“Surrender? To you?” Sivil shouted back. “I am your priestess! I am ruler of the elves and this forest! Do you honestly think I’ll ever surrender what’s rightfully mine to some worthless little outsider like you?”
“Drop your bow, or I’m dropping you,” Clover warned as she reached her hand back towards her quiver.
Sivil glanced down to her own bow, her hand still hovering next to her quiver as all eyes turned to her. She looked down at the elves below, the grunts of monsters waiting nearby, the wounded dark rangers who were getting up onto their knees, and finally back towards Clover who remained poised to make good on her promise to drop her if she refused this last offer. Taking a few deep breaths and choking back her growl Sivil then showed a vicious glare towards Clover while her teeth became bared in her snarl.
“Fine. I won’t rule over you. I won’t rule over them. Why would I want to, when you’re all fucking traitors to your priestess’ will! Sisterhood! Kill them all! They shall all die here and now for defying me!”
The elves below turned to see the monsters nearby rushing towards them from the flaming forest, claws and daggers bared, axes and chemical pouches ready to slay the innocent monsters who screamed and backed up fearfully, while Sivil darted back atop the suspended crossway and grabbed hold of two arrows from her quiver.
“CLOVER!”
“You fucking idiot!” Clover yelled, grabbing three bolts from her quiver as she ran towards the dark priestess. She hopped up onto the railing of the bridge, jumped with a heavy leap aside in the air as she fired the arrows down towards the advancing monsters, spiraled around the two arrows Sivil launched at her which just missed her cape, fired three more arrows down towards The Sisterhood before landing on the other railing of the bridge, and then repeated the motion while closing the distance between her and Sivil.
“Just die!” Sivil screamed as she frantically fired at the evasive elf while stepping back. She watched in frustration as her arrows narrowly missed Clover again and again, each time with the blonde elf moving closer while hopping between the two guardrails of the bridge as she fired her own arrows down towards the monsters of The Sisterhood in rapid succession. Arachne were struck in the chest and heads as they skittered among the trees and their branches, mites were shot out of the air and pinned to timbers and the ground with twitching wings, goblins and gremlins dropped with hoarse screams and arrows piercing their chests and skulls, trolls were pelted mercilessly with steel-tipped bolts and collapsed short of reaching the stunned crowd of elves. The dark rangers who remained incapacitated on the dirt witnessed with disbelief as the advancing monsters were swiftly cut down by the acrobatic elf that kept chasing a retreating Sivil atop the high crosswalk and firing volley after volley of arrows down towards The Sisterhood at the same time.
“Die! Just die! Fucking die!” Sivil cried out as she fired again and again, watching in terror as Clover nimbly jumped around the bolts in midair while firing her own at the advancing monsters that were stopped from reaching not even five feet away from the elves who were rendered speechless from the sight.
“You can’t do this! It’s not possible!” Sivil shrieked as Clover drew closer to her, the blonde elf seeming to keep her steady glare on the dark priestess while jumping side to side and shooting a barrage of arrows down towards the dwindling number of monsters approaching the elven crowd. As the last arachne and gremlin dropped dead Clover darted down from the railing while avoiding two more arrows from Sivil, the blonde elf then swiftly dashing low across the bridge towards the dark priestess with a furious roar. Sivil managed to draw another arrow from her quiver that was now nearly empty before Clover drew one of the last few from her holder and took aim at the monster she was quickly approaching.
“End of the line, bitch!” Clover yelled, firing her arrow that Sivil moved back and down to avoid. The bolt’s tip seared across the side of her head and struck off the tip of her ear, the wounded elf screaming in both anger and pain as she lunged forward to strike Clover with the arrow in her hand. Clover’s bolt flew past with Sivil’s blood trailing behind it as the dark priestess then jammed her own arrow into Clover’s gut. With a painful cry Clover stumbled aside as Sivil pushed the bolt in deep while grabbing hold of the girl’s hair.
