Sivil growled at her with clenched fists while the elves below were now watching her closely. Clover observed Sivil’s silent reaction before turning to her with a flinching scowl.
“I tracked down that thieving elf to the town of Rackleholm after she fled this land with Celine’s holy relic. Every step of the way I wondered what came over that foolish girl for daring to do something as heinous as steal from her priestess. Not to mention why she stole it.”
“You found her?” Sivil carefully asked.
“Yeah, I did. The bitch is dead now, though I’m starting to think she was just a lowly pawn in someone’s game. How did you know about the relic’s theft, Sivil? I don’t think Celine would have told you, and I’m sure as shit the high maidens had their lips sealed. So tell us, who told you about it?”
Sivil glanced down to see the elves below glaring at her while The Sisterhood and dark rangers were keeping on guard as they could tell tension was swiftly growing between everyone.
“It was you, wasn’t it?” Clover accused, only getting a silent look from Sivil in response. “That archer was one of yours, wasn’t she? You had the relic stolen, you’re the one who orchestrated that robbery against our priestess and people! You goddamned whore, you’re nothing but a fucking traitor! Why did you do it? Why did you have our holy artifact removed from Green Haven? What were you thinking?”
“Simple,” Sivil hissed. “I thought to myself, what would be the best way of getting that fucking rat Clover removed from Green Haven? The answer was obvious, steal something so valuable that Celine would only entrust its recovery with you, her prized little pet. You weren’t supposed to come back, Clover, you were supposed to do us all a favor and fucking die out there. The swarm in Rackleholm should have devoured you alive, how the fuck are you standing here again? Why won’t you just go to hell, you unbearable forest urchin?”
“You knew about the swarm in Rackleholm,” Clover realized. “Holy shit, that’s what this was all about? You had Celine’s artifact stolen and taken there so I would follow after it, all so you could feed me to the swarm. You tried to kill me, you fucking bitch!”
“Watch your tongue, Clover,” Sivil retorted with a cruel smile. “You’re speaking to the new priestess of Green Haven, whether you like it or not. I am the priestess of Green Haven now! The elves and archers belong to me now! This is my forest! This is my land! This is my rule! And nobody, and I mean nobody, is going to take that from me!”
Without warning a massive barrage of crimson lights shot into the sky from near the top of the fallen royal tree, the roaring outburst of searing magical energy catching everyone’s attention as the sparkling bolts of power soared high above the flaming forest.
“What the fuck?” a dark ranger asked.
Shortly after, bolts of lightning and chilling white light erupted from the same location behind several trees, being quickly followed by more fiery red glows of magical energy with thundering booms sounding off.
“What’s doing that?” an elven child asked. “What is that, mama?”
“Now what’s going on in this fucked up forest?” a troll grunted.
Sivil watched the magical radiances blooming further away before turning to see Clover smiling at the sight. With a heavy sigh of relief the blonde elf then sharply grinned at Sivil while tilting her head slightly.
“Looks like my man is still alive!” she loudly declared, getting all elves to turn up towards her in surprise. “And is busy wiping those smug grins off The Sisterhood’s leaders as we speak!”
“Your… man?” Sivil repeated. “You have a man with you?”
“Did she say she has a man?” an elf whispered. “Like a mate?”
“Clover has a mate?”
“That fucking display just now was from a human man? Is she serious?”
“And he’s fighting The Sisterhood’s leaders? A man is doing that?”
“You’re damn straight I have a man,” Clover boldly boasted. “I found the best guy Eden has to offer. He’s the one who saved me out there. He’s the one who brought me here so we could save my people. And he’s the one who’s going to help them all have a brighter future, one without The Sisterhood in it!”
“What in Eden are you yammering about?” Sivil snarled. “What trickery is this?”
“No tricks,” Clover retorted as she quickly slipped her bow down into her hand. “This is as real as it gets, Sivil. While my man is busy kicking in the teeth of the gemini, I’m going to beat the fucking shit out of you for what you’ve done to our people.”
“You wish,” Sivil hissed, her piercing gaze staring back into Clover’s while she tensed up. “I don’t care what game you or your little pet human are playing, you’re both at your end. Sisterhood! Get my elves out of this fucking inferno right now! Rangers! Execute this insufferable rat who dares stand before me! It’s about time she left this world once and for all!”
It all happened in mere moments. The monsters of The Sisterhood charging towards the crowd of screaming elves, the dark rangers taking aim up at Clover atop the treeside balcony, Sivil darting back away from the targeted elf while reaching behind to grab an arrow out of her quiver, the furious rumbling of Eden below as more lava and steam erupted nearby in the flaming forest. For Clover, the sounds and sights of everything swiftly unfolding around her were easily noticed, and as she prepared to right the wrongs of her traitorous kin she felt very confident about one thing.
The odds were stacked in her favor, bestowed personally by a real angel of death.
Chapter 7
Clover’s Shadow
In the world of Eden, elves were renowned for their expert archery. From striking distant targets with pin-point precision, to shooting arrows through crowded woodlands with insane accuracy, these vixens of the forests were considered the best archers in Eden. Though spoken of in fabricated tales that they are quiet, harmless creatures of the trees, the truth was they were in fact anything but gentle. Elven rangers were certainly formidable opponents with arrows as sharp as their tongues, never to be taken lightly as these women could bring the pain onto any who provoked them with ease.
