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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 the thought didn’t stay gone and as he considered it the more he thought it might have merit. Kal leaned back against the wall and or 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 thought, in a short while those lines of thinking would not be an issue, but for now, he didn’t need his penis to up and vanish 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 present, Kal squeezed the last little bit of jizz 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 resting place to wait. 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.

Kal 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. What had roused him was another presence entering the room. 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 while keeping the stony texture and changed color to match the rest of her skin. 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, her hand unconsciously straying to 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 starting to glisten from where her juices were running 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 he was 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 few tense moments 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, with the strength rune shining 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 and was very obviously uncomfortable. When he laid her down on the moss 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 and be 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 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. 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 a bit, it wasn’t unpleasant but it certainly was different.

He swirled his tongue around her clit, finding it to be just as hard as her nipples, making her hips buck, Kal activated the strength rune as 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.

He slowly began easing into her… until the head of his prick bumped into something. Kal’s eyes widened in surprise and he looked down to see her human eye was just as wide, 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 inside until he bumped into her maidenhead again before gasping and quickly pushing him back out.

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 and remembered when he used it after he first woke up, going from being nearly hobbled and wincing with each movement to darting around the cavern as if he had never been hurt as he held it. 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 sometimes bumping her hymen and others not getting that deep.

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

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 just using him as a living phallus. He laid her back onto the moss, her hand instinctively reaching out to touch the stone wall next to them, and held himself up above her.

Kal searched her face for some indication that she was ready for him to move, 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 longer strokes into her tight pussy and began speeding up.

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 girl 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, 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, rocks quickly grew from the ones already there covering her in a stone suit of armor in a matter of seconds, her ruby eye shining as she prepared to defend herself. 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 and looked 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 Ikuno 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, 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,” a claw poked the tiny lobe in the front of his ear canal and she tilted his head to the side, holding up a small pearl she let a single drop of blood fall on it she quickly healed his ear and began another strange chant that made odd echoes and felt like it soaked into your bones much like his compatibility spell. As the chant completed the drop of blood was drawn into the pearl itself. She quickly cast another spell that created tiny magical shields over her claws, so she didn’t need to worry about cutting things 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 him began to shrink with the stone of her body either rejoining her arm, feet, and face or just sinking into her skin without a trace, 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.”

Ikuno looked back 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.

Ikuno had Kal cum in her mouth, after swallowing some she kissed the golem and transferred the rest to the rock girl’s mouth, 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 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, 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.

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 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 constantly 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! Or worse, 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. 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, 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 fatherhood and magic.” 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 be and still be a Runesmith.

Even though it was before he could remember, his own father’s death hurt 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 he had been still alive or what teachings 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 of 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. He 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, was that he loved her, the 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 description 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 it was the truth if the situation were to ever arise. 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, instead of some nameless guy picked off an empty road that was never spoken of again? More importantly, could he take the first part of that question and 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, 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 to me 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 and trying to get his panic and breathing under control he said, “I’m 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?”

“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.