“FUCK YOU!” Sivil roared as she pushed Clover down to her knees, yanking out the bloodied arrow from her before again ramming it into the screaming elf’s shoulder. Clover felt a sharp pain shoot through her as Sivil kept a firm grip on her hair, her quiver sliding off her back onto the bridge next to her feet with three arrows rolling around inside it. The elves of Green Haven gasped as they saw their huntress dropping, with the blonde elf letting out a strained cry as Sivil pulled the arrow out of her, now dripping with blood as the dark priestess looked down at her opponent with a malicious leer. Clover shakily looked down to her injuries while sitting on her legs, seeing blood running down her tunic and skirt while a different sensation other than pain was also felt from the wounds.
“What… what is this? What did you do to me?”
“You fucking bitch,” Sivil snarled. “What’s wrong? Are you done already? Is the pain too much for you? Are you not used to getting your ass handed to you? Or could it perhaps be that you’re not a fan of my Devil Kisser arrows?”
“Wha… Devil Kisser arrows?” Clover slowly repeated.
“Yes, I use a special toxin with my arrows,” Sivil taunted as she held the bloodied bolt up towards Clover’s face. “Taken straight from the Devil Kisser beetles that make their home to the north of our forest. You know of them, right? How a single bite can paralyze anyone almost instantly.”
“Devil Kissers?” Clover said, her eyes carefully moving from her shoulder up to Sivil while she remained motionless atop her legs. “You… you mean…”
“That’s right,” Sivil hissed in front of Clover’s frustrated scowl. “I use their toxin with all my arrows. You can feel it, can’t you? That heavy sensation taking over your body? If it wasn’t for me holding you upright like this you would drop like a lifeless corpse right here. Looks like your days of jumping about like a fucking bunny are over.”
Clover narrowed her eyes at the elf while her hands remained still at her sides, the look only drawing out a laugh from Sivil as the priestess took a moment to eye over the motionless girl.
“I will admit you surprised me, Clover. I have no fucking clue how you just took down all those monsters and evaded my arrows for so long. I’m almost at the point of considering you above that of a maggot in this world, though sadly I’m not about to go that far even now. I don’t know how you pulled the shit you just did, but your fucking tricks end here.”
Raising the bloodied arrow up into the air she prepared to strike it down into Clover’s head, the blonde elf gritting her teeth with a growl while the elves below started screaming from baring witness.
“I should have done this a long time ago,” Sivil declared. “You fucking cockroaches just don’t die like you should in this world. I can’t trust anyone else, not even swarm, to kill you, so I’ll just do it myself like I should have from the start!”
Before she could move Clover suddenly lunged forward, her hand now holding one of the arrows from her quiver that she then jammed into Sivil’s chest, taking the screaming elf down onto the bridge with a thump while elves below cried out in surprise.
“Yeah, you should have!” Clover yelled as she struck the bolt into Sivil’s chest again with one hand, the other now holding Sivil’s arm and the bloodied arrow down above her head. The dark priestess cried out in agony as Clover repeatedly struck the arrow into her chest again and again with furious shouts.
“You stupid whore! I tried to save you! I tried to help you! What is wrong with you? You fucking bitch, why do you never learn? Goddammit! Why couldn’t you just fucking listen to reason?”
After a few more stabs into the bloodied and torn tunic of the priestess Clover wound back and struck the arrow straight through the woman’s chest and out the
other side of the wooden plank below her with a crunch. Sivil locked up with a hoarse cry, her eyes wearily looking down to the arrow pierced through her then up to Clover while her hand slowly let go of her venom-tipped bolt.
“I gave you a chance to live,” Clover scorned. “You stupid bitch, you just had to push me, didn’t you?”
“How…” Sivil choked out. “You… should have been paralyzed.”
“My old girlfriend used to use Devil Kisser venom to keep me still in bed,” Clover explained, with Sivil showing a baffled look to that. “It was fun for a while, but sadly I built up an immunity to it over time.”
