“I’m helping! I’m helping!”
“Cindy!” Felucia yelled at her. “Get back over here this minute! What are you doing out there?”
“Helping!” Cindy cheered with a big wave. She turned around and screamed as a troll with a flaming axe and a salamander woman charged her, the sand wraith stumbling backwards in her steps as the fiends closed in. In a blur Clover fired two arrows past Cindy into the monsters’ heads, another past Sheal into a troll before it could cut down the salamander with a machete, and two more behind her at an arachne and gremlin that dropped dead with the bolts lodged into their skulls.
“And I thought it was just your daughter that cared about others,” Clover quipped with a smirk and brief glance back to Felucia.
“Oh shove it up your ass!” Felucia barked back. “Just make yourself useful and help kill these fucking cunts before they hurt my baby, that’s the only reason I saved your sorry hide!”
Cindy stared at the downed salamander woman and troll in front of her, her shaky breath slowly calming before she looked down to Pip, seeing the tiny fairy barely awake as she remained nuzzled between her breasts. Turning her gaze up to the side she saw Sheal standing beside her, the salamander woman holding a hand out for her to take while keeping a sharp eye on approaching monsters in the woods.
“You okay?” Sheal hoarsely asked glancing down to the sand wraith. Getting no reply from Cindy she continued. “C’mon, this is no place to rest. On your feet.”
Slowly Cindy took hold of her hand, the salamander woman helping her up while a few arrows whizzed past them into the shadows where they lodged into the skulls of some gremlins.
“Relax, I’m not going to burn you,” Sheal said shaking her head. “I just want to live through this like you do.”
“You’re really Squeak’s friend?” Cindy carefully asked.
“I’m not sure,” Sheal softly wondered. “But if I am, she’s the only friend I’ve got in the world now. If nothing else, I at least owe her my help for saving my life.”
Cindy watched her curiously for a moment before they saw arachne and goblins running towards them between the trees, the two girls backing up while getting ready to fight again as the approaching fiends screamed at their prey.
“You watch my back, and I’ll watch yours,” Sheal said. “Sound fair?”
“I can’t watch your back right now, I have to fight these mean jerks before they hurt us. I’ll watch it later.”
“Fair enough,” Sheal reasoned with a shrug.
As the girls continued to fend off grunts of The Sisterhood in the smoky clearing, Daniel and Squeak were locked into a fight of their own with the leaders of the savage horde nearby. The ant girl dodged back and around as Jacqueline swung her freezing blade at her relentlessly, the chilled air frosting over her own sword and gloves from the near misses. Taking a hard swing at the blonde girl Squeak struck the enchanted weapon with a hard clang, pushing Jacqueline back only slightly before she quickly slashed downward and sliced Squeak’s blade off at the hilt.
“Haha!” Jacqueline sneered as Squeak stared with wide eyes at her broken weapon. “Your little knife broke, how unfortunate is that? What are you going to do now, you stupid weakling?”
Without batting an eyelash Squeak punched her in the nose, knocking the blonde back with a grunt before the ant girl followed through and bashed her face in with another hard blow. Squeak struck her in the head again and again with fevered squeaks, ducked down as Jacqueline took a blind swing at her with her sword, punched her in the face again, then grabbed her arm and hurled the blonde over and into the ground behind her with a heavy slam. Stomping down on the monster’s back Squeak squeaked sharply at her a few times, breaking the monster’s bones and spine before Jacqueline grabbed her foot and yanked it out from under her. Dropping to the ground Squeak scrambled to get away as the gemini pulled her closer by the leg, her murderous snarl and glaring multicolored eyes aimed at the ant girl as she swung her sword towards her. Squeak ducked down low to the ground, just barely evading the swipe, then kicked Jacqueline’s face in, breaking her skull with a crack and knocking her away. The ant girl quickly got back onto her feet before Eden shook wildly below and knocked her back down, the heavy quake causing cracks to tear through the battlefield as more steam blasted through the new vents.
