The last two were slightly larger monsters than the rest. They had more muscle on their arms and legs, large feet with curled toenails that were obviously ignored and never cut, pale green skin and bright blue hair that one had styled in a mohawk while the other had hers set in dreadlocks which were draped down behind her head. Their mouths were open showing their rotting teeth and enlarged tusks that extended out from their lower jaws with pointed silver and steel caps set on them. They wore black and brown skirts with strapless tops and also had necklaces and bracelets of smooth stones and colorful string. One of them was clutching a spear in hand while the other was holding a small axe, both monsters having deep gashes running through their chests and heads from what was likely a bladed weapon.
“Trolls,” Tabitha scorned. “What is this? A gathering of monster rejects?”
“Tabitha, wait!” Scay called out from behind. The neko glanced back to see her leaning down towards a goblin with eyes of wonder. “This one’s still alive! Hey, she’s still breathing!”
Tabitha looked down to the wounded goblin with a raised eyebrow then opened her mouth to speak before Scay started relentlessly slashing her dagger into the goblin’s skull. Blood, bits of brain, and fragments of its skull splattered and popped out the back of the head as the naga hacked her blade into the monster again and again with a twisted smile on her face.
“Aha ahaha hahaha HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Scay laughed manically as blood sprayed out from the goblin’s head while it jerked about.
Tabitha watched with a stunned expression as Scay butchered the goblin’s skull before moving on to slashing apart the dead monster’s chest and stomach with swift jabs of her dagger. While she stood there listening to the naga laughing and the sounds of flesh and bone being slashed apart the old woman on the cart snapped the reins and started riding around the dead bodies in the street and into town past the neko.
“Good luck, dearie,” the woman said before cackling to herself. Tabitha looked over to seeing the woman riding her wagon into the village then turned to see Scay now before her with a wide smile on her face and a very bloody dagger in her hand.
“Okay, she’s dead,” Scay said before giggling while holding her free hand to her face and smothering her cheek. “She’s really dead. So dead.”
Tabitha glanced over to where the goblin had been shredded and ripped open by the girl then back to Scay as she twitched while her right eye blinked a few times.
‘Good thing I’m her friend otherwise that could be me at any moment.’
“Nice job,” Tabitha carefully praised before slowly turning around and walking away. “Anyway, good luck with getting a man or whatever.”
“Wait!” Scay pleaded as she quickly slithered over and darted in front of the neko, facing her with a worried smile while grabbing her hair and holding it over her mouth. “What do we do now that we’re here?”
“We?” Tabitha slowly repeated.
“Yes, we. I don’t have enough money to buy a man. Actually… I don’t have any money now,” Scay said before looking down with an innocent frown. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Maybe you should go back home then,” Tabitha insisted while waving towards The Outerlands. “This trip obviously hasn’t worked out for you. You should go home, rest, and think of what to do next. Sound good?”
“What are you going to do here?” Scay asked her curiously.
“I wasn’t planning on doing anything here.”
“Then why come here?”
“This was as far as that old woman would take me. Look, I have a job to do so I’ll be on my way, alright? Just… go home or something.” Tabitha then walked around Scay and kept going for a few steps before the naga quickly darted in front of her again. “Scay, I told you to go home.”
“I thought we were friends,” the naga pouted.
“We are,” Tabitha groaned while looking up tiredly. “We are friends, alright? But I have a job to do and that comes first. Nothing personal, it’s just business.”
“A job?” Scay asked curiously. She eyed the girl over then tilted her head while seeming to think about something hard. “What kind of job?”
“One that is very important and is going to pay very well for me,” Tabitha answered before waving behind her. “Now, if you would be so kind as to go and let me-”
“Does it pay enough to buy a man?” Scay eagerly asked.
“What? Well, yes, it will-”
“Can I help?” Scay quickly begged while grabbing Tabitha and holding her close. Her tail wrapped around the Tabitha’s body and constricted tightly, the neko’s swords sticking out between the coils while her arms and tail were pinned to her body. Tabitha gasped for air as the naga held her extremely close with a twisted smile on her face.
