chronicles of eden - act I (59 page)

“Hey, who are you? What are you doing here?” a female researcher called out. Inside the hall was a woman dressed in a blue fine silk cloak with a purple gemstone in the middle as the button. She turned back to face the people as she lowered her hood, revealing her brunette hair that went down past her shoulders. She slowly glanced around at the researchers with eyes that were light green with blue specks in them, giving the people a simple shrug along with a chuckle.

“Don’t mind me, I’m just stopping by to pick up something,” she answered with a slight smirk.

“This is a restricted area, how did you get in here?” a man demanded. The woman laughed and glanced around casually.

“It wasn’t so hard, all of your guards seem to be a bit distracted at the moment,” she said as she searched the area with a careful eye.

“You can’t be here, you need to leave at once,” the man said walking up to her and grabbing hold of her arm. She glanced to it then looked at him with an amused smile. She let out an intrigued purr as she leaned closer to him, her eyes gazing into his as she tilted her head curiously.

“Don’t worry, dear, I’ll be leaving very soon. But first could you help me, I’m looking for something very precious to me,” she asked softly. The man watched with a stunned expression as she held up her other hand to his cheek. She leaned in closer to his face while tracing her fingers along his cheek to the back of his head.

“It’s something very important to me; I just can’t leave without it. Please?” she asked sweetly.

“Uh… um… what are you… looking for?” he asked unsurely as the other people watched cautiously. The woman pulled him closer and leaned over to his ear while her hand gently held the back of his head.

“It’s part of a sphere, a unique trinket I’ve been searching for. You know what a sphere is, right? It’s like a ball,” she said pushing her breasts against the man’s chest. He gulped and glanced down to them as the woman smiled slyly.

“Like a ball that
bounces
, you know? Have you seen anything like that here?” she asked innocently. The man shakily glanced back to her then looked down again as she pressed against him gently again.

“Um… a part… of a sphere?” he asked slowly.

“Yes, that’s it. I heard your diggers found something like that recently, tell me it’s true,” she pleaded softly with an innocent smile. He looked at her for a moment as her eyes gave off a faint greenish glow, his eyes staring deep into hers as he felt a strange feeling bleeding into his mind. After a pause he nodded and smiled lovingly at the woman.

“Yeah… we did. It's right over there, would you like to see it?” he asked as he pointed over to the side. The woman glanced over to it and smirked as she saw the artifact lying on the table, its etchings giving off a faint bluish glow before going dark again.

“That’s the one, thank you so much, my handsome fellow,” she said looking back to the man with a coy smile.

“Sure, no problem. Is there anything else I can do for you, ma’am?” he asked with an eager smile. She looked him over with a casual glance then leaned in closer to him.

“Just one more thing my dear,” she said holding his head gently while she slipped her other arm around his neck. She got close to his lips as she partially closed her eyes, the woman’s warm breath being felt by the man as she kept from kissing him by an inch. After a moment she leaned back and smiled slyly at the man.

“Treating a lady like that earlier was so rude, I think you need to be rid of that troublesome hand of yours,” she said twitching her eyebrow a bit. The man nodded with a blissful smile then walked over to a nearby table. He set his hand down on it and grabbed a dull blade nearby. His colleagues watched with shock and loud screams as he started to hack his hand off with the blade, having a blissful smile on his face as he struck down on his own limb. After a few hard strikes he cut through the flesh and bone, his hand now lying limp on the table in a pool of his own blood while he smiled dreamily ahead of him.

“What the hell, what are you doing?” another man yelled out.

The woman chuckled a bit as the hexed human blinked then screamed out in agony, gripping his arm as he stared at his severed limb with shock. He dropped to his knees screaming as the woman laughed in amusement.

“That should teach you some manners about touching a lady like that,” she scolded with a cold smile. He looked up to her with shock, her eyes glowing green as she laughed to herself.

“You… you’re not human!” he cried out scrambling back and away from her. She smirked then walked towards him slowly.

“It’s not polite to shout at a lady either,” she said with a slight tone of annoyance, her eyes turning cold as she smiled bitterly.

Running down a hallway inside the temple two figures were seen while their footsteps echoed down the empty corridor. An orc and a reptile girl were running through hallway with focused expressions while screams and chaos were heard outside in the city.

