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Introduction:

Attraction. Abducted. Sacrifices.
Rain pelted Kal and Ikuno as they made their way carefully along the thin mountain trail. They left Ikuno's home earlier that morning to return to Aradelle's forest and crossed over the first mountain without incident. However, as they descended into the valley on the other side, dark clouds rolled in and a smattering of rain dogged them during their ascent of the second peak. As they approached the apex of the trail the weather turned even fouler, devolving into a full-blown downpour with screaming winds and lightning illuminating the sky every few seconds.

Ikuno!" Kal yelled above the howling wind, "Do you know of any caves nearby that we can wait this out!"

"If there are, they aren't on this trail!" she called back from just ahead of him.

"What about if you made us one the way you made your pool!" he yelled.

"I can't!" she answered partly turning to look at him, "Using magic during a… Kal!" she shouted as she saw him slip on a particularly smooth rock slickened further by the rain. falling too quickly to catch himself she watched as his head bounced off the stone below. Groaning as he tried to get his eyes to work again Kal rolled over onto his back and instinctively pushed magic into the healing rune. The oni had only taken a step back down the path to check on him when she saw the rune light up.

"Kal! No!" she screamed.

Lightning arced down from the sky striking a short way up the rocky slope above them. Like a shining serpent the column of electricity slithered back and forth as it made its way downward, drawn towards the magical energy from Kal's healing rune. A boulder only a couple of paces up the mountainside from Kal caught the bolt and held it, the slightly higher elevation overcoming its attraction to the magic. Raw electricity poured through the large rock, instantaneously heating up the gasses and moisture trapped within.

The stone detonated.

The concussion picked Ikuno up and threw her to the ground further up the trail. She could only watch as Kal's body was thrown from the path, bouncing limply down the rocky slope before sliding over a ledge and out of sight. She screamed his name again in panic but couldn't hear her own voice, only a high-pitched ringing.

Ignoring the intense pain all over her body the oni picked herself up and quickly made her way back to where Kal had been lying after the explosion. Stepping off the trail, she began sliding down the slope toward the ledge Kal had fallen over, her claws leaving deep gouges in the rock as she used them to slow her descent. Holding her breath, she peered into the blackness below.

A flash of lightning illuminated Kal's body lying on a rain-soaked shelf a little more than ten paces down. Breathing a sigh of relief, Ikuno swung her legs over and hung by her claws for a moment before dropping to the ground next to the unconscious man.

Kneeling next to him, she checked Kal over in between lightning flashes, the flickering sky making her night vision almost useless on the shadowed ledge. The oni could immediately tell that he was in very bad shape, in multiple places he was bleeding where shrapnel from the boulder had struck him and both of his legs broke from the fall, but thankfully he was still breathing. However, even as she watched his breathing was becoming shallower and shallower.

"No, no, no, no, no!" she said in alarm though she still couldn't hear. She knew she would have to work fast, and it was going to be difficult to save him with the lightning storm still raging above them. Though the outcropping above offered some protection, she would still only have a few seconds to heal him before the energy in the lightning sought out her magic. She had to be certain she canceled her spell before it reached her. Moving quickly, she set the bones of his legs in place, so the spells would have less to do, then waited for a particularly long string of flashes hoping it would drain some of the energy from the clouds.

Magic circles appeared in front of both hands as her healing spells went to work, for a moment she was envious of Kal's ability to pump more and more magic into a spell.

Two seconds went by.

Kal's legs lined up and the bones joined.

Three seconds.

Shrapnel began pushing its way out of his body as the bones in his legs just barely began to mend, he breathed deeper as a portion of his chest seemed to inflate.

Above her lightning struck the mountainside, once again making a jagged path towards the source of magic.

Four seconds.

Kal's entire body straightened and Ikuno realized he had broken his back. If the lightning could hold off just a moment longer.

Ikuno knew she had waited too long when, as if in slow motion, a tiny, dimly glowing feeler of electricity split in two just above her healing spells and connected with both of them.

The spells shattered as the full power of the bolt slammed into them, flaring as bright as the sun and followed by a crash of thunder that nearly threw Ikuno off the ledge into the abyss below. As she flew through the air, the oni could only watch in anguish as the blast bent her fingers back, stripping some of them down to the bone.

Noise assaulted the blue woman's senses as the thunder bounced among the mountain tops. Sitting up she peered about in surprise that she could see or hear anything at all after the lightning strike. Looking down at her mangled hands, her surprise turned into astonishment as flesh grew and bones mended before her eyes. Light coming from where she had been standing caught her attention. Still floating where the lightning touched them, her healing spells illuminated the stone shelf around Kal as they surged with power. Ikuno hissed in pain from her fingers as the magic circles grew dimmer and winked out, the spells fading before she had fully healed.

Cradling her injured hands, the oni stood and made her way back to the injured young man. His legs and back were now straight, and his chest was no longer dented in on one side as it rose and fell normally. Small pieces of shrapnel from the boulder still stuck out of him in places, but the rest had been pushed out and healed over.

Using her feet, she slid Kal further up the stone shelf, pushing him up against the rock face under the overhang he had fallen from and getting him out of the worst of the rain. Sitting down next to his unconscious form, she leaned back against the stone.

Ikuno looked from Kal to her unresponsive and severely aching fingers.

"Worth it."

------

Hours later, Kal was still lying on the ledge unconscious. The oni had wrapped him up as well as she could, but his clothing was soaked through and the weather had turned much colder now that the warm air from the storm had passed on. Rain turned into flurries, then into a steady snowfall that was common for these elevations, but the dropping temperatures now had Ikuno worried that if they didn't get off this ledge her young lover may end up freezing to death. To make matters worse, the sun was going down.

Earlier, Ikuno had taken off Kal's vambrace that held the healing rune and attempted to fix her fingers, only to find that something in the lightning had completely drained her. She wasn't surprised, other magic-users who had lived through a lightning strike, some who weren't even using magic at the time, reported finding any crystals on their person emptied along with their natural reserves.

She tried waking Kal up for a quickie, not only to keep him warm but also the subsequent increase in her magic regeneration, however, he steadfastly refused to stir. With things getting starting to freeze she knew that her natural resistance to hot and cold temperatures was eating up a good portion of what magic she regained.

After a few hours she tried again and still hadn't stored enough to activate the healing rune, though it did glow for a fraction of a second. Worse yet, she discovered another of Kal's abilities to cause her mild annoyance. Without Kal's control over how magic flowed into the runes, both healing and the shield rune lit up on the bracer when she tried to heal herself, wasting precious magic trying to create the unneeded shield. Frustrated with their predicament she sat back down next to Kal, leaning her head back and closing her eyes.

