Chronicles of Eden_Act X

by Alexander Gordon

  Three others that were staring at him with unwavering gazes.

  “What’s he doing?” Hollia feared. “Whatever broke our weapons are all around him, why isn’t he moving?”

  “Are you three the guardians of this city?” Daemon called out. Hearing no answer he tilted his blade around to see the three unseen watchers were now closer to him.

  “Who is he talking to?” Mika asked shaking her head.

  “Answer me. Are you the guardians of this city?” Daemon said again. The reflection in his sword revealed the three stalkers were now even closer.

  Saffron peered around for any sign of who Daemon was speaking to then squeaked at her workers with a cautious expression. The ant girls started squeaking back all at once, getting only a confused look from Saffron as their story of what happened to them earlier didn’t explain so much as it did raise further questions.

  “I’m going to assume you’re not the guardians of this city,” Daemon concluded as he was met with silence again. Using his sword he saw in its reflection the three silent stalkers standing right next to him on all sides. He examined what they looked like, realizing what they were and what had happened with the girls attempting to attack them.

  “Master!” Sasha cried out as she ran forward with her broken sword. She sprinted towards Daemon with all her might while he stood perfectly still, the swordsman then spinning around with his blade in a quick motion. As he did the sword sparked and seared across three objects, a distorted wave of air rolling away from him on all sides from the attack. Everyone watched in wonder as three figures were thrown back from the strike onto the floor with heavy thuds, their bodies flashing brightly before the lights shattered to reveal the hidden stalkers.

  “Ow!” one whined.

  “Owie owie!” the second wailed.

  “Owie ow ow!” the third complained.

  Sasha halted and stared in surprise at seeing three women lying on the ground whimpering in pain. Their skin was extremely pale, especially in contrast to the dark carapace segments they had covering their feet like boots. Their hips had similar colored armored petals which acted like skirts while also having the same hardened plates covering their breasts. Long, smoothly combed golden hair flowed freely down their backs while each of the monsters had not two arms but rather four, the limbs all possessing the same sleek black shells on their shoulders, elbows, and hands. The triplet monsters were identical in every way except for their eyes. One’s were blue, another’s were green, and the last had yellow eyes, all of them being seen with tears forming in them as they whined while slowly sitting up on the floor.

  “That hurt so much!”

  “That hurt me more!”

  “No way, I’m hurting more than both of you!”

  “Liar, I’m in the most pain! See? Ow ow ow ow!”

  “You’re the liar, I’m suffering over here! Owie! Oh god, I’m dying!”

  “Quit being so dramatic, you big babies! I’m the one who’s about to die over here! Owie owie! It hurts so much!”

  Daemon merely watched the three crying monsters with a dull expression and sword held down at his side, seeing very clearly that the women had only minor scratches on their carapace bras from where his sword had struck them.

  “What in Eden are they?” Forrus wondered.

  “Whatever they are they broke my spear!” Hollia shouted in anger. “And they tried to assault my knight! How dare they!”

  The centaur charged forward with a fierce yell past Sasha, galloping by and striking with her broken lance at the head of one of the new monsters. The spear struck the back of the girl’s head before snapping apart instantly, the surprised centaur staring in shock at the fractured handle she was still holding before skidding to a halt.

  “What?” she cried out looking back to the crying monster.

  “Did you see that?” Tabitha mentioned. “It did absolutely nothing to that thing.”

  “It didn’t even get her attention,” Rulo said as the new monster continued whining and waving her four arms around in a fit while not even noticing Hollia at all. The three girls hopped about on their rears crying, shaking their arms, and appeared to be arguing more with each other than actually suffering in pain.

  “That seriously hurt me the most!”

  “Nuh uh! I’m hurt way more than you!”

  “This is the end for me, you two are fine!”

  “No I’m not, I’m mortally wounded here!”

  “What about me? I’m way more far gone than either of you!”

  “You two are so stupid, I’m the one who’s going to die here!”

