"I remember, Alyssa, they were just stupid humans, nothing more! That's no excuse for killing them in the city. You do what every other witch does when somebody pisses us off inside the city walls; deal with it, then kill them when they go outside!" Tora yelled back.
"I didn't want to kill them at all, honest. I just wanted to teach them a lesson. I merely hexed them and told them to go cool their heads in the river," Alyssa said worriedly.
"Yes, and they did, they jumped right in from your order. And guess what happened to them. They drowned! They couldn't swim, Alyssa, you killed them with that damned spell!" Tora yelled out with frustration.
"How was I supposed to know they couldn't swim? Besides, nobody else jumped in after them, I don't think anybody else even liked them. They're just trying to use that incident as an excuse to ban us," Alyssa pleaded shaking her head.
"They didn't try, they did! Everybody saw them walking away in a daze from the market after pestering us; they knew you did something to them!" Tora shouted out. She screamed in frustration then glared at Alyssa as her eyes glowed with a bluish hue. The ground below them started to dry up and decay while the dirt slowly shifted around.
"Because of you we lost a good source of gold for us, because of you we lost a city of which we have so few of that we're allowed into, because of you I lost my best sales grounds!" Tora yelled with anger. Alyssa glanced down as black vines with thorns started to sift through the dirt, feeling the ground shifting around below her.
"Do you know how hard it is to find humans that can use my line of magic? It's nearly impossible, Cyllidon was the only real spot such humans existed in this region. Thanks to you I was robbed of my gold, I had nothing!" Tora yelled out as she struck her staff into the ground, a pulse of dark light rippling away from the impact as the ground cracked apart slightly. Alyssa held her staff before her as she held her other hand back, focusing her magic to pull the coins back into the bag and slowly lift it into her hand.
"Tora, stop this. I don't have time to deal with you right now," Alyssa cautioned. Tora glared at her as the ground around them started to shift and slink around in a circle. Alyssa glanced around before a black vine snapped around her leg, the girl screaming as the thorns in the vine pierced her socks. She struck her staff down onto the vine and crushed it, the end loosening and dropping down before two more snapped up and grabbed her by the arms.
"Tora!" Alyssa yelled as she was pulled down to her knees, the vines holding onto her arms as she struggled to stand. She held onto her staff and bag of gold as she looked to Tora with a strained expression. The ground around the girls cracked and rumbled before it started to bulge up nearby. Alyssa glanced over to see a large snake's head emerging from the ground, the summoned monster having black scales while there were red ones streaked across its face. The serpent hissed loudly as it rose up from the ground, the monster then looking towards Alyssa with crimson eyes as Tora glared at her still. Where the snake's body seemed to come up from the ground it appeared to be attached as the dirt shifted around like part of its skin.
"I'm going to enjoy watching this, every second of it despite how quickly it will be over," Tora said with anger as the snake unhinged its jaw, the inside of its mouth being filled with twisted fangs that dripped a green liquid. The serpent let out a ghostly roar as it shifted to the side slightly while keeping its sights on Alyssa. She focused her magic as she tensed up, the ground around her cracking more as a distorted wave of energy ripped around her wildly. In a flash the vines were cut apart and she swung her staff outward, casting out a cloud of dust and dirt in front of her. Tora shielded her eyes as she swung her staff, causing the dust and debris to fly around violently in a miniature tornado.
"Kill her!" she yelled out. The large summoned serpent roared then dashed towards Alyssa, its body seeming to grow and extend out as its base remained in place on the ground. Alyssa screamed as she jumped to the side in a roll, just avoiding being swallowed whole by the monster. She was then thrown back into a tumble from a magical force, rolling back before the snake turned to face her. It roared and circled around her, its body surrounding the witch before it poised itself above her with its open mouth. Alyssa gasped and held up her staff as the monster shot down towards her with another ghostly roar. The head flew down between its coiled body before dust and rocks flew up around it with a loud rumble. Lucky neighed loudly as he scampered back a bit, crying out as the snake had struck down towards Alyssa.
