Rune Guard 02

When we got to the main road, we turned to the left. We crossed over the bridge and rode for an hour or so before we came to a road to the right. Emmit told us that the beetles that he used for the clay jars were down that road. He told us that we'd grab those on the way back home. We continued on.

Another three hours brought us to a T-intersection, on a ridge above a large lake. We turned to the left. There was an apple tree to the right side of the road. Emmit pulled off, to the shoulder, and dug around for a basket for me to put apples in. I gave one to Grizzle as I returned. He took the whole thing into his mouth and started chewing it. I laughed as the juice escaped his lips and dripped onto the ground. He pulled his lips back and grinned at me - and then went back to enjoying his treat. I set the basket of apples with the other produce. Emmit (and Grizzle) already had us moving again.

A half-hour later we passed through a small bump in the road that didn't even have a town square. It was just a collection of houses along the main route - with one side-street on each side.

On the other side of town, we found a shady spot and I dug out the cooking equipment. It was well past midday and my stomach was rumbling. We fried some eggs on the little cook-stove Emmit had. You added a bit of mana to the storage-crystal and it heated up. There was a dial that controlled how hot it got. Emmit showed me how to transfer energy from the stone on my necklace to the stove. When we needed more fuel, he showed Lolla how to work it.

Emmit added some cured strips of ham to the eggs and we mixed the whole mess together. Grizzle munched some grass as we ate. I used my canteen to clean the dishes. Emmit assured me there was another water-source coming up where I'd be able to refill it.

The stove had cooled as we ate. I packed it up and we climbed back onto the wagon to ride some more. Emmit said that we'd be spending the night in the hayloft above the stables at the next big town - which we should get to just after dark.

When Lolla asked why we wouldn't be staying in the inn, he told her that the innkeeper was one of those that didn't watch out for his customers and Emmit didn't trust him. He told her that he'd buy us some fresh cheese and bread. When she asked why we didn't just camp alongside the road, he explained that it was because we didn't have to be as careful about not getting robbed when we stayed at the inn. He said the stable-master was trustworthy enough - he just didn't like the innkeeper. Emmit told her that, if she could figure out how to disguise herself to look like a boy, he would take her inside of the inn so that she could see what he meant. She got quiet for a bit and then said that she'd take his word for it. She said she'd been in places like that before and she'd rather not return. He nodded.

After that, we rode in silence for a while. I hadn't had that much experience with inns but it seemed like girls - especially pretty ones like Lolla - were treated a lot worse than what I had expected. If I had treated a girl like that, my mam would have beat me.

A couple hours later, we passed through another nondescript town. Across the dry grass, I could see a line of trees that suggested the river that Emmit had described was coming up. It took a little over an hour to reach it. I'd already bummed a drink off of Emmit by then. He reminded me that I needed to be working on several runes. I spent half of that hour looking through my notebook, trying to figure out what runes I needed for my canteen. When we were almost there, I asked him if I could look at his. He smirked and handed it over. I found the runes - overlaid on top of one another - at the mouth of his canteen. I studied them until I thought I had it down. I dug out my spit-marker, applied the runes to my canteen, and touched a bit of magic to the sigil to activate it. My canteen filled with water. He smiled when I handed his back to him. I had seen him fill it before. I asked him why he filled it with water from rivers or streams if he could just use magic. He said that, besides the flavors that natural water had, he didn't want to always rely on magic.

I thought about some of the water I'd had to drink when I was growing up. I kind of thought I'd rather have the magic water than some of that. He saw the look in my eyes, nodded, and told me that well-water from the villages and towns often got corrupted by poor waste-management. He told me that, in town, he always drank water produced by magic.

We stopped at the river. Emmit made me use the staff to check the water. Once I had declared it safe, we all filled our canteens. The water had a light mineral flavor to it. I hadn't really thought about how water tasted before. It had always been either good or bad. We climbed back onto the wagon and Grizzle took us on our way.

An hour later, we came to the town with the inn. It wasn't quite dark but Emmit said we'd bed down early and get up earlier. He said we needed to detour to collect some leeches before we headed farther north.

