TRC - Lord of the Glass Desert Ch. 14

The woman looked up at Kal, "Urine? 'Use too much'?" she glanced down at the leather canteen she was making for a moment, then raised an eyebrow at the mage. "Is that what these are for?"

"Yes," he answered, holding up the bottle again. The low mark indicates when it starts taking effect, the high mark is too much. Don't tell them, but it's actually a little higher than this," said Kal in a conspiratorial whisper.

"Is that what they are going to do? Piss in these, then pour it out upwind?"

"No, the scent's power fades quickly. After only a few minutes... actually, that might work better than having them time themselves when they... Wait, no, that won't work. Then every girl would need one of these bottles."

"I won't say I'm pleased my canteens are for holding piss, but once they're paid for, it's not my problem." She turned around and called out, "Melir, Soonu, this man has some companions walking out on the grasslands. I'm inviting them over. He promises they are friendly."

Both men looked back through the wagon as she spoke. "You mean the gazelles? Oh, it looks like there's a cat-girl wearing clothes with them too. Where was she hiding?" asked her husband.

"The problem comes when they get too friendly," mumbled the hired guard.

"I promise they will be good, or I will deal with them myself," said Kal

The guard's eyes widened, "You speak my language?"

Kal shook his head. "Just a little bit of magic to help me in my travels," he said before calling to the girls.

---

Melir, the guard, had little to worry about from the gazelles with Kal taking care of their needs. All three girls were more interested in watching Chaldi turn sheets of tanned leather into small water bottles with oversized necks and stoppers.

Kal was curious how she would get the measurement correct. The leatherworker soaked the sewn bottles in a water container to soften the leather, then filled Kal's marked bottle with dried beans before pouring them into the canteens. She then took a stick slightly smaller than the bottle's neck and shoved the beans in, stretching the leather until the beans from Kal's bottle were flush with the top of the canteen. Once finished, she set the bottle to the side to dry and went on to the next. The last step was soaking the leather with beeswax inside and out to make it waterproof, but that wouldn't happen until they made camp.

Coovie and Rhim seemed especially excited about helping Chaldi and Soonu tonight. Melir was far less enthusiastic once everything had been explained. As the couple's guard, he was supposed to stay nearby. Melir wasn't particularly happy about getting aroused from the gazelle's scent with only his hand for relief. The news came just as he was starting to understand the gazelles weren't interested in attacking him or the merchant and had begun to get used to their presence.

Kal eventually selected Coovie to be Chaldi and Soonu's helper. He felt it might be good to put a little pressure on her to try harder and not get distracted so easily. Especially since he offered up the rest of the night in bed as a reward for not sending the other men into lust crazes, after clearing it with Kashka, of course. He also had a plan in case the gazelle slipped up again.

Rhim was disappointed that Kal didn't pick her but agreed with his decision. After only a couple days of practice, she rarely had any problem judging the correct amount of her mating scent to use. This opportunity would be a good incentive for her friend. Since Kal would be occupied with Coovie and Kashka tonight, the gazelle turned her attention to Melir. Kal had caught wind of the guard's grumbling and mentioned it to her and the other two girls earlier. At the cat-girl's suggestion, she approached the man as he continued scanning the grasslands for threats.

The long whip-like stick whistled in front of her. "Come no closer," he said.

"I won't," said Rhim. "I just came to let you know that if you need some relief later, I would enjoy helping you."

The guard stared at the gazelle woman as she dropped back to join the other monster girls walking behind the wagon.

Rhim leaned over and whispered to Kashka, "Did I do it right?"

"You did fine," the cat-girl answered with a smile. "Don't get your hopes up, but at least Melir knows he has the option now."

Listening in, Kal chuckled. "Sage advice from a woman who was barely more than a virgin a month ago."

Kashka stuck her nose in the air, "Laika trained me well. Not that you have reason to complain."

"Is this Laika your wife?" asked Chaldi.

"No, she's a pleasure slave on the caravan. An old enemy put a price on my head, and the caravan master didn't expect me to live, so he duped me into buying the most expensive accommodations." He smiled down at the cat-girl, "I think it worked out for the best."

"You were in the front section of the caravan? Hmph, I should have charged you more for these," she said, tapping the bottle she was working on.

