Chronicles of Eden - Act IV (21 page)

“Enough!” Daniel interrupted. “Fighting isn’t going to help any of us, so just drop it, alright?”

Alyssa grunted and looked around quickly, not having any luck seeing anyone or anything but total darkness.

“Look,” she reasoned quickly. “We need to find Lucky and Luna then hopefully something in this place we can use to escape with. That’s all that matters right now.”

“Yeah, you’re not done hearing the end of this, just so you know,” Triska mentioned dryly.

“Luna! Are you here? Luna!” Falla desperately called out again.

Squeak led them down a pathway then came out into another darkened street, looking around quickly as she wasn’t sure where to go. She saw houses and small buildings lining the street in both directions with the intersection further away leading back towards where the fight was taking place. The crimson glow of the fires lit up the intersection, showing the buildings on the corners with the warm light while smoke was seen drifting high up into the sky nearby.

“Where do we go?” Daniel asked. “She could be anywhere, if she’s even still here.”

“Lucky! Here boy!” Alyssa called out.

“Luna!” Falla shouted out. “It’s me, Falla! Where are you?”

“They could be anywhere, how do we find them?” Specca asked worriedly.

From the illuminated intersection nearby Kroanette ran over then scampered around in middle of the street in a panic.

“WAAAH! Where the hell is the way out of this place?”

“Kroanette? What are you doing?” Daniel called out.

Kroanette stopped and looked towards the sound of his voice, seeing the group running up towards her out of the darkened street.

“Daniel? What’s going on here?” she asked as she trotted over towards them.

“What’s going on here is all manner of hell is breaking loose right in front of us, that’s what,” Triska said looking back down the street towards the battle, the group seeing the darkened silhouettes of the fighters in the street as the village was burning brightly near them. There were a few flashes of bright light and large silhouettes resembling Tora’s snake monsters moving about as well, showing that magic was being used in the battle. Triska shook her head then looked back to Kroanette with confusion.

“But what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be traveling to Rystone to get rid of that artifact?”

“Wait,” Kroanette said looking around with puzzlement. “I thought this
was
Rystone. Where is this?”

“This is Eston, the human village south of Rystone,” Specca informed, then showed a puzzled expression. “Wait a minute, did you just now arrive here?”

Kroanette looked to her and nodded, with the group just staring at her with disbelief.

“Wait, you just
now
got here?” Daniel asked. “But how? You should have had plenty of time to get here then travel to Rystone and back again in the time it took us to backtrack looking for Luna.”

There was a long pause as Kroanette looked around curiously for a while before she turned back to them.

“Hold on, it took me forever to reach this place. How did you catch up so quickly?”

“What are you talking about?” Alyssa yelled out at her. “It was a straight shot here!”

There was another long pause as Kroanette looked around with confusion before back to them again.

“Are you sure?”

“You are the worst courier ever, the absolute
worst
courier ever!” Alyssa shouted out.

Kroanette twitched a bit then grabbed her whip and snapped it hard at her side.

“How dare you mock me, I am the legendary-”

“Just get out of here, Kroanette,” Triska quickly interrupted. “That succubus over there is looking for your artifact.”

Kroanette jumped then looked back to the battle as a figure was seen flying up into the air with demonic looking wings, easily assumed to be the Darker One in question.

“What? She is?” Kroanette asked nervously.

“Yeah, and not just her,” Daniel mentioned. “That human back there with the magical sword is after that thing too, him and those monster girls that are traveling with him. They’re all after that artifact. They’re going to be coming for you soon to get it.”

Kroanette gulped and rested a hand back on her traveling bag while Falla kept looking around quickly for any sign of Luna.

“Oh crap, oh crap oh crap!” Kroanette cried out. “I need to get out of here!”

“What do you think we’ve been screaming at you to do this whole time?” Alyssa yelled at her. “Get rid of that thing as fast as you can!”

Kroanette scampered around in circles then looked to the others with desperation.

“WAAAH! Which way?”

“It’s to the north, to the
north
!” Specca shouted out with exasperation.

“I don’t know which way north is!” Kroanette snapped while shaking her head.

“Worst! Courier! Ever!” Alyssa shouted out with frustration.

