The witches turned to Daemon then the crowd of monsters behind them before back to Daemon while trembling in fear. After hesitating with nervous glances to each other they quickly rushed over and sided with Tabitha while aiming their wands and staves at the gathering of monsters.
“What the hell are you doing?” a troll shouted out. “You’re going to side with that human? After he killed one of your sisters in there?”
“If he belongs to my alpha I’m not going to let you hurt him!” one of the witches cried out. “What happened to May was her own fault for daring to charm what belongs to my alpha!”
“We’re sorry!” another desperately pleaded to Daemon. “Don’t tell our alpha about this, we didn’t know you were hers!”
“I didn’t hurt you with that bolt did I?” another shakily asked him. “I wasn’t aiming for you, I swear!”
“You little cowards!” a gremlin scorned while holding two of her alchemic bags in her hands. “That human doesn’t belong to anyone but us!”
Tabitha slowly unsheathed her swords and held them at her sides while slowly eyeing over the crowd.
“Looks like you lost your magical reinforcement,” she called out. “I’m pretty sure you all know how dangerous this human is along with those that travel with him, but are you so suicidal as to challenge all of us when the odds clearly aren’t in your favor?”
“You think just because you tricked them into fighting with you we’re going to run away scared?” a gremlin retorted. “All this means is we get to kill even more stupid monsters before we take turns raping that man to death.”
Sasha and Rulo held their weapons tightly as they tensed up, each standing in front of Daemon while Forrus quickly unhooked her bolas and spun them sharply at her side. A few magical casting circles appeared in front of the witches as they stood alongside Tabitha and Scay at the front, with the neko tensing up and crossing her swords before her while Scay gulped and nervously glanced around at the large number of monsters glaring at her.
“Fine, you all can die together!” a goblin cackled as the mob bared their weapons and harsh glares at the group.
“I’m not dying, not here, no way,” Tabitha argued while gritting her teeth in her growl. “I’m not going to fail with this job, not a chance in hell.”
Daemon glanced around at seeing all the monsters getting ready to charge at each other, the tension in the air growing stronger by the second, the radiant lights from the witches’ magic giving off a soft bloom against the red glow from the burning tavern behind them, and a small breeze blowing by ruffling skirts of many of the girls and throwing dust across the cobblestone street.
“HEY!” a furious woman’s voice sounded off from behind. Everyone looked back towards the tavern to see the cyclops shambling out from the entryway while dragging a large claymore behind her. The blade had one edge stained black while yellow spiked gemstones were clustered near the hilt in a spiral formation. A soft glow came from the sword as it gave off wisps of blue and yellow light around its razor edge. The woman’s clothing was burned as was her skin, hair charred and falling off, eye glaring with rage, and her free hand pointing at Daemon who merely watched her out of the corner of his eye.
“Alright, that’s enough! I’ve had it! I’m through! No more! You stupid human! Now you’ve done it! Now you’ve pushed me too far! I tried to stay out of it, I tried to ignore you walking into our home and doing as you please, but I can’t turn a blind eye to it anymore! It’s because of you that I lost my bar, that my hair is falling out, that I’m left with a worthless weapons shop in this stupid town! I’m not letting you get away with this!” She then lifted her mighty weapon up, an intertwined set of casting rings appearing in a spiraling formation up along the magical blade. The blue and red lights of the rings and glyphs radiated brightly against the flaming building behind the monster, her eye focused on Daemon while a wide grin formed on her face.
