chronicles of eden - act I (50 page)

"Alyssa. Alyssa.
Alyssa
. That name in the witch's world is nothing but a curse now," Tora hissed with anger. Alyssa glanced to the gold on the ground then to the other witch.

"Oh c'mon, isn't that a bit much?" she said cautiously.

"A bit much? You wretched little pest, how dare you act like you've done nothing wrong!" Tora yelled as she held her staff towards Alyssa with a glare. Alyssa held her staff out as well, another wave of distortion then erupting out between them, the ground below being carved across in a straight gash as the opposing magical forces clashed. Alyssa bared her teeth and glanced back to the gold, then over to Tora as the witch was growling loudly at her.

'You've got to be kidding me, now? I have to deal with this now of all times?'

"Tora, calm down. I didn't come out here to fight you," Alyssa said cautiously.

"Oh, neither did I,
Alyssa
. I came out here for another cause, something of greater importance than you'll ever dream. But I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see the famous Alyssa, the witch who got us banned from Cyllidon!" Tora screamed before the two witches aimed at each other again. The ground around them cracked apart as a wave of energy rippled out from where the two powers collided. Alyssa skidded back on her boots slightly before regaining herself, watching the other witch with frustration as a few gold coins slid away on the grass.

"It was because of you that we're no longer allowed in that city! It was because of you that we lost our right to sell our magic there, you goddamned fool! That city was a focal point for magic casters of the human race, our spells and potions were the hottest items there! And now we're never allowed back in there, all because of you!" Tora yelled with anger.

"It's not my fault we're banned!" Alyssa pleaded loudly.

"You
killed
two humans! How is that not your fault?" Tora yelled out.

"I didn't mean to kill them; I just wanted them to go away. They were heckling me in the market, they were even doing that to you, don't you remember?" Alyssa said urgently.

"I remember, Alyssa, they were just stupid humans, nothing more! That's no excuse for killing them in the city. You do what every other witch does when somebody pisses us off inside the city walls; deal with it, then kill them when they go outside!" Tora yelled back.

"I didn't want to kill them at all, honest. I just wanted to teach them a lesson. I merely hexed them and told them to go cool their heads in the river," Alyssa said worriedly.

"Yes, and they did, they jumped right in from your order. And guess what happened to them. They
drowned
! They couldn't swim, Alyssa, you killed them with that damned spell!" Tora yelled out with frustration.

"How was I supposed to know they couldn't swim? Besides, nobody else jumped in after them, I don't think anybody else even liked them. They're just trying to use that incident as an excuse to ban us," Alyssa pleaded shaking her head.

"They didn't try, they
did
! Everybody saw them walking away in a daze from the market after pestering us; they knew you did something to them!" Tora shouted out. She screamed in frustration then glared at Alyssa as her eyes glowed with a bluish hue. The ground below them started to dry up and decay while the dirt slowly shifted around.

"Because of you we lost a good source of gold for us, because of you we lost a city of which we have so few of that we're allowed into, because of you I lost my best sales grounds!" Tora yelled with anger. Alyssa glanced down as black vines with thorns started to sift through the dirt, feeling the ground shifting around below her.

"Do you know how hard it is to find humans that can use my line of magic? It's nearly impossible, Cyllidon was the only real spot such humans existed in this region. Thanks to you I was robbed of my gold, I had nothing!" Tora yelled out as she struck her staff into the ground, a pulse of dark light rippling away from the impact as the ground cracked apart slightly. Alyssa held her staff before her as she held her other hand back, focusing her magic to pull the coins back into the bag and slowly lift it into her hand.

"Tora, stop this. I don't have time to deal with you right now," Alyssa cautioned. Tora glared at her as the ground around them started to shift and slink around in a circle. Alyssa glanced around before a black vine snapped around her leg, the girl screaming as the thorns in the vine pierced her socks. She struck her staff down onto the vine and crushed it, the end loosening and dropping down before two more snapped up and grabbed her by the arms.

