“Well, she’s very busy tonight, but how about you and I get better acquainted in the meantime?” she mused before reaching for his pants. Daniel grabbed her hands and yanked her to the side before he quickly got back on his feet, with the witch then growling and swinging her staff forward at him.
“I’m not done with you yet, on your knees, human!” she shouted out.
Everyone just watched as Daniel stared at the witch with a solemn expression, the monster then showing puzzlement and waving her hand downward at him.
“I said down on your knees, now!” she ordered.
Daniel merely shook his head as the witch jumped back with a small gasp.
“What the… I said down!” she yelled as she struck her staff into the ground. A distorted wave of air rippled around Daniel as the ground near him cracked slightly, with the poles standing upright near him wavering slightly from the magical wave of energy. Kroanette crossed her arms with a smug grin while Daniel slowly walked towards the witch, the girl shaking her head with disbelief and backing up away from him.
“What is this, why won’t you kneel?” she cried out. Another witch with a dark witch’s hat and long red hair ran over and held her hand towards Daniel with a cold glare.
“Hold it,” she ordered, with Daniel stopping and merely glancing to her as her blue eyes gave off a soft glow.
“You need to learn your place here, human. Now get down on your knees like a good little boy,” she said with a piercing stare.
“I don’t think so,” Daniel replied while shaking his head, with the witch gasping in surprise.
“No, that’s not possible. Take off your clothes and get down on your knees, right now!” she yelled out.
“I will do no such thing, that’s a horrible thing to ask of a visitor in your village,” Daniel replied while crossing his arms.
“What the hell, why can’t I charm him, what’s his deal?” the witch whined while backing up with her friend. Two more witches ran over in front of them and twirled their staffs around, the twisted metal poles sparking a bit before the girls swung them towards Daniel with loud yells.
“Bad human!” they taunted together, with everyone watching as a scattered web of electricity shot forth and crackled along the ground towards him, only to part and strike into the poles nearby as Daniel remained standing without feeling a thing. The bright blue and white lights of the lightning sparked about wildly before vanishing with a crackle, leaving the crowd of stunned witches staring at Daniel with open mouths.
“Impossible,” one of the spell casters breathed out as she backed up with her friend.
“Seriously, this is just a rude way of greeting people, where are your manners?” Daniel said shaking his head. Kroanette giggled a bit as she watched Daniel standing there with no fear for the witches at all.
“What the hell is he?” a witch cried out they all glared at him with glowing eyes.
“I’m not here to fight, I’m not here to cause any trouble, I merely wish to speak to your alpha peacefully,” Daniel called out.
“And just who the hell are you?” a witch yelled out at him.
“Mr. Daniel,” Apoch and Astreal called out together. Daniel and Kroanette looked to seeing the witch sisters walking towards them from the manor, both of the girls having annoyed expressions on their faces while they held their staves upright and opposite of each other. The witches around the plaza quieted down and gave small bows to the sisters, with Daniel glancing around to seeing that Charlotte’s helpers were indeed treated highly amongst their own kind. Kroanette slowly backed off to the side as the sisters kept their eyes locked onto Daniel, the boy now standing alone in the plaza near the skull posts.
“You were not to come here, Ms. Charlotte was very clear with that order, yet you directly disobeyed her and caused quite the commotion in her town,” the sisters scolded together in unison. Kroanette looked from one to the other then slowly shook her head with a small flinch.
“Ok, that was creepy how they did that,” she mentioned.
“Please, I need to talk to her,” Daniel pleaded.
“She doesn’t wish to speak to you, you were not to come here ever again; did you not get that hint earlier?” Apoch demanded.
“You just made a very foolish mistake coming here,” Astreal hissed as the two sisters held their staves in both hands while watching the boy with cold stares. Kroanette looked back and forth between them nervously then to Daniel as the boy slowly raised his hands defensively.
“Please, I need to talk to her, I need her to listen to what I have to say, she needs to hear this,” he pleaded.
