Chronicles of Eden - Act IV

by Alexander Gordon

  “Alyssa?” Triska asked softly.

  “Okay,” Falla spoke up. “We should get going, like now.”

  “She’s right,” Specca agreed. “Charlotte told us to get out of town. I’d recommend doing as she says.”

  “I meant with finding my sister,” Falla mentioned with a shrug. “But yeah, I’m not staying here a minute longer than that.”

  Specca took a step to the side then flinched while holding her thighs, the group looking to seeing her taking a shaky breath before noticing the blood on her legs.

  “Oh, Specca,” Triska said worriedly.

  Squeak walked over and helped the nixie stand up, squeaking softly at her friend as Specca looked down at her cuts.

  “I’ll be fine, really,” she reassured with a small smile, then glanced to Daniel with a timid expression. “Thank you, for saving my life.”

  “Anytime,” Daniel replied assuredly.

  Triska smiled a bit at him then showed a curious expression.

  “Daniel, did you mean what you said, that we mean the world to you?” she asked, with all the girls including Alyssa looking to him curiously as he fell quiet. He slowly looked around at each of them, seeing them watching and waiting for his answer, then nodded as he looked down with a distant gaze.

  “Yes,” he answered sincerely. “I couldn’t bear to lose any of you. I’ve watched as I nearly have with each of you. First with Squeak nearly being thrown off a cliff, then Triska when a deathmare was going to take her soul, then Specca when Charlotte was going to slice her apart, and then Alyssa when she was about to be beheaded. Each time I watched you all come so close to death, it nearly broke my heart.”

  All the girls silently watched him with wonder before Daniel’s eyes darted around a bit, the boy seeming to be thinking about something carefully as he slowly looked off to the side away from everyone.

  “I can’t… lose any of you…”

  “Hey, focus here!” Falla yelled out at them. “We need to find my sister!”

  The group looked to her, with Daniel nodding a bit in agreement while the other girls gave her dull stares. Falla waved around at them with frustration.

  “You can all talk about this crap later, we need to find my sister and get the hell out of here!”

  Triska held in her grumble then glanced over to seeing Kroanette approaching from a nearby street corner, the centaur carrying Luna in her arms while looking around quickly.

  “Hey, Kroanette found her,” she said pointing to them.

  The group looked over to Kroanette as the centaur carefully approached them.

  “Are those witches gone?” she asked nervously.

  “Luna!” Falla cried out as she ran over towards her.

  Daniel and the other girls quickly followed after, all of them rushing over to seeing Luna asleep in Kroanette’s arms while her wings were hanging down behind her.

  “Luna! Luna, are you alright?” Falla quickly asked as she held onto her sister. She looked her over quickly then to Kroanette as the centaur smiled at her.

  “She’s asleep. I found her further down the road,” Kroanette reassured.

  “Thank you, thank you so much for finding her,” Falla whimpered before holding onto her sister, burying her face in the girl’s chest and crying softly. Daniel and his friends watched as Falla cried over finding her sister with small smiles.

  “I’m glad she’s alright, Falla,” Specca said kindly.

  “Um, guys?” Alyssa said worriedly.

  Everyone looked to her as she pointed to Luna’s thighs, with Falla then taking a closer look as she kneeled down, seeing that blood and seminal fluid was coming from Luna’s pussy and ass.

  “Wha… what… the…” Falla squeaked out.

  She looked to Kroanette with shock as the centaur slowly shook her head with remorse.

  “I’m afraid that… she may have had a troubling night.”

  “What the hell did that witch do to her?” Triska asked as she saw the blood dripping from Luna’s bottom.

  Falla trembled as she slowly stood up and looked at her sister, seeing that the butterfly girl wasn’t sleeping peacefully but rather had a strained expression on her face and tears dripping from her cheeks.

  “Luna… no, Luna!” she cried out grabbing her hair.

  “Oh my lord, was she…” Specca said holding a hand over her mouth.

