Ogres and Ogresses Ch. 15

"A monokero," Caligula corrected.

"The kero in keromedio comes from them."

"What about Rair?" Zyra asked, watching as the woman stood in the background.

"She will stay with us," Caligula said looking at the girl. He grinned when she glared at him.

Zyra did not like the look in his eyes.

"No. She's coming with me," Zyra said firmly. "She is a companion of my journey. I will not leave her behind."

"And if we don't allow you to bring her?" asked Etaceh.

"Then you will open the void and I will escort her back to my village. You will have to wait for me to return."

Caligula turned to Etaceh and shrugged. Etaceh let out a big huff.

"Come here. Turn around."

Rair stepped bravely toward the witches and turned her back to them.

"No. In a circle," Etaceh said grumpily. "And slower than that! Yes...that's fine."

Zyra and Rell watched as a light blue cloth began to grow out of Rair's dull brown huntress clothes. Soon she was standing in a blue seamless version of their huntress attire. The thigh slits remained and a gold belt lay on her waist as well.

"There. Good enough," Etaceh huffed.

"Wait," Rell interjected. "Why did she not have to disrobe when we did?"

"You didn't have to," Etaceh said nonchalantly. "It was just for my amusement."

Zyra and Rell looked at each other in horror. Rair was the first to recover.

"Thank you."

Etaceh's lips twitched into a smile.

"Well you are most welcome dear."

Zyra felt a headache coming on. It was then that she remembered Kail's advice.

"Caligula?"

The purple eyed witch turned to her.

"Yes?"

"What exactly is a keromedio?"

Caligula strode forward to join Etaceh's side. Together the pair looked otherworldly.

"The keromedio is the mediator between the magical and human world. Your job is to maintain the balance between magical and human affairs. If a human is causing problems for us instead of dealing with them swiftly, we will allow you the courtesy of dealing with it first. In the same token, if a magical creature is causing your people problems, you will extend to us the same courtesy."

He glanced at Rell to see if he was paying attention.

"Lastly, if we require your assistance to deal with a magical problem outside of the realm you will be asked to take care of it."

"Are the keromedio usually hunters?" Zyra asked.

Caligula shook his head.

"No. They are usually hermits and loners who live too closely to the magical realm. As a result they must be utilized or turned away. This is not the first time that a human has become keromedio after wandering on magical land, but it is the first time that human has belonged to a tribe."

"Then...why did you choose me?"

"You showed great promise."

"For what?"

Caligula grinned, his face masking his emotions.

"You will see."

Zyra really didn't want to.

"Why have you summoned us here?"

Rell's mouth had thinned as the suspicious words that the witches spoke troubled him.

"A young monokero has appeared in human form," Caligula said sighing. "If you were a magical being you would understand the gravity of the situation. Monokeros rarely appear at all, but to appear in their human form is another thing entirely. The creature is young, older than all of you put together but infantile compared to its parents. It has wandered between this territory and the land that you call home. You must find it, inquire why it is in its human form, and help it to change back."

"Why can't you do this?" Rair asked.

"Our powers are limited outside of our lands," Etaceh said with unusual seriousness. "That is why the keromedio is necessary. The monokero only takes human form because it requires a human need. You must discover what that is."

"How?"

Zyra looked at the witches in disbelief.

"If you cannot find him, how will I?'

"You will use your powers of course," Caligula said sighing. "Have you not recognized their presence?"

Zyra fingered the edge of her tunic and frowned at the blatant contrast between the clothing and her mark.

"Just in case I haven't," she said warily. "Would you tell me what I can do?"

Etaceh laughed and smirked at her, waving a bony finger in her direction.

"Yes yes my coy little dear. For making me laugh I forgive you."

I don't want your forgiveness you twice bitten hag.

"Thank you."

She strode over to Zyra, invading her personal

space once again.

"Tell me...""Can you hear what I'm thinking?"

"Yes," Zyra replied.

Rell and Rair looked at her confused but she ignored their looks. She didn't really want them to know about that particular power.

"Anything else?" Zyra asked exasperatedly.

"Are you feeling sexier? Are you a woman yet?"

"You are stronger, faster, and your senses have been enhanced," Caligula interrupted, noticing Zyra's murderous glare.

