Chronicles of Eden - Act VIII (2 page)

“What?” Triska exclaimed. “How did you get three of those things way out here?”

“We collected them,” Mika explained as she waved the group towards the building. “Please step inside and take a look at our wares. I guarantee we’ll have what you’re looking for, no matter what it may be.”

The three sisters made their way back with Max following after, the young boy waving the group after them before the four entered the cottage. Daniel and the girls exchanged curious glances then walked towards the building while eyeing it over questionably, the three entering the front room and looking around in wonder at the shelves stocked with various items while Max was sitting on the front counter waving them in. The three sisters were going around the room examining the goods while Daniel and his companions saw the inside of the first floor was setup like a large store.

“Got your bow right over here!” Milly called out with a wave.

Clover quickly ran over to her and gasped as she saw three finely crafted elven bows hung in a cabinet, one of which Milly took out and handed to her with a happy smile. The elf gently took hold of the weapon and carefully ran one hand along the sleek wooden frame, admiring the work that appeared identical to the ones her kind made. She held it upright and pulled back on the wire, feeling how taught and firm the bow was while it felt perfect in her hands just like her old one did.

“Holy fuck, you weren’t kidding,” Clover said in awe as she looked at the other two longbows.

“Hehe, you’ve got a dirty mouth,” Milly giggled as she leaned back against a shelf and smiled amusedly at Clover.

“Wow,” Triska marveled as she saw a large polished broadsword resting on a rack. “That looks like a very sturdy weapon.”

“It’s a reptile girl-grade sword,” Mika boasted as she walked over and patted the handle. “It’s heavier than it looks, but if you’ve got the muscle it’ll cut through steel like a hot knife against butter.”

“A reptile girl’s sword?” Daniel questioned. “You mean that’s a monster weapon?”

“Yeah, most of what you see here is,” Mika replied with a gesture around the room.

“If you like weapons, miss, then please do look at this one,” Mae spoke up. Triska and Daniel turned to see the girl gesturing at a long spear that was mounted vertically next to a few others against the wall, the finely sharpened weapon having engraved steel and sturdy wood with a fine polish for its handle.

“That looks incredible,” Triska commented as she and Daniel walked over to it.

“Centaurs do make very durable spears,” Mae explained as she gently ran a hand along the weapon. “It’s actually lighter than it seems, even I can lift this without any trouble.”

Daniel eyed over the monster weapon in wonder then slowly glanced around, noticing that half the store was setup with food and travelers’ wares while the other half had armaments of a wide variety.

“That’s a lot of weapons for a trading post,” he commented with a cautious look to Mika.

“We sell what we collect,” Mika reasoned with a shrug. “Yeah, food and water is nice, and everyone can use some new boots or clothes from time to time, but what any good and smart traveler out here needs is a trusty weapon to defend themselves with.”

“Check out the rapier over there,” Max suggested pointing to another shelf. “That one’s my favorite. It used to belong to a troll.”

Daniel and Triska slowly looked around at all the weapons while Clover’s eyes went from the bow in her hands to the ones hanging in the cabinet.

“Where did you get these?” she carefully asked.

“We collected them,” Milly giggled.

“Elven bows don’t just grow on trees,” Clover sharply retorted.

“Yeah they do, they’re made of wood.”

Daniel slowly looked over to Mae as she was setting a morning star into a rack with a gentle smile on her face. She lightly flicked one of the spikes with a chuckle then began arranging various pieces of leather and steel armor on the shelves. Mika patted Triska on the back as she passed behind her, having more force from the gesture than Triska would assume a casual pat to have, and made her way over to the counter where Max was kicking his legs playfully about while sitting atop it. Daniel’s eyes then rested on Milly as the girl picked up a large double-sided axe from a rack, merrily spun it around using only one hand at her sides, then set it back on the rack with a happy giggle.

“She’s strong,” Triska quietly mentioned as all of this began to seem very off to her.

“Where did you get these?” Clover demanded again, only getting an amused smile out of Milly.

“So what all you looking for?” Mika asked while going through some boxes behind the counter. “I’m only seeing one of you being armed, that’s not too wise. Lots of monsters out there you know.”

