Chronicles of Eden - Act IV (37 page)

“I’m waiting,” she said expectantly.

Daniel nodded slowly as he kept his eyes on the alpha, knowing that whatever he said now would either bring about the end of his journey and his life or possibly allow him to see another day with the girls. After taking a quiet breath he slowly kneeled down on one knee to face the witch, watching as she kept her eyes on him with hardly any interest.

“I realize that you have no reason to think that humans and monsters can live together peacefully,” he admitted. “Let alone humans with witches. Man has killed many witches in the past just as your kind has killed ours. The idea of us living together isn’t something that would have crossed any witch’s mind, let alone yours.” He made sure to speak up to reach those that were listening nearby, while Charlotte merely watched him without moving or saying a word. Noticing that none of the witches were showing any reaction Daniel then continued.

“You are an alpha witch, one of the strongest witches of your kind, and a leader over those in your region, such as them. You want what is best for your people, to lead them, to guide them, to protect them. They respect and look up to you because they know you will do what is right for them, as a fair and just ruler, am I correct?” The alpha witch merely gave a single nod while remaining silent, with Daniel then smiling a little as he saw the witch was at least listening to his words.

“Nobody, not even a Darker One can tell you what to do, my grace, for we both know that your title of being an alpha isn’t misplaced. I saw you ward off a succubus like it was nothing, I’ve felt the raw magical power you possess and seen what you can do with it merely to toy and provoke those around you. I have no delusions in believing anything other than you can handle yourself just fine in this world.” That also got no reaction out of Charlotte, to which Daniel breathed out quietly then slowly gestured around to the witches surrounding them.

“But what about them?”

Charlotte merely glanced around to the witches briefly before looking back to him with a raised eyebrow, with Daniel then shaking his head slowly with a worried smile.

“How many witches live in this village under your watch?”

“68,” Charlotte replied without a care.

“And how many are in this region that recognize you as their alpha?”

“289.”

Daniel nodded then showed a troubled frown.

“How many of them can you protect on your own, on this very night?”

Charlotte just watched him silence, with Daniel then shaking his head a little.

“Those that are before you are safe from harm, after all you are certainly not to be angered let alone challenged in terms of power here in your own village. But those that are further away, those that may be under your watch with magic are still too far to be helped by you personally, who can they turn to in their hour of need?”

“If you have a point you’re building up to, please hurry and get to it now,” Charlotte scoffed while crossing her arms.

Daniel stood up and looked around at all the witches as they were watching the boy with bored or dull stares.

“My point is that witches don’t have anyone to turn to but their alphas in their time of need.”

He started walking towards the crowd, with all eyes following him as he walked up to the witches then started pacing to the side along the edge of the gathering of little monsters.

“Here in Rystone they’re safe,” he reasoned. “After all they have an alpha watching them. But what about when they leave this village, or even still, what about those who are further away from here as we speak? Witches out in the region, all on their own, and not exactly treated kindly by both humans and monsters they come across. What are they to do when they run into trouble and have nowhere to seek help?”

“What makes you think we need anyone’s help?” a witch near him snapped with discontent.

Daniel stopped and glanced to her as the girl stepped forth and tapped her staff on the ground a few times, with strange blue streaks of light twirling up from the impact briefly.

“Do you think we’re helpless or something?” she scoffed. “Ha! I wouldn’t run from anything out in The Outerlands, I would show them what happens when they mess with a witch should they even look at me funny!”

The witches around cheered out in agreement before Daniel nodded and knelt down in front of the girl with a calm smile on his face.

“I take it you’re skilled in your art of magic, aren’t you?”

“Of course I am,” the witch boasted arrogantly.

“A human such as myself would pose no problem to you at all, would he?” Daniel mused with a smirk.

“I don’t know, a human like you likely couldn’t give me very strong children, and that is a problem,” the witch quipped, getting a round of laughter from the crowd while Kroanette just continued to watch Daniel with worried eyes. The boy chuckled and nodded a bit as he looked down and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Yeah, I know, I’m not very intimidating am I?”

