“You’re not?”
“Nope.”
“Are you… happy with me?” Kitten eagerly asked with her tail waving behind her.
“You saved my mate from the rain, and were kind enough to bring Clover in as well, so I guess you could say I’m happy with you.”
“Are you going to kiss me now too?” Kitten quickly asked while leaning closer to him.
“Don’t push it, Kitten,” Daniel replied with a dull smile.
“Maybe a quickie with me under the sheets then?” Kitten purred with a slick grin.
“That would be pushing it more so,” Daniel answered with his smile vanishing.
Kitten sighed and nodded with a pout before ruffling her hair and looking away while sulking.
“I suppose you would like to be with Triska now, wouldn’t you?” she dryly asked.
“I would love to have my mate with me again, yes.”
“Fine,” Kitten said with a roll of her eyes. She then glanced to Daniel with a small smile. “Thank you though, for at least accepting me, master.”
Daniel nodded with a slight smirk before Kitten closed her eyes and relaxed her body. Slowly she began to slip into her subconscious mind as she felt Triska’s presence overtaking her once again. Her wings started to shrink into her back while her tail slowly receded and vanished. She rolled her head back with a quiet sigh as her eyes opened slightly, the glow in them fading away while her demonic extensions disappeared entirely. After a moment she wavered then fell forward into Daniel’s arms as he caught her.
“Triska?” he asked as the girl murmured in a daze. Her eyes slowly opened as the world came into focus for her again before she looked to Daniel with a warm smile.
“Daniel,” Triska softly said, moments before he pulled her into a deep kiss. The other girls smiled happily at seeing Daniel holding Triska close while her arms slowly wrapped around his back.
“Do I get to kiss him too?” Cilia curiously asked. “Everyone else is kissing him. Should I kiss him now?”
“No, Cilia,” Specca answered shaking her head. “Only his mates may do that.”
“You mean his property?”
“No, his mates,” Specca retorted with annoyance.
“Aw,” Cilia pouted. She slowly fluttered over onto Clover’s chest and sat down with a frown before looking at the elf curiously. She poked the girl’s breast with her hand, getting a soft sigh from Clover in her sleep as her cheeks took on a slight blush.
“Hee hee, she makes such cute noises,” Cilia giggled as she started poking and patting the elf’s chest atop the blanket, making Clover sigh and murmur each time with her head rolling side to side.
Daniel held Triska close and cherished the feeling of kissing her, the warmth of her aura and the others around him being sensed more clearly in his mind as he felt a rekindled flame burning within him. After the kiss finally ended and they could breathe again Daniel slowly looked around at all his mates he had on the bed, feeling a stronger bond between them now than he did before.
“I don’t know what’s gotten into you,” Triska softly said before nuzzling against his chest. “But I love it.”
“I’m just appreciating all that I have in my life,” Daniel reasoned while brushing her hair, much to her delight. “And I intend to keep everything so dear to me close, no matter what.”
The other girls quickly held onto Daniel as well, an amused smile coming across his face as he saw them hugging him close while Pip was holding onto his head with a happy giggle. Before anyone could say something touching to cap off the moment a horse whinny was heard outside followed by a rustling sound on the driver’s seat of the caravan.
“Cilia?” Doku called out as she and Alyssa quickly scrambled into the cabin from behind the curtain. After taking two steps they stopped and looked around in stunned silence as everyone turned to them curiously.
“Alyssa? Doku?” Specca said while holding onto Daniel’s back. “What are you doing back already?”
“Did you find Ember?” Luna asked while she and her sister where holding onto Daniel’s arms.
Squeak merely squeaked something as she and Triska were watching the two girls and holding onto Daniel’s chest.
“Oh my word,” Doku breathed out. “How is the inside of this wagon so big like this?”
“What the hell happened here?” Alyssa cried out. “What… how… Kroanette? How did she get in here?”
She and Doku looked at Kroanette with confusion as they saw the large centaur lying atop the toppled bed then noticed Cilia giggling happily while she kept poking Clover’s breasts.