The mage smiled, "Make no mistake, I come from humble beginnings. One of the benefits of having monster girls as lovers is one of them can find and retrieve high-quality gems with ease."

Chaldi glanced around, "Is she hiding somewhere?"

"No, she's back at my home, far, far to the west, of the Sulerin desert.

Disappointment flickered across her face. "You certainly seem to have an interesting story. I wish we had more time. I would like to hear more of it."

"Consider yourself lucky he hasn't started talking about why he's on this journey," Kashka piped in.

Kal appeared confused, but the leatherworker looked at her with interest.

"Oh?"

"He's going to meet his woman on the other side of the world. Who is immortal but is also dead, while at the same time is not dead and trying to come back to life. Even though she isn't really dead."

"That... does sound confusing," said Chaldi.

The mage snickered, "It's my quest, but it sounds silly when you put it like that."

"So what she said is true?"

Kal nodded.

Shaking her head, the leatherworker looked down and focused on her work.

---

Chaldi and Coovie were almost giddy with excitement when the sun threatened to touch the horizon, and Soonu announced they would be making camp in a couple of hours. Melir seemed to be in a better mood since Rhim's proposal, but Soonu's mood turned from initial excitement to resigned sadness. Kal finally approached him and asked what was wrong.

Soonu looked down from the driver's seat and sighed. "I appreciate what you and your friend are going to do, but it's only a temporary fix. Once you and your monster girls leave, I'll be unable to get it up again. That's if it even works."

"Assuming it works, which really should be your biggest worry right now, you and Chaldi have the option of occasionally approaching a monster girl, explaining your situation, and asking for help."

Chaldi poked her head out from the back, "But nothing comes for free. What will they want in return?"

"I doubt I need to answer this, but in all likelihood, they will want a turn with your husband. Most monster girls are much more reasonable than humans give them credit and won't try to steal him away if their needs are met. I won't say all of them are reasonable, though. Over generations, many monster girls believe kidnapping is the only way to get a mate. I suggest you do like a friend of mine back home and consider forming a triad with a monster girl you can trust. You get to have a mostly normal sex life with your wife while your third gets her needs met and, if you all agree, gets a daughter out of the deal."

The leatherworker frowned, "I don't know about that. I'm not too keen on sharing, and how are we going to explain traveling with a monster girl?"

"That I'm not sure about. I wish I had all the answers, but at the same time, I wish I could snap my fingers and make humans and monster girls get along," said Kal. "As it is, my mates and I are trying to kick the pebbles at the top of the mountain in hopes it will grow into something bigger than we could ever do by ourselves."

Soonu frowned, "Don't forget, rockslides can bury entire towns."

The mage nodded, "That's why I'm doing things like with the girls. I'm not kicking pebbles just yet, but laying the groundwork for when I do. If this works tonight, it could be a huge selling point for the acceptance of monster girls."

"Or extremely harmful," said Kashka as she walked up next to Kal. "Too many humans would be willing to exploit us just for this. Honestly, I doubt you are the first to look into using our mating scents in such a mannner. Imagine one of us held captive and forced to get men hard instead of just helping out."

"Sadly, you're probably right. Is what I'm doing really any better? Or am I just being nicer about it?"

"Coovie is walking into this with open eyes and the option to back out. Yes, there is a huge difference," said the cat-girl. She was starting to get a little testy with him.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"No, you're just being annoying. Normally you're so assured and confident, yet for something like this, you need it spelled out that you're not like Bozun or the slavers you rescued the dog-girls from. I don't like it when you get like this."

"I'm just trying to be... aware."

"Well, stop. Your judgment had been sound in the time I've known you and you seem to surround yourself with women willing to tell you if you are screwing up. Follow that big brain of yours. We'll warn you if you start down the wrong path."

"We?" the mage asked, raising an eyebrow. "Are you counting yourself as one of my women now?"

Kashka's eyes widened as her face turned bright red, "Uh... no," she said, reaching up and touching the delicate chains of the golden choker around her neck, "I still have penance to pay for the people I've wronged. I don't deserve to be one of your women."

"Pennance? Is traveling with me really such a punishment?"

She glared up at him, "Right now? Yes."

