Kitten watched her in silent wonder then looked down as she thought about those words, her image fading in Triska’s mind as she turned her focus towards Daniel and the others as they got closer.
“Nothing else made it, huh?” Daniel asked with a weak smile.
“Not at all,” Triska answered shaking her head.
Squeak set Alyssa’s staff down against the side of the carriage before looking over her digging tool with a remorseful eye, her expression showing she didn’t like seeing her trusty tool in such rough condition.
“We’ll need to get more clothes at the next town we find,” Triska mused as she dropped her duffel bag onto the ground with a heavy slam, causing everyone to stop and stare at it in silence while the teen looked up at the sky thoughtfully.
“Hopefully we’ll come across someplace to buy what we lost in the fire. At least I have our money safe in my bag.”
“What don’t you have in there?” Kroanette asked with both curiosity and concern.
Apoch and Astreal watched the bag cautiously as they saw it cracking the ground beneath it before glancing to the sword Triska had sheathed at her hip.
“By the way,” Apoch mentioned softly. “What happened to Ms. Ember’s sword?”
“Yes, where did that troublesome weapon go?” Astreal inquired.
“Right here,” Triska said patting her new blade. “Ember broke my old sword when she arrived, so I needed a new one. Not sure if I want to keep it though, it’s… a bit different.”
“Different?” Daniel asked.
“May we please see it?” Apoch and Astreal requested as they stepped closer.
Triska looked between them then slowly pulled her sword out, showing the dark steel and glowing red runes that complimented a rather disturbing aura surrounding the blade. Kroanette, Squeak, and Alyssa gathered closer as they saw the new weapon, all of them feeling a strange sense of dread from it while Apoch and Astreal carefully peered at the sword.
“I think we should sell that one and get you a new sword, Triska,” Kroanette nervously suggested. “Something about that is making my fur stand on end.”
Squeak nodded and squeaked something while holding her arms around herself and shivering from a cold feeling going down her spine.
“Where did Ember get that thing anyway?” Alyssa asked as she stepped closer. “That’s no ordinary blade. Not at all.”
“It looks like an enchanted sword,” Daniel mused while eyeing the weapon carefully.
Apoch and Astreal slowly held their hands out towards the metal before halting an inch away from it, both of them looking to each other then the weapon in surprise as they recognized it.
“I don’t believe it,” Apoch gasped.
“And so the second one shows itself,” Astreal distantly spoke as the sisters stepped back, both staring at the sword in wonder as its runes softly glowed with a crimson hue.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Triska asked as she sheathed the blade with a click.
“Do you two know something about that sword?” Daniel questioned as the sisters turned to each other with perplexed faces.
“What do we do now?” Apoch asked.
“I’m not sure,” Astreal said shaking her head. “Master wishes for them to succeed, perhaps it should stay with them.”
“What are you talking about?” Alyssa spoke up.
“But, sister,” Apoch worried. “We must inform Ms. Charlotte about this, she’ll want to know that-”
“I’m certain she already knows,” Astreal pondered with a hand held to her chin. “She’s seen it herself, surely she suspects it. Very little escapes her eye after all.”
“Hello? What are you talking about?” Kroanette asked raising a hand.
“She might want us to recover it for her,” Apoch mentioned glancing to the sword, with Triska keeping a hold of the handle as she backed up a step. “She would like to have that in her possession, I’m sure of it.”
“I feel it would be too dangerous to keep that particular weapon in Rystone,” Astreal reasoned shaking her head. “This is a difficult conundrum indeed.”
“What are two going on about?” Triska asked while keeping on guard.
The witch sisters glanced to her, to the sheathed weapon, back to each other, then turned to Triska while drumming fingers on their staves in perfectly synced rhythm.
“Seeing as how you all wish to help our master, we shall let you keep that,” Apoch announced with a small wave to the sword.
“You just might need it,” Astreal mentioned cryptically. “Do be careful though, you’re holding more power than you seem to realize.”