“W… what…”
Clover stood up over the mortally wounded elf, watching as Sivil struggled to draw a breath with a faint scowl appearing once more on her face. Picking up her bow and quiver Clover started to walk away towards the treeside terrace, stopping for a moment before glancing back over her shoulder as Sivil’s eyes were locked onto her still.
“You’re going to die, Clover,” Sivil quietly groaned. “The Sisterhood will destroy you all. You cannot escape your inevitable death.”
“I’ve flirted with death before,” Clover reasoned with a shrug. “She seemed to like me. I think I’ll be alright.”
Sivil showed a confused grimace at her, the elf’s eyes then slowly rolling upward with her head dropping back with a soft thud. Clover watched the fallen priestess remaining motionless with strands of her hair blowing in the wind, a small shake of her head in disdain for the woman being made before she walked over towards the treeside balcony and watched as the crowd of elves below were staring at her in silence.
“Listen up!” she called out while holding a hand over her wound. “There’s no time for anything now! There’s going to be a fuck-ton of monsters from The Sisterhood coming down on us any minute! You all need to get our sisters out of this place and haul ass towards the southern fields right now! My friend is waiting for you there, a witch named Alyssa is going to be taking all of you away from this land before The Sisterhood comes after you!”
“The southern fields?”
“How can a single witch help us all escape The Sisterhood?”
“How did you kill all these bitches just now? That was amazing!”
“Was that really your mate making those magical lights earlier? You really have a man now, Clover?”
“Are you alright? You’re bleeding! Are you going to be okay?”
“It’s a miracle, that fucking cunt Sivil is dead! Fuck yeah!”
“I always knew Clover would come back to save us! Never lost faith in her!”
“Hey!” Clover yelled banging her fist on the railing. “I missed you all too and we can talk all you want about whatever you want later, but right now we have a bit of a crisis going on that needs our attention! Everything’s going to hell around us, those goddamn savages are going to be coming after us soon, and I’m fucking bleeding all over my favorite skirt! So if you really do trust me like you say you do, then fucking trust me right now because I don’t have time to beat any sense into you people!”
“Anything you say, Clover,” an elf assured with a hopeful smile. “I trust you with my life.”
“Me too.”
“We’ll get going right now, just like you said.”
“I’m just so grateful you’ve returned to us.”
“What about them?” another elf asked, pointing to the dark rangers near the trees who were watching Clover with nervous frowns. The crowd turned to them with harsh glares, taking only a few steps closer towards the rangers with vengeful intent before Clover whistled into the air.
“Bring them with, alive,” Clover ordered. The elves turned towards her in question as she eyed the dark rangers with a sharp glare. “They’re going to pay for their crimes and betrayal against their people, but not like this. We don’t kill our own unless absolutely necessary, we’re not like The Sisterhood. Bring those assholes with, and offer one and only one chance to others like them you meet in Green Haven. Either they come peacefully and accept their punishment by our terms, or they can die here, by The Sisterhood’s hands or our own if they leave us no choice.”
Elves from the crowd rushed over towards the fallen rangers who quickly held up their hands in surrender, yanking the wounded women up onto their feet and helping them walk while keeping a firm grip on them the whole way. Clover watched the crowd gather bows and arrows that were lying around and make their way towards the southern side of their village below her tree, with a few of them stopping along the way and noticing Clover turning to walk towards the northern side of the village along the suspended walkway.
“Clover? Aren’t you coming?”
“I’ll be right behind you,” Clover called down to them. “I’m going to make sure the rest of our people get out of here alive. Make sure to spread the word to as many elves as you can, get everyone to the southern fields right away. And don’t take any shit from The Sisterhood along the way. If those fuckers try to mess with you again, shoot them dead!”
“As you wish, High Priestess,” the elf replied with a small bow.
“No! I’m not your priestess! I’m not! I’m just another elf like you! I’m just a huntress, that’s it!”
“But you are next in line to assume command,” another elf mentioned. “With Celine and Sivil dead, and young Grace missing, that leaves only you to lead us. And I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Then find Grace while you’re evacuating Green Haven!” Clover cried out with a small blush. “Find her so she can take over! I can’t be priestess, I just can’t! No way, I can’t do that! I’m not leadership material!”
