“Kroanette, I’m sure she didn’t take it personally,” Specca reasoned.
“I’m never going to be able to tell her I’m sorry,” Kroanette lamented. “I’m never going to be able to tell her how much she meant to me. I’m never going to see her again. I already knew this before I got here, Kitten told me what happened to her. And yet… as prepared as I could have been to see my kingdom having crumbled to dust… to know that my mother fell to those horrible monsters… to see those poor elves picking themselves up after being plagued by war; as prepared for all of that as I could have been… seeing Squeak missing from my family… knowing I’ll never hear her squeaks again… my heart continues to break from the thought.”
She dropped to her legs as she broke down into tears, crying out of sorrow while Daniel and the girls felt the sting from their loss once again as they shared Kroanette’s pain. Daniel slowly breathed out before approaching his centaur and holding her close to him, the woman quickly latching onto his waist as she cried into his shirt.
“Every time I run off, I lose someone important to me,” she sobbed, shaking her head. “First I lost my mother and sisters when I left Ruhelia, and then I lost Squeak when I left our home. Why must this always happen to me? I fear if I ever go for a run again I may never see you or the girls again when I return. It’s like I curse those I love to a horrible fate should I ever run away from them.”
“You didn’t curse Ruhelia or your family,” Daniel assured her. “And you didn’t curse Squeak either. This pain and suffering we’re all going through, it’s The Sisterhood’s fault. Theirs, and the gemini’s.”
“The gemini,” Kroanette growled, a look of anger washing over her. “Those crazed demons from Eston… they were the ones who brought this hell upon us. Those… those… those monsters!”
She yelled out in agony and shook her head, covering her face in both hands as she screamed and tried in vain to calm herself. After a few deep breaths and painful snivels she looked up to Daniel in wonder, the centaur slowly rising to her feet as she beheld the man and his new armaments before holding her hands to his chest.
“I also heard a very strange tale from Kitten. One in which you were the hero that slayed those immortal monsters and avenged my people, avenged the elven people, and avenged Squeak. Is it true? Are those accursed monsters truly vanquished? Did you really send them back to hell whence they came?”
“I did,” Daniel assured her. “I made those monsters feel real pain and suffering before I cast them out from this world. It wasn’t comparable to all the pain they inflicted on so many people, but it was the best I could do and it invoked real agony in the iridescent eyes of those demons. They’re dead, Kroanette. They paid the price for messing with our families. I made sure of that.”
“How did you do it?” Kroanette asked with heightened interest. “How did you slay them when they’re practically immortal? I thought it was impossible without both swords of legend, but that’s not what I heard happened. What did you do, Daniel?”
“Didn’t Kitten tell you?” Daniel wondered, with everyone turning to the demon as she slowly shook her head.
“I thought it would be best to keep the specifics of that particular event between us only, master,” Kitten explained. “Other ears were listening, my words were going to be carried far and wide into the unknown, and I wasn’t sure who we would want to trust with the truth. It just seemed like something you wouldn’t want everyone to know of right now.”
“Yes, that is how I feel about it,” Daniel agreed, nodding. “I’m actually glad that you see it that way and respected my wishes without me ever having to tell you of them. I was actually a little fearful you would have-”
“Bragged about what you did?” Kitten smirked. “I wanted to, but I had a feeling it was something you didn’t want to be made public yet.”
“Thank you, Kitten. I’m thankful you made that call.”
“I only think about your happiness and wellbeing, master,” Kitten proclaimed with a fanciful bow.
“Among other things,” Alyssa dryly added, then turned to Kroanette with great interest. “We can talk about that later, we’ll give you all the details, but for now could you please explain what the hell happened in Stonegate? How did you end up there of all places? And how are you still alive and in one piece after going there?”
“Please, tell us, what did you girls find there?” Specca asked, looking from Kroanette to Clover and then Kitten. “Did you find anything out of the ordinary? What’s the big secret that city is hiding? What was it Calam couldn’t tell us about?”
