The Runesmith Chronicles

Back again!

Thank you so much for the feedback I greatly appreciate it! (Especially jpz007ahren

whose comments I felt made this and chapter four much stronger and a bit more cohesive)

A couple of words about this chapter.

First off, this ended up being a story only chapter so no sex in this one (sorry!). However! Because of that I decided to wait and complete chapter four as well and I will be posting that tomorrow so keep an eye out. Lit readers, it may be a few more days because of the review process so if it's not out the next day, no worries it will be up soon.

Second, there is an... uncomfortable... scene in this chapter. There are no details or graphic descriptions, but it does happen and I feel I would be doing a disservice to my readers if I didn't say something beforehand.

Other than that, I hope you enjoy and keep a look out for the next chapter tomorrow!

Blu

*****

Three Knights of the Order of the Lion's Shield stood in the clearing in front of the cave, it was quiet save for the soft munching from far off to one side next to the wood line as the horses nibbled on the grass nearby. The squires tended to the horses and made sure their leads were secured to nearby trees, though all of them were trained as warhorses to be calm during battles it was better to be safe than spend hours hunting down one that decided to bolt for whatever reason. Near the horses sat a young teenage girl looking sad and dejected as she hugged her knees to her chest, gently rocking to calm her nerves.

The two knights in full armor stood directly before the cave entrance while the last had settled on wearing only a chainmail hauberk and stood a good distance to the side, separating himself from the other two but still close enough to come to their aid if needed.

The lead knight from before stepped forward, "OGRE! WE HAVE BROUGHT THE GIRL! SHOW YOURSELF!" The other two knights took notice as the young girl's head came off her knees and she began paying attention.

"Oi, oi, oi, again with the screaming and yelling," the blue ogre grumbled as her and the farmer boy from earlier stepped into the light at the mouth of the cave. "Couldn't you just tap your sword against your shield a few times and give a nice friendly 'Helloo!'?"

The young girl stared intently at the large blue woman, she seemed so familiar, but...

The blue ogre scanned the clearing taking in each of the knights and the horses off to the side before her eyes came to rest on the girl, a gentle, if toothy, smile came to her face. The girl's face lit up with recognition and she jumped to her feet with a squeak, running across the clearing toward the ogre.

"Stop her!" screamed the lead knight at the squires, both of them dropping the items they had been gathering for the upcoming battle and running after the fleeing girl.

The knight in chainmail raised his hand, "Hold!" he yelled to the squires as the girl ran a few steps in front of him and into the arms of the now kneeling blue ogre. The squires had stopped in their tracks and the knight waved them back to continue their preparations.

"What is the meaning of the Sir Balthus!" the lead knight's face was almost purple with rage. "Now she can use the girl as a hostage!"

"Calm yourself Sir Galen. That is not the scene of a villain who has just had a convenient hostage delivered to them," said Balthus.

Galen turned and looked. The ogre was on one knee gently embracing the girl as she sobbed into the larger woman's shoulder babbling on about her brother and knights and many other things Sir Galen couldn't make out. The ogre petted the sobbing girl whispering soothing words as she stroked the girl's head and back. It seemed almost motherly.

This only infuriated Galen more. Ogre's weren't motherly! They were vile beasts who captured and enslaved human males then fucked them almost to death, and when a man couldn't get it up any longer from her constant abuse she ate him, usually without the decency of killing him first! This was a ruse! It had to be! Ogres don't act like that blue skin or not!

Balthus watched as a wide array of emotions played across the young knight's face and finally settled on white incandescent rage directed at the blue ogre. He sighed inwardly then caught the attention of the other knight, "Will this do as an alternative Sir Corrin?"

Corrin glanced at the girl and ogre then back at Balthus, "As long as she understands the rules and assuming you are correct about the blue one's abilities. Yes, I would accept this."

Balthus nodded and turned back to the scene at the cave entrance.

As the girl settled down the ogre gently pulled her away, "Young one, I'm going to tell these men about what happened to you and Sir Michael, is that okay?"

The girl winced at the memory then blushed heavily in embarrassment. Noticing movement to one side she looked at Sir Balthus and saw understanding in his eyes, checking the other two she realized that Sir Corrin also knew. The ogre turned back to the girl, "It looks as though two of them already know, I will just be filling in details. Can I tell them?" The girl looked at the two knights she had spoken with then back to the ogre and nodded slowly.