“Behold my prized creation! The mighty blade of Eden, the Thunderous Blade of Destruction! I forged this with all my heart and soul, and yet nobody wants to buy weapons created by me, they would all rather drink themselves stupid in this fucking town! But now I’ll show them all, I’ll show you what I’ve created! With this enchanted blade which is unrivaled in sheer power and magic that I’ve bestowed upon it with the crystals of the forbidden depths below Freisfaar I’ll paint the roads here red with your blood! I’m going to slaughter you all like pigs for what you’ve done! I’m going to pulverize your bodies into nothing but fleshy smears! I’m-”
Without a word Daemon spun around and swiped his sword out towards the cyclops, sending an arc of bright light flying through the air, striking through and shattering the woman’s weapon, continuing on and annihilating the monster with a vicious slash across her body, and into the burning tavern before blasting apart the back of it. Everyone watched as the cyclops and her sword were destroyed by the magical attack with a bright flash before the flaming building exploded with a thunderous bang. Flaming debris and smoke erupted and flew outward away from the street while the remains of the building broke apart and crashed into the adjacent structures. All eyes then focused on Daemon as he slowly turned back to the gathering of monsters and sheathed his blade at his side.
“Wow,” Scay breathed out as she saw the tavern reduced to a flaming ruin.
“Just who is this human anyway?” a witch nervously asked while trying not to pee herself.
“Alright,” Tabitha slowly said with a raised eyebrow. “I think I see why Charlotte is so interested in him.”
Sasha, Rulo, and Forrus turned their focus back to the stunned crowd while everyone just stared at Daemon in silence, many of their jaws hanging down while their eyes were wide with disbelief and shock. After a moment Tabitha blinked then glanced to the mob with a confident smirk.
“So, who still wants to test their luck?”
The mob turned to her then back to Daemon while remaining quiet, all of them seeing the swordsman and his followers watching them with cold stares to which none of them stepped forward in response.
“If you wish to fight then know that it shall be your last,” Sasha hissed while holding her blade up at the ready.
“We won’t go easy on you,” Rulo snorted as she held her hammer back over her shoulder.
“Nobody shall touch my lord,” Forrus growled while spinning her bolas at her side again.
“Stab,” Scay grunted as she twitched with a deranged smile on her face.
The witches turned back to the crowd with firm expressions and held their wands and staves up while Tabitha pointed one of her swords at the monsters with a chuckle.
“Last chance,” Tabitha warned. “Leave, or die. I highly suggest the former, though I wouldn’t mind if you chose the latter.”
All the monsters in the crowd looked to each other with careful glances then back to the fighters, silence befalling the street while the crackling of the burning tavern nearby was all that was heard. Slowly the mob began to withdraw and disperse, all the monsters showing looks of frustration and ire towards their opposition as they took their leave from the scene. Tabitha watched as the crowd left the street, with most of the locals returning to their homes or other pubs in which to drink away their anger, and then lowered her swords with a proud smile on her face.
“Smart decision.”
Daemon and his companions eyed the empty street while remaining on alert, seeing a few lingering monsters watching them from the windows and shadowy alleyways of the village still, then turned to Tabitha and Scay as the neko sheathed her swords behind her and Scay twitched with a strained murmur. The witches lowered their stances with their magical rings fading away then turned to Daemon with curious eyes as his companions kept a close watch on them.
“Do you really belong to our alpha?” one of the magical monsters asked tilting her head in question.
“You saw what he did,” another mentioned with a curious smile. “It comes as no surprise this one is the property of our
grace.”
“Property?” Sasha growled as the girls looked to Tabitha with glares. The neko laughed lightly with a weak smile and shrugged while Scay eyed Daemon over in question.
“After that display I will not doubt that,” a witch said assuredly.
“What are you doing out here though? You should be in Rystone with your owner.”
“Owner?” Forrus snarled as she, Rulo, and Sasha glared at the witches with fury. The magical monsters merely watched them with indifference and slight smirks while Tabitha and Scay glanced to each other as tensions built up amongst the girls.
“And why are you traveling with these urchins?” a witch asked while eyeing over Sasha with disdain.
“Who are you calling urchins?” Rulo yelled as she swung her hammer up and prepared to smash it down on one of the little monsters.
“Hold it,” Tabitha called out. The group looked to her as she had one hand held out to stop them and her eyes closed as she took a slow and steady breath. She then glanced to Daemon before back to the witches as they watched her out of the corners of their eyes.
