Chronicles of Eden - Act VIII (32 page)

“You knew about that monster as well, didn’t you?” Tabitha accused. “You’ve got to be kidding me. That doomsday story I was told is correct? Those key things unlock the grand Darker One of Eden? Is that why Charlotte wants those things, so she can unleash it?”

“No,” the twins replied shaking their heads. “She has no interest in doing such a thing, we assure you. In fact she herself is unaware of the Darker One’s existence.”

“How do you talk at the same time like that?” Scay asked crossing her eyes in confusion.

“But you two know about it,” Tabitha rebuked. “You know about that monster, you know what those fragments are used for. I don’t like this, none of it sits well with me. Were you two playing with me, is that it? Am I even working for Charlotte with this, or am I working for you two?”

“Silence!” the witches ordered. Tabitha and Scay watched them carefully as the sisters breathed out in annoyance while Astreal dissolved her swords behind them.

“Ms. Charlotte wants Mr. Daemon, nothing more,” Astreal bitterly explained. “The only reason she wants those artifacts is to present them to him as a gift, a token of affection.”

“Mr. Daemon seeks to keep the grand Darker One locked in her cage,” Apoch spoke in discontent. “He wishes to prevent her release. We know about that monster, and we know that it poses no threat to anyone as long as it’s sealed away.”

“Why wasn’t I told about any of this?” Tabitha demanded.

“Because you didn’t need to know,” Astreal snapped. “Your job was simple, you were supposed to tag along with Mr. Daemon and swipe those artifacts from his reach. They were supposed to be given to our alpha so
she
could give them to him personally. That was all there was to it.”

“But you couldn’t even do that, could you?” Apoch scoffed. “What are you doing sitting around here while he’s moving even further away as we speak? You’re supposed to be doing your job right now, and you can’t do that from here.”

Tabitha growled then lowered her stance as she turned her head away with a frustrated grunt.

“They left us behind.”

“They’re too fast,” Scay regrettably admitted. “Tabitha couldn’t keep running like they could, so they told us to leave them alone.”

“They’re not normal!” Tabitha barked out at her. “I ran as far and as fast as I could, but they just keep going! I get that he’s not human, but those other girls with him aren’t ordinary either, none of them get tired at all!”

“What are we paying you for?” Astreal condemned. “Get going and collect those fragments or else you will receive no gold.”

“How can I do that when they don’t want me around them?” Tabitha demanded. “They refuse to travel by any means other than foot, and I can’t run day and night like they can. How can I do this job when the ones I’m supposed to be following aren’t normal? Hell, the guy isn’t even
human
.”

“Aren’t you an expert mercenary?” Apoch scoffed. “Think of a way, idiot.”

“I can’t keep up with them, what am I supposed to do? And even if I could they don’t want me around, they don’t trust me, especially knowing that I’ve been employed by witches.”

“Then earn their trust,” Astreal snapped. “Figure out how to make this happen. We will not accept failure with this.”

“We’ll double your gold if that gets you thinking more clearly,” Apoch offered, with Tabitha’s eyes widening to that. “Two sacks of gold per key fragment. How does that sound?”

“Two?” Tabitha breathed out with eyes of wonder. “Of course that sounds amazing, but… what can I do to stay with them? I can’t keep running with them, my legs can’t do it. And they won’t trust me, they wouldn’t even let me touch the fragment they currently have. That reptile girl won’t let me lay a finger on it unless I’m looking to lose my hand.”

“Three then,” Astreal reasoned crossing her arms. Tabitha dropped to her knees with an open mouth as the witches watched her inquisitively. “Three sacks for each fragment. Still don’t think you can make this happen?”

“I… uh…
three
?” Tabitha squeaked out.

“Well? Do we have a deal or not?” the twins asked tapping their feet expectedly.

Tabitha dropped back onto her rear and stared at the witches in speechless marvel. Scay slowly slithered over to her side and watched as the neko was starting to drool a bit in her stunned state.

“Tabitha? How much gold are they going to give us?”

“Enough to buy a whole village full of men,” Tabitha answered in disbelief. Scay jumped with a yelp and turned to the witches with wide eyes as the twins nodded with bored expressions.

“If you’re going to help her then know that you will be rewarded most generously,” Astreal mentioned.

“So, do we have a deal?” Apoch asked again.

