“Daniel?” Alyssa breathed out with disbelief.
Daniel slowly looked back to her with a weary expression, seeing her lying on the grass with her hat gone, her staff having been thrown back and struck into a small tree by the fierce wind earlier, her skirt pulled up all the way showing her wet panties, and her messy hair which had a few blades of grass in it.
“Did… I do that?” he asked softly before dropping forward with a thump as he passed out.
Alyssa shakily got back onto her feet, stumbled over to him, then dropped to her knees as she held her hands onto him while being rendered speechless. She blinked then slowly looked around with growing surprise as she saw that Daniel’s casting ring earlier had burned itself into the ground.
“No way…” she breathed out with wonder.
It was a large ring with sharply edged glyphs lining it on the inside, however within that was another ring that had five smaller circles spread along it and closer to where Daniel was standing. All around the inner ring were intertwined lines that weaved through the circle and connected to each of the smaller ones within. Standing up Alyssa stared with disbelief at seeing the searing markings on the ground and looked from one to the other with awe. One of the circles had what appeared to be sprouting flames scorched into the ground inside of it, another had wavy lines that seemed to be drawn like water, one had a tight rocky formation made with four rugged stones held close together, there was one with swirling lines curled near each other resembling that of blowing wind, and the last had the same swirling lines but drawn in the opposite direction.
“What… the…” Alyssa said softly. She looked over to where Daniel had annihilated a small thicket of trees with his magical swing, down to the burnt casting ring on the ground that he had created, then to Daniel before she slowly knelt down and brushed his head gently while he was sound asleep.
“Daniel, what have you done?”
Chapter 10
Not Letting You Go
In the world of Eden one may come across someone who becomes invaluable to them, either out of affection or personal gain. Perhaps they are a skilled adviser that a queen relies on for guidance during troubled times, or maybe they are the dream girl of a man’s greatest fantasy. From finding someone to love and cherish for all time to capturing a wanted criminal for a hefty bounty, the desire to hold onto that important individual could be enough to overcome your own limits and realize just how much that someone means to you.
Sometimes it’s when faced with losing them that brings out your true strength.
*****
Daniel slowly started to regain his senses, his eyes opening and seeing the ceiling of the cabin with the two hanging lanterns overhead now lit. After a moment he realized he was lying on the bed inside the caravan, and wasn’t alone.
“Daniel?” Specca asked beside him. “Are you alright?”
Sitting up Daniel saw five monster girls on the bed watching him with both wonder and caution. Alyssa had her hat on again while her staff was now resting against the wall after she had Squeak pull it out of the tree it had been lodged in earlier.
“What happened?” he wearily asked while holding a hand to his head.
“Daniel, what do you remember?” Alyssa questioned while watching him carefully.
Daniel looked up in thought for a moment as he tried to recollect what happened then jumped a bit before turning to the witch as his memory started to come back.
“Wait, did I perform some kind of magic out there? Did I do anything?”
“Yeah, you sure did,” Falla said while watching him nervously. “You nearly killed us all with whatever you were doing out there.”
“Don’t you remember, Daniel?” Specca asked curiously.
“I remember… seeing some strange lights when I closed my eyes,” Daniel said holding a hand over his eyes and trying to recall everything he experienced. “I wasn’t sure how I saw them, or what they were, but I could almost feel…”
“What did you feel?” Alyssa inquired while looking to a paper she brought up and eyed cautiously.
“Well, it was very strange,” Daniel said looking down with a hand held to his chin. “I saw five lights, but I didn’t see them as much as I… just felt they were there. One of them was bright blue, and when I focused on it I felt like I was floating on water.”
“Water?” Alyssa repeated glancing to Specca, the nixie returning the look with a small jump.
“Yes, that’s what it felt like. Another was brown like dirt. When I felt it shining on me I could feel… stronger. Like I could even lift Triska’s duffel bag.”
“No way,” Luna said shaking her head. “That’s impossible. None of us can lift that thing.”
“Strong as a rock,” Alyssa pondered while looking to Squeak, the ant girl slowly glancing to her while pointing to herself.
“Then there were two more lights that appeared,” Daniel continued. “One of them was bright green, and it made me feel like I was flying through the sky without a care in the world.” The girls all looked to Luna as she turned her eyes to Alyssa, the witch glancing to her paper then to her again while nodding slowly.
“The next one was purple. It made me feel like I was flying too, but I also felt more confident and had a surprisingly large sense of self-assurance in myself when it came to speaking to others.”
“Getting kind of creepy here,” Falla quietly mentioned as the other girls all looked to her with wonder.
“Those fours lights,” Daniel said looking up thoughtfully. “I don’t understand what they were or meant, but I could feel them shining on me even though my eyes were closed, and… and it was like they were channeling their rays right into me.”
The girls all watched as Alyssa examined her paper closely before she glanced to Daniel with a raised eyebrow in question.
“And then?”
“And then after they appeared, after that I felt like I was holding something in my hand. I wasn’t, I knew that, but it felt like I was. That’s when I asked you what should I do next. I didn’t know how to control or direct any of this power I was feeling, I didn’t know what to do with it.”
