Later that morning Kal found himself in a very unexpected situation: riding piggyback on Ikuno. She was taking advantage of the natural trail that ran along the base of the mountain range. The oni surmised that it had been made over many years by herds of game animals traveling north and being turned aside by the steep mountain faces, eventually creating a decently wide path. Kal had used it a few times to get to Ikuno’s but it wasn’t significantly faster for him to go north to the trail and then come across than to use his normal route straight through the forest. Since planting Eludora he hadn’t used it at all, stopping to check on his daughter each time it was light enough out to do so.
Trees whipped by from the screaming pace Ikuno had set with the help of Kal’s haste rune. He could move fast with his runes but the oni’s long legs were eating up the distance to their target at an impressive rate. Ikuno informed him they had a good reason to test traveling like this. An unfertilized harpy’s egg started losing it’s magic as soon as it was laid, meaning they will need to get from the harpy nest to the salamander’s cave in the eastern mountains as quickly as possible.
They were far beyond any lands he was familiar with when she finally slowed then stopped in front of a rocky crag on the mountainside. A fissure ran up the stone that had slowly filled with rocks, making a slope for them to start climbing.
As she caught her breath, Ikuno looked up at the fissure and the sheer stone faces on either side that stood well over the treetops. “Last test,” she said, “climb up then jump down. I’ll catch you if something goes wrong. Don’t forget your strength rune too before you jump.”
Kal rolled his eyes, “Yes Mom,” he said in a voice dripping with sarcasm.
Ikuno glared at him as he set both their travel packs down and began climbing the slope of loose rocks. He appreciated her worry, but they had done this same test of his feather fall rune dozens of times already. At this point, he had to constantly push away the thought that she doubted his abilities and remember that she was only being so cautious because she loved him. On the other hand, he could understand her concern. The feather fall spell and rune were going to be their quick way back down once their business with the harpy was done. He disliked the idea of becoming a greasy smear on the side of a mountain as much as anyone else.
The strength rune brightened when he was about halfway to the top and he launched himself to the edge of the fissure, grabbing the lip and quickly pulling himself up with his enhanced muscles. He then calmly walked off the edge of the cliff as the feather fall rune began glowing white. True to all his other tests, he floated down towards Ikuno. Unlike in his other tests, a side wind knocked him off course and he had to push off a couple of tree branches before maneuvering himself into a clear spot to land.
Ikuno smiled, “I should make you do it again just for the ‘mom’ comment,” she said handing his pack to him. Kal laughed and checked the crystal tucked into a small pouch he had put on his vambrace for just that purpose. Observing that it was about three-quarters drained he slipped it back into its leather holder, not seeing the need to switch it out with one of the other three he had brought along.
Ikuno had also stocked up for this trip, Kal had gotten so used to seeing her horns with black tips they almost seemed odd now that they were completely golden again. After getting drunk on magic last year she made certain that there was room in her energy stores whenever Kal was around so there wouldn’t be any repeats.
As they reached the top of the fissure Kal looked over the bleak landscape. A few scraggly trees were managing to eke out the nutrients needed to live from soil that had blown into the cracks scattered about the rocks. Fauna was nearly non-existent, the only exceptions being the occasional bird flitting from tree to tree searching for seeds or bugs. Large spikes of rock that had long ago sheared off nearby stone faces jutted out at odd angles giving the area a very inhospitable atmosphere. Occasionally small patches of lichen could be seen tinting the stone green in areas protected from the biting wind.
The stiff breeze whipped Kal’s cloak about now that they were above the treetops and there were no natural windbreaks besides the peak they were about to climb. Ikuno went on ahead as Kal flipped up his hood and secured the rarely used fasteners sewed into the garment. He wondered for a moment if other wizards had to deal with such issues or if they had some spell that protected them from the annoying gusts. As he started after Ikuno, Kal mulled over the concept of a protection from air spell but quickly discarded the idea. He didn’t need a rune to accidentally protect him from the air he needed to breathe.
Unlike the mountains by Ikuno’s cave, there were no game trails between the northern and southern forests for them to follow. Up ahead Ikuno was carefully making her way across an area of sharp looking rubble and broken rocks. Kal looked up at the area just below where the snow covered the very top of the mount and sighed. For all of their haste in getting here, he had a feeling that this was going to be a very long and very slow climb.
