"Castle?" Gardum scratched his head again. He knew of several castles in the area, but only one that was truly out of the forest. He wasn't sure if that was the one she meant, but that wasn't what bothered him. For some reason, he didn't want to take Kirsty out of the forest . . . and not because he wanted to eat her. He was afraid that if he showed her the way home, she would leave and for some reason he wanted to be near her. Though so far, that desire had yet to work its way to the lust center of his 'brain.'

After a moment's consideration, the ogre suddenly brightened. He knew just wat to do: "Gardum take Kirsty see Spring Lady."

The Spring Lady lived in a 'castle' and it wasn't really in the forest, though it was surrounded by it. Plus, she would be able to help him understand what was going on; and, best of all, he would get to stay with Kirsty for a while! The bird that had fallen from flight earlier had just regained its senses when Gardum smiled again, causing it to faint once more.

"Let's go!" he declared, reaching out with one huge, muscular arm in an attempt to scoop Kirsty up.

"Spring Lady? Who is that?" Kirsty asked, uncertainly. She would rather not have to expose herself to too many more of the forest's denizen. The incident with the goblin and the dragon had implied it was dangerous for her here and her encounter with the tree had confirmed it. She didn't know why the inhabitants of the forest all seemed so interested in her but she suspected it was a bad thing. Fey tended to have a rather capricious nature and being in their favor was often as bad as being their enemy. They often had a strange idea of what was being helpful and what was not. Gardum's offer to take her to Spring Lady might well be one of those things.

"I'm not sure... Does she kno--Gah!!!" Before she could even finish her objection the ogre suddenly scooped her up in his arms and started off. Kirsty was not really in much of a position to argue with the 10-foot-tall blue beast but that didn't stop her from trying. "What, no! Gardum wait!! What makes you think that Spring Lady can help me?"

Gardum might have scratched his head if both of his arms weren't occupied with cradling Kirsty gently against his chest. He wasn't sure why he had picked the girl up; it had just seemed the thing to do. Her slight weight was as nothing to the mighty ogre, yet it felt good and proper in his arms. Thus he was hardly paying attention to her protests and only inadvertantly answered her question as he thought aloud.

"Spring Lady smart," Gardum said. "Spring Lady help." His ponderous gait seemed slow, but the ground fairly flew by beneath them as he trudged along. Crashing through the bushes, he was careful to use his shoulders to shield his precious passenger. But, whatever force that was percolating through the ogre's skull must have slipped a notch further toward his libido, because his hands tended to linger longer over Kirsty's rear and legs each time he shifted his grip.

****

It took a while for Xoku to deal with Sqwazit. The foul goblin-hound would have been difficult enough to kill, and Xoku was loath to slay any fey creature - there were too few of them left. But the tentacled serpent's superior power and telekinetic tricks finally allowed him to best the creature and send him loping off toward the Goblin King's lair.

"That'ss right! Run and tell your masster he can't have thiss girl!" Xoku hissed after Sqwazit. She's mine, the thought arose unbidden to his mind, and he wasn't entirely sure he hadn't sent it telepathically. Damn Spectre! Which one of them was it playing with?

"Probably both of uss," he hissed to himself. Now to find that girl and get back to work. A quick telepathic scan revealed Kirsty was out of his range. Strange, but not as strange as the whole incident had become. With an undulation of the spine that served as a shrug, the great serpent turned in the direction the girl had run. He set off, slithering gracefully through the air, flicking his tongue out periodically in an effort to catch Kirsty's scent.

Kirsty didn't really give the ogre's hand much thought. She assumed it had just slipped the couple of her times it had passed over her rump. More than anything she just hoped that he didn't drop her. She had to be at least five feet in the air and they were moving quite fast. She had a feeling it would hurt a great deal if he was to suddenly lose his grip on her so she didn't complain about the placement of his hands. At least not yet. Hopefully, they'd reach the Spring Lady soon and it wouldn't end up being an issue. "How far away does the Spring Lady live? With we be there soon?"

This time, Gardum truly heard Kirsty's question and it distracted him just as he was about to shift his grip again. He fumbled the maneuver, but managed to recover as he stumbled to a halt. Somehow the hand supporting the young woman's legs managed, perhaps not entirely inadvertently, to end up beneath her skirt. His big, strong hand was hot and rough where it pressed against the backs of her thighs and one of his fingers was curled up between her legs.

The ogre looked around, realizing he hadn't been paying attention to where he was going. He didn't bother to move the offending hand except to shift it so that Kirsty was practically sitting in his palm.

"Not far - " he began.

