Chapter 20

Edited/Proofread by - oldfart and 2muchdiggity

“Quit yer fuggin’ laughin’ ye arsehole!” the gorgon yelled up at Kal.

With his lips tight and teeth clenched in poorly contained mirth, the mage said, “You’re ... slithering along the floor. How am I supposed to not find that funny?”

“It ain’t funny an’ it fuggin’ itches!” snapped Sera. She was lying on her back and using her feet to scoot across the carpet in an attempt to relieve the intense prickly sensation as her new skin beneath pushed off the older layer above.

Kal wanted to offer his help but she was currently very annoyed with him and was in no mood for his assistance. A short time ago when she realized what was happening, he had thought to lighten the mood since she was more irritated than alarmed by this turn of events.

Since she was naked when he found her out by the firepit, and he knew that she really liked having her breasts played with, he reached out and tweaked a nipple. She hadn’t gotten the chance to tell him that her face and the more sensitive parts of her body were the first to begin the molting process along with her patches of scales.

Like slipping the peel off a blanched apple, the thin top layer of skin on and around her areola came off in his fingers. Kal was surprised and mildly disgusted for a moment, but Sera was mortified. He flicked the thin piece of old flesh off onto the floor and looked back at the gorgon.

Horrified by what just happened, she slapped a hand over her breast, which turned out to be as bad of an idea as Kal’s. She already enjoyed rough nipple play and the skin there was now brand new and extremely sensitive. On top of that, she was planning on some passionate goodbye lovemaking before Kal left and her body was already primed with anticipation. The sharp impact of her hand felt like a lightning bolt that ran straight from her nipple to her sex.

Until that moment the gorgon had no idea she could almost climax from just her breasts. After recovering and catching her breath, Sera was deeply embarrassed by both events. In her ire, she told the mage he was no longer allowed to touch her. The gorgon realized it wasn’t totally fair since he had no idea that might happen, but she was too annoyed with the situation to care. Even as she launched into a grouchy tirade, Sera already knew she was going to be begging his forgiveness later for being so bitchy.

Minutes later when she was calmer, Sera assured him that there was no danger to her when molting here in the tent, unlike when it happened in her old home. Her human skin produced a small amount of moisture to slough off the older top layer. This tended to attract predators at a time when she and the serpents on her head were nearly blind and she was mostly powerless. Kal suppressed a shiver as she told him this, he hadn’t realized that she had a transparent layer of skin covering her eyes. He also realized that she hadn’t blinked once since this all started, it was making his own eyes feel dried out just thinking about it.

Since there was little he could do for her, they decided to continue with their plans, just without the morning of lovemaking in preparation for his departure. As he had promised, Kal cooked her a nice big steak that morning, only to turn around and end up eating most of it. The gorgon sheepishly explained that she didn’t eat while molting since hunting was so much more dangerous. What started as a habit turned into a complete lack of appetite until she was finished.

Afterward, Kal dressed and gathered the scant belongings he felt he might need for this journey. He wanted to disappear within the thousands of people living within the city while not looking destitute.

Gone was the nice cloak with the red trim, as were the fineries crafted by Telsin’s tailor from the best fabrics available and some of the less expensive, but still highly sought after, materials from Ikuno’s bag of holding. He replaced it all with garb more fitting for a lower noble or merchant. A commoner with a bag of holding on his hip might raise a few eyebrows.

Also missing were his vambraces. Previously, he had just flipped them over while visiting cities like Carriston. He didn’t feel comfortable doing that here and had also realized that it was out of sheer luck that he hadn’t had to use his shield while they were upside down, the magic disc would have likely split his arm down the middle had he activated it. Instead, he copied all but the shield, haste, and magic arrow spells to a wide strip of leather which he wrapped around his back and fastened above his belt so it would be hidden by his tunic.

Using magic within Lantaris was already ‘last resort only,’ even so, he would have to be careful if it ever became necessary. The stiffer leather of his vambraces could take a lot more punishment than the soft and supple piece of hide now pressed up against his lower spine. If he pushed a spell too hard and burned the leather the rune was effectively lost to him, unless it was one of the few he also knew in their drawn form.