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About noon they found a dimple in the rock face along the tiny ledge they were traversing. It gave Ikuno and him just enough room to sit and get a bite to eat. There had only been two mishaps on their journey so far. The first where another ledge similar to the one they were sitting on crumbled beneath Ikuno’s feet. She lunged forward and caught the ledge in front of her with her claws and hung there with an annoyed look on her face until Kal jumped the missing section and helped pull her up. The second was when Kal overbalanced while passing under an overhang and had to quickly anchor himself to the rock with geomancy to keep from falling.
With all of their attention on the treacherous climb, there had been no opportunity to talk until now.
“For a couple of magic users this seems to be the slowest way we could go about this,” Kal said.
“If you have any ideas, I’m all ears,” Ikuno responded, “I could probably climb straight up with a little magical help.” She grinned at the look Kal was giving her, “I know I said earlier that we should conserve our magic since once we get the egg there won’t be time to rest and recharge, but if I’m being honest, I’m as sick of this as you seem to be. Were you wanting to try the piggyback again? I’m worried that will be a lot of weight pulling me backwards.”
“I have something in mind,” he said looking over the edge and fighting off momentary vertigo. Down below them was a small rock ledge that they had crossed earlier. Kal reached out and as quickly as possible tied his will to the rock but with much smaller magic cables than he had used when practicing with Gerda. Giving a small tug Kal felt the connection was secure enough for what he planned.
“Okay, I’m curious. What have you got?” said Ikuno as they finished up their midday meal.
Kal stood and studied the steep rocky slope above. A fair distance up he could make out a ledge big enough for them to stand on. He crouched for a moment as the strength rune shined bright then sprang high into the air well above his intended target. As the feather fall rune glowed he reached out with one of the magic cables and attached it to the wall behind the ledge. Yanking himself forward as he severed the rope he quickly drifted down onto the outcropping, anchoring himself with magic as he touched the wall. Kal checked the crystal he was pulling magic from. The entire maneuver had only taken a couple of seconds and he only saw a small drop in the crystal’s level.
Looking back down he could barely make out Ikuno’s smile as she cast a strength spell on herself and with the nimbleness of a cat quickly climbed up to join him, the claws on her hands and feet sinking easily into the stone. Kal kept one hand anchored as he reached out with the other and helped Ikuno onto the ledge.
Smiling up at Ikuno, Kal said, “This feels more like how a wizard should climb a mountain.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” she replied. “The harpy’s nest should be off that way.”
Kal looked in the direction she was pointing and picked out his next destination.
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Kal sailed up over the ledge in front of the harpy’s cave, then stared in shock as a human male dressed in thick furs screamed in terror and frantically scooted backwards from where he had been sitting. Kal was so surprised he forgot to pull himself forward onto the ledge. Thankfully, he was close enough to reach out and grab the lip as he slowly floated downwards and with some help from the strength rune quickly pulled himself up. The two men stared at one another until recognition dawned on both their faces.
“Rone?” asked Kal.
“Kal? Kal!” cried the man jumping to his feet with tears in his eyes and running over to wrap Kal in a big hug. “Master Kal! Thank goodness! I didn’t know if anyone knew I had been kidnapped! I can’t believe they sent you to rescue mmph!”
Kal had heard the scratching of claws on the rock behind him that suddenly stopped just below the ledge followed by a quiet, “Dammit, dammit, dammit,” from Ikuno when she realized there was another human there. Worse yet, a human from Telsin.
Kal had grabbed Rone by the collar and put his hand over the man’s mouth. His eyes glowed followed by a menacing red light from his strength and fire resistance runes. “I am not here to rescue you and I will happily leave you here if you don’t swear that you will speak to no one of what you are about to see.” Kal hated to scare the life out of the already distraught man but Kal knew Ikuno would not come up unless she knew her secret was safe from getting back to his mother.
Rone’s eyes flicked from the glowing runes to his eyes before the man nervously nodded.
Kal removed his hand from the man’s mouth and in an official manner said, “Do you swear on your life you will never speak to anyone about my companion until the time I release you from this oath.”