With no answers coming to her she looked down at Kal. He was wrapped as tightly in his cloak as she could get him without the use of her hands and had positioned him so he was laying facing the wall, hoping that his body heat would get trapped between the rock and his cloak. For the hundredth time that day, she cursed herself for leaving their bedrolls in the shack, thinking they would be back without any trouble. Ikuno had managed to carefully remove his travel pack with her feet, a process that took a fair amount of patience since she had to be careful not to cut him with the claws on her toes. She was currently using it to keep him propped up on his side.

Ikuno's eyes widened and she groaned in irritation at her own forgetfulness. Kal usually kept a charged crystal in his pack and the lightning that made the boulder explode hadn't hit him directly.

"Sorry Kal," she mumbled as she hooked a damaged hand through the strap and dragged it away, letting Kal roll onto his back. "With luck, we'll be out of here soon."

As she began undoing the leather laces with her teeth, movement from Kal made her stop and look in his direction.

Kal was shivering.

The oni bit through the laces, her sharp teeth slicing through the leather with ease. A fleeting thought applauded Kal's courage to put his penis anywhere near her mouth. With her back to the drop-off, Ikuno carefully dumped out the pack, not wanting to take a chance on the crystal bouncing out and possibly falling off the ledge.

She whipped her head to the side to stare at the rock face on the other side of her from where Kal was lying, she could have sworn she saw something move out of the corner of her eye. Worried that the stress of the situation might be making her see things, she continued to cautiously shake out the pack's contents. As Kal's spare crystal bounced out and up against the bottom of the overhang, her eyes were again drawn to the stone wall off to the side. Ikuno carefully picked up the crystal using her wrists then brought it up and held it between her lips. Getting Kal's vambrace she adjusted it so the shield would activate in a safe direction and began pulling power from the crystal. It took a moment to overcome the strong resistance before both runes on the piece of leather lit up and her fingers resumed healing.

As her hands finished mending she kept looking at the rock face, something wasn't right about it. There was a small section that jutted out a bit and was slightly different color from the rest of the wall that she was certain had not been there earlier. She pushed it out of her mind as she flexed her fingers and quit powering the runes on the vambrace. With a power source and access to her magic again, it was time to get Kal back on his feet. Ikuno took the crystal out of her mouth and knelt next to Kal's shivering form, the magic circle of her healing spell appearing in front of her hand as she continued repairing the damage to his body. Once she healed him, she could get them out of there, even if he was unconscious, and down to lower altitudes where it was warmer. The oni smiled as a thought came to her. If she could spare the magic for a speed spell once she got off the mountain, Aradelle would be more than willing to help her warm Kal up.

A rocky hand closed on the arm holding the crystal and pulled Ikuno away from Kal, swinging her out over the drop-off. For a terrifying moment she thought her assailant was going to fling her off the mountainside to land on the jagged rocks below. It was almost a relief when the person swung her all the way around to slam sideways into the rock face before falling on her side.

Quickly getting her bearings, the oni looked over to see a rock golem, an earth elemental who looked like a woman with various body parts made of stone, standing over Kal's body.

Dropping the crystal, Ikuno dug her claws into the stone and launched herself at the woman. Surprised at the speed with which the oni recovered, the rock girl dropped down over Kal's body and sank into the mountain, taking him with her.

Ikuno came to a skidding halt, digging claws on both and hands and feet into the stone to keep herself from flying off the other side of the rocky shelf. Standing up, she looked at the place Kal and the golem had disappeared.

Ikuno swore under her breath, she could feel through their connection that Kal was alive, but he was traveling down and away from her very quickly. She made short work of picking up the contents of Kal's travel pack and stuffing them back into the satchel. Retrieving the crystal, the oni cast a strength spell on herself as she looked at the overhang Kal had fallen over earlier that day. With pack and crystal in one hand she leapt upward, her claws sinking deeply into the stone before pulling herself up one handed and making her way back up the snowy slope to the trail.

"Sorry 'Dell," said Ikuno, looking sadly in the direction of the alarune's forest. Turning away, she began trudging through the snow toward her cave, trying to formulate a plan to rescue her lover.

------

Pleasant feelings from his groin coaxed Kal from his slumber, along with it came a painful throbbing in his head, back, and legs.

"Ikuno stop," Kal groaned without opening his eyes, "I feel like I was just trampled by an ox."

As memories slowly filtered back in, Kal recalled watching a column of lightning stop just up the slope from where he had fallen and coming to rest on a boulder, everything after that was darkness. Judging by how his voice echoed, he assumed that something bad happened and Ikuno brought him back to her cavern.

The pleasant feelings continued, which was uncharacteristic of Ikuno, not that he had asked her to stop very often, and then only because he was in the mood for something different at the time. Regardless, before now she had always quit whatever she was doing immediately when asked, with one exception, but that was a special circumstance.

"Ikuno, stop!" he said more forcefully and waved a hand over his groin to shoo her away, after the incident with her getting drunk on magic Kal felt it was safer for his manhood to never push her away when he was in her mouth. The back of his hand smacked against a piece of rock… that was moving… over his dick… like he was getting a blowjob from a boulder.

Kal's eyes snapped open as he sat up, ignoring the screaming pain in his head he fought through the dizziness and looked down his body to see… he was getting a blowjob from a boulder.

Jerking his hips to the side he pulled out of the creature's mouth while the strength rune came to life. He tried to push the thing in front of him away, instead sending himself sliding backwards on whatever soft material was beneath him.

Looking about he saw that he was in a small cavern dimly lit by glowing mushrooms and lichens. He sat upon what appeared to be some type of moss bed that covered this small section of the cavern floor. The air was damp and warm, and he could hear a trickle of water coming from somewhere, though he couldn't tell where in the faint light.

He scrambled to his feet with painful protests from his legs and back along with another wave of dizziness, in front of him the creature was also standing up. Not wanting to deal with this thing while injured, he pushed magic towards the healing rune. Nothing happened. It took him a moment to realize the bracer with his healing rune and shield was gone. The creature stomped forward attempting to pin him to the wall but Kal easily avoided its slow movements. Stumbling his way to the other side of the cavern on legs that didn't want to obey his commands, he quickly drew two runes in the air. One was the drawn version of the light spell that Ikuno had made him learn, instead of replacing the glowing rock he had lost.

The rune for the light spell spun in the air for a moment before turning into a ball of light and floating to the middle of the cavern ceiling, finally giving him a good look at his opponent. The woman appeared to be half-rock and half-human. Starting at the side of her nose, the upper left quarter of her head was made entirely of deep gray stone that protruded from her skin by about a finger's width. A deep recess mirroring the placement of her human eye held a glittering red gemstone that shifted and glinted in the magical light as she looked about. Her right arm looked like she wore a giant stone gauntlet that covered her entire forearm, with a large spike extending from the elbow. On both of her feet were similar stone 'boots,' only these boots had toes and moved like a normal foot as she walked towards him. When she got closer, Kal noticed tiny white flecks within the gray stone that occasionally caught the light just right and shimmered for a moment.