“My ladies, who is this human?” a witch nearby asked while pointing her wand towards Daniel.
“He is a wandering idiot who is not welcome here, Ms. Charlotte has already explicitly told him not to come to our village, yet he has clearly disregarded her words,” Astreal announced firmly.
“My ladies, he wouldn’t be charmed or harmed with our magic, what is he?” another witch asked nervously. Daniel glanced to the surrounding witches with a curious eye then to the two sisters while Astreal rolled her eyes and waved her staff to the side, causing one of the steel poles nearby to launch off from the ground in a spin and smack into Daniel’s side, throwing him back onto the ground with a loud cough as the steel pole bounced off to the side of the plaza with a loud clatter.
“Daniel!” Kroanette cried out, and then looked over to seeing the sisters watching her with amused smirks.
“Because he has one of that centaur’s enchanted refraction bracelets, that human cannot be touched by raw magical energy. He can, however, be touched by everything else,” Astreal stated before waving her staff down, causing the steel pole off to the side to fly back over and whack across the back of Daniel’s head, the boy dropping to the ground with a painful groan as the pole bounced off to the side and struck against another with a clank.
“Did you believe that we didn’t realize what those were? Ms. Charlotte saw them in Eston very clearly, we know how you’re immune to magical spells,” Apoch lectured while shaking a finger at Kroanette.
“And we saw you giving him one of those bracelets before approaching Ms. Charlotte’s home; did you really believe you could protect him from us like that?” Astreal mocked at the centaur.
“Hey, I just wanted to help him stay in one piece while he talked to you witches, that’s all,” Kroanette defended while holding her hands up.
“He shouldn’t have come here to begin with, that magical bracelet will do nothing to protect him from us,” Apoch scorned before the sisters looked to Daniel again, the boy slowly getting up while holding the back of his head. He blinked a few times as his vision slowly stopped spinning then glanced around to seeing all the witches watching him with bitter smiles, some of them even laughing and pointing to him with amusement.
“I came all this way to speak to your alpha like civilized beings of Eden, I had hoped that someone as revered and distinguished as your grace would at least have the courtesy of speaking to me in person about this important matter, and not have to treat an unarmed visitor so callously,” he called out with discontent.
“You have no right to be in our grace’s presence, let alone speak to her,” Apoch snapped.
“How dare you come here and speak of our alpha like that, the nerve of you, human,” Astreal growled with anger.
“I have to talk to her, I can’t let what happened in Eston be the end of this, I can’t give up and accept that she could never understand,” Daniel pleaded. The witch sisters scoffed then stepped forth while striking their staves down into the ground, the loud clank echoing out as all the witches around the area fell silent.
“If you desire to speak to our alpha so badly, then you may do so if you can get through us,” Apoch and Astreal challenged boldly. Astreal spun her staff around then aimed it at Daniel as a bright red glow came from her crescent end, with Apoch spinning her staff around before holding it across as the crescent end glowed with a
white hue.
“Daniel, again, are you sure about this?” Kroanette called out worriedly.
“I have to speak to Charlotte, and I will not be scared or chased away from doing so,” Daniel called out with a determined expression. Astreal scoffed as she swung her staff down at her side, causing three bright crimson lines to streak through the air behind her in parallel to her relic. Daniel and Kroanette watched as the glowing lines took shape into crimson steel longswords with a small metallic whine, the blades having razor sharp edges with an obsidian sheen to them while their handles were a gray steel. The blades floated in midair while having an ominous red glow around them, showing that they were indeed magical swords.
“What in the world?” Kroanette said with wonder. Daniel narrowed his eyes as he stared down the witch, watching as the girl held her staff back behind her while the three floating blades tilted slightly from her movement.
‘They’re just trying to scare you, to make you run away. They know you can’t be touched by magical spells, they even admitted it. Her spell can’t harm me at all.’