“Sounds like all the fun is happening out there,” Rulo commented while she held her oversized hammer in one hand over her shoulder, running with it like it weighed nothing at all.

“If it’s a fight you seek then prepare yourself, the real monster is in here somewhere,” Sasha cautioned while holding her large sword with one hand, running swiftly while her tail swayed behind her.

The two monster girls came up to an entrance to another room and stopped as people ran out screaming, the humans seeing them then promptly running away down the corridor crying out in fear. The monster girls glanced to each other then looked around inside the room with focused expressions, both keeping on guard as they slowly entered the large hall. There were tables and display cases all around with relics and books, along with the remains of a human that lay splattered across the floor. His clothing was ripped to shreds while his body appeared to have been pulverized. And in the middle of the room was a woman wearing a blue fine silk robe while smiling curiously at the two monster girls.

“I was wondering when you two would be showing up,” she mused with a chuckle.

“My master was right with his assumptions; using your pawn to distract the humans in the city so you could slink in here unseen, such cowardice,” Sasha hissed with narrowed eyes. The woman raised an eyebrow at them while her smile remained.

“I have better things to be doing than playing with humans, my dear girl. Speaking of which, where’s that one you keep following around like a little puppy? I’m surprised he’s not here holding your hand since you can’t seem to go anywhere without him,” she said with a laugh. Rulo gripped her hammer tightly with both hands as she glared at the woman.

“He’ll be here soon, in the meantime why don’t you quit running and play with us?” she challenged with a stern oink at the end. The woman laughed amusingly and shook her head. She unfastened her gemstone button with a smirk, the cloak dropping to the ground around her feet as Sasha and Rulo tensed up. The woman wore dark blue high heels on her feet, her legs being long and slender. She had a dark purple skirt on that was angled down over her left thigh and a black belt with red gems lined around it. She wore a low-cut black sleeveless shirt which revealed her large bust size, along with a silver necklace that had a purple gemstone on it that rested on her chest. On each of her wrists she had a dark blue bracelet which had a red gem on the top.

And from behind her large demonic wings spread out, the skeletal edges being black and rigid while the insides were a dark purple. A dark scaled tail slowly whipped around behind her, the end pointed into an arrow while the long appendage swayed behind the monster.

“You two really think you can stand against me in a fight? Oh you poor misguided girls,” she taunted with a dark smile. Sasha and Rule gripped their weapons tightly as they stared down the monster with focused glares. They were strong in their own right; there was no doubt in their minds about that.

Of course they knew a succubus was far stronger, as all the Darker Ones of Eden were.

In the world of Eden, monsters came in many different forms and types; however some were far more dangerous than others. There existed a few classes of these creatures that were considered to be the most dangerous of all, both to mankind and to other monsters that came across them. They were known as the ‘Darker Ones’ of the world, legendary monsters with incredible strength and power. With extreme physical prowess or untold magical reserves, they were feared in Eden above all else. Only the bravest and most skilled warriors would even dare try to take on a Darker One in combat.

And only the most fortunate would survive.

*****

Inside the Ashwood city library fires were flaring around wildly as the two floors of the building were in ruin. Half of the upper level had collapsed down while bookshelves and tables were broken and lying about. Bodies of people were seen crushed under debris while a few lay strewn about after a summoned monster had torn them apart viciously. The smoke from the fires rose up and out the broken windows on the roof while small pieces of rubble dropped down from the cracking ceiling. Standing on the roof two witches were staring each other down while smoke and wisps of fire billowed up from the openings around them. Alyssa clutched her staff tightly as she watched her opponent with a focused glare, baring her teeth slightly in anger from the havoc brought about by the other witch. Across from her Tora was glaring at her fellow witch while she held her staff with one hand at her side, her hair flowing in the breeze as she kept a sharp eye on Alyssa.

"My my, so eager to fight now. Did I upset you by threatening your pet?" Tora taunted with a smirk.

"Don't you dare call Daniel that. He's not my pet; he's going to be my mate!" Alyssa yelled out. Tora looked at her with a raised eyebrow then chuckled amusedly.

"Your mate you say? As far as humans go that one down there looked rather meek and poorly, is that the best you could find to give you a seed?" she mused, shaking her head. Alyssa growled loudly with anger, her eyes giving off a purplish glow as her staff glowed with an orange hue.