"Very good," said the ogre then turned to the young man beside her, "Kal?"

"Yes Ikuno?" said the boy.

"Take her inside and lay her down on my bed, the poor girl is exhausted. Hurry back but don't come too close in case things go bad."

"Yes ma'am," Kal extended his hand to the girl, "Would you be so kind as to come with me? Ikuno has a place where you can rest."

The girl looked hesitantly at the ogre.

Ikuno smiled at her, "Kal is a fine young man and my servant for today, I trust him, and you can too."

The girl nodded then turned to Kal, taking his offered hand and allowing herself to be led away.

"Alright ogre! Enough of your games!" growled Galen, "What happened to Sir Michael!"

"Oni," said Ikuno.

"What?" asked Galen taken aback by the odd answer. Balthus and Corrin, however, were now listening intently.

"I'm an oni, not an ogre," she explained, "While distantly related I don't much appreciate being mistaken for one of my stupid and violent cousins."

Galen scowled, "Ogre or oni it makes no difference, get on with your tale!"

Ikuno sighed, "As you wish," She noticed, however, that Balthus seemed to be very annoyed with Galen judging by the look on his face "The day that I saw Sir Michael...

---

Hunting had gotten slim in the vicinity of her cave and today she was on the very edge of her hunting grounds not far from a human village. She tended to avoid humans, more so now as a string of thieves attracted to her cave by promises of riches, combined with the poor hunting, had made her irritable enough to turn her skin green. The thought of being mistaken for one of those moronic ogres did not lighten her mood. Another issue was that it had been far too long since she had a man.

The caravan she traded with was a half day's journey north and only came by every few years, occasionally she could buy herself a night with an adventurous merchant or passenger. Sadly, her skin had turned mostly green the last time they were in the area and she had barely been able to buy their small supply of saké, luckily one of the older merchants remembered her and had in fact saved some of his stock just for the strange blue ogre. Too old to take care of her needs himself he had offered up one of his servant boys. Unfortunately, the poor thing was so scared of her that she left without getting any relief, insisting the merchant keep the payment as apology for terrifying the boy.

She hated to admit it but somewhere in the back of her mind she knew she was hunting so close to a village in hopes of running across a male who might be interested in a quick tumble.

To make matters worse she had begun to hear rhythmic cries out here in the woods of a couple who had the same thing on their mind. She quietly followed the noises and came up behind the couple, she couldn't see the girl from this angle, but the man seemed to be somewhat handsome. Strangely he was wearing a full suit of armor which seemed like it would get in the way and was making quite a racket. She began to wonder if he might be up for a go with her once he was done with the maiden, a hand started making its way downward towards her...

The wind shifted.

Air currents coming from the direction of the couple brought a new scent to her nose, blood.

Her mind snapped out of its haze of lust as if struck by a lightning bolt. They weren't cries of pleasure but shrieks and sobs of pain and fear, and something was wrong with the voice. A few quiet strides and her hand closed on the armor's backplate behind his neck. The man shrieked as he suddenly found himself flying backwards. She looked down at the girl who had collapsed when the man went airborne. That's what was wrong with the voice, it was too young, too damn young. The girl looked back and saw her, gasping in fear she tried to scoot away.

The oni fished a small glowing blue vial out of a pouch and tossed it towards the girl landing in the leaf litter beside her. "Drink that, I'll take the pain away," she turned on her heel and strode in the direction of the armored man. The girl behind her was saying something about a brother and squires but she was no longer listening.

The man had gotten up and ran over to his horse pulling a sword from a scabbard tied to the saddle. She mentally kicked herself for having been too distracted to even notice the horse.

"You'll pay for that you bitch!" he said charging her and bringing his sword across in a long arc to disembowel her. A magic circle formed in her hand and she batted the sword away knocking it from his grasp. Her foot came up and caught him square in the chest sending him sprawling. Calmly she picked up the sword and neatly sliced through the horse's lead rope freeing it then with a swat on the rump sent it running into the woods. Glancing back, she saw that the girl had also ran off, hopefully back to her village.

"That girl was mine!" yelled the man as he picked himself up off the ground. "She was given to me so I would take her brother as a squire! You have no right!"

