Daemon shook his head then rested his hand on top of the dais. The alter glowed brightly while large green triangular outlines bloomed between the three statues. The searing green lines of the floating trios shifted to blue then purple before turning yellow. They spun around sharply before flickering rapidly, the hovering emblems then flashing back to green as they stopped with the tips pointing down.
“What’s happening?” Tabitha asked while keeping on guard. “What’s it doing?”
The emblems shifted from triangles to circles that slowly started to flip downward while growing in size, the rings crossing through each other over the centerpiece before lowering down onto the floor in overlapping circles that lay stretched around the three statues in a wide loop. Daemon looked down to the dais his hand was resting on, seeing softly glowing white emblems appearing around his fingers before a symbol of a downward arrow lit up below his palm.
“Huh,” the first desuwraith said tilting her head. “It works with the hand. Go figure.”
“How come you two didn’t think of that? Geez, you’re so stupid.”
“You’re the stupid one, you didn’t think of it either.”
“You’re both stupid. I’m sure I would have thought of that next if he hadn’t.”
“Liar, you’d never think of anything that simple.”
“I would have for sure. Unlike you two.”
“Master,” Sasha said stepping forth. “May I accompany you?”
“Me too,” Rulo insisted. “If there’s trouble down there I’m ready to squash it for you.”
“I want to check this place out too,” Tabitha added with a smirk. “Sounds interesting.”
“Can I come too?” Scay giggled while bouncing up and down.
“All of you will remain here,” Daemon ordered them. Sasha and Rulo reluctantly nodded while Tabitha crossed her arms with a scoff. Scay merely giggled and dropped onto her side chuckling with strained gasps while ant girls around watched her in confusion.
“Yeah, only we can go down there,” a desuwraith sneered as the three started walking towards the center.
“We’re the ones helping after all. Not you.”
“Finally we can go back down there.”
“You’re not coming either,” Daemon told them. The girls stopped and looked at him in surprise as he shook his head. “If the guardian below claims you’ve been assisting her like you say then you may return to her afterwards. However if she says otherwise, or is not down there at all, you and I are going to have a problem when I return.”
“But we’re helping her!” the first whined hopping up and down. “We want to see her again!”
“She’s probably worried sick about us, you have to let us come too!”
“We’ve been trapped up here for centuries, you can’t keep us away from her any longer!”
Daemon watched them with a dull expression then glanced to Mika.
“If they try anything while I’m gone feel free to use force.”
The desuwraiths looked back to Mika curiously as she slowly nodded while keeping a close eye on them.
“Fine with me.”
“And just what are you going to do, little human?” one sneered at her.
“She’s not going to do anything,” another mocked. “How can she?”
“What can she do? Nothing, that’s what,” the other smugly agreed.
Mika snapped her fingers with black and red waves flaring around her hand, the hunter creating a circular casting base in front of her palm that she then faced outward towards the surprised monsters. The crimson and black diagram crackled with energy while rolling wisps of red light flared around her arm. From below the desuwraiths a larger casting base appeared, the ring and its emblems glowing with golden and dark light while pulsating with radiant energy. The monsters looked around at the ring under them then to Mika as she glared at the sisters.
“Take one step and find out,” she dared.
“Wait, don’t kill me! I’m too pretty to die! And also I don’t want to die!”
“Why are you helping some mean jerk get down there when we’re the ones helping the guardian of this place?”
“Don’t you know what’s down there? Do you have any idea at all what’s below your feet?”
“I have a very good hunch,” Mika answered. “And I know for a fact I trust Daemon far more than I do with you. Just sit down and be quiet or else I’ll smear you all over the floor.”
“But-”
“Sit down and be quiet!” Mika roared while her magical base crackled loudly with energy. The desuwraiths jumped then quickly dropped to their knees as they cowered before the hunter. Mika watched them closely then glanced to Daemon and nodded.
“They’re not going anywhere. Just make sure that Dark Queen down there isn’t coming out anytime soon.”
Daemon watched as she smiled slightly at him then pressed down on the dais, the top lighting up with a soft glow before the floor rumbled slightly. Everyone watched as the ground below the statues shifted slightly before lowering down where the glowing circles had rested, revealing a circular platform that the monuments stood upon descending with the cambion standing in the middle. The shaft was lined with the same sleek steel frame and green glowing indentations while air flew up from the edge of the platform as pressure appeared to be released from below. Sasha and the girls watched the platform and statues lowering down out of sight before metal doors closed across the opening in a triangular fashion from the sides. After they sealed shut everyone looked to each other in wonder of what they just saw then to the desuwraiths who started crying and throwing a fit.
“That should be us going down there!”
“That’s not fair! We tried so hard to get back!”
“We’ve been stuck up here for eons, we’re never gonna see her again!”
Shaking her head Sasha watched the desuwraiths crying and waving their arms around in a fit then looked back over to where her master had descended towards the underground city.
“Please hurry back to me,” she quietly voiced.
“How did everything lower down like that?” Hollia asked trotting over to the triangular steel covers. “This is simply unbelievable to behold. How did humans build such a city under the world?”
