chronicles of eden - act I (66 page)

"Yeah, she and a witch were responsible for the attack here. The witch set loose her summoned monsters in this area to distract you while the succubus went somewhere else in the city," Daniel explained with a shrug.

"Somewhere else? Where?" the guard asked carefully. Another female guardian ran up to her as she was breathing heavily.

"Ma'am, there was another attack, in the northern temple. The archaeology and research wing were destroyed, there were a few casualties," she reported as she caught her breath. After a moment she regained herself then looked around at the damaged city block with a careful eye.

"The archaeology wing? Why would they break into there, there's nothing but old relics and rocks in that hall," the other guard asked puzzled.

"She stole something," Specca said worriedly. Everybody looked over to her as she looked down in thought.

"The succubus, she was holding something in her hand. I don't know what it was though, I've never seen anything like it," she said adjusting her glasses.

"Stole something? What would a Darker One want to steal from us?" the Ashwood guard asked cautiously.

"Whatever it was you had, she wanted to get it without being seen. She had her witch accomplice attack here in the city to distract you all," Triska said sheathing her sword behind her. The Ashwood guards looked at her carefully then glanced to Alyssa, the witch watching them nervously. She held out her hands worriedly and shook her head.

"Wait, before you ban us from here, I did try to stop her. Really, I'm on your side," she pleaded quickly. Triska glanced to her then to the ruined library nearby.

"Yeah, she took on that other witch alright… and incinerated your library in doing so. Burned the whole place down to the ground with her magic," she commented.

"Hey, whose side are you on?" Alyssa yelled out at her.

"I was on yours until you yelled at me for trying to help you earlier," Triska said crossing her arms. Alyssa growled at her then looked at the guards worriedly as they narrowed their eyes at her. Daniel looked at Alyssa with concern then back to the guards as he stepped forward.

"Please, don't let the actions of that other witch lead to all witches being banned here. Alyssa here is a good monster, really. She helped your guards try to fend off the serpents that were running loose and even took on the other witch all by herself to stop her. She's a good soul," he said gesturing towards Alyssa. She looked at him with hopeful eyes as the crowd around them watched the group carefully. The Ashwood guards glanced to each other then looked back to Alyssa as the witch nodded in agreement.

"Yes, he speaks the truth. Both she and this ant girl fought bravely to help protect the city. They're good monsters," Specca added. Daniel's group glanced to her as she smiled at them. The guards looked at each other then over to the two monster girls. After a moment they slowly lowered their swords as the crowd was talking amongst themselves while pointing at the travelers.

"Very well, we'll allow them a pardon for their efforts. However, don't assume we'll be so lenient next time," a guard said firmly.

"As for whether or not all witches will be banned from Ashwood, that will be left up to the council to decide. If they rule in favor of banning all witches from this city, that will be the final say on the matter," another guardian said as they all sheathed their swords. Alyssa nodded and looked down with worry, fearing that the ruling will be to ban all witches regardless of her assistance to the city.

"Still, we're going to have to ask you and your party to leave. All monsters are being removed from the city until we can restore proper order and calm the citizens down. All those in the marketplace are being escorted out as we speak as well, there are to be no monsters in the city limits for the remainder of the day," a guard said while she held her crossbow down at her side. Specca showed a worried expression before looking down while Daniel's group looked to each other.

"Alright, we're not here to cause trouble. We'll be on our way then," Daniel said looking back to the guardians.

"We've already picked up what we needed to from your city, we can leave immediately,” Triska added. Alyssa looked at her curiously then around.

"Wait, you got us a new ride? Where is it? And Lucky?" she asked looking back to Triska. The teen pointed off down the street.

"He's waiting over in the next block next to the fountain with our new caravan, I told you I could handle it. I just left him over there to come here and help you," she said casually. Alyssa looked off down the street then back to Triska with wide eyes.

"You left Lucky
alone
in a human city?" she cried out. Everybody looked to Triska as she opened her mouth to speak, the girl pausing then looking down the street.

"Um…" she said softly.

