TRC - Searching for the Sky Ch. 04

His last task was reaching out with geomancy a second time and grasping the ring he had put on the lock's handle. Watching where the pivot pin came through on this side he began making a circle with his hand approximately where the handle would travel if he were on the other side. The pin rotated to follow his movements until he had nearly brought the bar into its bracket. The line of magic he was using to move the stone ring touched the metal bracket on the other side, the iron absorbing the magic tether in an instant.

The locking bar fell into the bracket and bounced, loudly ringing each time. Kal cringed as the girls waiting further up the tunnel gasped. Putting an ear to the door and not hearing anything from the slavers, he breathed a sigh of relief and made his way to where the girls, sprite, and ex-slaver were waiting for him.

The width of the tunnel forced Kal to turn sideways and sidle past the girls to get to the front of the group. Quite a few of them, including Daxas and Rose, had no reservations about rubbing their breasts against their rescuer as he scooted past. As he reached Ria, Jakis and the pack's beta, the mage summoned a floating light to illuminate what turned out to be a small natural harbor. The circular room had a small crescent-shaped ledge that ran along the near side of the room, tapering off as it got further away. The water swirled lazily just below the edge of the natural walkway, pushed along by the flow of the river beyond. Now that the door was closed and there was nothing bringing in clean air, the stench from the river had already become significantly stronger in just the last minute.

"Ria, give the girls the masks," he instructed, then addressed the women, "Put these over your mouth and nose, it won't keep out all of the bad smells, but it should filter out enough to keep you from getting sick." He looked at Jakis, "I'm sorry I only made enough for the women." Watching the sprite make a square of fabric with a thick layer of wool attached to it appear in the large dog girl's hand, the hawkish man shrugged and pulled a handkerchief out of a pocket, folding it until it was about the same size.

When the bag of holding's avatar returned he had her retrieve the first boat, the speck of light floating out and touching the surface of the water... before quickly returning to the bag. Kal and Ria wore similar looks of surprise as they looked at each other.

"Maybe it has to be a solid surface?" the sprite suggested.

Kal thought for a moment, "I need my staff," he said. Once the sprite had produced it he held it out and whispered, "Pike." The staff extended as the platinum end cap turned into a small leaf-shaped spear tip. Kal placed the long spear in the water, "Try again Ria."

The speck of light touched the pike just behind the spearhead, turning into one of the large stone boats with a small splash. The sprite misjudged how far out to go on the spear and the boat began slowly spinning in place as it drifted into the middle of the small harbor, well out of the mage's reach.

"Hook," said Kal as he pulled the pike out of the water. The spear shortened as the point changed into a large rounded hook made for footmen to pull enemies off their horses. Snaring the boat, he dragged it to the edge of the harbor, unable to hide his smile from seeing his idea of a stone boat actually working. Holding it in place, he waved for Jakis and the first set of girls to get on.

After letting Jakis cautiously step into the boat, he and Daxas's beta helped the rest board except for two that she sent to the back of the line. At Kal's questioning look she informed him it was her alpha's decision that the girls weren't to approach the slaver for sex, and those two girls were in heat. Kal nodded but inwardly groaned, with the wolf talking about a three-day orgy he had been grateful for the possibility of help with so many women.

As the last girl boarded, Ria gave the large dog girl one of the saplings while Kal gave her a small stone that lit up with a word. He attempted to explain that the stick was to push them away from the walls but descended into a fit of coughing. The fumes from the river were starting to get to him since he was the only one without something over his mouth and nose.

Ria came over with a worried expression as did Daxas, the sprite asking him if he wanted his mask.

Kal waved her off, "I can't talk with that thing on. I'll get it when we're out on the river."

"Bullshit," said the wolf after taking a deep breath through the silk air filter, "you said you were going to use that on me to protect our pup for the trip down. You said you would need to power those marks on your mask the entire way, you can't do that if you are passed out from not being able to breathe."

The mage's eyes widened at the accusatory glare she gave him. With a sigh he held out his hand, the sprite making his runed leather mask appear in it a moment later without being asked. "Traitor," he snapped at the sprite, the small smile on his face showing that his feelings didn't match his tone.