The rest of her body was relatively normal for a human woman, her breasts sagged just a bit but had a tantalizing sway as she walked. Her belly, hips, and thighs were thick. Not heavy, but certainly not athletic either. Kal remembered a man in Telsin describing a townswoman with this body type as, "built for comfort, not speed." Her human eye was a lighter shade of the gray from her rocky parts and she had long black hair with gray streaks, which Kal was fairly certain weren't from age, that sprouted from the half of her scalp not covered in stone.

The second was the drawn healing spell that Ikuno had also been insistent he learn 'just in case,' he was regretting acting like an ass back then and putting up a fight about learning it because of its difficulty. Kal grabbed the healing rune out of the air and held it in his hand like a medallion as he moved about avoiding the woman. The dizziness went away as did the pain in his back and legs, though much slower than if he had used the healing rune on his bracers. As his body mended, his movements became quicker and more fluid.

Kal dodged to the side and darted back to the other side of the cavern putting as much distance as possible between him and the rock girl. She didn't look very 'comfortable' at the moment with all the stone body parts, and speed certainly wasn't her forte. Over the next few minutes, they continued the chase. Kal managed to pick up his pants and boots and even put them on as she made her slow but unfaltering way across the cavern towards him over and over, her impassive face not telling Kal if she was enjoying the game or getting sick of it. Kal began to get the feeling this was a losing battle, though he was in decent shape he was starting to get a little winded from all the running back and forth, even so, he had to eat and sleep sometime.

"What do you want?" he asked as she walked towards him. She opened her mouth but a sound like grinding together two handfuls of gravel came out instead of words. So much for communicating.

Though he didn't want to resort to violence he felt he had no choice, unless he did something she would just wear him down until he collapsed or gave in. The next time she came close, instead of running away he slipped around behind her and activated his strength rune before pushing her up against the wall of the cavern, and straight into it. Kal took a couple of steps back in confusion only to see her walk back out of the wall and continue coming after him. Kal backpedaled to the middle of the room, dropping into a fighting stance. When the rock girl got closer she held out her arms as if to embrace him, having already gotten an idea for how strong she was Kal didn't think that would be good for his newly regained health.

Kal's mind raced as he tried to figure out what to do, having seen her phase into the rock he took a closer look around. His fears were quickly confirmed, there were no exits to the cavern. She had somehow brought him here and, at the moment, she was his only means of getting out. He had to figure out some way to communicate with her.

"No!" he shouted when she was only an arm's length away. She hesitated then took another step forward.

Stepping back he shouted again, "No!" he pointed at her chest then at his groin, "If you want this, then you take me back to the surface," he continued patting his chest then pointed up and to the side, he felt a strange pull in that direction that he assumed was his bond with Ikuno.

The rock girl brought her arms down and tilted her head to the side, for a moment nothing happened then with her large rock hand she pointed at his crotch then herself then at Kal's chest and down at the ground, combined with the stern look on her face the intention was clear, 'Your cock is mine, you stay here'.

Kal shook his head, though he was glad there was some way he could speak with her, now to figure out how to get her to take him out of the cave. As she went to wrap her arms around him Kal ducked down, he put his hands on her hips and attempted to pick her up, his strength rune getting brighter and brighter until he finally lifted her off the ground. Her rock hand had closed on his shoulder, but she appeared to lose a significant amount of strength as soon as she was no longer in contact with the ground, she flailed around in his grip but like everything else she did it was slowed down, almost like she was trying to move in water.

Kal tossed her away and the rock girl flew much further than he expected considering the amount of power it had taken to lift her. He could feel the heat from the strength rune through the leather of his bracer, he wouldn't be able to do that many more times. When she landed next to the opposite wall her feet stuck to the floor as if glued there but momentum bent the rest of her body backwards. To Kal's surprise, the rocky part of her head bounced off the side of the cave instead of sinking into it.

The rock girl stood up straight and stared at him in surprise.

Kal took the chance to repeat himself, "You get this, then you take me back," he said with the appropriate hand gestures.

Giving no discernable response, or even changing her expression, she turned around and walked into the side of the cavern.

When she didn't immediately return Kal's shoulders slumped as the tension of the encounter drained away. He had a good feeling she would be back, after all, he had something she wanted. Not that he really minded giving it to her, the girl's human side was certainly attractive enough though he couldn't help but cringe a bit at the idea of having those rocky legs wrapped around his waist like Ikuno sometimes did.

Kal followed the sound of dripping over to the side of the cavern. Water poured out of a tiny hole, dropping into a groove eroded buy the small stream over many years before running down a small crack and disappearing. Collecting some in his hand he sniffed it before taking a tiny sip to make sure it was clean then drank heartily of the icy water in hopes of calming some of his hunger pangs. While being chased about the cavern he had noticed that his pack was missing along with his other bracer meaning that he didn't have access to any of the food they had brought for the stay with Aradelle.

Kal walked over to the area covered in the spongy moss and sat down, the lack of food complicated his predicament. He didn't know how long he had been here but assumed it had only been a short while since he wasn't feeling weak from not eating. Still, he needed to come up with a way to force the issue of taking him back to the surface before he got to the point where the rock girl, a golem if he remembered correctly now that he had a chance to think about it, could just take what she wanted without giving in to his demands.

The warmth of the cavern was making his winter cloak uncomfortable, he took it off and wrapped it into a tight ball before laying down and using it as a pillow. Since he didn't feel the golem meant to actually harm him, Kal canceled the light spell. Within a couple of minutes, the sound of trickling water lulled him to sleep in the glowing cavern.

------

Bonn's hooves pounded the ground as Perra came riding up to Ikuno's cave, jumping off the horse before he had come to a complete stop. Reaching into a pocket she grabbed her glowing stone, yelling the activation word as she ran into the oni's cave. Coming out the other side of the entry tunnel she saw the oni over by the shelves that held her spell components, carefully picking out those she would soon need.

"Have you found out anything yet?" she asked walking over to the large blue woman.

"Not specifically," Ikuno said without turning, "but I felt him wake earlier, for a few minutes he was in some kind of distress but then calmed down and went back to sleep, near as I can tell he is fine. Since you came yesterday I've combed my library for information on golems and learned quite a bit about them. Now I'm getting things together for a spell he will need, then going to see Aradelle."

"Why are you going all the way to see her?" Perra asked as Ikuno tied up Kal's travel pack with all of the things she needed inside.

Ikuno pointed at her horns. Perra had noticed they were completely black yesterday when she came to see how things had gone with Aradelle and Eludora. Today the area around the base had returned to a golden color. "I need to get topped up with magic and Aradelle is the best way I can think of," said the oni, "I did something similar a long time ago and promised I never would again, I hope she is okay with me breaking that promise to save Kal."

Perra blushed bright red, in a talk about Aradelle, and how her nectar pertains to his inks, Kal had done an exceptionally poor job of avoiding where exactly the nectar came from. To Perra's relief, Ikuno was already headed out of the cavern and didn't see her embarrassment.