“You wanted to be stronger,” Alyssa recalled. “That’s what you said. You wanted to be stronger to protect us, like a knight.”
“I do, that’s why I’m learning to use magic,” Daniel reasoned with a smile at her. He then noticed all the girls were staring at him with wide eyes except for Alyssa, all remaining silent while he started to feel uneasy with their eyes locked onto him like this.
“Um, is something wrong?” he nervously asked.
“The fifth light you saw,” Alyssa said carefully. “What about that one?”
“Well, I saw that one appear after the other four. I was telling myself in my mind over and over again that I had to be stronger. I had to do this, so I could protect you all for a change. That’s when I noticed the fifth light. It was-”
“Red?” Alyssa interrupted, with Daniel faltering with his words as the witch looked back to her paper. “You saw red, like fire, didn’t you?”
“Wha… well, yes. How did you know that?”
“Did you feel the heat, Daniel?” Alyssa asked, with Daniel watching her with surprise as the witch slowly nodded as she understood now. “Did you? Was that fifth light feeling rather powerful and hot to you?”
“Alyssa? How do you know this?”
“Because that was my fire you felt, Daniel,” Alyssa said setting the paper down before him, his eyes looking to it and seeing the five emblems she had drawn along with the casting diagram of the spell he had cast.
“What do you mean that was your fire? What is this?” Daniel asked picking up the paper with puzzlement.
“Daniel,” Specca softly said. “Those lights you saw, those were us.”
“What?” Daniel said with a jump, looking around at the girls as they all watched him with wonder.
“The spell you cast,” Alyssa explained while pointing to the paper. “You channeled
all of our elements. Specca’s water, Squeak’s strength, Falla and Luna’s flight, my fire, you even felt our souls and personalities. Specca’s gentle and relaxed mind, Squeak’s fortitude, Luna’s joy, Falla being a sneaky manipulator-”
“Hey!” Falla shouted out at her “What the fuck?”
“And my own reserves of magical power. Daniel, you drew your magic out with us, that was us you were seeing in your mind.”
“It was?” he exclaimed with surprise. “But… how could I have done that? I didn’t even know what I was doing in the first place. Is that even possible to do such a thing?”
“It’s called aura sharing,” Alyssa said tapping on the paper, with everyone looking to it as she slowly circled her finger around the five emblems before drawing it to the middle. “The spell channels energy from those you have a bond with, a connection that allows your being to join with others who are close to you and draw on from their own lifeforce.”
“In other words,” Specca clarified. “Your spirit touched ours, Daniel, and grew stronger from them.”
“Is that why we were so horny then?” Luna asked Alyssa, with Daniel looking to her with confusion from that.
“Um, what?” he said looking around at seeing the girls blushing and watching him timidly now.
“Well, Daniel,” Specca started before hesitating to continue. “See… we didn’t know at the time you were… touching us like that. But we did… feel it.”
Daniel just looked at her with puzzlement from that before glancing around at the other girls. After they saw he wasn’t following Alyssa started to speak again, also hesitating at first before forcing herself to continue.
“Daniel, that energy you got, it had to come from somewhere. And… well, we got a little excited when we built up that energy for you to use.”
“Excited?” Daniel questioned.
“We were horny as hell,” Falla bluntly stated, with Daniel looking to her with surprise as she smiled weakly and shrugged. “Just like that, boom, and we… well, were on fire so to speak.”
“You… but… huh?” Daniel asked with even more confusion.
“We got really wet really fast,” Luna admitted with a bashful smile.
“It was as if the night of the Dark Sabbath had come upon us,” Specca explained. “We… well we just went crazy, Daniel.”
“That’s where your energy boost came from, Daniel,” Alyssa said, with him turning to her with a stunned expression. “When you touched our spirits, the lights you saw and felt… that was our passion, our lust. Our love for you.”
“Your love?”
“What power is stronger than love?” Specca jested with a small smirk. “It may sound silly, but it’s true. Our love for you is stronger than one would believe, and now you’ve felt that love firsthand. You actually held it in your hand.”
“Those who love each other have a deeper bond,” Alyssa reasoned. “They can connect easier, their spirits can join more easily, and they can summon so much power and strength for those they love. If we all hated each other, Daniel, you would have gotten nothing from us. You wouldn’t have seen any lights or felt any power flowing into you like you did. But we all love you, so our spirits shared our energy with you when you called to them, without ever realizing it.”
“Which makes this event very unique, Daniel,” Specca mentioned before pointing to the paper. “This spell isn’t taught to many, because very few can use it. Those that can perform it or learn how to usually only have one partner they can draw their energy from.”
“You drew it from five,” Alyssa finished as Daniel looked at the drawing with wonder. “As far as I know that’s unheard of. In fact, I wasn’t even aware it was possible.”
“How did I do this?” Daniel asked looking at the paper with disbelief. “I had no idea I was casting anything like this, let alone anything at all. How did I make this happen?”