“Hardly,” the witch mocked. “I mean you have no muscle, no weapons, nothing at all. What reason would anyone have to fear you?”

Daniel nodded slowly then glanced to seeing the witch having a bright green gemstone adorning a silver necklace over her neck, the trinket being the only piece of jewelry she had on.

“You want to know what reason you would have to fear me?” Daniel asked plainly.

The witch giggled and leaned closer to him with a smug grin.

“What?” she sneered while tilting her head.

Daniel then swiped the girl’s necklace from her neck, the witch gasping and holding a hand to her chest as Daniel stood up and held the relic up in the air.

“What if I do this?” Daniel asked casually.

“You… give that back!” the witch yelled out with anger.

“Make me.”

The witch fumed with rage then swung her staff at him, the boy catching it with one hand and holding it there while watching the girl amusedly.

“What’s wrong?” he mused playfully. “You were so confident a moment ago, what happened?”

“You jerk, give that back! That’s mine!” the girl yelled out.

Daniel shook his head then knelt down to face the witch, the girl watching him with frustration while the witches nearby were glaring at the boy.

“You see?” he asked gently. The witch looked at him curiously as he slowly held the necklace out to her. “What happens if you lose your focuser? Or if somebody takes it? Or even worse, what if your magical reserves are low, too low to cast a spell?”

The witch looked to the necklace then slowly rested a hand on it, with Daniel letting go of her staff before he took the necklace and reattached it around the girl’s neck for her.

“If you lose that, you’re just another little girl in Eden,” he gently reminded her. “Powerless, defenseless, and alone.”

The witch looked down to her gemstone then to him with wonder.

“How did you…”

“If you’re referring to how I knew that was your focuser, it wasn’t hard to guess, it was the only obvious piece of jewelry you had on that could have come from Witch’s Mountain,” Daniel pointed out in jest. He then stood up and smiled gently down at the witch. “If you’re talking about how I knew that was your weak point, everyone in Eden knows that. Humans or monsters, very few don’t know that if you take a witch’s focuser from them they can’t cast magic then.”

The witch looked at her necklace curiously then back to him as he turned and started walking over toward Charlotte again.

“Every witch, even an alpha, needs a focuser to use magic,” he announced to the crowd. “Every witch, even an alpha, has a finite amount of magic they can use without having to rest. And every witch, even an alpha, is considered to be untrustworthy, sneaky, dangerous, lustful, and nothing but a monster in this world.” He then turned to Charlotte who was still watching him with no amusement.

“Every witch, my grace, has nobody to help them when they are hurt, lost, stranded, or in danger. Every witch, in Eden, is alone.”

“What are you getting at?” she inquired.

“You don’t have to be alone,” he implored. “No witch in Eden has to be treated like a nameless monster, to be hunted down and killed in the wild, to be known for being the troublemakers of the world. My grace, we don’t have to be enemies with each other, and there is much we could gain from living together in peace.”

“What in the world is this human talking about?” a witch called out.

“Yeah, who is he, my grace?” another asked with confusion.

Charlotte slowly walked around Daniel while watching him with a cold stare, the boy remaining still as he watched her circling around him.

“This human isn’t like the others in this world, I can assure you of that,” she called out with a bite. “He’s far stupider, weaker, and generally crazier than your average human. For you see, this human here, who goes by the name of
Daniel
, thinks witches and humans can live together in peace. That we can all coexist happily with each other!”

The witches around the plaza started laughing and looking at Daniel with amused smiles while Kroanette continued to watch Daniel curiously.

“Live together in peace? What madness is this?” a witch called out, with Charlotte waving to her with a smug grin at Daniel.

“Looks like he got a
baaaad
potion from somebody, wasn’t from me though!” another witch called out with a laugh, with Charlotte waving to her expectedly while keeping her eyes on Daniel.

“Is that why he’s here, to talk about us living together? Send him over to my home, he can live with me then!” another laughed, with Charlotte chuckling in amusement while eyeing over Daniel as he kept a solemn expression on his face.