“Am I,” Triska wondered as she looked to the sword, growing more curious as to what the sisters knew about it and they didn’t. “Tell me, what exactly is this thing? What makes it so special?”
“You honestly don’t know, do you?” Apoch asked curiously.
“How very amusing,” Astreal chuckled.
“Don’t give me that crap,” Triska snapped at them. “If there’s something about this sword that’s so dangerous or important then tell me. What is this thing?”
“She never told you?” Apoch questioned with a slight smile.
“Who?”
“Ms. Ember,” Astreal answered looking to Alyssa. “Did she never tell you her name?”
“Her name?” Alyssa slowly repeated.
“She dubbed herself with a very peculiar moniker,” Apoch explained as the sisters began to walk away, passing by Triska and giving the sword once last look. “At first we all suspected it was just to keep close to your family name in similar fashion, Ms. Alyssa.”
“However, it is a rather strange coincidence that she shows up with that particular name and that particular sword,” Astreal continued before they stopped and glanced back over their shoulders at the group. “I do wonder where she got that name from.”
“What name?” Daniel asked.
“The Hellfire Witch,” Apoch and Astreal answered before walking away together. The group watched in puzzlement as the sisters spun their staves around before clanking them together overhead, a bright flash engulfing the twins before they vanished from the land.
“The Hellfire Witch?” Triska repeated looking to Alyssa.
“I’ve never heard of that name before,” Alyssa said scratching her head.
“Well it does seem to fit with your family’s style,” Daniel complimented. “Your mother’s was Flamewave, yours is Wildfire, and Ember’s was…”
Slowly everyone looked to each other as it began to dawn on them. As the witch’s moniker repeated itself in their heads they turned to Triska’s sword, the teen carefully sliding it out and staring at the dark blade with widening eyes.
“Hellfire,” she breathed out.
“No way,” Alyssa softly said.
“It… it couldn’t be,” Kroanette shakily argued.
Squeak gulped and slowly pointed to the blade as she squeaked something.
Daniel carefully reached out and touched the handle over Triska’s hand, feeling a sense of power emanating from the weapon as it clearly wasn’t a normal sword. He then noticed that one side of the blade had a soft red glow to it, giving it the appearance of something that struck in his mind.
“The edge… is glowing,” he cautiously pointed out.
“The… Hellfire’s… Edge,” Triska spoke under a whisper. She suddenly sheathed the blade with a click and looked to the others in shock, pausing for only a moment before taking off towards the carriage.
“Specca! Specca!”
Daniel and the girls quickly raced after her into their ride, all of them running across the marble floor and towards the library while Doku watched curiously from the bedroom archway.
“What’s going on with them now?” Clover groaned from the bed.
“I’m not quite sure,” Doku worried.
“Specca!” Triska called out as she led the group into the library. They spotted the nixie standing beside a shelf carrying a st
ack of books in her arms, her eyes watching the group curiously while Falla and Luna were fluttering above the ground near the taller bookshelves.
“Yes?” Specca asked as Triska raced up to her in urgency.
“You said you read about the Archlight’s Blade and the Hellfire’s Edge before, right?”
“Yes, I have,” Specca confirmed while eyeing them with concern. “What’s wrong with all of you?”
“What do you know about the sword?” Daniel quickly asked. “Do you know what it looks like?”
“What it looks like? I don’t understand, which sword are you talking about?”
“The Hellfire’s Edge,” Kroanette answered while looking from Triska’s sword to the nixie with apprehension.
Specca showed a confused expression while Luna and Falla gently landed down next to them.
“What are you all talking about?” Luna asked while Pip popped her head up between her breasts.
“Why were you screaming just now?” Falla said as she saw Triska being shaken up about something.
“I don’t know what it looks like,” Specca replied as she lifted the books in her arms a bit to catch her balance. “I’ve only read about it before. Why the sudden interest?”
“What do you know about it?” Triska carefully asked. “Tell me what you know about it.”
