Chronicles of Eden - Act III (27 page)

“Following you? We haven’t even left yet, and how did you get in front of us so quickly?”

Kroanette scoffed at them then looked away with a huff.

“I told you once before, and this is the last time you’ll hear me saying so, leave me alone!” she yelled out before darting into the field of grass again.

Specca and Squeak blinked then looked to each other with puzzlement before back at the others who were all staring at where the centaur had vanished again.

“What was that about?” Daniel asked.

“Who knows. Let’s just go before she runs into us again,” Alyssa said shaking her head.

Squeak nodded then snapped the reins with a squeak, causing Lucky to neigh then start running along the trail again. Specca watched the horse moving quickly and easily while pulling the larger caravan behind him then looked to seeing Squeak smiling at the animal while holding onto the leather straps tightly. The others sat back against the walls inside the cabin while the ride bounced a bit on the road.

“Strange girl,” Triska commented.

“By the way, what did she mean when she called herself a ‘legendary’ courier?” Daniel asked.

“You got me,” Alyssa said with a shrug. “Never heard of such a title before anywhere in the monster world.”

“How can a courier be legendary?” Triska asked skeptically.

“I don’t think they can be,” Alyssa replied flatly.

Sitting up front Specca observed as Squeak held onto the reins for Lucky, the ant girl watching as the tall fields of grass passed by on both sides of the trail. Squeak looked around then to Specca with a smile, the nixie then smiling back before looking past her with bewilderment.

“No way.”

Squeak looked at her curiously then over to some grass rustling alongside them, the plants swaying about next to the moving ride before Kroanette galloped out of them in a hurry. The centaur stumbled alongside the caravan then looked at the ant girl and nixie with annoyance while running next to them.

“Hey, I told you to quit following me!” Kroanette shouted out.

“Are you mental?” Specca shot back. “We’re not following you, we’re riding on the only trail here. You keep coming back to us.”

“Is she back again?” Triska asked with disbelief before popping her head out of the cabin, looking over to seeing the centaur running alongside the caravan.

“Leave me alone already!” Kroanette shouted out.

“You leave
us
alone!” Triska shouted out.

Kroanette growled and grabbed her whip, snapping it down at her side with a glare at the girls.

“I’m ordering you for the last time, cease your relentless pursuit of me and my treasure or else face the consequences!”

Triska glared back at the centaur before Daniel pulled her back in then leaned out of the doorway while looking to the centaur with a worried smile.

“Excuse me, but are you lost? Do you need directions or something?”

“What?” Kroanette shouted with anger. “How
dare
you imply that I’m lost! I’m the legendary courier Kroanette, I never get lost!”

“There’s no such thing as a legendary courier!” Triska shouted out from inside the caravan.

“Yes I am! I am I am I am!” Kroanette yelled out with thrashing around in her anger.

“Then where are you heading?” Specca asked.

“I’m not telling you that, you’re trying to follow me there!” Kroanette barked out at her.

“No we’re not!” Alyssa yelled out from inside the cabin. “We’re trying to get away from you, and believe us it’s a lot harder than you think!”

“Don’t give me that crap! You’re following me to get my treasure! Well I warned you, now you’ll learn that nobody robs from a centaur!” Kroanette shouted before striking her whip at them, with Squeak quickly raising her arm to block the lash. The whip struck around her arm with a snap, the ant girl squeaking loudly with a painful cringe before being tugged towards the edge of the caravan. As she was pulled over Specca and Daniel grabbed her other arm, trying to keep the ant girl from falling off the ride while the reins started to pull Lucky to the side. The horse began drifting over along the path, causing the caravan to steer to the side towards Kroanette.

“Watch it!” Daniel called out as he grabbed the reins and pulled them towards him, with Lucky then starting to run back towards the middle of the trail.

“Hey, let her go!” Specca cried out.

Squeak grabbed the seat and yanked back hard with her arm, causing Kroanette to stumble over and bang into the side of the caravan. The ant girl yanked again and again, smacking the centaur into the side of the coach repeatedly while coming very close to the moving wheel.

