Chronicles of Eden - Act XII

by Alexander Gordon

  “Wait, hold on,” an elf quickly said. “Did you just say a human man challenged the gemini to a fight? A man dared to take on the leaders of The Sisterhood? Alone?”

  “Was Clover there?” a child asked. “Was she there with him?”

  “She was the one leading me out of the palace,” Felucia answered shaking her head. “Only that Daniel guy stayed behind to fight the gemini, he wanted Clover to get me out of there so they could fight alone. Cindy, explain. Who are these people and how do you know that man?”

  “He’s wonderful, mother,” Cindy praised. “He loves me, and I love him. So much.”

  “Wha… wait. Love? Did you say he loves you?” Felucia bewilderedly replied.

  “A human man loves a sand wraith?” an elf questioned. “That can’t be true.”

  “He really loves you?” Yanee asked, tugging on Cindy’s hand with a curious look. “A human actually loves you?”

  “He does,” Cindy insisted, her worried eyes turning over to where the top of the royal tree now rested in the burning forest. “He loves me, and he wants to protect me. He wants to help innocent monsters. Like all of you elves, he wants you all to be safe again. He’s great, and friendly, and smart, and… and… Daniel… oh no…”

  Everyone looked over to where the towering branches that were sticking up over the forest while ablaze with pillars of smoke rising up overhead, clouds of dust and haze slowly settling amidst the elven village from the grand tree’s mighty crash while screams of those within still sounded out without pause.

  “That elf named Clover fell with us out of the tree,” Felucia recalled. “No telling if she survived the fall. But that Daniel guy probably didn’t. Especially if he was still in the palace fighting those two crazy girls. Poor dolt never stood a chance against them.”

  “Daniel…” Cindy whimpered with teary eyes.

  Near the top of the tree a barrage of crimson lights shot into the sky with a thundering roar, the sight causing everyone to jump in surprise as the magical trails of energy reached high into the air above the flaming forest.

  “What in Eden’s name was that?” an elf breathed out.

  Shortly after, bolts of lightning and chilling white light flashed about from the same location, being followed by more fiery red glows with echoing booms sounding off.

  “What’s going on over there?” an elf asked. “That looks like magic being used.”

  “No way,” Felucia said shaking her head in disbelief. “Seriously? He’s still alive?”

  “Daniel?” Cindy wondered as she wiped away her tears. “Was that Daniel?”

  “That… that was the human man you’re talking about?” an elf questioned pointing ahead. “That display just now was from him?”

  “He’s still alive?” Felucia asked with complete bafflement. “He’s really still fighting those two immortal monsters after he fell with them along with the tree into a burning forest? Are you shitting me?”

  “Daniel,” Cindy said, a smile forming as hope for her mate’s survival was rekindled. “That’s him. It has to be him. I know it is. He’s still alive.”

  “He’s still fighting the gemini?” Felucia exclaimed. “He was in a fucking tree that crashed into the ground while on fire! And he’s still going at it with those two crazy bitches? Cindy, who the fuck is that guy?”

  “He’s fighting those two demons… for us?” an elf wondered, herself and the others exchanging curious looks while the child at Cindy’s side tugged on her hand. The wraith looked down to see the young girl holding back her tears while gripping her hand tightly.

  “He’s the one you were talking about? He’s the one who came here to rescue us?”

  “Uh huh,” Cindy answered with a big nod. “He wants to help monsters like us. He wants us to be safe and happy. He saved me from being a bad monster in life. And now he’s going to save you.”

  “Cindy?” Felucia stated holding up a finger. “Question. Many questions. Please explain now.”

  Cindy took a few steps forward, her eyes watching the forest closely as she knew her mate was alive and fighting for the elves further ahead. Looking back she saw her mother stammering something in her shock while the elves were whispering amongst themselves, the women and children looking between the sand wraith and the burning forest where a human man was supposedly engaged in combat with the gemini on their behalf.

  “Listen to me please!” Cindy called out with a hand raised into the air. “We came here to help you get away from The Sisterhood. But we need to move quickly, or else none of us are going to get away.”