"These things will perfect themselves and strengthen with time. In addition the power of your tattoo remains..."

"Why does it change color of blood when I kill something?"

Rell turned to her in astonishment.

"...Zyra. Does it really..."

Etaceh's boisterous laugh scissored through his concern.

"Oh relax," Etaceh simpered. "It changes colors because of the blood knowledge you've just received. You can borrow the power of whatever you kill depending on what you killed, and the quantity. Tell me, what colors has it changed?"

Zyra sighed. So the rumors weren't that off.

"Well, it turned purple after I killed the Nemlock."

"Purple is the color of Nemlock blood yes? You probably received a better sense of smell, maybe an increase of adrenaline. A pinch more of...aggression."

Zyra shuddered. She had torn through the Nemlock like the Nemlock would have torn through her.

"Anything else?" Zyra asked quietly. "Is there anything else I can do?"

"All will be revealed in time," Caligula intoned. "For your current mission, that is all you need."

"How will we find the monokero?" Rell asked. "Assuming that I was summoned for a reason, despite what you said earlier."

Etaceh's lips thinned.

"Yes well, there is a certain basilisk by the name of Scallen. Reports from the ravens suggest he may know where the monokero intends to go next."

"And what did he tell you?"

Etaceh's lips dove downward and she walked briskly towards Caligula. Caligula sighed.

"Unfortunately, witches and basilisks do not have the best rapport."

"But you're witches," Rair declared.v"Are you not the rulers of this valley?"

"It's more complicated than your human comprehension of rule," Etaceh sneered. "Besides, the basilisk has not outrightly refused to answer us. He simply hides. The basilisk tunnels are woven underneath the ground in all directions. It is vaster and more complex than even we dare know, and we have sworn never to interfere with them."

"So we have to find him?" Zyra asked worriedly.

She had not forgotten the strange basilisk, nor how unstable he had been.

"No," Etaceh said flatly. "He will find you."

Her smile made Zyra uneasy. So they were using her.

"So you're using her as bait?" Rell accused.

"Yes," Etaceh stated plainly. "She is ours to use. As are you. Or have you forgotten?"

Zyra had forgotten. She had forgotten how much she had sacrificed. Would she ever be able to have a normal life? The answer was most likely no.

"Don't look so down," Caligula said giving her a small smile. "There are always loopholes to our rules. If you remain in our good graces perhaps you will not always be keromedio. For now however, we require you to rest. You start your journey tomorrow."

Reluctantly they followed them to a dark room with white walls and strange raised sleeping places.

"Sleep," Caligula commanded. "It will be daylight before you know it. Just close your eyes."

Zyra closed her eyes.

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When she opened them the witches were at the door.

"It's time," Etaceh said solemnly.

She looked at her companions beside her. They rose from their sleep as abruptly as she had. So the room was enchanted. Their sleep had not been natural. Nothing here was innocent. Repressing a shudder, Zyra tried not to run into Caligula's heels in her haste to escape as he led them towards the blessed outdoors.

When she, Rell, and Rair were outside Caligula whispered a chant. Instantly she felt her skin tingle. Frowning she looked at him angrily.

"You will now be able to eat the food of this land," he said, eyeing Rair who was rubbing her arms. "Or did you forget such crucial details?"

"What do we do when we find the monokero?"

Zyra slung her pack tighter over her back. The sun illuminated her green attire. She felt like she was wearing giant leaves.

"You will do what he asks of you," Etaceh snapped. "Then he will return to human form and the order will be restored. Be off with you now."

The witches disappeared back into the Marble Tree, leaving Zyra and her companions to brave the bewitching valley.

"Well...that was very unlike Etaceh," Rell said rubbing his head.

Zyra felt her heart skip a beat when his blue eyes glanced up from the sunkissed blonde wisps of his hair. She had forgotten another thing as well. Rell was still very handsome. Yet, this was a different Rell. The other Rell she couldn't quite take seriously. This Rell had grown out of his boyish looks. He was beginning to look like a man and Zyra was beginning to appreciate his growth. That night that she and Ginger had laid with him swam to the surface. His finger on her breasts, his mouth fervently...

Shaking her head of such thoughts she turned to Rair.

"How do you fare?" she asked her quietly.

"This is a strange place," Rair answered honestly. "It disturbs me greatly that you are tied to this land."

