The Runesmith Chronicles Ch. 18

"I know why you did that," she growled, eyes glowing red in the faint moonlight coming into the cave. "For their sake, I hope whatever plan you have works out. Still. That was a dick move, no pussy for you tonight," she said, stalking off towards the storeroom entrance. Kal would have argued his certainty that this was going to work out for the best, but despite his good intentions he felt like a complete asshole and that Ikuno's words were deserved.

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The tunnel to the storeroom was shaped much like the one to Felli's home and was just as tall, which Ikuno did not appreciate. As they walked in, crystals set into the ceiling began to glow until the entire area was bathed in light.

"It's amazing that these enchantments have lasted so long," said Ikuno as she stretched and worked the kinks out of her back from walking hunched over through the tunnels.

"From everything I've learned and what you've told me they shouldn't," said Kal looking around. There wasn't much to see, the wooden shelves had all turned to piles of dust over the centuries with only a couple managing to remain as intact as the one in the attendant's quarters. As in the caverns above there was a thick layer of dust, however, there were various human footprints here and there, as well as a couple made by a harpy, indicative of previous explorers. Other than the lines of dust that used to be shelves it was really just a large rectangular room. It was heated as Rone had said but not by the stove like outcropping in the other smaller cavern, instead, these were oblong stone nodules in the center of each of the walls that seemed to give off just enough heat to keep the room comfortable for humans.

Kal helped Ikuno clear a small area of centuries of dust so they could lay out their bedrolls, then went over to inspect the heating stones. He was curious what could sustain an enchantment like this for so long. Using his magical sight, he was unable to make out any details until he focused inward and filled himself with the energy, as his eyes started to glow the flows of magic became sharper. On the back side of the heating stone, he could make out a brightly glowing circle that he assumed was a rune of some sort but he was unable to make out what was keeping it powered. Seeing nothing if he moved to the right or left of the stone he got down on his hands and knees and looked below it. Through the rock he could make out a faint trace of a line of energy that ran downward, moving to either side he was able to tell that it did not angle away at all. Kal sat back lost deep in thought.

"Everything okay?" asked Ikuno from over by their bedrolls.

"They are being powered from below."

"Crystals somewhere in the heart of the mountain?"

Kal shook his head, "No, it comes from straight down." Kal stood up, "I need to check something in the larger caverns, care to come with?"

Ikuno looked around, "That means I'd miss out on all of this stimulating conversation with piles of ancient dust!" she said in mock horror. "Let's go," she said smiling as Kal rolled his eyes at her.

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Holding the edges of his cloak taut, Kal brought it down with as much force as he could muster with the help of his strength rune. As a huge cloud of dust went billowing away from him and Ikuno exposing the rock beneath, the strength rune flickered out.

Kal swore under his breath as he saw the red glow fade, checking the crystal in his vambrace he confirmed that it was empty. He momentarily thought about asking Ikuno to recharge it since his extras were back in the storeroom but she was annoyed with him right now, best to not make things worse by treating her like a living battery. He swung his cloak over his shoulders and fastened it before kneeling onto the magically warmed floor. Kal's eyes glowed as he attempted to see the flows of magic through the rock once again. He barely managed to peer through all of the swirls and eddies just below the surface to see a line of magic running straight down.

"You seem to have found something interesting," Ikuno said as Kal stood and tilted his head back, closing his eyes in concentration.

"What if a roc isn't insanely magical at birth?"

"Interesting question, where is this coming from?"

The glow faded as he opened his eyes and looked at her, "Why would a developing roc need three separate chambers to grow?"

Ikuno eyed him curiously, "Another good question, but still one I can't answer."

"Think of these warming rocks as basking stones for lizards but instead of heat and from sunlight they're magic for a baby roc."

Ikuno nodded, "Okay I'm following you there."

"After a while, the lizard needs to move because the stone beneath him gets cold."

Catching on, Ikuno continued for him, "In this case, the roc has used up all the magic directly below them and needs to move to one of the other chambers. That begs the question: where is the magic coming from?"

Kal closed his eyes again for a moment, "Unless my estimates of yours and Gerda's speeds are way off, this mountain is directly above the crystal cavern Gerda and I went to."

"Impressive. Any way to verify that?" Ikuno asked.

"Not until Gerda gets back, unfortunately."

