“I know what it feels like, Saffron,” she lamented. “To lose your mother… to lose the one you cared for so deeply…”
Slowly she glanced down to see Aeon again fluttering below the barrier under her spring, the chronofly’s cold glare at her only causing more heartache with the alurane than fear.
“I know it all too well.”
*****
The low whispers of air flowing by were barely heard by Saffron as she had withdrawn from the world, her empty gaze remaining unfocused as she held onto Daemon’s side with a weak grip. The swordsman merely kept his eyes upward, watching the deep darkness above as they traveled up the ancient lift towards the others at the top. Saffron held onto him for support as she struggled with the alurane's dire news of her queen, everything in her straining to refuse such a claim while deep down there was a sinking feeling in her heart that such a tragedy could have been possible.
The long trip back up seemed even longer to the ant girl as she dreaded what truth awaited her above. After what seemed like an eternity the lift came to a stop and only silence greeted their arrival. Slowly Saffron looked around, seeing dozens of ant girls surrounding the cenotaph while Daemon’s group were watching her carefully. Saffron let go of Daemon and shakily walked forward, each step she made feeling heavier for her while a few faint squeaks of her sisters were barely heard in her ears. Some of the ant girls rushed over to Saffron and started squeaking before stopping as the ant girl kept walking forward with a weary expression.
“Master, is everything alright?” Sasha asked as the swordsman walked over to them.
“Is the Dark Queen still down there?” Mika asked.
“What did you see, my lord?” Forrus wondered.
“What’s wrong with her?” Scay asked pointing to Saffron, the ant girl taking a few more steps before stopping and looking downward. Saffron slowly looked around at everyone, her eyes wearily going over all the looks she was getting as she stumbled back in her spin before holding a hand to her head.
“What did she see down there?” Tabitha asked. “She looks like she’s about to pass out.”
“Couldn’t handle it, huh?” Rulo snorted with a smirk at the ant girl. “We warned you not to go down there.”
“That’s not what’s causing her distress, Rulo,” Daemon corrected.
“What do you mean?” Hollia asked. “What happened down there? What did you see?”
Saffron looked to see two of her sisters nearby squeaking at her with concerned looks. The ant girl remained silent while not showing any sign that she even heard their words, her eyes then turning to see three more of her kin walking into the chamber. They were dressed in the normal crimson tunics their sisters wore however also had dark red shoulder guards and swords sheathed at their hips. The other workers quickly stepped back and saluted the officers while Saffron stared at them with growing concern. The newcomers observed the strange monument in the room and those who weren’t from their nest with a sharp eye before approaching Saffron. They squeaked at her, getting only silence back from the girl, and then one held out a scroll to her. Saffron trembled a little as she saw the dark parchment then squeaked and shook her head at the officer. The ant girl gave no reply, only continued to hold out the scroll with a solemn expression.
“What’s going on?” Mika asked. “Did you see the Dark Queen down there or not?”
“We did,” Daemon said. “We saw the City of Eden buried down there. Met its guardian. Even saw the Dark Queen herself from behind her seal.”
His girls looked at him in wonder then turned to Saffron as she slowly took the parchment. Unrolling it with a trembling hand she then read the note that she already feared of what it contained. After a moment she slowly looked to the officer in horror, the three ant girls then nodding and lowering their heads in remorse.
“And we learned that the ant girls’ queen has fallen,” Daemon finished, with his girls showing surprise to that. The ant girls in the cave jumped and looked to him quickly before over to Saffron with fright. She stared at the officers in stunned silence before the scroll dropped from her hand, the girl wavering a bit before shakily looking back to Daemon.
“Their queen is dead?” Sasha asked.
“The Sisterhood killed her,” Daemon explained. “The guardian down below informed us of the news. And it appears Saffron has just been informed by her fellow sisters as well.”
“The Sisterhood killed their queen?” Hollia worried.
