TRC - Searching for the Sky Ch. 13

Kal looked around his living room as if it were a different world. In his entire life, he had never seen so many people in his house. Quite honestly, he didn't much care for it. Perra was sitting in the living room chatting with Dax, Refia, and Kuto. Up at the dining table, Elta bounced Ruce's chick, Lada, on her knee as she talked with the little girl's mother, Ghoss, and her own mother, Lady Nina. It somehow didn't make him feel better that three of the women in the room were pregnant with his children and by what Perra had told him last night, the harpy, Kuto, might be looking to join them. Actually, that wasn't quite true. She had said that the harpy was interested in becoming one of his women and forming a bond with him, not necessarily that she was looking to become pregnant.

Daxas and Refia had been a complete surprise to him that morning when they showed up with Kuto in tow. Perra, however, had been expecting them. Soon after their arrival, he learned that Refia's olfactory prowess was even more impressive than previously believed. The bloodhound was also able to detect small changes in a woman's scent that gave a few hours of advance warning before a woman went into labor. Though her only previous experience had been with other dog girls, she was confident she would be able to do the same for humans as well. This would give them enough time for someone to go fetch Lulen from town and warm the water in the large tub sitting off to one side of the living room.

Nina had been unexpected as well. She had only shown up to drop off a small vial of medicine. Lulen was insistent that women not go past their due date, larger babies might be healthier but that was a small consolation when the mother didn't make it through childbirth. If necessary, the medicine was to be taken the morning after she was due and labor would typically start by that afternoon.

Jurien had come along but had been quickly hustled out the door by his wife. The apothecary froze upon walking into the farmhouse, rooted in place by all of the delectable female flesh on display. It was hard to blame the man, Refia and Dax were naked, as normal, and their swollen bellies were matched by an increase in their breast size as well. Ruce had fed Lada not long ago and had yet to go through her ritual of making her chest shrink again. This gave Jurien another impressive pair to ogle, even if all he could really see was the harpy's nipples. With the falcon's chest smaller than normal from Lada's recent meal, Perra was currently the largest of them all. Despite Dax and Refia's naked breasts being proudly on display, the poor apothecary was still having a difficult time peeling his eyes from the farmgirl. After only a couple of minutes, Nina all but booted him back out the door with a promise to have Kahrin come to visit once they got back to the shop.

While Elta knew of her parent's activities with the barmaid, she frowned at the idea that they were so open about it with this group. That her parents were in on this whole business of the wizard and his monster girls had been another shock the cleric wasn't prepared for. Finding out that her own father had been one of the witnesses to Felli, Marda, and Rone's 'marriage' left Elta reeling. When the harpy declared herself to be her sister and brother-in-law's mate, the cleric had no idea her father and Kal had made it official.

Though she didn't show it, another thing was truly bothering her: Kal. She had expected a powerful and domineering wizard who looked down upon the non-magical peons, while sheep-like Perra revered him because of all of his wondrous abilities. What other kind of man could shrug off the birth of his own child? Worse yet, Perra was even understanding and supportive of his reasons. Then last night arrived and like a whirlwind he burst through the door and swept the farmgirl off her feet in a very literal sense, but not before having one of the most touching scenes she had ever witnessed between two lovers. Not in the deepest fathoms of her mind could she come up with a hint of condescension for the woman. Now he stood next to Perra, looking insufferably human and awkward among the gaggle of women. He looked no different than the farmhands, Tain and Thom, who also looked like they'd rather be out plowing a field by hand than standing uncomfortably next to their harpy lovers. Thom didn't even get the respite of caring for his daughter since the little girl had been all but attached to the cleric except for when Ruce fed her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kal lean down and whisper something in Perra's ear. The woman looked up at him with a beaming smile and grabbed his hand, holding it to her cheek as she nodded in response to whatever question he had asked. From the look of adoration on both of their faces it was easy to tell they would do anything for one another. Maybe...

Kal started walking towards the door and Elta quickly picked up the harpy chick and passed her over to her mother.

"I'm, sorry," she told the harpy with an expression of genuine sadness. Standing up, she turned around and called out, "Kal!"

