Chronicles of Eden - Act 2 (38 page)

“What the hell?” she grunted.

Standing up from the bushes nearby Forrus watched as the witch struggled around in the trap before she walked towards her with a cold glare.

“Killing merely to spill blood, you are the pathetic creature here in this graveyard,” the lycan said before standing over the witch. Tora glanced back to her and smirked as she stopped moving about.

“What’s this? A lost, little puppy in the woods?” she mocked.

“Defiant until the end, at least you have one redeeming quality to show for yourself,” Forrus reasoned as she kneeled down and held the witch by the head.

“You’re making a
very
big mistake, little puppy,” Tora warned with a bitter smile.

“No, no mistake here. Only hunting for something to eat, and as luck would have it I found something that would make the world a better place should she disappear,” Forrus replied while tilting the witch’s head to expose her neck. The lycan bared her teeth with a low growl before Tora laughed at her.

“Oh, but you are making a mistake, you assume I’m all alone out here,” Tora retorted before giggling at the lycan. Forrus looked at her carefully then glanced around the campsite.

“Really, and where are the others in your group?” she questioned skeptically.

Suddenly a human body dropped down next to them with a bone-cracking thump, the man dressed in travelers’ apparel while his face was frozen in shock, his eyes having rolled back into his head while his skin had taken on a pale color. His pants were missing entirely, showing his penis was erect with seminal fluid covering it. Forrus looked at the dead human carefully then up, seeing a winged figure slowly descending towards them.

“Why, up there of course,” Tora said looking up with a bold smile. Forrus watched as the figure swooped down and landed in front of them, a small gust of wind blowing by and causing some leaves to flutter away. It was a woman, wearing 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, a black belt with red gems lined around it, a low-cut black sleeveless shirt which revealed her large bust size, and a silver necklace that had a purple gemstone adorning 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, with one her hands resting on her hip as she had a casual stance before the lycan. And behind her large demonic wings were seen 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. An amused smile was seen on her face, her eyes being light green with small blue specks in them.

“Tora, dear, why is it whenever I leave you alone you always end up in these situations?” the woman questioned shaking her head. Forrus stared at the monster with wide eyes, fearing what she knew it to be. Tora giggled then glanced to the lycan with a smug grin.

“Allow me to introduce you to my mistress, the most powerful succubus in Eden, Kathryn Lyra Ellionatia,” Tora declared proudly.

“Please, call me Katie, no need for formalities since you’re a playmate of Tora’s,” Katie said with a wave of the hand. Forrus stared at the Darker One with shock before looking down to the witch on the ground.

“You… you’re traveling with… a
Darker One
?” she asked shakily. Tora nodded with a cold smile at her before the lycan looked to Katie with a stunned expression. The succubus chuckled then started walking towards them.

“Now then, what exactly do you think you’re doing with her?” Katie questioned with an accusing smile.

“Mistress, she wanted to eat me, like I was some sort of animal,” Tora said innocently.

“Did she now? Well, that’s not very polite,” Katie said shaking her finger gently at the lycan. Forrus wasted not another moment and quickly ran back away from them; only making it a few feet before Katie suddenly appeared behind and grabbed hold of her by the shoulders. Forrus looked back to her with fright as the woman held her securely with a powerful grip, the succubus’s tail moving around to slowly brush against the lycan’s belly.

“Are you hungry? Were you thinking about eating my dear friend?” Katie asked softly with a saddened smile.

“I did not know she was with the likes of you,” Forrus replied while trying to force a brave expression. Katie nodded then gripped the lycan’s shoulders tightly, causing Forrus to cringe and drop to her knees in pain.

“I’m not sure I like the way you say that, it’s almost as if you’re condemning me with your words,” Katie said bitterly. Tora stood up while still being tied with the bolas then looked to Forrus with a dark smile.

“She’s not very nice at all, is she? Such lousy manners for a mangy mutt,” she scolded. She walked over in front of Forrus and glared at her while the lycan glanced back to Katie with a strained expression. The succubus moved her tail around against the belly of the wolf while shaking her head slowly.

“Tsk tsk tsk, that’s no good for a proper lady. Besides, if you were hungry all you had to do was say so, I’m very skilled at cooking up all sorts of meals,” she mused before holding a hand out towards Tora. The bolas around the witch slowly unraveled then floated up in the air in front of her, with Forrus looking to it with fearful eyes before Katie took hold of one of the ends and then started to wrap it around the lycan’s neck.

