Chronicles of Eden - Act V (38 page)

‘I will protect them now and always.’

“Daniel,” two girls spoke in unison before him.

Daniel opened his eyes, though not his real eyes as he didn’t see the grassy field he was standing in nor any lights or signs of his magic occurring. He didn’t see his hand outstretched before him which in reality it was and had a bright white glow shining around it now while under his feet a casting circle with a very unique brand was shining upwards. Instead Daniel only saw darkness, and two girls he knew were the embodiment of pure evil.

“Hello, Daniel,” Jovian spoke with a cold smile.

“We’re back,” Jacqueline giggled with a dark gleam in her multicolored eyes.

“You,” Daniel growled with anger, seeing the gemini sisters standing before him without their masks. “Get the hell away from us, you monsters!”

“But we wanted to play more,” Jovian said, now holding Triska in front of her from behind.

“Triska!”

“Daniel!” Triska shrieked before Jovian bit down into her neck, mauling the girl with loud growl and blood spraying out of the wound and Triska’s mouth.

“No!” Daniel screamed in horror as Triska dropped before him, fading away into the darkness with a faint gurgle.

“We missed you all so much,” Jacqueline said holding Alyssa up to face her. The witch screamed before the gemini started digging her teeth into the girl’s chest like an animal.

“Alyssa!” Daniel cried out as the witch screamed in agony and thrashed around before falling limp in the gemini’s hands. Jacqueline ate her way into the chest cavity then threw the body away into the dark void with a laugh.

“That and we’re so hungry,” Jovian taunted holding Squeak close to her, with the ant girl staring at her with fright. She grabbed the girl’s head and savagely began to eat her face, with Squeak franticly trying to push the girl off while Daniel stared with shock at the sight.

“No, Squeak!” he yelled as the ant girl slowly stopped moving then dropped down dead with Jovian still chewing one of her antennae in her mouth with a devilish smile. Daniel tried to rush towards them, to stop them however he could, but his body seemed to be frozen in place and unresponsive.

“Your girls are simply delicious,” Jacqueline giggled while holding Specca from behind around the waist, the nixie watching Daniel with watery eyes and a quivering mouth.

“Daniel, help,” she whimpered before the gemini started eating her neck and shoulder, then nixie then staring at Daniel with wide eyes and a hoarse gasp before blood dripped out of her mouth. Daniel watched with horror as Specca screamed in agony before Jacqueline reached around and ripped her jaw off with a snap.

“NO!” Daniel cried out as the gemini laughed at him while Specca dropped down into the dark void and vanished.

“No what, Daniel?” Jovian mused while holding Kroanette close to her, the centaur sitting down on her legs and staring at the Darker One with fright while being held by her hair.

“Daniel, do something,” Kroanette pleaded with a glance to him before Jovian pushed the centaur down onto her side and ripped off her shirt with a wicked smile at Daniel.

“You mean, no to
this
?” Jovian asked before she lunged down and started mauling the centaur’s chest, with Daniel watching in anguish as Kroanette screamed in agony and thrashed around with blood splattering around her. The sight of her being eaten alive infuriated him yet he still couldn’t move, his eyes unable to even close and block off the horrible images he was being shown.

“No… stop this!”

“Never,” Jacqueline coldly said while holding out her hand which had Pip lying in it, the fairy watching Daniel with a watery eye.

“Pip!” he cried out before Jacqueline crushed the fairy in her hand, the sickening crunch and sight of blood spurting out the sides of her fist along with Pip’s dangling head and legs striking at his heart.

“Stop! Stop it!”

“Make us,” Jovian and Jacqueline dared together, both of them now standing before Daniel with their arms crossed before them. Under them Luna and Falla were lying on the ground, both being held down with a gemini’s foot on their head and pushing down slightly.

“Daniel,” Luna squeaked out with tears forming.

“Please… help us,” Falla begged before cringing slightly as Jacqueline put more pressure on the girl’s head with her shoe.

“Luna! Falla! Don’t you dare hurt them!” Daniel yelled out with fury.

“Watch them die, Daniel,” Jovian spoke in a cold voice.

“Watch everyone you ever cared about die,” Jacqueline sneered with a cruel smile.