People overly curious how someone like him would have a bag of holding was a concern, but he also knew he wouldn’t be able to keep it a secret. Especially since he had forgotten to replace the travel pack Ria gave to the woman she sent off to Telsin. Those with sharp eyes were going to wonder how he made it so far with just the clothes on his back. In each of his new trousers, he sewed a loop inside the waist where he could tie the laces to Ria’s bag. She could come and go as she pleased, appearing in front of where the bag hung inside his pants, but he would need to fish out the small satchel and open the neck where it was cinched for her to store or retrieve anything.

The sprite was having a heyday with all of this. Teasing him about rubbing her sack against his and threatening to come directly out of the bag into his pants and giving him a fondle at embarrassing and inopportune times. While she could appear inside the bag, she couldn’t do it with the bag tied closed. However, she did demonstrate that it wasn’t difficult for her to shrink slightly and fly up his pant leg. Whatever she did to his balls for the next few seconds felt extremely good and Kal groaned in disappointment when she vanished and returned to the leather sack.

Since their encounter with the will-o’-wisp, the little bit of play at the crossroads inn had been the most they’d done together. She was still a constant part of his and Sera’s lovemaking, either as a spectator or helping in some way. The sprite always gravitated toward helping out the gorgon, whether it was teasing the woman’s clit as Kal stroked into her or the sprite grinding her sex into Sera’s nipple while casting sultry looks up at him and rubbing her own breasts. Only on rare occasions did she use her hands or mouth on him in some way, and those times were always frustratingly brief.

Ria’s teasing got progressively worse as they approached Lantaris. He suspected that she had something planned for when they were alone in the city, but became exceedingly coy and dodged the subject whenever he brought it up.

Kal stuck his head into the library and the alchemy room, checking to be sure that he had everything. He frowned for a moment at the glass tubes and vials he’d received from Ikuno. In a stoppered, round-bottomed flask was the milky toxin that came from Sera’s fangs. Once they were well beyond the church’s city, they would need to stop for a couple of days so he could distill and test the gorgon’s venom as well as purify the vial of Aradelle’s nectar he brought back with him.

Remaking his vambrace after the fight with Kogen, making the messenger parchments for Perra, copying the runes from the butcher’s cooling unit, then making the strip of leather for his trip into the city meant he was running much lower on ink than he was comfortable with. Thankfully neither of his bracers was in need of replacement but if for some reason that changed, he didn’t think he had enough left to make another.

Sera’s venom seemed to hold the potential for another base to make ink for more permanent runes to join the three that he had. Unfortunately, the liquid was very fickle and naturally lost its magic within days. The sample sitting there might as well be thrown out since it would be worthless by the time he returned. In an attempt to make the toxin safer to handle, he used the cure poison on it only to find the spell destroyed any of its magical properties. The tiny bit he managed to distill one night, after multiple failed attempts, appeared to keep its magic but that brought up another possible issue. If Sera froze someone with her gaze then bit them, it turned the person to stone. This was the reason she had the snakes on her head do the biting when it came to her food. Kal was slightly worried that a purified and highly magical distillation of the venom may turn him to stone if he attempted to use it. He felt the probability was extremely low, but it was still there.

Not seeing anything in the room that he felt he needed, Kal turned his attention back to the gorgon. Sera was curled into a ball facing away from him on the carpet beside the marble flooring. The gorgon whimpered as she tried to keep from scratching the skin that wasn’t ready to come off but itched like mad as it prepared to. Kal’s heart went out to the girl, the only thing he had to compare it to was an extremely bad sunburn he got when he started taking over some of the farming duties from his mother. The burn started out only being annoying because of the constant feeling of nausea and uncomfortable because he constantly felt like he was freezing, otherwise, it wasn’t a big deal. He didn’t understand why his mother had been so insistent he take some coppers into town and get a specific salve from Lady Nina along with some tea that his mother occasionally drank before going to sleep.