“Tora, be a dear and fetch me an apple,” Katie said calmly as Forrus started to choke on the rope going around her neck. Tora giggled and nodded before walking off towards the campsite, holding her hands out as her eyes gave off a bluish glow briefly. Her staff wavered around then flew over into one hand while a traveler’s bag nearby dropped down onto its side as a few apples rolled out from it, with one of them then flying over into the witch’s other hand. Tora giggled as she spun her staff around playfully before walking back over to where Katie was holding the bolas with both hands now, with Forrus gripping the rope while choking.

“Here you are, it looks pretty fresh to me,” Tora said holding the apple out to Katie. The succubus chuckled and took the fruit before shoving it into Forrus’s mouth, the lycan gasping and coughing around it as her teeth held it in place.

“Tora, you’ve fed your snakes such petty meals today, these humans couldn’t have been tasty for them at all,” Katie mused.

“I know, but still I like to feed them what I can, when I can,” Tora replied with a shrug. Katie nodded then looked down to Forrus while gently brushing the lycan’s hair.

“Well, how about a roasted lycan? That should be quite a treat for them,” she mused, with Forrus shakily looking back to her with wide eyes. Tora giggled and waved her staff to the side, causing thorny black vines to whip out from the dirt and ensnare Forrus. The lycan screamed around her apple before she was yanked forward onto the ground. The vines tightened around her feet, thighs, waist, and shoulders, holding the struggling girl down while she was looking ahead with hoarse whimpers and murmurs from around her gag. The ground around her started to turn dark and decay while from in front of her the dirt shifted around a bit. Forrus shook her head and glanced back to seeing Tora watching her with a cold smile while Katie was looking at her fingernails without a care.

“I think my pet would love sinking its teeth into that,” Tora agreed with a few nods. Forrus whimpered then looked ahead to seeing a large serpent’s head coming up from the dirt, the black scaled summoned monster having red scales circling around its left eye while its mouth opened to show the rows of razor sharp teeth. The snake’s head rose up from the ground then faced Forrus with a loud hiss, the lycan trembling with fright as she couldn’t move and could hardly breathe. Tora giggled at the sight then glanced to Katie.

“Too bad I don’t have a carrot to stick in her ass,” she laughed. Katie gave a small amused murmur to that and shook her head before holding a hand up at her side. Black and purple flames flared up around her hand, burning brightly as the succubus watched Forrus squirming about on the ground.

“Now then, how do you like your lycan? I personally prefer my meat well-done,” she said casually. Forrus glanced back to her with fright, seeing the flames searing around the succubus’s hand as the two monsters smiled coldly at her, then looked ahead at the serpent head which lowered its jaw as it prepared to move forward and swallow her whole. With a whimper she shut her eyes tightly, a small gasp coming from around the fruit in her mouth as she braced for the end.

‘My sisters, I’m sorry, I failed in avenging you.’

A sharp metallic strike was heard, with the hissing sound ahead of her slowly falling silent. Forrus paused for a moment then slowly opened her eyes, staring with surprise at seeing a sword piecing down through the summoned beast’s head, the shimmering blade being seen inside the mouth of the serpent as well as below where it struck into the ground. The summoned monster hissed weakly before black smoke started to rise up from its fatal wounds. Forrus stared at it with wonder then slowly looked up to seeing Daemon standing next to the beast while looking ahead with a cold glare, his gloved hand holding his blade down into the serpent’s head. The boy yanked his sword up, with the snake then dropping down and crumbling into black ashes with a faint hiss.

“It’s him again,” Tora growled with anger. Forrus glanced back to seeing the witch glaring at the newcomer while Katie showed a bitter smile towards him.

“Yes, always one to ruin the fun,” Katie said coldly, glancing down to the bound lycan then to Daemon with a small scoff before flinging her magical fiery blast toward him. Forrus screamed around her apple before Daemon darted forward and swung his blade around, striking the fast-moving fireball and sending it hurtling off to the side where it crashed into some trees. The magical blast exploded into bright purple and red flames that seared away a few trees, scorching the ground as a heat wave rippled around the impact. Daemon then followed through with his swing and dashed towards Katie, the succubus striking the side of the blade with her fingernails with a loud screech. The sword was knocked to the side before Daemon regained himself and swung around at the demon again, with Katie dodging the strike before flying up into the air.