“There’s still the matter of your behavior earlier towards him,” she reminded them, causing the witches to jump with a nervous squeak. “Granted you did finally step up and defend what is Charlotte’s, but you still caused quite the trouble and could have seriously hurt him earlier with that fire you started. I wonder how Charlotte will take it when I give her my report.”
“Wait!” a witch pleaded as they all turned to face the neko with fearful eyes. “We didn’t mean what happened earlier, we-”
“I can’t believe this, of all the monsters out there that could be stupid enough to go near Charlotte’s property it has to be her own followers. I’m going to be penalized for this I’m sure, and all of you are going to be beheaded, if you’re lucky.”
“No!” all the witches cried out as a few of them hugged each other out of fright. Daemon and his girls watched the little monsters crying and shaking their heads then looked to Tabitha as she smirked at the witches before clearing her throat to get their attention again.
“Listen up. I’m willing to overlook any of you being here on this night,” she started, with the witches quickly holding their hats low with shaky whimpers. “You made a mistake, a rather bad one, but he is still alive and in one piece, so it’s not the end of the world. But in exchange for me not informing your alpha about your grave offence, you’re going to have to pay a price.”
“Anything!” a witch cried out holding her hands together. “Please, we never meant to touch what belongs to our grace.”
“Alright then,” Tabitha declared with her hands set to her hips and a slick grin on her face. The witches watched her with nervous eyes while Daemon and his girls exchanged glances in question, all while Scay groaned in hunger and dropped to the ground holding her stomach with a whine.
A few minutes later Tabitha collected one last small coin pouch from the witches, now holding six of the brown bags together in her hand and shaking them a bit to hear the gold clinking around inside. An excited meow escaped her lips while the witches lowered their heads and sulked as the neko had collected all the gold they had on them in exchange for not telling their alpha about their behavior with Daemon.
“Thank you so much,” Tabitha chuckled before waving the girls away. “Don’t worry, we won’t breathe a word of this to Charlotte, so be on your way as if never having seen us.”
“Yes, thank you,” one of the witches sadly said, the little monsters then quickly trotting away with a few fleeting glances back to Daemon and his companions. Tabitha waved them off then smirked at the group while shaking the money bags with a proud smile.
“How’s that for handling it?” she boasted. “Not only did I diffuse that whole situation and kept you all from getting hurt but I even came out on top and earned a little extra on top of my wages.”
“You do realize that we could have easily killed them all ourselves, right?” Sasha flatly told her.
“My master could have singlehandedly slaughtered them all like animals,” Rulo snorted.
“Rulo,” Daemon dryly said while keeping his eyes on Tabitha.
“I mean, Daemon,” Rulo corrected herself with a twitch.
Tabitha glanced around at them with a raised eyebrow as the three girls were glaring at her with aggravation still then rolled her eyes while setting her hands at her hips.
“Don’t get mad at me because I saw an opportunity to control the situation.”
“You mean an opportunity to extort gold from those witches,” Forrus retorted. “All you nekos are the same, only caring how many of those coins you can fit in your grubby hands.”
“Shut your mouth, mutt!” Tabitha snapped at her with a growl. “I may be bound by my contract to aid and protect him, but I by no means have to watch out for your mangy hide!”
“My lord requires no assistance from the likes of you! And it will be a cold day in hell when I seek help from an accursed neko such as yourself!”
The two girls scowled at each other with heated tension between them before Scay slowly stood up and wavered next to Tabitha with a tired frown.
“Tabitha, I’m still hungry,” she whined while rubbing her belly.
Tabitha groaned with frustration while holding a hand over her face then tossed one of her coin bags to the naga. Scay caught the pouch with a jump and looked at it curiously then to the neko as she pointed off down the street.
“Alright, fine. Go and buy something to eat real quickly while we talk. And get me something too.”
“Wow,” Scay breathed out as she shook the bag and heard the gold clinking inside. She then squealed with joy and hugged the pouch close while swaying around with a joyous smile on her face. “This job thingy we’re doing is already working! Now I can buy food! Best day ever!”