“I can help you! If I help you can I have some gold too? I really want to buy a man. Please?”
“Scay, too tight!” Tabitha cried out before the two dropped to the ground. The neko felt her ribs about to crack while breathing became almost impossible, her hands flinching along with her toes as the naga held her tightly in the embrace.
“Please help me, friend,” Scay begged with watery eyes. “I just want to buy a man so I can rape him. And also stab him, a lot. But mostly rape him. Please? Please? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE? HAHAHAHAHAHA!”
Tabitha hoarsely gasped for air as the naga’s breasts were pushed so hard against her chest that they were keeping her from breathing, her shocked face watching as Scay laughed wildly with her right eye turning inward towards her nose for a moment before focusing on her again.
“Please friend?” Scay forced out through a strained smile. “Please, I really want to help you. So much, so much. Can I? Please? If I can’t help you can I- nrrghmmm can I skin you alive instead? I still want to wear you. Wear you all over my body.”
“Okay,” Tabitha coughed out. “You can help, just let me go.”
“Yay!” Scay cheered as she quickly unraveled her long tail. Tabitha rolled around in place as the naga’s slender body unwrapped itself from her before she dropped onto the ground gasping for air. She wearily looked up to seeing the naga standing over her with a happy smile on her face.
“Don’t ever do that again,” Tabitha weakly said.
“Do what?”
“Crush me with your body,” Tabitha snapped as she held an arm over her chest and cringed, feeling her ribs aching still from the force that had been pressed against them.
“Can I still stab you?” Scay asked. Tabitha blinked then saw the naga holding her dagger up in the air over her with a crazed smile on her face.
“No, you can’t stab your friends. That’s not allowed,” Tabitha quickly answered shaking her head.
Scay’s smile twitched a bit as she jerked her head to the side a few times before she lowered her dagger behind her back and held a hand over her face, a few sharp inhales being made as she slowly tugged on her hair.
“Alright, I- nrrghmmm understand. No stabbing my friend. I got it.”
Tabitha stumbled back to her feet while keeping a close eye on the naga, seeing the monster murmuring to herself while she looked all around the area with a curious expression. Scay then turned her eyes back to Tabitha as the neko was keeping on guard with her hands held on her swords’ handles.
“Is something wrong?” the naga innocently asked.
“With me? No. With you? I’m quite certain a lot,” Tabitha dryly answered.
Scay giggled before holding a hand over her stomach as it grumbled, a weak frown coming across her face before she looked at Tabitha with a whimper.
“I’m hungry.”
“Let me guess. You want me to feed you, don’t you?”
The naga nodded while her stomach rumbled again. Tabitha sighed then looked around to seeing nobody else in the street or watching them from the nearby buildings.
“Fine. I suppose I could use something to eat as well.”
She quickly trotted over to an alleyway between two buildings with Scay slitherin
g right behind her. Once out of the street the neko unsheathed her blades inversely and struck them behind her with the tips touching each other. A soft red light flared up around the ends of the swords, crackling with yellow and green light as the blades then pushed into nothingness behind her. She then slowly parted her swords, tearing what appeared to be a hole in the air that was lined with a red glow.
“Pretty lights,” Scay breathed out in wonder, her eyes widening as she saw a tear opening to reveal the neko’s special storeroom. Tabitha used her tail to jingle her bells on it, making not a sound with them but causing the glowing rift’s edges to shift to a soft blue before she sheathed her blades behind her again.
“What is that?” Scay asked as the neko reached into the rift and grabbed a small black pouch along with a rolled up parchment. She jingled the bag a bit, getting a sense of how many gold coins were in it before she then waved her tail to ring the silent bells on it. The portal’s edges turned crimson again before slowly closing up with a crackle, with Scay staring at where it was with wide eyes before looking at Tabitha who was watching her carefully.