“Knock it off!” Kroanette yelled out before banging into the side of the caravan again.

“You knock it off!” Specca shot back while trying to help Squeak pull away from the centaur. Daniel reached over and tried to undo the whip around Squeak’s arm before Kroanette yanked on her end, causing Squeak to stumble over and nearly fall off the seat. Specca and Daniel grabbed her and tried pulling the girl back while they continued to race along the trail at a high speed.

“Watch out!” Triska yelled out from the cabin’s doorway.

Everyone looked ahead to seeing a sharp left turn coming up before a drop-off, with Daniel gasping then grabbing and snapping the reins.

“Whoa, Lucky, stop!” he called out.

The horse quickly started to slow down and skid to a halt on the trail, with Kroanette then running past and yanking Squeak out of the front seat into the air. The ant girl tumbled to the ground causing the centaur to stumble off-balance and then fall into a roll as well, with everyone watching as the two tumbled across the worn trail before flying off the drop-off and down out of sight.

“Squeak!” Daniel called out.

Two splashes were heard up ahead, with the group then quickly jumping off the caravan and racing over to the end of the trail. Ahead of them they saw a large river running across, with a wooden bridge over it further to their left and a swampy bog to the right where it met with the tall fields of grass. And down on the shore of the river Squeak and Kroanette were seen, with the ant girl slowly getting up while dripping wet and the centaur once again stuck face first into the water with her rear end and hind legs kicking about in the air. Squeak took off the whip from her arm and tossed it aside with a small splash before looking to the centaur with a mixture of disbelief and annoyance.

“Should we just let her drown and be done with it?” Alyssa asked flatly.

*****

The tall fields of grass swayed about in the breeze while Lucky started to eat some of the plants with a gentle grunt, the horse taking the time for a snack while waiting for the group to settle their little problem. Atop the steep hill next to the river Daniel and his friends were looking at a very stubborn centaur who was shaking her hair to get the mud and grass out of it. She was soaking wet from the waist up after having landed in the river a moment ago, while standing next to her Squeak was watching the centaur with a stern expression as she was dripping wet from head to toe.

“Alright, let’s get something clear here,” Triska stated while crossing her arms. “We are
not
following you. We are
not
after your treasure. We are
not
in the mood to be dealing with this all day. Do you hear us?”

Kroanette spit out some water with annoyance then looked to her with a glare.

“Okay, if that’s true, then how come I keep running into you?” she shot back before trying to wipe the mud off of her chest, with Daniel trying not to stare at the rather large bust size of the girl while she did so.

“Because you’re lost and have no idea where you’re going,” Alyssa answered with a dull stare at the centaur.

“I am not lost!” Kroanette shouted at her. “I never get lost! I know exactly where I am and where I’m going!”

“Really?” Specca questioned. “You were screaming how lost and confused you were earlier before running into us, not to mention you were going in circles over and over again back there in the fields.”

“I just got turned around for a moment, that’s all,” Kroanette snapped. “I know where I’m going. The legendary courier Kroanette does not get lost!”

Squeak shook her head and pointed to the centaur with a stern expression, squeaking at the monster girl while wiping some dirt and grass from her hair. Kroanette just stared at her for a moment then tilted her head a bit.

“Come again?”

Squeak stomped her foot and pointed at the centaur with a few stern squeaks before Daniel walked over and lowered her arm, the ant girl looking to him worriedly as he watched Kroanette with a slight smile.

“Look, we’re traveling towards the village of Eston, is that where you’re heading?” Kroanette slowly shook her head while watching him carefully. Daniel nodded then gestured around them at the surrounding landscape. “Then you know we’re not following you. Tell you what, you know where you’re going, right?”

“Of course I do,” Kroanette snapped while crossing her arms, her breasts bouncing a bit over them as Daniel tried to keep his eyes on her face.

“Alright,” he reasoned. “Then how about we leave first, towards our destination, then you can leave for yours when we’re not around. That way you’ll know we’re not following you.”

“Fine, that works for me. Off you go then,” Kroanette scoffed while looking away.