“Yeah yeah, whatever,” Tabitha said as she waved off the naga. Scay quickly slithered away along the street with a happy giggle while the neko focused her attention on Daemon and not the three girls around him that were glaring at her still.
“What are those looks for now?” Tabitha dryly asked.
“What was that about Charlotte claiming my master as her property?” Sasha demanded with anger.
“Sasha,” Daemon plainly said, with the reptile twitching yet keeping her stern glare on Tabitha still.
“I mean, Daemon.”
“Probably just to keep the witches in the region from bothering him,” Tabitha answered with a shrug. “And it worked too, it got those little monsters to help ward off that mob and then leave peacefully.”
“He doesn’t belong to that little bitch at all!” Rulo shouted out.
“That’s her choice of words, not mine. Now then, I want to get this over with probably just as much as you all do,” Tabitha announced while crossing her arms. “The sooner he has all his relics the sooner I can leave and get paid. You three don’t like me and I’m not too fond of you either. But like it or not we’re working together on this from now on.”
A door breaking open and glass shattering was heard further down the street along with Scay laughing. Tabitha glanced over towards the sound briefly then back to Daemon with a raised eyebrow.
“Now do we have any idea where we’re going to collect the rest of those things?”
“AHHHH!” a female screamed followed by Scay’s maniacal laughter, of which Tabitha pretended she couldn’t hear while Daemon and his girls looked down the street towards the disturbance in question.
“I sure hope your plan isn’t just to run around in circles until we trip over them,” Tabitha casually continued on.
“HELP ME!” the female screamed again.
“I want to buy some food please!” Scay cheered. “You’re so cute in that dress, get over here! I want to hug you! HAHAHAHAHAHA!”
“Any leads or clues as to where we could find them?” Tabitha inquired with a curious glance at Sasha’s satchel.
“STOP! STOP STABBING ME!”
“How much for that delicious looking pie? I want to buy it right now! Nrrghmmm! So hungry!”
“You’re not carrying that much on you,” Tabitha noticed while glancing around at the group. “Do you even have a horse and carriage at least? Supplies or rations for the trip? Anything at all?”
“Stop- AHHH! You’re killing me!”
“Hungry hungry hungry!” Scay laughed while the screaming of her apparent victim started to grow weaker. “Is this enough to pay for those? I want to share them with my friends! HAHAHAHAHAHA!”
“You’re not even equipped with a sheath for your sword,” Tabitha mentioned as she saw Sasha holding her blade, with the group looking back to her as she shook her head. “Do none of you have any belongings at all?”
“Thank you for the food!” Scay shouted. “You’re so pretty in that dress and covered in blood! I could just- nrrghmmm stab you all night!”
“Okay, I can see I’m going to be needed here more than I thought,” Tabitha sighed while closing her eyes. “But that’s alright, like I said before we’re here to help you. It’s what we’re being paid for. For now we should be on our way. The monsters here probably wouldn’t approve of us staying the night at the inn, especially after that performance.”
After a pause she then noticed Daemon and the girls were just staring at her in silence.
“What?”
Daemon showed a blank expression as he watched Tabitha standing before him with a confused look on her face then glanced to her side and raised an eyebrow at something. Tabitha saw him looking next to her then turned to see Scay now standing beside her with a wide smile on her face, blood covering her dagger and hand, and two baked pies held in her arms that appeared fresh with golden flakey crust covering the tops. The naga twitched with a strained murmur then scooted forward and held a pie out towards Daemon.
“It’s blueberry,” she said with her left eye rolling up into her head before coming back down again.
Sasha, Rulo, and Forrus stared at her with disbelief while Daemon slowly reached out and took hold of the pastry without showing any reaction to the unique monster. Scay giggled then quickly backed up and held the other pie up while smiling at Tabitha.
Chronicles of Eden - Act VI Page 23