Daniel yelled out with all his might as he and Jovian clashed blades again, sending out waves of fire and snapping electricity outward between them while the forceful blast knocked the two back into a rolling tumble, with Jovian then falling into a crevice that tore open beneath her while Daniel grabbed hold of a slab of rock that struck upward through the shaking dirt to halt himself.
“Whoa!” Clover shouted as she lost her balance, her arrows being fired wildly into the air high over the trees while nearby monsters stumbled to the ground and struggled to move atop the rumbling forest floor.
“What’s happening?” Cindy whined, dropping onto her rear with Sheal tripping beside her, the two quickly backing up close to each other while nearby trolls and gremlins dropped straight through the ground into heated pits with terrified screams.
“This is a big one!” Felucia yelled as she fell to the ground with a goblin in her hand, the sand wraith taking a moment to smash the fiend’s face into the dirt with a splatter before looking around nervously as the shaking wasn’t stopping.
“Boobies?” Pip murmured as she stirred between Cindy’s breasts. “You’re jiggling so much… I love you, boobies.”
“Dan!” Clover exclaimed as fire began shooting up through cracks in the clearing. Looking over towards her mate she saw him getting back onto his feet, his eyes carefully watching where Jovian fell with clouds of smoke now rising up from the pit before surveying the shaking battlefield that stopped every monster nearby in their tracks.
“What’s happening?” a gremlin called out.
“The forest is going to erupt!” a troll cried as more fountains of lava erupted within the woodland nearby.
“This is bad. This is bad,” a mite droned before a spout of fire tore through the ground below and incinerated her.
“Fuck this!” an arachne screamed as she covered her head to defend from falling rocks and flaming leaves. “This place is going to blow! Everyone run for your lives!”
The Sisterhood quickly began retreating with terrified shrieks as the rumbling below continued on with more steam vents rupturing nearby.
“We need to go, right now!” Felucia yelled out.
“You don’t have to tell me twice!” Clover agreed as she struggled to keep standing. “Dan, we have to get to Alyssa before it’s too late!”
“Get to the southern fields!” Daniel ordered. He stumbled back onto his knee from another tremor hitting hard while Clover and Felucia ran over to Sheal and Cindy to help them back onto their feet.
“Let’s go, Cindy!” Felucia said as she yanked her daughter up.
“C’mon, let’s go!” Clover barked out as she got Sheal up again.
“Wait, where’s Daniel?” Cindy asked looking around quickly.
“And Squeak?” Sheal added as she did the same. “Squeak? Squeak!”
“Dan? Squeak?” Clover called out as the girls looked back, spotting Daniel staggering in his steps as lava exploded through the royal tree’s remains further behind him. Steam blasted through the cracked dirt below as Daniel struggled to stand upright in the sweltering heat, holding an arm close to his face to shield himself from the burning waves of air while having the Hellfire’s Edge lowered at his side.
“I’m fine!” he called back with a wave. “Just taking in one last view of the lovely scenery! Squeak? Squeak, where are you?”
Everyone looked around for the ant girl before spotting her slowly climbing up from a crevice as steam erupted behind her, the ant girl slowly bringing herself up onto solid ground and nervously looking back to seeing a steep drop towards glowing magma below that she nearly dropped into a moment ago. She got back onto her feet as smoke an
d haze blew through the clearing, squeaking a few times and waving with one hand at the group while holding the other over her mouth.
“Squeak,” Daniel sighed in relief. “Don’t scare me like that. Come on, let’s get out of here.”
Squeak waved to him with a few squeaks and nods in agreement as black haze swirled behind her from the fiery vent, the girl coughing a little behind her hand before she started trotting towards him. Making it only two steps she then suddenly stopped, her eyes going wide as the sounds of her friends screaming loudly became muffled in her ears along with a terrible crunch. She saw Daniel staring at her in horror as smoke blew around him, her eyes then slowly moving down to see Jacqueline’s Ice Princess piercing out through her chest with blood coating the white runestone blade.
“NO!” Clover shrieked, herself and everyone staring in surprise at Squeak having been struck through by the blonde gemini who stepped out from the smoky haze behind the ant girl. Squeak shakily lifted her hands up towards the weapon before it twisted inside her, causing her to jerk and lock up with a stunned gasp as Jacqueline growled at her through bared teeth.
