Chronicles of Eden - Act V

by Alexander Gordon

  “I am so, so sorry,” Triska pleaded as she held a hand over her chest. “Really, I didn’t even know she was an elf until after I… and she tried to shoot us so we thought… and then things kind of happened and… I’m sorry.”

  “What the fucking hell?” Clover shouted out with eyes shut tight. “You can’t kill her! I was supposed to fucking kill that bitch!”

  Triska just stared at her with a stunned face as the elf began to furiously kick the corpse of the fallen monster with snarls and vicious grunts.

  “I traveled all the fucking way out here to shoot this fucking bitch dead, I had to deal with nothing but bullshit the entire way, and you just walk along and fucking slice her fucking smile off her fucking face before I even get to fire a single fucking arrow! Fuck!”

  Triska watched the elf with an open mouth while being rendered speechless, seeing the girl curse and vent her obvious frustrations while beating the body of the dead elf with her boots. Tabitha watched Clover with a blank expression then glanced to Triska with a raised eyebrow.

  “They’re peaceful and gentle, huh?” she dryly repeated.

  “Um…” Triska slowly said with bewilderment.

  “Damn, damn, damn, damn, DAMN!” Clover yelled while she repeatedly kicked the dead monster before she finally stopped and just glared down at the elf’s battered body while breathing heavily.

  “What the hell?” Triska quietly said with disbelief.

  “Sensing a lot of hate in this one,” Tabitha mentioned.

  Clover growled furiously then glared at Triska with what the teen believed to be the most menacing look she had ever seen in her life.

  “You… just who the hell are you anyway?” Clover shouted out.

  Triska and Tabitha glanced to each other then looked further down the street as something was galloping towards them along the cobblestone road.

  “Clover!” Kroanette cried out. “Don’t leave me out there! Dammit, you owe me for giving you a lift here!” She ran over to the group while looking all around the darkened town with nervous eyes then noticed Triska staring at her with surprise.

  “Triska? Is that you?”

  “Kroanette? You’re okay!” Triska said with relief.

  “Of course I am, but what happened to all of you? Where did you all go?” Kroanette asked as she ran over and hugged the teen. She then noticed Tabitha and slowly stepped back behind the human. “And who is she? What are you two doing here? And where’s Daniel and the others?”

  “Hold it!” Clover yelled out, with everyone looking to her as she scowled at the centaur. “You know this bitch?”

  “Yes, she’s one of my friends that I was separated from before we met,” Kroanette explained, then noticed the dead elf on the ground before them. “Um… who is that?”

  “That was the thieving elf that stole from our priestess, that I chased all over Eden to this fucking place, only for her to just fucking kill her first!” Clover yelled before glaring at Triska with fire in her eyes. “Goddammit, she was mine to kill! That was my job!”

  Triska and Tabitha watched her with bewilderment for a moment then turned to Kroanette as she was looking down at the dead elf with a curious eye.

  “Kroanette? Who is this girl?” Triska carefully asked.

  “Her name is Clover,” Kroanette said while watching the temperamental elf glaring at Triska with a scowl. “She… came to my aid after I was separated from all of you, and was rather insistent that I give her a ride to this place.”

  Clover grumbled something to herself as she knelt down and took the black satchel from the dead elf’s belt. She opened it and peeked inside briefly before closing it tightly and then securing it to her own belt. Standing back up she growled at Triska with fury before looking away with a grunt.

  “Fine, I got what I needed to, I guess. Let’s get going.”

  “Going?” Triska asked slowly.

  “Oh, yes,” Kroanette mentioned glancing to her with concern. “And she’s also rather insistent on keeping me as her personal horse. Perhaps because if she owned one prior to myself the poor animal likely leapt off a cliff and killed itself to be free from her.”

  “What?” Triska asked again while watching Clover carefully now.

  “You got a problem, bitch?” Clover snapped at her.

  “You think my friend here is your personal horse?”

  “No, she’s my personal centaur.”

  “You’re not keeping Kroanette with you, she’s coming back with me to her friends,” Triska said narrowing her eyes at the elf.

