chronicles of eden - act I (31 page)

"I suppose it would take a human to think of something as outrageous as that. No no, I do say you'll serve a much better purpose here in my nest, my dear boy. You'll certainly do more good here for my workers than venturing out into the world with such idiotic beliefs," the queen said amusedly.

"His beliefs aren't idiotic!" Alyssa snapped.

"Please, just listen to me. We could help each other survive in this world, we don't have to be enemies," Daniel pleaded. The queen chuckled and tilted her head slightly.

"Oh, but your kind is helping us survive, human. They're going through the selection process right now to determine who is suitable for me to use as a breeder," she mused with a smirk. The rescued ant girl started squeaking more with the travelers looking over to her curiously. The queen listened to her worker then looked to Triska again.

"You must be joking," she said raising an eyebrow. The rescued ant girl shook her head franticly then ran over to Triska, the monster holding the teen's arm out and flexing it again. Triska watched her with confusion while Daniel realized it was Triska the monster was trying to talk about earlier. The queen looked at her worker curiously then to Triska again.

"What are you doing?" Triska asked the ant girl. The monster squeaked while looking at her queen with pleading eyes. The queen examined the human girl then looked to Daniel questioningly. The rescued ant girl ran over to him and pointed to him, shaking her head while squeaking some more. The queen examined him closely and nodded.

"I suppose that's true, he doesn't appear to be much of a specimen. I certainly doubt he could serve me and provide decent children. However he could still provide relief to my workers," she said with a casual tone. Daniel looked at her with worry then to the ant girl, wondering just what she was saying about him. The rescued ant girl squeaked franticly and ran back over to Triska, the human looking at her puzzled as the monster was speaking in her own language. The queen looked at the boy for a moment then back to Triska.

"Hmm, interesting," she said putting a finger to her chin. Triska looked at the queen then to the ant girl with bewilderment while Daniel and Alyssa merely glanced to each other. The queen nodded a few times then looked at Triska with a careful eye.

"Guard," she called out. The guards all looked to her as they didn't know which one she was talking to.

"Return this human’s sword," the queen said simply as she sat back on her throne. The guard in front of Triska looked to the blade then to the human, then slowly sheathed it, unfastened the belt, and held it over to her. Triska slowly took it and looked to the queen cautiously.

"My worker here has raised a good point. Your male friend here doesn't appear to be much of a proper specimen, and wouldn't be considered a loss for us to be set free," the queen said casually. Daniel smiled weakly at that, sensing he should feel some insult from that statement, while Alyssa merely raised an eyebrow, knowing that was an insult. Triska glanced to Daniel then looked to the queen curiously.

"Does that mean you'll let him go?" she asked hopefully. The queen glanced to the boy then back to her.

"On one condition," she answered. The travelers looked at her curiously as the queen smirked with an amused expression.

"You killed two ant-lionesses with a mere dagger. How many can you kill with your sword?" the queen asked curiously. Triska jumped a bit and glanced to her blade as Daniel and Alyssa looked to her with wonder. The rescued ant girl squeaked in agreement and nodded eagerly.

"What?" Triska said in surprise.

"It's simple, human. I want you to clear out those pests from my beautiful nest. This worker claims that you can do just that, so I would like to see you try. You kill them all off, and I'll let your Daniel go free with you," the queen explained with an intrigued tone. Daniel and Alyssa looked to her with surprise then to Triska, the teen staring at her sword with wonder. She glanced to the rescued ant then back to her sword.

"You want her to kill them all by herself? There's dozens of those things though," Alyssa said with surprise. Daniel jumped a bit at that and looked to his friend with worry. Triska examined her blade then glanced to the guards nearby, all of them watching her carefully.

"It will save me the risk of sending any of my own after them. Besides, it's a fair trade. I would never release a man from my nest under any circumstances, however seeing as how I could risk losing this one, I'll give you the chance to earn him back," the queen reasoned. Triska looked at her blade then down in thought.

"Wait, you mean…" she said softly. Slowly she smiled knowingly and glanced to the queen.

