Ogres and Ogresses Ch. 14

"Zyra?"

"Yes."

The answer came before she had the sense to retract it. Her breath hitched when he trailed his other hand down the curve of her back. He spread his fingers, firmly pressed them into her spine and worked the muscles like an archer carefully preparing a bow. He knew which strings to pull, how hard, and when to let it release.

Kail was dangerous indeed.

His other hand stroked her thigh, coming inches closer and closer to what lay beneath her skirt. She was silent, wondering how far he would go. No, how far she would let him go.

Kail was fighting a battle of his own. It took everything in him not to roll over on top of her and devastate her senses until she needed him like he needed her. But that wasn't fair. He had promised he would not try to control her. If he sought to control her, he would only push her away. Still his hopes, among other things, were raised when he saw how well she responded to his touch. "Zyra..." His hand drifted to inside of her thigh.

"No. I'm not ready."

He pulled back his hand and couldn't help but appear startled at her sudden refusal of him.

"I don't intent to bed you Zyra. I was simply going to provide you release."

She could see that he was as confused as she but she shook her head nonetheless. No, this was moving too fast. It had only been a few days. She couldn't afford to let herself be suckered into a game. Kail appeared admirable, but he wanted something from her. He would appear to be the Maker himself if it suited him, but if he was genuine he would wait. He would wait for her.

"It's going too quickly for me," she said again. "I don't want to be touched there."

He saw the unmovable determination in her eyes and nodded, pulling away from her.

"I understand."

"I'm sorry."

"No, I am sorry," he said forcing a grin. He could not help but be disappointed. Kail had been expecting to at least have her orgasm before she refused him. He wanted to know what she liked. He liked touching her.

She watched the warring emotions in his face and felt guilty, but she knew she could not allow herself to waver. They did not love each other, but if she was to give herself to him they needed to at least trust one another. So far, Kail was doing very well.

"Do you want me to leave?" she asked uncertain.

"No, no," Kail answered waving the idea away. "Unless you wish to."

"We could...talk," she quipped, her voice cracking from the awkwardness of the suggestion.

Goodness this was a strange development.

She blushed again and cleared her throat, running a hand through her hair.

"...or... something...like that...I guess."

Kail took one look at her and burst into a laughing fit. She watched as the laughter racked his body and he held his waist doubling over repeatedly. He pointed to her and shook his head. When he finally calmed down she was angry.

"Are you mocking me?"

"Not at all," Kail said, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. "It's just that, I find you to be incredibly cute."

Zyra frowned.

"Cute?"

"Among other paradoxical things."

"Well thanks...I guess."

"You don't sound thankful."

"I'm not to be honest. I'm almost offended."

Kail walked over to his pile of furs and tossed one at her. She caught another thrown at her then shouted "Hey!" when another landed on her head.

Pulling it off she saw the Kail was making himself comfortable on one side of his hut. He was on his stomach, his arms folded underneath him, his face towards her. She mimicked his actions, arranging the furs to suit her until she was satisfied.

"So," Kail said smirking. "What should we talk about? Should we gossip about the Chieftess? How about how cute the village boys are?"

"Sure," Zyra said grinning. "How many village boys have you slept with Kail?"

"Cheh. All of them of."

Zyra laughed and Kail's grin widened. She looked more youthful, less severe when she was happy. Happiness was a good look on her.

"So I have a question," she said, pulling the furs closer to herself. "Tell me, what exactly is a keromedio?"

Kail wrinkled his nose.

"They didn't tell you?"

"No."

The thought left Kail with an unsettling feeling.

"Well, as I understand it, it is a human who is bound to the world of magic and serves as an ambassador for both sides. Even so, the human is to favor the magical side and must come to its aid when necessary."

"That doesn't seem fair," Zyra said angrily.

"It's not," Kail agreed. "Still, you should ask the Dark Witches the next time you see them."

"Caligula and Etaceh?"

"Yes. Etaceh is the protectorate of the valley, meaning she is the ruler, so to speak, of the magic that runs through this part of land. Caligula is from the Dark Witch Council."

"What is that?"

"The Dark Witch Council is second in power only to the rule of the Monokeros. The Pure Unicorns that rule your world. They make the decisions on your behalf, but only when it affects our world."

"I see."

Zyra began to worry about the legends of the old world. She never thought to question her way of life. Were they being controlled by something? Were their lives really their own?