“I’m not backing down from this, I’m not leaving until I speak to Charlotte,” Daniel announced.
“Stupid human,” Astreal scoffed before she aimed her staff at him with a sharp thrust, causing the three floating swords to suddenly fly towards Daniel through the air. Daniel kept watching Astreal with a firm expression, not willing to let the witch intimidate him with her tricks as the swords closed in on him.
“Daniel, get down!” Kroanette cried out, with the boy then jumping a bit before diving down onto the ground as the swords streaked by over him. While they did one of the blades sliced through his shirt with a clean cut, the crimson swords then striking into the ground behind him with sharp impacts as Daniel looked back to them with surprise. He grabbed his shirt and looked to seeing that the sword had cut through it at the edge, then over to the witch sisters as Astreal was smiling coldly at him.
“But how?” Daniel asked.
“Those swords aren’t a spell, Daniel, they’re real!” Kroanette cried out, with Daniel quickly turning around to seeing the blades then being thrown back towards him from the ground in sharp spins. The swords flew through the air before Daniel lunged over to the side, just missing them by an inch as they spun around before coming to a halt in front of Astreal in midair.
“What do you mean they’re real? She made them with magic, didn’t she?” Daniel asked.
“You’re only immune to raw magical spells and blunt forces of magic, not summoned objects, remember?” Kroanette reminded urgently. Daniel jumped then watched as Astreal waved her staff around, creating three more glowing crimson blades as all six turned to aim towards the human.
“That bracelet will do nothing to save you from me, now die!” Astreal yelled before she launched all six blades towards him. Daniel scrambled to his feet and jumped off to the side, with three of the swords striking into the ground with sharp thrusts while the other three spun around in the air past him before flying back at the boy. The witches around the area started laughing and giggling as Daniel rolled onto the ground with the flying blades whipping by over him, the boy then scrambling to his feet and lunging over to the side as the first three blades launched out from the ground and spun around to strike down into the ground where he just was with sharp impacts.
“Daniel!” Kroanette cried out as the human frantically dodged and rolled around to avoid the spinning blades. The metal poles that were still standing were sliced into pieces by Astreal’s magical swords, all the while Daniel kept stumbling around and frantically trying to avoid being cut apart himself. He then looked towards Astreal as the witch laughed while swinging her staff around again and again, throwing her magical blades all around the plaza as the witches around the area were laughing and pointing at the human.
“Alright, enough of this,” Daniel grunted before he made a dash towards Astreal, the witch watching him with a slick smile as the boy glanced back to seeing all six blades spinning around fiercely towards him. Kroanette looked to Astreal then to Daniel with growing concern as the boy raced towards the witch with the blades following closely behind him.
“Oh? Do you think you can cut me down with my own swords?” Astreal mocked.
“Let’s find out,” Daniel challenged as he ran towards the girl, only for Apoch to then quickly thrust her staff towards him. Before the two sisters a large shield of glowing yellow light expanded out, the silver and golden armor manifesting with a small metallic whine. Daniel gasped before he slammed into the magical barrier, the shield not budging an inch from the impact while Apoch and Astreal laughed in unison.
“What?” Daniel shouted with surprise before looking back to seeing the spinning crimson blades flying towards him. With only just enough time he quickly dropped down and hugged the ground, the magical blades then striking into the shield above him and bouncing off with loud clanks. Daniel held his hands over his head as the swords spiraled around wildly onto the ground nearby, the blades then being launched up into the air before being sent straight down towards him.
“Daniel, move!” Kroanette cried out. Daniel gasped then quickly rolled off to the side, with the blades striking into the ground one after another behind him as they all just missed by a hair each. As each sword struck down with a sharp ring the shield before the sisters slowly vanished, with Apoch then returning to her defensive stance while Astreal kept her staff aimed at Daniel with a cold smile. Daniel rolled to a stop as the sixth sword struck down next to him, the boy staring at the magical weapon with wide eyes before scrambling to his feet and looking at the witch sisters with wonder.