Ria plopped down on his shoulder. "You're just going to have to deal with the fact that I like you and want you to stick around for a while," she said as he cinched down the straps behind his head and the rune on the front started to glow

When Kal added the rune that would allow him to breathe underwater he also made some improvements to the mask. Tiny squares of leather held in place by metal clips covered holes on either side. This allowed air to escape but any pressure from the outside pushed the pieces into the holes, preventing water from entering. He got the idea from watching how the valves on the blacksmith's bellows worked. Up near the nose, a second set of one-way valves on the inside prevented the mask from becoming a death trap if he was knocked unconscious. Fitted plugs on small strips of leather could be clipped across them for use underwater.

Since he had no plans on diving into the river, he undid the clips; bad air was still better than no air.

Kal and Ria repeated the process of summoning the first stone boat, the sprite making this one appear close enough for Kal to reach out and grab it. Kal held the boat in place once again as the rest of the girls boarded. The mage hopped in, making the boat sway enough that some of the dog girls grasped the sides or each other in alarm, and pushed away from the rocky ledge.

Kal had Ria give him the other sapling, which he then passed to Rose who took it with a firm nod. Slipping the straps over his head he took a couple of deep breaths before telling Rose and the pack beta to take them out and into the river proper. He then held out the mask for Daxas who pulled the fabric and wool square from her mouth and placed it over Kal's. The mage was surprised at how intimate the moment felt as he tightened the straps to fit her comfortably. Now he just needed to stay in contact with the mask for the next few hours. As Rose pushed them out into the river behind the other boat, Kal sat and Daxas leaned up against him while many of the girls started to settle in. It was going to be a long ride.

Nineteen sets of eyes looked back up the river as they heard a faint banging coming from the inlet they just left.

------

Kogen sat up as he was startled awake, he wasn't sure at the moment if what woke him had been a real noise or something in his dream. He peered about his room for a moment, looking and listening for anything out of place before laying his head back onto his pillow. The leader of the slavers tossed and turned for the next few minutes, something felt wrong. He normally fell asleep quickly, lulled by the sounds of all the money on the other side of his room's wall.

Kogen's eyes snapped open, the normal din coming from the kennels was gone. He listened for a moment longer just in case it had only been a lull. No whines, growls, or barks, the bitches were either dead or gone.

The leader of the slavers jumped up out of bed, snapping his fingers at an armor stand. Breastplate, vambraces, tassets, and greaves all jumped off the wooden display and opened, wrapping around their respective body part and clicking into place before he grabbed his sword, throwing the strap to the large weapon's scabbard over his head. As he opened the door and walked out of the room, two straps hanging from the sheath near his waist floated up and buckled themselves, securing it in place diagonally across his back.

The illusion barely registered until the man walked through it, the golden-haired bitch in the back cage and Jakis's desk suddenly disappearing. Growling, he strode over to the leather curtain and ripped it down. His eyes scanned the empty room for just a moment before roaring in anger.

"Get the fuck up! We've been raided!" he bellowed towards his men's sleeping quarters as he stomped across the room, following the bitches' tracks up to the door leading to the river. Spinning the bar out of its bracket he yanked on the door.

It didn't move.

Kogen pulled on the door again and again in mounting frustration, the tiny lip of stone holding it shut at the bottom going completely unnoticed. When he finally let go, he threw his head back letting loose a guttural scream before kicking the door repeatedly. Breathing heavily, he turned and saw his men had gathered behind him, staring wide-eyed at their raging leader.

"Find Sylus and Jakis," Kogen glanced at the place where the accountant's desk used to sit, "if he's still here." He drew his sword from its scabbard, "I'm going to go find out why our guards let this happen."

------

Three hours into their gentle drift, Rose had traded off with one of the other girls manning the pole for their little boat and curled up next to Kal and Daxas. The conversation was kept to a minimum because of the masks and, unfortunately, no one could get any sleep since they didn't have any means to secure the filters to their faces.