“I only know what you do. It’s a legendary sword forged from the depths of hell. To use it one mustn’t be a virgin otherwise it’ll kill them with its fire, and those who are able to wield it would have a frighteningly powerful sword at their command. It’s supposed to be able to call forth very dark and destructive magic.” Specca and the sisters watched Triska slowly looking down to her sword and carefully resting a hand on it. “What has gotten you all so worked up like this? And why are you asking me these questions now?”
Slowly Triska pulled the sword out, all eyes watching as a faint wisp of smoke came out with it while the dark metal slid with a quiet screech out of the sheath. The runes glowed with a crimson light as a chilling aura was felt coming from the blade, with Triska then holding the weapon out to the side for everyone to stare at.
“The Hellfire Witch,” Triska said glancing to Specca. “That’s the title Ember made for herself.”
“Hellfire… Witch?” Specca repeated before resting her eyes on the sword. She blinked then dropped her books as she backed up against the shelf, eyes staring at the blade in fear as she slowly pointed to it. “Triska… is… is that…”
One by one everyone took a step back as Triska held the blade up, the dark steel giving off a small wave of flame briefly as she felt a surge of power running through her arm.
“That can’t be it,” Falla softly said as she and her sister hid behind Daniel.
“Triska, it’s scaring me,” Luna whimpered.
“What is that thing?” Pip asked as she crawled up Daniel’s back and peeked over his shoulder.
“I think it is,” Kroanette quietly spoke with worried eyes.
“Triska,” Daniel said as he couldn’t believe what she was holding. “That’s… that’s…”
“The Hellfire’s Edge,” Triska marveled as she held the sword up. In her mind Kitten slowly rested her hand on Triska’s, the demon feeling just as clearly as the teen what she was holding. The sword radiated a fiery power that seemed almost overwhelming to Triska, with even Kitten being rendered speechless as she beheld the magical weapon. The two glanced to each other then at the legendary sword in awe while the others weren’t sure if they were more surprised or afraid of the dark weapon. After a long while of silence Triska turned to Daniel as she lowered her sword, saying the only two words that came to mind given what she was holding in her hand.
“Holy shit.”
*****
Kneeling before their master’s throne Apoch and Astreal were bowing their heads and trembling slightly as the haunting clacking of fingernails drumming against a metallic surface echoed out in the vast hall. Softly glowing lines and markers that were etched into the sleek walls provided light in the darkened chamber to show someone who was sighing in annoyance.
“Master?” Apoch nervously asked.
“Is something the matter?” Astreal managed to get out between her shaky breaths.
Seated before the twins on a chair made of the same sleek steel and glowing indentations that blended with the room there was a woman, much greater in size than most as she appeared a few feet taller than Kroanette easily. Her feet and three toes were covered in dark gray hard carapace segments, a frilly black skirt with white lace mesh petals over it was worn around her waist, and a skintight purple vest held her large bust, opened down the middle to reveal her breasts cupped with the same type of hardened carapace segments like an armored bra. Her wrists and lower arms were also clad in the same natural armor while having three protrusions resembling claws extending out over her fingers. She wore three golden rings below her shoulders with single bright blue gemstones adorning each one. Her hair was crimson like blood, curly and went down past her shoulders, and above her ears were dark curled horns. The monster’s piercing blue eyes alone struck fear into her helpers, the twin witches cowering before her as they quickly glanced from their towering master to another feature about her that they dreaded. Coming from behind her back were two thick extensions, the dark purple tails of the reaper having snapping mouths on the ends with razor sharp teeth.
Apoch and Astreal gulped nervously at seeing the wavering tails of their master, both knowing very well that each one could, and has before, swallow a witch whole if she wanted to.
“Tell me, girls,” Twilight spoke as she finally stopped drumming her fingernails on her throne. “Why wasn’t this Ember brought to me? Why was she killed and then buried out there to be slowly eaten away by worms?”
“Master, she… um…” Apoch whimpered.
“We didn’t think to bring her here,” Astreal defended. “We were ordered to kill her by Ms. Charlotte, and-”
“Who is your master?” Twilight demanded sharply. “Charlotte, or me?”
