chronicles of eden - act I (30 page)

"You think that makes a difference to us? Your friend or your enemy, human men are all the same. Now quit wasting more of my time witch, and explain what you and your companion were doing in
my
nest," the queen demanded.

"We fell in from above, one of your tunnels collapsed and we-" Alyssa started before the queen scowled at her.

"So, you're the reason one of our tunnels was breached today," she said bitterly. The guards reached for their swords as Alyssa backed up a bit.

"Hey, it's not our fault your tunnel collapsed. We never wanted to come down here in the first place," she defended with.

"No? Then why were you found so far deeper in my nest? Did you fall down there too?" the queen asked with a scoff.

"No! We came looking for Daniel after you had him taken from us. We just wanted him back," Alyssa said urgently. The queen chuckled and shook her head.

"Well, I'm afraid that just won't be possible, witch. All men that are taken by us
remain
with us. One way or another they will serve a purpose for my nest," she said examining her fingernails with a smug expression. After a moment she then looked back to the witch with a raised eyebrow.

"Now, you and your companion did us a slight service by killing one of those ant-lionesses in my nest, and for that I'll reward you both by sparing your lives for your intrusion here. After your friend is treated with her injuries you will be taken back to the surface, and you are never to return here again, am I understood?" she stated firmly.

"What about Daniel? You can't keep him here like this," Alyssa pleaded. The queen looked at her with a scoff as her guards kept their hands on their swords.

"Don't mistake my generosity for letting you live as anything more, witch, I'm merely being fair to you two for killing that pest in my domain. However let me make this clear to you in case you haven't learned yet, this Daniel you speak of will remain here as will the rest of his kind. Whether he's worthy of mating with me is irrelevant, he will still provide relief for my many workers," the queen explained with a stern tone.

"What? No! You… you can't," Triska said wearily, somewhat hearing the conversation while her mind was swimming. The ant girls continued to lick her wounds, and as they did so the teen's mind was having trouble focusing.

"Please, you can't keep him here, he's trying to help monsters everywhere, he's trying to help you as well," Alyssa pleaded. The queen laughed a bit as the guards smirked at the witch.

"Help me you say? And just how is a human going to help me otherwise?" the queen asked amusingly.

"He's trying to get monsters and humans to coexist together, to live together peacefully," Alyssa said.

Silence filled the den as the queen looked at the witch with an amused smile. She chuckled at first then started laughing, as did her guards who squeaked with amusement.

"Hahaha! Coexist? Oh my, that's rich. You're quite the jester, witch, I should keep you here as my personal clown. Live together peacefully, such nonsense," the queen laughed while holding a hand to the side of her head.

"It's not nonsense; I'm proof of that possibility alone. I'm a monster, and I'm not trying to take him away to breed with. I'm trying to help him," Alyssa pleaded.

"No no, please stop. It's simply too much. First the ridiculous story of this human slaying an ant-lioness, then you saying this Daniel thinks monsters and humans can coexist as equals. Oh my, I haven't laughed like this in ages," the queen said with a few more hearty laughs. She sighed in content and then smiled amusingly at the witch.

"But Triska did kill an ant-lioness. She killed two even!" Alyssa shouted out. The queen burst out laughing as the guards held their sides while squeaking in amusement. The ant girls around Triska looked at them curiously then to the human, the one they all saw kill at least one of the predators firsthand. Triska however was still rolling her eyes while her head rocked back and forth as she had trouble thinking straight, her hearing not really picking up the conversation regarding her at all.

"Two you say? Haha! Such a wild imagination, as if a human could kill two of them. One alone was hard enough to believe, but two? My my, witch, you are the fool I need to brighten my days down here, I'm quite thankful I didn't have you executed after all," the queen said, wiping a tear from her eye. She breathed out in content then looked at the witch with a small smile.

"I'll be the generous one here, and grant your freedom, witch. However that's as far as my kindness goes on the matter," she said simply. She snapped her fingers and a guard walked up to the witch.

"My guard will escort you two back to the surface; go spread your wild tales elsewhere. And don't worry, we'll be sure to keep your Daniel safe and sound down here," the queen said with a smirk. Alyssa growled a bit and then looked at the guard's sword on her hip.