“Where do you think you’re going?” she hissed. “I’m not done playing with you yet.”
“Squeak,” Sheal faintly breathed out in shock.
“No,” Cindy whimpered. “No. Squeak. No.”
“Squeak,” Daniel managed to say, his breath having been taken away as he saw his mate staring at him in agony while run-through by the gemini’s sword. Swiftly rage overcame him, a furious yell pouring out of his mouth as he ran forward while gripping his sword, its heated edge suddenly spiking as flames rushed across the darkened steel.
“SQUEAK!” he roared as he rushed towards Jacqueline, only for Jovian to quickly jump out of the billowing smoke clouds in front of him, the woman swinging hard with her Hellstorm at the enraged human as it crackled with energy. Blocking the hit with his sword Daniel was knocked flying back with his weapon being cast into a wild spin across the clearing, striking into the dirt in front of Felucia as she and the girls saw Daniel rolling back along the ground away from the gemini before sliding to a halt on the dirt.
“What’s wrong, Daniel?” Jovian sharply asked. “I thought you were having a wondrous time playing with us. Why the look of anger now? Huh?”
“NO!” Daniel screamed as he got up on his hands and knees, watching in rage and terror as Jovian laughed at him along with her sister. The raven-haired woman stepped aside to allow Daniel the sight of Squeak twitching slightly while her legs wobbled beneath her, her eyes having tears in them as they remained locked onto her mate.
“We told you before,” Jovian scolded. “You didn’t believe us, but we did tell you. We wouldn’t lie to you, Daniel.”
“You should have heeded our warning,” Jacqueline said, her hands tightening around her sword as it began channeling a chilling aura.
“We’re going to make you scream,” the gemini sneered in unison, with Daniel staring with unblinking eyes as Jacqueline’s sword began spreading ice all across Squeak’s body.
“We’re going to make you scream,” they taunted louder, all eyes watching in shock as Squeak’s torso and legs froze into ice along with her abdomen.
“We’re going to make you scream!” the gemini laughed while the ant girl’s head was all that remained unfrozen now.
“Squeak,” Daniel breathed out.
Squeak took a shaky breath, softly squeaked at Daniel with a teary-eyed smile, then gasped before she turned to ice from feet to antennae. Daniel lost his voice as tears formed in his eyes, the world around him fading into darkness as he witnessed his mate being frozen solid right in front of everyone. He shakily eyed over her crystalized body with unblinking eyes as his heart skipped a beat, with Jovian and her sister smiling wickedly as they laughed in unison while having silenced all witnesses to their latest murder.
“We’re going to make you scream!” they shouted, with Jacqueline then yanking her sword aside through the frozen ant girl’s body, shattering her into pieces that dropped to the ground like glass at the woman’s feet. Clover and the girls stared at the sight in speechless alarm, the elf dropping to her knees with a faint whimper while Cindy tried to hold in her cries and tears that were slowly slipping out. Sheal slowly held a hand out towards the fallen ant girl while faintly speaking her name, with Felucia staring at the remains with a mixed look of frustration and pity before turning her gaze away.
Daniel however was struck to his very core with despair, his eyes unable to look away from the sight of his ant girl having been slain right before him. The world vanished around him as he felt anger and sorrow consuming him, images of his beloved ant girl flashing before his eyes while her voice echoed in his ears with words that couldn’t be understood. He wanted to scream to the heavens, he wanted to pound his fist into the ground, he wanted to let loose his anger with all his might; yet his body wouldn’t respond. He couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, couldn’t even think as the reality of losing Squeak paralyzed him while his raging emotions swirled within as a tormenting storm that was unable to be released.
“We’re going to make you scream!” the gemini laughed, both of them then watching in puzzlement as Daniel remained still and quiet before them.
“Hey, why aren’t you screaming?” Jacqueline complained. “I just murdered your stupid girlfriend here, what gives?”