“You wanted to be stronger,” Alyssa reminded him. “You wanted to protect us. You wanted to be our knight.”
“Were you thinking of us when this happened?” Specca asked.
Daniel nodded as he stared at the diagram of the spell he apparently had cast, the symbols and shape of the casting ring seeming entirely new to him as he never saw anything like those during the event.
“I was. I wanted to learn to use magic, however I could, so that I could protect you. So I wouldn’t lose any of you. I wanted to do it, I had to do it. I knew I couldn’t fail with this, I couldn’t bear to lose anyone because I was too weak or powerless to save them.” The girls exchanged curious glances before watching as he held up his other hand and gazed at it distantly.
“I could almost feel something in my hand, like I was close to finding that power or spell to protect you. I couldn’t see it, I couldn’t make out what it was, but I was so close that I wished with everything I had to realize what I could do.”
“Then what happened?” Specca asked.
“Then… I saw them,” Daniel said as he showed anger, with all the girls watching him worriedly now. “The gemini. Jovian and Jacqueline.”
“Not them,” Luna whimpered while Falla gulped nervously.
“I saw them… killing you all,” Daniel remorsefully confessed to them. The girls jumped with surprise as he looked down and closed his eyes. “One by one, they killed you all right before me. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t fight, I couldn’t save you no matter how much I tried or how much you pleaded for me to come to your rescue. All I could do was watch as you all screamed in agony as they… they…”
“Daniel,” Alyssa softly said.
“I watched you all die, and then Luna and Falla were the last that the gemini held before me,” Daniel continued, with the girls looking to the sisters as they showed fear from knowing what might have happened to them then. “They were going to kill them. I could see both of you begging for me to help, scared, about to be executed by those monsters. I couldn’t stand it, I couldn’t stand seeing them take everything away from me like that.”
“What happened?” Luna nervously asked.
“I’m not sure I want to know,” Falla said shaking her head.
“I couldn’t stand it,” Daniel repeated while clenching his fists with frustration. “I felt so angry at them, I felt like I had to save you, that I was the only one who could. I couldn’t let them kill you too.”
“That’s what you said,” Alyssa spoke up, with Daniel then seeing her watching him with the sudden realization. “You yelled out ‘Don’t you dare take them from me’. I had never heard you sound so furious and powerful, the look you had in your eye took my breath away.”
Daniel nodded and glanced to the sisters, both watching him with wonder and open mouths now before he continued.
“I couldn’t let them die too, so I tried to attack with everything I had, I put all my strength into stopping those monsters from killing you before me.”
“Yeah, I saw that too,” Alyssa mentioned. Daniel looked to her curiously before she smiled in awe at him. “Don’t you remember? Before you passed out, didn’t you see the damage you did to the forest nearby?”
Daniel paused for a moment then jumped as he remembered.
“Wait, you mean… I did that?” he cried out. “But… how?”
“I saw everything, Daniel,” Alyssa said with an adoring smile at him. “You channeled all our energy into a sword. I never saw anything like it before, it was made of glowing light that you wielded like a real knight. You let out such a powerful roar before you swung with it and… well, you saw what happened after you did then.”
Daniel stared at her with surprise then looked to his hand while trying to comprehend what he was hearing.
“You mean that was real? I thought I saw a sword in my mind, but I didn’t think that was real. That was real?”
Before he could say another word about questioning whether or not that event was real Luna quickly tackled him down onto the bed with a tight hug and tears forming in her eyes.
“Dani
el!” she cried out while holding him close. “You really tried to stand up to a Darker One for us? Really?”
“Not just one, but two!” Falla exclaimed with disbelief.
“You were willing to stand up to two Darker Ones for me and my sister?” Luna wailed while Daniel thrashed around beneath her. “You would really do that for us?”
“Technically they’re just one Darker One,” Specca clarified. “It just has two bodies, but only one soul.”
“You were willing to stand up to one Darker One for us?” Luna cried out while Daniel at this point had given up trying to get free and was just lying on the bed with a weak smile on his face. “You’re so brave, Daniel! I love you so much! I love you so much, just as I always have! I mean it, Daniel!”
“Wait, what?” he asked glancing to her curiously.
Luna nuzzled her cheek against his while holding him tightly before Squeak grabbed and yanked her off of him and sat her down next to the girls again, with Luna sniffling and wiping her tears away while she and her stunned sister watched Daniel slowly sitting up and looking at them with wonder.
“What did you say, Luna?” he asked softly.
“I love you,” she repeated with a gentle smile.
Daniel stared at her in silence for a moment before Alyssa cleared her throat, the boy then glancing to her as she watched him carefully.
“Daniel, remember what I said? You felt that bond with all five of us, that bond was our love for you.”
Daniel looked back to Luna then to Falla, with the red-eyed butterfly slowly scooting forwards as she watched him with amazement.
“You would really fight to protect my sister and me?” she asked softly. “You actually tried to… fight those horrible monsters to save us?”
“Well, they weren’t real then,” Daniel replied slowly. “You weren’t really in danger of dying.”
Chronicles of Eden - Act V Page 31