"Hey… hey! That's Triska's sword!" she yelled out. The guard had the human's sword at her hip, with the belt strapped around her waist. She glanced to it then back to the witch with a simple squeak. The queen chuckled and shook her head amusingly.

"Don't worry, witch, it sounds like your friend can handle herself just fine without it. After all, she killed
two
ant-lionesses," she laughed. Alyssa looked at her with frustration then to Triska's sword.

"She helped save one of your workers from that ant-lioness, and this is how you say thanks? By taking Daniel away and stealing our stuff?" she accused with anger. The queen scoffed at her as Triska struggled to think clearly.

"I'm allowing you both safe passage out of
my
nest. I'm seeing to it that your friend's wounds are taken care of. I've done more than I have to for you, witch, I am under no obligation to show you any charity or kindness after you invaded my domain, so do not speak as if I owe you anything," the queen said firmly. The ant girls around Triska looked at the human with wonder while the guards kept their sights on the two newcomers with a keen eye. The queen sat back in her seat and glanced around casually.

"Now then, where is this worker of mine that you claim was saved by your friend? I'm very much interested in hearing about how this human saved her," she said simply. Alyssa looked around carefully.

"I… I don't know. She was right behind us when we were running after Triska here, then she vanished down a side tunnel," she said.

From the tunnel across from the queen an ant girl raced in pulling Daniel behind her. He ran in and stared with wide eyes at seeing all the ant girls and the queen sitting in her elegant court. Alyssa looked back to him and smiled brightly, then ran over to him and quickly hugged him around the waist.

"Daniel! You're ok!" she cheered out.

"Alyssa? You're ok, thank god. I was worried about you. Where… where's Triska?" Daniel asked looking around. His eyes stopped at seeing Triska sitting on the ground facing away from him, with two ant girls licking her back and what appeared to be one licking something in front of the girl in her lap.

"Wow… that… feels so good," Triska said with a shiver. Daniel just watched with wide eyes while Triska rolled her head slightly as the two treating her back stopped licking her, the ant girls lowering her shirt and hair while still holding her upright.

"Triska?" Daniel asked slowly.

"I’ve never… felt anything like this," Triska said looking down at something. Daniel saw an ant girl leaning down in front of the teen while squeaking softly, the monster seeming to shift around slightly while her head tilted from side to side slowly.

"Um… Triska?" Daniel asked nervously. Alyssa glanced to him then to the teen that was feeling waves of pleasure rippling from the ant girl's treatment of her leg wound.

“Hee hee, wow… their tongues really do… feel
great
,” Triska murmured as she shivered again, looking down towards the ant girl that was treating her leg. Daniel’s expression turned to a combination of both confusion and worry as he saw Triska rocking her head back while an ant girl appeared to be leaning down into the teen’s lap.

"What is the meaning of this? Who told you to bring this human here to my chambers?" the queen demanded. The rescued ant girl ran up to the guards and squeaked franticly at the queen, the elder watching her with a careful eye. Daniel looked to her then to Triska who was gazing up with a glazed look in her eye. She shivered a bit as the ant girl in her lap squeaked a few more times.

"Wow… your tongue… feels so good. Thank you… for doing this," she said in a daze. Daniel stared at his friend with shock while Alyssa raised an eyebrow to her.

"What… what's going on here?" Daniel asked shaking his head. Alyssa giggled and hugged him tightly again.

"Never mind her, Daniel, she's fine. But what about you? I was so worried when they took you away, are you ok? They didn't touch you did they?" she asked worriedly. Daniel looked to her then to the other ant girl.

"No, she… she saved me before the others could do anything to me," he said as the rescued ant girl squeaked franticly at her leader. The queen watched the worker carefully then glanced to Triska.

"I see, so this human did indeed kill two ant-lionesses. Very commendable, but that's still no excuse for removing this male from the mating den. I never gave such an order," she said sternly before looking back to the ant girl. The worker squeaked loudly and pointed to Triska.