“About that…” Kroanette hesitantly replied. “I’m sorry, but… we can’t tell you either.”
“Are you kidding us?” Alyssa yelled at her. “What do you mean you can’t tell us? You have to! We need to know what-”
“Alyssa, calm down,” Clover ordered. “Look, we want to tell you all what we found, we really do. But we can’t, we took an oath of secrecy.”
“You’re seriously going to keep this a secret from us?” Falla cried out.
“We have to!” Kitten loudly argued. Seeing the girls falling silent the demon took a slow breath before continuing. “Listen, I want to tell my master everything I saw. I want to explain to all of you just what exactly they are hiding in that city, however I cannot. We took that oath Calam did; we can’t speak a word about it to anyone. And believe me when I say this is an oath that we don’t want to break, these are people we don’t want to upset.”
She looked around at the disappointed faces the girls were showing before glancing to Daniel with a smirk.
“I can’t tell you, master. These girls can’t tell you either. But, Triska can.”
“What? Triska can?” Daniel wondered.
“Yes, she can. You see, they made Kroanette promise. They made Star promise. They made Reiko promise. They made Clover promise. They even made me promise. But never once did they ask Triska to swear to secrecy. Technically, she never took an oath of silence.”
“Wait, they didn’t?” Kroanette exclaimed. “But… how could that be? They make everyone take that oath upon first going there, or after they’re brought there, or however they end up there. Why didn’t they ask Triska to keep their secret?”
“How could they, if I never switched places with her?” Kitten smirked. Silence fell over the campsite as the demon smugly grinned at Kroanette. Star and Reiko exchanged puzzled looks while Clover was closely observing the cambion now.
“That’s why you never switched out with Triska,” the elf realized. “That’s why you stayed in control the entire time we were there. They couldn’t make Triska swear to keep quiet if she never appeared.”
“They all heard that Triska and I shared the same body from Kroanette,” Kitten explained. “But, they didn’t seem to realize that meant if I swore to something, that doesn’t mean Triska made the same pledge. Nobody called me out for it during my stay, so either they didn’t realize we didn’t speak on each other’s behalf, or they thought Triska was asleep while I was in control.”
“You sneaky demon,” Kroanette said, smiling in awe. “And I thought they were master charlatans. Very impressive.”
Kitten took a few mocking bows to the group before turning to Daniel with a hopeful smile.
“So, did I do good, master?” she innocently asked him. Daniel walked up to the demon with a shrewd smirk, chuckling at how deviously deceptive his demon had behaved.
“Was that your idea, or Triska’s? Tell me the truth.”
“It was mine,” Kitten admitted. “Triska agreed to it, but I was the one who suggested she stay inside my head for the duration of our time there. Master, I will say this, this will be a terrific lead for your quest, I wanted to make sure we didn’t blow it and ruin this for you. However, I figured you would want to know about it as soon as possible, this way you can enter Stonegate without fear once you know the truth, and we’re technically not breaking any of their laws this way. I followed their rules just as t
hey said, I was a good demon on your behalf, however I will always act in your best interests above all else.”
“Good girl,” Daniel said, then brought the demon close and kissed her. Her wings quickly swooshed open wide behind her as she melted in the man’s embrace, especially knowing that this kiss was meant for her and not Triska. While the other girls smiled a little at seeing Kitten receiving some well-deserved praise from her master, Daniel felt something new during the tender moment. He felt the cambion’s tongue rolling over his, and her hands that gently held onto his chest as kept her near, but what stuck out to him was what came during the kiss; a brief spark in his mind that was all too familiar for Daniel by now.
The feeling of her aura, her love literally calling out and trying to connect with him, and also a faint glimpse of something else in his mind; a star, shining brightly with ferocity and burning passion, and its light that bloomed not with a sparkling radiance or glistening color, but instead darkness. A star of dark, black light, almost invisible, yet at the same time unmistakable, and its rays conveying not a chilling coldness one would expect from a demon, but rather a sunny warmth, similar to how the other girls’ auras have felt to him before.