  “No, you’re the stupid one!”

  “Yeah, you are!”

  “Nuh uh, you two are by far the stupidest girls in Eden!”

  “We know you are but what are we?” the two taunted together.

  “Stupid!”

  “We know you are but what are we?”

  “Stupid!”

  “What the hell are they doing?” Rulo asked in bewilderment.

  “Acting like children,” Forrus answered as everyone watched the three monsters arguing back and forth nonstop, all while Daemon was now just looking at his sword out of simple boredom. The newcomers bickered in circles for a while before suddenly stopping, all of them then turning to Daemon in wonder as he merely glanced around at the nearby statues.

  “Wait a second, that’s a man!” one of them exclaimed in surprise.

  “A man! Yahoo!” the second cheered as they all jumped to their feet.

  “Let’s rape him, girls!” the third declared boldly.

  The other girls tensed up as the newcomers laughed and rushed Daemon all at once. The swordsman rolled his eyes then darted around the monster before him as she lunged forward with all her arms. With a sharp flick of the wrist he whipped his sword alongside her belly, the monster screaming loudly as the blade scratched against her skin with sparks flying off. She clutched her side and dropped to her knees while the two others halted in their tracks.

  “Holy mother of mommies! That hurt so bad!” she whined before dropping onto her rear and kicking her feet.

  “Are you okay?” the second worried.

  “No I’m not okay! He hurt me!”

  “Why did you hurt her?” the third demanded at Daemon with a stomp of her foot. “We were only going to rape you to death! Geez, what’s your problem?”

  “You big jerk!” the second yelled out. She ran forward to grab Daemon with all four hands, the monster getting up close before stopping suddenly as the tip of his sword was held out to poke her nose. The girl blinked then jumped back screaming while holding her face.

  “Oh god! It hurts! Pain hurts!”

  “Stop hurting my sisters!” the third complained waving her arms about. “Just hold still and let us rape you, dammit!”

  Daemon narrowed his eyes then dashed over to her, quickly bringing his blade up to her neck while she and her sisters froze with frightened squeaks.

  “I’m going to have to decline,” Daemon coldly said.

  “Hey, easy now,” the girl nervously pleaded. “We were only going to rape you until you died, that’s all. Nobody needs to get hurt.”

  “Yeah, especially us,” the first one whined. “What gives? How come he can hurt us?”

  “I don’t like being hurt,” the second whimpered. “It hurts.”

  Daemon moved the monster before him aside by the blade, the girl slowly backing up while keeping her arms held away. Sasha and Hollia walked up behind him while the others started approaching as well, all of them seeing Daemon keeping the mysterious newcomers at bay with ease.

  “Where is the guardian of this city?” Daemon demanded.

  “Guardian?” the first asked.

  “City?” the second wondered.

  “Of?” the third questioned.

  The three monsters looked to each other curiously then to Daemon while remaining silent, himself and all the others watching them closely. After a very long while Daemon lower
ed his sword with a dull expression.

  “Do you even know where you are?”

  The three monsters continued to stare at him without blinking or saying a word.

  “How did you get down here?”

  Again the monsters just stood there.

  “Answer him when he’s speaking to you!” Sasha yelled out.

  Again, no response.

  “Anybody home?” Tabitha dryly asked.

  Still no response or even a blink.

  “What the hell are these simpleminded creatures?” Hollia scoffed.

  “Desuwraiths,” Mika said in wonder. “Well I’ll be, the stories about them were true after all.”

  “You know of them?” Tabitha asked.

  “Every good monster hunter knows of them. They’re extremely rare, only found in certain locations, but dangerous to come up against. Turning invisible is just one of their little tricks. They’re immune to physical attacks and their strength is greater than you’d give them credit for.”

  “They’re immune to physical attacks?” Forrus repeated. “But my lord was able to harm them with his sword just now.”