  “That witch raped my sister!” Falla screamed out loudly, her voice echoing out of the quiet village as the fires continued to burn the buildings nearby.

  *****

  Near the group’s broken caravan a small campfire was going, the fire burning quietly while in the distance a large red glow was seen from the village of Eston as a portion of the town was still burning from the recent battle. Lucky was casually grazing near the caravan on some tall grass while everyone else had gathered around their campfire in complete silence.

  Sitting near the fire Daniel was resting his arms and chin on his knees with his legs held up close to his chest, watching the fire burn with a solemn expression as a lot was going through his mind. ‘This night is a disaster. Even though we all survived, I feel like we suffered a great loss tonight. What should I do now? We need every monster we can get to help us, but what should we do when any of them continue to say no to this? I have to do something, anything to win their favor, somehow.’

  Next to him Triska was watching the fire with a distant gaze, seeming to be deep in thought as well about their current situation and also Daniel’s admission of how he feels about all of the girls.

  ‘We all mean the world to him, which means that he cares about me just as much as he does with them. I don’t know if I should be happy or sad to hear that, or jealous, or angry. What am I supposed to say now? Why… why don’t I feel angry about what he said?’

  She sighed quietly and glanced to the side, seeing Falla sitting on the ground next to her with Luna’s head resting in her lap, the troubled butterfly watching her sister with worried eyes as the poor girl slept quietly.

  “Luna,” Falla whimpered. “I’m so sorry I left you alone with that witch. I didn’t know she wasn’t human, I didn’t know… what she would do to you.” She started crying again, gently brushing her sister’s hair while she felt horrible that the girl was raped by Emily.

  Beside them Alyssa was looking down at the ground while sitting on a rock, having her hat on again which hid the view of her face while she held her staff in her hands and close to her chest. However her expression had remained the same since they came back to their broken ride, a sorrowful look on her face with a few tears dropping now and again from her cheeks as she felt like her world was ending.

  ‘I can’t help Daniel, I can’t help anyone. I really am a curse to them. I broke their ride, I nearly got them killed in my haste to be alone with Daniel, and I cost him his chance of making peace with the witches here. I don’t deserve to be his mate, I don’t deserve to sleep with him tonight. I don’t deserve him at all.’

  Next to her Specca was lying on her arm while breathing softly with a blush on her face, watching as Squeak was licking her legs to help heal and soothe the nixie’s wounds. It was only because it was too dangerous to remain in Eston to take the time to heal Specca’s injuries that Squeak waited until they got to their broken ride, with the ant girl then surprising everybody by abruptly pushing Specca down, holding her so she couldn’t get away, then proceeding to lick her wounds to tend to them. Specca watched Squeak with a glazed look in her eye, quivering slightly as waves of pleasure rolled through her body from the ant girl’s saliva.

  ‘She just won’t take no for an answer if we’re hurt. I suppose I shouldn’t complain, this is helping a lot. Though I feel too much of this is going to have me addicted to her tongue, and that will only make this traveling arrangement all the more strange for us.’

  And standing next to them Kroanette was watching as the group had fallen into silence and despair after their encounter with the alpha witch of Rystone.
r />   “So…” she spoke up with a worried smile. “This could have ended worse than how it did, right?”

  “My sister was raped by that stupid witch!” Falla snapped at her.

  “We’re stuck here in Charlotte’s territory and not exactly welcome,” Triska pointed out with a dull glance to the centaur.

  “I couldn’t persuade her to listen to me, I couldn’t make my case with her at all,” Daniel said slowly shaking his head.

  “I wrecked this whole night,” Alyssa whimpered. “I broke our ride and ruined any chances of the witches listening to Daniel.”

  Daniel looked to her with concern, seeing that the witch was really broken up with what had happened.

  “Alyssa, you’re not to blame for-”

  “Yes I am! I’m just a curse to everyone around me!” Alyssa cried out before breaking down into tears, sobbing loudly as the group looked to her with concern.

