chronicles of eden - act I (36 page)

"We don't go out of our way to raid towns or villages, Daniel, that would be far too dangerous for our workers. We won't be invading your home. However, should your kind wander out into our territory they are fair game, as they always have been. Rest assured though, as with any men that we catch, they will not be harmed if brought here," she said plainly. Daniel and Triska nodded then looked to each other. Odds are the people at their village wouldn't stray away from their home anyway, since they were so set in their ways to hide behind their walls.

"I see, I understand," Daniel said looking back to the ant girl in front of him. She squeaked softly and tilted her head curiously.

From the side tunnel a few ant girls walked in along with Victoria’s guard. One of them approached Daniel and held out his backpack to him with a firm expression. Another walked up to Alyssa and held out her necklace, the witch looking at it with relief. And three shakily walked into the den carrying Triska's duffel bag, all of them squeaking with frustration as they slowly approached the group. Everybody watched as they walked up to Triska and dropped the bag down before her, which kicked up a small dust cloud. Even the queen looked at it with a raised eyebrow before back to the human girl. The three ant girls that carried it breathed heavily then looked at Triska with bewilderment as the teen lifted it up and slung it over her shoulder with one hand.

"Oh c'mon, it's not
that
heavy," she said shaking her head. She blinked then looked back to seeing Daniel and Alyssa just staring at her.

"How is it you can carry that damned thing and three ant girls can't without nearly breaking their backs?" Alyssa asked with puzzlement as she slipped on her necklace again. The crystal glowed softly then returned to normal as the witch looked down to her own hand, feeling her magic flowing through her properly again. Triska looked at her with a dull expression then back to the three ant girls that were staring at her with disbelief. They all squeaked softly then looked to their queen with wonder. Victoria examined Triska carefully then glanced to Daniel.

"She
is
human, isn't she?" she asked. He smiled weakly and chuckled as Triska looked back to her bag, confused as to how everybody around her had trouble carrying the thing when she honestly didn't think she packed
that
much into it.

"What's the big deal? It's not that heavy. See?" Triska said dropping the bag down. It slammed into the dirt and kicked up another cloud of dust as everybody stared at it. The ground below it cracked slightly before silence filled the area. The three ant girls before her stared at the sight with wide eyes then looked to the human girl with bewilderment. Triska glanced to the bag and smiled nervously.

"Well… it really isn't that heavy," she said weakly. Daniel smiled a bit at his friend then looked to Alyssa.

"So, that's your focuser is it?" he asked as he looked at the crystal necklace. Alyssa smiled and held it in her hand with a gentle expression.

"My mother gave it to me, a crystal from Witch's Mountain. It’s what grants me control of the magical ether," she said softly. Daniel nodded and smiled gently.

"Well it looks great on you. I'm glad you got it back, Alyssa," he said kindly. She smiled happily and hugged him from around the waist.

"Oh, Daniel, you don't need to flatter me so much. Besides, I'm much happier that I got you back, I was so worried when you were taken from me," she said sweetly while looking up at him with loving eyes.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing? I'm the one that risked life and limb saving him, if anybody gets to hug him it’s me!" Triska yelled out as she ran over and yanked the witch off, shoving her away with a scowl. She looked back and jumped in surprise as the ant girl was now hugging Daniel and nuzzling against his cheek, squeaking happily as he was looking ahead with a nervous expression.

"Wha… what is she doing?" Triska asked as she and Alyssa stared with surprise.

"It sounds like she's thanking Daniel for picking her among all the other workers for this honor, and promising to not let him down with his quest," Victoria said casually. The ant girl squeaked some more, causing the queen to smile amusedly.

"And that she'll do
anything
that he asks of her," she said with intrigue. Triska and Alyssa jumped slightly and stared at the ant girl with wide eyes while the monster continued nuzzling against Daniel’s cheek and squeaking joyously. Daniel however was showing a nervous expression while looking straight ahead.

"What? What does she mean by that?" he asked. The ant girl squeaked loudly then pulled him into a kiss, the boy staring with surprise as she held him close. Triska and Alyssa watched with shock as their jaws dropped while the queen chuckled a bit.