"I don't care if this girl wanted him back; he belongs to the nest now. Take him back immediately!" the queen yelled out. The ant girl backed up and trembled a bit as the guards watched her with narrowed eyes. Daniel looked at the queen then walked up next to the lone ant girl, glancing to his friend who was sitting upright with an ant girl licking her leg. He looked at them puzzled for a moment then shrugged before breathing out in relief that at least it wasn't what it looked like to him earlier. The queen glanced to him and scoffed.

"Don't waste your breath trying to beg, human. My worker here may have been misguided bringing you here like this, but that doesn't mean you're free to go. Guards, take this human back to the den with the others. And as for this one, have her sent back to work repairing that tunnel, I want that area sealed off immediately," she commanded. The guards unsheathed their swords and held them at their sides as Daniel and the ant girl backed up a bit.

"Wait, you can't take him away!" Alyssa pleaded, running over to Daniel's side.

"Daniel!" Triska cried out with a blush, trying to push the ant girl off her. The monster squeaked and kept licking the wound causing the teen to shiver and breathe heavily.

"Stop… stop it please… that’s enough," she said weakly as she couldn't get the monster to cease with her treatment.

The ant girl next to Daniel looked to Triska then pointed to her while looking at the queen with pleading eyes, squeaking something once again. The queen glanced to the human as Daniel and Alyssa looked around at the ant girls with the swords worriedly.

"Please, Daniel's on a noble quest, you can't keep him here like this," Alyssa pleaded.

"Can't we talk about this? We're not here to cause trouble, really," Daniel said looking at the guards who were keeping their swords drawn and ready.

The queen looked back to the squeaking ant girl then snapped her fingers. The guards backed up slightly and held their swords down as the ant girl licking Triska's wounds stopped and looked back to her queen with wonder. The queen motioned her to move aside, which the monster promptly did so with haste, then watched Triska with a careful eye. The human took a few deep breaths then stumbled to her feet, her sense of balance slowly coming back as she looked around quickly then over to the queen, pointing to her accusingly.

"Now hold on a minute, you can't- wow, that feels great now," she said looking down to her leg wound, bending her knee easily now without pain. She hopped on it a bit and stared at it with amazement.

"Well I'll be, their saliva really does help heal wounds," she said in wonder. She blinked then looked back to the queen with an accusing stare.

"But you still can't keep Daniel down here like this," she said firmly. She marched up towards the queen, and then halted as a guard raised the human's sword towards her. Triska backed up and looked at the guard with surprise then growled at her.

"And that's my sword, you little thief!" she yelled out. The guard squeaked once as the queen eyed the human carefully.

"So, human, is what this worker says true? That you killed two of those damned ant-lionesses in my nest… with only a dagger?" she asked raising an eyebrow. Triska glanced to her and nodded as Daniel looked at her with wonder, the boy imagining Triska standing up to a shadowy beast with nothing but a dagger before lunging towards it and hacking it down relentlessly with a feral roar.

"And you saved this worker here?" the queen inquired looking to the rescued ant girl. The monster squeaked quietly as Triska nodded again.

"Yes, I did," she said softly.

"Why?" the queen asked curiously. Triska looked to Daniel and smiled at him reassuringly.

"Because I believe in Daniel's cause," she said gently. He smiled at her as Alyssa glanced to the rescued ant girl.

"His cause?" the queen asked looking to him. All eyes fell on Daniel as he nodded and looked to the queen with hopeful eyes.

"Yes, we're traveling the lands looking for monsters like you, like Alyssa here, so we can learn to live together peacefully. So that we can coexist and protect each other from the real evil ones out there," he explained. The queen just watched him with a raised eyebrow, not showing any further reaction.

"I saved your worker because… I don't believe she's evil. She didn't deserve to die," Triska said looking to the ant girl. She squeaked a bit and tilted her head curiously.

"Like I was telling you, Daniel wants humans and monsters to coexist, to live peacefully together," Alyssa said holding onto Daniel's hand. The queen looked at him curiously then glanced around at the travelers.

"This isn't a joke? You're actually serious? To... coexist with humans, that's why you want this boy returned?" the queen asked with disbelief. Daniel, Triska, and Alyssa nodded while the rescued ant girl looked to her queen worriedly. The queen chuckled for a moment then started laughing, shaking her head as her guards smirked slightly. The three travelers looked to each other worriedly then back to the queen as she slowly stopped laughing.