“I am not! I am not, I am not, I am not!” Kroanette shot back at her.

“Who cares if she is or not, we have to find my sister!” Falla shouted at them.

“Just tell me how to get to Rystone, quick!” Kroanette desperately cried out.

“Why do you want to go there now?” a girl’s voice asked from nearby.

The group looked over to see Charlotte walking towards them with Apoch and Astreal following after, the twins walking in prefect sync with each other while Charlotte held a finger to her chin with an amused smile.

“I came all this way to meet you here after all,” Charlotte finished with a giggle.

“Um, who are you?” Kroanette asked carefully.

“Witches,” Specca said softly.

“Charlotte,” Alyssa squeaked out with fear.

The group looked to her then to Charlotte as the witch turned her gaze towards Alyssa with a bitter smile.

“Alyssa the Wildfire Witch,” she scorned with a stern tone. “I didn’t expect to find you crawling around here again.”

“That’s the Wildfire Witch?” Apoch and Astreal questioned together while gripping their staves with both hands.

“Alyssa? Do you know her?” Daniel asked carefully.

Alyssa slowly nodded as she got down on one knee and bowed to Charlotte, watching her constantly with frightful eyes.

“She’s the alpha witch of this region,” she said nervously.

The group looked to Charlotte with surprise as the witch set her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow at Alyssa.

“The infamous Wildfire Witch, once again burning down villages without a care,” Charlotte mused while glancing to the burning buildings down the street. Alyssa opened her mouth to speak before the alpha waved her hand down, causing Alyssa to be thrown forward onto the dirt face first before the witch with a whine.

“Alyssa!” Triska exclaimed as Charlotte waved her hand to the side, causing Alyssa to roll over onto her back before Apoch and Astreal quickly held their staves down towards her, the crescents on the ends going around Alyssa’s neck as the frightened witch stared up at them with a nervous whimper.

“Shall we execute her?” Apoch and Astreal asked together while glaring down at the witch.

“Wait, please don’t hurt her!” Daniel pleaded as he stepped forth.

Charlotte looked to him as her eyes gave off a warm glow, the boy halting in place as the witch held a hand out towards him.

“How dare you tell me what to do,” Charlotte hissed. “A simple human ordering
me
around, the gall you have.”

She waved her hand down, causing Daniel to drop to his knees while he couldn’t move his body at all.

“Daniel!” Specca cried out as the boy struggled to budge his arms while he stared at the alpha witch with wide eyes. Charlotte slowly walked towards him, the girl’s movements seeming hypnotic as she suddenly struck him as the most attractive and alluring girl he had ever seen. Thoughts about kissing and rolling around in a bed naked with her flooded his mind, the girl’s eyes seeming to pierce right into his heart as she showed a coy smile at him. He then shut his eyes and shook his head, trying to repel the images of the witch that were boring into his mind. Charlotte smiled amusedly as she approached him, watching as he struggled to keep his eyes closed.

“Oh my,” she playfully mused. “Are you trying to resist me? How cute.”

“No, don’t charm him, please!” Alyssa cried out.

She looked to seeing Squeak and Triska narrowing their eyes at Charlotte, the alpha glancing to them with an amused grin as they both gripped their weapons tightly.

“No!” Alyssa pleaded loudly. “Don’t attack her, don’t do it! You’ll die!”

Triska and Squeak glanced to her then back to Charlotte as the alpha slowly turned to look down at the Wildfire Witch.

“Alyssa, are these
friends
of yours?” she asked curiously.

Alyssa whimpered and looked at her with fearful eyes as the alpha walked over to her.

“Please, I’m begging you, don’t hurt them,” Alyssa desperately pleaded.

Charlotte looked at her for a moment then over to Kroanette.

“Before I deal with them, I believe you have something for me.”

Kroanette glanced to Daniel with a sympathetic look then to Charlotte as she nodded and reached back into her bag.

“You are the witch I was supposed to deliver this to in Rystone, correct? Well, here you are, as promised,” she said holding out the artifact towards the witch. Charlotte looked at it with a curious eye then took hold of it, tilting the relic around while examining it carefully as a slight smile came across her face.