"I believe she means just what she said, Daniel," she said simply. The ant girl let the kiss break and looked at him with adoring eyes, squeaking softly at him as her antennae twitched. He blinked and shivered a bit as a strange euphoric sensation rippled through his mouth. Slowly his eyes started to focus again, with him shaking his head to clear his vision to seeing the ant girl smiling lovingly at him.

"Uh… ok then…" he said wearily.

"Daniel, are you ok?" Triska said urgently as she rushed over and pulled the ant girl away, the monster looking at her curiously as Alyssa ran over to him as well. He blinked a few times and looked at the ant girl with wonder.

"Um… yeah," he said softly as he tried to focus his thoughts again. Alyssa looked at the ant girl then jumped with her realization.

"Wait… her saliva," she said softly. Triska looked to the ant girl then back to Daniel, and then gasped as she remembered how the ant girls treated her wounds and what effect it had on her while they were doing so.

‘Their saliva heals wounds and relieves pain… and also creates a pleasurable sensation. I never felt anything like it before. Which means…’

She stared at Daniel with horror as she imagined what would happen if the ant girl had continued to make out with him, or tried to use her mouth on other parts of his body.

‘Dear god, if she goes down on him then I really will lose him forever!’

Daniel shook his head to clear his mind then looked back at the ant girl as she smiled at him gently, squeaking with adoring eyes. He blinked then looked to see Alyssa and Triska staring at the ant girl with frustration and worry. They both looked to him then to each other, both fearing how easy it might be for the new monster to take Daniel away from them.

"Are you two ok?" Daniel asked. They looked back to him with concern as he rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"She kissed you," Triska pointed out with worry.

"Hey, I didn't ask for that, it's not like I wanted… I mean never tried…" he said unsurely.

"And you liked it, didn't you?" Triska accused with frustration.

"What? No! Well… yeah, but not like that. It felt… I mean it's not like…" he stammered nervously. Triska looked at him with concern then down as she bit her lip.

"Give me a kiss too, Daniel, it's only fair since she got one," Alyssa pleaded as she started to hop up and hold onto him.

"What? No way! You've already stolen one from him before, you’re not getting another!" Triska yelled out loudly as she pulled Daniel away by the arm. Alyssa growled and aimed her staff at her, the relic glowing orange as the teen was tossed back into a tumble from the witch's magic. Triska growled as she reached for her sword while the rescued ant girl watched them curiously.

"Hey, don't start another fight you two, please," Daniel pleaded as he looked from the witch to his friend.

"So, these are the companions that you've chosen to bring with you on your quest to seek allies?" Victoria asked with a dull tone. The group looked to her as she raised her eyebrow at them. Daniel smiled weakly and nodded.

"Well… they are my friends. I honestly wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them helping me," he admitted with a shrug. Triska and Alyssa looked to him then to each other, each slowly lowering their stances as the queen eyed them curiously.

"Triska here has been protecting me since I was young, she's always been by my side, and even helped show you that we do want to coexist together," Daniel said looking to his friend. Triska smiled softly and looked down as she walked back over to him. Daniel then looked to Alyssa and smiled at her.

"And Alyssa's been helping us travel through the lands, and is even the first monster I've met that has agreed to be my 'proof' for my beliefs," he said thankfully. Alyssa smiled happily and nodded in agreement while Triska gave her a dull glance. Daniel smiled at the witch then looked back to the queen.

"And thank you, for allowing us a chance to establish relations with your race. We'll watch out for your worker while she's with us, and we'll come back when mankind is ready to talk about true peace between us," he said gratefully. Victoria smiled slightly and nodded.

"I wish you luck, Daniel. I'm not sure if you'll truly succeed with this quest of yours, however I admire your courage. I have to admit, it does make you very desirable," she said with a wink. He chuckled nervously as Alyssa and Triska glanced to each other with concern, both recognizing that same line they said about him. The queen smiled at them then looked to the other ant girls standing in the room.