Tabitha slowly stood up while sheathing her blades behind her, eyes staring into the distance as she appeared to become lost in thought about the rich reward awaiting her. After a while of silence she nodded at the witches with a cautious look.

“I’ll accept your offer, but first clarify something for me. This Darker One that lies in the City of Eden, it’s not going to be coming out of its prison, is it?”

“No,” Astreal promised her. “You will give us the artifacts that Mr. Daemon finds, we will give them to Ms. Charlotte, who will then offer them to him as a gift from herself. He will have all the fragments in his possession to guard as he sees fit, our alpha will have gained his favor with her token of affection, the Darker One will remain locked in her prison, and you will be filthy rich. Everyone will win.”

“This is all about our alpha getting the swordsman she desires, nothing more,” Apoch reasoned with a wave of the hand.

“And how is it that this man is a monster?” Tabitha asked. “There are no male monsters in Eden, at least… there weren’t any that I ever heard of until I saw him. What exactly is he? Where did he come from?”

“We don’t have all night to explain everything to you,” Astreal cryptically answered. “There is much in this world that would astound you, I’m sure. But now is not the time for that.”

“You two could have at least warned me about what he was beforehand,” Tabitha scoffed. “Do you have any idea how much of a shock it was seeing and hearing everything that I have?”

“You appear to be fine, Ms. Tabitha,” Astreal remarked with a smirk. “We didn’t believe you would be scared away from your gold so easily should you have found out on your own.”

“You had better get going,” Apoch mentioned waving them off. “He is only moving further and further away while you stand there with that silly look on your face.”

“And just how am I supposed to catch up to him?” Tabitha groaned. “There’s still the problem that he’s too fast for us.”

“He’s not too fast for me,” Scay pointed out. “He’s just too fast for you.”

“Please be quiet, Scay,” Tabitha dryly requested. She sighed and rubbed her hand down her face before glancing to the witches with a lifted eyebrow. “Is there any way you two could help out with this problem? I would love to finish this job, especially with the payment you’re promising, but the issue still stands with me not being able to keep up with him. He never tires and they only rest for a few measly hours each day.”

“With the gold we’re offering you should be able to think of something,” Astreal mused. “We don’t care how, just find a way to make this happen.”

“However we can give you a little help this one time,” Apoch sighed. “We shall take you ahead to meet up with them, after that you had better stay with them by any means necessary.”

“Fine,” Tabitha said while scratching her head. “I’ll think of something to keep us with them, somehow. I won’t let that gold slip away from me again.”

“Yay!” Scay cheered with a hop. “We’re going to get paid again! Happy!”

The twins watched the naga bouncing about in question then turned to Tabitha, the neko merely shrugging as she glanced over to her special friend with a blank expression on her face.

“She’s odd, but she could come in handy with this.”

“If you think so,” Astreal replied skeptically.

“Please do assist him with his search,” Apoch requested as the twins spun their staves around next to them. “The sooner he finds those fragments the sooner we can all get what we want.”

“And what is it you two want?” Tabitha questioned as the staves trailed sparkly colors.

“To please our alpha,” the twins replied before clanking their staves overhead, a bright flash then engulfing the four girls with a dust cloud blowing away. As the light faded to reveal they had vanished silence filled the area as not a living creature was stirring anywhere among the arid wilderness.

Up in the sky however there was movement, as a winged figure’s silhouette briefly passed by under the moonlight while traveling east with a dark aura trailing behind it.

*****

Hollia’s eyes began watering as she shakily breathed in and out, the centaur standing in what was once a peaceful and joyful street within her homeland. There used to be smooth dirt roads, green grass and beautiful flowers lined along the sides, and the buildings that served as homes and shops for the centaurs were crafted with beautifully sculptured stone walls and pillars with finely cut timber to frame the lovely dwellings.

Now the road was torn up with centaur and monster corpses scattered about, the flowers being smothered with blood and decaying flesh, the buildings having been toppled and broken down into smoldering ruins, and the air holding a foul aroma of blood and ash from the recent battle. The moonlight above revealed more than the princess wanted to see, although inside she already knew what to expect upon returning to her fallen home.

“Holy shit,” Rulo commented from behind her. “You weren’t kidding. This place was a slaughter.”