"Good luck Ikuno! Bring him home safe. I don't know if Mom could take it if something happened to him, she's beside herself with worry."

Ikuno stopped at the cave entrance and glared at the girl, "I told you not to tell her, to make something up like he was staying with me for the next few days."

Perra stood her ground under the oni's gaze, "I did tell her that and she immediately called me a liar and demanded the truth, telling me not to underestimate the abilities of a mother to know when something is wrong with their child. To be honest, she's pretty pissed at me right now. On the other hand, I haven't seen her this lively and active in months."

"Hmm, tell her it was my idea, I didn't want her to worry. Goodbye Perra, with luck Kal and I will be back soon," said Ikuno as she started up the rocky trail on her way to see Aradelle.

"Godspeed," she called after the oni before walking over to Bonn where he was grazing and mounting up to head home.

------

Hours later Ikuno came tromping into Aradelle's clearing, stopping as she passed the line of trees to catch her breath.

"Ikki!" yelled Aradelle happily, but her face quickly turned to worry. "Why are you breathing so hard?" she looked past the oni into the trees, "and where is Kal?"

Ikuno held up a finger while she took a couple of deep breaths, "After I came down off the mountains I ran the rest of the way here," she said walking over to stand next to Aradelle's flower. "The second question will take a bit longer to answer." Ikuno gave the alarune a quick rundown of the events since Kal slipped and hit his head, punctuated by gasps from alarune. "I spent the last couple of days learning all about golems and coming up with a plan, now I'm here," she said finally.

Aradelle's petite hands covered her mouth and she stared wide-eyed at the oni as she finished her explanation. The alarune then looked at Ikuno in confusion, "Why are you here Ikki?" she asked.

Ikuno looked uncomfortable, tapping her darkened horns she said, "I hope you can forgive me 'Dell but I didn't want to go searching for Kal when I'm running dry. I know I prom…"

"Forgiven," Aradelle stated flatly, twin vines grabbed Ikuno's arms and spun her around so her back was to Aradelle. The alarune rose up and over the oni's head and sat backwards with her legs over Ikuno's shoulders so her sex was firmly planted on the oni's mouth. Aradelle grabbed Ikuno's horns and pushed her head back so they were looking at each other, "You're going to have to work for it, after your little tale I'm more worried than in the mood right now. Just promise you'll bring Kal back to me."

Ikuno just smiled and nodded at the petite alarune's forceful tone, "I love you 'Dell."

"I love you tooOOO," Aradelle moaned, leaning over and resting her arms on Ikuno's horns as the oni's tongue went to work.

------

Kal opened his eyes and sighed, part of him had been hoping he would wake up in his own bed, or better yet Ikuno's, but all that greeted him was the dim green glow of the cavern he fell asleep in. He wasn't sure what woke him up whether it was the pangs from his empty belly or the morning wood proudly making a tent in his trousers. Since he could only take care of one of those problems at the moment, he got up and walked over to the crack in the floor that his tiny water source ran to. Summoning a ball of light to help his aim, he carefully released the contents of his bladder, careful to not splash on the sides in case it made the whole cavern smell like urine.

As he finished, a thought occurred to him that he at first pushed away as foolish and weird. But it kept coming back and the more he considered it, the more he believed that the thought might have merit. Kal leaned back against the wall and for the first time since the snowstorm he took his cock in his hand and began to slowly stroke it. He pulled up images of Aradelle but quickly dismissed those, he still planned on going to see her as soon as possible once he got out of here, so he would save those memories for another time. Kahrin was an interesting choice, her constant desire to have him inside her had certainly been intriguing but not really what he needed at the moment. The whore who taught him how to please a woman had felt good but was more of a learning experience and never felt very sensual or erotic, then there was Perra who was almost… Kal's mind shied away from that line of thinking. In a short while, those thoughts wouldn't be an issue, but for now, he didn't need his penis up and vanishing on him. Ikuno was the obvious choice as he had the most experiences to draw from with her. Closing his eyes Kal laid his head back against the wall and began to stroke a bit faster as he drew up a particularly fun memory

------

Kal had awoken before Ikuno that morning and seen that she was laying on her belly with her head facing away from him, crawling under the blankets he had started at the back of Ikuno's neck and began kissing his way down her spine. Ikuno let out sleepy little moans as he made his way down to her tailbone and beyond. Kal spread her cheeks and teased her pucker with his tongue making her entire body jerk with pleasure as she started breathing heavily.

"Don't stop," he heard her whisper as he started to continue down to her pussy, obliging the oni he flattened out his tongue and ran it back up to her back door, making Ikuno moan in passion once again. For the next few minutes, he licked and teased the sensitive flesh around her sphincter, occasionally making his tongue into a point and spearing the tight ring of her anus making her push her ass back up into his face.

Kal's oni-sized cock was hard and telling him it was time for more, straddling her thighs he replaced his tongue with the head of his prick at the entrance to her rear. Carefully and slowly he eased into her back passage, savoring the tightness around his cock as he sank down until he was pressed against her cheeks and couldn't go any further.

Ikuno clenched as he ground his hips into her bottom, her inner walls massaging every inch of his shaft all at once. Kal started making short powerful thrusts into her ass, for a while Ikuno laid her head on her arms and relaxed, enjoying the pleasurable feelings from her rear but soon was pushing back at him trying to get him deeper each time he slid into her back door. After a few minutes of being gripped by the tightness of Ikuno's rear and having her throw her hips back into him every time he pushed into her, Kal felt his balls draw up and he unloaded their contents into Ikuno's ass as she panted and moaned in pleasure.

------

Back in the cave, Kal squeezed the last little bit of his seed into his hand. Thinking about how obsessed Aradelle and Ikuno became over the scent and taste of his cum he was hoping that the golem girl might have the same reaction, making her aroused enough to agree to whatever he wants just as long as he has sex with her. Walking around the cavern he let a few drops out of his hand every so often as he made his way towards the center in a large spiral, only avoiding his sleeping spot and just around the trickle of water he drank from. Wiping his hand on the stone floor in the center of the cavern he went over and washed off then got a drink of water to chase away the hunger for a bit longer before returning to his moss bed. Kal was glad whatever monster girls found so exciting was undetectable to him, a quick sniff told him that, at least to him, nothing in the cave had changed.

------

He came awake with a start, having dozed off for a few minutes, or maybe hours, he had difficulty telling how much time passed stuck in this cave. Another presence entering the room had roused him, getting to his feet, Kal quickly summoned the ball of light to see if his plan had worked.

He stared in shock at the woman in the middle of the room. With her eye closed she was taking long deep breaths through her nose with each breath it seemed like she was becoming more human. Her feet and arm shrank down to just a touch bigger than normal and changed color to match the rest of her skin while keeping the stony texture. The rocky part on her head did the same but for her ruby eye which looked a lot larger without the surrounding stone jutting out around it. On a personal note Kal had hoped to see hair miraculously grow on that side of her head, but no such luck.