“You didn’t see any of that, got it?” the neko ordered.
“What did I just see?” Scay asked with puzzlement.
“Perfect,” Tabitha said before walking out of the alley. Scay quickly followed after as the neko made her way down the street while holding the bag at her side.
“So, um, can I ask what the job we’re doing is?” Scay asked as she slithered alongside the girl.
“I have a mission to find and protect this human,” Tabitha explained as she held the parchment out to her. Scay took it with a curious smile and unrolled it to see the picture of Daemon the neko had gotten from the witches.
“To find and protect him?” she questioned with a puzzled smile.
“Let’s just say there is someone out there who is willing to pay me a lot to make sure he stays safe and a virgin.”
“He’s a virgin too?” Scay squealed with excitement. “Can I rape him? Please? I really- nrrghmmm want to. Can I?”
“No, you cannot,” Tabitha sternly told her as she stopped walking, watching the naga with a glare that halted the girl in her tracks. “Nobody but my employer may have him. If you dare take his seed then neither of us will get any gold. That means no men for you to buy, no reward for me, and we won’t be friends anymore. Got that?”
Scay squeaked with a jump then hid her mouth with the parchment as she nodded a few times with nervous eyes at the neko.
“Okay, I won’t rape him. I promise,” she insisted. Glancing down to the paper she fidgeted with a strained murmur for a moment before looking at Tabitha with the most innocent and pleading eyes she had ever seen.
“You can’t stab him either,” Tabitha dryly added.
“Awwww,” Scay whined while looking down at the picture with a sorrowful frown. “Just a little bit?”
“No,” Tabitha sternly ordered.
Scay sighed and nodded before they continued down the street together.
“So we just need to find him and keep him safe? That’s all?”
“That and help him with finding something. I’ll explain it all later, but right now we need to figure out where in Eden he is.”
“How will we find him? Eden’s a big place.”
“Just have to keep our eyes and ears open,” Tabitha reasoned with a shrug. “I was planning on traveling to Stonegate, it’s far away but surely someone there has heard of him or knows where he might be.”
“Is he special?” Scay asked curiously. “I’ve never heard of him. Actually I don’t even know his name.”
“His name is Daemon,” Tabitha explained as they stopped before a tavern, the warm light coming from the windows and the smell of liquor and cooked meat electing a growl from both of the girls’ stomachs. “First thing’s first, let’s get something to eat. Let’s try this place.”
The two girls walked in through the doors, with Tabitha carefully glancing around and seeing other patrons seated at the many tables spread about the establishment while Scay was looking at the parchment again which she held in front of her face. The long wooden tables and benches seated monsters of various races, with a few witches, goblins, gremlins, orcs, and trolls being seen along with other shady looking female beasts. Brightly lit lanterns were hung around a few of the support beams in the hall while some were hanging over the bar in back. Kegs of beer and wine were stacked behind the counter along with glasses and dishes, a few patrons dressed in flowing violet robes with scaly tendrils slinking about near their feet were seated on stools before the bar drinking heavily with empty mugs being stacked around them, and lingering clouds of vapor were hanging about near the ceiling from cigars and pipes being smoked by some of the guests.
“Seems quaint enough,” Tabitha reasoned with a shrug. She then noticed that all of the patrons except for those at the bar were being very quiet. Taking a closer look around the pub she saw that while everyone was seated at their tables with food and drinks they appeared to be on alert, eyes all keenly set on something that had their full attention. Before Tabitha could trace their sights to the source Scay lowered the parchment and looked around at the patrons with a bright smile.
“Hey, does anyone know where we can find a human named Daemon?” she called out before giggling.
“Scay,” Tabitha hissed at her. “You can’t just walk into any place and shout that out. What is wrong with you?”
Scay looked around at the tavern as all was quiet still then pointed in front of them while glancing to Tabitha. The neko looked at her puzzled then forward before jumping a bit.