The second day after getting his sunburn, the sun-sickness passed but the itching started. He’d been bitten many times over the years by bugs that left insanely itchy welts, they were irritating but manageable. As he healed, Kal likened feeling to hundreds of tiny spiders on his back, but each of their legs was tipped with a pin his mother used for sewing instead of feet. He remembered being in much the same state as Sera was in right now. His mother smeared the numbing salve on his back and had him drink the bitter tea he had bought. They repeated this process three more times until he woke up and the itchy feeling was manageable.

Having that feeling on just his back had been torturous, and here Sera was dealing with it over her entire body. Unfortunately, he didn’t have any of the salve or tea his mother had used. Kneeling next to the miserable woman, he gently rolled her toward him. Her eyes could still produce tears, which was a good thing, but the tears were getting caught between her eye and its old outer layer which had turned milky. The sight was ... disturbing, for a human at least.

He lifted her head. “Are you sure you will be alright?”

Sera nodded.

“Then I’m going to leave. Before I head out, I’m curious if there any drawback to sleeping while you are molting?”

“No,” the gorgon sniffled, “I’d try to sleep as much as I could since it made things go by quicker, but it was hard with predators around.”

Kal scooped the woman up into his arms. “I’m going to use a sleep spell on you before I go,” he explained while carrying her into their bedroom. “That way you can at least nap through some of it.”

“I wish you could just put me to sleep until it’s done.”

“How long would that be?”

“I don’t know, I never had a concept of ‘days’ when living underground. This is all my own damn fault anyway.”

“I thought you said this was normal for you.”

“It is, but it’s more common for me to do this when hunting is good and I’m eating well. If I hadn’t gorged myself while you were gone, I might not be in this situation,” she said as Kal laid her in the bed.

“Do we need to cut back?”

Sera shook her head slightly and a couple of light cracks could be heard from the sides of her neck where the scales were dry and hazy. “I don’t think we are eating enough in a day to be a concern. Besides, I like your cooking.”

Her hands kept clenching and unclenching with indecision as well as forcing herself not to scratch. He was about to leave, possibly for weeks, should she say it?

“Okay then,” he leaned over and kissed her lightly on the lips. Pulling away, he blinked a few times before smiling down at her, “I hope you don’t mind but I won’t be doing that again until you are done.” Parts of her lips were ... loose.

“That’s okay, it felt weird to me too,” she said, scrunching up her face. Kal immediately wished she hadn’t, some of it moved normally but there were patches that didn’t quite match up and the look was disconcerting.

“Ria, one of the packets of sleeping sand please.”

“Got it,” said the sprite from behind him. Kal had brought her out when getting ready to leave and she had been quietly waiting for them to say their goodbyes before bidding the gorgon farewell.

The small satchel appeared in his hand and immediately began leaking the fine sand into his palm. Drizzling some over the gorgon’s head, he returned it to the bag of holding.

“Didn’t you just call this sleep sand?” asked Sera. She was plainly annoyed that he just doused a part of her head in the gritty substance.

Kal formed the dark purple magic circle for the sleep spell in front of his hand.

“Ohh ... that’s a pretty colo—” The gorgon stopped speaking as Kal held the spell up to her face and activated it. At the same time, the serpents making up her hair stopped moving.

The mage was slightly creeped out. It was plain to see from the rest of her body that she was asleep, yet her eyes remained open.

Straightening up, he glanced over at the sprite. “Let’s go,” he said, turning towards the door.

“I think I should stay, Kal. At least until she wakes. I think she would appreciate not waking up alone her first day without you,” said Ria.

He thought for a moment. They were about two days out from the city and he was hoping to make it there in one. That meant using the haste rune on one of his vambraces to get through the forest quickly and safely. After he reached the road, he’d planned on giving his bracer back to the sprite. He didn’t have his good cloak that was set up for gliding so he couldn’t go over the trees either. If he didn’t make it into the city then he would be stuck outside without any shelter unless he could convince someone to take him in for the night.