“Doku, look,” the fairy called out while waving them over. “She makes such cute noises when you poke her boobies. See?”
“Cilia, you’re alright,” Doku said in relief as she quickly rushed over and picked the fairy up in her wings.
“Boobies!” Cilia giggled as she quickly crawled into the harpy’s bosom and started hopping around.
“Oh, Cilia, thank goodness you’re safe,” Doku gently spoke while the fairy happily squirmed about in her chest.
Alyssa slowly walked towards the bed while gazing around at the damaged cabin with an open mouth and a twitching eye before she looked at her mates with complete bewilderment.
“Alyssa? Did you find Ember?” Daniel asked while all the girls continued to hold onto him.
Alyssa shook her head in silence.
“So, you may have noticed a few changes in here,” Falla mentioned while glancing around the room.
Alyssa nodded as she continued to remain quiet with a stunned look on her face.
“But don’t worry, we’re all okay,” Luna assured her. “And Daniel even gave us kisses before you came.”
“The best kiss ever!” Pip cheered while she continued to hug the side of Daniel’s head.
Alyssa merely glanced around at the girls in question before looking at Daniel and holding her hands out at her sides expectedly. Daniel smiled weakly and chuckled a bit before looking around at all the girls as everyone turned to him with curiosity.
“Um, Daniel?” Triska slowly asked as the girls all let go and sat back from their embrace with him. She surveyed the cabin’s damaged state again before looking back at Daniel in question.
“Now that we’re all here, what the hell just happened?”
*****
Kroanette murmured as she slowly regained consciousness, her eyes opening to reveal the blurry image of Doku coming into focus above her. The harpy was sitting on the bed while holding her wings over the centaur’s wounded leg, a soft white glow glistening from the fur around the injury as the harpy had a calm smile on her face. The soft pattering of rain on the roof was heard with a low rumble of thunder as the rainstorm continued to press on outside.
“Doku?” Kroanette wearily asked.
“Oh, you’re awake. How are you feeling, Kroanette?” Doku kindly replied.
Kroanette blinked then quickly shot up with a startled yelp, frantically looking around as she stumbled to her feet in a daze and trotted about in panic while she struggled with yanking the blanket off her body.
“What happened? Where’s-” she started before banging her head against a support beam in the ceiling. Grabbing her head with a painful groan she shut her eyes tight before wobbling off-balance as her front leg began to ache again. Doku covered her face with her wings to avoid seeing the sight of the centaur dropping down onto the floor with a heavy thump while holding her head.
“Hey, watch it!” Alyssa barked out. “You nearly crushed me!”
“Alyssa?” Kroanette groaned as she flinched from the headache and leg pain she was feeling. She paused for a moment then slowly looked around to see that she was inside the weathered cabin and laying the middle of the room. Alyssa took a step back from her towards Clover’s bed while staring at the centaur’s rump that nearly crushed her a moment ago.
“You really are a big girl, aren’t you?” Alyssa dryly commented.
“Wait, what in Ede
n?” Kroanette exclaimed as she saw Daniel and the rest of the girls sitting on the bed along with Doku, all of them watching her curiously as she realized that she was inside the caravan. Daniel was dressed in white shorts and a shirt while Triska was again wearing her preferred ripped yellow shirt and new pants that didn’t have a hole in the back.
“Seriously, those are huge,” Specca quietly mentioned as the girls noticed Kroanette’s exposed bosom just as clearly as Daniel did.
“So much boobage,” Pip purred lustfully while sitting atop Triska’s head along with Cilia.
“They really are big,” Cilia softly agreed while drooling at the sight.
“How did I get in here?” Kroanette asked with bewilderment. “What happened? Daniel, what’s going on?”
“Please try to hold still,” Doku insisted as she walked over to the girl and knelt down beside her. She again held her wings over the centaur’s wounded leg, the soft glistening white glow returning and covering her leg while Alyssa summoned the blanket over into her hands and started to wrap it around Kroanette’s upper body.