"Good riddance, you lowly rat," Tora said with malice.
A shot of golden light pierced through the snake's body going straight up into the air, followed by dozens more. Tora watched with surprise as golden streaks of light shot upwards through the snake's head and neck out into the air, tearing apart the body violently. The monster howled and flailed back before collapsing down on the ground, its head and body torn apart and letting off a black smoke from all the holes and tears. Tora stared with shock at the fallen monster then looked to see Alyssa standing up, glaring at her as she held her staff up still. In her other hand was the leather bag, which was now empty.
"What the hell?" Tora said with a stunned expression. She looked up and saw golden twinkles in the air, all of which were falling back down around the area. Alyssa waved her staff around in a circle, using her magic and funneling all the golden coins that she had fired up through the snake at high speed around and back into the bag in a spiraling decent. Tora watched with wide eyes as all the gold coins flew back down into the bag before Alyssa closed it up with the ribbon and held it securely. She glanced to the body of the snake that was decaying and crumbling apart with black smoke coming from its torn body and smirked.
"Looks like your snake wasn't worth this much in gold, let alone its own weight," Alyssa said looking back to the other witch. Tora growled loudly as her eyes glowed with a bluish hue, clutching her staff tightly.
“You think this is over? You think you’ve won?” she growled with hatred. The ground around her started to shift about as dark twisted vines slinked through the dirt. Alyssa narrowed her eyes as she held onto her staff, glancing to Lucky nearby then back to other witch as her staff glowed with an orange hue. Tora growled loudly as her staff glowed a dark green hue, the two witches glaring at each other as Lucky neighed loudly. The two girls waved their staffs towards each other with a fierce swing, the collisions of their magical forces sending out a distorting wave of energy as the ground below it cracked apart. Alyssa swung her staff around causing the dirt and dust to swirl into a small spiral in front of her, her glowing purple eyes fading from view as the dust flew around wildly.
“You can’t hide from me!” Tora yelled as she sent out a few thorny vines towards the wall of dirt and smoke, the vines whipping through and snapping at nothing but air as the dust billowed away.
“What?” Tora said with surprise, looking around quickly. In a flash the bag of gold flew by from her right and struck her in the face, the girl flying off to the side as the bag flew around in an arc back into Alyssa’s hand. She ran over and hopped onto Lucky as Tora scrambled back to her feet.
“Let’s go, Lucky!” Alyssa yelled as she took off with her horse, riding up the hill back towards Ashwood. Tora growled loudly and aimed her staff towards the witch as Alyssa swung back with hers, the two powers once again colliding and erupting into a shockwave in the air. Alyssa rode over the knoll and took off towards Ashwood as Tora held her staff out to the side, the relic lying still in midair as she hopped up and rode on it sideways. She then took off after Alyssa at high speed while holding onto the staff with one hand.
Riding across the plains Alyssa looked back to seeing Tora flying towards her on her staff.
“Oh c’mon, riding on your staff? Quit being so stereotypical!” she yelled back before looking ahead with frustration. She raced around a hillside as Tora flew nearby, the witch soaring over the ground as she kept her glare fixated on Alyssa.
“You can’t escape from me!” she yelled out as she waved her hand ou
t towards the horse-riding witch. Alyssa watched with surprise as black thorny vines ripped up from the ground in front of her, the witch yanking on the reins and pulling Lucky off to the side as the magical weeds snapped at them. She ran up alongside a hill as Tora flew along in parallel with her.
“You won’t stop me, Tora, I’m out here for a greater purpose too, one that you couldn’t even begin to dream of!” Alyssa yelled as she waved her staff towards Tora, the other witch holding out her hand causing a shockwave of distorted air and a crackle to arc around her. She wavered slightly on her staff then regained herself and kept pace with the horse next to her.
