“What good are scared, weak little elves to us?” Jacqueline demanded. “We were expecting tough monsters, ones that didn’t take shit from anyone and knew when to throw a punch. But instead we find the elves here to be nothing but tree-humping wimps.”
“Well said,” Jovian agreed banging Grace’s head again, the young child dropping her bow and arrow while crying now. “I mean the only elf here who showed any spirit is this young girl in my hand. She’s the only one I’ve seen actually look like she wanted to kill someone.”
Jovian was about to knock Grace back into the window again then stopped, her unseen gaze slowly turning down to the child who was glaring at her with tears and clenched teeth.
“You fucking whore,” Grace whimpered. “You’re so dead for this.”
“I love that,” Jovian remarked in awe. “Even when she’s helpless she’s still got that fire in her. This is what we expected from the elves.”
“She’s got more spirit than any of you,” Jacqueline sneered at the elves. “You should all be ashamed of yourselves.”
Jovian turned Grace’s head up towards her, the elf breathing sharply through her teeth as her neck was being bent at a painful angle. The gemini watched her for a moment then turned to Sivil.
“You know what, now curiosity has gotten the best of me,” she admitted with a shrug. “I just have to know otherwise I’m not going to get any sleep tonight. That elf you were all talking about, Clover. The one this young girl seems to fancy. What happened to her?”
“I got rid of her,” Sivil coldly replied.
Jovian let go of Grace and smirked at the child, the little girl glaring at her before doing so to Sivil with what appeared to be just as much anger.
“What do you mean by that?” Grace demanded. “You didn’t get rid of her. She left the forest to kill a thief that stole mom’s treasure.”
“Of course she did,” Sivil replied with a dark smile. “Because that thief was one of my archers, who I ordered to take that stupid relic away knowing your mom would send Clover after her.”
“What?” Celine asked. “You had my divine treasure stolen?”
“I did,” Sivil answered with a careless shrug, her cold eyes remaining fixed on Grace. “I knew Clover would be the only one your mom trusted in sending after her. I had my archer take the relic far, far away from here, to a little town called Rackleholm. Ever heard of it?”
Grace shook her head while wiping her tears away, with Sivil chuckling a bit as the others listened to her story with interest.
“It used to be a human settlement. Until swarm took over.”
“Swarm?” Grace softly repeated in concern.
“Yeah, swarm. The entire town was infested with those things. One of my scouts reported it a while back, but I guess I was just too busy with other matters here in the forest to bother updating our maps. It must have slipped my mind at the time.”
“No,” Grace whimpered.
“My archer led Clover right into that town. And it seems neither has yet to come back. I do wonder if she was eaten alive the moment she set foot in that accursed place.”
“No!” Grace shouted out. She tried to rush Sivil but was quickly grabbed by Jovian, the woman holding the screaming girl back by her tunic. “You killed her! You killed her, you fucking asshole!”
“That was the plan,” Sivil remarked with a smirk.
“Haha!” Jovian laughed. “That was some dirty trick you pulled, Sivil. Very well done.”
“Yeah,” Jacqueline giggled. “Feeding someone you don’t like to the swarm, that’s adorable.”
“Thank you,” Sivil replied with a mocking bow.
“You wretched demon,” Celine growled while fuming with rage. “Your jealousy of Clover was really so great that you saw fit to betray your own kind? How low can you possibly slink, you filthy snake.”
“The bitch had to go,” Sivil scoffed at her. “She was not welcome in our forest.”
“YOU FUCKING WHORE!” Grace cried out as she kept trying to rush the elf. “You killed Clover! I hate you! I hate you!”
“I love her screams,” Jovian purred. “And that fire she has, it’s really delicious to behold.”
The gemini sisters glanced to Felucia and motioned with their heads towards Sivil. The wraith hesitated at first from being their focus then slowly walked up behind the elf and grabbed her by the shoulders with a firm hold.
“What are you doing?” Sivil snapped while struggling to get free.
“Whatever they say,” Felucia muttered glancing away.