  “I saved her fat ass from some very unsavory bandits in the woods, she’s mine.”

  “Okay, again, stop calling me fat,” Kroanette whined with a flustered huff. “I am not fat!”

  “You don’t own her,” Triska argued at the elf.

  “Yes, I do,” Clover retorted glaring at her.

  “Hey,” Tabitha spoke up, with everyone turning to her as she drummed her fingers on her sword’s handle with a dull expression on her face. “I really don’t care what you’re talking about right now, but could you please take your senseless argument away from here? I still have a job to do, and it would be a lot easier without all of you shouting in the middle of the street.”

  “Job?” Kroanette asked.

  “Look, we don’t have time to be dealing with you right now,” Triska sternly said to Clover. “Kroanette is coming back with us, with or without your approval. But first we need to find a missing giant butterfly girl who was kidnapped, that’s our priority now.”

  “Um… what?” Kroanette said shaking her head.

  Clover glared at Triska for a moment then glanced over and up at something with a raised eyebrow. The other girls looked over to seeing a window lit up with a soft orange glow on the second story of a nearby building. And in the window they saw the blurry silhouette of a small girl quickly waving her hands in the air near the glass, almost like she was trying to get their attention.

  “Is that…” Triska said peering at the darkened figure.

  “That might be her,” Tabitha answered before she took off towards the residence.

  “What’s going on?” Kroanette asked before Triska took off after the neko. The centaur watched them with confusion then glanced to Clover as the elf was still glaring at Triska. “Did we miss something here?”

  Tabitha and Triska raced over to the building, with the neko kicking the door in with a loud bang before rushing in. Triska followed after, quickly looking around as they ran through the living room on the first floor which had broken furniture lying about and small beams of moonlight coming in through the front windows then up the narrow stairwell to the second floor. The light coming through the window in the hall was just enough to show the way as the two girls quickly ran over to the bedroom door which had an orange glow coming out from under it.

  “Complica? Is that you in there?” Triska called out before Tabitha barged in through the door. The two rushed in, finding themselves inside a room which had its bed and table broken and pushed off to the sides while the rug on the ground was tattered and worn, showing the floorboards beneath which looked to be old and dirty. There was a chair set near the window which had a lantern on it and over in the corner was a big hole in the floor that had a few insects crawling around and out of it.

  And standing barefoot near the window was a young looking girl, her expression of fright as she turned to face Triska and Tabitha. She was wearing a very short skirt made of large soft purple flower petals, tied to her waist by a green flower stamen which also went up her left side and connected to a tangled mesh of light brown roots and weeds that were braided around her chest covering herself. Her green eyes watched the two girls with fear, her short blue hair being unkempt with a yellow flower in it on the right side. Her antennae on her head twitched slightly while she whimpered and held her hands close to her chest, while her butterfly wings which had green trimmings and pink segments inside them along with light blue dots around the edges remain
ed slouched down behind her.

  “You know my name?” the little girl shakily asked.

  “You’re Complica, the princess of Flairwood, correct?” Tabitha questioned.

  “Yes, I am. Who are you?”

  “I’m here to rescue you,” Tabitha announced with a small bow. “Your mother hired me to bring you home safely.”

  “Are you alright?” Triska asked as she saw the little girl shaking with fear still. Complica shook her head then quickly patted on the windows while watching Clover and Kroanette out in the street.

  “Get them inside. Get them inside; they’re being too loud out there.”

  “What are talking about?” Triska said as she walked into the room, the floorboards beneath creaking with each step. “We’re getting you out of here, you can calm down now.”

  “No,” Complica whimpered as she looked to her while breathing rapidly. “We can’t go, they’ll hear us. They’ll hear us and then they’ll kill us.”

  “Who will hear us?” Tabitha questioned while holding onto her sword. “The humans that kidnapped you? Where are they? I must make sure they don’t lay a hand on you again.”

  “Please make them be quiet and get them inside!” Complica pleaded while hitting the windows. Clover and Kroanette watched the girl down in the street with confusion before Clover began to yell at the centaur again while pointing down the road towards the village exit.

