chronicles of eden - act I (65 page)

"Running away from a true fight only to prey upon the weak, how disgraceful," Sasha hissed with narrowed eyes.

"What's wrong, we were too tough for you?" Rulo said with an oink. Katie smiled coldly as Tora narrowed her eyes at the trio. Alyssa slowly looked over to the newcomers with weary eyes then down to the side, seeing the broken blade of the Ashwood guard lying in the street. She slowly held a hand out towards it while she held the demon's tail with the other, choking quietly as she tried to focus her magic. The blade started to rattle and shift around slightly as the witch began to lose focus, her world fading to black as she couldn't breathe.

"Tora, my dear, would you be so kind as to do away with those three for me? Triska and I are just getting to know each other, and it would be so rude to just leave her be now," Katie said looking back towards the human girl. Triska wavered slightly as she kept staring at the demon in a trance. Tora struck her staff into the ground with a sharp thrust, the relic letting off a rippling wave of dark light through the street as the newcomers watched her carefully.

"You won't be getting in my mistress's way again," she said with discontent as the ground around her started to shift and move around slightly.

Alyssa's eyes rolled back as she started to fall limp, flinging her hand to the side causing the nearby broken blade to fly towards them in a wild spin. Katie looked over to see the piece of steel sparking as it spun around across the street before flying towards her. The group watched with surprise as the blade struck into the demon's thigh, the monster screaming as her wings flinched behind her. Her tail flailed about, throwing Alyssa over to the side and onto the street gasping for air. Tora looked back to the demon with wide eyes then to the blade.

"Mistress!" she cried out. Triska wavered a bit then fell back, collapsing down on the ground in a daze as the succubus was looking at the blade stuck in her leg. Katie growled furiously before looking over to Alyssa, the witch coughing and gasping for air behind her.

"You… little brat!" she roared as she aimed her hand down towards the girl, a dark purplish glow forming as Tora glared down at the witch. Alyssa coughed then looked up wearily as the dark light from the demon grew larger. Tora growled with anger then looked behind to seeing Sasha and Rulo dashing towards them with their weapons drawn. Tora waved her staff out as the two monster girls darted to either side, with Daemon charging forward with his sword held out. A distorted wave of energy clashed around his blade and flew past him as he braced from the attack, the human narrowing his eyes as the two other monster girls then dashed towards the witch from both sides. Tora growled then struck her staff into the street, causing a pulse of magic to ripple out as the ground shook. Black thorny vines whipped up around in front of her wildly through the cobblestones as the two monster girls charged forward, with Sasha using her broadsword and cleaving through them in one swing while Rulo smashed down with her hammer, causing the ground to crack apart and cave in slightly with the vines flailing around weakly. Tora stumbled back as she tried to balance herself while the ground under her cracked apart from the orc’s strike.

"End of the line!" Sasha yelled as she geared back her sword while running up towards the witch. Katie glanced over and then aimed her attack to the side, the blast of dark purple light streaking out towards the reptile girl. Sasha gasped and brought up her blade in front of her, the sword catching the attack just before it struck her. A bright flash of purple and red energy rippled out in front of the girl as she was sent tumbling back with a yell. Her sword bounced back a few times before striking into the ground as she rolled to a stop with smoke coming from her arms. Katie growled then looked over to seeing Daemon racing up towards them with his sword held down to the side. Tora aimed her staff towards him again as she focused her magic, this time with the human swiping his blade out in front of him. A shockwave of distorted energy rippled out from the blade as the ground carved apart in front of him towards the witch, the girl watching with surprise before being knocked back into Katie from the force of magic. The succubus stumbled a bit as she grabbed the blade lodged in her leg then yanked it out, growling while flinching in pain as blood dripped from her wound.

"He… deflected her magic," Specca said with wonder. She and Squeak looked over to see Alyssa slowly sitting up while Daniel looked over to see Triska gradually regaining her senses, the human girl blinking a few times as her world came into focus again.