Screams were suddenly heard coming from the down the street as a few people were running away from around a corner.

"Maybe," Triska said unsurely with a slight cringe. Alyssa looked at her with surprise then raced down the street, with Daniel's group then following after along with a few Ashwood guardians. They ran towards the disturbance and rounded the corner, with everybody coming to a quick stop and staring at the source of people screaming in terror. Parked by the fountain in the courtyard was a brand new caravan attached to a horse that was neighing and screeching loudly. Of course the horse wasn't any ordinary horse as everybody could clearly see, what with it having black hair, large skeletal wings arched behind it, a tail that was on fire, smoke coming from its mouth, and glowing red eyes. The group stared at the horse as it was bucking around while still attached to the parked ride. Fortunately there was space between the horse and the caravan otherwise the new ride would have been lit on fire by the flaming tail.

"What is that?" Specca cried out as she hid behind Daniel.

"My god, it's a demon horse!" an Ashwood guard called out.

"Lucky! It's ok, calm down, boy!" Alyssa cried out with worry as she ran towards the horse. The Ashwood guards reached for their swords before Daniel shook his head at them while waving his hand to stop them.

"Wait, it's ok, that's just our horse, Lucky," he explained quickly. The women looked at him with surprise as Specca looked at him curiously.

"That
thing
is your horse?" a guard asked in disbelief as they looked back to the demonic horse, the animal crying out loudly while Alyssa was trying to coo him and calm the beast down. The horse shook around before the witch started to gently brush its nose, the animal snorting loudly as its flaming tail whipped around behind it.

"It's ok, Lucky, it's ok. I'm here, everything's alright," Alyssa reassured gently as she brushed the nose of the demonic horse.

"What manner of horse is that?" an Ashwood guard asked cautiously. Daniel sighed and then glanced to Triska.

"An enchanted horse, one that spooks easily and shouldn't be left alone in a busy city, especially during a monster attack," he said flatly. Triska twitched at that then looked at him worriedly.

"I'm sorry; I couldn't take him into the fight with our new ride. Besides I had to help, I couldn't just sit by and watch as those serpents tore apart the block and library you were in. I thought he would be alright for a little while," she pleaded.

"That's your horse?" Specca asked peeking out from behind Daniel. He looked to her and nodded as the nixie watched the horse with a curious eye.

"Yes, he was enchanted by a witch to be Alyssa's protector. His name is Lucky, he's a very gentle and tame horse, really," he said reassuringly.

"
Gentle
and
tame
? Look at that thing!" a guard cried out, pointing to the horse with fear. Triska looked to her and shook her head with worry.

"He's not dangerous, really. He just looks that way to scare others away; he's really just frightened himself. We're perfectly safe traveling with him, he doesn't scare us at all," she reasoned urgently.

"Well, not all of us," Daniel commented looking to Squeak. The group looked at the ant girl as she was staring at the demonic horse with wide eyes, remaining perfectly still as she was frozen in fear.

"Oh no, Squeak, not again," Triska said tiredly as the ant girl wavered then dropped forward, the group watching as she remained perfectly stiff and rigid as she landed down on the ground like a statue.

"What happened to her?" Specca asked examining the ant girl.

"Lucky still scares her," Daniel sighed while shaking his head. He looked over to see Alyssa shooting Triska a glare while trying to calm Lucky down still, shaking her head with annoyance. Triska looked at her worriedly then down to Squeak as Specca gently nudged the ant girl with her foot, the frightened monster remaining perfectly still as she was scared out of her mind.

"She's actually petrified with fear," Specca said curiously.

"Yeah, she can fight monstrous serpents and even stand up to a succubus, but Lucky still scares the piss out of her," Triska sighed. She blinked then looked down with a hand held over her eyes.

"Literally," she groaned as a puddle of urine formed below the ant girl, with Specca quickly jumping back from it.