  “Complica, what’s wrong?” Triska asked cautiously.

  “Where are the humans that brought you here?” Tabitha repeated.

  Complica shook her head then looked back to them with extreme fright.

  “They’re all dead! And we will be too if they don’t get inside right now!”

  Triska and Tabitha showed surprise and looked to each other then back to the girl as she tried again waving her arms to get the centaur and elf’s attention.

  “Get out of the street! Be quiet! They’ll wake up!”

  “What’s going on?” Triska carefully asked.

  “Who will wake up?” Tabitha questioned.

  “Get them inside, please!” Complica cried out at them.

  Triska hesitated for a moment then quickly ran back out into the hall, stumbling a bit as she raced down the darkened stairs then over to the doorway.

  “I said let’s go!” Clover yelled out at Kroanette.

  “Please, be reasonable,” Kroanette pleaded while holding her hands up. “I helped you get here just like you wanted, you don’t need me anymore. I’m going to head back with Triska and meet up with my friends now.”

  “Your debt to me isn’t over!” Clover shouted as she holstered her bow around her shoulder and set her arrow back in the quiver. “You want to live with the shame of running away from the one who saved you and gave you a chance to live? Is that it? You owe me your life and you know it! Your fat ass is mine!”

  “Enough with the calling me fat!” Kroanette cried out with a blush. “I am not fat; I’m a healthy and fit centaur! I exercise every day!”

  “Hey!” Triska called out, getting both girls’ attention. “Get over here and shut up already.”

  “Don’t tell me what to do, you damn bitch!” Clover yelled at her. “I’m still pissed at you for stealing my kill! Just shut your mouth and run away before I come over there and kick your ass!”

  “Knock it off,” Triska sternly ordered while waving them over to her. “This isn’t a joke, get inside right now.”

  “Give me one good reason why I should!”

  Suddenly they heard a window break open with a shatter further in the village. The girls stopped and listened as creaking and rustling sounds started to spread throughout the settlement from within the dwellings. Overhead a large cloud began to slowly drift over Rackleholm, with the moonlight being blocked off as a black shadow crept across the town.

  “What’s going on?” Kroanette nervously asked.

  The sounds of hissing and clicking began to grow throughout the darkened streets and homes, starting low like a faint whisper at first but steadily growing louder and louder as doors and windows were heard breaking open all across the village.

  “Get inside, hurry!” Triska ordered, with Kroanette promptly rushing over towards her with a gallop while Clover slowly gazed around and keeping on guard. “Hey, get inside, something’s really wrong here.”

  Clover glanced to her then reluctantly ran over with a grunt, with Kroanette quickly ducking down to enter the home while she followed her inside. Triska shut the door then ran towards the stairs with Clover right behind her before she looked back to Kroanette as the centaur watched her with an uneasy frown at the base of the stairwell.

  “I don’t think I can get up there,” Kroanette said shaking her head.

  “Just wait there, Kroanette, and be quiet,” Triska said before running up the stairs with the elf.

  “Yeah, sure,” Kroanette shakily replied while looking out the front window with growing concern.

  Triska and Clover ran through the upstairs hall and into the bedroom where Complica quickly put out the lantern before she cowered on the floor below the window while holding her hands over her ears and shutting her eyes. The other girls heard the hissing and clicking sounds growing louder while the large shadow over Rackleholm rolled over the residence, plunging it into total darkness.

  “This sucks!” Kroanette whined from downstairs while Triska, Tabitha, and Clover slowly approached the window and peered around outside.

  “I can’t see anything out there, can you?” Triska asked. There was a long pause before she spoke again. “Hey, Tabitha? Can you see out there? What’s happening?”

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Clover gasped before holding her hands over her mouth.

  “Be quiet, Triska,” Tabitha hushed with urgency. “We can see out there, and it’s not good.”