"Suddenly your idea of setting up a permanent home here doesn't seem nearly as ridiculous."

Kal beamed at the blue oni.

"Don't be flashing me that smile, boy. Just because I'm impressed doesn't mean I'm not annoyed with you for making Felli cry. You're still cut off for tonight. Speaking of which, let's go see if they are done talking," she said before making her way back towards the cave entrance.

"Awww," said Kal as he jogged to catch up with her.

Behind them two sets of glowing, solid red eyes opened and looked down, watching as the intruders left before silently peeling themselves away from the rock face up by the apex of the cavern.

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"Wait up a minute, Ikuno," said Kal as they reached the top of the slope leading to the entrance.

"Hmm?"

"I want you to understand that I feel like an ass for what I did to Felli, and Rone for that matter. I know I'm being a manipulative bastard like Rone said, and to be honest I hate it. Perhaps, more importantly, I need you to understand that I would never do something like this if I didn't see a positive outcome for them. Huh?" Kal turned toward the chamber they had just come from.

The whistling of wind over stone wings was the only warning they got before clawed feet closed on Kal's shoulders and dragged him off towards the entrance. As Kal cried out in surprise the leading edge of a wing clipped Ikuno's arm, spinning her and sending her tumbling down the slope until she stopped by digging claws into the rock below.

A second winged figure went gliding through the place Ikuno had been standing a moment before. With its target already partway down the slope the stone construct angled down and came to rest where the path leveled off, blocking off the blue woman's exit.

Ikuno picked herself up and calmly walked towards the figure, summoning her club as she strode down the stone ramp. Stopping a few paces away she looked the creature up and down. Bald, long pointed ears, pointed teeth with fangs, wings, clawed hands and feet, long tail. The only thing keeping it from sitting on the corner of some cathedral was the glowing eyes and mottled gray coloration that was likely for camouflage in the large caverns.

"Gargoyle? I must say the last time I saw one of you she was a lot prettier. A bit more 'correct' too," she said indicating the construct's smooth groin. "Why have you attacked us?"

The gargoyle opened its mouth, but its lips didn't move as it spoke in an eerie hollow voice, "The crystal cavern must remain a secret. All who know of its existence must be destroyed."

"You two are doing a piss-poor job of that. The man your partner ran off with had been inside that cave along with another friend of mine."

"No matter, he will be dead soon. As will you."

"I wouldn't count on that," said Ikuno stepping closer and waving the end of her club in the gargoyle's face. "We may prove to be harder to kill than you think."

Few creatures could tell the nature of Ikuno's club at a glance, the gargoyle was not one of those. Reaching out, the construct's hand closed around the end of the club, unbothered by the spikes and intending to pull the weapon out of her grasp. Instead, the living statue's glowing red eyes winked out and its body went solid as the magic was sucked out of it.

"Thought so," the oni said with a smirk. Ikuno twisted her club free snapping off some of the gargoyle's fingers. Once released of the oni's support the statue leaned to one side before crashing to the ground, snapping off the wing it landed on. While almost imperceptible, the inner corners of its eyes began glowing faintly red as the large blue woman walked away.

Ikuno headed towards the entrance, "'All who know of its existence must be destroyed!'" she muttered, mocking the gargoyle. "How many times have I heard something along those lines? Why can't it be 'all who know of its existence shall be fed baklava until they explode!' Nope, bad idea. Baklava is delicious, people would be lining up to die that way." Out on the ledge, her club disappeared with a small flash before she summoned the brightest light she could muster to act as a beacon for Kal. "While I'm asking impossible questions: What is the deal with things made of stone stealing Kal from me?" she said looking into the night sky with a worried expression.

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Kal was doing his best to maintain a level head after the shock of being lifted into the air and flown out of the roc's cave. The pain in his shoulders was intense but tolerable, the fabric of his cloak just barely preventing the creature's claws from penetrating his skin. As the creature flew higher Kal drew the rune for the telekinesis cantrip and used it to lift his mask up to his face then pull one of the straps up as far as it could up the back of his head before the spell gave out. Out in the open, the front rune on the mask glowed dimly, only needing to gather more air from the surrounding area and not having to purify it. As he looked out and began to see the moonlight reflecting off the tops of clouds he wondered just how high this thing was going to take him.