  “They’re weak against magic,” Mika explained. “That’s the only thing that can harm them. Which means…”

  She slowly turned her eye to Daemon as he glanced back to her, her gaze then going to the sword in his hand.

  “That’s an enchanted weapon. Those runes… that light it has… that’s… the Archlight’s Blade. You were telling the truth. You do possess that sword.”

  “Nothing we’ve told you has been a lie, Mika,” Daemon replied.

  Mika stared at him in surprise then slowly looked around, seeing his girls nodding at her while Saffron and her workers were watching Daemon curiously. She blinked then turned to Daemon in stunned silence as he watched the desuwraiths cowering before him.

  ‘He wasn’t lying. He was telling the truth. All of what he said… it was true. Gemini, Dark Queens, legendary swords… and him being a guardian of an ancient city. It’s all true.’

  “That explains why my sword broke like that,” Sasha grunted as she looked to what remained of her weapon. “They’re just as impervious to attacks as that accursed angel.”

  “Darn it all,” Hollia muttered tossing away what was left of her lance. “That spear was the last thing I had from my homeland. I’m never going to find another like it.”

  “What was the story?” Scay asked slithering closer to Mika. “You said there was a story about them? I like stories. Please tell me the story.”

  Mika snapped back to her senses and glanced to her, seeing the naga watching her with eyes of wonder and a wagging tail. She paused to collect her thoughts again then looked to the desuwraiths before all around at the ancient cenotaph.

  “They’re very rare to find,” she recalled. “It’s said that they’re only found… in places you’d never expect them to be.”

  “Like deep underground in an ant girls’ nest at the entrance of a hidden city which holds a harbinger of death,” Tabitha summed up. “Yep, I’d say the stories about them were spot on.”

  “Dark Queens are real?” Mika shakily asked. Everyone noticed the hunter looking down at the metal floor with a wide eye as she feared what exactly was buried beneath her feet. “What you said before, about there being monsters stronger than Darker Ones out there. That… that thing is down there right now?”

  “You bet,” the first desuwraith said with a happy smile.

  “She’s not getting out ever,” the second proudly declared.

  “Never ever ever ever ever ever ever,” the third agreed with a few nods.

  “You know about the Dark Queen here?” Rulo carefully asked.

  “Of course we do, we’re keeping her locked up.”

  “We’re helping with keeping her locked away forever.”

  “We are helping! We are helping! We are helping!”

  “My master just asked if you were the guardians of this city or not,” Sasha snapped.

  “Ohhhhhh.”

  “You meant guardians of the city.”

  “Why didn’t you say so?”

  “He did!” Rulo shouted out. “He asked if you were or not!”

  “So you are the guardians of this City of Eden?” Forrus asked.

  “No.”

  “Yes.”

  “Kind of.”

  “What do you mean?” Sasha demanded sharply. “Are you or aren’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  “No.”

  “Are we?”

  “Are you guarding the city, yes or no?” Forrus shouted out.

  “Um…”

  “Hmm…”

  “Well… not us exactly.”

  “Then who is?” Daemon demanded. “Who is protecting this city if not you three?”

  “She is,” the desuwraiths said pointing down. Everyone looked down, back to the three girls who were smiling proudly while pointing to the floor, then back down again.

  “Come again?” Hollia slowly said.

  “She’s protecting the city,” the first explained.

  “She’s keeping that Dark Queen trapped forever,” the second praised.

  “She’s so beautiful and smart and awesome!” the third cheered with a hop.

  “Who is?” Scay asked looking around at the floor with a curious eye. “I don’t see anyone down here. Oh no, did we step on her? Is she smooshed now?”

  “She’s not there, she’s there,” the first empathized while pointing down again.

  “Way down there,” the second agreed. “Like, so way down there.”

  “Very very way down there,” the third added.

  “Who is?” Mika asked shaking her head.

  “She is. I just said that. What are you, stupid?”

  “Yeah, she’s down there just like we said. You calling us liars?”

  “That’s stupid. We literally just told you where she is.”