  Triska heard the sounds of wood creaking and cracking outside among the other buildings while the hisses and clacking of countless sources echoed about. She could tell whatever was making those sounds was moving around outside, and based on how constant and loud it was there was a great deal of whatever that was flying around. In fact some of those things were heard tapping on the window and crawling all over the roof above them, causing Triska to feel a sense of dread of what was lurking about in the dark right in front of her.

  “What are you two seeing?” she nervously asked under a whisper. “What’s out there?”

  Slowly the large cloud in the sky passed over the village, with the moonlight gently shining down upon the town again as if a dark curtain had been pulled away from it. As it did Triska held a hand over her mouth and stared ahead of her with wide eyes, seeing very clearly what was outside.

  “They’re everywhere,” Tabitha breathed out.

  Triska saw one crawling on the window before them, the monster seeming to stare right at them without making a sound.

  “We’re so fucked,” Clover softly said.

  It resembled a naked girl, at least the parts that were human. The long insect wings it had fluttered wildly for a moment before resting back down along its shapely body. It had hardened carapace segments covering its shoulders and hips that went down along its outer legs past its knees to the feet. The hands were covered in hardened scales and had sharp nails allowing the monster to stick to and climb on the wall with ease. The antennae it had stuck straight upward out of its head which had messy locks of beige colored hair. And the eyes were wide and shaded in a light yellow while the smile on its face was wide revealing its sharpened teeth.

  “It can’t be,” Triska nervously whispered, fearing what she knew the monster to be from reading Daniel’s guidebook.

  “Swarm,” Tabitha quietly answered. “Keep quiet and don’t move, they can’t see well in the dark.”

  They watched the locust-like monster on the window hiss as it stared at them with its wide eyes and creepy smile. Sure enough after a while it decided to keep moving, being unable to see in the darkened room and mak
e out the frightened girls. Slowly it crawled up the wall out of sight, and as it did Triska’s stunned expression turned to horror as she saw countless numbers of the dreaded monsters, all crawling about the walls and roofs of the village while others were flying around in a large gathering overhead. The mere echoing sound of their wings buzzing and the hisses and clicks they made with their mouths caused a cold chill to run down the girls’ spines.

  “What do we do now?” Triska asked shakily.

  “There’s only one thing we can do,” Tabitha said, with Triska looking to her and seeing sheer fright on the neko’s face.

  “Panic.”

  Chapter 9

  Power From Within

  In the world of Eden there exists what is known as magic. Supernatural powers and abilities that monsters and even humans could learn to wield should they be able to tap into the mystical ether that flowed through the world unseen. Some could do so more easily than others, with certain monsters such as witches and fairies being able to channel the powers of the ether more naturally and easily than those who were born without the gift. Still, anyone could learn to use magic, it just depended on how much they wanted to do so. It would take a great deal of resolve to train oneself in the art of sorcery, often times being forced to do so alone since some aspects could only be learned by doing.

  Of course, that wasn’t to say those around couldn’t help in special ways.

  *****

  Lucky neighed and bucked about while tied to the rickety fence near a village that had hundreds of monsters swarming around and above it. A few of them flew near the horse and hissed while moving about blindly in the dark, the echoing clicking and buzzing from them causing Lucky to whinny with fright. He scampered around quickly and yanked on the leather strap that was tethering him to the fence before a few of the swarm landed on him and screeched with their wicked smiles. Lucky bucked back onto his hind legs before fire shot out of his nostrils, his tail lighting on fire while his hair shifted to black. The swarm quickly leapt off the horse as skeletal wings emerged from the animal’s back, his eyes glowing red now while he snarled and ran back and forth with the reins snapping taught again and again. The swarm hissed and flew around him again before he finally broke free, the reins tearing off the fence as he ran as fast as he could back along the trail away from Rackleholm. The swarm flew about around the area before quickly returning to their many sisters who were flying through the streets of the village. All throughout the town it was dark with only the moonlight above showing the swarm buzzing about and crawling all over the buildings. However the village wasn’t entirely abandoned as three girls were watching the deadly monsters from inside a darkened room, safely hidden in the darkened building from the dreaded creatures that surrounded them.