“And then we’ll kill you too,” they said before giggling in unison. “Only then, when your heart is broken shall you be allowed to follow after them into the underworld.”

“NO!” Daniel screamed as he felt his anger towards the gemini grow to unbearable levels.

Alyssa slowly regained consciousness while lying on the grass, the wind blowing by while a radiance of glowing lights shined nearby. She wearily looked over to the side, the shifting colors of blue, red, green, and purple blooming against her face as her eyes tried to focus again. She saw Daniel, standing in the same stance he was before, with the bright lights shining from below him while along his arm a swirling braid of blue and green colors trailed to his hand where a flashing streak of white light projected again and again out to the side of his palm.

“Daniel,” the witch breathed out quietly. “What… are you doing?”

Inside the caravan the warm colors of the casting ring were shining into the cabin as the curtain over the doorway was fluttering open with the strong wind blowing through. Lying on the bed the other girls were all incapacitated as they trembled in a daze while feeling wave after wave of pleasure rolling through them.

Daniel slowly opened his eyes for real, a look of anger showing on his face while the image of the dark gemini standing before him in the darkness with Luna and Falla held down under their feet remained before him.

“Don’t you dare…” he growled with a heavy voice.

The light flashing in his hand began to take shape, the edges of a long sword flickering and lighting up briefly while his fingers closed and grabbed hold of the handle which sparked and lit up with a bright flash.

“Daniel?” Alyssa wearily asked before she saw him lower his hand down to the side, and took notice of the sword that formed in his grip. It was a longsword made of pulsating light while the sharpened edges shimmered with a blue and crimson hue. Around his wrist going up to his arm a swirling array of green and purple translucent light appeared, seeming to take the shape of plated armor while still being transparent.

“Don’t… you… dare…” Daniel said through bared teeth as he envisioned the gemini laughing before him.

“Daniel?” Alyssa said again with widening eyes. Her vision began to blur with the wind and glowing lights shining before her, her heart beating steadily at the sight of Daniel wielding a blade of sheer magical energy and showing a fierce glare in his eyes as he stood amidst his own casting ring.

“Don’t you dare…” Daniel strained out as his anger seemed to be fueled by the burning power that was surging through his body.

“Please!” Luna cried out before him.

“Help!” Falla shrieked as the gemini laughed together.

“Daniel!” Alyssa shouted out from nearby, her voice wavering as she tried to remain conscious and witness what was happening.

“Don’t you dare take them from me!” Daniel roared as he geared back with his sword using one hand, his voice causing Alyssa’s heart to skip a beat as he had never sounded so powerful to her before. With a fierce slash of his glowing blade Daniel struck down towards the image of the gemini, the sword creating a powerful blast of light that streaked outward in an arc before him, searing through the gemini who screamed and were engulfed in the light while Luna and Falla vanished below them, right before the magical blast slammed into the edge of the woods across the field. The casting ring below Daniel flashed brightly as did the glowing gauntlet on his hand before a discharge of wind erupted away from him, blowing grass and dust behind and past Alyssa who watched with total amazement at the sight. Striking through multiple trees with a fierce crash the glowing arc of light plowed into the woods before erupting with a loud bang, scorched and burnt remains of timber and leaves dropping about above a long crevice that was carved through the ground away from the clearing. Slowly the casting ring faded away below Daniel, his magical sword and armored glove also dissolving as he stood there staring ahead of him with a focused glare still. Everything gradually settled again, with the curtain in the caravan’s doorway gently lowering again while the grass stopped fluttering with the breeze having vanished.

Alyssa just stared at Daniel while being frozen in her stunned state with her mouth open and her eyes wide. After a while Daniel slowly wavered then dropped to his knees, a wave of fatigue coming over him as suddenly he felt like he had run a marathon through The Outerlands for days on end. He blinked then slowly showed surprise as he realized he was looking at a large smoking crevice laid out before him, silence filling the area while small burnt leaves and twigs slowly dropped to the ground from the magical onslaught tearing through the woods for what looked to be for a few good yards before finally burning out.

“Daniel?” Alyssa breathed out with disbelief.