“I... I swear,” said Rone nervously. Kal saw a bit of magic snap into place between the two of them that was slightly similar to the bonding magic, Kal hoped that if Rone failed to keep his mouth shut he wouldn’t suddenly keel over dead from this.
Kal called back over his shoulder, “You can come up now, Ikuno.”
“Are you sure?” came a call from over the edge, the man’s eyes darted towards the voice.
“He swore an oath. He’s good,” Kal said as the runes faded and his eyes returned to their normal color.
With a fair amount of claws scratching on stone, a large blue hand appeared on the rock ledge quickly followed by the rest of the oni as she pulled herself up. Looking at Rone, Ikuno attempted to give him a kindly smile but Kal could see the strain in her eyes. He would have to tell her about the oath and the magic that seemed to go with it.
Rone saw things very differently. At Kal’s call, a blue-skinned ogre climbed up and started walking towards them, flashing her fangs and grinning hungrily. Rone’s conscious mind fled in terror leaving only instinct. The man screamed at the top of his lungs, abject horror and the certainty that he was about to be killed and eaten painted upon his face. The man ripped his collar out of Kal’s hands and bolted, still screaming, into the mouth of the cave. Turning off into a side tunnel he ran full bore back to the harpy’s nest and curled up into a ball off to one side. With no exits besides the one he just came in, he shivered and awaited his end.
Kal’s first impulse had been to run after him but he only made it a few steps before his eyes were drawn far upwards to take in the enormous cave opening before him. The arched entrance could easily hold the entire Inn back in Telsin with plenty of room to spare all around it. At the peak of the arch, you could set a second inn on top of the first and still have at least a few paces between the roof and the stone above. The cave appeared to run a good distance inside before sloping upwards and disappearing off further into the mountain peak. Like Kal, Ikuno had been too distracted by the sudden appearance of Rone to notice the gigantic opening and now stood staring in amazement next to the slack-jawed runesmith.
“Holy hell. Did a dragon live here? Or, more importantly, ‘does’ a dragon live here?” Kal said looking up at Ikuno, only to find that the oni had shaken off her momentary amazement and was looking down at long furrows in the rock beneath them.
“Not a dragon,” said Ikuno looking confused, “If it had been a dragon there would be a second set of claw marks up there where the front legs came down when landing. Whatever lived here landed on two feet and they were much larger than a dragon’s. You go deal with your friend, I’ll see if I can figure this out.”
Kal nodded, not bothering to correct Ikuno that he and Rone weren’t friends as it didn’t much matter at that moment. Rone’s parents had been the ones to purchase his grandparent’s old farm from Kal’s mother. After getting things cleaned up Rone’s father tended both farms until his son was old enough to take over their old farm. He and Kal had run into each other a few times in town over the years and chatted amiably but never to the point if considering the man a friend.
Kal stepped into the small tunnel just inside the cave entrance that Rone had disappeared down. It continued into the rock then made a gradual turn to the left before going back towards the center of the mountain for a few paces and finally opening up into the room Rone was huddled in.
The small cavern appeared to have been carved out of the stone specifically for a human-sized occupant. One corner on the back wall was filled with a large nest that Kal assumed had been made by the harpy they were seeking. Broken wooden shelves ran along the opposite wall next to a jutting piece of rock that looked suspiciously like Ikuno’s flat-topped stone cook stove, Kal could see magic flowing through it along with feeling the heat it constantly gave off on his face. Kal could see a couple of runes he wanted to investigate further on the side but right now his priority was the man quivering in fear behind the broken shelves.
“Why did you run Rone? Ikuno is with me. She won’t hurt you,” said Kal to the wide-eyed man.
None of what Kal had just said registered with the terrified man, “I’m sorry Master Kal! When I get home, I’ll ask my parents to give you your grandparent’s farm back! They can come live with me and Marda, I won’t mind! Just don’t let her eat m…”
“RONE!” bellowed Kal making the man shut up with a startled whimper. Rone’s voice had been getting more hysterical as he went on and Kal could see the man was on the verge of passing out from hyperventilating. Kal held up a finger, “Number one: Ikuno does not eat humans. Two: If I wanted your parent’s farm I could easily buy it from them, many times over. Three,” Kal took a moment to pull a small stone stool out of the middle of the room and sit down, “How the hell did a farmer like you manage to land as fine a woman as Marda?”