“For now,” Mae giggled as she arranged a few steel gauntlets on the shelf.

“For now?” Triska slowly repeated.

“If business keeps up for us they’ll all be gone in no time,” Mae answered her with a wink.

“Business?” Daniel questioned. He slowly glanced around at all the weapons and armor the store had while Clover marched up to Milly and held the bow up between them.

“Where did you get these bows? Only elves make them,” Clover said through her teeth.

“Yeah, elves made them,” Milly agreed with a nod. “And then we got them.”

“You traded with the elves for these?” Clover asked in confusion.

“Traded? Haha, no. That’s silly. You’re silly.”

“I don’t understand,” Triska carefully spoke up. “What is it you girls do?”

“We’re business owners of course,” Mika answered as she stood up and leaned forward on the counter.

“We sell any goods and supplies you could need out here,” Mae explained.

“And we deal with the local monsters for a modest fee,” Milly added with a nod.

“Deal with the local monsters?” Clover slowly repeated.

Triska slowly looked around the shop then noticed something that made her gasp. Daniel and Clover saw her looking above the front door and pointing to something, their eyes then resting on a gremlin’s head that was mounted on the wall above the doorway.

“Is that…” Daniel nervously asked.

“It was,” Max laughed. “Gremlins aren’t so bad to deal with, even I could kill one if it ever came near our home.”

“Of course you could,” Mika playfully mocked as she ruffled his hair, much to his chagrin. “It’s a good thing we sisters have such a strong man in our lives.”

Daniel blinked then looked over to Max while he was thrashing around from his older sister’s teasing.

“You said your sisters were trained professionals,” he recalled, with everyone turning to him as he glanced around at the monster weaponry that was up for sale then to the three girls who had innocent smiles on their faces.

“Professionals at what?” Triska inquired.

“Monster hunting,” Max answered.

Daniel and his companions quickly looked to each other in surprise then to the three sisters as they nodded in agreement.

“You’re monster hunters?” Triska carefully said.

“You bet,” Milly agreed with a proud stance. She glanced to the bow in Clover’s hands then smiled happily at her. “Getting those bows was a cinch. All I had to do was crack those stupid elves’ skulls open with my axe and they were mine for the taking.”

Clover stared at her in horror then down at the bow that was taken from one of her dead kin.

“This sword,” Triska slowly said while eyeing the reptile girl’s broadsword on display.

“That monster thought she could best me in a swordfight,” Mika boasted before Triska turned to see the girl smiling arrogantly at her. “She was dead wrong about that. I really doubt what they say about those things, how they let their opponents wallow in the shame of defeat and let them live after a fight, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to grant her the same in return.”

“A centaur’s spear,” Daniel breathed out before seeing Mae giggling at him. The girl reached into her satchel and pulled something out, a folded crossbow that quickly snapped open and had a line of bolts that appeared ready to drop down into place to fire from a wire cage.

“She thought she could run away from me,” the girl explained before holding her crossbow in her hands with a daring smile. “She wasn’t fast enough.”

Clover looked over the bow in her hands then to the others that came from her fallen sisters, her teeth clenched as she tried not to scream in anger. Triska slowly glanced to Clover then to Daniel as he looked around at all the items that had been looted from slain monsters.

“Hey, you guys alright?” Max asked as he and his sisters saw the strange looks on the travelers.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” Clover grunted with eyes shut tight.

“Oops, sorry,” Milly worriedly apologized with a few pats on the elf’s back. “We didn’t mean to creep you out or anything.”

“Sorry about that,” Mae added with a concerned frown. She flicked her crossbow down and snapped it back into its compact form before putting it away in her satchel. “We can get a little carried away with our profession sometimes. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“We weren’t trying to freak you guys out with all that,” Mika reassured as she hopped over the counter and walked over to Triska. “Don’t worry, there’s no monsters around this place. We cleared them all out ourselves. You’re safe here.”

“Yes, I’m sure we are,” Daniel weakly agreed with a forced smile. He noticed his uneasy companions remaining silent then walked over to Mika and guided her over towards the half of the store that wasn’t filled with monster remnants.