The wizard stopped and looked over at her, his hand still extended as he reached for the door handle. "Yes?"

"Fight me."

There was a slight uproar for the next couple of seconds, ranging from gasps of shock to a stern admonishment from her mother, accusing her of planning this challenge beforehand.

Kal held up his hand, commanding silence from the people in the room. "What do you hope to accomplish, Elta?"

"If I win you tell Perra to release me."

"And if I win?" asked the mage.

"You can have... me."

Before Kal could answer Daxas howled in laughter, "I can tell you from experience, that's not a punishment."

"You didn't think this through, did you," he said, shaking his head. "If you win, and that's a very real possibility as I have had little real-world experience battling other magic-users, then you get your freedom and the ability to become a threat to me and my family. If I win then I get the ability to do whatever I want with you whenever I want. All the while knowing that you hate me and don't want to be with me. I've no taste for taking women by force—"

"You can force yourself on me anytime you want," came a voice from the living room

"You aren't helping Dax," said Kal, glaring at the wolf girl who was giving him a cheeky smile in return. "As I was saying. I've no desire to force myself on a woman, especially when I have willing—"

"And wet!"

"Dammit, Daxas! Hush!" He took a deep breath as the wolf doubled over with laughter. Despite his annoyance, her antics seemed to diffuse some of the tension in the room, for which he was grateful. "Willing," he leveled a glare at the wolf girl which just set her off again, "partners to choose from. As you can see, I have no real reason to accept your challenge."

Elta's face fell, no she hadn't thought it out. It had been a split-second decision and she had hoped that male pride would cause him to accept without thinking. She hated to admit it but being rejected after offering her body stung more than she had expected. "Then what can I offer in exchange for my freedom?"

Kal looked over at Perra then back at the cleric, "This power she has over you hurts her. She doesn't want it and hates herself because she had to do what she did. If you promise to make an earnest effort—"

"No, Kal," said Perra in a tone that left no room for argument. "If she doesn't find her way on her own then the journey will be meaningless. Even asking for a promise is too much."

"Then do you have any suggestions? I'm at a loss here." When Perra shook her head, he looked about the room, "Anyone?"

Finally, Refia spoke up, "Most, if not all, of the people in this room would see her as a threat if she were to get her freedom back. I don't think there's anything she could hope to offer that would be worth that," she said quietly with one arm extended towards Perra's stomach and the other directing everyone's attention to Lada who was now sitting quietly in her father's arms, ignoring the adults and playing with the buttons on Thom's shirt.

Tears welled up in Elta's eyes as she saw how foolish her challenge had been and it hurt her that they would see her as a threat to the harpy chick.

"However!" Kal called out, startling a number of those in the room, "while I won't take you up on your challenge, I will be happy to give you the opportunity to kick my ass. As I said, I haven't fought many other magic users and I could use the practice. That, and it might help you calm down now that you got your self all worked up for a fight."

"He's mine until the baby comes!" piped up Perra, "Just remember that."

Dax and Refia groaned. "Did you have to remind us?" said the wolf.

Elta looked aghast. "What...? No...! I Never..." sputtered the cleric.

"Of course you wouldn't, dear, but he has a way with women," said Perra indicating the three swollen bellies Kal was the cause of.

Kal blushed slightly as everyone else in the room chuckled. "Kuto? Ghoss? Could you two take Elta and I into one of the valleys north of here? My very brief battle with Kelthor did a significant amount of damage to the surrounding area and I don't want to accidentally set the forest on fire." When both of the harpies nodded, he turned to Perra, "Would you loosen the restrictions on her so we can have this little spar..." his voice trailed off as he saw the farmgirl had her eyes closed and seemed to be whispering under her breath.

A moment later she opened her eyes and looked up at him. "Okay I think I've got it," she said before turning to look at Nina, "You may want to leave, Elta and I both hate it when I have to do this. I can't imagine it would be any easier for you."