"I see."

Did this mean that Rair was disturbed by her? She couldn't tell. Rair's face was as emotionless as ever. It mattered little though, they would have to work together if they wanted to find the basilisk Scallen.

"Do you suppose it's the same basilisk?"

Rell looked back into the wooded line that separated the Marble Tree from the empty plain that started the border. Rair's eyebrows raised but Zyra could only shrug.

"I'm not sure."

She avoided Rell's gaze. She was sure. She was dead certain that it was the same basilisk that had kissed her and had offered her protection in the form of slavery. It didn't sit well with her, but she felt better knowing she had Rell and Rair with her. Together, they would not be caught off guard.

"We should head back through the forest," Zyra said reluctantly. "We might be able to find the hole in which he first sprouted from."

Or the tree in which he stuck his tongue down my throat.

"Good idea," Rell said smiling.

Rair nodded curtly and followed beside her, falling into a practiced tracking formation. Rell unknowingly fell into line. The V formation ran swiftly through the trees, hoping they would not confront what dwelled inside.

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"Caligula."

Caligula wrung his hands, Etaceh's voice piercing his concentration. A bead of sweat dribbled down his bow. He had not been so worried in over 500 years. Yet, here he was. Watching nervously as the keromedio and her two followers ran through the woods.

"Caligula!"

He was certain that the basilisk would find them. If not during the day then maybe, the night. Basilisks were too vain to avoid something they considered their own. Zyra had no idea that the basilisk had slipped her some of his venom when he had fed her the fruit that night. While it had not been enough to poison her it had been enough to mark her. His venom would never leave her system. He would know where she was, he would be able to find her until her dying day. Her return would not go unnoticed.

"CALIGULA!"

"What?"

He turned violently the witch beside him. She swallowed, seeing his eyes glow with rare unchecked rage.

"We must separate them," she said quietly. "The basilisk will never come if she has followers. He will only put those two in danger, and Zyra will never bargain with him if he has harmed her friends."

She stared into his face as his eyes dulled to their normal pallor.

"We must separate them."

Caligula nodded. "Then I suppose we will need to split them for a day or so. Any ideas?"

She shook her head. "Not one that is subtle. You?"

Caligula looked at the fount and stared at Zyra's moving form. So young, so fresh and beautiful. If he wasn't mildly concerned that she might be of his line he might have entertained seducing her himself. What a fate awaited her.

"Then subtly is not needed."

Slowly he dipped a finger in the water of the fount. Her face became blurry and the pool caved in on itself. He watched the circling ripples.

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It was afternoon when they reached the basilisk's hole. It was still unearthed, but a trail of green vines and flowers had grown around it. Peering deeper inside she noticed it now possessed foot holds, carved into the dirty wall.

"It's an entrance," Rair stated.

She nodded and Rell kneeled down to look into it. The white tunic bunched on the slim muscles of his shoulder. Zyra gulped.

"Its pitch black down there," Rell said unhappily.

"We'll need a torch of some kind. Do you know if we can break branches from these trees?"

Zyra was about to answer when there was a tremor in the earth. The others felt it too. Rair automatically drew her bow and Rell stood up, scrambling in front of them.

Zyra was shocked. Rell was actually standing in front of them?

Had he lost his mind?

He drew the strange dagger and the ground shook again. Stepping around the hole Zyra drew her sword.

"Do you think it's a basilisk?" Rair whispered.

The tremor came again, this time it felt like a footstep from the right.

"Could it be giants?" Rell asked in mortification.

"Whatever it is, I am the keromedio," Zyra said stepping in front of them.

"You are under my protect and the witches as a result. They can't harm you. They won't."

Rair hissed as a thud shook her off balance.

"Are you sure about that?"

A loud boom was heard in the distance and the cried out as the ground began to ripple violently.

"I don't think it's a basilisk!" Zyra shouted.

"The earth is quaking!" Rell yelled. "I've heard of this!

"Well what do we do!"

"I said I'd heard of it! Not that I'd ever experienced it!"

Zyra was about to thank him for his uselessness when they noticed the trees rising and falling in the distance. Squinting with her power, Zyra saw that a roll of earth was headed towards them. If the witches could see this and she knew they could, they would could stop this. She was doing this for them! Regardless she decided not to test their frugal natures.