"Escort them to the surface and send them on their way, then seal off that collapsed tunnel up above," she commanded. They nodded with a squeak then looked to the travelers. Daniel swung his backpack around on his shoulder as Triska lifted up her duffel bag and slung it over her shoulder, much to the awe of the ant girls. Alyssa walked up to Daniel and smiled up at him while the rescued ant girl squeaked happily at him. He looked at his companions and then to the other ant girls.

"Alright, let's go," he said proudly. Victoria watched as the ant girls walked out of the den with the travelers then chuckled to herself.

"The only human to ever think of such a wild idea as coexistence, the only one with the courage to venture out into the world against his own kind's beliefs, and his life is in those girls' hands," she thought aloud to herself. After a pause she shrugged and looked back ahead with a casual expression.

"Oh well. Hopefully my little worker will keep a close eye on him, I'd hate to see such a promising mate go to waste," she mused with a smirk.

*****

Outside above the underground nest, near a small hill in the rolling plains, the group crawled out from a hole in the ground one by one. Daniel made his way out first then stood up and walked onto the grass as he looked around, seeing the sky slowly turning to dusk above him. Next Triska crawled out, pulling her duffel bag out of the opening then walking over next to her friend. Alyssa hopped out next, holding her staff in hand while walking over to them. They looked back towards the opening where the rescued ant girl climbed out of as well. She had her pickaxe slung behind her back with a leather strap, her eyes looking up at the sky with wonder as she got to her feet. Behind her from the opening another ant girl popped her head out and squeaked at her comrade. The rescued ant girl blinked then looked back to her with a nod while squeaking back.

"What do you think they're saying?" Daniel asked.

"I have no idea, they speak their own language. Um, random question, but how are we going to travel with her if we can't even talk to her?" Triska asked puzzled.

"I'd say we have bigger things to worry about other than talking with her," Alyssa muttered, her eyes watching the ant girl closely. The monster waved to her comrade, the escort then ducking back down into the tunnel, and then walked over to the group while looking around with wonder. They watched their new companion curiously as she kept looking up at the sky with an inquisitive expression.

"I wonder if they've been out above the surface much before," Triska said looking up.

"Doesn't look like she has,” Daniel pointed out. The ant girl looked around at the drastic change in scenery then back to him with wonder. He smiled kindly at her as she just stared at him.

"Well, it's good to have you with us… um… wait, what's your name?" he asked. The girl squeaked softly as her antennae twitched a bit, tilting her head with curiosity.

"Oh great, we never learned what her name is, now what do we do? She can't talk to us and we can't talk to her," Triska said shaking her head.

"Can you understand us?" Alyssa asked curiously. The ant girl looked to her and nodded once.

"So she understands our language, but can only speak in her own," Daniel said scratching his head.

"Their language just sounds like a bunch of squeaks though, I have no clue how we can communicate like that," Triska said. The ant girl looked at them curiously as they all had a bit of concern on their faces.

"What's your name?" Daniel repeated. The ant girl just squeaked in response.

"This is going to be a long trip," Alyssa said tiredly. She shook her head and looked over to Daniel as he was watching the ant girl with a thoughtful expression.

"Well, she's going to be coming with us now as more proof; we can't just send her back. At least she can understand what we say. Still, we need to think of a name for her," he said curiously.

"She just squeaks everything, how about Squeak?" Triska suggested with a shrug. Alyssa and Daniel looked to her then to the ant girl.

"Well, I guess that could work," Daniel said with a nod.

"What do you think?" Alyssa asked the ant girl. The monster just looked at her curiously then to Daniel. He smiled a bit and nodded.

"Would that be alright? If we call you Squeak?" he asked gently. The ant girl smiled and nodded with a squeak.

"I guess she's ok with that," Alyssa said with a small smile.

"I wonder if their queen even gave them names, she just kept calling her 'worker'," Triska commented with a curious expression as she eyed the new monster.

"Well while she's traveling with us, she's Squeak," Daniel said with a smile. The ant girl nodded and squeaked again while smiling at him. He chuckled amusedly then looked around.