"You need my help," she stated. The queen looked at her with a bit of surprise then scoffed at that remark.

"Don't be ridiculous, human, I'm merely offering you a fair chance to get your friend back. I don't
need
anything from you," she said bitterly. Triska smirked and fastened her sword back around her shoulder. She flicked her hair out from behind the sheath then looked to the queen with an arrogant smile.

"You know, I noticed something about your workers. They may be tough against helpless travelers, but they sure seemed scared to death of those ant-lionesses," she pointed out with a raised eyebrow. Daniel and Alyssa looked at her curiously then to the queen who was watching the teen with discontent. Triska nodded and looked to the guard in front of her.

"Tell me, just curious here, how come
they're
not dealing with these ant-lionesses in your nest? Seems like something that should be a priority for you," she asked curiously.

"They are my personal guard; they remain here with me at all times. Our workers are busy digging and maintaining the nest, I haven't sent them after the ant-lioness infestation yet," the queen retorted with a bite.

"And just how long were you going to wait to do that? Seems like a lot of those things are making their homes in your nest, doesn't that concern you? Or… are you afraid of them?" Triska asked knowingly. The queen jumped a bit from that then growled at the girl with annoyance.

"Are you trying to insult us, human? How dare you speak about us like we are cowards to those… those…" she said infuriated.

"What are you doing, Triska? For god's sake just take the offer, we need to save Daniel here," Alyssa urged, nodding eagerly. Triska held a hand up to silence her and looked at the queen with a curious eye.

"There were dozens of other ant girls in that tunnel with us, not one of them tried to help this worker of yours. And when I was trying to help her I saw nothing but fear in her eyes. She was petrified, she couldn't have fought back," she said accusingly.

"What is your point, human?" the queen demanded.

"That Daniel was correct," Triska said crossing her arms before her.

"What?" the queen shouted out.

"What?" Daniel and Alyssa asked puzzled.

The rescued ant girl squeaked curiously.

"We could help each other survive in this world, we could learn to coexist peacefully," Triska said calmly. Daniel looked at her with wonder then down in thought.

"Coexist with our breeding tools? Blasphemy," the queen snapped.

"You need us. Admit it, those ant-lionesses are spreading into your nest, and I bet it's not just your nest that's dealing with them. Your kind needs help keeping them back," Triska said accusingly.

"We only need your men to breed with, do you hear me? Nothing more," the queen said with narrowed eyes. Triska looked at the queen carefully for a moment then down.

"How many have you killed?" she asked. The queen looked at her cautiously as the human glanced up to her.

"How many have your workers killed, if any?" she asked again. The queen growled with frustration and looked down. Daniel and Alyssa looked to her then around at the other ant girls, all of them showing signs of concern. Triska glanced around then looked back to the queen with concern.

"Have you even killed one?" she asked. The queen snarled at her as the guards tensed up. Triska nodded slowly and then looked over to the rescued ant girl.

"I feel sorry for her," she said softly. The queen looked at her carefully while Triska shook her head.

"She's an innocent girl, following her misguided leader. It won't be long before she dies because of it," she said softly. The ant girl squeaked quietly and looked at her curiously.

"Misguided? How dare you!" the queen yelled out. The guards held their swords at the ready and glared at the human girl. Triska nodded then turned back to the queen with a dull expression.

"You need help to handle these ant-lionesses, and you're too proud to admit it," she said firmly.

"Triska, what is wrong with you? We're trying to free Daniel here, focus!" Alyssa yelled out.

"How dare you insult us like this, human. I'm offering you a chance to save your damned friend, and you accuse us of being cowards?" the queen yelled out. Triska just kept looking at the queen with a firm expression. She smirked and tilted her head a bit.

"Tell me, have you ever seen one of these ant-lionesses personally?" she asked. The queen looked at her cautiously as Triska walked up to one of the guards.

"They look just like your workers, except for their legs, and their mouths, mouths that are filled with rows and rows of sharp teeth. Of course, I doubt any of your guards have seen them; after all, these things bury themselves down in the dirt, with only their pincers being seen from below. That's how they hunt you see, lying in wait, until one of you steps too close," she said with a sly smile. The guard looked at her nervously and backed up a bit, showing fear in her eyes. Triska nodded slowly as she kept walking towards her.