He suddenly questioned the wisdom of his plan when she opened her eye again and looked at him like a hungry wolf looks at a lame deer.

Kal danced out of the way as she lunged at him, she was far quicker than before but even without using his speed and stamina runes she was going to have a hard time catching him. As they stirred the air from her chasing him about the cavern her movements got slower. The human parts of her face that were normally impassive and showed little emotion were starting to take on an expression of desperation and she was having trouble keeping her hand from straying toward her groin.

Kal used the extra space between them to reiterate his deal that he would take care of her needs if she took him back to the surface, each time he was met by a firm negative head shake. Eventually, he was just walking to stay in front of the golem as she stumbled after him, the insides of her thighs glistening from where her juices ran down. Kal truly felt sorry for the girl, having no idea the dramatic effect his scent would have on her, he was thinking he might owe Bea an apology after this.

Finally, the rock girl dropped to her knees, openly masturbating in front of him, her need plainly etched on her face. Kal stepped over and knelt down in front of her, the strength rune lit up as he pulled her hands away from her sex, getting a gravelly response that could have been a moan of frustration. The rune was almost unneeded, she was only a bit stronger than him at the moment.

Kal patted his crotch then made like he was about to slide a couple of finger into her sex, "I do this for you, and you take me to the surface," he said patting his chest and pointing upwards, he would have pointed towards Ikuno but something was odd and felt like she was more to the side than up like before. The golem's face went from needy to intense sadness and she adamantly shook her head.

Kal sat back and sighed. Though he was hoping to not have to do this, if she wouldn't give in even in her current state, he knew he had to sweeten the deal.

He started making gestures, 'I take care of you, you take me to the surface, I go do other things, we meet again and come here, I take care of you, you take me to the surface,' he repeated the motions until she began to reply with her own.

'I take you to surface, you go away, never come back,' she gestured shaking her head.

'I will come back,' he motioned emphatically, he didn't know how to convey, 'I promise,' through gestures so he just brought her hand up and held it over his heart, hoping she understood.

Kal held his breath as the rock girl stared at her hand, after a long pause she looked up at his face and nodded.

"Thank you!" he said throwing his arms around her, she tentatively hugged him back for a few moments before her desire reasserted itself and she began rubbing her nipples up and down against his chest.

Not wanting to do this on the hard, stone floor, he stood and pulled her up with him The strength rune shone dimly he scooped her up in his arms and walked over to the mossy area he used as a bed. The girl became significantly lighter as he lifted her off the ground but was very obviously uncomfortable with being picked up. When he laid her down in his sleeping area the first thing she did was dig a small hole through the moss and dirt until her hand encountered the stone beneath, she immediately relaxed, the strained expression disappearing from her face and her attention turning back to Kal.

Kal watched confused for a moment as he figured out what she was doing, then began undressing as he saw her relax, leaving his vambrace on just in case she got too excited and lost control. To her grinding-rock objection, he picked her up once again and repositioned her so her rocky arm could maintain contact with the wall, if one of her hands was going to be preoccupied with touching stone he'd rather it be the non-human one.

Laying atop her body he began by kissing her, her relative inexperience showing immediately as she seemed confused as to what to do when his tongue pressed into her mouth. She quickly caught on and soon had her free arm pulling him closer as their tongues swirled around one another. Her hips pressed up into him and he knew that he could just slip inside, being done with it and on his way in a few minutes, but that felt like he was cheating the girl on their agreement. She was trusting him to come back and he wanted to show his appreciation for that trust.

He nibbled on her bottom lip before moving down to kiss and nip at her neck. That was when he ran into a problem: she moaned. The sound of two rocks being ground against each other was an instant mood wreck for Kal.

He lifted his head and looked her in the eyes. "I'm sorry," he apologized then took her human hand and moved it from behind his back to over her mouth. She sighed in disappointment but nodded her understanding, returning her hand to his back but keeping her lips tightly shut. Kal continued working on her neck, leaving a couple of pronounced hickeys just for the fun of it, before making his way to her breasts.

He had thought before that Ikuno or 'Dell's nipples were hard as rocks, this girl's actually were. They didn't move at all as he ran his tongue over them, though a gentle bite followed by the golem slapping her hand over her mouth as she moaned loudly let Kal know that they were just as sensitive as their softer counterparts.

The golem girl's responsiveness was turning him on immensely and he made his way further down her body, placing a kiss on her prominent and swollen clit before going lower and running his tongue along her folds. Her juices had a strange earthy taste that seemed to make his tongue tingle slightly, it wasn't unpleasant, but it certainly was different. Swirling his tongue around her clit and making her hips buck, he found it to be just as hard as her nipples. As a precaution, Kal activated the strength rune when he felt her hand on the back of his head pressing him into her sex. With a final long flat tongued lick from the bottom of her pussy to her clit, he moved back up her body and placed his hard cock at her entrance.

As he was about to enter her, the head of his prick bumped into something. Kal's eyes widened in surprise and he looked down to see a similar expression on her face, it had never occurred to him that she might be a virgin. Unprepared for this situation he thought quickly about how to handle it as the golem girl gave him a questioning look. Kal sat back on his knees and pulled her up into a partially sitting position, getting a dirty look as her hand came off the wall, she held herself up with the rock hand as he brought her other one over and placed it on his hip, moving back and forth while holding his hand there to let her know she was directing his movements. Getting the idea after a few moments, she pulled him close until he bumped into her maidenhead again before gasping and quickly pushing him away.

Kal traced the healing rune in the air in anticipation so he could pull out and heal her, quickly taking away the pain.

The girl looked at the rune recalling when he used it after he first woke up. As he held the strange glowing symbol, the man went from being nearly hobbled and wincing with each movement to darting around the cavern as if he had never been hurt. She frowned, something felt wrong about him using it on her. She knew it would hurt a bit, but this was something special, something that, even in kindness, he shouldn't take away. The golem girl batted the hand with the rune away, letting it fade. Kal thought perhaps she didn't understand what he was trying to do and began drawing it again. Her hand gently grabbed his arm stopping him, when he looked at her face she was shaking her head. Bringing his hand down to her breast she put hers on his hip and began moving him back and forth, occasionally bumping her hymen.

Kal readied himself when he saw her grit her teeth, with her next pull he burst through her maidenhead, pushing until he was completely inside her even when her hand on his hip stopped.

The girl winced as Kal took her virginity, she had actually chickened out and stopped moving her hand at the last moment, but the man had kept going. Instead of being upset it somehow felt… right, that she had been taken by a man instead of essentially doing it herself but using his body. He laid her back onto the moss, her hand instinctively reaching out to touch the stone wall next to them as he held himself above her.