"Run!" she shouted.

Clumsily and on unsteady feet they began to run towards the Rovian border. Their feet were like jello and they fell between steps. They couldn't walk let alone run, and the rolls of earth was still coming at them. The answer came to her in a flash. The witches were doing this. Whatever they had planning involved breaking them up.

"Rell! Grab Rair's hand!" she shouted.

They were closer to each other than she was so after a few jumps they managed to hold on to one another. When they were linked Rell stretch a hand out to her. The roll was as tall as the top of the Marble Tree and it still came forward.

"Zyra! Grab on!"

She looked at Rair who had lost her composure.

"Don't let her go," she commanded. Taking a deep breath she let the quakes take her to the ground.

"Zyra come on!"

When Rell and Rair looked back at her she could see the terror in their eyes.

"What are you doing?" Rair shrieked. Her own hand stretch towards her. "Get up! You can make it!"

"Rell!...Don't let her go!"

"ZYRA!"

When the roll came it threw her into the air like a leaf. Her body cut through the clouds until it tilted backwards. She began falling to the ground headfirst. A high pitched terror coursed from her throat to her stomach. Looking from her unique vantage point she noticed that the roll had caught Rell and Rair. They were actually riding the top of it and it was carrying them off into a different direction.

This was the witches doing. She had refused to separate before, now they were making her. Her weightless body twisted as it arched downwards. She fell down into the darkness that swallowed her, the circle of sky hovering above her. Down into the basilisk's hole.

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"We have to find her," Rair was still unsteady on her feet so she sat.

Rell grit his teeth as rage made him see red. Those tricky conniving bastards. By the time the earth has set them down they were just inside the border. Then it dissipated. Even if they hurried now they would not be able to catch up to Zyra before nightfall. They were stuck.

"Your village is just beyond there," Rell said standing up. He bent his back and heard a satisfying crack.

"You can return to it if you wish."

The woman looked at him with a grave expression.

"I intend on seeing this through," she said stubbornly. "If you wish to return you may."

Rell shook his head. "Fine, come. But I have more memory of this place. You must trust my words on it."

Rair nodded, then went silent as she tried to lift herself up.

"Stay down," Rell said sighing. "We'll never make it before dark. Besides, it's safer here then in the forest."

"But we're exposed."

"We can't hide from them regardless," Rell said mirthlessly. "You and I are not the keromedio. Even with your skills as a huntress and my newfound abilities we stand no match for what's out there. Zyra is the only thing protecting us. She'll be fine. We should be more concerned with ourselves."

"You believe they will harm us?" Rair asked.

Rell shrugged and walked over to his pack.

"I believe that they see an end that we have no knowledge of. The witches will do anything to reach that end. All of us are disposable in that regard."

He pulled out a roll of fabric that when he laid it out that was long enough to fit four people. They could rest on it.

Rair stood finally and fingered her bow.

"I'll hunt something. Please prepare a fire."

Rell nodded and she went back into the Rovian land. He fingered the cord around his neck holding Zyra's key. Her smiling face came into view. It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair.

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When Zyra awoke she was in the dark. It was moist, the air was earthy and saturated with the smell of rocks and dirt. She sat up and felt the ground. She was inside a blanket. Reaching around she touched beyond it. Dirt indeed, she was in the tunnel then. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath. It was okay. She was underground but she could breathe.

"Hello?" she asked shakily.

There was no answer. It set her on edge. Had the basilisk left her alone in this place?

"Hello?" she asked, her tone more urgent.

"Hello!...Scallen!"

She heard a hiss behind her. She whipped around and tried to see him. This was not like nighttime darkness. This was true darkness. There was no light here. Forcing her power to the point where her eyes began to burn she saw the outline of a large snake. It swayed side to side towering above her.

"I can see you," she whispered.

Really?

A loud hiss accompanied the thought.

She nodded and pointed to where she believed he was. Zyra closed her eyes as the pain became too much. She heard another hiss and then felt a warm glow on her face. Opening her eyes she blinked at the light. He had lit a torch. When her eyes regained sight she saw that the basilisk had gone into his human form. The light green scales that were his skin circled around his strangely formed body. He had no nipples, no genitalia, no hair on the top of his head. Only the lithe and muscular body of a man.