Kal knew he could save himself from being dropped with the feather fall rune but he was going to need some way to get all the way back to the cave. Unfortunately, he didn't have a set of wings like Felli to direct his descent whenever the thing holding him decided to let go. Or did he?

The gargoyle stopped climbing and hovered for a moment. Looking down at its captive it said, "Goodbye human," in a hollow voice, just before letting the man go. There was just enough light for the creature to see the human roll onto his back and make a rude gesture before flipping back over and starting to wrestle with his wind-whipped cloak. The gargoyle smirked at the doomed human's spirit right up until the man's cloak started catching air and he began streaking off back towards the cave. Growling in annoyance the construct folded its wings and dove after the infuriatingly resourceful human.

Kal's gesture may have been totally unnecessary, but it certainly made him feel good for that brief moment. After quickly adjusting the straps on his mask he frantically worked to get his cloak spun around to his front, a difficult task with the wind trying to drag it off him. Once accomplished, he tucked the hood down against his chest then grabbed handfuls of material out towards the edges. Kal immediately felt the difference as he pulled the fabric taut and his fall slowed significantly. As he angled his body towards the peak they had just come from he saw a bright light begin to glow on one side.

"Thank you, Ikuno," he said behind the mask.

Kal drifted slightly to the right and left as he got a feel for how to control himself in the air. He chanced a look away from the fast-approaching mountainside and saw the creature chasing him, its red eyes narrowed in anger. Kal knew he was at a huge disadvantage in the air compared to the stone construct and needed all the help he could get, a moment later his eyes glowed blue as he remembered what Ikuno had said about his reaction time. He also discovered that he could now sense the magic within the creature behind him without looking.

As the construct reached out to grab his ankle, Kal quickly banked away and activated the feather fall rune, his sudden lightness acting as a brake in the air. Kal let go of his cloak and quickly reached out with a rope of magic, attaching it to the base of its wing as it zipped past. The connection solidified and Kal's strength rune flared brightly as he jerked his arm backwards. The force and shock sheared the wing from the creature and it shrieked as it spiraled into the darkness below. A moment later the stone wing followed it as Kal dispelled the magical rope it was attached to.

Kal breathed a sigh of relief and checked his internal energy stores as he gently floated downward. Seeing that he was in no danger of running out of magic but also seeing that feather fall was burning through those stores quickly he smoothed out his cloak and leaned forward before slowly cutting power to the rune.

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A short time later Kal made a stumbling landing at the entrance of the cave, completely overshooting the ledge Ikuno was standing on. The feather fall rune made sure he came down lightly, but he severely misjudged how fast he was going. He managed a couple of off-balance steps before his cloak wrapped around his legs and he ungracefully fell forward, skidding along the stone floor. Ikuno jogged over bringing the light with her as Kal picked himself up, his healing rune glowing to take care of the scrapes on his hands and chin.

"Are you okay?" she asked as he dusted off before turning his cloak back around.

Kal's eyes shined with joy as he looked up at her, "That was amazing! After the part where the rock thing with wings tried to kill me, of course."

"They're called gargoyles, magical sentinels and protectors," Ikuno informed him. "What happened to the one that took you?" she asked glancing back towards the entrance.

"It's in a thousand pieces at the bottom of the mountain I hope. I managed to rip off one of its wings." He looked around and saw the remnants of the one that attacked Ikuno, "Any idea why they came after us?"

"Apparently we aren't supposed to know about the crystal cavern below us. At least that's what the statue over there said just before grabbing my club. Looks like you won't need Gerda's help with verifying that after all."

Stone scraped against stone as the drained gargoyle moved enough to look towards the ramp leading to the other chambers. Its eyes barely glowed enough to tell they were supposed to be red. "Beware the blue one's weapon," it said in its hollow voice, completely ignoring Kal and Ikuno.

They looked towards the slope and saw five dark winged figures with red eyes cautiously descending.

"Light, Kal," said Ikuno. Kal quickly summoned his smaller orb of light as Ikuno's iron club appeared in her hand, the oni's brighter orb winking out in the same moment.

He quickly untied his plated gloves from his belt and donned them. "We've already taken out two of you, I doubt you five will fare any better," he called out to the gargoyles.

"Nice try Kal, but that won't work on these, they're magic sentinels they quite literally cannot back down," said Ikuno.