"They generally do not meddle in the world of man," Kail said, seeing the concern in her eyes. "You have no reason to worry that they have been."

Zyra looked at him and chose to trust him.

"I understand. Now another question."

"Go ahead."

"...can you actually make an elixir that would bring back Kyzu's voice?"

Kail tilted his head. Then he split his lips to reveal a feral and mischievious smile of sharp teeth and sharper intentions. Zyra had almost forgotten he wasn't human.

"If I could, would you want me to give it to her?"

A drop of guilt dripped steadily inside her pool of morals, but the tainted water added fire to her. The exquisite pleasure of the pool was too great to ignore.

"No."

She returned his smile with a wicked one of her own.

His gold eyes glittered.

"I didn't think so." __________________________________________________

A week passed by and Zyra spent most of her time with Gharla, Enui, Ginger, and Nima. Since Nima could understand her mother for the most part she had been plucked from her play and was now working as her mother's translator. Kyzu tried to make it fun for her by collecting dolls, and playing with her, but both of them could see the girl was unhappy. So at lunchtime, regardless of whether Kyzu was in the middle of "speaking" or not, Zyra collected her to run around and play for a few hours.

Surprisingly enough Kyzu met this with no resistance, a hint of thankfulness is her eyes. She made it a habit to stay out of Kyzu's head for fear of what lay there. Even so, she could see a noticeable change in her sister. She still stared at her from afar, but it wasn't with hatred. It was as though she was trying to understand. What? Zyra was unsure.

Gharla and Enui had been accepted back very successfully. It helped that the two of them had always served as more of a duo and had never needed to be in the hunting group to be "in" the hunting group. Zyra noticed that Enui seemed more graceful and more reserved, where as Gharla was as fiery as ever. They had yet to share their adventures with her so Zyra felt it was most likely private. She had asked Gharla about the blue stone necklace around her neck and Gharla had blushed.

Either way she would not pry, she was just glad they were home.

On her way to retrieve Nima, Gharla stopped her in the center of the village.

"Sister," Gharla said gravelly. "We must talk."

Zyra sighed. This was the fifth time that Gharla had tried to get her to "confide" in her about the village's strange behavior.

"Gharla you know who I am and what I stand for. The rumors don't bother me."

"They bother me!" Gharla snapped. "Zyra what is going on? What has happened in our absence? Why won't you tell me?"

"...where'd you get that necklace?"

Gharla blushed on cue and glared at her.

"You see, we're even," Zyra said chuckling. "Let me get Nima now."

"I will tell you!"

She turned back and saw Gharla, her whole face red. "I'll tell you...if you tell me why the sisters disrespect you so."

She walked up to her and began to whisper in her ear.

"Zyra. They know better than to speak outrightly to me and Enui, but I know something is wrong. They say the mark from the witches is evil. They say things behind your back! I say we bring them to the open! Let us challenge their cowardly tongues! The rogues, the scoundrels..."

"Peace my friend," Zyra said smiling at Gharla.

Gharla's blue eyes spit fire. She was ready to start a war for her.

"All is well enough now."

"But Zyra..."

She cut her off with a hug. Stroking Gharla's yellow hair she couldn't lose her smile.

"I really missed you sister."

Gharla looked at the woman who held her and sighed, returning her hug.

"Yes well, this won't work forever."

"True, but I shall milk it for as long as I can."

They separated and Gharla sighed again.

"Does Firetoucher know..."

She was cut off by Zyra's scream.

A blinding pain pierce through her skull as white light exploded behind her eyes. She lost sight as her body fell to the ground and she convulsed, her shrieks ripping through her.

Gharla watched in horror as the wrappings that held Zyra's arm burned away and the silver markings seeped mist.

"Zyra!" she charge forward to help her but she was restrained by an arm. Looking behind her she saw a huntress and two village women holding her back. The village collapsed to the middle, watching Zyra toss and turn on the ground in pain.

"Let me go!" Gharla screamed.

"No!" a voice said. "She will absorb you!"

"Zyra!" she saw Ginger make a small run before she too was pulled back.

"She's our sister!"Enui barked. "Fuckta! LET ME GO!"

Gharla had never heard Enui bark at anyone.

Zyra's scream reached a new pitch when suddenly her body jerked and she went still.

The mist began to cover over her like a tarp.