"Then what will it take for you to right the wrongs of your past? What do you consider the endpoint at which you are forgiven? Or are you going to keep punishing yourself for the rest of your life?"

"I--I don't know how to answer that, Kal, but I think that helping you try to build a relationship between humans and my kind is a good place to start."

"Tonight should certainly help toward your goal if all goes well," said Soonu. "It just hurts me to admit I can't take care of my wife without assistance."

Chaldi smirked at him before addressing Kal and Kashka. "Don't get the wrong impression. He has done a lot to take care of me." She reached over and began rubbing her husband through his trousers. "But he spoiled me with this for so many years, I miss the feeling."

Soonu relaxed and leaned back to let his wife fondle him.

"It doesn't look like he's lost any sensitivity," Kal observed.

"No. It just won't get hard and stay hard," said the merchant. "The things that felt good still feel good, but it takes a lot of time and work for me to finish." Soonu gave his wife a look of curiosity then glanced down at her hand. "You've never been this open around other people."

"We've never had an opportunity like this without someone trying to sell us snake oil," she replied.

"But you did offer him one of the canteens you're making."

Kal waved up at the couple, getting their attention. "If it puts your mind at ease, I'll pay for all of the bottles she's making. Good or bad outcome, the information I gain from this will be worth more than the few silvers for the bottle."

"So, no snake oil," said Soonu. After giving the reins a light tug, he placed them in his wife's free hand and closed his eyes, smiling as he enjoyed Chaldi's rubbing.

On the other side of the wagon, Melir watched the two gazelle women as they casually chatted. The one who approached him earlier occasionally sent shy glances in his direction and preened a little whenever she saw him looking her way, but otherwise didn't seem very interested in him. He was starting to believe this wasn't some ruse and that they weren't trying to lull him into dropping his guard before whisking him off into the grasslands.

Unfortunately, the less he saw them as threats, the more he saw them as women. For the third time in as many minutes, he reached down and adjusted himself before continuing to scan the savannah.

---

Coovie and Rhim both stopped dead in the road, their ears swiveling as they looked to the south.

"What is it?" Melir asked.

"Hyenas, big ones," said Coovie. "It sounds like a large pack."

"They're hunting," said Rhim.

Melir stood up and looked in the same direction as the gazelles. He couldn't hear them like the women, but he spotted the hyenas moving slowly through the grass from the wagon's seat. "I see them."

"Is there a woman like us with them?" Coovie asked.

Melir watched for a few more seconds, then shook his head.

"Damn," whispered Rhim as Kal and Kashka came jogging around the back of the wagon.

"Damn?" asked Kal.

"If there was a hyena girl with them, we might be able to let her fuck us in exchange for leading the pack away," said Rhim.

"The way you said that brings up some interesting questions," said the mage.

"If you don't know about hyena females, then you might be in for a little bit of a shock," said Coovie with a smirk.

"Actually, I read up on some of the wildlife before we came here. I think I know what you're talking about. What are our options?"

"We will need to fight," said Melir as he reached into the back of the wagon and traded out his whip-stick for a metal-tipped spear. "Hyenas can run for a long time and will tire out the horses." He tapped the butt of the spear on the side of the wagon, "Too much weight,"

"Rhim and I can run longer and faster than them but only barely," said Coovie, "he's probably right."

"Kill them, drive them away, or distract them?" asked Kal.

"From the sound, it's the big hyenas. A pack this size will quickly strip an area of food," said Coovie

"So, cull them?" Kal offered.

"Once we've taken down their numbers, how do we drive the rest off?" asked Melir as he hopped down from the wagon. Chaldi quickly took his place in the seat.

"We won't need to. They aren't going to get close to the wagon," said Kal. He looked over at Kashka, "Care to stretch your legs a little?"

"After the sandworms, I think I'd like an easier fight," she said with a nod.

Melir and Chaldi looked surprised as Kal traced a glowing rune in the air over Kashka's chest and activated it. "Be careful with your extra strength and speed," he said as he began drawing a second rune.

"This feels like overkill for a bunch of big dogs," she said as the magical strength flowed through her body.

"You know I don't like taking chances."

"Says the man who killed two sandworms almost singlehandedly."