“We didn’t,” Mika worried. “I don’t understand how we could have. What kingdom has the ability to create such a place?”
Tabitha and Scay moved closer to the floor panels before the neko tapped her foot on it. Looking around at the bare metal base that remained in the empty cave she grunted in annoyance then looked down with a grimace.
“There are probably riches beyond imagining down there,” she muttered. “All that wonderful treasure just sitting around in that crypt going to waste, and we’re stuck up here with nothing to grab at all.”
“Gee, I wonder why master didn’t want you going down there,” Rulo flatly mentioned.
Forrus carefully ran her hands along the floor and etchings, watching the neon glowing light with a sharp eye before turning to Mika as the hunter kept her spell erected below the desuwraiths.
“If my lord claims this was built by humans then I believe him,” she said aloud. “Mika, are you certain you’ve never heard of anything like this being created by your people before?”
“Never,” Mika answered shaking her head. “The design of those statues, the sheer strength of this unusual metal, the way the whole place went underground like that, and those unsettling glowing marks everything has. I never heard of such things existing before, let alone being built by humans.”
“Well someone built it,” Hollia mused as she looked around at the unique stage.
Scay murmured with a strained tone as she shakily looked around, seeing ant girls examining the metal floor while others were digging out dirt around it, their efforts showing that the platform reached down further still and likely all the way to whatever was hidden far down below. After a moment the naga twitched while rapidly blinking one eye then turned to Tabitha in
question.
“Um, Tabitha? Where’s the ant girl?”
“They’re literally everywhere around us, Scay,” Tabitha answered waving around them.
“No, I mean the one with the long pretty hair. Saffron.”
The other girls quickly looked around, seeing lots of the underground monsters moving about in the cave except for one in particular.
“Where is she?” Hollia wondered. “She was right here with us, wasn’t she?”
“Where did Saffron go?” Forrus asked an ant girl. The monster merely squeaked back at her a few times, the lycan just staring at her with a blank expression as the ant girl tried to tell her something while failing to notice that none of her words were getting through.
Sasha carefully gazed around the cave, seeing no sign of the ant girl in question while the workers were busy examining the area and squeaking with one another. After a pause she slowly turned to the steel panels in the middle of the room as did the others in her group.
“I think I know where she went.”
*****
The passing glows from the neon lights around the shaft flashed and traced along the three statues’ sleek surfaces while Daemon remained in the center near the dais. The downward facing triangles pulsated in the air now and again between the monuments while a very low drone was faintly heard coming from below the platform. As the lift dropped downward through the tunnel Daemon lightly drummed his fingers on the alter while showing a dull expression.
“I know you’re back there,” he said glancing behind him. After a pause Saffron slowly peeked around one of the statues, having a coy smile as she squeaked a few times at him.
“I told you to wait with the others,” Daemon reminded her. The ant girl walked out from behind the monument while watching the passing walls and lights with a few squeaks. “I’m not your boss, I know that. However you still shouldn’t be here.”
Saffron looked to him with a sharp eye then started squeaking sternly, pointing to him then his sword before all around at literally everything near them that was anything but normal. Daemon watched the ant girl squeaking and waving her hands around before she marched up to him and crossed her arms with a firm stare, obviously expecting a response as she tapped one finger on her arm while waiting for him to answer her. After a moment the swordsman looked around at the passing lights while resting his hand on his sword again.
“This is all supposed to be hidden from the world. I’m supposed to be the only one who knows, who bears the truth alone. Yet all of you keep insisting on following me, on helping me, on knowing everything I do. Whether your intentions are noble or not, it doesn’t change the fact.”
Saffron walked over in front of him with a puzzled look, the swordsman then turning his cold blue eyes onto her that seemed to pierce through her own gaze.
“There are some things in this world that need to be forgotten,” he told her. “There are some truths that need to be buried, and there are some paths that shouldn’t be walked again.”
Saffron looked at him curiously then shook her head with a few squeaks.
“I know you don’t understand. It’s when you do understand that you’ll either regret or loathe it.”
Saffron watched him carefully then glanced around at the strange platform they were descending on. She then showed an uneasy frown and squeaked at Daemon while slowly moving closer to him.
“It’s a long way down to the city,” Daemon replied. “It always is.”
The ant girl looked around at the statues then up to see darkness far above them as they continued lowering further into the unknown. She squeaked a few times and turned to Daemon as she moved closer still.
“Yes, humans were the ones that built this. Long ago.”
Daemon then noticed Saffron sticking very close to him, the girl pressing her breasts against his arm while her fingers gently held onto his waist and belt. The monster was watching him through her long bangs with a coy smile, the girl squeaking softly while gently bobbing up and down against him.
“I deserve no praise for that, after all I said humans were the ones who made this place.”
Saffron looked at him with a puzzled smile and squeaked a few times, her hand gently moving from his waist to his crotch before giving it a light squeeze. Daemon glanced down to it then to her as she showed an immoral smile while shifting her breasts around against his arm.
“As I just said, humans were the ones who created this place. That doesn’t include the likes of me.”