Saffron looked to her hands that formed into fists as she struggled to hold her voice in, her eyes shutting tightly as she shook with overwhelming anger. After finally losing her resolve the ant girl let out a long screech that echoed through the tunnels near them, her furious cry being joined by the surrounding ant girls who screamed and began crying while a few dropped to their knees.
“Those wretched demons,” Forrus growled. “How much more blood are they going to spill?”
“The ant girl leader is dead?” Mika wondered.
“So is the elven leader,” Daemon said, with his girls turning to him in wonder. “The guardian below is able to see Green Haven from here. She confirmed The Sisterhood had invaded the forest, and that they killed the elven priestess.”
“What the hell is the meaning of all this?” Hollia shouted. “First Ruhelia, then Green Haven, and now these ant girls are being wiped out?”
“They slaughtered my entire pack,” Forrus scorned. “Simply for the enjoyment of it. That’s all this is to them, a sick game.”
“They took out Rees,” Mika cursed. “And Nibelvale, and they’re going after Rockhelm next.”
“They’re attacking everyone,” Sasha realized. “Man or monster, it makes no difference. They’re waging war against all of Eden.”
Saffron screamed as she dropped to her knees, her painful screeches being accompanied by the other ant girls in the cave as they mourned the loss of their queen. Mika slowly looked around at seeing the ant girls crying, falling to their hands and knees, and even punching holes in the walls and ground out of sheer anger. Her magic flickered before vanishing, her hand slowly dropping down to her side while she stared at Saffron in silence. The three desuwraiths watched her spell below them vanishing then quickly scrambled away, rushing over to the monuments and hiding behind them while Mika slowly looked to her hand.
“You must be thrilled,” Hollia mentioned with a bite. Mika noticed the centaur scoffing at her with derision. “Hearing of our homes and leaders being massacred like this, it must be a dream come true for you, hunter.”
“It must be,” Tabitha added. “The Sisterhood is doing her job for her. Better than she could have ever done. Am I right?”
Mika remained silent while looking down at her hand, the other girls turning away from her while Daemon walked over towards Saffron. The ant girl looked up to him while brushing aside her bangs, showing her teary eyes while faintly squeaking something. She stumbled onto her feet then hugged Daemon close, crying and squeaking into his chest while he remained still with his hands at his sides.
“Hey, get off him!” Sasha yelled. “Your horrible news isn’t an excuse to hang all over my master like that!”
“Sasha,” Daemon simply said. “Now is not the time to berate her.”
The reptile girl held in her growls while the swordsman watched Saffron shaking her head and squeaking frantically in her distress. Pulling his arms free from her hold he then held her back to see her eyes while she slowly stopped squeaking.
“They won the fight, they haven’t won the war,” he told her. Saffron whimpered and nodded while staring at him, seeing the cold look behind his eyes while her hands gently took hold of his. He glanced around to the three guards who were watching with puzzlement from seeing Saffron clinging to him so dearly then turned to the three desuwraiths peeking out from behind one of the statues.
“You three,” he called out, with the desuwraiths squeaking and slinking back. “Use your hand to activate that lift. The guardian down below is
expecting you to return, don’t keep her waiting.”
The desuwraiths slowly walked out and watched him curiously as he pointed to the alter.
“You three chose to help her protect that city, so do it. Make sure nobody ever opens that seal.”
“Well, duh,” one of them retorted.
“Of course we’re not going to let anyone open it.”
“Yeah, what do you think we are? Stupid?”
“Not going to answer that,” Daemon replied before looking around at the others. “The Dark Queen of this region is safely secured down below. The guardian has already collected her key fragments and has hidden them. And with three desuwraiths standing guard alongside her nobody is going to be opening the seal. Nothing more needs to be done here.”
“That’s a relief,” Mika breathed out.
“One less thing for us to worry about,” Forrus agreed.