Everyone was pointing over towards the side of the pub, their eyes going from Tabitha back to what they all had been watching before Scay’s outburst. Slowly Tabitha turned her head, her gaze going over the guests that were all pointing at something before coming to a table in the corner near the front of the building, which was just a few tables away from where Scay and Tabitha stood. It was there they saw a particular group of customers who were the focus of everyone in the building seated together with drinks. A reptile girl with a large broadsword which rested against her chair, an orc with a giant stone hammer that was sitting behind her and cracking the boards below, a lycan who was keeping a hand near her side where bolas were coiled up on her belt, and a swordsman with a blade sheathed at his hip while he was drinking from a mug.
“It can’t be,” Tabitha said in disbelief before snatching the parchment with Daemon’s picture, eyeing it closely for a moment before lowering it and seeing Scay now standing beside the table that everyone was staring at with caution.
“Scay?” Tabitha exclaimed with a jump.
The naga tilted her head curiously one way then another while eyeing Daemon with wonder. Although he kept his eyes down at the table the girls with him were all glaring at the naga with cold stares.
“Are you Daemon?” Scay asked with an awkward smile, her hand scratching her head a few times before she fidgeted with a strained murmur. “Are you? Is that your name?”
“Who do you think you are approaching him like that?” Sasha hissed as she grabbed her sword’s handle.
“Get lost, bitch,” Rulo snapped at the naga.
“Take your filthy neko with you and run while you can,” Forrus growled as she shot Tabitha a death glare before turning her eyes back onto Scay.
“That’s him?” Tabitha asked with surprise. “What’s he doing in a monster village? Is he crazy? Everyone here is going to-” She then froze as she realized something. Slowly she looked around the tavern, seeing magical monsters and brutes, great numbers of lustful creatures all packed into one building with the human, and not a single one of them were trying to rape him.
“Do nothing?” Tabitha quietly finished. “Why are they all staring at him like that? It’s like they’re afraid of him or something.”
“It is you, isn’t it?” Scay said with a wide smile on her face. She giggled and held her hands to her face, in doing
so revealing the bloody dagger she had in hand. “We found you, we found you, we found you! HAHAHAHAHA!”
Daemon merely set his mug down and glanced to the girl without showing any other reaction to her maniacal laughter. Sasha however snarled as she quickly stood up and grabbed her blade, thrusting the large sword out and aiming it at Scay’s face which turned pale with fright from seeing it so close to her.
“You dare draw a blade towards my master?” Sasha yelled out.
“Um,” Scay said glancing to her dagger then to Sasha with a weak smile. “Maybe?”
Sasha narrowed her eyes at the naga as she hissed with anger before Scay quickly slithered away and hid behind Tabitha. The neko glanced back to the frightened girl as she trembled nervously while holding onto her back then watched as Sasha walked towards them with her sword in hand and a look of anger on her face.
“Oh great,” Tabitha said with a weak smile. “I can see we’re going to get off to a great start.”
Chapter 7
The Feared Swordsman
In the world of Eden the women of mankind often took up the blade to protect their men from the lustful monsters that sought them. But that wasn’t to say the men were incapable of fighting. They would still protect their loved ones and homes, fight off monsters that tried to take them away, and some hunted the lustful beasts with great skill and courage. There were even those that were feared by the monsters of Eden, being too great of a threat to make the prospect of raping them seem worthwhile. Those particular humans were few and far between of course, rarely being seen by any and often told of merely in stories.
After all for humans to scare monsters that badly, they would be monsters themselves.
*****
All eyes in the monster tavern were set on Sasha as she raised her blade and prepared to slash down at Tabitha and Scay, the two girls sensing a fierce aura coming from the enraged reptile girl which caused the naga to shut her eyes with a fearful whine and Tabitha to grab hold of her swords out of reflex.
“Wait, let’s talk about this!” Tabitha insisted as she stepped back with Scay.
Chronicles of Eden - Act VI Page 20