Rune Guard 03

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This work of fiction is part of a series; if you did not already read the preceding chapters, please do that before starting this one. My world may not necessarily conform to your preconceived notions; don't hold that against me; the joy is in the journey. As I have mentioned before, this is a tale with a little tail - not the other way around.

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"How many arrows did you end up with?" I asked Mirra.

"My quiver's almost full," she replied.

"We need to get you a bigger quiver?" Emmit said.

"I think I'm good with this one," she responded.

"Those goblins arrows worth anything?" I asked.

"They shoot okay. They should be fine."

As we passed down one of the main streets through the large city, I stared around us at the homes, shops, and official buildings. I had almost forgotten how congested things were in a city. Lolla had her skullcap on again; Mirra had never removed hers. Based on her eyebrows, she would have red or auburn hair. I was curious to see how she kept it.

Emmit, obviously, knew where he was headed; Grizzle seemed to know as well. We proceeded without him giving any guidance to the mule.

"Where are we going?" I asked him.

"A friend's," he replied.

"Man or woman?" Lolla inquired.

"A woman," he told her.

A smirk appeared at the corner of his mouth, like he was anticipating the coming questions and intended to have a little fun with the blonde. I was a little disappointed that she didn't have a follow-up question.

We took a side-street and continued a fair distance until we arrived at an inn. The sign had a mug and a silhouette of a shapely female. I know the girls noticed as well but none of us said anything.

When we pulled into the courtyard, the stable-boy ran to get the hostler. Without even waiting for a chit, we were directed to a double-stall - with space for Grizzle and the wagon.

Emmit told the girls to grab their things and that they'd wait for me to brush Grizzle before heading inside. I worked quickly. As I left the stable, I realized there was an armed guard keeping an eye on the courtyard and the stable. Emmit had still hidden the contents of the wagon but maybe I wouldn't need to run out of the inn, half-naked, in the middle of the night. As I joined the others, I realized that Mirra was almost taller than our employer. I hadn't even thought about how close in height we were, as we'd worked together earlier to kill off the goblins. Emmit led the way, and we walked inside.

The first thing I noticed was that there were far more waitresses in this inn than I'd ever seen before. They were almost all gorgeous and they were showing way more skin than I'd ever seen a barmaid show. Even without considering all that I had learned from Lolla, I thought it was a little dangerous.

Emmit picked a table for six. I wasn't sure why he bypassed several empty four-person tables but I had decided to keep my pie-hole closed. The rune-maker dropped into the head chair - so that he could see the room and the door. The girls sat on either side of him. I touched the back of the chair by Mirra and waited for her to look at me. I glanced at the chair and then back at her. She nodded. I sat.

A large, boisterous, overly-painted woman arrived at the foot of the table, looked at the girls and said, "If these men are holding you against your will, tell me now and I'll have them castrated in front of everyone here."

I glanced over at the armed guard, standing by the door. The woman's eyes flicked to mine and then to Lolla's and Mirra's.

"I like her, Emmit," Lolla said, grinning broadly. "Can we keep her?"

The woman laughed loudly but no one around us seemed to notice or mind. She pulled out the chair, by the mage, slid into it, and wrapped her arm around her - giving her a little squeeze.

"You try the old buzzard yet?" she asked Lolla.

"Mouths only, so far," she admitted.

The woman's eyebrows went up and she leaned over, conspiratorially, and asked, "He any good?"

"Not bad," Lolla told her, smirking. "I got what I wanted."

The woman patted her on the back and said, "Good for you." Turning to Mirra, she asked, "You good?"

"They took me in yesterday when I tried to rob them for food," she told the woman.

"You getting soft, old man?" the woman asked Emmit.

He grinned and said, "The kids liked her. How could I tell them 'no'?"

"How indeed?" she replied, looking at me and evaluating my existence.

"I think he's getting soft," I told her. "He all but rescued me from becoming a stable-boy. He's teaching me his trade."

She nodded and said, "He's always had a feel for folks. Not sure why he sleeps here when he's in town."

Emmit laughed and said, "For one, I never have to guard my things. Your beds are softer and the girls are easy on the eyes."

She laughed as well and said, "And then there's business."

He nodded and smiled but didn't say more.

"I could use a half-dozen more amulets," she told him.

"I need to make some for my girls as well," he told her.

"I have the supplies. Use from my stock for these two."

"Rooms?"

"I only have two right now."