Ria was right though.

“I’ll need my staff, my old moneypurse, some silver and a couple of mana crystals...”

Kal got extremely lucky, the road was often clear for long stretches, letting him use the speed rune to make up time. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to make up for the time he lost traveling through the forest and back to the road. He watched in frustration as the city’s gates closed off in the distance. The white walls were too high to jump over and too well guarded to scale. He wasn’t getting in there tonight.

There was a small building that looked like a traveler’s inn close to the gate. Judging by the line of people filing in who, like him, were shut out for the night, he would likely be sleeping out in the stables by the time he got there. Two covered wagons that had the look of merchant’s carts pulled off the road up ahead and began searching for a place to make camp. Smiling, Kal stepped off the road to see if they might be interested in an extra pair of hands in the event some bandits showed up.

“ ... So while I’m doing that, Bren comes in with Perra’s brother, hauls him upstairs and ... Crash! Slams him down onto the bed. Bren told me later that Ellis made him pay for a whole new bed because parts of it were in splinters.”

The older man sitting across the campfire from Kal chortled. When Kal approached the wagons after pulling off the road, the elderly gentleman was wearing a green robe with swirling embroidery in copper colored thread. Before setting up camp he changed into his current tunic and slacks, effectively saying that he was done being a merchant for the day. His daughter did the same, switching from a shimmering purple dress to one like Perra wore. The plain brown fabric was meant for comfort, not to be showy. Though he did notice that she left on the little bit of makeup she wore.

Sitting between the two men, the woman smirked. “Lucky he didn’t end up killing the man and undoing all your work,” she said. The daughter appeared to be just a couple years older than Kal and it seemed like she scooted closer every time he looked her direction. That was hardly a surprise considering the looks she kept giving him.

The woman excused herself and stepped out beyond the wagons. No sooner was she out of sight than the merchant jumped up and trotted over. Kal was worried he was about to be attacked for the daughter’s interest in him, but the old man just leaned over and began speaking in hushed tones.

“If my girl approaches you tonight, I’d ask that you take her up on it.”

Kal was stunned speechless.

“From your stories, your woman back home knows about your ‘companion’ and doesn’t seem to mind. My daughter is sharper than I am. If I noticed it, then guaranteed she did about the time she started sliding toward your side of the fire.”

He hadn’t realized that he’d been quite so open about his relationships. Kal gave him a sheepish grin, “Oops.”

“You seem like a decent sort, better for her to take care of her urges with you before we get into the city than risk losing her to some silver-tongued noble wannabe.”

“You just met me.”

“I meet a lot of people. It’s not hard to tell the decent ones, especially when they’re talking about their loved ones. Just think on it.” He hurried back to his seat on the other side of the fire just before his daughter reentered the camp.

The woman continued scooting toward him as they chatted. When she was sitting right next to Kal, the old man excused himself with a smile. Kal and the woman watched him wander off to the wagon where his bed was.

“Doddering old idiot,” she said, chuckling. “I’m going to be so sad when he finally passes.”

“That seems appropriate since he’s your father.”

“There’s more to it than that. My father decided to leave town after my mother passed away, he couldn’t stand the memories of her every time he turned around. Once he passes on, it will be nearly impossible for me to continue doing this on my own. Women just don’t command the same kind of respect the men do unless their faces are very well known. He and I haven’t been on the road long enough for me to build up that kind of reputation. Of course, I wouldn’t be out here at all if my husband hadn’t turned out to be a cheating ass.”

She cast him a sidelong glance. “Your woman knows about the lady you’re traveling with and is okay with it?”

Kal nodded. “Perra is actually looking forward to meeting Sera, and the reverse is true as well. She has our son to keep her company and a lady friend of her own to warm her bed until I get back.”

“What will happen to this lady friend when you get back?”

Kal smiled. “We will need to get a bigger bed, Kuto is one of my women as well.”

“Then what of this Sera? You keep calling her a companion.”