“What is the meaning of this?” Sivil demanded before looking over to the gemini. “Tell your pawn to let go of me this instant.”
“I have a better idea,” Jovian mused pulling Grace back. The young elf looked to her in confusion as the woman picked up the child’s bow and arrow and held them out to her. “Take them.”
Grace looked at the bow and arrow for a moment then to Jovian with a teary-eyed scowl.
“You want to kill her, don’t you?” Jovian asked.
“What?” Sivil exclaimed.
“She killed your friend,” Jacqueline sympathized. “She betrayed your mom. She sold out your race. You must hate her so much.”
“Take them,” Jovian gently urged. “It’s alright, child. Pick up your bow.”
Grace slowly took her bow and arrow, looking at them for a moment then to Jovian as she and her sister stepped aside and motioned her towards Sivil.
“Show me that fire again,” Jovian requested. “Show me what an elf from Green Haven is really capable of. I want to see that anger in you put to good use, I want to see at least one elf here do something in credit of their race. Draw your arrow and strike her down.”
“Jovian!” Sivil yelled as she tried breaking free from the wraith’s vicelike grip.
“You know you want to,” Jacqueline urged. “It’s okay. Really. In fact, if you do this we’ll be much nicer to all of you elves. We’ll know you’re not such weak meatbags in the world after all.”
Grace looked to the arrow in her hand, her teary eyes then slowly turning to Sivil as the elf was watching her in shock. Everyone watched as Grace slowly drew her arrow back in her bow, aiming with a scowl on her face right at Sivil’s head.
“Grace…” Celine quietly said, holding a hand over her mouth.
“Kid, don’t do it,” one of the elves urged. “You’re too young to take a life.”
“Sivil belongs in the stocks,” another insisted. “She’s not worth you tainting your hands with blood.”
“She deserves worse than a quick death,” the third mentioned with a glare at Sivil. “Don’t give her that easy ticket out of her punishment.”
Grace growled while narrowing her eyes, her aim keeping steady on Sivil as the elf was unable to move out of her line of fire. The gemini and their followers laughed and cheered on Grace as the elf grit her teeth while cursing Sivil’s name in her head. She then slowly turned her eyes to the arrow, seeing the tip glinting in the sunlight.
‘What would Clover do?’
Closing her eyes Grace paused as she held her arrow in place. The crowd slowly quieted down while watching the child standing there not doing anything. After a moment Grace opened her eyes with a mean glare at Sivil, getting some laughter again from the surrounding monsters.
“If Clover were still here she’d beat the shit out of you,” Grace scorned. “She knock out all your teeth and break your legs, she’s rip your tits off and shove them up your cunt.”
“I love this girl,” Jovian laughed.
“She’s so cute,” Jacqueline agreed holding her hands to her cheeks.
“But she wouldn’t kill you,” Grace continued, getting curious looks from everyone. “You’re not worth a single arrow. You’re nothing but dirt. And even though I hate you with all my being, I’m not going to become like you. I’m not going to hurt my own kind out of stupid jealousy or do anything these heartless demons demand for their sick entertainment. I’m not th
eir bitch like you are.”
She paused for a second then quickly turned and fired her arrow, the bolt streaking right into Jovian’s head through her mask with a swift whack. The elves jumped in surprise while Jacqueline watched with a curious eye as Jovian stumbled a bit with her head rocked back and an arrow sticking out of it. The mask cracked then split into two, falling off the girl’s face while Jovian remained standing.
“I hate you two so much,” Grace scorned. “So much more than I hate her. On behalf of my people, fuck you!”
Celine and the elves smiled a bit at seeing Jovian pierced by young Grace’s arrow, only to then stare in shock as the gemini reached up and pulled the bolt out of her head. Jovian slowly looked down to Grace while the hole in her head sealed up, the monster’s multicolored eyes staring at the stunned child while a slight smile came across her face.
“Nice shot.”
“She didn’t die,” Celine said with a shaky breath. “And those eyes… what the fuck are you?”
“That would be telling,” Jovian and Jacqueline said together, both holding a finger over their lips while winking at the woman.