*****

Triska set Daniel's backpack down next to her duffel bag inside the caravan, looking around at the increased living space they had now compared to Alyssa's old carriage. It would be much more comfortable for four to sleep back there during the night or in rougher weather, the space being large enough for them to sit about although not quite tall enough for them to stand upright. She smiled contently then went back out onto the front driver's seat. Sitting down she saw Daniel kneeling next to the caravan on the street while gently brushing Squeak's hair, the ant girl still curled up into a ball while she was trembling in fear. Luckily, Triska and Squeak had purchased extra sets of clothing for the group, so the ant girl was at least wearing clean underwear now while she cowered in fear. Next to her Specca was standing while looking down at the ant girl curiously then over to Lucky who had eventually calmed down and returned to his normal form. Alyssa was gently brushing the horse's nose while smiling at him before looking over to Triska with a dull stare.

"I said I was sorry," Triska muttered as she glanced away. Next to the caravan two Ashwood guardians were standing near the pool in the center of the courtyard watching the group curiously, both assigned to keep an eye on the travelers while they calmed down their demonic horse. Alyssa shook her head with annoyance at Triska then looked back to Lucky.

"How stupid are you anyway? First you try to attack a succubus, one of the legendary Darker Ones in this world, with your lousy sword, and then you leave Lucky alone in the city during a monster attack. Don't you think anything through?" she asked with discontent.

"Hey, watch it, Alyssa. I tried to save your ass from that succubus earlier. And yes, I would try to fight off a Darker One from going near Daniel or any of you; it's my job as his protector out here after all," Triska argued sternly at the witch. Daniel sighed as he kept looking down at Squeak, knowing that stopping their bickering was next to impossible at this point.

"But, Triska, you mustn't ever go near a succubus, you were in terrible danger in doing so," Specca said worriedly. Triska glanced to her with a raised eyebrow as Daniel looked up at her. Specca shook her head and walked closer to Triska.

"A succubus is an incredibly dangerous monster, not only to men but especially to women," she said with concern.

"You know about them, Specca?" Daniel asked. The nixie nodded and looked at Triska with worry.

"I know a great deal about many of the monsters in this world, and that Darker One in particular is one of the worst," she cautioned. Alyssa looked at her curiously while Squeak peeked out from her ball at the girl.

"Oh yeah? Why's that?" Triska asked. Specca looked down with closed eyes as she adjusted her glasses, taking a calm breath before speaking again.

"Monster class: Succubus. One of the legendary Darker Ones of Eden. A demon from hell itself, it possesses great strength and the ability to wield the dark magics of the netherworld. They're rarely encountered, however great caution must be exercised when they are seen. They have the power to charm and bewitch human men with their appearance alone and always come in the form of a beautiful woman. They draw energy from sexual intercourse with men, using them to replenish their strength and power. In doing this they can either drain the life out of him, or curse him to be their slave for all time. A single kiss from one of these monsters will bring their victim completely under their control," she informed with a solemn tone.

"Wow, that was incredible. Did you memorize that from the book at the library?" Daniel asked. Specca nodded and looked at him with a small smile.

"I've read countless books in the library while staying here, and have most of them memorized from reading them over and over again. I like to read, it’s a little passion of mine," she said with a shrug. She then looked back to Triska with worry.

"However, a succubus doesn't reproduce with using men. They can't get pregnant, they can only draw energy from human males through sexual intercourse," she cautioned.

"They can't get pregnant? Then how do they breed?" Triska asked. Specca pointed a finger at her.

"With you. Women," she said in a solemn tone. Triska jumped and stared at her with wide eyes as Daniel and Squeak looked at the nixie with surprise. Alyssa looked at Specca curiously while slowly brushing Lucky's nose, keeping a close eye on the new girl. Nearby the two Ashwood guards were listening in as well, both of them showing puzzled expressions from what they just heard.

"What? With women?" Triska asked shaking her head. Specca nodded and looked at her worriedly.

"They can't get pregnant, so instead they find others to convert. They can't convert monster girls in the world, so they watch out for human women they can use. That's why that succubus was so interested in you. She saw your fighting spirit, your willpower. She wanted to take you away to convert you into one of them," she explained. Triska stared at the girl with surprise as Daniel and the others looked to her.