"So, you're a knight," she took his sword stabbed a nearby tree, burying it halfway to the hilt. With an almost lazy twist of her wrist the blade snapped cleanly in two causing a shower of sparks then she casually tossed the remainder of the sword off into the woods. "You had your pick of hundreds of monster girls and no small number of human women you could have chosen to get your dick wet." She said stalking towards the knight. "Damn it! I would have let you fuck ME! Instead you go and rape some poor human girl who is plainly not old enough!" Her voice lowered to a dangerous growl, "You are a special kind of sickness that needs to be scrubbed from this world."

The man wore a mask of confusion, he had dispatched many ogres in his time as a knight and never had he seen an ogre use magic like when she batted his sword away or heard one speak so plainly and clearly. Then there was his sword, though frowned upon by the order, he had a strength enchantment put on the blade to prevent it from breaking, yet she had snapped it with one hand, something no regular ogre should be able to do. Fear built inside him as he backpedaled to keep her at a distance, but she kept closing on him with steady measured strides red eyes glowing in fury.

Suddenly the knight snapped, "I am a Knight of the Lion's Shield! How dare you judge me!" he screamed rushing her and swinging a gauntleted fist with all his might. Her hand closed on his vambrace stopping his swing then squeezed down deforming the metal and crushing his arm. The knight howled in pain, pounding on her fingers until she backhanded him across the face knocking him out.

She picked him up by the backplate and dragged him through the woods, "I have a friend who is going to enjoy you," she said to the unconscious man, "too bad for you she likes her meat tenderized first."

---

The clearing was quiet as Ikuno finished her story. Kal sat wide-eyed staring at the blue oni, barely believing that the woman he had spent the day with was the same as the one in the story. Thinking back to when he arrived that morning and the imposing, scowling figure with the red glowing eyes that met him, maybe it wasn't so hard to believe.

Galen chuckled for a moment then burst out into laughter, "An ogre that can use magic? Laughable! Is this your paltry attempt to scare us away? I doubt you even saw Sir Michael much less killed him. Snapping his blade one-handed. What nonsense!"

Ikuno sighed, "To be honest I was not the last one to see him alive," she said walking back into a part of the cave still shrouded in darkness, she picked up a bag that made a metallic clinking noise as it moved. "That honor went to a nearby pitcher plant girl I fed him to after throwing him down the side of my little mountain a few times to soften him up. She sent word a few days later that these were making her sick." She tossed out the bag so it landed right in front of Galen, the bag burst on impact and plates of severely dented armor that had been pitted and pocked by digestive juices sprayed out around Galen's feet. Even at a distance Kal could see the roaring lion embossed on some of the pieces.

Shouting with rage Galen fitted his shield on his arm and drew his sword "Heathen bitch! I'll have your head for this!" The knight rushed forward raising his sword, not waiting for Sir Corrin to ready up so they could attack together. As he swung down a magic circle of blue light formed above Ikuno's forearm and intercepted the blade, his moment of surprise was costly as Ikuno reached around and sunk her claws into his shield ripping it away from his arm and tossing it away. By luck one of her claws had severed the leather strap on the back preventing the young knight's arm from going with it.

However, Galen had come by his title of knight honestly and his sword dipped and dove trying to find a weak point in her defense but no matter which angle he attacked from the blasted magic shield was always there. Soon though his movements became sloppy with frustration, no enemy he had yet faced was still breathing after this long. To make things worse he was starting to tire, and she didn't appear to be putting any effort into the fight at all. As his rage faded it gave way to fear, fear that this was not an enemy that he could best and that he might actually be killed. Crying out he took his sword in both hands and began chopping down on the oni's shield hammering on it more like you would an axe to a fallen log.

"Enough," said Ikuno and swung up with her shield up as he swung down with his sword. When they met there was a bright flash and Galen's sword went spinning off behind him. Defenseless the knight stepped back, fear etched on his features. Another magic circle formed above the palm her other hand, she held it out so it pointed at Galen.

"Goodbye, Knight" she said. Balls of energy streaked out from the sigil in the middle of the circle and impacted Galen in the chest knocking him off balance and making him stumble backwards. He tried to turn to the side to spread out the impact but as though controlled by some spirit they would veer to the side only to streak in and hit his chest plate in the same place time after time. A break in attacks made Galen think that she was done but he looked up in time to see a much larger ball hurtling towards him.