“Daniel?” Jovian wondered with a curious eye. “Daniel? Sister, look at him. He doesn’t seem to be hearing us now. In fact, he looks positively dead inside.”
“But why isn’t he screaming or crying or anything?” Jacqueline whined. “That’s the best part, that’s what I wanted, he’s supposed to be breaking down into misery before we kill him.”
“I think he has,” Jovian mused as she saw the empty gaze Daniel held on his fallen ant girl. “Look, he doesn’t even have the strength to move or cry. He’s completely withdrawn from this world in his agony.”
“NO!” Clover screamed out, with the gemini turning to see the elf roaring at them with unbridled fury. “YOU FUCKING ASSHOLES! HOW COULD YOU? I’M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!”
She reached behind to her quiver before quickly looking back to see that it was empty, the elf yelling in her rage as she yanked it off her back and slammed it down to the ground while screaming non-stop.
“See?” Jacqueline said waving her sword at the elf. “That’s the kind of suffering I wanted to see in Daniel. At least she’s putting some effort into it.”
“YOU’RE BOTH FUCKING DEAD!” Clover raged with fire in her eyes. She grabbed the Hellfire’s Edge out of the dirt and started to run towards the gemini with a furious roar before a violent tremor shook the land, tearing apart a large crevice across the clearing that opened wide with steam and fire blowing out. Clover quickly came to a halt just at the edge of the steep gap, her arms flailing about with her wavering balance as she started to fall over into it before Sheal grabbed her hand and yanked her back onto solid ground.
“Watch it!” Sheal warned.
“Squeak!” Cindy screamed out with tears falling from her cheeks. “No! No! Don’t break her! I like her! I want to play with her again! Squeak! Don’t break apart now, please! We still have to play when we go home! We have to play together again! Squeak! Squeak! Waaaaaaaaah!”
She dropped to the ground crying and rubbing her eyes, with Pip murmuring in a daze between her breasts as a few tears fell into the wraith’s cleavage with her. Felucia watched her daughter sobbing loudly with a pained expression then turned to the gemini with a growl and clenched fists.
“How dare you make my baby cry,” she snarled while shaking.
“No!” Clover screamed as Sheal held her back, her teary-eyed glare going from Squeak’s remains to the gemini sisters who were laughing at them then over to Daniel who was still in a state of shock while on the Dark Queen’s half of the clearing.
“Dan!” Clover shrieked as she struggled in Sheal’s grip. “Dan! Run! Get up, Dan! RUN!”
<
br /> “I don’t think he’s getting up,” Jovian chuckled as the gemini turned their sights back onto him. “Sister, I think we may have been a bit rough with him just now. Looks as though Daniel has become broken all too quickly.”
“Really?” Jacqueline sighed. “I wanted him to suffer more. This isn’t fair. He’s just too puny and pitiful.”
“He really is,” Jovian agreed as the twins started walking towards Daniel.
“Dan!” Clover desperately screamed. “Run! Get up, Dan! Run! Run now!”
“What are you doing?” Sheal called out. “Run away, you fool!”
“Snap out of!” Felucia shouted. “Hey, wake up, stupid! They’re coming for you!”
“Daniel!” Cindy cried out, holding a hand out towards the human while shaking her head fearfully. “No! Don’t break him too! I love him! I love him! Don’t take him from me too!”
“You love him?” Jovian repeated as the sisters stood before Daniel, his empty gaze still aimed at his fallen mate while he didn’t budge or make a sound. “Sister, why does everyone we meet seem to care for this feeble little human so much? I honestly can’t figure it out.”
“I have no idea, sister,” Jacqueline replied with a careless shrug. “As far as men go in this world he’s the lowest of the low. So weak he can’t protect his friends, so pathetic he can’t stand and fight, so utterly hopeless as he sits there with that stupid look on his face.”
Jovian smirked and jabbed her sword into Daniel’s shoulder, causing Cindy and Clover to scream in horror while Daniel didn’t make a sound. Jacqueline poked her sword into his arm and then his back, also getting no reaction out of him while blood began spreading on his shirt.
Chronicles of Eden - Act XII Page 36