chronicles of eden - act I (46 page)

"I just did as my body commanded, all because I’m been driven by my desire to breed," she said softly. Squeak looked at the witch with remorse then down, knowing that during her time in her queen's nest she had been involved with many humans that were brought into the nest both for her sexual relief and to test for possible mates for her queen. She had been following her nature, never really having felt love for any of the men that were used to slake her urges.

"And yet not once did any of those men ever appeal to me personally, not once did I ever care for them before or afterward. I never even bothered to remember their names," Alyssa continued. She trembled a bit and looked down with closed eyes.

"But with Daniel… I've never felt this way before, never for any human that I've ever came across," she said softly. Triska looked at her carefully as the witch glanced back up to her from under her hat.

"I've done what was once considered impossible before, I've gone against my desire to breed with him, and all
for
him. I'm standing here as his proof, Triska, I'm standing here as his guardian, but mostly I'm standing here because I love him too!" she yelled out. She growled and shook her head as Triska and Squeak watched her carefully.

"You think just because I'm a monster I can't know what love is? I'll tell you what love is, love is wanting to be with one and only one mate for as long as you shall live. Do you know what that means? That means that when he grows old and dies, and I'm
still
alive and around, I'll never want to mate with anybody ever again!" she cried out. Triska looked at her with wonder as the witch looked down while clutching her staff.

"He's the only one I want to mate with now, even though I'm supposed to breed with as many humans as I can… even though I'm supposed to have as many children as possible… I only want Daniel!" she shouted, striking her staff into the ground. A pulse of magic rippled away as the grass and dirt below them shifted around.

"I will only have a daughter if it's his, do you hear me? I will never mate with another human for as long as I shall live unless it's with Daniel. There will never be anybody else that I will feel this way for, ever!" she declared. Triska looked at the witch with wonder, the little monster having sheer determination in her eyes as she held onto her staff.

They both then looked over to Squeak as the ant girl was pointing to Daniel then to herself while squeaking something urgently, waving her arms around as she shook her head before pointing to her own heart. Alyssa and Triska watched the ant girl squeak something at them while Daniel walked over to Lucky who was by the lake drinking, the boy gently brushing the horse as he gazed around at the landscape. After Squeak finished her long speech consisting of squeaks and lots of hand motions Triska looked at her with wonder.

"You… too?" she asked shaking her head. Squeak nodded with a firm expression as Alyssa glanced between her and the human. Triska looked at the two monster girls with disbelief as it dawned on her.

"We… we all love him… don't we?" she asked softly. Alyssa and Squeak looked to each other then back to Triska as they nodded.

"Yeah… we do," Alyssa agreed looking down. Squeak looked down and away, her antennae twitching slightly as Triska stared at the two girls that were Daniel's proof in his quest, the two girls that would be helping him stay alive and safe from the Darker Ones out in the world, the two girls that also loved Daniel just as she did. Alyssa was determined to be with him and him only, the witch declaring that she would never mate with another man for the rest of her life unless it was with Daniel. And although they had no idea what Squeak said exactly, the message she gave was clear enough. She wanted to be with Daniel as well, declaring that her heart belonged to him.

"Hey," Daniel called out from nearby. The girls looked over to seeing him walking up to them with Lucky following, the teen holding Triska's folded clothing in his hands as he looked at the girls curiously.

"Sorry I took so long; I'm all set when you are. Oh, and, Triska? You left these over on the rocks, they're all dry now," he said, handing the girl her clothing with a calm smile. She slowly took them and smiled softly at him.

"Thank you, Daniel," she said as she looked down to the clothes in her hands. He smiled at her then looked around at seeing the girls having gentle expressions.

"Is everything ok? You girls weren't fighting again were you?" he asked. They glanced to each other then to him with soft smiles.

"No, we were… just talking, Daniel. Hold on a minute, I'll get changed then we can head out," Triska said before walking around the tree and out of view. She started to slip out of her bikini as the other two girls looked to Daniel.