  “And what’s your plan on how to do that?” an elf questioned. “There’s hundreds and hundreds of those wretched monsters camped out behind our forest. Where are we supposed to go, they’re going to be coming after us any minute now.”

  “Head south,” Cindy answered as she pointed to the side.

  “That’s east,” an elf pointed out.

  “Head south,” Cindy again said as she pointed in another direction.

  “That’s north,” a child said shaking her head.

  “Which way is south?” Cindy whined. The elves pointed in the right direction, with the sand wraith then doing the same. “Head that way. Get out of the forest and keep going, you’ll find a witch waiting for you. She’s a nice witch, not at all like the mean witch from before. Her name is Alyssa, she’s going to use her magic to help you all escape.”

  “Alyssa?” Felucia repeated with a jump. “Wait, you mean Alyssa the Wildfire Witch? You found her, Cindy?”

  “Uh huh,” Cindy answered with a big nod. “She’s my friend. She’s going to help all of us get away so The Sisterhood can’t catch us.”

  “She’s… your friend?” Felucia repeated in utter confusion. “Whoa whoa, hold on here. Cindy… what in Eden are you talking about?”

  “I’ll explain it all later, mother. But you and the elves need to get going, it’s not safe here. Tell all the elves you can to head south and meet up with Alyssa. Once everyone is there she’ll use her magic and take you all away where you’ll be safe.”

  “How exactly is she going to help us get away from the horde of monsters that’s going to be coming after us any moment now?” an elf desperately asked.

  “It’s magic, I don’t know how that stuff works,” Cindy answered with a shrug. “She’s going to use a spell to take you all far away from this place. Trust me, it’s going to work. But it will only work if everyone gets to her soon. So please, you need to hurry and get going.”

  The elves looked to each other apprehensively while Felucia slowly walked up and grabbed Cindy by the shoulders.

  “Cindy,” she worried while shaking her daughter a little. “You’re scaring me here. Why are you helping these people? Why are you saying such things like you love a human man? What is wrong with you?”

  “Nothing’s wrong with me,” Cindy assured shaking her head. “This is what I want to do. I want to help these elves. I want to be good like Daniel. And I do love him, I love him with all my heart.”

  “We don’t have hearts, Cindy,” Felucia argued. “We’re made of sand. And we certainly don’t talk about our food in such a way. I don’t know what’s come over you but-”

  “They’re not food,” Cindy interrupted, stunning her mother. “These elves are nice people, they’re not for eating. And Daniel isn’t food either, he’s my mate and I love him.”

  “Your mate? What has happened to you, my baby?” Felucia sniveled. “My god, what’s come over you?”

  “I’m doing what I want with my life,” Cindy answered as she stepped back. “I’m walking on my own two feet, and doing what I know is right in this world. I’m being a good girl, just like Daniel said I could be.”

  “Daniel,” Felucia repeated. “That man is the one who put these foolish thoughts into your head? He’s to blame for your confusion?”

  “They’re not foolish thoughts, they’re good thoughts. And I’m not confused, not this time. I know what I’m doing. I
’m glad Daniel taught me how to be a good girl. I like being good. I don’t want to be bad anymore, I don’t want to be like those meanies from The Sisterhood.” Felucia opened her mouth to protest before Cindy held a finger towards her face. “I don’t want either of us to be bad monsters, mother. We’ve been very bad before, eating innocent people like we did. We were so bad. That needs to change. We need to change.”

  “Cindy,” Felucia breathed out, seeming at a loss for words.

  “Head south,” Cindy called over to the elves. She gave Yanee a little push towards them then pointed in that direction as they all watched her curiously. “All of you, get going and tell your friends to leave the forest right away. Alyssa will get you all out of here, you can trust her. Just run out of this place and don’t look back.”

  “What about you?” Yanee asked.

  “I’m going to go find Daniel and Clover,” Cindy declared with a bold smile. “I’m going to help them. Clover’s my friend, I have to make sure she’s okay after that tree fell. And Daniel’s my… my everything. I need to make sure he’s really okay.”