"Tora!" Alyssa yelled as she was pulled down to her knees, the vines holding onto her arms as she struggled to stand. She held onto her staff and bag of gold as she looked to Tora with a strained expression. The ground around the girls cracked and rumbled before it started to bulge up nearby. Alyssa glanced over to see a large snake's head emerging from the ground, the summoned monster having black scales while there were red ones streaked across its face. The serpent hissed loudly as it rose up from the ground, the monster then looking towards Alyssa with crimson eyes as Tora glared at her still. Where the snake's body seemed to come up from the ground it appeared to be attached as the dirt shifted around like part of its skin.

"I'm going to enjoy watching this, every second of it despite how quickly it will be over," Tora said with anger as the snake unhinged its jaw, the inside of its mouth being filled with twisted fangs that dripped a green liquid. The serpent let out a ghostly roar as it shifted to the side slightly while keeping its sights on Alyssa. She focused her magic as she tensed up, the ground around her cracking more as a distorted wave of energy ripped around her wildly. In a flash the vines were cut apart and she swung her staff outward, casting out a cloud of dust and dirt in front of her. Tora shielded her eyes as she swung her staff, causing the dust and debris to fly around violently in a miniature tornado.

"Kill her!" she yelled out. The large summoned serpent roared then dashed towards Alyssa, its body seeming to grow and extend out as its base remained in place on the ground. Alyssa screamed as she jumped to the side in a roll, just avoiding being swallowed whole by the monster. She was then thrown back into a tumble from a magical force, rolling back before the snake turned to face her. It roared and circled around her, its body surrounding the witch before it poised itself above her with its open mouth. Alyssa gasped and held up her staff as the monster shot down towards her with another ghostly roar. The head flew down between its coiled body before dust and rocks flew up around it with a loud rumble. Lucky neighed loudly as he scampered back a bit, crying out as the snake had struck down towards Alyssa.

"Good riddance, you lowly rat," Tora said with malice.

A shot of golden light pierced through the snake's body going straight up into the air, followed by dozens more. Tora watched with surprise as golden streaks of light shot upwards through the snake's head and neck out into the air, tearing apart the body violently. The monster howled and flailed back before collapsing down on the ground, its head and body torn apart and letting off a black smoke from all the holes and tears. Tora stared with shock at the fallen monster then looked to see Alyssa standing up, glaring at her as she held her staff up still. In her other hand was the leather bag, which was now empty.

"What the hell?" Tora said with a stunned expression. She looked up and saw golden twinkles in the air, all of which were falling back down around the area. Alyssa waved her staff around in a circle, using her magic and funneling all the golden coins that she had fired up through the snake at high speed around and back into the bag in a spiraling decent. Tora watched with wide eyes as all the gold coins flew back down into the bag before Alyssa closed it up with the ribbon and held it securely. She glanced to the body of the snake that was decaying and crumbling apart with black smoke coming from its torn body and smirked.

"Looks like your snake wasn't worth this much in gold, let alone its own weight," Alyssa said looking back to the other witch. Tora growled loudly as her eyes glowed with a bluish hue, clutching her staff tightly.

“You think this is over? You think you’ve won?” she growled with hatred. The ground around her started to shift about as dark twisted vines slinked through the dirt. Alyssa narrowed her eyes as she held onto her staff, glancing to Lucky nearby then back to other witch as her staff glowed with an orange hue. Tora growled loudly as her staff glowed a dark green hue, the two witches glaring at each other as Lucky neighed loudly. The two girls waved their staffs towards each other with a fierce swing, the collisions of their magical forces sending out a distorting wave of energy as the ground below it cracked apart. Alyssa swung her staff around causing the dirt and dust to swirl into a small spiral in front of her, her glowing purple eyes fading from view as the dust flew around wildly.

“You can’t hide from me!” Tora yelled as she sent out a few thorny vines towards the wall of dirt and smoke, the vines whipping through and snapping at nothing but air as the dust billowed away.

“What?” Tora said with surprise, looking around quickly. In a flash the bag of gold flew by from her right and struck her in the face, the girl flying off to the side as the bag flew around in an arc back into Alyssa’s hand. She ran over and hopped onto Lucky as Tora scrambled back to her feet.

