new building on the far side of the barn. At first, they were wary when the harpy showed up a couple of minutes before the wizard the next day, though Perra's warm welcome of the monster girl helped put them at ease. When Kal arrived he quickly took one of his larger axes and felled one of the trees the men had marked earlier, the three men hardly believing that it had only taken him a few swings to do so. Kal, however, was quietly annoyed with himself, because of his showing off he was now going to have to replace the handle.

With that done he directed Felli to stand on top of the trimmed log then asked one of the other men to pick it up. The skeptical looks Kal got were anticipated but he just stood there waiting next to Felli with his now-cracked axe on his shoulder. Finally, the youngest of the three, Tain, if Kal remembered correctly, came over and heaved the end of the log up into the air. He then promptly ended up on his rear as not only was he able to lift it but it was extremely light which he hadn't been expecting. The harpy walked over to the end of the felled tree and glared down at the man, having not appreciated being nearly thrown into the air then just as quickly dropped. It didn't take them long to figure out how Felli's power worked and they were quickly on their way to setting up a foundation by the end of the first day.

The second day of work held a surprise for Kal. Unbeknownst to him, Felli had taken her new duties of cleaning up the cave very seriously and had invited a few other harpies in the area to help out with the hopes that they might eventually find mates. That morning four harpies showed up instead of just the one Kal had been expecting. After meeting Felli the day before the men were relatively comfortable around the newcomers and by the end of the second day most of the work remaining needed cut boards from the lumber mill. Kal's new helpers were very appreciative of the harpy's attention, second born males often didn't get much consideration from the girls in town since their chances of becoming landowners were so slim.

Kal was unaware of harpy's ability to target a specific male with her pheromones, even so, he still wasn't surprised when none of the men returned to the inn that night. The next morning, he met three exhausted but happy farmhands as the harpies dropped them off. He didn't get many complaints as he told them that plans had changed from a bunkhouse to four good-sized bedrooms, two on each side, with a large common room in the middle. With beaming smiles, all six of them went to work changing around what they had already built to match the new floorplan.

Perra approached him as he was saddling Bonn to go put in his order at the lumber mill. "Do you think it's wise to let them have their new girlfriends staying here with them? If the townspeople find out they will be shunned, and we are a good deal closer to town than Rone and Marda's farm."

Kal shrugged, "In some ways they already were. No chance of having their own farm yet too important as an extra set of hands to just allow them to go learn a different craft like many third sons do. I'm honestly more concerned about someone reporting it to the church. I know in the big cities that tolerate monster girls there's little they can do, but Telsin isn't a big city and they might decide to take action. Thankfully, Felli drilled it into the girl's heads before allowing them to come what the rules were about staying out of sight. After last night and the smiles on their faces this morning I doubt those three will do anything to jeopardize what they have going."

"What about chicks?"

Kal's brow furrowed, "Hadn't thought about that. It feels mean to make them stay up on the mountain but that may have to be the case until they are old enough to understand the rules of dealing with humans."

A flutter of wings by the barn entrance drew Kal and Perra's attention. Kuto was a couple of inches shorter than Felli, her cobalt hair, wings, and back along with hay colored chest and forked tail resembled those of a barn swallow. Despite her diminutive stature she was the oldest of the harpies and seemed to be a natural leader. Along with Corben, whom she assisted and eventually took home yesterday, Kal got the impression he could tell the couple what he wanted to be done then walk away without any worries, only to come back later to find the project completed. "Master Kal?" called Ruto from the doorway. "Corben and Thom would like to speak to you about a couple of changes we... umm... they would like to make since we are nearly starting from scratch."

Kal smiled at Perra, "Duty calls," he said before following the small harpy.

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During the next month and a half, things fell into a sort of rhythm. Kal made his visits across the northern mountains to visit with 'Dell and Bea on occasion. He would have liked to go more often but with his mother's condition worsening it made him nervous to be far from home for too long. Thankfully they were both very understanding, as was Ikuno. The oni drove him hard on his visits pushing him both physically and mentally due to their limited time. To her delight, Kal rose to the occasion, becoming quite adept with the staff while his hand to hand skills improved at nearly the same pace as before with much less time for training. Even without magic, he was becoming a formidable opponent.

While Kal didn't make any more progress on the flight rune he did finally remember the book where he had seen the word "Entropa" before. Unfortunately, it was just the word on the diagram and had no more information to offer elsewhere in the book. He worked diligently to learn as many of the cantrip level spells as he could while he was at home. Because of the situation, Ikuno started letting him take a single tome with him to study. This allowed him to focus on his various runes when he had access to the rest of her library. Even with the limited availability of research time Kal still found the time to learn and perfect the rune that eventually took the place of the healing rune on his vambraces.

The adaptation rune allowed him to traverse areas of blistering heat and biting cold without the need for extra protective clothing. However, the protection was only from natural weather phenomenon and didn't apply to magical sources like the fire resistance rune did. He was honestly a bit sad as he used a variant of the spell for setting the runes into the leather to remove the healing spell, it had been one of his first and he had put it to good use since he became a mage. He just couldn't see the purpose of having this one as well as the one on his back. The spells that were set into leather still required he pierce through what felt like a clay wall to activate, the one on his back was like poking his finger through a piece of extremely thin paper. With a sigh, he let the ink from the healing rune crumble into a small pile of dust off to one side. He then pulled some ink from the well and began making his improved version of the adaptation rune.