With proper dedication and gear, one could even rival an entire army.
*****
Standing on the shore with the lake’s water gently lapping against her boots, a lone elf was seen distantly gazing at the tranquil waters that rested deep within a sprawling jungle under the sunny weather. The trees and their rustling leaves that swayed in the wind were all that could be heard as the young elf who couldn’t have been more than fourteen years of age stood before the rippling water with her long blonde twintails running down her back against her arrow-filled quiver. Her brown tunic and short skirt held tightly to her petite frame, arms being bare while hands were clad in small brown gloves, boots resting in the soft sand beneath the water, and her leafy ribbons swayed in the breeze along with her golden locks. In one hand, her bow, held tightly with a clenching grip. The other, bare, trembling at her side as she tried to hold in both her tears and cries while she stood alone in more ways than one.
“Why?” Clover uttered under her breath. “Why do you keep fucking with me? Why do you keep tormenting me? Why do you keep picking on me?”
Rubbing her eyes quickly she then turned her teary gaze down to her hand, fingers trembling as she appeared to despise the very thing she was now glaring at.
“It’s not fair. I tried. I tried so hard. I gave everything I could, did everything I could, and yet… for fuck’s sake, why is it never enough? Goddammit! What more could I do? What more could I have done?”
With a furious roar her voice carried out across the land, startling birds from their trees and sending woodland critters fleeing from their homes.
“My mom was everything I had! Everything I had to live for, to hold onto, to make me happy! The only one who gave a single fuck about me, the only one who ever loved me, and what did you do? You fucking assholes in the sky took her away! You took her away right in front of
me in the most fucked up way possible! Goddamn you all!”
Dropping to her knees she slammed her fist down on the beach, splashing mud and water repeatedly as she screamed again and again.
“Did you think that was funny?” she shouted up at the sky. “Did you get your sick kicks? Did you have a good fucking laugh? Watching my mother get slaughtered by trolls, ripped apart in front of my fucking eyes, was that what you wanted to see? Huh? Was it? Or did you fuckers get your wretched entertainment out of my suffering instead? I’m sure you saw! Seven trolls! Seven goddamned horsefucking trolls getting the drop on my mother, who always prayed to you divine cocksuckers all her life, and having her torn apart all over the forest floor as thanks for that!”
Scrambling to her feet she waved her arms around in a fit, her eyes then turning to the bow in her hand that only drew more self-loathing out in the young girl.
“Seven trolls…” she whimpered. “How could I have gotten them all by myself? How could I have been expected to shoot them all before they killed her? It’s not fair! I tried to shoot as fast as I could, I tried to save her, but there was no fucking way I could have! How could you have sent down a horde of those bloodthirsty monsters upon my poor mother like that? You knew I couldn’t have saved her! You knew I couldn’t have taken them all down in time! You fucking knew that, that’s why you did it, wasn’t it? You didn’t just want to take the only person I ever loved away from me, you also wanted to rub my face in the fact that I’m a fucking horrible archer who can’t protect anyone!”
Throwing her bow down she then grabbed her quiver and slammed it into the water with a furious yell, the girl staggering back and screaming her heart out with arms held tightly around herself.
“I hate you all! I hate my fucking life! I hate myself! I hate everyone! Goddammit, I just want to die! I want to die! I want everyone to fucking die!”
Dropping to her knees she broke down into loud sobs and cries of anger, her hair sliding in the shallow water that continued to gently wash against her as pounded her fist into the sand. Minutes passed as the young girl cried and cursed everything in the world with slurred obscenities and snivels, her boiling rage gradually subsiding and being replaced with sorrow and remorse. After a while she started to quiet down, her ears twitching slightly as not only a strong wind blew across the treetops surrounding the lake but also a faint whisper was heard within it. Lifting her head she sniffled and rubbed her eyes before slowly looking around as she kept hearing the strange sound echoing in the breeze, almost as if it were dancing through the air near her ears.
“That’s no good,” a woman spoke up, with Clover quickly turning to see an elf standing near the shore behind her. She wore a unique variant of elven garb; black boots and gloves with silver straps on the ankles and wrists, fishnet stockings that covered her legs, a dark tight-fitting skirt with violet embroidered edgings, a black and green tunic that was left undone over her large bust, and the quiver on her back was filled with arrows that had long silver feathers on their ends. Her golden arm bracelets of elegant design shimmered in the sunlight while her long raven hair flowed freely down to her thighs, her eyes being a dark violet while her nose bared a ring-piercing that dangled near her upper lip. A silver tiara was worn with a dark green diamond gemstone set over her forehead. Her bow, most noticeably enough, was certainly not of the typical variety either. It was as if an elf had a nightmare when dreaming up its design, the jagged edges on the frame being made of bone and sinew while the front displayed two small skulls that were facing outward with the handle set between them.