"Wha… what happened?" she murmured as she started to look around. She looked up and saw Katie standing there with her wings arched out, the demon's tail whipping behind her as her leg was bleeding. The succubus tossed the bloodied blade to the side as she glared at Daemon who was racing towards her again, the human swinging his blade at her before the demon grabbed Tora and took off into the air. Daemon looked up towards her as the demon hovered above everybody, with Tora hopping onto her staff and sitting on it sideways while looking down at the boy with anger.

"Running away already? I thought you Darker Ones weren't such cowards," Daemon taunted with narrowed eyes. Triska looked at him with wonder then up as the succubus scowled at them. Katie clutched the artifact in her hand as she narrowed her eyes at the human, eyes that gave off a faint greenish hue briefly. Tora glanced over to see a large number of Ashwood guardians and humans with swords and hammers running through the street towards them. She then looked over down another street and saw a serpent flailing back and crashing into a building as arrows and spears were struck into it, with another large mob of humans and armed guards crowding around the fallen beast.

"Mistress, the humans have regained control in their city, they'll be here soon," she grunted with annoyance. Katie breathed out then glanced to Triska as the human was getting back to her feet.

"I see. I suppose I'll have to settle for just the artifact this time," she said with discontent.

Sasha got back to her feet holding her sword as Squeak ran over and helped Alyssa up, the witch using her staff to balance on as she looked up at the airborne monsters. Tora glared down at her then ran a thumb across her neck in a quick motion.

"Next time we meet, Alyssa," she hissed. Alyssa narrowed her eyes at the witch while Triska growled loudly at the succubus. Katie smirked as her wings flapped behind her, looking down at the human girl who was glaring at her with anger.

"It was so nice to have met you, Triska, I look forward to our next encounter. Please, take care of yourself until then, little kitten," she said with a wink.

"Little kitten?" Triska growled through bared teeth, her eyebrow twitching a bit as she shook with rage. She yelled and aimed her sword up at the demon.

"Who the hell are you calling little kitten? Get back down here so I can slaughter you!" she roared.

"Your friend has an anger problem, doesn't she?" Specca asked nervously.

"I'm going to hack you into goddamned pieces and throw each of those pieces into a fire then have Lucky piss on the ashes!" Triska yelled out with fury. Daniel blinked then shrugged slightly.

"Maybe a little bit," he said simply. Katie smiled amusingly down at the girl then looked to Daemon with a dull glare.

"And as for you, next time we meet I intend to finish our little
dance
," she said with a bite.

"Try not to disappoint me then," he said coldly. Katie scoffed at his words then looked over to seeing a large crowd of humans making their way through the streets towards them.

"Come, Tora, we're through here," she said with annoyance. Tora nodded as the two turned to fly away, glancing back to Alyssa with a glare before looking ahead. The two flew off over the city, with the demon's wings flapping effortlessly while the witch rode on her staff. Daniel and Specca walked over towards Triska as she was watching the demon fly off with a glare still. She glanced over to her friend and smiled then looked at the other boy as he too was watching the succubus vanish in the distance.

"Who are you anyway?" Triska asked curiously. He didn't respond, rather kept looking off into the distance while Sasha and Rulo approached them.

"Sorry, master, we failed to stop them," Sasha said with remorse.

"I told you before, stop calling me that," he said calmly. Sasha twitched then nodded slowly.

"Right, sorry," she said softly.

"Master?" Specca asked looking at the reptile girl and orc. The two merely glanced to her then looked back at the human. Triska looked at them curiously then over to Specca.

"And who are you even?" she asked. Specca jumped a bit then smiled shyly at her.

"Oh, my name is Specca. I was assisting Daniel here at the library when… well…" she said before looking back at the destroyed library. Squeak and Alyssa walked over to them as Triska glanced to the remains of the library then over to Specca again. She then looked over to see Alyssa walking up to them and smiled a bit.

"Hey, are you alright?" she asked gently. Alyssa nodded while looking at her with wonder.

"You… you stood up to a Darker One for me," she said in disbelief. Triska smiled proudly and nodded.