Saffron looked him over then squeaked with confusion as she pointed to him. She blinked then slowly looked down to see the arm she was holding onto changing. The skin shifted to black scales while a sharpened bone protruded out from the elbow, the upper arm forming small talons that curved upward along the limb. The ant girl trembled nervously as she saw the monstrous arm taking form then slowly looked up to see Daemon still watching her with his cold blue eyes. She faintly squeaked something while her body was frozen, her hand over his pants shaking slightly while she felt the talons on his arm poking her chest.
“I never said I was human,” Daemon replied. “Now would you mind stepping back?”
Saffron locked up completely as she stared at Daemon with wide eyes, the girl remaining as still as the statues around them while being stunned to her core. Slowly Daemon changed his arm back to normal and pulled it free from the ant girl, the shocked monster remaining perfectly still while her unblinking eyes were focused on the cambion.
“Still want to know the truths of the world?”
Saffron remained motionless.
“Still want to see what lies below?”
Saffron remained motionless.
“Are you still in there?” Daemon dryly asked.
Saffron wavered slightly then dropped onto her side just as she was, the ant girl being petrified in disbelief of what she saw. Daemon watched the girl who was stunned into a frozen state then looked around at the passing lights again.
“I suppose there’s no going back for you now.”
*****
The ancient lift continued dropping down further into Eden, the lights along the walls passing by with quick flashes while only darkness loomed above in the seemingly endless tunnel. Daemon stood to the side on the platform while examining the statues, seeing the expressionless faces they had while their neon etchings glowed softly amidst their sleek steel frames. Glancing down he saw Saffron curled into a ball on the floor, the ant girl hiding herself just as her kind did when frightened beyond belief of something they saw.
“I thought your nest prided itself on being strong and brave,” Daemon mentioned. Saffron peeked to him from her ball while the swordsman looked back up to the statue. “As a lieutenant in your nest I would have expected more forte from you than this.”
Saffron jumped to her feet and started squeaking at him while waving her hands around wildly, the girl hopping about and gesturing to everything around her in a desperate attempt to defend herself.
“You wanted to know what was down here. That’s why you snuck onto the platform before it went down, isn’t it? You should have prepared yourself for something you’ve never seen before.”
Saffron stared at him in surprise then looked around at the cenotaph while holding her hair. She took a moment to calm down, closing her eyes and squeaking to five, then turned to Daemon in wonder as he merely gazed around at everything without a hint of amazement or suspicion of where he was. The ant girl squeaked a few times, getting a simple glance from him in return, then walked up to the swordsman and squeaked again while holding a hand out towards his arm. She hesitated at first then carefully touched him, running her hand along his skin while questioning what lay underneath.
“I may be male but I’m certainly not human,” he answered, with Saffron looking to him curiously. She glanced down to his crotch then smiled timidly at him and squeaked something else.
“Even after hearing me say I’m a monster you’re still focused on that?” Daemon flatly
asked her. Saffron shrugged with a squeak then looked down to his pants with a lick of her lips. Glancing back up to him she squeaked and tilted her head playfully.
“You really are a monster of Eden, Saffron,” Daemon said shaking his head. Saffron showed a coy smile and leaned closer, squeaking a few times while bumping her breasts against him.
“No, I don’t share the same inner nature you do.”
Saffron smiled curiously and squeaked while gently holding onto his arms.
“My desire is something greater than having sex with a beautiful woman,” Daemon replied. Saffron gazed into his eyes, after she gave a small puff to blow away her bangs which were in the way, and saw the way his gaze pierced right through hers. She squeaked softly while leaning closer to his lips, the girl keeping her hands on his arms while wiggling her abdomen behind her.
“And it’s something that always comes first with me,” Daemon continued as he halted the ant girl in her tracks. “Something of the utmost importance that cannot be ignored or forgotten.”
Saffron showed a curious expression while standing on her toes to lean closer to him then slowly looked around as the platform exited the shaft it was traveling down in.
The lift came to a gentle stop while the floating triangles shifted to blue circles for a moment before fading away. Saffron gazed around in wonder at seeing that the platform had dropped down from the shaft above and landed on another stage made of the same strange metal that surrounded it before. The darkened tunnel overhead was seen with only the soft neon glows coming from the walls and their etchings which pulsated softly. Around the platform however the scenery had changed drastically. Instead of a hollowed dusty cave there appeared to be a lush jungle thriving in the underground grotto. The cenotaph now rested atop a small mound within the cavern, overlooking the humid canopy that had a strange light to it despite being far beneath the surface. Waterfalls were seen dropping from the ceiling and along the walls into the many pools that lay scattered throughout the cavern’s floor, all while light appeared to be coming from the lakes and casting rainbows into the air near the flowing cascades. Large vines and roots were entangled all over the place, reaching down into the pools and hanging from the ceiling in large clusters. Flowers were blooming everywhere, the strong floral aroma being quite sudden and powerful to the newcomers. There were even several large violet and aqua colored flower buds that had small green tendrils wavering gently over them.
Chronicles of Eden - Act X Page 43