  “Who is down there?” Rulo shouted pointing down.

  “She is. Duh.”

  “How are you not getting that?”

  “We literally just told you where she is. Like, at least ten times now.”

  Everyone looked to one another in puzzled silence while the three monsters stood proudly with crossed arms before them.

  “So, she’s down below us?” Sasha questioned glancing to Daemon.

  “The guardian is at the seal,” Daemon mused looking down. He glanced to the desuwraiths with a cold glare, the three monsters then showing nervous smiles. “Why are you helping her protect this place?”

  “She was nice to us.”

  “We like her.”

  “We want to help her.”

  “I want to help her more.”

  “No, I want to help her more.”

  “I want to help her more than both of you combined.”

  “Nuh uh, I want to help her more than anyone else ever could.”

  “You’re so stupid. I want to help her the very most of all. It’s true.”

  “You’re both stupid if you think you want to help her more than I do.”

  “Enough,” Daemon spoke up to silence the girls. He looked around at them for a moment then sheathed his blade with a click. “You seem incapable of telling us her name, can you at least tell us your names?”

  “I’m Tara.”

  “No, I’m Tara. You’re Sara, stupid.”

  “No, I’m Sara. You’re Lara.”

  “Really? I thought you were Lara and she was Sara.”

  “Stupid, I’m totally Lara and you’re Sara.”

  “What? No, you’re Tara.”

  “But then which one of us Lara?”

  “I’m Lara, stupid.”

  “You’re stupid. I’m Lara and you’re Sara.”

  Daemon and the girls watched them with blank expressions as the three desuwraiths continued arguing about who was really Sara, Lara, and Tara.

  “That was something else the stories spoke of,” Mika remembered. The group glanced to h
er as she slowly shook her head. “Desuwraiths are as dumb as they get in Eden.”

  “We believe it,” Sasha flatly agreed.

  The three monsters bickered back and forth before Daemon walked past them towards the center alter.

  “All of you remain here,” he ordered standing next to the dais. “I’m going to go check what’s down there and make sure the guardian has the seal protected.”

  “But you can’t,” one of the desuwraiths warned.

  “Yeah, we can’t get down there.”

  “We’ve been trying to get down there for weeks now.”

  “What do you mean you can’t get down there?” Daemon asked. “If you really were helping the guardian like you said you should know how to reach the city from here.”

  “We know how, we just don’t know how,” the first whined.

  “We know that thing takes us down there,” the second said pointing to the alter. “We just don’t know how it works.”

  “We did, but we forgot,” the third admitted in shame. “We’ve been trying to figure out how to get down there for months now.”

  “You forgot how it works?” Daemon repeated with a raised eyebrow.

  “We’ve been trying everything!” the first complained waving her arms around in a fit. “Nothing works!”

  “We’ve tried pressing the top thingy with boobs, butts, legs, arms, faces, hair, toes, elbows, and tongues. Nothing works at all!”

  “Nobody’s been able to get it to work for us,” the third whined. “We’ve been stuck up here for years trying to get the stupid thing to work.”

  “Did you try pressing your hand on it?” Daemon asked simply.

  The desuwraiths looked to each other for a while then back to Daemon while silence filled the cave.

  “Our… hand?” one asked looking to two of her hands.

  “How would that work?” the second scoffed. “That’s stupid.”

  “Um… hold on,” the third said looking back to the ant girls. She then turned to Daemon with a puzzled expression. “We tried using a hand from one of those bug girls back there and it didn’t work. I’m sure of it.”

  “Did she have her glove on?” Daemon asked holding up his normal hand.

  “Yes.”

  “No.”

  “I think so.”

  Daemon shook his head then rested his hand on top of the dais. The alter glowed brightly while large green triangular outlines bloomed between the three statues. The searing green lines of the floating trios shifted to blue then purple before turning yellow. They spun around sharply before flickering rapidly, the hovering emblems then flashing back to green as they stopped with the tips pointing down.