“You miserable little human!” Tora yelled out as she waved her staff at him. The boy kept his glare focused on Katie while he merely swiped his blade to the side in a sharp spin, causing a distorted wave of magical energy to spiral out away from him and tear apart the ground before knocking Tora back into a stumble. Forrus looked back at the boy with wonder as she watched the events unfold, seeing him fending off a succubus and deflecting a witch’s magical power.

‘I don’t believe it, I was saved by a human, how is he doing this?’

Tora regained her balance and growled loudly at Daemon before looking off to the side, seeing Sasha quickly racing up towards her while holding her large broadsword back. Tora spun her staff around and then thrust her hand at the reptile girl, causing black and decaying roots to spring from the ground towards the monster like spikes. Sasha sliced the roots with her sword then followed through with another strike, with Tora swinging her staff down and throwing the reptile girl’s swing off-balance with a magical pull. As the large sword struck into the ground Tora spun around and whacked the reptile girl with her staff before quickly jumping on it and flying off to the side. Rulo jumped out from the shadows and swung down with her mighty hammer, just missing Tora as she flew past before racing up into the air where Katie was just scowling down at Daemon. Forrus looked around at the newcomers with surprise as they all watched the two flyers above with focused glares.

“Running away once again, how cowardly and pathetic!” Sasha called up harshly.

“Yeah, get back down here so we can squash you!” Rulo taunted with an oink. Katie’s lips curled slightly with a quiet growl before she forced a stern smile.

“I must say, Daemon, you and your little
pets
are really starting to annoy me,” she scorned. Sasha and Rulo narrowed their eyes at her while Daemon gripped his sword and geared it back behind him.

“I plan to do more than just annoy you,” he said coldly before swinging his blade up sharply, causing a white wave of light to ripple out and race towards the demon. Katie waved her hand down towards it, causing a flash of dark and purple light in the shape of a demonic circle to form before her, with the streak of light crashing into it with a flash. The spinning circle of magic light and symbols flickered and cracked slightly from the surge, with Katie showing some discontent as she watched the barrier slowly fade away.

“I don’t know where he learned to use magic like that, but if I ever find out where that is I’ll be sure to burn it to the ground,” she cursed while holding back her growl. Tora nodded as she saw that Daemon’s magical expertise was indeed stronger than most humans’ she had encountered before.

“Shall I summon my own pets to strike him down? We can overpower him, right here and now,” Tora said while sitting on her staff and holding a hand down towards the group below. Katie slowly shook her head and glanced behind her.

“No, another piece of the artifact is nearby, surely they know that as well. Last we checked it was on the move and rather quickly, we need to catch up with it before it gets too far,” she reminded. With a small scoff she looked back down towards Daemon before forming a harsh smile.

“You won’t stop me from unlocking it, in fact I doubt you’ll live long enough to see me obtain it should you continue to get in my way,” she threatened.

“Over our dead bodies you’ll unlock it!” Sasha yelled out.

“You’ll never even get close to it, we won’t allow it!” Rulo shouted. Katie chuckled bitterly at them while Tora tried to hold back her scowl.

“Please, mistress, allow me the chance to feed them to my pets,” Tora implored.

Daemon held his blade across in front of him, the markings on the sword giving off a blue light as a small torrent of wind seemed to circle him. Forrus watched with awe as the human geared back then swung his sword around once, creating a flash of light that streaked in front of him and remained in place, then swung around again, forming a cross of the bright light that then shot out towards the airborne monsters. Tora aimed her palm down towards the boy, creating several flashing circles of black light with markings around them, the barriers shattering instantly as Daemon’s magical attack plowed through them. Katie grunted with annoyance then held her hand towards the attack, the magical cross of light hitting against her palm and halting as smoke and fire flared up from the touch. Her eyes glowed faintly as her hand wavered from stopping the attack, the woman then throwing the spell off to the side where it spiraled into the air before exploding with a flash. Katie held her hand with a scowl on her face, the skin having been burned from the magical touch, and looked down to Daemon with a cold glare.