Nina stared back at Perra, a flash of resentment crossing her face. The girl had broken down in tears when she came to tell Nina and Jurien what she had done to their eldest daughter and why. With Jurien being on the council and her being his second, they both knew of Perra's necklace and its powers. She had even come to talk to them before telling the council, wanting to discuss what she discovered about how the pendant worked and how it may have affected the situation with Rone and Felli. Something which she said had weighed heavily upon her conscience afterward.

Unfortunately, their knowledge also meant that when Perra came and confessed what she had done to Elta there was a shadow of a doubt that perhaps their acceptance of the situation, though reluctant, may have been affected by the girl's jewel. This wasn't helped by how easily the council had accepted her use of the pendant in business dealings and their unanimous agreement to keep Perra's powers of persuasion a secret. The apothecary's wife hadn't been at that particular meeting but Jurien's account left her questioning just how much influence the bauble had. The farmgirl's largest saving grace in Nina's eyes was that she didn't seem to have a hateful bone in her body, which was a difficult thing to say about a woman who nearly killed her daughter. Even then, Elta's mother had to admit that Perra would have only done it out of necessity and not because she would have enjoyed it.

Standing from her seat at the table, she stepped over to her daughter. Turning Elta to face her, she wrapped her arms around the cleric. "I'm sorry, but I can't watch this."

"It's okay mother, I really don't want you to see it anyway. I think this will help, even if it doesn't free me. Especially if I get to kick the high and mighty Kal's rear around the mountainside."

Quickly and quietly, everyone made their way out the door and away from the uncomfortable situation inside until only Perra, Elta, Daxas, and Refia remained.

"Are you really going to let me duel with him?" Elta asked.

"If going up against you means he will be safer if he gets into a real fight with another cleric, then yes. Of course, that's assuming you are as good as everyone seems to think you are."

"I'm not so sure about that, healing was more my speed. I had no desire to use the goddess's power to hurt people. Combat is required learning and I understand that others felt I was good at it, but it wasn't something I focused on."

"Stay out of arm's reach and out of range of his staff," suggested Dax.

"He doesn't have his staff," said Perra, "He left it with Ria, and Ria is back with the new girl, Sera."

"Why on earth would he leave Ria with her?"

"She's never hunted on the surface and all of the extra meat that you and your pack hunted is still inside her. From Kal's description, Sera had never been above ground at all until yesterday, so Ria is acting as a babysitter as well."

"Never been above ground? Is she like Gerda's mushroom girl?"

"No, something snake related. From what I could tell, Kal thinks she is unique and that she is relatively new for a monster girl but hasn't gotten to talk with her enough to say more."

Daxas laughed, "After being apart for so long I'm surprised you two talked at all last night."

Perra blushed slightly before looking up at Elta. Sighing, she asked, "Are you ready?"

Elta nodded, a smirk playing across her lips at the thought of putting the mage in his place.

---

The trip up to the mountains had been interesting with Kuto declaring that the only reason she wasn't sneaking off for some alone time with Kal was because of Perra claiming him for the immediate future. This seemed to catch the wizard off guard, and he took the swallow aside for a moment to get some clarification. Perra had only told him that Corben left but had yet to tell him why. Kal looked to be disturbed by this news and informed the harpy that he would feel like he was taking advantage of her recent break-up. Kuto assured him, with affirmation from Ghoss, that things had been over between her and Corben for some time and that she was looking to move on. With as close as she and Perra had become lately, she had decided that she wanted to be a part of the happiness she saw in Perra, Aradelle and his other women.

Elta had to withhold a laugh at the stunned look on Kal's face. It was clear that he had not been expecting anything along those lines from the small harpy.

Though Kal didn't have his mask with him, he still wanted to do some gliding. The last time had been a trip back from Felli's Mountain the autumn before he set out. By that spring when he left it still hadn't warmed enough to keep his face and hands from freezing at those altitudes and speeds. Kuto was more than happy to take him nearly straight up in the air as Elta and Ghoss set a more leisurely pace towards the mountain range.

Kal once again regretted not having Ria with him. He could at least have studied the face shield and air collection spells he had come up with for the flight rune. It was small consolation a short time later when he realized that having his bag of holding would have done little good as both of those spells were in the library set up in the tent.