One of the girls began slowly crawling towards them from the other side, whimpering and pleading with her eyes.

Daxas looked up at Kal the question plain on her face.

"Here?" he asked pulling the silk and wool air filter away from his mouth for a moment.

"ee eeds ih," the wolf said from behind the runed mask, her voice heavily muffled.

"No," he said shaking his head, "not here, I can't take a chance on being distracted or sleepy."

The girl looked like she was about to burst into tears for a moment then brightened up, during that brief flash of sadness Kal realized that it was the same girl who had been presenting herself when he bought Daxas, the realization made him feel horrible for denying the woman a second time.

The dog girl came over and whispered excitedly in the wolf's ear. Daxas looked back at Kal a second time before nodding to the woman and holding Kal's hand to her mask before moving out of his lap. The girl tugged down the front of his trousers, apparently, his opinions meant little to the pack. He scowled at his traitorous cock as it hardened from the girl's hand gently stroking him. Once he was hard she turned around and sat down on his prick. Then stayed there with a happy look on her face as Daxas rearranged herself so she was comfortable as well as keeping the mask within easy reach of Kal.

"Are... you... serious?" he asked the wolf girl, uncovering his mouth to speak. He could see the smile in her eyes as she sat up for a moment to look at him and nodded, then snuggled in underneath his arm. Sighing heavily, he noticed that the other girls were staring intently at where his prick had disappeared into the woman currently straddling him. Three of them seemed to be having much stronger reactions than the rest. Hearing heavy breathing next to him, he saw Rose panting behind the piece of silk and looking flushed. Make that four.

Kal laid back against the side of the boat and groaned. The next few hours were going to take forever.

------

Luckily for Kal, the girls got some sense of relief from just being filled and they didn't even mind if he went soft as long as he stayed inside them. Rose begged off when the other girls offered her a turn saying that she didn't want to betray the old wizard who had sent Kal for her. Despite the normal physical reactions, the young mage didn't really enjoy the experience, the toxic nature of their surroundings was a severe mood killer along with everyone having to hold pieces of fabric over their mouths. However, he also understood that these girls were in dire need and that it could eventually get so bad as to cause physical pain. Judging by the looks of relief they had when he entered them, the dog girls had waited until well past that point before approaching him.

Unfortunately, their relief was short-lived, and he had to go through the whole scenario a second time before light from the surface began filtering through the end of the tunnel.

A cheer went up from the boats as they broke out into daylight; the rescue had started some time past midnight and, judging by the position of the sun, it was now afternoon. Kal estimated that they had been drifting along for close to ten hours, possibly more.

"Ho! Well met!" came a call from the western shore. A man wearing all black except for a shimmering deep blue cloak seemed to appear from nowhere. The pack beta had taken over using the pole for the last leg of the journey and now held it pointed towards the man as if to keep him at bay.

The man held up his hands, "I mean you no harm," he said loud enough for everyone to hear, "I just wish to speak with the mage and the money-changer."

Kal nodded at the girl with the sapling in his boat, also the first to approach him hours ago, and she began pushing them towards the shore. Taking the mask away from his mouth the smell was still bad but as they floated further downstream the light breeze kept bringing in fresher air to dilute it.

"If you wish to talk then back away please, I would like to get the girls clear of the river's miasma before speaking."

The man bowed gracefully and walked a good distance away from the shore while the girls wielding the poles ran the boats aground. Daxas stripped Kal's mask off and jumped onto the sandy shore, the dog girls flooding out of the boats and lining up in rows behind her while casting wary, but not hostile, glances at the stranger.

The last to get out of the boat, Kal approached the man with Jakis in tow.

"That's the leader of the thieves' guild," he whispered to Kal, sounding terrified. "He has a lot of influence in Carriston."

Kal nodded as they stopped a few paces from the guild leader. If you wish to parley I would appreciate it if all members present were visible," he said, glaring at the two humanoid outlines of swirling magic on either side of the man.

"Rist was right you are an odd one," the leader of the thieves' guild smiled and nodded to either side. To his right, a red-headed thief in tight clothing appeared while to his left a younger woman flickered a couple of times as she fought with the clasp on her cloak, the same deep blue cloak as the other two were wearing.