“This sickens me,” Sasha raged as she stood to the side of the road, her eyes beholding the sight of a centaur slumped against the wall of a building with a large gash cut down her middle. And in her arms were two young centaur children, both lying dead with their mother with dried blood covering their pelts.

“Even children? Even
children
? How low could they possibly be to slay children?”

“They tried to fight back,” Forrus speculated as she saw centaurs holding spears and swords in hand while lying about. “Seems they weren’t ready for such a battle. Aren’t your people better trained to handle invaders such as this?”

“We’re not warriors!” Hollia yelled out at her in frustration. “We’re neutral! All monsters know this in Eden. We only work as couriers in the world, we don’t go to war with anyone!”

“Well war came to you,” Rulo retorted. “And it kicked your ass.”

“How many were there?” Sasha questioned.

“They never stopped coming,” Hollia answered, with the three girls looking to her curiously. “They flooded our land with never-ending waves. At first our guards held them at bay, but then were quickly overwhelmed. They stormed through the entire kingdom and into the palace in no time.”

Sasha eyed her for a moment then turned her sights over to Daemon, the swordsman standing further down the street and watching something to the side of the road in silence. The girls saw him remaining still and calm while the moonlight shined down around him, with Hollia then taking a few steps towards him before turning to the others in awe.

“I still can’t believe he was able to run like he did all the way here,” she whispered to them. “I’ve never heard of a human running as fast as a centaur, let alone could believe seeing it. And all of you as well, you managed to move just as quickly even while carrying your heavy armaments. Where in Eden did you learn to do that?”

“We learned by following him,” Sasha answered as she kept her eyes on Daemon.

“Being around him changed us for the better,” Rulo admired.

“And he’s no human,” Forrus corrected the centaur.

“What do you mean?” Hollia asked. “His speed, his strength, his magic, what manner of knight is he?”

She watched the other girls remaining silent while keeping their eyes on her, a cloud moving overhead and casting the area into a dark shadow while the piercing stares of the three monsters shimmered slightly in what little light there was left. Hollia felt a strange chill run down her spine then turned to see Daemon still standing near the side of the road while looking off to the side at something. As the cloud passed by and the area brightened again Hollia felt her fur standing on end as the swordsman had a cold aura to him that was becoming intimidating.

“What is he?”

“My master,” Rulo snorted as she walked by towards Daemon.

“My lord,” Forrus added as she followed after.

Sasha took a few steps past the centaur then glanced back to her with a sharp eye.

“
Mine
,” she hissed before making her way towards the others with a waving tail.

Hollia eyed the girls curiously then Daemon as she slowly trotted over to them. Upon arriving next to them she looked over to the side of the road at what everyone was staring at before a startled gasp escaped her throat.

“Oh my god,” Hollia breathed out in horror, her hands covering her mouth as her eyes widened.

“That’s just fucked up,” Rulo said shaking her head.

“Barbaric,” Sasha cursed.

“Those demons are spreading hell wherever they go,” Forrus growled.

Everyone was looking into the side of a building that had been ripped apart in the front, the large hall having rubble and burned debris littered about within its destroyed interior. And hanging above the ground from the rafters were three centaurs, all having been skinned and strung up by their rear legs as they had bled every drop of blood they had onto the floor below them.

“I can’t… I can’t take this,” Hollia whimpered. “This is too much to bear.”

“I know,” a voice hissed from above. “Such a waste of good food.”

Looking up they saw a shadowy figure moving on the roof of the building, its long spidery legs quietly skittering along near the edge as the monster snickered to itself.

“Who goes there? You’re one of them, aren’t you?” Hollia raged with clenched fists. “You’re one of those damned monsters that did this to my people!”

“I never laid a hand on them,” the voice chuckled before the figure leapt down onto the roof of a smaller building next to them. Her eight long spidery legs lightly touched down on the wooden shingles below her, the monster’s dark colored legs and lower body blending in well to the darkness. While she had the upper body of a human her lower one was that of a spider’s with its large abdomen having dark blue markings dotting it while the end had a few tiny spikes that were closed together. Lined around her waist where the flesh met with her insect body were sleek black carapace plates, the coverings also adorning her upper body as they wrapped around her sides and covered her breasts. Her long silver hair was draped over her shoulders while her head had two red eyes that were watching the group along with six more set in her forehead. And her hands which she held up defensively had long fingernails which were sharpened with small gleams in the moonlight.