Gharla's head smashed into the person behind her and she heard a cry of pain. Tearing the arms off she ran to Zyra and knelt beside her.

"Zyra? Zyra! Can you hear me?"

Looking up she saw Kyzu the Chieftess walking slowly towards them. Stunned she sat beside her, her eyes wide with shock. Enui and Ginger broke free and they all called to Zyra at a distance. Dsepite the warning Gharla put her hand on Zyra's tattoo.

"Zyra!"

The necklace around her neck sparked a blue light and she gasped. She could feel her fingers trembling as the mist began to dissipate. Under her hands she could feel the tattoo cease its movement. Then her necklace dulled.

Kyzu was the first to recover and lifted her sister's head up. Gharla nodded and together they lifted her body. Kyzu motioned that they were to head to her tent, and the gawking onlookers began to clear the path. They held the tent flap open and placed her on Kyzu's sleeping place. Nima rushed in a moment later. Kyzu turned her towards her and made gestures, then pointed to Gharla.

"She said go fetch the ogre," Nima said.

Kyzu motioned again.

"Tell him Zyra is in trouble."

Kyzu nodded and Enui and her left to find the ogre.

"Come...come....come...come..."

Zyra shook as the images flashed before her.

The Marble Tree.

A strange transparent wall of purple light, a blinding ivory horse with a spearhead and intelligent black eyes, a blinding ivory man with black eyes.

Come.

She gasped as she sprung up from where she was. She couldn't see.

"I can't see," she said aloud. "I...I can't see!"

Fear gripped her as she waved her hand around to feel anything, anyone who was there.

"Is anyone there?"

Her voice shook. "Is anyone..."

A hand clamped onto hers. Smooth and warm it grabbed her other hand hand held strong.

"Hello?"

They did not answer but the grip tightened.

Darkness still clouded her vision, but slowly her sight was coming back. Out of the blur she saw her sister. Tears were streaming out her eyes and she was shaking with the tremors of her repressed sobs.

"Kyzu?"

Zyra blinked, her sight returned.

Kyzu cried silently and wrapped her arms around her. Startled, Zyra hesitantly rubbed her back.

"Kyzu what happened? Why are you crying?"

"I thought I lost you."

Zyra held the shaking woman in her arms as she tried to remember what had happened.

She was talking to Gharla, then...nothing...then there was come. She was being told to come. Then she was here.

Part of her didn't know what to say to Kyzu.

"I thought that's what you wanted," she said bitterly. "I thought you'd be happy if I was gone."

Kyzu pulled back from her, her fists clenching her shirt. She shook her head in protest, the salty brine of her tears running in her mouth.

"No Zyra. Never gone, I never wanted you gone. I wanted you to suffer, but I never wanted you dead!"

Kyzu continued to cry pitifully and Zyra softened. Giving her sister a hug she wiped her face and cooed comfort to her.

"Well at least your honest. Alright Kyzu stop crying. I'm fine, it's okay."

"I'm sorry."

"I know you're sorry. Come on now stop..."

Come.

"Zyra?"

Come now!

"Kyzu...I don't feel so..."

Her eyes closed and the last thing she heard was Kyzu thinking her name. __________________________________________________

"Ogre!"

Kail turned to the females that ran to him and recognized them as Zyra's travelling companions.

"Come! Zyra is in trouble!"

The blonde one looked ready to pull him off by force but he regarded her warily. Was this a ploy of Kyzu's to get him to break his vow to Zyra? He did not know whether or not these two were loyal to her.

"Can you understand us?" the other asked.

"Perfectly," he answered. "What is the problem?"

They seemed a bit taken back by his speech, but they continued on.

"Come," the blonde said, finally putting hands on him. She grabbed his arm and made to pull but he didn't budge. She slid back on her heels and glared at him.

"She needs to come here," he said firmly. "I will escort you to the edge of the forest, but I cannot step foot in your village. Zyra commanded it."

The blonde stared at him then made a curt nod. Quickly they ran towards the village. He stopped at the edge and they ran forward, heading towards the Chieftess' tent. He noticed craning necks eyeing him as well as the two women. When they returned Ginger and Kyzu were among them, in their arms was Zyra. He stepped forward and retrieved her, looking at her arm. As a creature of the magic realm he could see that it was pulsing with magic.

He cursed, wondering how it was possible that she had been summoned so soon. It should have been a year at least. The unsettling feeling from before returned. It began to grow into something more sinister and foreboding as his thoughts collected. Looking back at the women he singled out Kyzu who looked worst off.