"You helped, and I think the old lady gets credit for the second."

"That's why I said, 'almost,'" Kashka's tail flicked back and forth as her legs and arms shifted to feline. "Race?"

"Ria, I need you and my staff," he said as Kashka dropped to all fours. He spun the staff and held it against the back of his arm as the sprite appeared and took stock of the situation. "You give the signal," he told the little avatar.

"You're mean, Kal," she said, pointing at the glowing runes on his vambraces. Flitting up between them, she raised a hand. "Go!" Ria shouted. The mage and cat both took off like arrows leaving the sprite staring. "Dammit, he used it on her too!" she yelped before streaking after them.

Melir spun around and looked up at Chaldi and Soonu with a shocked expression. "I heard about someone killing two sandworms on your crossing. That was them?"

"We weren't in the caravan," said Chaldi as she stared after the mage and cat, "but we heard about it when picking up our goods and saw one of the sandworms when we crossed over to this side years ago. The guards said a mage killed one, and an old lady sacrificed herself to kill the other. Some people said he had a companion, while others claimed he did it alone. I have a feeling we know which were correct."

---

"I'm winning!" Kal called out to the cat-girl over the rushing wind.

"Only because you're taller!" Kashka yelled back before spitting out another piece of grass. Running this fast was exhilarating but constantly getting slapped in the face by the tall grass was a little annoying. "You should've done this the other day instead of having me ride on your back."

"I couldn't remember that version of the spell right then, or I would have. I didn't spend all that time in the library staring at the wall."

Kashka caught an unexpected scent as they neared the pack of hyenas.

"Kal! Metal!" she yelled, veering sharply to the side.

The mage only had enough time to boost his strength rune and activate his shield as a dog-like warrior in metal armor jumped up, brandishing a stone-tipped spear. Kal's shield smashed into the weapon, reducing it to splinters before the mage and creature went tumbling into the rest of the pack. Kal pushed off and rolled to his feet, barely noticing he dropped his staff. Instead, the mage focused on bringing his shield up again and slamming it into the creatures directly in front of him, sending the thing flying backwards.

His strength rune glowed brighter as he sprung into the air while turning so he could see what he was up against.

Gnolls, one of the few monstrous races which kept their original shape after Prentas's spell. They were also one of the most feared by men because of their unusual genitalia and willingness to use it to enforce their dominance over others. However, they didn't go completely unaffected. Like orcs, goblins, and kobolds, they stopped having male offspring and needed human males to conceive.

In front of him, nearly thirty of the creatures rose to their feet, accompanied by the clanking of mismatched human armor.

Most of them leveled their spears at him, but one of the gnolls pushed her way back through the ranks. "Looks like we may have a little more fun than planned," said the hyena-like woman as Kashka ran up beside Kal. "And he brought along some extra meat for us too."

"Sorry, I'm the only one who gets to eat her," he called out to the approaching gnolls. Spotting a glowing white speck coming towards them, he yelled, "Ria, grab my staff!"

A couple of the creatures spun around, expecting an attack from behind. Instead, a speck of light leapt up from the ground next to the first gnoll Kal bowled over and darted after the sprite as it passed overhead.

"This wasn't what I thought you were racing toward," said Ria as the light dipped into her bag then immediately popped out to turn into Kal's staff.

"To be fair, neither did we," Kal replied as Kashka nodded. "Rhim and Coovie heard them and thought they were true hyenas, not gnolls."

"What's the plan?" asked the sprite.

"Well, they were talking about forcing me to breed with them and consider Kashka meat. So, I doubt there's a peaceful resolution to this."

"Don't worry, human, we'll be sure to get our pleasure out of her holes before we eat her," said the gnoll leader. The woman pulled aside her loincloth to reveal a phallic organ they supposedly used, just like a penis but was somehow actually a vagina.

Despite his curiosity about how the whole process worked, he had no interest in experiencing it firsthand. "Since I've already taken out two of you, and the battle hasn't even started. I'll allow you the chance to run away." He looked over at the cat-girl, "Kashka, how many do you think you can take down?"

"Twelve before I get in close," she replied, pulling her throwing knives and a vial of clear liquid from the pouches on her belt, then drizzling the viscous fluid across the blade tips.