"That's too bad," Kal's eyes glowed blue, "Center of the chest seems to be where all the magic is coming from."

"Got it," said Ikuno as she drew her arm back and threw the club forward so fast it screamed through the air instead of whistled. The center of her intended target turned to powder with a resounding crack as the club struck it then disappeared with a small flash. Kal shook off his momentary amazement at the display of power, he occasionally forgot how much the club boosted Ikuno's strength.

Strength and haste runes came to life on Kal's bracers as he rushed forward to engage the first enemy. The gargoyle ducked down and brought its wings around in front of it protectively. Kal nimbly hopped over the crouching stone construct and landed behind it's back. With both runes shining nearly white Kal aimed a massive blow at the bundle of magic in the middle of its chest. Much like the geode he got the amethyst for Perra's pendant from, his fist passed all the way through in a spray of stone and gem. Pulling his hand out of the hole he saw the glittering remnants of a large ruby inside.

"Oh," said Kal. As the other gargoyle came around his inert companion Kal held out a hand towards it. Kal stretched and shaped the gemstone powering the gargoyle in as many directions as he could at once. The construct stopped as if frozen, its red eyes fading as the shattered gemstone in its chest could no longer power it.

Ikuno had just tapped both of her opponents along with the one she faced off against earlier with her club turning them into statues. She now stood watching Kal intently. "What did you do to that one?" she asked.

"Remember when I told you about learning how to shape amethyst?"

Ikuno nodded.

"These are powered by large rubies," he said patting the statue on the shoulder. "I shaped this one's ruby the wrong way."

"Nice, so that one has ruby dust inside it? I could use that if you can get it out." She bumped the two gargoyles in front of her with the end of her club. "These ones too if possible."

Minutes later Kal's efforts netted them a pouch of ruby dust, two whole fist-sized rubies as well as one cracked ruby from his first attempt at removing one.

Kal and Ikuno then pushed them off to the sides and arranged them facing the walls. For some reason, it felt wrong to just chuck them off the ledge to shatter on the rocks below.

Kal went in and explained to Rone and Felli what all of the noise had been about and that everyone was safe. He was mildly annoyed that he had to reintroduce himself because the harpy had already forgotten his name. Thankfully she hadn't forgotten his offer and informed him that they would give him an answer tomorrow. Kal chose to keep quiet that it had been 'they' and not 'he' or 'she' that would be making the decision.

By the time Kal walked out of the tunnel and into the cave entrance, the adrenaline had worn off and he was feeling completely exhausted. Ikuno was sitting next to the storeroom entrance reading a book she had brought with the help of a small light on her shoulder. As he came closer she reached out and pulled him down for a kiss. She then took him by the arm and fished out the crystal in his vambrace. It glowed briefly as she touched it to one of her horns, recharging it.

After tucking it back into his vambrace's pocket she said, "Get some rest Kal, I'll keep watch for tonight."

"Watch? Why?" he asked. His eyelids felt like they had lead weights hanging from them.

"Just a precaution until we can confirm that the last gargoyle is dead. Go, Kal, or you won't make it to your bed and fall asleep in the tunnel."

Kal nodded as he stifled a yawn and ambled into the tunnel leading to the storeroom.

Ikuno chuckled and returned to her book.

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Perra flopped back into her bed, completely exhausted. She had been having a dream about some big discovery when she was startled awake by the feeling of being grabbed and lifted into the air, only the feeling didn't go away when she woke up. Vague thoughts and feelings came to her that she knew Kal was experiencing at that moment.

She was almost frightened by the calm almost cold logic Kal was capable of as he planned out not only how to save himself but also get back to the roc's cave, even while being carried away. Soon after, she wanted to jump around and yell with joy once Kal's pursuer was gone and he was able to truly enjoy the experience of gliding during his return to the mountain. A few minutes later there was a huge buildup that made Perra want to fight something that stopped so suddenly it was like the feeling had been cut with a knife, replaced by something that bordered on disappointment that whatever he was facing wasn't nearly as strong as he had anticipated. The next few minutes had been minor, fleeting glimpses of conversations that she had to concentrate hard to make anything out but was unable to glean anything more than Kal was talking with Rone and the harpy. Finally, Kal had gone to sleep allowing the young woman to relax.