****

Following Kirsty's scent easily, Xoku arrived at a small clearing with a large patch of disturbed earth in the center. A set of large, deep bare footprints ran through an ogre-sized gap in the brush to one side, then out again in another direction. The ogre's scent masked Kirsty's, and Xoku feared the worst. What would the administration do if he allowed a student to get eaten? Following a moment of near-panic, the serpent eyed a bird stumbling to its feet nearby.

"Exsscuse me," he hissed. The bird turned to regard him, letting out a fearful squawk. "No need for that," the serpent hastened to continue before the bird took flight. "Have you sseen a young woman?" He sent a telepathic image of Kirsty.

The bird chirped and tweeted at him. "The tree did what?" he asked, astonished. More toots and warbles. "Sshe called out to the ogre?"

"Tweet-tweeter-tweet-chirp," the bird replied emphatically.

"And he ssaved her?!" Xoku could hardly bear to hope. The bird toot-chirped-warbled.

"He ssmiled at you? Twicse? You poor thing . . . " the serpent remarked absently as he pondered this turn of events.

"Warble-chirp-tweet," the bird concluded.

"Really? Thankss!" Xoku grinned at the bird, showing twice as many wicked teeth as Gardum had. The bird fainted dead away, prompting a hissing laugh from the serpent who nonetheless scooped it up and deposited it in the relative safety of a nearby bush.

Xoku's mirth faded, however, as he dashed off after Kirsty and the ogre. He wasn't at all sure how well things would go if he didn't catch up with them before they reached the 'Spring Lady.'

Gardum's hand was getting a little harder to ignore as it moved under the tattered remains of her dress. She was willing to believe it was only an accident but it was still making her rather uncomfortable. If he shifted one my time his finger would be pressing against her crotch. She tried to shift her position so it wasn't so awkward. "Umm... You know, you don't need to carry me, Gardum. I can walk."

Gardum was distracted mid-answer by the way Kirsty shifted in his grip. Though she was trying to find a less awkward postition, it nonetheless attracted more of the ogre's attention to the fact that his hand was pressed against the smooth flesh of the backs of her thighs. He looked down to address her more directly and whatever it was that had been seeking his brain finally made it through . . . then jumped straight to his loins.

"Kirsty pretty," he murmurred, whatever else he had meant to say was lost in the sudden realization that she was a woman; a beautiful, noble, charming woman - and he had her in his arms. This time, quite deliberately, he slid his hand up to cup her pert bottom, giving it an exceptionally gentle (for an ogre) squeeze.

Kirsty let out a short yelp when the ogre groped her. There was no mistaking it that time. Gardum was definitely copping a feel now. This was suddenly becoming a very dangerous situation. Right now wasn't so bad. He was only touching her inappropriately. She'd have to handle thing delicately from here on though. Being raped by a tree would have been uncomfortable but being "seduced" by a ten foot tall ogre would be lethal.

He was still holding her in his arms, which meant he couldn't do too much damage, but she still needed to get them moving again. Moving was good, he definitely couldn't try to press his advantage while they were moving. Of course, there was the risk he'd just take her off to his lair and have his way with her there. She'd have to do her best to keep him on track. "Gardum is so nice. If the Spring Lady is even half as nice as you I might decide never to leave this forest." She lied, hoping the promise of her staying in the woods might encourage him to continue taking them to meet the Spring Lady. Who, hopefully, would be immune to whatever magic had infected Gardum and the tree.

Gardum puffed up visibly at the compliment. No one had ever called him nice before, except maybe the Spring Lady. She had definitely always been good to him. Maybe Kirsty would stay . . .

A war was soon raging inside the ogre. The unnatural desire that had finally taken ahold of him urged him to take advantage of the warm and beautiful young woman who was already at his mercy. On the other hand, there was the chance that she would stay forever. Gardum was dumb, but even he had the wisdom to recognize that a maiden in the hand was worth two in the castle. Still, Kirsty had been good to him so far . . .

Gardum's thought processes were practically written on his face for all to see. He withdrew his hand from beneath Kirsty's dress in order to scratch his head. That left her held only loosely around the waist by one of his massive arms. It was possible she could squirm free . . .

Kirsty was tempted to try but she doubted she'd get very far. She was an fair sprinter but her long legs would be no match for the ogre's wide gait. Plus, running would ruin any credit she had with him and she'd pay dearly for it once he caught up. He definitely wouldn't let her go again and he probably wouldn't bother with Spring Lady either. In light of these revelations, she decided to cling to the ogre even tighter when his grip loosened.