"How dare you… nobody talks about Daniel like that. Nobody!" she yelled out, waving her staff forward as Tora held up hers. The air between them erupted into a shockwave with a distorted wave that rippled around Tora, the roof of the building below them cracking apart slightly from the stress. Tora glanced around at the unstable roof they were standing on then looked back to Alyssa with a cold smile.

"I see, so that human
is
important to you. Well, I'll tell you what, after I'm done smearing you across this city, I'll do you a favor and spare his life. I might even keep him as
my
pet; I could use a human lackey that knows how to relieve a witch from a long stressful day. Who knows, maybe after a good amount of training he might even be able to satisfy me," she chuckled. Alyssa looked at her with wide eyes then bared her teeth in anger as she clutched her staff tightly, glaring at the dark witch with fury. She struck her staff down onto the roof with a powerful thrust, the strike sending out a rippling pulse wave as erratic and spinning circles of red light appeared around her. Tora glanced down to the markings as Alyssa held her staff out across in front of her, then holding a hand over it facing Tora palm first. The circles around her started to spin and glow brightly while Alyssa's skirt fluttered around from a small torrent of wind circling her.

"It'll be a cold day in hell, Tora, before I would ever allow you near my Daniel," Alyssa raged, her hand forming a red glow that swirled around in front of her palm. Tora looked at her cautiously as the smoke from the broken windows around her suddenly stopped billowing upward. The dark witch glanced around then slowly looked down.

"Oh, did you just remember what's below us?" Alyssa hissed with a glare. Tora slowly glanced up to her as she held her staff tightly, tensing up while Alyssa kept her eyes locked on her opponent. The glowing circles of light spun around faster as the light seemed to intensify around the witch's palm. Tora smiled slightly and shook her head.

"Don't be stupid, your human pet is down below us along with all those other people, you can't use your element here without killing them," she said with a slight laugh at the end. Alyssa narrowed her eyes as her staff's glow shifted from an orange hue to a deep crimson, the air around it crackling quietly. Tora looked at her carefully then glanced around quickly. The roof below them was cracking apart in some areas while small flames were seen flaring up through a few of the crevices.

"I don't think your snakes will be able to manifest here, not nearly enough support for them after all," Alyssa pointed out as a whirring sound started to grow below them. Tora looked down with caution then back to Alyssa as she backed up a step.

"However, you've supplied me with more than enough fire, how very
kind
of you," Alyssa continued with a bite.

"Alyssa, don't be a fool, you can't control it enough to spare your pet," Tora warned.

"His name is Daniel, and he's my mate!" Alyssa yelled out. The glow around her palm shifted to a bright red light that flared around wildly in front of her, the witch keeping her glare locked onto Tora as the whirring sound below grew louder. Tora glanced around then looked back to Alyssa with a glare.

"You think you can scare me with your bluff? I'm not afraid of some lowly rat!" she yelled out. Alyssa growled loudly as the circles around her stopped spinning and gave off a bright light. Tora looked around quickly then back to Alyssa with caution.

"And I'm not a rat…" Alyssa said as the roof around them cracked apart more while flames fired up from the crevices. She held up her hand, the glow swirling around her palm quickly.

"I'm Alyssa, the Wildfire Witch!" she yelled out as a red pulse rippled out from her. Tora took a step back before the roof behind her erupted up with a fierce firestorm, the bright red flames shooting up through the broken windows and weakened wooden beams and bricks. Alyssa held out her hand to the side while keeping her staff level in front of her, the relic glowing red while black smoke came from the eyes of the skull ornament. To her side a powerful stream of fire blasted up from the roof and into the air, the swirling flames roaring loudly as Tora watched with wide eyes. The fire stream flew up into the air then shot towards her as it expanded into a wall of flame, the red torrent crashing down around Tora as she screamed and held up her staff. The flames washed around a domelike barrier while the ground around her charred and scorched. A loud rumbling sound was heard before two more powerful streams of flame blasted up from the roof nearby, the torrents swirling around wildly into the air before falling forward and spreading out into a hailstorm of fire. Tora waved her staff around causing a spinning blast of air to surround her while she held an arm near her face to shield from the heat, bracing herself from the waves of fire that crashed and burned around her.