We waited in the courtyard until Emmit came out with the pay-chits and the food. We passed the chits to the hostler, backed the wagon into the stall, and unhooked the mule. I brushed him and gave him a handful of oats (and another apple). The greedy shit just about took my finger off getting the apple into his mouth. I warned him that he'd get a fist in the mouth if he bit me and he cocked an eyebrow at me like he knew better after watching me fight. I harrumphed at him, and I swear he snickered as I finished brushing him. He gave me a love-bump with his forehead as I passed him to join Lolla and Emmit near the well.

Lolla had a skullcap on - with her hair tucked up inside of it. I didn't think she looked like a boy - but at least she didn't look as pretty. I thought again about how bad girls must have it around public inns. We dumped some of the bucket of water onto rags and cleaned the road-dust from our exposed skin.

After our rag-bath, we climbed to the hay-loft and found places to bed down. Dusk had arrived and there was a little flurry of activity. As we ate our bread and cheese, I wondered how long I would lay awake, listening to the commotion, before I'd be able to fall asleep. The answer was not long at all. Nearly as soon as I laid down, I was out.

I woke, in the early morning, to tension in my stomach. Emmit didn't move but I could hear the echo of his voice in my head, "Take the staff." I clambered down the ladder to see who was fucking with our stuff.

I found a dirty urchin climbing into the wagon. Grizzle was eyeballing the youth. I walked around the wagon until he could see me. He jumped.

"Can I help you find something?" I asked him.

He leapt from the wagon and darted for the door. I dodged ahead and cut him off.

"Don't move," I told him.

He studied me as I returned to the wagon. I reached over the side, grabbed two apples out of the basket behind the seat, and walked back over to him.

I held them out and said, "Next time, just ask."

He whispered his thanks, took the apples, and looked around the stables. I noticed he was shivering.

"Come here," I told him.

He came and stood by the wagon. I looked at Grizzle. The mule looked at the kid and looked back at me.

"Grizzle seems to think you're okay," I told him. "If I give you a cloak to sleep in, and let you bed down in the corner over there, are you going to steal my cloak?"

He vigorously shook his head back and forth.