“Still would like to see this ancient city myself,” Tabitha mentioned glancing behind them. The three desuwraiths were trying to figure out what side of their hand to put on the alter, the girls constantly bickering and pushing aside one another as they used every angle except for flat down with the palm to get the dais to work.
“The Dark Queen here is not our concern or responsibility,” Daemon stated. “We just need to focus on eliminating The Sisterhood so we can resume our search for the key fragments to our own Dark Queen that needs to be contained.”
“They’re already in Green Haven, right?” Rulo asked. “Well then we’d better get over there and kill those bitches before we lose them again.”
Daemon nodded and turned to Saffron as she watched him with worried eyes.
“Your queen may have fallen, however your nest isn’t defeated yet. You can still live, you can still fight, you can still avenge her.”
Saffron slowly nodded then took a moment to calm herself, the girl taking a few slow breaths before turning to the guards and squeaking at them sternly. They merely glanced to her then to Daemon while remaining silent. Saffron screeched at them and stomped her foot before waving to Daemon and his group while squeaking loudly at the guards, the three ant girls jumping a bit before nodding at her. Saffron gave a stern nod at them then turned to Daemon and squeaked a few times.
“What is she saying, my knight?” Hollia wondered.
“They’re going to rig up an explosive show for The Sisterhood right under Green Haven,” Daemon answered. “They’ll keep the horde busy with their revenge while we take down Jovian and Jacqueline ourselves.”
“Good,” Rulo snorted while smacking a fist into her palm. “It’s time for payback for what they did to us before.”
“It’s time for them to answer for all their horrendous deeds,” Sasha agreed glancing to Hollia. The centaur growled and nodded as she yearned to see the gemini dispatched by her knight. Sasha then looked to the broken sword she had with annoyance while tilting it slightly.
“Guess I’ll be fighting barehanded on this night.”
“Me as well,” Hollia mentioned looking back to her broken spear on the ground. “Tabitha, might I borrow that golden lance one more time?”
“I’m not letting any of you touch those again,” Tabitha scoffed. “Last time I did you broke one of them.”
“It was just a little chip!” Rulo snapped. “Like that would make any difference with how much that stupid hammer was worth!”
“Nothing doing,” Tabitha argued looking away with crossed arms. “Just use your fists to fight with, I’m not losing any more than I already have helping you.”
“Can’t you fix it?” Scay wondered as she eyed over Sasha’s broken blade.
“I would need a proper forge and plenty of velarite to repair it,” Sasha answered shaking her head. “And velarite isn’t exactly common in the world.”
“You don’t have to fight this time, Sasha,” Forrus said. “Leave the slaying of the accursed demons to those who deserve revenge against them.”
“They killed my mother, my little sister, and destroyed my homeland,” Hollia snapped at her. “I deserve a chance to slay them more than you do!”
“There’s two of them,” Rulo mentioned with a shrug. “You can each kill one. Happy?”
“I wanna stab them too,” Scay added with a wide smile. “It sounds like fun. Can I? Please?”
Saffron squeaked loudly at them and pointed to herself, the girls watching her squeaking in anger over and over again while gesturing around to herself, Daemon, her sisters, then waving her hands about in indecipherable patterns.
“She seems pretty eager to draw their blood too,” Daemon summed up.
“Whatever,” Tabitha droned rolling her eyes. “You all want to kill them, so let’s go kill them and get this over with.”
Daemon then noticed Mika still remaining silent with her head lowered. The hunter glanced around at each of the monster girls near her then saw the desuwraiths still bickering about how to activate the lift. She walked over towards them, with everyone else stopping and noticing her solemn approach towards the three girls. The desuwraiths were going in circles calling each other stupid before they jumped at seeing Mika coming closer. She walked over with a blank expression, took one of the girl’s hands, and then placed it down on the dais which then lit up from the touch.
“That’s how it works,” Mika softly said while keeping her eye downward.
“Um… thank you,” one of them slowly said.
“I was about to suggest that next.”