“Praying for death seems like a foolish thing to do,” the woman continued, her eyes gazing ahead at the water as if without a care. “Surely you have some will to live on still, right?”
“For what?” Clover spat out. “I’m all alone now in a fucking world that hates my guts.”
“Haha!” the woman laughed, her eyes finally turning to the young girl while an amused smile came across her. “Now now, the world hates everyone. Don’t go thinking you’re something special just because you’ve had your share of bad luck.”
“Bad luck? My mother was murdered in front of me! She was fucking killed by filthy trolls right before my eyes! And there was nothing I could have done for her! I couldn’t save the one person who meant everything to me, I couldn’t do jack shit! All I could do was watch her die! Now I have nothing, you fucking bitch! What else is there to live for in this fucked up world?”
“What else is there?” the woman questioned. “Well, let’s see. For starters, yourself. You do have your own life to live after all. Second, what about your people? What about your sisters in your village? What about them?”
“What about them?” Clover scoffed. “They weren’t there for my mother when she was being ripped apart. They weren’t there to help me while I failed horribly in saving her life. They’ve never been there for me to begin with. Nobody has ever been there for me, helped me, or even wanted to talk to me. I could never count on anyone, anyone at all. Nobody, but my mother. She was the only one worth living for. She was the only one I cared about.”
“I see,” the woman replied, her gaze lowering to her bow that she tilted in her hand. “So, if your entire village were to be wiped out, you wouldn’t care at all, Clover?”
Clover slowly turned to face the woman while getting back on her feet, sharply watching as the strange elf shifted her sights over to her again with a playful smirk.
“If someone were to say, kill every single last elf in your village, every one without exception, would you not care at all? Would you even be happy if they were all dead? Would you thank the gods for such a service?”
“Who are you?” Clover demanded. “How do you know my name? I’ve never seen you in Tiok Grove before. You’re not from around here, are you?”
“Oh, I go here and there, now and again,” the woman humbly admitted. “Been around the world more than you would think. But back to the matter at hand, would you be happier if everyone was dead? Would you be thankful that those who were not with you and your poor mother during her final moments in this world were ripped away from the land of the living?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Clover growled. “Who are you and what are you doing here?”
“My job,” the stranger replied, gently tapping her bow against her hip a few times while the faint whisper was again heard in Clover’s ears. The young elf looked at the demonically crafted bow that almost seemed to be making those strange noises before tensing up as she turned her eyes into the piercing gaze of the woman who was starting to emit a very chilling aura.
“Well, Clover?” she asked again. “You won’t care at all if they died today, right? If anything, it’ll serve them right for not saving your dear old mother’s life.”
“I don’t know who you are or what the fuck you’re talking about,” Clover snarled back. “But if you’re looking to start a fight today then you picked the wrong forest to visit. And you sure as shit picked the wrong elf to mess with!”
She quickly reached down to snatch up her bow and quiver, right before two arrows struck past her legs into the water with sharp whistles and hard impacts. Jumping back with a scream Clover looked up just in time to see two more arrows flying right at her, the bolts streaking by her head with not an inch to spare while the archer was holding her pose from firing them with an amused smile on her face.
“Is that so?” she asked cocking her head aside. Clover froze as she saw the woman staring her down, the reality of what just happened sinking in as she replayed the event in her mind and noticed something glaringly wrong with it.
“How… how the fuck…” she shakily breathed out. “How did you fire those so fast? That’s not possible, you can’t-”
In a flash the ranger reached behind, grabbed two arrows, drew them back in her bow, and fired, launching them right past either side of Clover’s head. And then again. And again. All in the time it took Clover to draw a breath she witnessed the
ranger launching a volley of arrows with dangerously sharp accuracy right past her head, her arm and hand movements a blur in the young girl’s eyes as she wasn’t able to fully track the motions that happened so blindly fast. The rapid splashing of the arrows hitting the lake behind her were heard over her shaky breathing, the young elf looking behind to where multiple rippling rings were seen in the water before back to the mysterious ranger who lowered her bow and rested a hand on her hip.
“I can’t, can I?” she quipped. “Well, I just did.”
“Who are you?” Clover nervously asked. “What are you?”
“I have but one answer for both. Just another ranger of the underworld.”
“Under… world?” Clover faintly repeated. “You’re from the underworld?”
“I’m certain you’ve prayed to many spirits before,” the woman said as she walked up in front of the girl. Gently she brushed aside Clover’s bangs and ran her hand through one of the fluffy twintails while seeing the girl struggling to remain still. “But never once have you prayed to one like me. Don’t worry, I don’t take offence to that. Like I said earlier, praying for death seems like a foolish thing for someone to do.”
“You’re… an angel of death?”
“I wouldn’t call myself an angel,” the stranger laughed. “I certainly have no holy wings on my back. But death… that is something I’m quite familiar with. An elf of death doesn’t have the same ring to it though. Oh well, no matter.”
“What do you want?” Clover shakily asked. “Have you come to take my life? Am I dying?”
“No, you don’t have to die, Clover. You’re not fated to fall on this day. But the rest of your village, all of Tiok Grove, is.”
Chronicles of Eden - Act XII Page 21