He nodded and said, "That works for me."

"I'll get the supplies and be right back. I'll tell Cookie it's you. She'll probably bake you a fucking cake."

Emmit laughed and nodded.

The woman squeezed Lolla's shoulders again and stood, hurrying off.

Lolla turned and looked at Emmit, appraisingly.

He actually blushed a little and said, "She's an old friend - and no - we've never slept together. She was at the market, long ago, looking for amulets for her girls and I overheard what the enchanter wanted to charge her. I caught her as she left the market and we struck a deal. I've stayed here for free ever since. Well, not here, the whole time. This place is much nicer than her previous spot."

"You sleep alone when you stay here?" Lolla asked, smirking.

"That's a bit personal but no, not always," he admitted.

"Who's Cookie," Mirra asked.

"Another friend," he said. He stopped talking after that.

Mugs arrived for each of us. I had never had mead before. I liked it a lot. The girls seemed to like it as well. The madam returned with the supplies to make the amulets. Emmit dug out his tools - including an extra quill for me.

He showed me how to do the first one - and then watched me do the second. Once he was sure I had it done properly, the two of us knocked out the rest of the amulets in no time. We finished what we'd been assigned and made all that we could, with the supplies that we'd been given. The innkeeper ended up with an extra four amulets.

She returned a bit later and was pleased to discover that we were finished. She made sure that Lolla and Mirra each had one, thanked us for our work, and carried off the amulets. The little that was left of the supplies, she told Emmit to take.

A smiling woman in a stained apron helped the waitress bring out the food. She served Emmit and Lolla. The rune-maker got a kiss on the lips. She hugged him and tousled his hair before she returned to the kitchen. He blushed a little as she moved away, reaching up to fix his hair.

I just about choked on my mead when Lolla said, "Yeah. You ain't sleeping alone tonight."

Mirra laughed as well.

Emmit blushed even more.

The mage looked at me and said, "You get your bedroll and you can sleep on our floor. Let the old man have a nice night."

I nodded to her.

"We'll get you a mattress," he told me.

The food was the best I'd ever had. There was no cake, but Cookie - at least I assumed that was who she was - returned with four tarts that were amazing. Lolla laughed when I licked the crumbs from my plate.

I took Grizzle an apple from my pack. He seemed annoyed that I'd interrupted his sleep but forgave me when I gave him the treat. His eyes were already closed again as I slipped back out of the stable. The guard was still there.

When I got upstairs, Lolla was waiting in the doorway of our room. I slipped in and barred the door. I hung a rope across the front half of the room, hung my cloak over it as a partition, stripped to my small-clothes, and lay down - with my staff beside me.

I left Lolla to blow out the lamp and closed my eyes. Even lying on the floor, this was the softest bed I'd ever slept in. The girls chattered as they undressed, remarking on the softness of their bed as well. Lolla said that we were going to have to start collecting down from the chickens so that we could make our own.

I heard the girls talking about whether or not they were sleeping with their wraps on but my eyes were already closing.

"By the seven hells!" Lolla shrieked.

I grabbed my staff, jumped to my feet, and turned to face the back half of the room. The lamp was still lit. Its flickering light illuminated the room. Lolla was gloriously naked. Mirra's chest-wrap was in her hands - which were in her lap. Tears were streaming down her face.

Where Lolla's breasts were firm and rounded, Mirra's were torn and scarred. Her nipples had been completely cut off. The wounds looked ragged and angry. I could tell the scars were old, but a holy wrath filled my entire being.

"Who did this to you?" I asked her. "I swear to you that I will beat them until they no longer take breaths."

"Fuck!" Lolla said. "I think he's pissed."

Mirra continued to weep. She covered herself with the cloth and crossed her arms over her front.

"Tell me," Lolla ordered. "Is this all they did to you?"

Mirra was staring at her lap. She shook her head, no.

The lightning-mage looked at me and said, "Sit with her. I'll be right back."

She threw on enough clothes to cover herself. As she did, I took down my divider. Lolla unbarred the door, slipped into the hall, and closed it behind her.

"Can I sit?" I asked Mirra.

"Yes," she said, sobbing.

As soon as I was seated, she turned and hugged my shoulders. I held her in one arm and my staff in the other hand.

Seemingly within seconds, Lolla returned - with the innkeeper. They closed the door.

"Mirra, honey," Lolla said. "Show her."