"How may I help you, Mister...?"

The man waved off the question, "my name is unimportant. What is important, is what Kogen is doing right now and what kinds of plans you have for Jakis there."

"I would imagine Kogen is putting together a hunting party unless he believes all of us to be dead or dying."

The man winced, "See... there you would have a problem. I'm sure you were hoping for the second of those two but in fact, it's the first. You left traces of magic all over his hideout from an illusion, to his men sleeping. Since you are a magic-user he has assumed that you made it down here alive."

"Then why are you here and not him?"

"Because instead of going after you right away, he decided to take out his anger on the man who sent you to him."

"Rist."

The man nodded, "Rist doesn't like being threatened and Kogen is lucky he isn't dead. When he wakes up and tries to get information on you from Rist he is going to find that a number of organizations within the city, including my own, have paid the man very well to not know a thing about you."

"Then you're what? My ally?"

"'Ally' is such a strong word," said the guild leader, sighing and looking up towards the sky, "it denotes a degree of friendship and camaraderie." He looked back at Kal, "We aren't friends, I did this to serve myself and my guild."

"Fair enough," said Kal. He was surprised by the man's bluntness but not his answer. "What are you needing me for?"

"Kogen needs to leave Carriston of his own free will, with lots of people as witnesses for validation. As such, I'm setting things up to strongly suggest he go hunting for you."

"If the man is such a pain then why not just kill him instead of going to all of this trouble?"

"Because Kogen has been the upper echelon's pet for many years, ever since he started supplying them with 'toys.' If he's killed here in the city there will be a huge investigation and the people behind it will be wiped out. We took in the failing assassin's guild a few years ago and I won't put my guild into that kind of danger. You, however, I don't mind sacrificing. If you and him cross paths and you end up killing him, all the better."

"So, I'm your bait for Kogen," Kal was mildly shocked that he wasn't more upset about the situation. "What about Jakis?"

"Actually, I want the accountant," Jakis gasped and turned to bolt. "Not like that you twit! To do your job!" Looking back to Kal he continued, "Word has it, you were looking to learn some magic. Give us the money-changer and we will give you two months before setting Kogen loose."

"Four."

"Two and a half."

"Three and a half."

"Three."

"Done." Kal turned to Jakis, "is that fine with you?"

"As long as they let me bring my desk."

The guild leader watched the interplay between the two, "Why do I feel like I've been had."

"Because you assumed he was my prisoner?" asked Kal smiling. "Do you have a bag of holding or anything that could transport a large desk?"

The man looked at the redhead, who then stepped forward. "Anthiss" she called. A ghostly image of a winged serpent popped up over her shoulder and snuck underneath her hair, wrapping around the woman's neck.

"How may I help you, Master?" said the avatar in a lilting, female voice.

As the two spoke Kal summoned Ria and had her retrieve the desk putting it on the grass between them.

The guild leader stepped forward and ran his hand over the polished wood. "I'd heard that you went back and bought this when your previous employer was selling all of his belongings." He looked up at Kal, "Even if you had demanded a year it still would have been worth it. This man made a particular Duke in Carriston extraordinarily rich and powerful. Seeing that he was the reason behind her father's success, one of the lord's daughters took a shining to him, even so far as having this desk made for the man. His employer didn't like that one of his children was interested in this commoner and fired him, which is where Kogen snapped him up. The Duke's businesses all fell apart after Jakis left, leaving him destitute. When he sold all of his belongings Jakis went in and bought this, paid three times its actual value because the Duke didn't want to sell it to him."

"How do you know all of that?" asked Jakis.

The guild leader smiled, "Because your lady friend works for me now, and is looking forward to seeing you again."

"You? How?"

"Actually, it was Madame Tufa who bought her from her father to pay off a gambling debt. He was convinced that he could win his fortune back. She ended up with me for the night and I recruited her."

"You mean bought her," said the young woman on his left. "he had to buy out the girl's contract like he did with me," she explained to the accountant.