"You bet, we're a team in this after all," she said with confidence. Alyssa looked at her for a moment then shook her head.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Triska? You can't attack a Darker One, are you out of your mind?" she yelled out. Triska jumped with surprise as Alyssa looked at her with discontent.

"What kind of guardian are you for Daniel when you go around fighting monsters that are clearly out of your league? Are you crazy, you can't fight a succubus! Are you trying to get yourself and Daniel killed?" Alyssa shouted.

"What the hell, Alyssa, I tried to help you when you were being beaten senseless by that other witch and you just yell at me for it? Show some goddamned gratitude," Triska demanded with annoyance.

"But you mustn't ever try to engage a succubus in a fight, it's far too dangerous," Specca interjected worriedly. Triska looked over to her with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey, I can handle myself just fine in a fight, thank you very much. She just used some cheap magic on me, I won't fall for that crap again," she assured firmly. Specca shook her head worriedly.

"No, you don't understand," she said with concern before they looked over to see a large crowd of humans running up to them.

"Oh great, this is going to look so good for us," Alyssa said glancing around the destroyed area. A few Ashwood guards walked up to them and held their swords towards the group while more humans armed with swords and bows came from the other end of the street.

"Hold it right there, all of you!" a guard called out.

"Hey, we can explain. Um, sort of," Alyssa said holding up her hands defensively.

"Save it, witch. I don't know what kind of attack you monsters tried to pull here but it's all over now," another guard declared with narrowed eyes.

"Wait, we didn't attack your city, we just defended ourselves. We're on your side," Triska said shaking her head. Sasha and Rulo glanced around with dull expressions while Daemon sheathed his sword casually. He started walking away before two Ashwood guards marched up in front of him and held their blades out towards him.

"You're not going anywhere," one of them said sternly.

"You do realize that we just fended off the ones responsible for this city's attack," Sasha stated firmly as she walked up next to the boy.

"Yeah, watch who you're pointing your swords at," Rulo added with annoyance as she walked up to his other side. He held up a hand to silence them then stepped towards the women.

"I'm in no mood to deal with you people, now if you'll kindly get out of my way I have other matters to attend to," he said simply. The guards held their swords towards his head as they narrowed their eyes at him, with Sasha and Rulo tensing up.

"You're not going anywhere until what has happened here has been accounted for," one of the guards said firmly. Daemon glanced to her with a raised eyebrow as Daniel’s group watched him curiously. He quickly struck up with his hands and knocked the blades upwards, then darted forward and grabbed the handles as the women held on with surprise. The group watched as he yanked down with a firm grip over the swords, bringing the women down to a knee each, and then angled the blades towards them.

"We just fought off a succubus and witch from your city, not because we give a damn about you or your land but because that monster took something that belongs to me. We're going to be going now, not because we're obviously not wanted here but because I intend to find this demon and drive my sword through her heart to reclaim what she took from me. Your city is in ruins, not because of those standing behind me but because of the witch that was with that demon who was merely toying with you all as a diversion," he stated firmly. Sasha and Rulo smirked at him while Daniel's group stared at him with wide eyes.

"S-Succubus?" one of the guards stuttered out with wide eyes. Other people around the area glanced to each other as hushed whispers of a Darker One apparently having been in the city started to spread. Daemon let go of the women’s hands then backed up a step as they stared at him with stunned expressions.

"Now, get out of our way," he said with narrowed eyes. The guards glanced to each other then slowly got back up as Sasha and Rulo glared at them. Sasha held her sword down at her side with one hand, her tail swaying behind her as she stood next to the boy. Rulo casually held her large hammer over her shoulder with a smirk while the boy drummed his fingers on his blade's handle as it was sheathed at his side. The guards slowly moved off to the side as the trio walked forward, with the crowd parting for them as they stared at the fighters with stunned expressions. After the three left the scene the crowd then looked over towards Daniel's group, the boy looking around worriedly as everybody had fallen silent.

"Is that… true? A succubus was here?" an Ashwood guard asked cautiously. Daniel's group nodded with concerned expressions.