‘What is this? Her love for me may be as true as the others’, but her aura… it feels different. It’s like Triska’s… except… except it’s-’
“Okay,” Alyssa called out, bringing the two back to their senses. Breaking from the kiss they gazed at each other for a moment longer before seeing Alyssa tapping her foot impatiently while waving the demon on. “You got your kiss, good for you. Now let Triska out so we can hear what the hell all of this is about! We’ve been waiting forever!”
“You did good with your sneaky plan,” Falla admitted. “You would make my grove proud. Now how about you let Triska out so she can spill the beans already? We want to know what the big secret is.”
“Should… we be here for this?” a ranger slowly questioned. “Is this information confidential, or-”
“We don’t care!” Specca yelled out.
“Hey, Rolian,” Sheal said, walking out of the carriage with spider silk covering her. “Could you come back in here and help me clean up this crap? And get it off me as well?”
“Is that a salamander woman?” Kroanette asked, pointing to Sheal in disbelief. “Wearing a maid outfit… covered in arachne silk… coming out of our home?”
“We will explain it all later!” Alyssa shouted, striking her staff into the ground and sending out a gust of wind and rippling wave of light through the grass. “Whatever you haven’t been told yet, we’ll tell you later. For now, bring Triska back so we can finally learn just what the fuck Stonegate is hiding from us! That’s all we care about right now, that’s all we want to hear about, that’s the only thing we need to be discussing right now! There is not a single thing otherwise that should have our attention until that matter is taken care of! Not a single thing!”
Before anyone could speak or make a move while her echoing cry sounded off into the air, another sound also caught everyone’s attention. One by one Daniel and all the women around him turned towards the southern hillside overlooking large grassy plains running alongside the neighboring woodland. Slowly the sound of horses galloping through the land started to rise, so much so that the elven community began to halt what they were doing and take notice. It grew and grew into a loud rumbling stampede, something that caused birds to fly off from the trees while deer and rabbits were seen fleeing the forest in a panic.
“What is that?” Specca slowly asked.
“It sounds like a stampede,” an elven ranger said.
“It’s getting louder,” Cindy worried, quickly rushing over behind Daniel.
“It sounds like a whole army is coming our way,” Falla commented.
“You don’t think… it’s The Sisterhood, do you?” Luna feared, quickly hiding behind Daniel as well.
“Relax, it’s not The Sisterhood,” Kitten said, walking up beside her master. With a smirk on her face she glanced to see Daniel examining the forest very carefully, the man showing a cautious unease towards the commotion that wasn’t shared by those who just returned from Stonegate.
“Kroanette isn’t the only one we brought back with us,” Kitten mentioned, getting everyone’s attention.
“What do you mean…” Daniel started to say, and then fell quiet as he and the women around him stared in stunned silence at the source of the thundering charge.
Riding out from the forest where it thinned and allowed travelers passage through its thick woodland was not one, not two, and not a dozen, but rather hundreds and hundreds of centaurs. Daniel and the girls gathered near the edge of the campsite and witnessed in awe the sight of an entire herd of galloping centaurs racing out of the forest towards the elven encampment, with many women and even children racing across the grassy fields with high speed atop their four legs.
“What the hell?” Alyssa breathed out.
“Holy… crap,” Specca managed to blurt out.
“What is going on here?” Falla asked in disbelief.
“There’s so many centaurs down there,” Luna said, shaking her head. “So… so… so many.”
“Where are they all coming from?” Doku wondered.
“So many boobies,” Pip drooled with stars in her eyes. “So many boobies bouncing out there. They’re so big I can see them from here.”