"Talking? About what?" he asked. Triska froze in place and looked ahead worriedly as she waited to hear what the others, or rather what Alyssa, would say. The witch glanced to Squeak then smiled a bit.

"Just… common interests," she said. Squeak nodded then reached down and picked up the boy's book, handing it over to him with a soft squeak. He smiled and took it, then put it into his bag on Lucky while the two monster girls watched him with calm smiles. They now knew why he had such faith that monsters could coexist now, why he was so determined to find those in the world that were kind-hearted. They knew about how a monster saved his life, and how he was forever changed because of it.

"That's good; I was worried I heard shouting earlier. May have just been water in my ears, right?" he said with a weak smile at the girls. Squeak nodded as Alyssa giggled.

"Must have been,” Alyssa agreed. Triska smiled softly as she finished getting changed, the girl then walking out from around the tree dressed again in her usual outfit.

"Yeah, we were just talking and waiting for you, Daniel," she said glancing to the other girls.

"Sorry I took so long, my clothes were dirtier than I thought," Daniel said with a weak laugh and a shrug. He glanced to Triska’s bikini in her hands then over to the lake.

"I'm sorry we all weren't able to go swimming with you, Triska, maybe we could next time when we all have swimwear?" he asked hopefully. Triska smiled and looked down.

"Sure, Daniel, that sounds great," she said before walking over to her bag and putting her swimwear into it, then slipping her sheathed sword around her back and flicking her hair out from behind her. She lifted her duffel bag with one hand and slung it behind her back, then looked to Daniel with a calm smile.

"Well, shall we go? Ashwood can't be too far off, and we've got a long journey ahead of us afterwards," she said casually. Daniel nodded and started walking as the other two girls followed, with Alyssa hopping up onto Lucky's back while Squeak walked behind Daniel. Triska walked alongside the ant girl as the group headed down the dirt road towards the nearby human city.

As the travelers headed along the trail and Daniel was gazing up at the sky, thinking about the long road ahead for his goal to be realized, Triska was glancing to the girls next to her, with both of them watching the boy ahead of them with gentle gazes.

"I'm sorry, Squeak," Triska said softly so Daniel couldn't hear. Alyssa and Squeak looked over to her curiously as the teen glanced to the ant girl with remorse.

"About hesitating to save you when we first met," she continued. Squeak looked at her curiously as Triska smiled at her.

"You saved Daniel's life before your kind could use him, you weren't just another monster. For that I'm thankful," she said gently. Squeak smiled and nodded as Alyssa looked at them curiously. Triska then glanced to Alyssa and raised an eyebrow.

"I'm still mad at you for personally trying to rape Daniel when we first met," she stated simply. Alyssa looked at her with a dull expression before Triska smirked at her.

"You can make it up to me by helping me keep him alive during all this," she said with a nod. Alyssa and Squeak looked to each other then to Triska curiously.

"Wait… are you saying… you're ok with us coming with you now?" Alyssa asked quietly.

"You two are his proof; he's going to want to keep you around on his journey. I'm stuck with you two now, whether I like it or not," Triska reasoned with a shrug. She then glanced to them with a dull expression.

"We're going to be traveling together, we might as well get used to it. Like Daniel said, we need to coexist with each other, that's his dream remember?" she inquired simply. Alyssa and Squeak looked at her carefully as the teen glanced to Daniel then back to them.

"However, don't think this means I'm going to give him up to you two so easily. I still know I love him the most," she said firmly while keeping her voice down. Squeak and Alyssa looked at her with firm glances and shook their heads.

"I'm going to be his mate, Triska, there's no way it's going to happen any other way," Alyssa argued. Squeak merely squeaked something as she looked back ahead to Daniel. She and Alyssa then looked back over to Triska as she giggled in amusement.