“Don’t send him to mine, I don’t want the seed of a madman, my daughters would be fucked up for sure!” another called out with a laugh, with Charlotte nodding in agreement before she turned around in a graceful spin to look at the crowd that surrounded her with an amused smile.

“Maybe he’s right though,” she called out while feigning fright. “What if humans take
all
our focusers away from us? Oh no! We’ll be helpless!” The crowd burst out laughing as Charlotte stopped her spin and graciously bowed to Daniel with a mocking smile at him.

“Oh please, Daniel, don’t let us die! We need you to save us!” she sneered, with Apoch and Astreal falling to the ground laughing as they held their sides.

“Okay, this isn’t going well,” Kroanette commented to herself as she watched all the witches laughing at Daniel. The boy slowly glanced around to seeing all of the monsters laughing and pointing at him then looked to Charlotte as the alpha stood up while watching him with an amused smile.

“Do you have anything else to add?” she mocked with a twitch of her eyebrow. “Anything else you want to say? I hope so, because my sisters are absolutely loving this little show of yours, of course not in the way you were hoping I’m sure.”

Daniel nodded slowly as he looked around at the crowd, seeing all the witches laughing at him while Kroanette was slowly shaking her head.

“I suppose I have my answer,” he called out. “This is what you witches want, isn’t it? To be left alone, to do as you please, and to be called the
letchyasks
of the world!”

The crowd slowly fell silent as all the witches watched the human that just called them that name with discontent. Charlotte slowly walked up to him as her wand’s gemstone glowed softly, with Apoch and Astreal getting back up with their staves while glaring at the human.

“What was that?” Charlotte inquired sharply.

“Well? Am I wrong?” Daniel scoffed. “Isn’t this the life you want, my grace? Isn’t this the life you want for all witches in Eden? To be alone in the world, to have to murder and deceive those around them to merely have a daughter, to be considered
letchyasks
to humans and monsters in Eden for how you all behave.”

“Are you calling my sisters, myself even, a
letchyask
?” Charlotte demanded with anger.

“I’m calling you what you wish to be called,” Daniel reasoned. “What you don’t mind the world seeing you as. My grace, witches the world over murder humans, bewitch humans, lie to humans, and treat humans like inferior beings. What do you think would be a better word to describe such unsavory, such despicable, such horrific behavior other than
letchyask
?”

Charlotte showed a bitter smile and aimed her wand at the boy.

“Your words have gone from being humorous to rather unpleasant,” she hissed. “I don’t know why I should bother letting you speak any further.”

“Then just answer one question, why can’t witches and humans live together in peace?” Daniel asked.

“Humans and monster can never live together,
boy
,” Charlotte snapped. “That will never change. Never ever.”

“You didn’t answer the question, you merely avoided it yet again,” Daniel called out, with Charlotte growling quietly as the boy turned to face her with a firm expression. “If you really know for a fact why humans and monsters can’t live together in peace, then say it. Tell me why what I believe could be a better life for both our races can never happen. I’m not here to plead for my life, or to justify the blood that’s been spilled in the past by humans and witches.” He then pointed off to the crowd with a determined look.

“I’m here to help give those girls a future!”

The witches looked at him with confusion while Charlotte merely raised an eyebrow at Daniel.

“What do you mean a future?” she questioned.

“I don’t want them to have to live in a world where they’re treated so harshly and condemned merely because they’re monsters!” Daniel declared boldly. “I don’t want them to have to lie or murder or use force to have a daughter in life! I don’t want them to be known as
letchyasks
to anyone anymore! My grace, I’m standing here asking you why our kind has to keep fighting when they don’t have to!”

The witches in the crowd looked to each other then to Daniel with curious eyes while Charlotte shook her head at the boy.

“Because we are monsters and you are humans!” she shouted out. “Because raping you and taking your seeds is the only way to ensure our survival, because killing your fighters is the only way to get what we need from you, because we do what we must to live on!”