I reached in the wagon, dug out my waterproof cloak, carried it to the corner of the stall - behind the wagon - and laid the bottom of it on the ground. I pointed to the spot and he walked over and laid down. I eased the rest of the cloak over him, like a blanket. He peered out at me and started eating one of the apples. I nodded to him and headed back to the ladder.

~~~

When I awoke, the next morning, and went downstairs, my cloak was draped over the brake, on the side of the wagon. The dirty child was gone.

"Rune it to get rid of pests before you put it on," Emmit warned me, as he passed me to put up his things.

I hadn't seen or heard him move but it was obvious that he knew everything that had gone on. I nodded and dug out my spit-marker, trying to put runes together that I thought would do the job.

Either it worked, or the boy had no lice or fleas, because I didn't itch, the next time I used it.

I hitched Grizzle up and got the wagon to the courtyard as Emmit emerged from the inn with more bread and cheese. We ate as we rode.

An hour and a half north of town, we came to a fork in the road. Emmit took the turn to the right. About a half-hour later we passed through another no-name town. Just beyond was a small boggy stream. We crossed the bridge and turned to the right. There was a low-lying delta area there - before the stream joined the lake - and the area was marshy.

Emmit dug through his supplies and came up with a ham-hock and a rope. He tied the rope to the ankle bone. For the next hour, we fished for leeches. I would walk along the bank, throw the pork-leg into the swampy water, and drag it back in. Lolla and I would pick the leeches off of the meat and drop them into the clay jar that Emmit was holding. Lolla refused to help until Emmit offered a prize for whichever of us got the most leeches. I thought it was rather unfair that I was throwing and hauling in the rope - but at least he had figured out a way to convince the height-challenged mage to help us work faster. I considered it a win and kept my mouth shut.

Once we had a sizeable collection of blood-sucking invertebrates, we loaded back up, crossed back over the bridge (and through the town) and headed back to the fork. We turned right again, which sent us off on a road we hadn't traveled yet.

An hour later, we reached a town with an inn but - since it wasn't even close to lunch yet - we didn't stop. The next town was tiny - and it was three hours away. There was a large stream after the village and we stopped after we crossed the bridge so we could eat in the shade of the trees along the bank.

Lolla asked what we were eating and Emmit told her we were finishing what the leeches didn't consume. His face was so serious that even I had the urge to retch at his remarks. He laughed out loud when Lolla's face turned green.

We made another scramble of eggs, ham strips, and veggies, ate it all, washed our dishes, and got back on the road. A little over an hour later, we came to another town large enough to hold an inn. Lolla tucked her hair into her cap before we were close enough that anyone would see her.

Emmit stepped inside of the inn and soon emerged carrying two chits and no food. I told Lolla that that meant we were sleeping inside. I told her to gather her pack and wait by the stable doors.

Once we'd been assigned our space, and I got us in place, Emmit and Lolla went inside while I got Grizzle brushed and settled. Once he was taken care of I returned to the wagon to grab my pack and discovered that it was completely empty. I reached around where I knew my pack was but couldn't feel anything. There was a tingle of magic in the air but - other than that - there was nothing. I knew that Emmit and Lolla had not had time to unload all of our cargo - so I headed in to see if either of them had my bag.

"I ordered you the stew," Emmit said as I walked up. He patted the top of my backpack - which was sitting on the seat to his right. Lolla sat to his left. Her pack was between her feet, under her chair. I followed her example, sat, and put my pack between my feet. She nodded when she saw what I did.

"It's easier to tell if somebody's fucking with your shit," she whispered.

I nodded.

"How'd you do the thing with the wagon?" I asked Emmit.

"I'll show you later," he said, as the waitress approached with three mugs.

She set them on the table and - before Lolla could take a drink - he held his hand over her mug. He looked at me.

"Shit!"

Emmit laughed and tugged my staff out from behind him, handing it to me. I took it, focused on the drink, and declared it safe. Emmit removed his hand from Lolla's mug.

"He needs to practice," he told her. "If you have a sense for poisons or toxins, I would suggest you do the same. Otherwise, wait until he tells you it's safe."

She nodded, and then looked at me. "They only have two rooms. I have to sleep with one of you oafs."

I nodded, trying not to think about what she looked like naked. I failed.

She snickered, and said, "I was planning to pick you anyway, but that look tells me that you're thinking naughty things about my body."

"I wasn't until you mentioned the possibility of sharing a bed with you, Tempest," I replied.

Emmit chuckled at me, appropriating his moniker for her for my own use.

"I need to get an amulet for you," Emmit told her.

"We'll be fine for tonight," she told him. "I thought I'd see if his tongue was better than yours."

He quirked an eyebrow at her and she used her hand to cover a giggle. The waitress returned with our food. I checked it as she asked Emmit if there was anything else. Once she left, I nodded to the others that the food was problem-free.

The stew was nothing special but at least we didn't have to make it ourselves. We spent most of our meal talking about the grossness of our early-morning fishing expedition. Once we were finished eating, we headed upstairs.

Lolla and I stripped to our undergarments and she lay on the bedspread and patted the space beside her.

"I've only..." I began.