  “Whoa, hold it!” Felucia yelled, grabbing Cindy’s hand as the wraith turned to run off. “You are not going in there, Cindy! It’s bad enough that man corrupted your impressionable little mind, but you’re sure as hell not going anywhere near the gemini! I’m taking you out of this damned place and you are going to be in serious trouble!”

  “Let me go!” Cindy yelled as she thrashed about. “Let go, mother! Let go!”

  “Cindy, stop! Stop this at once! Enough! Listen to me, dammit!”

  “No!” Cindy shouted, turning around and punching her fist through Felucia’s arm, splattering the wraith’s limb apart in a puff of sand. Felucia stared in shock as Cindy disarmed her and quickly shoved her away, watching in stunned silence as her arm started to slowly grow back while Cindy pried off the wraith’s severed hand from her own.

  “I’m not a bad girl anymore!” Cindy declared with a stomp of her foot. “I was before, but not anymore! I’m going to help my friends! I’m going to help these innocent people! And I’m going to help Daniel! He’s given me so much, he’s shown me so many good things, I’ve never been happier before I met him! I’m going to find Daniel and do whatever I can to help him get out of here alive, he means the world to me!”

  “Cindy…”

  “I’m walking on my own two feet,” Cindy stubbornly insisted. “This is the path I want to walk on. This is my choice to make. Go with the elves and get out of here, Alyssa will help you escape before The Sisterhood comes after you. And don’t you dare eat a single elf while I’m gone, not a single elf, mother. If you keep being bad and choose to hurt any of them… then… then… then I won’t love you anymore!”

  “Cindy,” Felucia faintly uttered.

  “I’ll hate you, forever and ever! So don’t be bad anymore! Please, be good. For me. Please be good now, mother.”

  Felucia held out a hand towards her daughter, with Cindy taking a step back and sniffling before turning around and running off. The elder sand wraith watched her go then glanced back to see the elves doing the same.

  “Cindy,” Yanee quietly repeated. “She looked just like…”

  “Let’s go, everyone,” a cleric said to her people. “I’m not sure if that girl was a messenger of the holy spirits or not, but I’d much rather place my faith in her than the demons who have been tormenting us.”

  “You think Clover’s alright?” a child asked her mother. “If she fell from the royal tree… then… then…”

  “I’m sure she’s fine,” the woman assured her. “If it really is Clover who has returned, then I’m confident she’ll survive this mess. To be honest, I’m more curious about that mysterious man who’s taken on the leaders of The Sisterhood. I’m not quite sure what to make of such a turn of events.”

  “Perhaps he was sent by the gods to be our savior,” a cleric wondered, turning her distant gaze up towards the sky. “A man named Daniel. How very curious his loved one was that girl…”

  “If he’s brave enough to fight those two fucking demons, he has my faith to be our savior,” an elf spoke up.

  “I say we do what that sand wraith said,” an elven woman agreed. “I trust her, and it’s our only real option anyway. Let’s get moving, find our sisters and tell them to haul ass to the southern fields. We’re getting the fuck out of here.”

  The elves nodded and started running away together, with Yanee remaining behind and watching Felucia who was gazing ahead at where Cindy had run off.

  “That was your daughter?” she asked, with Felucia glancing back to her in silence. “You know, it took me awhile to figure it out, but she looks just like the elven goddess, Hyliana.”

  Felucia remained quiet as the child looked over to where her savior left then back to the woman with a small smile.

  “The goddess of hope,” Yanee explained. “She certainly bestowed that upon me. I’m never going to forget her or what she did for me. Tell her thank you for me, okay?”

  She turned and ran after the other elves while Felucia looked back ahead, standing still and silent amidst the burning woods while screams and trees toppling down echoed around her. After a moment she blinked then clenched her fists, a stern expression coming over her before she started running after her daughter.

  “Goddammit, what the hell happened to you, Cindy? I swear, when this is all over I’m going to beat the shit out of that Daniel guy for what he’s done to you. Nobody corrupts my baby girl and gets away with it!”