“Anyway, we’re looking for some non-lethal provisions. Could you help us out with that?”

“Sure thing,” Mika agreed with a nod.

“But she wanted a bow,” Milly questioned while watching Clover curiously. “That’s not non-lethal.”

“I didn’t want one with the blood of elves on it,” Clover snapped at her with a tear in her eye.

“What? There’s no blood on it,” Milly said looking over the bow. “I was careful in cleaning all the blood off it when I collected it. Wasn’t I? Oh no, did I miss a spot?”

Triska quickly headed over and took the bow from Clover, handing it to Milly with a forced smile while she moved the elf behind her.

“Sorry, she’s a bit… grouchy. Like, all the time. Yes, please, we’ll take this, a quiver, and the arrows you have left. Thank you very much.”

“Okay dokie,” Milly said with a hop. Triska guided Clover towards Daniel and Mika, the elf grumbling something to herself through her teeth, while Milly gathered the supplies and carried them over to the front counter.

“Did you miss a spot on it?” Mae huffed as she eyed the bow over. “Milly, I keep telling you we need to make sure these are flawless when we sell them. Customers don’t want to see monster blood on their purchases.”

“I’m sorry,” Milly frowned while lowering her head in shame.

“Geez,” Max sighed shaking his head. “Count us lucky they still want to buy anything after you girls startle them like that.”

Clover kept her head lowered while gripping Triska’s hand tightly, the teen watching the elf struggling not to lash out or straight up murder the sisters for killing her kin. Daniel glanced back to them then around at the shelves and tables set out with things other than salvaged monster weaponry while Mika turned to Clover with a worried smile.

“Um, sorry if Milly didn’t clean those properly,” Mika apologized with a shrug. “We can give you a discount on it if you’d like.”

“A discount?” Milly whined. “Aw, but I had to work hard to kill that elf for that bow. The stupid monster kept running away in the trees, it took forever to hunt her down and spill her guts.”

Clover yelled and quickly ran out of the store, with everyone watching her burst out the front door and running off before looking to Milly who held a hand over her mouth.

“Um, should I have kept quiet?” she nervously asked her sister and brother.

“Yes, you should have,” Mae flatly replied.

“What is wrong with you?” Max tiredly asked.

“Clover!” Daniel called out as he quickly ran after the upset elf.

Triska sighed then turned to Mika with a dull expression, the woman holding a hand over her face and shaking her head slowly.

“I am
so
sorry about that,” Mika dearly said before looking at Triska with a frown. “I promise we do clean all our merchandise carefully before selling it.”

“Just… give me what’s on this list,” Triska tiredly replied holding out a small paper. Mika took the list and nodded with a worried smile before she rushed to collect the travelers’ needs. Triska rolled her eyes then glanced towards the doorway while feeling sympathetic for their elven friend.

Outside Daniel ran up behind Clover who was standing by the signpost, the elf holding her arms around herself while she growled and whimpered quietly.

“Clover… I’m sorry,” Daniel gently said. “We’ll put an end to the violence between our races, I promise you.”

“Yeah, right,” Clover muttered as she wiped her tears away.

“I mean it,” Daniel asserted, grabbing the elf by the shoulder and turning her to face him. “Those in there don’t understand yet, nobody else does, but they will. That’s what we’re out here to do, to put an end to the fighting between our races.”

“I’m going to kill those fucking bitches,” Clover growled with a glare towards the cottage.

“Don’t,” Daniel ordered, jerking her back to face him. “You spilling their blood will only continue the cycle of violence. It won’t solve anything.”

“They’ll be dead after having killed my sisters, that’s something it’ll solve,” Clover snapped as she swatted away his hand.

“You’re not going to attack them, Clover. I’m not letting you go back in there.”

“And just why not?”

“Because I don’t want them to hurt you,” Daniel told her, catching her by surprise as he grabbed her shoulders again and shook his head. “They’ve killed plenty, Clover. We all saw their trophies in there. They know what they’re doing in a fight against monsters, they really are professional hunters. You going back in there to avenge your sisters will only end with another head they’ll mount on their wall.”

“You saying I can’t handle myself?” Clover growled as she grabbed his hands.