“Then when you step too close… it snaps at your foot, catching you and dragging you down into the dirt. I know this because I’ve seen it. I saw an ant girl pulled down without warning, screaming in pain, crying out in agony before vanishing down below, being eaten alive by the underground predator. She never saw it coming either, the poor thing,” she said as the ant girl before her squeaked fearfully, trembling as her mouth quivered. Triska smirked slightly and shook her head.

"I can see it your guard's eye, the fear. The same fear this worker showed when she saw one of those things devour her friend right before her eyes. The same fear that worker showed when she was looking around at dozens of these predators surrounding her," she said calmly. She then stopped and glanced to the queen.

"The same fear I can see in your eyes, your majesty," she said looking at the queen, the monster showing a nervous expression and trembling a bit. Daniel and Alyssa looked at her then around to see all of the ant girls showing fright in their eyes.

"How… how dare you speak to us like that,” the queen said shakily, trying to mask her fear with a stern expression. Triska smiled gently and looked back to the shaken up guard.

"We can help you, you don’t need to be afraid anymore," she assured gently. The guard looked at her nervously then to the queen. Triska looked to the royal monster and nodded.

"We can, we can coexist in peace," she said gently. The queen looked at her with frustration then glanced to Daniel. Triska started to walk off then stopped, pausing for a moment before glancing back to the queen.

"I'll deal with your little infestation problem, on
two
conditions," she said holding up two fingers.

"What? Two?" the queen yelled out.

"Triska, what is the matter with you? We need to save Daniel, why are you talking back to the queen like this?" Alyssa cried out.

"Two conditions," Triska stated firmly. The queen looked at her with frustration as the human smirked at her.

"One, Daniel goes free with us," Triska said assertively.

"And the other?" the queen asked with annoyance. Triska smiled softly and looked over to Daniel.

"Listen to him," she said simply. The ant girls looked to Daniel as he pointed to himself curiously.

"What? Me?" he asked. Triska nodded and smiled at him.

"Listen to what he has to say, why he's out here. His ideas aren't crazy, his beliefs aren't idiotic. He's right, we can live together," she said softly. The queen scoffed and shook her head.

"I'll allow you the chance to free your friend here, but we cannot coexist with our breeding tools. That is an unrealistic dream, we cannot go against our very own nature girl," she argued.

"Really? Because that little witch over there is," Triska said looking to Alyssa. The witch looked at her with wonder as Triska smiled at her. The ant girls and queen looked at the little witch as Daniel smiled down at her.

"She's fighting her own nature, her own monster urges, just to be near Daniel. To help him with his journey, to prove him right. If she can do it, so can all of you," Triska reasoned with a shrug. Alyssa looked around at the ant girls then to the queen.

"She is?" the queen asked raising an eyebrow. Alyssa nodded and held onto Daniel's hand tightly.

"For Daniel, I'll do anything. It's hard, I know, but it can be done. We can fight our inner nature, and keep in control of ourselves," she said proudly. Daniel smiled softly down at her as she looked up to him.

"We can coexist peacefully, just like he said," she said softly. Daniel smiled at his friend and nodded, then looked to the queen.

"Please, you're not evil monsters. You don't have to be enemies of mankind. There must be a way we can coexist together, I'm sure we can find a solution for both of us if we at least try," he pleaded. The queen looked at him with a narrowed stare while the travelers waited for her response. After a moment she glanced to the rescued ant girl.

"You, take the female human to the ant-lionesses. And don't come back until she kills them all, do you understand?" she commanded sternly. The ant girl trembled a bit and nodded quickly, then looked to Triska. The teen smiled confidently at her and nodded as she gestured towards the tunnels with one hand.

"Show me where that place was again, I'll take care of those pests for you," she said assuredly. The ant girl smiled hopefully at her then started running down one of the tunnels. Triska looked back to Daniel and smiled at him.