“Silence, you rat!” Tora yelled back as she waved her hand towards the witch fiercely. Alyssa held out her staff towards the other witch, causing another shockwave of magical force to erupt between them. The ground ripped apart and flew around wildly between them as the witches raced towards Ashwood along the hills. Alyssa looked ahead to seeing the gateway into the city in the distance, holding tightly onto the reins of her horse along with the bag of gold with one hand.
‘Just get inside the city, she can’t attack you then. You can’t fail, Daniel needs you! Just get inside those walls!’
Tora flew over next to Alyssa and grabbed onto her staff, the two witches then struggling as they pulled back and forth on it while Alyssa rode atop Lucky.
“You won’t get away with what you’ve done! Quit running and take your punishment, you bitch!” Tora yelled as she yanked and pulled on the staff, trying to throw the witch off of Lucky. Alyssa held onto the reins as she tried to pull back, almost falling off balance as they neared the city limits. Alyssa glanced to Tora then back ahead with narrowed eyes as she growled loudly.
“If anybody’s going to give me a spanking, it’s going to be Daniel!” she yelled as she yanked down on her staff hard, sending Tora down at an angle towards the moving ground. The other witch’s staff struck into the dirt and came to a swift halt, throwing Tora forward into a wild tumble as Alyssa rode off ahead. Tora tumbled down onto the ground with a yell as her staff tumbled to the ground behind her, the girl landing down on the dirt face first. She slowly looked up with a furious growl while Alyssa rode off towards Ashwood.
“You… won’t get away from me!” she yelled out into the air.
Alyssa slowed down as she approached Ashwood, looking back carefully as she saw she had lost the other witch. She calmly rode the horse through the gate and into the city, nodding with a slight smile at the guards as they watched the familiar witch riding back in again. The horse and witch trotted off down the streets as people stopped and watched her cautiously.
After a while Tora walked into the city, the witch’s clothing dirtied slightly while she was fuming with anger. She glanced to the guards nearby as they were watching her carefully, holding up her hands defensively as she nodded. She then walked into the city as the guards watched her cautiously before resuming their patrols.
“Where did you go? You can’t escape me, Alyssa,” Tora said with a sharp tone as she clutched her staff tightly.
“I take it you had some trouble?” a woman’s voice said from nearby. Tora stopped instantly and looked over to see a figure standing near the corner of the street. A woman dressed in a blue fine silk cloak walked over to her, her hips swaying slightly as she chuckled amusingly at the witch. Tora looked down with frustration and nodded.
“She got away, she ran back into the city to hide. But she won’t escape me, I’ll crush the life out of her with my bare hands, I’ll feed her rotting corpse to the rats, I’ll-”
“You’ll take a bath first I hope, you look and smell awful,” the woman interrupted with a laugh. Tora flinched at that then looked down with a low growl. The woman chuckled a bit then looked around, her hood shadowing most of her face.
“Relax, my dear little witch, you’ll have your chance for your revenge in due time. For now however your chance has passed, calm your mind and regain your composure,” she said calmly. Tora looked at her with urgency and shook her head.
“But, mistress, I can handle her. I can still kill her before the day ends,” she pleaded with desperation. The woman shook her head and looked down to her, her lips curling into a small smirk as she held up a finger and waved it slightly.
“Not here, not now. We have more important things to be doing right now, remember? You had your chance but now we have other matters to attend to,” she said with a calm tone. Tora growled with frustration and looked down as she stomped her foot.
“Dammit,” she hissed. The woman chuckled and looked down at the witch, tilting her head slightly.
“Now now, it’s not very becoming of a lady to let her anger get the best of her,” she mused. Tora clutched her staff tightly for a moment then slowly relaxed, breathing out then glancing up to the woman with a solemn expression.
“Yes, mistress,” she said softly. The woman nodded then looked off down the street with a calm gaze.
“Good, keep a level head, my dear, and your wish for revenge will come all the more swiftly,” she assured before starting to walk away. Tora nodded slowly then followed after, looking down slightly with a dull glare. She glanced back behind her as the two walked further into the city, narrowing her eyes slightly before looking back ahead with a focused expression.