“No, I was.”
“Please,” Mika shakily said. “Don’t let the Dark Queen get out. Don’t let that thing get out.”
“We won’t.”
“Like we would ever do that.”
“That’s so stupid to think we would.”
“Thank you,” Mika said, with the three monsters then looking at her curiously. She slowly walked away while the desuwraiths turned to each other questionably.
“Hey,” one called out to her. The hunter stopped and looked back to see the desuwraiths smiling curiously at her.
“Thank you,” the second said.
“What’s your name?” the third asked.
“Mika Harollson.”
“I’m Lara.”
“No, I’m Lara. You’re Sara.”
“Liar. I’m Lara, she’s Tara, and you’re Sara.”
The desuwraiths started bickering in circles again while Mika slowly shook her head at them. The hunter walked back to the others while the lift lowered down with the desuwraiths yelling at one another. After the cenotaph descended and the steel doors closed over the opening Hollia slowly approached Mika who was looking down at the ground.
“Am I seeing correctly?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. “Did you just help and thank a monster just now?”
“I don’t even know what I’m doing anymore,” Mika softly replied. “Monsters are my enemy, and here are monsters who are protecting us from monsters, and other monsters are out there killing humans and monsters… who killed my sisters… who killed other monsters… who…”
Mika held her hands over her face and shook her head, struggling to make sense of everything that had been happening that day.
“Male monsters… Dark Queens… lost cities… gemini… legendary swords… wha… what’s going on in the world…”
“Mika,” Daemon said. She turned to him with a weary gaze as he shook his head with a calm expression. “You don’t need to deal with any of this. The Dark Queen will remain locked away just as she always has. We’ll deal with The Sisterhood, we’re ready for that fight. You don’t need to bear this burden like we do.”
“You said you have a brother,” Sasha recalled. “Go home to him. Just worry about protecting him, leave the world to us.”
“We’ll put an end to The Sisterhood,” Tabitha sneered. “You can sleep easy at night, okay?”
“You don’t look to be in stable mind right now,” Forrus commented. “A fight like this is something you’re not ready for. You should go ho
me.”
“They speak the truth,” Hollia said resting a hand on Mika’s shoulder. “You may be a skilled hunter however even you have your limits. This is not something you’re prepared for, it’s plainly obvious. Go, leave this matter to us.”
Mika opened her mouth to speak then halted, seeing the centaur slowly shaking her head before she stood aside and crossed her arms. Looking around she saw all manner of monsters watching her while feeling incredibly out of place in their company. She then turned to Daemon as he remained silent, the swordsman merely giving a single nod to her in agreement. After a pause she slowly started walking towards the exit tunnels. Everyone watched as she went past Daemon and Saffron before she stopped and looked back to him.
“Thank you, for saving my life,” she dearly said. “Even if it was only to get information about The Sisterhood.”
“It wasn’t just that,” he admitted. “You gave The Sisterhood quite the black eye with your efforts. I found that to be very impressive.”
“You thought I was impressive?” she wondered.
“You live up to your reputation, Mika Harollson.”
Mika smiled a bit and looked down as she felt happy of his approval of her. She then looked around at the ant girls and gave a weak forced laugh.
“So… which way back to the surface? I need to get back to Trixton Pass and… have a very long talk with my brother.”
The ant girl officers squeaked in confusion and shook their heads, with Mika looking back to them and seeing them squeaking something at her.
“Trixton Pass? West of Nibelvale? Know where that is?”
One of the officers pulled out a map from her tunic and unrolled it, with another then pointing to a marker and shaking her head at Mika with more squeaks.
“Look, can you just tell me how to get out of here then?” Mika dryly asked walking over to them. “I need to get back home.”
The ant girls hopped about and squeaked while pointing to the map. Daemon and Saffron examined it then looked to Mika who was watching the ant girls with puzzlement.
Chronicles of Eden_Act X Page 46