“You are to us, my grace,” an elf countered with a graceful bow. Other elves in the crowd waved at Clover with approving smiles as they marched off, leaving Clover shouting at them while stomping her feet on the creaking wooden floor.
“Don’t call me that! For fuck’s sake, I’m not the priestess! I’m only a huntress! Just… just… just get everyone out of here! Get the fuck out of here now, goddammit!”
Watching the elves leaving the area Clover growled in frustration before shaking it off, her attention then turning back towards the northern side of the village where the flurry of magical radiances had erupted earlier.
“I know Dan ordered me to get out of here with my people, but…” she hesitantly said. Glancing down to her wounded torso and shoulder she growled while wiping blood off her glove onto her skirt. Quickly looking around the area she spotted a fallen ranger further ahead on another rope bridge. She raced along the crossway past the fallen priestess’ body and around another treeside balcony while screams were heard echoing amidst more fiery explosions sounding off within the burning forest. Rushing over to the dead ranger she quickly grabbed arrows from the woman’s quiver and stuffed them into her own, then ripped off the end of the elf’s cape that she used to tie around her waist and shoulder to bandage the wounds. Standing up with a quiver filled with arrows and her bow held firmly in hand Clover peered ahead into the hazy forest where she knew for certain Daniel was still alive and fighting the gemini.
“Yeah, no doubt about it,” she smirked before taking off along the suspended walkway. “My man is going to tan my ass red for disobeying him like this.”
Chapter 8
Friends and Foes
In the world of Eden there were always conflicts to handle in life. Some could be done peacefully, others only by force, while a few may have resolutions not so easily seen or obtained. The more difficult ones to solve arose from internal conflicts forming, either by personal hindrances or moral dilemmas. It was during these troubling times that relying on friends or family for aid was a reasonable choice with seeking proper guidance on what to do next. Perhaps they could help with words of reason, or assist in combat with their strength and courage.
Unless of course, they were the ones challenging you in the first place.
*****
Mika let loose a powerful roar as she th
rew all her weight with a swing of her sword towards Aeon, her casting circle flaring up below as purple wisps of light flowed upward around the hunter before forming into glowing balls of energy that began to build up in the air. The radiances cast a bright light onto the surrounding cavern as Daemon and his followers observed the confrontation while bound by the chronofly’s magic, all eyes centered on Mika charging through a stunned Aeon’s control to strike down the Dark Queen.
“Finish it, Mika!” Hollia shouted. “Now’s your chance!”
“Hurry, before she recovers!” Tabitha yelled.
Mika screamed while channeling all her magic into the attack, the balls of energy flowing down around her and into the sword as it flashed crimson in her hands. Aeon yelled with eyes shut tight as she struggled to freeze time before her, her magic causing Mika’s strike to blur and slow down yet unable to halt it completely.
“You… can’t… beat… me!” Aeon cried out.
“Watch me!” Mika yelled before swiping hard with her sword. The powerful attack blasted forward against Aeon, the chronofly crying out as the blade’s slash sent out a blindingly hot arc of energy that clashed against the monster’s body. Everyone watched as the attack flared past the chronofly in a slow, crackling wave, with Mika lifting her sword up high above her as glowing black and crimson casting rings appeared down around the blade to the hilt. Wisps of neon red light sifted through the air into the sword as Mika prepared another attack to throw at the screaming chronofly, her eye holding unbridled fury for the monster that dared to threaten her with her little brother.
“I’m not holding back anymore!” Mika roared. She swung down with her sword, casting out a violent wave of crimson light with dark streaks of magic flowing through it, the fiery spell carving through the ground and engulfing Aeon in its bright light. The chronofly screamed as the attack raced through and crashed into the wall of the cave further away, a powerful explosion detonating while the entire cavern rumbled from the force.
Chronicles of Eden - Act XII Page 24