Daniel slowly looked back to her with a weary expression, seeing her lying on the grass with her hat gone, her staff having been thrown back and struck into a small tree by the fierce wind earlier, her skirt pulled up all the way showing her wet panties, and her messy hair which had a few blades of grass in it.

“Did… I do that?” he asked softly before dropping forward with a thump as he passed out.

Alyssa shakily got back onto her feet, stumbled over to him, then dropped to her knees as she held her hands onto him while being rendered speechless. She blinked then slowly looked around with growing surprise as she saw that Daniel’s casting ring earlier had burned itself into the ground.

“No way…” she breathed out with wonder.

It was a large ring with sharply edged glyphs lining it on the inside, however within that was another ring that had five smaller circles spread along it and closer to where Daniel was standing. All around the inner ring were intertwined lines that weaved through the circle and connected to each of the smaller ones within. Standing up Alyssa stared with disbelief at seeing the searing markings on the ground and looked from one to the other with awe. One of the circles had what appeared to be sprouting flames scorched into the ground inside of it, another had wavy lines that seemed to be drawn like water, one had a tight rocky formation made with four rugged stones held close together, there was one with swirling lines curled near each other resembling that of blowing wind, and the last had the same swirling lines but drawn in the opposite direction.

“What… the…” Alyssa said softly. She looked over to where Daniel had annihilated a small thicket of trees with his magical swing, down to the burnt casting ring on the ground that he had created, then to Daniel before she slowly knelt down and brushed his head gently while he was sound asleep.

“Daniel, what have you done?”

In the world of Eden one may come across someone who becomes invaluable to them, either out of affection or personal gain. Perhaps they are a skilled adviser that a queen relies on for guidance during troubled times, or maybe they are the dream girl of a man’s greatest fantasy. From finding someone to love and cherish for all time to capturing a wanted criminal for a hefty bounty, the desire to hold onto that important individual could be enough to overcome your own limits and realize just how much that someone means to you.

Sometimes it’s when faced with losing them that brings out your true strength.

*****

Daniel slowly started to regain his senses, his eyes opening and seeing the ceiling of the cabin with the two hanging lanterns overhead now lit. After a moment he realized he was lying on the bed inside the caravan, and wasn’t alone.

“Daniel?” Specca asked beside him. “Are you alright?”

Sitting up Daniel saw five monster girls on the bed watching him with both wonder and caution. Alyssa had her hat on again while her staff was now resting against the wall after she had Squeak pull it out of the tree it had been lodged in earlier.

“What happened?” he wearily asked while holding a hand to his head.

“Daniel, what do you remember?” Alyssa questioned while watching him carefully.

Daniel looked up in thought for a moment as he tried to recollect what happened then jumped a bit before turning to the witch as his memory started to come back.

“Wait, did I perform some kind of magic out there? Did I do anything?”

“Yeah, you sure did,” Falla said while watching him nervously. “You nearly killed us all with whatever you were doing out there.”

“Don’t you remember, Daniel?” Specca asked curiously.

“I remember… seeing some strange lights when I closed my eyes,” Daniel said holding a hand over his eyes and trying to recall everything he experienced. “I wasn’t sure how I saw them, or what they were, but I could almost feel…”

“What did you feel?” Alyssa inquired while looking to a paper she brought up and eyed cautiously.

“Well, it was very strange,” Daniel said looking down with a hand held to his chin. “I saw five lights, but I didn’t see them as much as I… just felt they were there. One of them was bright blue, and when I focused on it I felt like I was floating on water.”

“Water?” Alyssa repeated glancing to Specca, the nixie returning the look with a small jump.

“Yes, that’s what it felt like. Another was brown like dirt. When I felt it shining on me I could feel… stronger. Like I could even lift Triska’s duffel bag.”

“No way,” Luna said shaking her head. “That’s impossible. None of us can lift that thing.”

“Strong as a rock,” Alyssa pondered while looking to Squeak, the ant girl slowly glancing to her while pointing to herself.

“Then there were two more lights that appeared,” Daniel continued. “One of them was bright green, and it made me feel like I was flying through the sky without a care in the world.” The girls all looked to Luna as she turned her eyes to Alyssa, the witch glancing to her paper then to her again while nodding slowly.