“Let’s go, Lucky!” Alyssa yelled as she took off with her horse, riding up the hill back towards Ashwood. Tora growled loudly and aimed her staff towards the witch as Alyssa swung back with hers, the two powers once again colliding and erupting into a shockwave in the air. Alyssa rode over the knoll and took off towards Ashwood as Tora held her staff out to the side, the relic lying still in midair as she hopped up and rode on it sideways. She then took off after Alyssa at high speed while holding onto the staff with one hand.

Riding across the plains Alyssa looked back to seeing Tora flying towards her on her staff.

“Oh c’mon, riding on your staff? Quit being so stereotypical!” she yelled back before looking ahead with frustration. She raced around a hillside as Tora flew nearby, the witch soaring over the ground as she kept her glare fixated on Alyssa.

“You can’t escape from me!” she yelled out as she waved her hand out towards the horse-riding witch. Alyssa watched with surprise as black thorny vines ripped up from the ground in front of her, the witch yanking on the reins and pulling Lucky off to the side as the magical weeds snapped at them. She ran up alongside a hill as Tora flew along in parallel with her.

“You won’t stop me, Tora, I’m out here for a greater purpose too, one that you couldn’t even begin to dream of!” Alyssa yelled as she waved her staff towards Tora, the other witch holding out her hand causing a shockwave of distorted air and a crackle to arc around her. She wavered slightly on her staff then regained herself and kept pace with the horse next to her.

“Silence, you rat!” Tora yelled back as she waved her hand towards the witch fiercely. Alyssa held out her staff towards the other witch, causing another shockwave of magical force to erupt between them. The ground ripped apart and flew around wildly between them as the witches raced towards Ashwood along the hills. Alyssa looked ahead to seeing the gateway into the city in the distance, holding tightly onto the reins of her horse along with the bag of gold with one hand.

‘Just get inside the city, she can’t attack you then. You can’t fail, Daniel needs you! Just get inside those walls!’

Tora flew over next to Alyssa and grabbed onto her staff, the two witches then struggling as they pulled back and forth on it while Alyssa rode atop Lucky.

“You won’t get away with what you’ve done! Quit running and take your punishment, you bitch!” Tora yelled as she yanked and pulled on the staff, trying to throw the witch off of Lucky. Alyssa held onto the reins as she tried to pull back, almost falling off balance as they neared the city limits. Alyssa glanced to Tora then back ahead with narrowed eyes as she growled loudly.

“If anybody’s going to give me a spanking, it’s going to be Daniel!” she yelled as she yanked down on her staff hard, sending Tora down at an angle towards the moving ground. The other witch’s staff struck into the dirt and came to a swift halt, throwing Tora forward into a wild tumble as Alyssa rode off ahead. Tora tumbled down onto the ground with a yell as her staff tumbled to the ground behind her, the girl landing down on the dirt face first. She slowly looked up with a furious growl while Alyssa rode off towards Ashwood.

“You… won’t get away from me!” she yelled out into the air.

Alyssa slowed down as she approached Ashwood, looking back carefully as she saw she had lost the other witch. She calmly rode the horse through the gate and into the city, nodding with a slight smile at the guards as they watched the familiar witch riding back in again. The horse and witch trotted off down the streets as people stopped and watched her cautiously.

After a while Tora walked into the city, the witch’s clothing dirtied slightly while she was fuming with anger. She glanced to the guards nearby as they were watching her carefully, holding up her hands defensively as she nodded. She then walked into the city as the guards watched her cautiously before resuming their patrols.

“Where did you go? You can’t escape me, 
Alyssa
,” Tora said with a sharp tone as she clutched her staff tightly.

“I take it you had some trouble?” a woman’s voice said from nearby. Tora stopped instantly and looked over to see a figure standing near the corner of the street. A woman dressed in a blue fine silk cloak walked over to her, her hips swaying slightly as she chuckled amusingly at the witch. Tora looked down with frustration and nodded.

“She got away, she ran back into the city to hide. But she won’t escape me, I’ll crush the life out of her with my bare hands, I’ll feed her rotting corpse to the rats, I’ll-”

“You’ll take a bath first I hope, you look and smell awful,” the woman interrupted with a laugh. Tora flinched at that then looked down with a low growl. The woman chuckled a bit then looked around, her hood shadowing most of her face.