“Interesting, so this is a fragment of the fabled Key to Eden.”

“Key to Eden?” Specca questioned softly.

Charlotte eyed the artifact closely then glanced to Kroanette with a raised eyebrow as she tossed the relic over to Apoch, the raven haired witch catching it while still holding her staff down to Alyssa.

“I was supposed to have received this yesterday, what took you so long?” Charlotte questioned sharply.

Kroanette gulped and glanced to Daniel’s group.

“Well… I’m truly sorry about that,” she nervously stammered. “First I ran into them, then I got turned around somehow, and now there’s this succubus who’s after that thing, and I didn’t know about that but apparently she is, and… and…”

“Are you making excuses?” Charlotte asked.

Kroanette looked to her with a jump and a nervous smile while shaking her head.

“No, not at all, I… I’m sorry, really.”

Charlotte stared at her for a moment then shrugged with a calm smile on her face.

“I was told centaurs never miss a delivery date, this is most unfortunate indeed,” she mentioned expectedly.

“I do apologize for that, I really do,” Kroanette apologized with a humble bow. “I tried with everything I had to get here on time, please forgive me.”

Charlotte sighed then snapped her fingers, with Astreal then pulling out a small scroll from her shirt. The paper gently flew over in front of Charlotte before the alpha waved her hand around before it, her movements creating words on the parchment as if she were holding a pen in her hand.

“Oh well,” she said carelessly. “I got what I wanted, so no matter. Here is my receipt for the delivery, take it and go. Your human shall be waiting for you as promised.”

The scroll rolled up and floated over to Kroanette, the centaur then taking hold of it and smiling graciously at the witch.

“Thank you, thank you so much,” she said humbly.

Charlotte waved her off then looked to Triska and Squeak with a curious smile.

“Now then, as for you two…”

“Let Daniel go right now,” Triska demanded through bared teeth.

Charlotte scoffed then waved her hand to the side, with Triska then gasping as her arms moved on their own and angled her sword up at her neck. Squeak let out a loud squeak as her body moved on its own, her hands striking her pickaxe down into the dirt before her legs kneeled down near it. The ant girl squeaked as her head jerked down towards the digging tool, the tip being pointed right towards her face as she struggled to push herself back against her own will.

“What are you doing?” Falla asked shaking her head.

“I’m not doing this, I can’t move my body!” Triska exclaimed as her sword was being held by her own hands up at her neck. Squeak shook her head as her body tried to lean down forcibly to impale her own skull on the digging tool.

“No!” Alyssa cried out. “Please, don’t hurt them! I’m begging you!”

Specca shook her head and stepped forth while holding her hands out at her sides.

“Please, you misunderstand, we’re not-” she started before she seemed to choke on something, her words no longer coming out as she dropped to her knees while grabbing her throat. Alyssa watched fearfully as Specca tried to breathe while Charlotte just looked at the nixie with a dull stare.

“I misunderstand nothing,” Charlotte stated while walking towards Specca. “I know what goes on in my land, nothing escapes my eye.” Kroanette slowly backed up along with Falla as the alpha held a hand out to Specca’s cheek and smiled curiously at her.

“It is you that doesn’t understand. Here in this land my word is law, my word is truth, and my say is final. Nobody,
nobody
, tells me what to do or think, do you hear me?”

Specca choked and shakily nodded before Charlotte held a hand over her throat, the nixie’s arms dropping to her sides as her eyes started to roll back into her head.

“The next one of you to speak before being spoken to will die, understand?” Charlotte questioned.

Specca shakily nodded again before Charlotte waved her back, throwing the nixie down to the ground gasping for air. Charlotte breathed out slowly then looked to Triska and Squeak, the two glancing to her nervously as their bodies were under the witch’s control.

“Now then, what to do with all of you,” she mused softly to herself.

“My grace,” Daniel said softly, with all eyes turning to him as he looked to Charlotte with a calm expression. Charlotte slowly walked over to him while tilting her head with a playful smile.

“What did you just call me?”

“That is the proper greeting for an alpha witch, is it not?”

“It is, but how is it that you know that?” Charlotte asked while brushing the boy’s hair casually.