"Please Gardum," She urged sweetly. "I am afraid to still be in the woods once it starts getting dark. Let's hurry up and get to where Spring Lady live. If you can gets us there quickly I promise I'll give you a kiss as a reward." She threw out the kiss as a carrot, hoping it would be enough of an draw to encourage him to start moving again.

Gardum was caught off guard by Kirsty's promise. No one had ever offered to kiss him before, least of all a beautiful young maiden like the one in his arms. The insidious force affecting him was overwhelmed by ogrish joy . . . for the time being.

"Okay!" Gardum resumed his two-armed grip on Kirsty, hugging her to his chest as he set off again. The scenery fairly whizzed by as the running ogre bounded along, leaping over small bushes and boulders. Soon, they crested a low hill and broke out of the tree line into a large clearing. In the center of the clearing a keep arose from a the middle of a small lake. Elaborately carved fountains ringed the lower reaches of the structure, allowing water to tumble endlessly from within.

"Spring Lady House," Gardum informed, half in awe. He absently set Kirsty down on her feet, having momentarily forgotten all about the promised reward or the strange desire he felt for the lovely maiden.

****

Cruising along swiftly, Xoku found the spot where Kirsty and the ogre had stopped not long before. His sensitive tongue clearly detected faint traces of the musk of an aroused ogre. That could be worse than if he had just eaten her! Looking about, the serpent realized they were close to the 'Spring Lady's' home. As he dashed off after the wayward pair, Xoku felt a sinking feeling. The ogre's footprints had nearly doubled in spacing; clearly running. He'd never catch up now!

Kirsty was relieved that Gardum took the bait and started them moving towards Spring Lady again. Hopefully Spring Lady would be able to help her sort out this whole mess she'd somehow gotten herself into. She was less certain about how helpful the woman would be when they reached the edge of her estate. Spring Lady apparently lived in the middle of a lake. Kirsty frowned slightly and looked around to see if there was a boat or a bridge or something. "How are we supposed to get out there, Gardum?" And how on Earth was she going to get back out if things went South for her. The castle keep looked much more like a prison than a safe haven to her.

But at least the sight of the place seemed to have a positive effect on the Ogre and he wasn't trying to take advantage of her anymore. He seemed to have even forgotten about the kiss she'd promised him. She was fine with that, not that she wouldn't give it to him but she'd rather give it to him when they weren't alone in case he tried to angle for more. She'd really prefer not to lose her virginity to a giant ogre.

Gardum chuckled and grabbed Kirsty by the hand. "Come on!" he said, pulling the young woman along as he trudged down to the water's edge. With unusual forethought and consideration, he even remembered to take small steps so she could keep up.

Closer up, it became apparent that there were no doors or windows to the keep's lower levels. The only portals in or out seemed to be the many fountainheads that ceaselessly fed the lake. But high up the tower, a small balcony fronted a simple achway. A lovely wordless melody floated down from above, sounding in perfect harmony with the crash and clatter of the falling waters.

"HALOOO!" Gardum's roar echoed through the little dell, disrupting an otherwise enchanting scene. A few moments later, a beautiful lady stepped onto the balcony. Long blue-green hair cascaded from her head, spilling down her slim form like a waterfall.

"Gardum! It's nice to see you," the Lady's voice was like the tinkle of a mountain spring, but carried clearly over the sounds of the fountains. "I'll be right down!" she called before disappearing back into the keep.

Kirsty had to assume that lovely women with the waterfall of blue-green hair was Spring Lady. The name clearly suited her, Kirsty could tell that from the instant she saw her and heard the fluid sound of her voice. She was still confused as to how they were getting across the lake to her. It seemed unlikely that they were going to swim. The Spring Lady had said she was coming down so the only thing to do really was wait. Wait and hope she was as pleasant as she sounded.

The wait was not long, for a few seconds after she had disappeared from the balcony, a strange flash of color played through one of the fountains. The swirl of colors resolved into an image of the watery Lady which rippled rapidly across the lake. A few feet from shore, the image began to emerge from the water, rising up as though she were simply walking out of the water . . . but there was nought of her below the surface.

"Gardum!" The Lady greeted the ogre again pleasantly, though she had not yet fully re-formed from the water when she started speaking. "Have you found a playmate?" Her tone was softly teasing. Gardum chuckled, perhaps slightly embarrassed.

"Kirsty," he said by way of introduction, putting one enormous hand on the young maiden's shoulder. The size of it meant that his fingers fell rather familiarly on one of her breasts.

"Kirsty, hmm . . . " the Lady turned her gaze on the girl in question and her eyes narrowed slightly. "You're not exactly what you appear, are you dear?"