Kal searched her face for some indication that she was ready for him to continue. His cue didn't come from her face but her hips as she started to make tiny movements, testing how things felt. Kal began to pull out, the girl moaned into her hand again as his cock slowly drug along her insides with only a tiny ring where it still stung as the head of his prick drew past it. She waved her hand at him in a way that Kal interpreted as either 'more' or 'faster', either way, he was happy to oblige as he began taking faster and longer strokes into her tight pussy.

Minutes went by as their bodies came together over and over with Kal leaning down and sucking on her nipples and her using her free hand to hold him to her breast. Kal moved up and kissed her, their tongues dueling as he began to thrust harder and faster. Holding himself off her with one hand he reached down and brushed his fingers across her clit, Kal's strength rune flared to life as she wrapped both arms around him and lifted herself to his chest in what would have been a bone-crushing embrace. He wiggled his fingers across her clit again and her whole body tightened up, Kal's bracer glowing brightly as it protected him from being hurt. Kal had been holding back waiting for the golem girl to climax, he now relaxed and let his own orgasm wash over him as he filled the twitching pussy of the girl beneath him with cum.

The woman slowly let go and lowered herself to the floor, her hand again going to the wall as if drawn there. Kal looked down and saw a look of pure and utter adoration on her face as she stared back at him, in return he gave her a lopsided grin unsure of how to react to such idolization.

Kal looked down towards her chest as magic rippled between them, the golem girl seemingly unaware of its presence. As it snapped into place Kal felt strong annoyance filter through his bond but not from her, instead, it came from off to the side and not far away. A resounding boom shook the walls of the cavern knocking the dust from the ceiling loose. Kal jumped up and hurriedly put his pants back on as the ground shook with another thunderous blow, he looked over to see the golem girl had returned to her original form. She didn't stop there as the rocky parts of her body expanded covering her in a stone suit of armor in a matter of seconds, her ruby eye shining as she prepared to defend herself and her new mate. Kal did the same, hurriedly pulling his shirt over his head and stepping into his boots as they waited for the next impact. The golem girl continued growing rocks around her body and now stood taller than Kal, looking like she was made entirely out of stone.

They didn't have to wait long as a small section of the cavern wall blasted outward, a disheveled and dust covered oni stepping inside wielding her iron club. With a gravelly yell, the golem girl charged the oni.

"Not today, girlie", said Ikuno. Holding her club straight out she bumped the golem in the forehead with the endcap. Though it looked like just a tap, the golem did a backwards somersault and landed just shy of the opposite wall. Picking herself up she charged again but came to a sudden stop as Kal stepped in between the two.

He began making gestures at the golem hoping to tell her that Ikuno was a friend.

"That won't be necessary, Kal," said Ikuno from behind him. She spun him around and dropped to one knee in front of him. The golem's grinding voice came from behind and Ikuno answered, "Yes I can understand you and in a moment he will too. Just to be sure, I'm not an enemy. In fact, I'm also one of his women."

Ikuno was trying to do something with his ear, he jerked his head away, "Also?!"

The oni glared at him and pulled his head back in front of her. "Yes, 'also'. Now be still I need a drop of blood," she said as her claw poked the tiny lobe in the front of his ear canal. She tilted his head to the side while holding up a small pearl, letting a single drop of blood fall on it. She quickly healed his ear and began another strange chant that created odd echoes and made your bones feel like they were humming, much like his compatibility spell. As the chant completed the drop of blood soaked into the pearl. She quickly cast another spell that created tiny magical shields over her claws, so she didn't need to worry about cutting him by accident.

"Okay Kal, open wide," she said holding up the pearl to his mouth.

Kal gave her an uncertain look. "It's a good thing I trust you," he said, tentatively opening his mouth.

"It's a good thing I'm yours or you might have something to worry about," she said. Peering into Kal's maw, Ikuno placed the pearl against the roof of his mouth right behind one of his back teeth. Muttering some words underneath her breath she snapped her fingers and Kal winced as the pearl sunk into the flesh and bone inside his mouth. Kal spit a couple times after she pulled her fingers out, she was still covered in stone dust.

"You.. are.. hurting.. him," came a gruff voice from behind him.

"He'll be fine in a second," she said as she pulsed a healing spell at him, the pain in his mouth faded and disappeared.

He turned around, "I can understand you now! That's wonderful!"

Ikuno stood up behind him radiating annoyance, "Of course you can, it's a translation spell."

As she spoke the golem in front of them began to shrink with the stone of her body either rejoining her arm, feet, and face or just sinking into her skin and vanishing. The only difference being a bra and panties made of pebbles stayed, covering her breasts and bottom.

"I'm.. happy.. too," she said, her voice sounding more feminine with the excess stone gone.

"Mind explaining what happened here?" Ikuno asked as she dusted herself off, she heard the trickle of water and walked over to wash up some. As soon as she walked out of the initial blast area from her dramatic entrance she sniffed the air. Staring at Kal she asked, "What on earth did you do to the poor girl?"

Embarrassed, Kal began explaining what happened but only made it as far as casting the light spell before Ikuno stopped him.

"I can't concentrate with your scent being so strong in here either we need to leave, or I need you inside me."

Kal gave her a curious look then motioned towards the moss bed, "After you, Milady."

Their lovemaking was brief with Ikuno bending over on the moss and helping things along with her fingers, feeling that she just needed to get off a couple of times to counteract the effects of Kal's scent on her libido. The golem girl watched avidly, plainly getting turned on by the show judging by the flush in her cheeks and heavy breathing, but seemed to have no issue with him being with another woman.

After two small orgasms, Ikuno was courteous enough to ask if the rock girl wanted a turn since Kal hadn't come yet, to which the golem replied, "Want.. to.. but.. sore.. I.. will.. wait."

She looked over her shoulder at Kal, confused, "Why is she sore?"

Kal looked sheepish, "I was her first."

Ikuno's eyes widened, "Well that may explain why she bonded with you so quickly," she then glared back at Kal, "You took her virginity and didn't even offer to heal her afterward?"

Before Kal could defend himself the golem spoke up, "No.. healing.. it's a.. good.. hurt.. he.. offered." Ikuno nodded in understanding and pushed her ass back to get Kal to continue.

The oni had Kal cum in her mouth, after swallowing some she kissed the golem and transferred the rest to the rock girl, which she seemed to enjoy thoroughly.

Taking a deep breath, she looked at Kal, "That should keep us both thinking straight, now back to your story."

Kal recounted his entire experience from the time he woke up until Ikuno came bursting through the wall. When he spoke about his hunger the golem girl pointed to where she entered the room the last time, there were some mushrooms, a small bunch of watercress and some white asparagus lying next to where her feet had been. Kal didn't think it looked very appetizing, especially uncooked, but at least she had been kind enough to bring him some food.

Ikuno was thoughtful as he wound down his tale, "Despite everything, you both may have had a huge stroke of luck."

"How's that?" Kal asked.

"For you, you can collect some of her juices and use them to make your earth-based runes stronger…"

"Wait a minute, why does it always seem like I'm having to collect sex fluids from these women?"