“You will never get close to our alpha, for I am her shield,” Apoch declared softly with a firm expression.
“And I am her sword. Now then, time to end this,” Astreal declared as she waved her staff around in a circle. The crimson blades in the ground yanked up into the air and spun around wildly as they circled Daniel, the boy watching as the swords twirled around before they turned to aim at him from all sides. Daniel looked from one sword to the other with caution before over to the witch sisters, with Kroanette gasping as she saw Daniel surrounded by the magical blades.
“Any last words?” Apoch and Astreal asked together.
“Yes, let me speak to Charlotte!” Daniel shouted out.
“Those are horrible last words, don’t you have anything better?” Kroanette called out with disbelief.
“You will never bother our alpha with your senseless words,” Astreal scorned.
“Goodbye, Mr. Daniel,” Apoch said coldly as Astreal raised her staff up, with her swords rattling as they all prepared to launch towards Daniel from all around him. Daniel glanced to the magical blades with frustration as he tensed up, bracing to be sliced apart in front of the village of witches, then looked over towards the manor as a door being closed loudly was heard.
“I told you two to deal with him quietly,” Charlotte said dryly, with everyone then looking over to seeing the alpha walking towards the sisters with a dull expression on her face. The alpha had her wand in hand while her hair gently flowed behind her, the witch walking over to Astreal who quickly bowed to her along with all of the witches in the court.
“My grace,” Astreal said elegantly.
“We’re so sorry for the disturbance, we’ll handle this misguided human for you right away,” Apoch insisted. Charlotte stopped next to them then glanced to Daniel with a raised eyebrow, seeing the boy surrounded by floating crimson blades while all around the plaza small stones and broken metal poles were littered about from the scuffle.
“You do realize that I was trying to get off to the memory of my charming Daemon before your little squabble out here became rather irritating, yes?” she mentioned as she glanced to the sisters with annoyance. The two girls jumped a bit then nervously nodded at her.
“Yes, we’re sorry, we’ll handle him right away,” they quickly assured together. Charlotte rolled her eyes then looked back to Daniel
with a dull stare while she tapped her wand on her thigh.
“I know I told you not to come here,” she called out expectantly.
“You did, but I had to speak to you again,” Daniel answered while watching her and not the red blades that were still aimed at him.
“Does it look like I want to talk to you?” Charlotte said shaking her head.
“You don’t have to speak, you can just listen,” Daniel replied.
“Let me try this again since you’re not getting the message, does it look like I want to listen to you? Honestly, are you just wishing to die? Is that all you really want?” Charlotte asked with annoyance.
“I wish to speak to a grand ruler of a monster race such as yourself, and will not be scared or chased away from doing so by anything. Please, my grace, I traveled all this way to see you, I stand before you unarmed with no intention to start a fight, all I want is a moment of your time,” Daniel requested with a humble bow. Charlotte drummed her fingers on her thigh for a moment before she started walking towards the boy.
“Alright, this bothersome issue is going to end tonight,” she said before she snapped her fingers, the sound being heard like a deafening clap as Astreal’s swords shattered into a sparkly dust. Astreal jumped and watched with surprise at the sight of her magical blades being dissolved as Charlotte waved her wand to the side, causing the broken bits and chunks of the court to slide and roll back into place while the pieces of the metal poles were thrown off to the side and out of the way.
“You are by far the most annoyingly persistent human I have ever seen. I’m not sure if I respect or despise that about you, I just can’t tell. Still, you at least have the decency to address me properly, although that’s not enough to forgive you for disregarding my orders which were crystal clear. Now then, seeing as how you just won’t shut up and leave me alone, and I’m already standing here along with the entire village, let’s just get this over with, shall we?” she stated dryly before stopping in front of him. Daniel watched her carefully as she gave a gentle wave of the hand for him to speak.
Chronicles of Eden - Act 2 Page 74