“Correct. Though we’ve become very close lately, she isn’t specifically ‘my’ woman.”

“Is she unworthy of being one of your women?” she asked.

“Not at all,” said Kal, chuckling. “She just hasn’t asked yet. They defer to my judgment as to who I bring into my inner circle, but I asked each of them beforehand and they’ve all given their approval should Sera ever approach me.”

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. “That sounded like you were talking about more than just two women.”

“Oops.”

“Like the other two, they are all okay with this?” her voice was tinged with disbelief.

Kal nodded. “In fact, it was one of them who prompted me to start taking on more mates. She’s from a land far to the east of here where a man having many women is considered a sign of status and power. Were it not for her, I probably would have stuck with one woman. All of them have very active libidos, it gets hard to keep up when I’m back home”

Her expression went from skeptical to curious, “You aren’t bragging.”

From her tone, Kal couldn’t make out if it was a question or a statement. “I’m ... not?” he answered uncertainly.

“No, you aren’t, and that seems strange. Just strange enough that I think I believe you.” Her hand slid over onto Kal’s leg, her fingers lightly tracing the outline of his prick. “You have your women and your companion. What about one,” she gripped him through his pants, “or maybe two dalliances?”

The mage smiled. “You were kind enough to invite a stranger into your camp and even make him a meal. If that’s how you’d like me to show my appreciation, I won’t mind a bit.”

“Mmm, wonderful,” she said standing. “My father needs to learn to talk quieter, I overheard what he told you earlier.” She hiked up her dress on each side, leaving the front hanging low enough to hide her sex as she hooked her fingers into her undergarments and pulled them down. “He does have a point though. I often run off for a night or two and have a little bit of fun. He worries terribly during those times. If I can take care of this now, then I can save him the worry later.”

He started undoing his belt but she waved his hands away then had him lean back and prop himself up on his arms before bending over and doing it for him. Kal had to admit, the look of pleasure in a woman’s eyes when they first saw his cock was something he’d never get tired of.

Gripping his shaft, she positioned her mouth above his prick and let a dollop of spit fall from her lips onto the head. She then used it to coat his shaft before doing it a second time. Kal hadn’t had a woman do that to him before and it seemed odd, though it was fun watching her get him ready.

Hiking up the front of her dress so it didn’t drag over his spit slickened prick, she knelt down, reaching beneath the skirt with one hand to guide him to her entrance.

“Wait,” said Kal, “I don’t know your name.”

She thought for just a second before replying with a soft smile. “I’m not looking to become one of your women or one of your companions. I’m just needing a man to scratch an itch for a night or two, so let’s leave the names out of it. It’ll make it easier when we part ways.”

After a few seconds, Kal nodded and the woman sunk slowly down onto him with a long moan.

As she started making small circular grinding motions, she looked down at him. “It’s been a while. Last time was in Carriston, I’ve been making do with my fingers since then.”

The motions sped up slightly and Kal realized that she was rubbing her clit on the area just above his prick. He was a little sad that her dress was covering where they were joined. He liked to watch.

“I’ve been there, had a run-in with some of the more unsavory elements of the town.”

“Hmph ... Kogen and his slave trade, the worst kept secret in the city. If you ran afoul of them, be careful if you ever go back. I understand he has the backing of some of the lordship and a long memory when it comes to those who piss him off. Now hush,” she commanded as she closed her eyes and focused on the sensations coming from her sex. Kal was happy to oblige, the subject matter was threatening to make him go limp. Maybe he’d tell her later that Kogen was no longer an issue.

The woman wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned forward, laying her cheek on his shoulder. Her hips sped up with their circular motion until she found a comfortable rhythm. Kal was enjoying this immensely, the swirling motion pressing on each side of his cock was extremely nice while still offering enough in and out movement. It only got better when the tiny moans started escaping her lips and the walls of her sex began squeezing him more frequently as she approached her release. After a slow buildup, she quite suddenly rose up until he was just barely inside her and slammed down onto him three times in rapid succession. Her fingers dug into his back and she grabbed the fabric of his shirt covering his shoulder between her teeth as she ground her clit into him. This only lasted a few seconds before she lifted up, her clit becoming extremely sensitive as her orgasm ran its course. Putting her forehead on his shoulder, she panted for a few minutes before looking up at him with a smile.