Mirra looked up, saw who it was, shuddered, and lowered her arms, removing her covering.

"Tomorrow," the proprietor said. "I'll call for the healer."

"It was a long time ago," Mirra told her, through her tears.

"I know a very good healer," the woman said. "There may be some pain but I promise you that you will be as good as new. Tell me who did this and I will send someone to torture them."

Lolla laughed and said, "Derik the pacifist has already sworn a blood-oath to beat them to death when she tells us who it was."

The woman looked at me and said, "Good man. May your mother always be treated with the respect that she's taught you to show women."

I nodded, accepting her weird blessing.

She turned and let herself out of the room. Lolla put the bar back into place. As she approached the bed, I started to unwrap myself from the redhead.

"Can you..." she sobbed again. "Can you hold me a little longer?" she asked.

I propped my staff against the wall and took her in my arms. Lolla sat on her other side and wrapped her in a hug as well.

Her crying finally turned to soft snoring. Lolla stood, blew out the lamp, and then rearranged pillows so that I could lean against the headboard and pull the archer into my lap. Lolla leaned against my shoulder and wrapped an arm around our disfigured friend. I laid my cheek against the top of her head.

She had cut off all of her hair. It was starting to come back in, but it was shorter than mine had ever been - even after that one time that my father had cut my hair because my mother complained that I'd been wiggling too much for her to finish the task.

I could not get the images of her body out of my mind. I could not understand how anyone would do that to another person.

I awoke to the sound of someone tapping on the door. Lolla got up and went to check. It was one of the barmaids, carrying a tray of mugs and platters. She handed it off to the naked mage. Lolla kicked the door shut and set the tray on the nightstand.

Mirra opened her eyes, looked up at me and smiled.

"Good morning, Beautiful," I told her.

She began crying.

"Knock that shit off or I'm leaving," I warned her.

"I'm not beautiful," she cried.

"You are," I told her. "Now eat so that your body has the strength to handle your healing."

She kept her arms wrapped around me but accepted bites of food from the nude mage.

"Can you put some clothes on, half-pint? You're giving me a hard-on and I'm worried it's going to poke Mirra."

Lolla stuck her tongue out at me, grabbed her breasts, and waved them back and forth - just out of my reach, laughing. Mirra got a little choked up, trying to swallow her food and giggle at the blonde at the same time. Lolla brought us the mugs - which held mead again.

"This shit is amazing," I said, after draining half of my mug. "We should make Emmit buy a barrel. Hell, I probably have enough money. We'll buy our own."

Mirra looked up at me and giggled, taking another swig before returning her mug to Lolla. The mage took it and brought her another bite of food. She offered me a bite as well but I was happy to keep my mug.

There was a tap at the door. Lolla opened it. It was the innkeeper lady.

She eyeballed the nude blonde and then looked at Mirra and said, "The healer will be here in a bit. I'll bring them up. It'll be a bit tight but I thought we'd do it here. Did you eat?"

Mirra nodded.

The woman looked at me and then back to Mirra and asked, "These two staying here while we do it?"

Mirra nodded again.

"Good," she said, smiling. "I'll be back shortly. I'll have Cookie whip up something to celebrate when you're finished. Be strong." She froze, turned, and looked at the redhead. "Fuck that," she said. "I know you're strong. You seem to have fallen in with a good bunch. Let them help you."

Mirra swallowed hard and nodded again.

The innkeeper turned and left, closing the door behind her.

A few minutes later, knuckles rapped on the door again and Lolla threw it open, throwing her hands into the air and spreading her legs like she was surprising someone. It was Emmit. He just shook his head at her and looked over at us.

"Herra says she's got everything in-hand," he told Mirra. "We'll stay another night so you have time to recover. Would you like me to see about getting you a room of your own?"

Mirra shook her head 'no' and squeezed me a little.

"Good enough, then," he told her. Looking at me, he said, "I'll be taking the wagon for a bit. You are ordered to remain here and guard the girls. Do you understand me?"

I nodded.

"Good." Looking back to Mirra, he said, "You are not a 'stray', as I labeled you before..."

"You don't have to..." she told him.

"Please," he asked her. He waited.

She nodded.

"I am delighted that the kids convinced you to join us. I am formally offering you a place on our team - with all of the rights and privileges that the rest of these vagabonds have squeezed out of me."

"Thank you, Emmit. You have no idea how much this means to me."