“You are!” the twins pleaded.
“Let’s review, shall we?” Twilight mused as she stood up and walked closer to them, her heavy footsteps causing the twins to whine quietly as she drew nearer. “You two were created by me, to serve me, and only me, for all time. Correct?”
“Yes,” the twins nervously agreed as Twilight stopped before them.
“You two are able to pass through the seal in this accursed place with your magic. After all that is one of the reasons why I created you as witches, so that you could use magic such as that. Remember?”
“Yes, and we thank you for giving us these forms,” Apoch and Astreal fearfully applauded.
“You are able to bring others to and from this place,” Twilight mentioned with a curious glance down at them. “Those who are your size or smaller, yes?”
“Yes, that is the limit of our magical power,” the twins agreed.
“And you know I want you to only bring me powerful beings, ones that I can devour, ones that I can bolster my own magic and strength with, yes?”
“Yes, we know that very well.”
“So tell me, girls,” Twilight pondered as she knelt down and knocked Apoch’s hat off with one of her claws. “Was Ember a powerful witch?”
“Yes,” they squeaked out as Twilight’s snappers hissed at them from either side.
“And you let her die out there, you let all that potential she had go to waste, didn’t you?”
“Yes. We’re sorry,” the twins whimpered with teary eyes.
“Bad girls,” Twilight coldly remarked as one of the snappers hovered above Apoch.
“Master... please, no,” Apoch quietly begged as she stared upward at the open mouth with wide eyes.
“Forgive us, master!” Astreal desperately pleaded. “We couldn’t even subdue let alone kill her ourselves, she was too powerful with her magic! She may have even been an alpha witch in her own right!”
“I kn
ow she was powerful, I saw it myself,” Twilight scolded her. “That much power, which even Triska Raylight’s demonic form was forced into a stalemate against, was something I would have loved to devour. You should have intervened instead of hiding from afar in fear of her fire, you should have brought her here. But you didn’t, did you?”
“Master, forgive us,” Apoch whined as she shut her eyes in fear.
“Please don’t eat us, master,” Astreal begged with hands held together. “It hurts so much being eaten alive.”
“Oh, so you do fear pain even though I can bring you back to life?” Twilight wondered. “That’s not good, fear is something you two shouldn’t have. You’re practically immortal with me as your master. I’m going to have to discourage such fears through proper lessons.”
“Master, no,” Astreal implored shaking her head. “Please, we learned our lesson, we won’t let another promising target be wasted such as Ms. Ember.”
“I see,” Twilight happily replied. “Well that’s fantastic then. I’m glad you learned that lesson.”
The snapper lunged down and chomped shut on Apoch, her shriek of agony being stifled in the tail’s gullet while blood spurted out onto the floor. Astreal stared in horror as the tail literally snapped up the witch, her body being pulled up into it with her legs kicking about below.
“Sister,” Astreal breathed out in sorrow as Apoch was swallowed by the dark limb, the bulge her body made in it slowly slinking towards Twilight while the witch’s muffled screams showed she was still alive.
“Then here’s your next lesson,” Twilight coldly spoke, with Astreal turning to her whimpering in fear. “Don’t ever say ‘no’ to me. Not even when you beg for your miserable little lives. Nobody says no to me, nobody defies me, and nobody will tell me what to do or think in any way. Am I clear?”
“Yes, master,” Astreal shakily agreed as the sounds of her sister screaming vanished as the witch was sucked into Twilight’s back. “I understand. Please forgive us, I beg of you.”
Twilight smirked as she rubbed her stomach, a faint cry of the raven haired witch being heard from within before falling silent.
“Honestly, it’s a waste for me to eat either of you,” Twilight admitted with a shrug. “The same power I would get from absorbing you is expended when I recreate you. So as you can tell it’s quite worthless for me to eat you girls. Having said that, I don’t mind punishing you in this manner if it will get you to listen more carefully.”
Chronicles of Eden - Act VII Page 62