“Our leaders are immortal,” a gremlin sneered.
“Much better leaders than the likes of you,” a troll laughed.
“Now do you see how fucked you all are?” Felucia plainly said to the elves.
“That’s impossible,” Celine breathed out. “They can’t be… they can’t be immortal. The gods would never be as cruel as they.”
Jovian laughed then started walking towards Grace, the young girl quickly stumbling back onto her rear and scooting away in fear. Before the gemini could reach her Celine quickly ran over and stood between them with arms held out at her sides.
“Stop!” she ordered. “Please don’t touch her! Please!”
“Again with being so weak and pathetic,” Jovian tiredly said. She grabbed the priestess by the collar and dragged the woman over to the window. The other elves quickly stood up before the surrounding monsters got closer and held their weapons out, halting them from moving any further. Grace watched in fright while clutching her bow as Jovian pulled Celine over and slammed her face first into the window, cracking it severely while the elf weakly grabbed hold of the glass.
“What do you see down there?” Jovian quizzed her. After getting only a painful groan from the elf she banged her head against the window again, a few more shards dropping out as the glass started cracking more.
“I see our friends eating your food, sleeping in your beds, riding your horses, doing as they please. And what are your people doing? Just laying back and taking it. Don’t get me wrong, we did expect you to join us if you knew what was good for you. But I’m not seeing much energy in those elves down there. They were so quick to give up, so easily pushed down onto their knees, so weak and afraid of us. It makes me wonder how good they would even be on the battlefield.”
“We cannot stand against your army,” Celine weakly protested while her face was pressed against the glass. “I knew this from the start. Your numbers vastly overshadow our own; we couldn’t have fought against you and won. Isn’t this what you wanted? For us to surrender to you?”
“What we want are ferocious and deadly elven archers,” Jovian coldly told her. “Not tree-humping pussies that can’t even lift a finger against those that push them around. I mean, come on. Even the centaurs tried to fight back, they weren’t so weak-willed to give up so quickly and they were stupid horses.”
“What do you want from us?” Celine whimpered.
“I want those elves to show a bit more spirit in joining our circle of friends, I want to see the fire your daughter displayed in all of them, I want to know that we’re not wasting our time with you people.” Jovian paused for a moment, glanced back to Grace as the child was trying to force a brave expression while crying, then turned to Celine with a slight smirk.
“But I guess just waltzing in here and threatening you to join us isn’t enough to get you motivated. No, it seems that like your daughter over there your kind needs to be properly pushed in order to bring out that fire you elves are capable of having. Or rather, you need to be pushed.”
With that she pulled Celine back before slamming her through the window, throwing the elf out into the air while her daughter and maidens screamed in terror. The priestess shrieked as she plummeted down towards the village with glass shards raining around her, her cry drawing the attention of the elves and their forceful guests down below.
“The priestess!” an elf cried out.
“Down she goes,” an arachne hissed with a sneer.
Everyone watched the woman dropping down before slamming into the ground with a hard thump, with the elves around the area then crying out in horror while the other monsters laughed in excitement. Elves quickly raced over before screaming in shock at seeing their leader’s smeared corpse while the surrounding monsters just continued to laugh and point at their agony.
Jovian laughed in unison with her sister, the two then slowly turning to smile coldly at the elves in the room while their followers were cackling and nudging one another in amusement. Grace stared with wide eyes at where her mother was thrown to her death then slowly looked to Jovian, the woman glancing to her with her multicolored eyes and a careless shrug.
“So much for your gods coming to the rescue.”
“You… you…” Grace whimpered with teary eyes.
“Me,” Jovian replied. She and her sister walked over to the table and glanced around at the other elves, all of them staring at the gemini in shock with tears dropping from their cheeks.
“Sivil,” Jovian said looking to the elf. She waved Felucia back, the sand wraith then letting go of Sivil and stepping away while the elf glared at Jovian as she rubbed her shoulder. “As you can see I don’t like those that are useless to me. Unless you really can persuade those elves down there to show a bit more spirit when joining our noble cause, you’re going to share the same fate as our dear departed Celine.”