"I have some small idea," he replied. "I only have one demand of you," he said.

"Just ask," she told him.

"If - in our travels - we come across the people who did this to you, I require that you point them out to me so that I can destroy them."

A sob escaped her chest and she held her hand out to him. He stepped forward, took it, and brought it to his lips. Then he lowered it, giving it a small squeeze, before stepping back. He nodded to me, ran his eyes over Lolla's brazen body, and then departed. A choked laugh escaped from the redhead as the blonde stepped over to close the door, wiggling her butt at us.

"You should probably put some clothes on before the healer gets here," I told her. "He'll have a heart-attack and Mirra won't get her healing."

She stuck her tongue out at me but gathered her clothes. I had never seen a person look sensuous as they added clothing to their body but Mirra and I just enjoyed her little show as the short woman dressed herself.

"You know," I told Mirra, "Lolla's right."

"About what?" she asked.

"You DO have a nice, tight little butt," I told her, looking to see what she thought of my comment.

She kissed my jaw and said, "Thanks for that - and for holding me all night long."

"My pleasure," I replied.

"Is it now?" she said, quirking an eyebrow at me.

I was saved from responding by a knock at the door. Lolla opened it to admit the innkeeper and a middle-aged woman wearing the green robes of a healer.

"Hello, dear girl," the woman said. "Have you eaten well?"

Mirra nodded.

She looked at me and then back to Mirra and asked, "Is this one staying?"

Mirra nodded again.

The healer looked at me and said, "If you could pick her up, we'll get the bed ready. Based on Herra's description, it would probably be best if she were lying down for this."

"Mead or ale?" the innkeeper asked the healer.

"Watered ale, if you please," she told her.

The woman left to get the drink.

Mirra wrapped her arms around my neck. I scooted to the edge of the bed and stood, lifting her in my arms. The healer directed Lolla and the two of them soon had the bed rearranged the way she wanted it.

The innkeeper slipped back into the room with a half-pitcher and a fresh mug.

The healer had me carry Mirra around the bed and lay her on the cover. As I settled her into place, the healer brought the pillow under her head.

"Alright, my dear," she said. "I'm going to need to see all of you and hear about what you want me to do. Do you want the boy here?"

Mirra nodded.

"Is he to watch?"

Mirra looked at me, took my hand, and nodded to the healer. She offered Lolla her other hand. The mage skirted around the healer and took it.

"Alright, then, trusted friends," the healer said. "I'll ask you to remove the rest of her coverings."

I looked at Mirra and she nodded. Lolla and I removed her wraps. Her sex was as scarred as her chest. I cringed as I saw how the scars carried beyond the surface and dove between the lips of her most tender place. I took her hand and leaned forward to kiss her cheek. Lolla did the same. Mirra's tears started again.

The healer waited a moment and then told Lolla and I to dry her tears and give her another kiss. Lolla kissed the corner of her mouth so I did as well.

"No more tears, my child," the healer told her. "I have no doubt that you were stunning when you were whole and it is my job to restore what I can. Are you ready?"

Mirra nodded, squeezing my hand and Lolla's again.

"Is there anything - besides what is visible to me - that you know I need to touch?"

"Inside..." Mirra said. Her chin trembled.

"I see that," the healer said. "Your back?"

Mirra nodded.

"Legs?"

"They tried to hamstring me," she said.

"Did they strike your head?" she asked.

Mirra nodded.

"I am ready to begin. There is a good chance that you will fall asleep as I work. When you wake up, you will be tired. Eat well."

Mirra nodded to her again.

"If you have any discomfort or pain - or anything doesn't feel right - you tell Herra and she'll call for me."

"Thank you," Mirra told her.

Herra helped the healer kneel beside the bed. An aura surrounded her hands as she placed them on Mirra's ribs and hip.

For several minutes, we all just watched the healer - who seemed to be praying.

All of a sudden, the aura around the healer's hands seemed to magnify in its intensity. Mirra gasped and her eyes opened wide. She stared at the ceiling for a moment and then she passed out. I continued to hold her hand.

I looked at the healer. Her brow was wrinkled in concentration and droplets of sweat appeared, here and there, and ran down her face.

A flicker of movement caught my eye and I turned to look at Mirra's deformed breasts - only they were no longer deformed. The scars were being erased, the torn tissue was being restored, and the portions of her body that had been cut away returned, whole. I looked down at her sex and discovered that it was being renewed as well.