  “Alyssa,” Specca breathed out weakly. “You didn’t… ruin anything… for Daniel… you just- Squeak! Stop, I’m trying… to talk to her…”

  Squeak merely squeaked softly as she continued to lick Specca’s wounds, seeming to ignore any and all pleas for her to stop altogether.

  “Alyssa, you’re not a curse,” Triska assured with a worried smile.

  Alyssa looked to her with a teary-eyed glare and trembled with frustration.

  “I broke our caravan, I set that town over there on fire, and no witch in the world will ever listen to Daniel as long as I’m with him! I’m nothing but a curse!”

  “No you’re not,” Daniel argued.

  “Yes I am,” Alyssa sobbed. “If it wasn’t for me you might have been able to talk to Charlotte, you might have gotten them to listen to you. Instead they’ll never want to see you again because you know me, because I’m with you right now. I ruined everything for you.”

  “Please don’t think that, Alyssa,” Daniel pleaded. “You haven’t done anything wrong.”

  “I killed my own kind with my fire,” Alyssa cried with a hand held over her eyes. “I’m the curse of the witch world because of what I did, I’m nothing but a mistake, that’s all there is to it. I had hoped I wouldn’t have gotten in your way like this, that I wouldn’t have held you back by being who I am, but I was wrong. I’m so sorry, Daniel, I’m so sorry.”

  Daniel watched her cry as he couldn’t think of how to comfort her, not wishing to believe that she might have been a cause for why Charlotte refused to accept his idea. He looked around at all the girls, seeing them falling into despair about the turn of events. Triska looked at Alyssa with growing concern then down at the ground, wishing to comfort the witch but not knowing how she could. Falla looked down to Luna with worried eyes as her sister slept in her lap, feeling hurt inside knowing she left Luna with Emily which led to this. Squeak finally finished licking Specca’s legs, the ant girl then sitting up and looking to Alyssa with worry while Specca slowly regained her senses and sat up as well. Alyssa slumped down on the rock she was sitting on and wept quietly while dropping her staff to the ground, her heart aching at knowing she cost Daniel so much just by being herself.

  Kroanette looked around at the girls with concern then smiled worriedly again with a small shrug.

  “The important thing is that you’re all alive and safe now, right? That’s something to be grateful for, right?” she tried to reason with, getting no reaction from any of the girls.

  Specca breathed out slowly as her senses came back to her then looked to Daniel with distress.

  “Daniel, what should we do now?”

  Triska shrugged slightly while still looking down at the ground.

  “We could try talking to the centaurs, or go try to reach the elves, provided we had a ride to get to them,” she said before holding a hand over her eyes.

  “I’m sorry, alright? I’m sorry!” Alyssa cried out.

  “I wasn’t blaming you for that!” Triska barked out at her.

  “But it’s my fault,” Alyssa shot back. “You were even blaming me earlier for it!”

  “Yeah, but I didn’t want to blame you for it now, so just drop it, alright?” Triska snapped with frustration while grabbing her hair.

  “Stop fighting, we need to figure out a plan here,” Specca pleaded.

  Squeak pointed around at them while squeaking something before Alyssa yelled out and grabbed her hat with both hands.

  “I just wanted to help you, Daniel, I’m so sorry for everything!”

  “Quit blaming yourself for everything and help us think of what to do here!” Triska shouted out at her.

  “Stop yelling at her, you’re not helping with this,” Specca insisted while watching Alyssa crying and shaking her head.

  Squeak shook her head and squeaked something else at the girls, but of course wasn’t understood or even noticed by them.

  “Enough!” Daniel shouted as he stood up. The group looked to him as he held his head with both hands and showed a frustrated expression.

  “Stop, just stop it,” he pleaded before holding a hand over his eyes as he tried to calm his breathing. The girls all watched him with remorse as he slowly breathed out before looking up at the sky with growing concern.

  “We’re out here for a purpose, to put a stop to the senseless fighting and raping in this world. We have to be stronger than this, we can’t let this one chance at peace slip away.”