“They will be ready for combat,” Sivil grunted. “I assure you of that.”
“Good,” Jacqueline said brushing her hair casually. “Well then get to it. Hopefully there are a few riots breaking out down there. That would be a good sign that your sisters aren’t such pushovers after all.”
Sivil nodded then glanced to the other elves in the room.
“I think a few other public executions will help break your new archers into line,” she mentioned with the maidens turning pale in fright.
“That works for us,” Jovian agreed waving them off. “The rest of you, take these weaklings outside and assist Sivil with her public lecture. Make sure the elves of this forest know that they belong to us now, and that’s for their own good.”
“They’re much better off in our hands than they were in Celine’s,” Jacqueline laughed.
“You mean my hands,” Sivil corrected them. “With the priestess dead Green Haven is now under my rule.”
“Yeah, sure, whatever,” Jovian dryly remarked. “Just make sure we have all the archers this forest has to offer ready to fight for us or else you’re going to be buried next to your beloved priestess.”
“Wait, you can’t do this!” an elf cried out as a troll started dragging her out. The others screamed and were taken out of the room with Sivil and the dark followers, all except for Felucia who remained in the room and the salamander women who stood by the door.
“So… what should I do now?” Felucia nervously asked while watching the fiery monsters that were smiling at her.
“All this talking and negotiating has us a little stressed out,” Jovian told her with a smirk. Felucia gulped and looked to them as the sisters giggled with cold smiles. “Let’s go check out the master bedroom and you can relieve us of that stress. One way or another.”
“One way… or another?” Felucia slowly repeated.
Jovian patted her sword with a stern look, the motion causing Felucia to quickly shake her head and smile fearfully at t
hem.
“I’ll make you both feel great, fantastic even! Just… no burning, please!”
“We’ll see,” Jovian said as Jacqueline took Felucia’s hand and started walking her towards the hall. The sand wraith whimpered and tried to keep a smile on her face, the woman quickly clinging to Jacqueline as they went past the salamander women who hissed at her with mean grins.
“Should we ask them to join us?” Jaqueline wondered as she stopped and smiled curiously at the fiery monsters. They both nodded with hisses while Felucia frantically shook her head to that.
“No! Please, just us three! I… I… I’ve been dying to have some alone time with my mistresses! Really!”
“Aww,” Jacqueline cooed while holding the wraith’s cheek. “Well, since you put it that way, alright then.”
Felucia nodded with a whimper as the gemini walked her off. The two salamander women laughed with cackling hisses then turned to Jovian who was watching Grace sitting on the floor. The young elf was staring at the open window with teary eyes, seeming to be lost in the memory of having watched her mother murdered right before her.
“You two,” Jovian spoke to the salamander women. “Keep our dear little friend here safe. After I spend some quality time with my sister I’d like to do so with her as well.”
The two monsters nodded with hisses as Jovian walked over to the doorway, the gemini then stopping and looking back to Grace with a cold smile.
“And don’t touch a hair on her head. She’s all mine.”
She walked off while the salamander women nodded with cruel smiles, the two monsters then turning their eyes to the elf that continued to stare at the open window with quiet whimpers. Slowly Grace stood up, the young girl taking one shaky step after another towards the window before stopping at the edge. Looking down she saw a crowd gathered at the base of the tree, knowing that her mother was at the center of its attention.
After a while of silence Grace started choking back a strained scream, her face turning red as she held in all her emotions while stumbling back a bit. She dropped to her knees and held her head, the girl struggling with keeping her anger in check as she always did. But this was far worse than her dire archery skills or the fact that her idol may have been devoured by swarm. It was worse than the fact that her people were being enslaved to fight for their sadistic captors. Her inner fury this time was because she had witnessed her own mother’s murder, and although she lasted the same three seconds she always did when trying to repress her scream the furious cry she then let out was certainly more powerful than any other she had done before.
Chronicles of Eden - Act X Page 17