Daniel nodded then looked to Squeak, the girl wiping some dirt and mud from her hips while ruffling her hair with another hand, her tunic hugging her figure and outlining her own bust and waist. Triska, Specca, and Alyssa watched Kroanette with dull stares then glanced to seeing Daniel just watching Squeak with a curious eye, the ant girl looking down and around at herself while not noticing the boy was focused on her. She bent over and picked out a few long strands of grass and leaves from her boot, in doing so her breasts hung down and bounced a bit in her tunic before the boy. Daniel blinked then quickly shook his head and looked away while using a hand to wipe his forehead, mostly to hide his view of the ant girl before him. The other girls glanced to Squeak as she turned and bent over to wipe off some water flowers from her boot, her figure displayed perfectly from the side as Daniel looked away with an uneasy expression.

“Um, Squeak? Are you okay?” Daniel asked while glancing back to her. The ant girl nodded and squeaked something before looking back behind her and gently wiping some water off of her insect abdomen, her breasts bouncing a bit in doing so which Daniel took notice of. The other girls glanced to him worriedly then to Squeak as they realized she was being eyed over by the boy.

“Well, are you going or not?” Kroanette snapped. The group looked to her as she was glancing to Daniel with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, we’re going,” Daniel replied. “Good luck with your delivery.”

He started walking towards the caravan, only getting a scoff from the centaur in response as she looked away again. Squeak hopped after him for a few steps while swatting off some wet grass from her boot then tripped and fell to the ground with a squeak. Daniel looked back to seeing the girl stumbling up onto her feet with a weak smile and a shrug, squeaking once before she looked down timidly. Daniel shook his head with an amused smile and started back towards the caravan with Squeak following after, his eyes glancing back to her curiously as he found himself noticing the way her hips gently swayed with each step she took. As they walked towards the caravan the other girls were watching Squeak carefully.

“Did you see that?” Triska said worriedly. “Daniel was checking her out.”

“It looked like he was trying not to ogle her like that though,” Specca said defensively.

“Well he was, you saw him staring at her breasts,” Alyssa said with a frown.

“I don’t like this,” Triska mentioned nervously. “Her turn with him is tonight, and between her enticing saliva and her large boobs I’m not sure what Daniel may think about her if they… get too close.”

“Daniel is a human male after all,” Specca reasoned. “Surely he’s going to
notice
all of our features, it can’t be helped.”

Alyssa shook her head then glanced to Kroanette, the centaur looking up with an impatient huff while tapping her hoof a few times on the ground.

‘At least we don’t have to compete with breasts like hers. Still, I wonder if Daniel noticed her for how she is too.’

“C’mon, I don’t want to leave those two alone right now,” Triska said before running after Daniel and Squeak. Alyssa quickly followed after while Specca looked down at her own figure, wondering how she stood in comparison to the other girls. She then glanced to Kroanette as the centaur was impatiently waiting for the group to leave.

“If I may ask one question before we leave,” Specca mentioned, with Kroanette looking to her with a dull expression. “Earlier our friend tried to get you to stop attacking us with her magic, yet she was unable to do so. How was it you were able to defend against her power like that?”

Kroanette smirked and put her hands at her hips with a proud stance.

“Oh? I wasn’t aware she even tried. You see I’m immune to any and all magical spells being cast at me.”

“Immune? How?” Specca asked as the others were climbing onboard the caravan.

Kroanette chuckled and crossed her arms, her large breasts bouncing up above them as the centaur tapped her fingers on the gold bracelets on her arms.

“Enchanted refraction bracelets of course,” she explained. “With these I’m protected from any magical spells and curses thrown at me, a wonderful gift from my mother back home.”

Specca looked at the bracelets with wonder as they gave off a slight shimmer in the sunlight. Kroanette laughed and looked to them as she held her arms out.

“Enchanted refraction bracelets?” Specca asked. “I never heard of such things before.”

“I doubt you would have,” Kroanette boasted. “They were created for me and me only, perks of being the daughter of the centaur empress of the region.”

Specca blinked then looked at her with surprise.

“Wait, what was that? Daughter of… the centaur
empress
?”