Galen flew into the air when the ball hit, flipping him over before he landed on his back knocking the air out of him. Immediately the rain of smaller projectiles began again, arcing up over Balthus and Corrin before slamming down onto the prone knight. Galen laid there grunting with each impact, as his chest plate caved in from the constant beating and he could no longer draw breath the realization that he was about to die began to sink in. Suddenly the pounding was gone and Balthus was above him holding up his accursed arm with runes that glowed bright blue as the knight's magic shield stopped the oni's onslaught. Still starved of air the young man passed out.

"Yield! We yield! Cease your attack!" Balthus yelled over the din of energy impacting his shield.

Ikuno stopped the attack but pointed the magic circle towards Sir Corrin, whom had only just drawn his sword and taken a few steps forward before realizing how one sided this battle was. Corrin raised his hands in acknowledgement before sheathing his sword and walking over to check on Galen. The shield Balthus had made guttered and died like a flame out of fuel, the runes on his arm fading along with the light from a small crystal he had hanging from a necklace.

Noticing Galen wasn't breathing Balthus immediately started undoing the buckles on the young knight's armor, the chest plate literally popped off as Galen's ribs sprung back into place and the knight took a couple of deep gasping breaths before falling into a normal sleeping rhythm.

Balthus looked up at Corrin, "He'll live, he may be so sore tomorrow he'll wish he hadn't, but for now he'll live." Looking over at the two boys standing nearby with various alternate weapons for the knights in their hands he yelled to them, "Squires! Bring Galen's horse over here. Strip his armor off and put him on it, you'll have to tie him in place so he doesn't fall off before he wakes."

"Bring mine as well," said Corrin, "No need to be wearing all of this armor with no purpose."

Shedding his armor Corrin joined Balthus as he went to speak to the oni, who was joined again by the farmer boy who had watched from just inside the cave.

"My thanks for sparing my brother's life..." Balthus looked at the boy then back at the oni, "Ikuno, was it?"

Ikuno nodded but Kal spoke up, "He's your brother?!"

Balthus chuckled, "Not by blood, we refer to our fellow knights of the Order as our brothers."

"It seemed to me that you were the one to save Galen, Brother Balthus, why do you say that she spared him?" asked Corrin.

"I believe that if she had wanted Galen dead he would not have even taken a step towards her. Is this not correct?" he said turning back to Ikuno.

Ikuno shrugged, summoning another circle over her palm she pointed it at one of the trees off to the side of the clearing. Energy fired out but instead of a ball this time it was thin and the shape of a crescent moon. At first it looked like it had passed through without effect but a moment later the tree slid apart along where it had been cut and toppled over.

"It's a gruesome thing to do to a living being," she said with a far-off look, then shook her head as if clearing away memories before turning back to the knights. "Sometimes a good pummeling can make the densest human see reason. I'd rather do that than off-handedly killing them, makes for bad relations with the neighbors."

Balthus sighed, "Speaking of relations with the neighbors I wish to talk with you about the girl."

"What of her?" asked the oni.

"We of the Order cannot have a young girl running around telling people she was raped by one of ours." Balthus saw Ikuno's face darken and held up a hand. "it's not something I agree with but some of the Order," Balthus's eyes flicked to Sir Corrin, "see it as a necessary evil to maintain our image. That said, she needs to understand that she can never speak of what happened with Sir Michael."

"Understandable, but why are you telling me this?" asked Ikuno, her voice thick with suspicion.

"That brings me to the second issue. She cannot return home."

"Why not?" asked Kal.

Sir Corrin answered, "She spoke to myself and Brother Balthus on the way here, both times she was terrified of what her brother might do to her. From what the townsfolk told me while searching for her earlier, both parents are dead and while the brother is taking care of her he also takes out his frustrations on her with frequent beatings. The village apothecary said that after Sir Michael... went missing... she stumbled in beaten to the point that he didn't think she would live, luckily he found a small vial of blue healing potion in her clothes as he was treating her." Sir Corrin gave Ikuno a knowing look, "With him losing yet another chance to become a squire as well as being publicly humiliated from my throwing him in the stocks for a few days. He may succeed in what he almost accomplished last time."