"Emmit warned me," she said. "It'll be alright. We'll use our mouths this time. I'll tell you what makes me feel good. After you've taken care of me, I'll take care of you."

"... and I should tell you what feels good?" I asked.

She laughed, and said, "I have a little experience. Trust me. I'll be able to figure out what you do and don't like."

I lay down beside her. I looked into her eyes. She looked at my lips. I leaned forward until our lips met. A tiny spark jumped across - from her lips to mine.

"Sorry," she said, blushing a little. "I'm a little bottled-up."

We kissed and cuddled for a while. My prick - as she called it - was as hard as a needle - and I desperately wanted to prick her with it.

She had me lick parts of her body - in and around her sex. As I did, she told me what it was called and she told me whether to lick, suck, or nibble. When I did, she told me what that did to her insides. It sounded a lot like what I had felt inside when I had been with Janna.

After several minutes of instruction, she assured me that she was ready for me to make her feel really good and then she'd make me feel really good.

I licked what she told me, put my fingers where she told me, and thrusted them in and out at the speed that she told me. When she was writhing and panting she told me what to suck on - that little nub hiding just below the lightning-burst of fuzz at the top of her slit. She went off like she'd been hit with one of those spells of hers.

She writhed and moaned and pulled my hair - and then she pushed me away and fell back, panting and gasping for air.

She had just quieted and looked up at me in a way that made my insides turn into melted butter when my stomach churned. I threw on my clothes, grabbed my staff, and darted for the door.

"Derik?!"

"Wagon!" I yelled, throwing open the door, pulling it behind me, and racing down the steps, barefoot.

I caused a little commotion as I darted through the common room. I threw open the door and leapt over the threshold, bypassing the stoop and the step. I ran for the stable. I could hear Grizzle braying at somebody. The foot-door was open. My eyes were still adjusting to the night-sky when I stepped into the stable and had to pause a moment again while they adjusted to the dimmer interior.

There were two men. One was facing Grizzle with a knife, the other was searching around the wagon. The knife-wielder turned to look at me and the mule bit his hand. He dropped the blade and stepped away from the beast. I shouldered past him, knocking him to Grizzle's flanks, and headed to the wagon.

Behind me, I could hear the mule kicking some poor fucker's ass. I snickered as I faced his partner.

"Leave me your coin-purse and your weapons and I'll let you escape without facing Grizzle's wrath," I told him.

He sneered at me and pulled a wand. He pointed it at me and a small fireball headed my way.

I thought of all of the times Emmit and I had slept in the loft above the stables. I thought of all the dry hay that was likely just above our heads. I swatted the fireball into the dirt.

"You're even dumber than you look," I barked at the man.

I used the staff to vault into the wagon, I left it on the ground as I launched my body at his. I covered the end of his wand with my left hand, ripped it from his grip, and caught him around the neck with my right arm. My mass and momentum carried me past him. I took him with me, battering his back and hips against the side of the wagon as I dragged him over the other edge.

When I landed on the ground - on my feet - I discovered that I wouldn't need to stun him. He had hit his head on the wall of the stall and he was unconscious. I dragged him in front of the stable, stripped him of all but his clothes, and went in to see if Grizzle was finished with the other one. He was.

Head wounds bleed a lot so I wasn't sure whether or not the guy was going to die - but he was a mess. I dragged him to the side of his partner and relieved him of all of his worldly possessions as well.

Suddenly remembering that there was a naked woman waiting in my bed, I grabbed my staff and jogged back to the inn. Every eye in the place turned to me as I stepped in and closed the door, heading for the stairs. I mounted them - two at a time - to find somebody trying to push their way into my room. I believe I may have growled. He was just turning to me when I caught his throat in my grip. I leaned backwards and dropped, pulling him over me and tossing him - head-first - down the stairs.

Once again, every eye in the place was on me. Actually, I'm not sure any of them had even blinked between the time I'd entered the front door and now. The gentleman who'd just missed every step on his way to the floor was moaning. As I stepped up to him, he rolled onto his back. I grabbed his throat and stunned him. I wasn't sure he was breathing - but I was a couple long strides past caring.

As everyone continued to watch me, I emptied his pockets, relieved him of his weapons, and retrieved his coin-purse. Then I removed his clothes. Inside of his belt, I discovered a hidden panel with more coins. Note to self: Take their belts. I checked the rest of his clothes, discarded them, grabbed him by the ankle, dragged him out of the front door, took the belts from the other two, returned to the inn, closed the door, and looked at the people in the room.

"Don't touch my shit and don't try to bust your way into my wife's room," I said. "If everybody's quite finished, I'd like to finish fucking my wife and go to bed."

A few people's eyes went to my bare feet. Everybody else in the place found something really interesting at the bottoms of their mugs. I climbed the stairs, carrying an arm-load of weapons - and three belts.

I tapped on the door to my room and said, "It's me. It's safe."

"What's the mule's name?" Lolla asked.

I thought of the guy in the courtyard who still hadn't moved and laughed out loud. "Ass-kicker," I said.

The door eased open and Lolla's right eye appeared. Her wand was just below it. As soon as she confirmed that it was me - and that nobody else was with me - she ripped the door open, pulled me inside, threw it closed, and threw the bar across it.