“Flaunt them in front of Daniel later,” the witch grumbled before looking down at her own chest with disappointment. Kroanette confusedly turned to her then to Doku before looking at her leg as the harpy focused her magic on it.
“Hold on, what are you doing?”
“It’s not broken is it?” Alyssa wondered tilting her head.
“What? Broken?” Kroanette cried out as she looked to her leg with fright.
“No no, just a simple sprain,” Doku assured shaking her head. “It’s no trouble to heal this minor of an injury. Though please do hold still, Kroanette, otherwise it could take more time.”
Kroanette breathed out heavily in relief before she growled at Alyssa with anger.
“Don’t scare me like that! A broken leg for a centaur is no joking manner!”
“I was just asking,” Alyssa defended holding up her hands.
“Kroanette, are you alright now?” Daniel asked walking over to her.
“Daniel, what happened?” Kroanette quickly said as she looked around again in confusion. “How did we both get in here? How did I get in here?”
Daniel rubbed the back of his neck with a small sigh then shook his head as he turned to the girls on the bed who were all watching him with puzzlement.
“Sorry, but I don’t know,” he answered with regret. “We were both outside during the storm, and then… we were in here.”
“Daniel, that doesn’t make any sense,” Specca countered shaking her head.
“How did you just appear in here with Kroanette and all that water?” Falla questioned while watching him carefully.
“I don’t know,” Daniel insisted with a shrug. “I can’t explain it. We were both caught in the rainstorm, Kroanette was injured after her fall, and we were struck at the bottom of a flooding ravine. One minute we were there and then the next we just appeared here. I don’t know how else to explain it, I don’t have any other answer.”
Falla stood up and approached him cautiously, her eyes going over his body then to Kroanette while Daniel watched her with a nervous frown. She slowly walked around Daniel while keeping a close eye on him then shook her head as she stopped in front of him.
“Daniel, I spent my whole life lying to others. You think I can’t tell you’re lying to us?”
“I’m not lying,” he pleaded shaking his head.
“Yes you are.”
“No I’m not. Why would I lie about this?”
“That’s what I want to know,” Falla said crossing her arms with a sharp look at him. “What are you hiding?”
The other girls glanced to each other then to Daniel curiously as he shook his head more and waved his hands before him.
“Falla, I’m not hiding anything,” he implored. “If I knew what happened I would tell you, I wouldn’t have any reason to hide it.”
“Who were you talking to out there?” Kroanette asked curiously. Daniel jumped and looked down to her with surprise as she rubbed her head with a flinch. “I could have sworn I heard you talking to someone before I blacked out.”
“I was talking to you,” he insisted with a weak smile. “I was… um, well, I was-”
“Don’t lie to me,” Falla softly said, with Daniel turning to see her shaking her head with a hurt expression. “Daniel, I can tell you’re hiding something. I was the top of my class when it came to deception, something I’m not proud of but I will admit. Your eyes show me you’re not telling the truth, I can hear it in your voice. I know you’re lying.”
“Falla, I’m not-” he started before she stepped closer and rested her hands on his chest.
“Don’t break my heart by lying to me. Whatever it is you think you need to hide, you don’t. You can tell us anything. Please, tell me, tell us, what happened out there? Don’t you dare try to deceive me, I can see right through you.”
Daniel hesitated as all eyes were on him, silence filling the caravan as he saw Falla keeping her eyes locked onto his while seeming to examine every facial expression and change he made. Seeing him falling silent Falla nodded slowly while the other girls got up from the bed and stepped closer to them.
“I know what it’s like to be caught in a lie, Daniel,” Falla pointed out. “You had better have a good reason for trying to deceive all of us like this.”
“Is that true, Daniel?” Specca worriedly inquired. “Are you telling the truth, or not?”
“Falla would know a lie if she heard one,” Luna reasoned with a frown.
“Daniel? What are you hiding?” Triska asked carefully.