"The book says 'non-waste bodily fluids' so no urine, snot or saliva, which leaves tears, sex juices or blood," Ikuno responded in an exasperated tone.

"Sex juices it is then," he said not wanting to think about someone evil enough to extract someone's blood for something like his runes, granted Ikuno had blooded him twice but both times were spells for his benefit. "Before we go any further why are you so angry with me?"

Ikuno sighed, "It's not you, and to be honest it's a juvenile reason that I should be ashamed of from someone my age. I'm upset that 'Dell wasn't your second" She held up a hand, forestalling any comments from Kal, "Yes, I know it's childish, but I've known Aradelle for a long time and I felt that she deserved to be your second instead of… wait a second. What's your name?" Ikuno asked the golem girl.

She opened her mouth and the sound of grinding rocks came out.

Kal looked at Ikuno, "Did you get that?"

"Nope."

"Try again, we couldn't make it out."

Again, only the sound of grinding rocks came out of the golem's mouth, they could tell it was identical to the first time but still wasn't something the spell could manage.

Ikuno and Kal looked at each other again, "Maybe it doesn't translate?" he asked her.

"That would make sense," said Ikuno, "We can't understand your name is there something you would like us to call you?" she asked the golem

"Met small human named Gerda thought it was pretty," she said in her halting speech pattern

"Would you like us to call you Gerda then?" asked Kal.

"I would like that," said Gerda, smiling.

Ikuno shook her head, "We keep getting off track, as I was saying earlier she can bolster your earth runes, but you can provide something far more important for her."

"Let me guess, children?" Kal said dryly.

"That too, but more important is protection." Kal and Gerda were both listening intently now, "In all my years she is the first golem girl I've seen… alive."

Kal's eyes widened, "How so?"

"Look at her Kal, what on her do you think people would pay bags and bags of gold for?" Ikuno asked him.

The answer was simple, "Her eye."

"Exactly, even before I came to my little cave, wizards, geomancers especially, would pay a small fortune to get a golem's eye. You see, Kal, she can see through stone with that eye, imagine for a moment how valuable that would be. Able to see through city or castle walls during a siege, an assassin could stay safely in another room and watch for their mark. Let's not forget all the perverts watching men and women strip and get it on"

"Well yeah, I can see why people would want them, but it isn't worth killing someone over."

"That's why you're a good man Kal. Unfortunately, not all people are as scrupulous as you. Before I came here every golem I had seen was a corpse and all of them had their eye removed."

Gerda nodded, "Sisters follow smell of man. Go to surface not come back. I was too young, smell didn't affect me. Went to find them. Sisters all dead, eye gone. Many men around, dangerous. Go deep stay deep. Wait a long time, hear booms. Find Kal, Kal is only one man. I take him for husband. But he is strong, throws me across room. He is smart, make me take him back to surface. Kal has other women who call him a good man. I no longer worry if he will keep word and come back."

Ikuno peered at her, "You seem to be taking his 'other women' in stride."

"Strong husband takes care of many women. You needed him earlier and he took care of you. He's a good man like you say."

Ikuno smiled, "Fair enough, sounds like something I would say to be honest." She turned back to Kal, "As you can see she's in danger of being hunted, judging by what we just heard, hunters used a trick kind of like what you did in here to lure them out, with her bonded to you she will have no problems resisting another man's scent." Ikuno heaved a great sigh, "then there's the other thing."

"Now we talk about the children I presume?"

"Yep."

Kal groaned, "Okay let's hear it."

"Golems don't reproduce very quickly, from my studies they become fertile again two years after having a child and pregnancy lasts two years by itself, that means a new child at earliest every four years and their numbers were dwindling before I came to this area. Gerda do you know of any other golems in the area and are any of them looking for men?"

"Three, all want a man. They stay deep, afraid of hunters."

"See if you can find them and if you can convince them to make a date with our stud here," she said grinning at Kal, "just make sure they know he will not be their husband." Gerda nodded in understanding.

"So not just helping out horny monster girls desperate to have kids but now you are asking me to help repopulate a species. Hey! No pressure or anything."

Ikuno's face and voice were deadpan, "I love how you act like you aren't going to enjoy every second of it."

"Not saying I won't but you know how I feel about the kid thing."

"Grow the fuck up, Kal," Ikuno said crossing her arms.

"What?!" Kal stared at her, shocked.

"Every time this comes up, I have to listen to you whine about it. I get that you want to be a good father and all, but the path you are on just won't allow it. Worse yet is the fact that you consistently fail to understand that monster girls don't need a father for their children the way humans do. What you did for Aradelle is a luxury for them. Greatly appreciated but totally unnecessary. Hell, some monster girls get knocked up then eat the father! Are you going to be some type of doting father to an Arachne or Wasp as it hatches inside of your body and slowly eats you from the inside out?

"It's time to figure things out Kal. It's been months since we had that talk on my bed. Either you are going to become a runesmith and accept the sacrifices that come with it or you are going to release both of us and go back home, marry Perra in a couple of months and forget that me, 'Dell, and Gerda ever existed."

"Holy fuck, Ikuno. That hurts."

"It needs to, Kal. You can't have everything, sacrifices need to be made. If you continue walking this path, your idyllic version of fatherhood will have to be one of those. There is simply no way to have both."

Kal stood up from the bed of moss, "I need to think."

Ikuno tossed his pack at him, "Your other vambrace is in there."

Without answering Kal turned about and walked towards the doorway Ikuno made. With a wave of his hand, the ball of light in the middle of the room followed him.

Ikuno made a new light source for her and Gerda as she called after him, "The path should be clear but stop when you see an orange glow, the ledge where you cross the lava is tiny."

Without turning around Kal nodded his understanding and walked into the passageway.

Gerda watched him go, "You hurt him," she said turning to look down at the large blue woman, the golem didn't expect the sight before her.

The oni had her legs drawn up with her arms wrapped around them hugging them to her chest, tears poured freely down the sides of her face.

She looked up at the golem, a look of utter terror in her eyes, "Gerda, I just told him to choose between us and fatherhood." Ikuno took a deep shuddering breath, "What if he chooses to be a father?"

------

Kal's heart hurt, it was the only way he could think of to describe how he felt. Ikuno was right, and at the moment he hated her for it, there was no way he could be a father the way he wanted to and still be a Runesmith.

Even though it was before he could remember, his own father's death wounded him deeply. He wasn't envious of children in town who still had theirs or anything, but he would sit and wonder what they might be doing right then if his father had still been alive or what teachings he would he have passed on to his son.

Fatherhood was such an important thing for him growing up. In his teens he would daydream about having sons and daughters running around on the farm. Teaching his sons how to work the land and grow food for their family, running off his daughter's suitors much the way Gran had run off his own father. Seeing his children getting married and his sons striking out on their own path and the pride that went with all those things. How could he give that up? Kal wondered. Ikuno had used the word 'sacrifice,' and the old midwife's words came back to him, 'make it worth it,' she'd said. Was the sacrifice of his idea of what kind of a father he should be really worth it?