"She will be fine," he said firmly. "This is normal."

"Normal!" the blonde shouted.

"Yes normal, for a keromedio."

"What?"

"Come with me."

He walked off and they followed. Kyzu held Enui's hand as they walked through parts of the forest she had yet to explore. When they finally reached the hut Kyzu was hesitant to enter. When she finally did, Zyra was already resting on the furs and Kail was mixing up some kind of concoction. He watched the blonde who seemed to be antsy so he gave her a bowl of dust and a wooden grinder.

"Here, stir this."

She accepted it gratefully and began to take out her violence upon the mix.

"What is your name?"

He turned to the brown hair woman who sat calmly and patiently beside Zyra's body.

"Kail."

"I am Enui," she said pointing to herself.

The blonde paused in her stirring.

"Gharla."

She resumed.

Kyzu sat quietly in the corner, looming like a dark shadow. It was strange to Kail. For some reason the woman seemed...different.

"Why is this normal?" Enui asked.

Kail added two drops of posy the oil he was making.

"It is the sign of the first summoning."

"The first summoning?"

"Yes. She has been called back to the valley."

Gharla put the bowl down, her eyes filled with suspicion.

"How do you know ogre?"

"Kail," he said extending a hand to the bowl she had been grinding.

She handed it to him and he took a pinch from it and added it to the oil. Silently he poured the oil over Zyra's temple and smeared it under her nose.

"And I knew a keromedio once before."

"...you did?"

They looked down at the voice that had just croaked the question and her sisters rushed to her side.

"Zyra are you alright? What happened?"

"I'm okay," she said firmly. She wasn't happy that she was blacking out, but she was okay.

"Are you sure?"

Zyra nodded to her sister and gave her a smile. Kyzu nodded back to her in acceptance, then she inclined her head to the others before exiting.

"She needs to tend to the village," Zyra said in explanation. "Gharla could you please escort her back?"

Gharla nodded and ran after her sister whom was already thinking that she 'should have waited to go back.'

"How many times have you blacked out Zyra?"

"Twice."

"Good, that should be the end of it."

Kail let out a long sigh that made Zyra apprehensive.

"What's wrong?"

"It hasn't even been a full season since they first made you keromedio."

"So?"

"They shouldn't have called you so early."

"Why?"

Kail shook his head. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to scare you."

Zyra nodded, not realizing herself that he had been scaring her.

"Why are you worried Kail?"

Enui put a supporting arm around her.

"I can't say for sure," Kail admitted. "I knew a keromedio once before. He was a hermit that lived among us."

"A human living among ogres?" Enui asked in awe. "We can live in the magical realm?"

"We are all born of the earth. We can all live on it." Kail explained. "I was a child then."

"What happened to him?" Zyra asked.

Kail looked at her, unable to hide his frustration.

"I don't know."

He stood and walked to the corner of his hut and braced an arm on the wall. "Either way, tomorrow you must venture to the magical realm."

"So soon?"

"If you hesitate the attacks will continue," Kail said gritting his teeth. "They come in pairs, the first two are mild compared to what you will endure next."

"I don't even remember the pain."

"You will."

Zyra's mouth dried at the thought of going back. She knew the day would come but she had never expected it to be so soon.

"Kail..." her voice was unsteady. "...will you come with me?"

"I can't!" he growled making her and Enui flinch.

He leaned his head on the wall and took a deep breath.

"I am sorry. I'm an exile, I can never go back."

She watched as he took a container of strange tools and opened the door. He placed it outside and reached for something on the top shelf. Then he was headed back outside.

"Where are you going?" Zyra asked preparing to stand.

"Stay," Kail said breathlessly. "You need to rest. You both can stay. I'll be back soon enough."

Then he closed the door behind him.

Zyra couldn't believe this. Her fate was truly sour. Zyra lay back and closed her eyes. She felt Enui crawl under the furs with her. Her arms wrapped around her waist and she rested a hand on her sister's arm.

"It's not as frightening when you are not an intruder," Enui said gently. "It's quite beautiful there. All will be okay. You'll see."

Zyra closed her eyes. Oh yes, she would see whether she wanted to or not.

Outside she could hear a fire roaring and loud clangs. Eventually it dulled into the background of the night's hum and lulled her off to sleep.