Daniel sighed and closed his eyes while holding a hand to his face, realizing that there was no playing dumb with this anymore. He chuckled lightly in amusement then smiled curiously at Falla.
“How did you figure me out so easily?”
“I’m a giant butterfly, Daniel,” she reasoned with a twitch of her eyebrow. “Lies and deception are second nature to me.”
“I should have known I couldn’t fool you like that,” Daniel admitted in defeat. He looked around at the girls then down in remorse and slowly shook his head. “The truth is… we were saved by someone. Someone with a great deal of magical power.”
“Saved by who?” Alyssa asked.
“I don’t know much about her, she refused to tell me anything more. I only heard her voice, never saw her myself. I don’t know why she saved us exactly, or what she is, but if wasn’t for her Kroanette would have drowned in the ravine.”
“You were talking to her then?” Kroanette wondered while Doku continued to heal her leg.
“Yes. I could just hear her in my head. And she heard me when I spoke, even though there wasn’t anyone nearby.”
“Why didn’t you want to tell us any of this?” Specca asked shaking her head.
“Because she requested I keep it a secret,” Daniel explained with a shrug. “I don’t know why she did, but she didn’t want anyone else to know what happened. And I figured after all she did to help I would try to keep it a secret for her. Whoever she is, she demonstrated a great deal of power, and I didn’t want to upset her if I could avoid it.”
“That must have been her we sensed,” Alyssa reasoned looking to Doku.
“Sensed?” Daniel repeated.
“We were using Doku’s spiritwalk technique while waiting for the storm to let up. We thought if Ember used any magic nearby we would be able to locate her. Instead Doku felt something else, back here.”
“It was indeed a great deal of power, as you said, Daniel,” Doku agreed while still tending to Kroanette’s leg. “It was more than when Pip and the succubus were fighting the other day. It was rather frightening actually.”
“That much?” Triska worriedly asked.
“It was brief, only appeared for a moment, but I felt it clearly in my mind. An enormous spike of magical energy occurred close to here. That’s why we returned without Ember, we feared what might have happened to you all.”
“I’m sorry,” Daniel apologized sincerely. “I didn’t want to lie to you like that, but I thought it best to agree to her terms after she saved Kroanette. I was so thankful she did. And honestly I don’t know how to explain why she chose to save us. She wouldn’t tell me anything.”
Falla pouted then lightly slapped him across the face, catching him and all the girls by surprise as she sighed then hugged him close.
“Don’t lie to us again, Daniel. You wanted me to be an honest butterfly, then you need to be honest too.”
“I know, I’m sorry,” he admitted holding her with a small smile. “I deserved that. I promise I won’t try to keep anything from you girls.”
“So, this mystery person,” Triska spoke up with a questioning look. “She just talked to you then sent you back home, just like that? No reason or anything?”
“She wouldn’t say. I would like to know the answer to that as well.”
“Did she at least tell you her name?” Specca asked.
“Twilight,” Daniel answered, looking up at the ceiling with a distant gaze. “She said her name was Twilight. I don’t know who she is, but I think we have a friend out there somewhere.”
All the girls looked up and around at the ceiling, wondering if they were being watched by the unseen savior at that very moment. It was then Alyssa took notice of something and carefully glanced around the cabin.
“I wonder what she is,” Triska commented while Alyssa slowly headed towards the entryway curtain. “If she has that much power she’s probably a monster, right?”
“How powerful can she really be, that’s what I’m wondering right now,” Specca mentioned as she slowly adjusted her glasses.
“It was a very large amount of magical energy I felt earlier,” Doku reasoned while still using her magic to heal Kroanette’s leg. “It would be safe to assume she’s not human, though what kind of monster she is I have no clue.”
Kroanette looked around at the ceiling, wondering just who or what saved her life that day, and then noticed Alyssa standing before the curtain that was silently fluttering in the wind.
“Alyssa? Is something the matter?”
“Listen,” Alyssa said glancing back to them.
Chronicles of Eden - Act VII Page 36