Kal had taken his bracer out of his pack and put it on without even thinking, leaving the pack sitting near the cavern entrance. The young mage ran his fingers over the runes. If he continued down this road, eventually they would be in his skin not on a piece of leather he had to wear. Even now they felt like a part of him, like some missing puzzle piece that fell into place. So often nowadays he used them without thinking, healing himself when he slipped, or lifting Gerda and throwing her across the cavern, neither time had he made a conscious decision to use the runes. It was more like they reacted to his will instead of his thoughts.

If he was going to be honest with himself, it wasn't all about the magic. The thought of losing Ikuno caused an almost physical pain in his chest, one that he had already felt once and never wanted to experience again. He often wished that his duties at the farm could be passed off so he could spend more time with her, not just in bed either. She was such a trove of knowledge and he loved to learn new things from her almost as much as she seemed to like teaching him. Perhaps more importantly, it was that he loved one woman he knew that he could never have a child with and there was never any hope of realizing his dreams of fatherhood with. The thing he wanted most she could never give him, yet when they were together he accepted this without question. Would he accept Gerda the same way if it turned out they were incompatible? He knew already that was a resounding 'yes'.

Then there was Eludora, still just a seed but his daughter all the same. By Aradelle and Ikuno's de***********ion it would be some years before he would even get a chance to meet her and even then she would have access to all of the knowledge Aradelle gave her so there would be no 'growing up' period. He chuckled quietly as the thought came to him of standing in front of a sapling with a sword in hand and runes flaring brightly as he defended his daughter from some rampaging beast. The image was comical, but he knew if the situation were to ever arise it would quickly become a reality without a second thought. Looking down at his bracers he knew it wouldn't be much of a fight if he stopped where he was now and gave up, the thought of fighting off a rampaging beast wasn't nearly as comfortable when the image was him standing there with a pitchfork.

What about Gerda's sisters' children if he went that route, or if they timed things wrong with visiting the harpy and he ended up having a daughter there as well. Would he visit them? Of course, he would, same as with Eludora. Would he care about them? Again, the answer was obvious. Would they grow up knowing who their father was and knowing that he cared about them even though he couldn't be there with them all the time? More importantly, could he be happy with that as his new definition of being a father and do his best to make his occasional visits with his children memorable? He felt he had his answer to Ikuno's question.

He turned around to go back to the cavern and ran straight into Gerda.

"Ow," he said rubbing his nose where it ran into her forehead. With her drawing power from the ground, walking into her had been very similar to running into a rock wall. "How long have you been behind me Gerda?"

"A long while. Ikuno sleeps. Thought I'd tell you, in case you don't want to wake her. She was very upset. Crying."

Kal glanced down at her feet wondering how on earth she had managed to be so quiet but more important was Ikuno, "Why was she crying?"

"Thought you might choose father over her. Idea hurt her badly. Here" Gerda placed a rocky hand over her heart.

Kal started back towards the cavern, Gerda's footsteps thudding along beside her "Foolish woman, as if I could let her go. She was right though, I've had to change what my definition of being a father is going forward. Giving up such old dreams was hard, but I think Ikuno and Aradelle and you are worth it."

"Ikuno's worth it, you love her. You don't love me, and I don't love you, though I know I'm yours now. Only known each other days, so no love yet."

"'Yet' is the key word there, give it time."

------

"Hello, beautiful," said Kal as Ikuno opened her eyes, "I have some bad news," her face just started to cloud up when he said, "You're stuck with me."

"You ass!" she yelled sitting up.

"That was pretty mean of me, but you were being a complete bitch earlier so I'm calling it even."

"So, you got everything figured out?" she asked

"Yes."

"This means you're giving up on fatherhood?"

"No."

She gave him a questioning look, "You're not giving up on being a father?"

"Yes."

"Are you giving up magic?"

"No.

"You're playing some game, aren't you?

"Yes!

Her eyes narrowed, "Do you still love me?"

He thought she had caught him but then he rolled his eyes and gave her a very sarcastic, "Nooooo."

Ikuno kept glaring at him, "Well played."

They both laughed for a moment before Ikuno got serious again, "What have you decided?"

Kal took a deep breath, "You were right I was deluding myself thinking that I could have this perfect father/daughter, father/son relationship like I had always wished my father had with me growing up. The conclusion I came to is that my children will grow up knowing that they have a father out there that cares about them and will visit whenever he can, instead of some nameless dalliance. You said it was a luxury for Aradelle and Eludora to have that. I plan on giving that tiny luxury to each of my children," he said smiling.

"You're okay with this?" she asked suspiciously.

"I had to redefine what being a father meant to me. But yes, I'm fine with it."

"If you never get the chance to go back and visit?"

"That would be sad, but they would still grow up knowing that I care about them."

"What about if you have tons and tons of kids out there."

"Easy, we will name them 'Generation Kal'," he said as Ikuno shook her head smiling.

"I guess it's about time to get out of here," said Kal looking about the cavern.

Ikuno looked over at Gerda as Kal collected his pack and cloak, "Could you take us home? The path I used to get here will take many hours and then we will have to cross back over to the south side of the mountains."

"I don't know south, take to surface, point way."

Ikuno spoke as Kal finished getting ready, "If the sun moves from east to west then eep!-"

Once Kal was ready, Gerda took him by the hand then grabbed Ikuno's as she was explaining compass directions and pulled her off the moss bedding.

"Close eyes," she said then all three of them immediately sunk into the ground. They moved downward for just a moment then began moving upwards at an angle, Kal's wonder at the strange feeling of having rock move around his body like water warred with his anxiety at what would happen to him if Gerda ever let go.

------

The trio rose up out of the ground onto the trail, except for Ikuno whose feet got stuck because she was too tall, Gerda had to leave her feet embedded in the stone for a moment then lift her up by the hips to get the oni's feet free.

Looking both directions Ikuno pointed back towards her home, "We need to go that way, there's a cave by the foot of the mountains, that's my home" she said.

Gerda nodded and took Ikuno's hand but Kal pulled his away, standing off to one side he tried to get his panic and breathing under control. "I don't think I can do that again. I know you are strong Gerda, but what happens if you let go or my hand slips out of yours?" he asked.

"Be calm, I will come back," replied the golem and extended a hand to him, "Won't go yet, take," she said.

Kal hesitantly took the offered hand, the rocky side of her face grew down her neck and made its way down her human arm, as it reached her hand the rocks covered Kal's as well. "Can't let go now," she tugged on his arm, "You will be safe," Gerda said as the rocky hand Ikuno was holding onto did the same.

Kal took a deep steadying breath and nodded. Ikuno, Kal, and Gerda all sunk down into the stone of the mountain once again and through the golem's powers moved through tons upon tons of rock as she took them home.

------

Edited by: Old Fart

Twitter: @BDraygn
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