  “And just what do you intend to do about it then?” Kroanette asked curiously.

  Daniel looked towards Eston with a determined expression, and then glanced around to all the girls as they waited for his answer. The boy then quickly walked over to the caravan and hopped inside, the girls watching curiously as a rustling sound was heard within the cabin.

  “Daniel? What are you doing?” Triska called out.

  After a moment Daniel climbed out of the overturned caravan holding his carrying bag, the boy walking over towards the others with a firm expression on his face.

  “We’re not going to just sit around and do nothing while the world turns its back on us. We’re going to be heard, we’re going to be seen, we’re going to make a difference,” he said in a commanding voice, with girls watching him with wonder as they noticed his change in personality.

  “Um, great, but how are we going to do that?” Triska asked with a shrug.

  Daniel tossed his bag down in front of Specca with a thump, the nixie looking to it then to him curiously.

  “Specca,” he stated while gesturing to his bag. “You’re our monster expert here, so I need your help with finding out what the hell Jovian and Jacqueline were. If they’re not in our book then we need them to be. Those two are extremely dangerous, and if we ever come across them again I want us to be prepared. So, do you have any idea what they were?”

  Specca looked to the bag which had his books in it then down while thinking hard about something.

  “I’m not sure,” she admitted. “I can’t remember what kind of monster can live through anything like they can. But right before Charlotte killed Tora she said something to Katie about them, that she should ‘fight over the witch’s remains with those gemini dogs’. Gemini, that’s what Jovian and Jacqueline are.”

  “Gemini?” Triska asked.

  Alyssa looked at them worriedly then down.

  “I don’t know what kind of monster that is, it doesn’t sound familiar,” she remorsefully admitted.

  “Their eyes,” Specca said distantly. “Something about their eyes seems familiar. Those that cannot die, have multicolored eyes… if only I could remember the rest.”

  “Specca,” Daniel said as he pointed to his bag. “I want you to go through my monster book and anything else I have that could be of use to you. Those two are not ones we can talk to peace about, and we need to know how to get rid of them should they ever come back.”

  Specca nodded and looked to him with a worried expression.

  “Alright, I’ll try to figure it out. I’m sorry, I wish I could remember what they are, I feel
as though I’ve read about them somewhere before. I’m just so shaken up right now it’s not connecting. I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t apologize,” Daniel reassured with a smile. “You haven’t done anything wrong. If anything you’ve done more than your fair share with being our guide and it is I who needs to apologize to you for tasking you with this.”

  Specca looked at him curiously as he then turned to Triska.

  “Triska, I want you and Alyssa to please prepare dinner for everybody,” he requested. “It’s been a long night and we need to be going soon, so everyone could use their strength back. Please, you two are the only cooks we have, I need your help with this.”

  Triska and Alyssa glanced to each other then to him again.

  “Well, I guess we could do that,” Triska reasoned with a shrug.

  Alyssa nodded slowly with a worried expression.

  “Okay, Daniel. I’ll try not to screw it up,” she whimpered before looking down.

  “Alyssa, don’t talk like that,” Daniel gently said. “I know I can count on you to help me. I’ve always known that, and tonight does nothing to change that.”

  The witch looked to him with wonder as the boy then turned to Squeak.

  “Squeak, you’re our best nurse, so make sure everybody is okay and fit to go, especially Luna. keep an eye on her.”

  Falla held her sister dearly and looked to the ant girl, with Squeak squeaking something softly at Daniel with a curious expression.

  “Daniel?” Triska asked. “What’s our plan here, to just eat and read tonight?”

  Daniel shook his head and looked to Kroanette with a small smile.

  “Kroanette, could I please trouble you for a ride into the village?”

  The girls looked at him puzzled as the centaur showed a curious smile at him.

  “You have a horse, why not ride him?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “Because you’re faster than a horse by far,” Daniel reasoned. “And I need to be quick tonight. Please, I know you don’t know us that well, and you aren’t obligated to help us with our troubles, but I’m asking you, would you please help me tonight?”