“Think you can go again or are you close?”

He grinned back at her, “I think I’m good for one more.”

Kal crawled into the other wagon after putting out the campfire. The woman had worked herself up to another slow, grinding climax before switching to sliding up and down on him until he coated the entrance of her womb with his seed. She then retreated to the wagon her father was sleeping in after asking him to stop by the market and let her know which inn he was staying at.

The mage hadn’t decided if he was going to take her up on that offer. While the experience was certainly enjoyable, and surprisingly intimate because of the way she clung to him the entire time, there was something lacking that he wasn’t entirely comfortable with. Then again, the acknowledgment beforehand that this was filling a need, along with her refusal to give her name, offered a degree of disconnect that allowed him to appreciate the physical aspects of their tryst without worrying about the ‘after.’ He’d make that decision if he happened to see her at the market. Given the size of the city, it was entirely possible he might never lay eyes on her again.

He set up the bedroll they’d given him to use and looked out into the darkness. Kal wasn’t terribly happy about the lack of vigilance, but the old man assured him that this close to the gates of Lantaris, there was no need for a watch. He explained that if the patrols they saw on the road caught a bandit, they were put to death on the spot without trial or chance to escape. Ruffians and scoundrels had safer prey elsewhere.

Thieves and cutpurses were still a hazard but Lantaran punishments for thievery were severe by almost any standard. The author of Kal’s book on the city had the misfortune of witnessing one of these punishments. The thief publicly had his hands bound to a chopping block then severed with the swipe of a large sword. He was then cast out into the street as a warning to others. Unless a loved one took steps to save them, it was almost guaranteed they’d bleed to death. More disturbing was that the clerics officiating the proceedings refused to help, even though a small healing spell would have been enough to save the accused man’s life.

Apparently, the love and compassion of the Goddess didn’t apply to those who broke the city’s rules.

And Kal was walking straight into all of this with runic tattoos on his back and a leather strip of spells hidden under his shirt. He must be insane.

Unfortunately for him, the area beyond Lantaris was known as the Death Plains, and the area it covered was equally insane. It was officially known as the Lantaran Plains but had picked up the nickname because being caught trying to enter them was punishable by death. Even if someone managed to avoid the Lantaran guard they were never seen or heard from again.

Thankfully, getting in wasn’t going to be as difficult or dangerous as the name implied. The rim of the plains had a low rock wall all the way around it with outposts manned by archers and a small cavalry at regular intervals. The sheer cost of maintaining the wall and manning the outposts resulted in large unguarded sections further away from the city. Much like with the areas surrounding Lantaris, the church made periodic sweeps of the area just inside the wall to clear out any trespassers.

Once on the other side, there were weeks of travel just to go straight across. The problem, of course, was that he wasn’t going straight across. While he understood that the northern edge of the Lantaran Plains ran along the edge of the mountain range to the north, he had no clue as to how far down the southern border went. Lantaris could have claimed everything all the way to the Southern Ocean for all he knew. Without having some idea where he was headed, it could take a year or more to find Prentas’s tower.

That meant he needed a map. Tomorrow he wouldn’t just walk into the lion’s den, but straight into the lion’s open and waiting maw just to get it.

Kal didn’t sleep well that night.

“State your business,” said the guard at the gate. The man looked bored already and they had barely started to let people in. Kal arrived early that morning and waited in line along with the father and daughter he camped with. Though they tried to get a jump on things, twenty or so carts and people were waiting to be checked by the time they approached the gate. If the guard was this exciting after only a few people, then Kal wondered what he must be like toward the end of his shift.

“I’m researching the area and looking to speak with the royal cartographers,” replied Kal.