"What's so funny back there?" Daniel asked looking back to them. Triska looked to him with a warm smile and shrugged.

"Just talking about our common interests again," she answered.

"Really? And what might those be?" Daniel asked with a curious smile as he looked ahead again. Triska glanced to the two monster girls next to her and smirked.

"Just things that human girls and monsters have in common. As it turns out, we're not that different after all," she said.

"I had a feeling you would eventually find common ground with one another," Daniel mused.

"Yeah, we sure did," Triska agreed looking at the other girls before back to Daniel. Alyssa and Squeak glanced to each other then ahead at Daniel as well while they all traveled towards the human city.

All three of them had admitted they loved him, and each one was firm in their belief that they were the one he needed as a mate. Even though they were rivals for his heart, they were all going to be travel companions with him during his journey, as both his protectors and proof that monsters and humans could work together.

However, one thing was crystal clear to each of the girls as they watched the boy they all loved, the boy that they all wanted to help with bringing his dream to life in the world.

Only one of them was going to be his mate in the end.

Throughout the world of Eden monsters roamed the lands, with the majority of these dangerous creatures being found out in the wilderness, or the ‘outerlands’. These areas are where most of the monsters try to steal away men they encounter, usually by force or use of magic. Some monsters may even try to venture into human towns and villages in order to steal men right from their homes, especially if they had overwhelming numbers on their side. An attack on a human city would be less likely though as such areas were much more heavily defended and capable of repelling lesser classes of monsters. For the travelers of the world, the surrounding walls of a human city meant refuge and peace from those outside.

However that didn’t always mean there wouldn’t be any monsters inside.

*****

High in the sky a few clouds were gently moving along as a calm breeze drifted through the rolling plains. The sun was shining down on a hill which Daniel and his group of travelers were slowly making their way over towards the nearby human city, with the witch riding her horse while the others walked alongside. As they approached the top of the hill they looked ahead at the horizon with wonder as their goal slowly came into view.

At the edge of the rolling plains a great forest was seen to the south with the woods stretching across the land towards the mountains to the north. And built into the expansive forest was a human city, with high stone walls surrounding it. There was a large opened gate facing the rolling plains showing a small glimpse of the protected city within. The sturdy architecture of the city was evident with the buildings being comprised of brick and wood, with cobblestone streets branching out between residences and shops that were built next to each other. There were a few chimneys with white smoke coming out from some of the buildings, the small pillars of haze gently climbing up into the sky before dissipating.

"Wow, that's a big city," Triska said with awe.

"I know, I've never actually seen it before," Daniel said looking at the city that was easily five to six times the size of his hometown.

"First time out here?" Alyssa asked curiously as she gently pet Lucky, her staff laying casually across her lap in her other hand.

"Yeah, we've only had a few traders that came to our village, but we've had everything that we ever needed so we never really went further out into the region ourselves," Triska said with a shrug.

"It looks like the city is dividing the forest," Daniel noticed, looking to the northern and southern forests on the sides of the city.

"Ashwood connects the empty plains on this side with the outerlands on the other. It's placed between the forests as sort of a gateway between the two locations," Alyssa explained.

"So on the other side of the city…" Daniel said as he looked at the large settlement with wonder, not really being able to see how large it was in its entirety. Alyssa nodded as she looked at the city.

"Is the outerlands, the wilderness. Ashwood and your small village are the only real human settlements in this area, the closest human city after here being Cyllidon, and that's quite a ways away. There are small camps and towns out there probably, but nothing really big out in the outerlands. There used to be another large settlement out there, but as I recall it was wiped out a while ago," she explained, looking up thoughtfully.

"Rehnder," Triska said looking to Daniel. He nodded and looked down with remorse.

"Rehnder?" Alyssa asked.

"We heard from traders in our village about Rehnder. They were located far away from Ashwood; the city was overrun with monsters and wiped out," Triska said with regret. Alyssa looked down with worry for a moment then to Ashwood.