Once Kuto had built up some speed and leveled out, she released Kal's shoulders. A moment later the cloak he had spun around to his front caught the air as he pulled the fabric tight and they began speeding after the other harpy and the cleric.

Kuto was using the opportunity to tease the mage as she flew alongside. Darting in front of him, she would flare out and lift her forked tail, showing off her sex before flitting to the side and checking his reaction. Seeing only signs of surprise and a little bit of confusion but no dismay, she continued with her game.

His confusion came from discovering a loophole in his compatibility enchantment. Unlike back when he first met Felli, he now knew about a harpy's targeted pheromones and how her scent would make the man of her choosing lust after her. Kuto had most definitely picked him as her next mate judging by how his body reacted when she flew in front of him. Though he wanted to talk with her first about what being bonded to him entailed, he was accepting of the idea and actually looked forward to their first time together. Unfortunately, the compatibility enchantment didn't care about possibly sleeping with someone a few days or a week from now and Kuto's scent, while completely undetectable to the human, was having a profound effect in the mage.

As they got closer to the mountain Kuto maneuvered herself over top and in front of him. Gently taking ahold of his shoulders, she once again and began lifting them high into the air. Kal made a brief attempt to ask the harpy to not fly in front of him anymore but she just gave him a big grin and shook her head while looking down at him. He'd have to explain once they were back on the ground.

Once they crested the mountain ridge, the deep rocky valley between this and the second line of mountains further north spread out before them. There was little vegetation and even fewer animals, reminding Kal of the approach to Felli's peak. Felli's Peak... he liked the name and briefly wondered how difficult it would be to change it officially over in the capitol.

This was Kal's favorite part and one of the few secrets he kept from the girls. He scanned the mountainside for any large, flat shelves that he might need to worry about since this was a new area for him, most of his gliding practice had taken place closer to Felli's home. The harpy began beating her wings faster and gaining speed as she prepared to drop him once again. When Kuto let go he immediately angled himself to follow the rocky slope beneath him. Soon he was streaking across the mountainous terrain, the uneven descent bringing him terrifyingly close at times.

When gliding above the ground, there was a sense of speed from the wind rushing by but that feeling of the world whipping by beneath him didn't come until just before he was about to land. Here on the slopes, Kal could relish the experience, the inherent risk of gliding just tens of feet off the ground making it all the more exciting.

He chuckled inwardly as he saw the swallow out of the corner of his eye. Her grin and denial of his request made more sense now. Distracting him while doing this was dangerous, so she'd never planned on continuing her teasing.

Up above them, Ghoss soared on the currents as she and Elta watched the other two make their breakneck run down the side of the mountain, the cleric gasping as they had to dodge to the side to avoid a particularly large outcropping.

Above her, Ghoss chuckled. "Care to give it a try in the way back?" she called out over the wind.

Looking up to see the harpy smiling down at her, Elta shook her head emphatically. She had become used to flying with the harpies lately as she was still spending most of her time up on Felli's mountain, only coming down to occasionally take care of things about town and pick up some supplies. Even though she was no longer scared of flying with the bird-women she still had no desire to do something so foolish as dance with crags and large boulders just for the thrill of it.

Elta had lasted for five days before asking to be taken back to the farmhouse so she could make a run to town. Felli and the others were wonderful about providing her with various meats, but she quickly began missing vegetables and bread in her diet once she ran out of her original stock. That was her excuse at least. In actuality it was a small matter to cast a spell and create the food she claimed to be needing, but after five days alone she was almost desperate for interaction with another person. Though she wouldn't admit it, she returned to Kal and Perra's farmhouse instead of going to her sister and brother-in-law's in hopes of being there when the woman finally went into labor. This was before she had known about Refia's ability to give them warning.

Going to and from the mountain afforded her the peace and quiet she needed for prayer, meditation, and introspection concerning her situation. It also kept her away from the tanner's boy who had sought her out immediately upon hearing she was back in town. Her lust spiked as he approached her, and Perra's suggestion of taking him back to her house and sating her needs rang in her ears. It also infuriated her that she would have so little control of herself.