‘Alyssa, you can’t hide from me forever. We will meet again soon, mark my words.’
Chapter 13
Monsters in the City
Throughout the world of Eden, larger cities and kingdoms were beacons of human civilization, with their fortified walls and stores of weaponry to protect against the monsters that roamed the lands around them. However, some locations allowed certain types of monsters in to trade with and use for various services, with these locations being known as ‘monster-neutral’ zones. Those that were allowed into these areas were watched closely and given no tolerance for suspicious behavior, and were widely despised and treated harshly by the human citizens they met. Still, with unique magical and finely crafted merchandise from these otherworldly traders, cities such as Ashwood became even wealthier and more secure in the world by allowing them in. Of course, with monsters being allowed into these areas the guards were always around, keeping a watchful eye over their people.
After all, you never know who, or what, might come through the gate.
*****
Walking down the streets of Ashwood three travelers were receiving harsh stares and cold glares from the humans they passed, all of which weren't going unnoticed. Daniel slowly glanced around, seeing all the citizens of the city talking amongst themselves as they pointed to the travelers that had a monster in their group. Squeak looked around worriedly as everyone was giving her glares and scowls, feeling frightened as she was inside a human city that obviously didn't want her around. Triska glanced to her with a sympathetic expression before looking around at the people with annoyance.
"For a city that allows monsters into their land, these people sure aren't very hospitable," she said flatly.
"No, it appears they only allow the monsters to come inside to purchase their wares if they're valuable enough, and that's it. These people have no intentions on forming peace with any that come here," Daniel agreed shaking his head. He looked over to Squeak as she walked alongside Triska, the ant girl squeaking quietly while her antennae twitched slightly. She looked over to Daniel with a worried expression as she squeaked a few times, the boy smiling gently back and shaking his head.
"Don't pay them any mind, Squeak, they just don't understand yet. It'll be ok, I promise," he reassured. Squeak nodded then looked down with closed eyes, unable to go anywhere near Daniel without causing even more problems. Triska glanced to her, seeing Squeak’s downtrodden expression, and then sighed quietly as she looked back ahead to Daniel.
'I should be happy she can't go near Daniel at all while we're in here, I've wanted her and Alyssa to back the hell off from him from the start. But… not like this. I feel so bad for her.'
She l
ooked over to Squeak with concern then gently held the ant girl's hand, the monster glancing to her with timid eyes.
"Daniel's right, Squeak, don't listen to what these people are saying. They'll see that you and your kind aren't our enemies, they and all the others of mankind," she reassured gently. Squeak nodded once with a soft squeak then looked down with a troubled expression. Triska showed concern for her friend then looked down as well while the three travelers made their way into an intersection in the city.
"Well, we might as well get our supplies and then go meet Alyssa, we're not making many new friends here today," Daniel said looking around as people were walking by at a distance from the travelers, all while glancing to them with discontent. Triska nodded then looked to Squeak as she was keeping her eyes down at the ground still.
'Looks like I'm not going to get any alone time with Daniel after all, we can't leave her alone here like this.'
Triska smiled slightly then nudged Squeak to get her attention.
"Hey, how about we go get our equipment ready, I could use a hand with the shopping," she asked kindly. Squeak looked at her curiously as Daniel smiled at the two. Squeak tilted her head slightly and squeaked a few times while Triska glanced around at the stores nearby.
"You might as well stick with me today, not like you can follow closely to Daniel anyway. Besides, I'd rather not trouble him with the heavy lifting," she jested with an amused glance over to Daniel. He chuckled and smiled weakly as he shook his head.
"Gee, thanks," he said dryly. Triska giggled softly and nodded, then looked over to Squeak.
"Well, we do have a strong ant girl on our team. How about it, think you can help out with our shopping?" she asked. Squeak smiled and nodded eagerly with a few quick squeaks as she wiggled her abdomen.
"I think she's up for it," Daniel said with a small laugh. He looked over down another street then to the girls as he pointed towards something.
chronicles of eden - act I Page 39