The centaurs poured out of the forest and ran towards the outskirts of the elven campsite where they slowed down and gathered into a large crowd before it. Elves were also gathering in front of them, the women and children just as awestruck and puzzled by the sudden appearance of so many young and elder centaurs appearing out of nowhere. After the last of the centaurs regrouped with their people an awkward silence befell both monster communities, with the elves being stunned to see so many centaurs having appeared before them, while the centaurs showed slightly less surprise to seeing the elves residing in the shadows of their former kingdom.
“That’s… a lot of centaurs,” a ranger beside Alyssa finally said.
“What are they doing here?” another questioned. “Where did they come from? Who are they?”
“They’re the centaurs from Ruhelia,” Kroanette announced, much to the surprise of Daniel and his family. “They’re the ones who survived and fled The Sisterhood’s assault on our kingdom.”
“Those… those are the centaurs of Ruhelia?” Specca questioned with a startle.
“Where did you find them?” Sheal asked.
“Where do you think?” Clover smirked.
Daniel and the girls blinked before turning to the returning members in surprise.
“Stonegate?” Daniel asked very skeptically. “You found… all of them… in Stonegate?”
“Are you serious?” Alyssa questioned even more skeptically.
Kitten chuckled as she closed her eyes, the demon’s wings and tail slowly retracting as she relinquished control of her body to her counterpart. The group gazed over the great number of centaurs who rode into the valley with marvel as they and the elves continued their silent standoff with only a few yards separating them. Turning back to the cambion in the group they saw her stumbling forward a step before regaining her balance, eyes opening to reveal their glow having vanished while her aura had shifted to a more tranquil one.
“Daniel,” Triska breathed out, taking a moment to regain her senses before turning to him with a daring smile. “You’re not going to believe what we found there.”
“You mean besides Kroanette and an entire centaur community?” Falla questioned, gesturing to the nearby centaur herd in shock.
“Oh, we found more than that, Falla,” Clover said as she started walking off towards the standoff. “And believe every word that Triska says, because it’s all true. We saw it ourselves.”
“Where are you going?” Specca asked before Kroanette sighed and trotted over to Daniel.
“Excuse me, Daniel,” she said before giving him a quick kiss. �
�I’ll be right back. We have to play emissary now with our two races and properly introduce them to one another, as much as I’m not looking forward to having to do so.”
“Emissary?” Daniel repeated as the centaur took a few steps away.
“We sort of have to,” Clover called back to him. “I’m the highest ranking huntress among my people, so I kind of need to deal with this shit now. Fucking sucks, but what can I do?”
“Yes, and…” Kroanette hesitantly said, pausing for a moment before looking back to Daniel with a nervous smile and small shrug. “Since I’m the only living member of the royal family left, I’m sort of stuck with the responsibilities as well. I really pray Hollia is alive out there and returns to us soon, I really don’t want to be empress. I’m not empress material.”
“We’ll give you all your privacy,” a ranger said before the elves headed over towards Clover and Kroanette. “It sounds like you have personal matters to discuss, and we don’t wish to intrude on them. We’ll escort Clover and Kroanette to meet with their people.”
The elves bowed to the group before heading off with Clover and Kroanette, with the two girls making their way towards the dividing gap between their people as many of the elves and centaurs turned to see them approaching. Daniel watched them go with a bewildered expression then turned to Triska, the girl smirking at Clover and Kroanette before returning her mate’s gaze.
“So,” she said with a knowing grin. “About Stonegate…”
Chapter 13
Secret of the Copycats
In the world of Eden, few monsters were as deceptive and cunning as the copycats. These feline women were capable of mimicking the forms of other monsters and humans, perfectly replicating them down to the last physical detail and even their voice. When one was in disguise, it was nearly impossible to point them out as there were no obvious tells to betray their unique ability. They were known to be sneaky, clever, underhanded, and difficult to stop when they preyed upon men. However this wasn’t to say all were malicious or had wicked hearts.
Chronicles of Eden - Season II - Act II Page 39