  Further ahead Cindy was running through the smoky forest, passing trees and flaming debris while showing a focused expression as she made haste towards where she hoped to find the ones she loved still alive.

  “I’m walking on my own two feet,” she said with a daring smile forming. “And I’m ready to be a very good girl. Just like my mate believed I could be.”

  Chapter 6

  The Honored Huntress

  In the world of Eden not everyone in their respected communities were valued or appreciated, or even trusted to have around. Be they human or monster, each society had their share of criminals and outcasts, those who were pariahs and nothing but trouble for their kin. Some were imprisoned for their wrongdoings, others exiled for their rebellious ways, and there were a few that were merely shunned and ostracized by their people who just barely tolerated their presence. Perhaps they deserved this punishment for how they acted and treated their people, for the danger they posed to everyone around them.

  Or maybe they never did, and it was all in their head to begin with.

  *****

  “NO!” Clover cried out, her unblinking eyes locked onto the sight of the royal tree falling over with a deafening crackle from its broken base. The mighty timber dropped to the side into the burning forest, its flaming branches driving down into the village with a terrible roar before the tree slammed into the ground, rocking the forest to its core and throwing cinders and dust high into the air around the fallen lumber. Clover dropped to her knees and braced herself from the shockwave by grabbing onto the railing of the treetop terrace she was on, her painful scream sounding over those of the many elves nearby from both seeing Green Haven’s majestic tree felled and also knowing Daniel was still in it. Nearby Sivil was yelling in similar shock as she pulled herself upright against the guardrail, her concern only being that she witnessed her new palace being knocked over with a colossal crash.

  “This can’t be happening!” an elf below the tree cried out in agony. “That did not just fucking happen!”

  “Why is this happening to us?” another shouted in outrage. “Seriously, what the fuck did we ever do to deserve this?”

  “Haha, wow,” a troll laughed. “That one went down real loud, didn’t it? Look at the bright side though. Now you’ve got plenty of firewood for winter. Haha!”

  “Shut up!” an elf shrieked, bashing the monster’s head with a rock before she pounced on and started smashing the screaming fiend’s
face in with the bloodied stone. “I fucking hate you tramps! This is all your fault!”

  “This is all her fault!” another shouted, pointing up from the crowd to Sivil. Elves all around turned to see the dark priestess fuming with rage at the sight of her palace having fallen to rubble. “Ever since she brought The Sisterhood here it’s been nothing but a never-ending nightmare for all of us! This is all because of her!”

  “The gods are pissed at us now!” an elf cried out while cowering in fear. “All because we let those assholes in our sacred forest, because we let Sivil take over as priestess who has done a piss-poor job of keeping us safe, all because we allowed these atrocities to unfold and didn’t do shit to stop them! We’re all doomed now!”

  “If that’s the case,” a ranger growled as she brought an arrow into her bow and took aim up at Sivil. “Then I intend to right this wrong as penance for my people.”

  A twitch of Sivil’s ear was made as the ranger pulled the arrow back against the taut wire, her eyes snapping down to seeing the elf taking aim with a sharp eye and fierce glare. In a flash the arrow was fired up and over the crowd towards the woman, coming just short of piercing her eye before being caught by her hand. Without batting an eyelash Sivil quickly slid down her bow from her shoulder, pulled the arrow back against its wire, and promptly fired it towards the stunned ranger, striking her through the skull with a slick crunch as she fell back with a spurt of blood. Elves all around stared at the downed ranger in surprise then glared with anger up at Sivil who merely looked over them with bitter hatred.

  “What happened?” Sivil loudly demanded. “What happened to my people? Since when were you all so cowardly and weak? Since when did you become as low as maggots and threaten your priestess with acts of violence and betrayal? How dare you-”

  “Oh shut the fuck up!” the elf who was bashing the troll’s face in shouted, giving one final whack and splatter of blood from the downed monster before pointing up towards the dark priestess. “This disaster is all your fault and you know it, bitch! This sort of crap never happened before you came back!”