Chronicles of Eden - Act 2 (10 page)

“I’m sorry, Emily, I didn’t mean to scare you like that,” Luna apologized. Emily listened to the monster crying then looked down with a worried expression. Falla looked between the two then up with a silent sigh before kneeling down behind Emily and holding her close.

“How about if I carry you, I promise not to scare you like that, ok?” she offered.

“Can’t we walk? I don’t like flying,” Emily asked softly.

“Flying is the best way of finding our friends, we can see further and travel faster while in the air. Plus it’s safer that way, nothing can get you up in the air when you’re with us,” Falla reasoned. Emily whimpered and shook her head.

“I don’t like flying, please don’t take me up there again,” she begged. Falla showed a dull expression and looked to Luna, the butterfly girl watching Emily with remorseful eyes.

“Way to go, Luna, you scared her from flying ever again,” Falla said flatly. Luna hung her head with shame while Falla stood up and looked around, only seeing the hills and trees nearby with no sign of any path or trail.

“Tell you what, how about we rest here for a moment, then we’ll see if you feel any better about flying, sound fair?” she asked looking to Emily. The human child remained silent while keeping her blank gaze down towards the grass, with Luna looking to her with a saddened expression.

“I’m sorry, Emily, I really am,” she said softly. Emily looked towards the sound of her voice as the butterfly girl knelt down in front of her.

“Please don’t be mad at me, I know I can lose my trail of thought easily, I just wanted you to like flying like I do,” Luna said gently. Emily hesitated then slowly reached out and hugged her, with Luna watching with wonder as the human held her gently.

“I don’t hate you, Luna, you just surprised me is all,” Emily said softly. Luna held her close with a caring smile while Falla watched the two with a bored expression.

“I promise, I
promise
, Emily, that I’ll take care of you out here, I mean it,” Luna assured dearly. Emily nodded while still holding onto her, with Falla rolling her eyes then looking around the area with a dull glance.

“Great, Daniel’s getting further and further away, this is such bullshit,” she muttered quietly.

Emily held onto Luna then heard her stomach growling, with Luna and Falla looking to see the child leaning back from her hug with a weak expression.

“Emily?” Luna asked.

“Sorry, I’m getting hungry, I haven’t eaten anything since this morning,” the child said while holding a hand over her belly. Falla held her hands to her face as she tried to keep calm about the situation, taking a few steady breaths before she turned to Emily with a forced smile.

“Well, that’s alright, humans need to eat too after all. That being the case, I’ll go see what I can find around here, you and Luna just stay here and rest,” she offered. Emily nodded while Luna looked to her sister curiously.

“Is there any food for humans around here?” she asked.

“I’ll find something for her, just watch over the poor dear in the meantime,” Falla said as she turned to walk away.

“There’s a deer around here? Oh, humans eat those don’t they? Should we try to catch it?” Luna asked looking around quickly. Emily looked to her with a small giggle while Falla rolled her eyes and fluttered her wings behind her.

“Just watch over her, Luna, and don’t go anywhere until I get back,” Falla said before flying off. Luna looked around curiously then to Emily as the girl was smiling at her.

“You’re funny,” Emily said with a small laugh.

“I am? What did I do?” Luna asked. Emily shook her head and hugged her again, the butterfly monster then holding her with a curious smile.

“You’re just you, but that’s ok,” Emily reasoned with a giggle. She then showed a worried expression and held Luna close.

“Luna, I’m sorry I called you crazy, that was mean,” she said softly.

“It’s ok; I didn’t mean to scare you like that. I can just get a little carried away sometimes. And flying really is fun, but I guess humans don’t like it as much, I’m sorry,” Luna replied with a remorseful smile. Emily looked up towards her with a blank stare, her eyes not focusing on anything as Luna gently held her.

“I wish I could see you. You’re so nice, it’s hard to believe you’re a monster,” Emily said softly. Luna looked down for a moment then held Emily close again, the child’s head resting against her bosom.

“Just because I’m a monster doesn’t mean I don’t care about others. I’m not some Darker One after all,” Luna reasoned, with Emily showing a relieved smile from her words.

Again the child’s stomach growled, with Luna giggling and looking down to her with an amused smile.

“You must be really hungry. Just wait a little longer, I’m sure Falla will bring something back for you,” she reassured. Emily nodded then looked to Luna curiously.

“What do you two eat?” she asked.

“Food, the same as you,” Luna said with a happy smile.

“What kind of food do you eat though?” Emily asked.

“The kind of food that we can eat, I just said that,” Luna replied with a puzzled expression. Emily giggled and shook her head.

“I was just wondering if monsters ate the same kinds of food that humans do. I wasn’t sure what your kind eats,” she explained. Luna nodded slowly then looked up thoughtfully.

“Oh, well, I’m not sure what others eat to be honest, but Falla and I love tree sap, and sweet bugs are sweet too, oh I love those so much. And then sometimes we find a nest of spring beetles, I could munch on those all day,” she said with a giddy smile while drooling a little. Emily stared at her with a disturbed expression as the butterfly girl wiped her mouth and looked back to the child with a curious smile.

“Bugs? You and your sister eat bugs?” Emily asked.

“Yes we do, and sap from trees is good too. Though I think my favorite is the dew from honey blossoms, but it’s been so long since we found a field with those in it,” Luna said with a saddened smile as she thought about it. Emily looked towards the girl with curiosity then showed a disgusted expression.

“Falla’s not bringing me back bugs to eat is she? Humans don’t eat bugs,” she asked nervously. Luna looked at her curiously then up in thought.

“Hmm, well if humans don’t eat those, then I don’t think she’ll bring those back for you to eat since you won’t eat them. What about tree sap, do humans eat that?” she asked.

“Um, not exactly,” Emily said with a weak expression. Luna nodded then looked around carefully.

“Hm, maybe I should try to find that deer Falla saw, humans eat deer, I’m sure of that,” she said curiously. Emily looked at her with a worried expression then down while feeling her stomach rumbling.

“Well, I’m sure Falla will find something… I hope,” she said softly.

“Don’t worry, she said she was going to find food for you, she’ll find something,” Luna reassured hopefully. Emily looked around then back towards Luna with concern.

“But what if she runs into trouble, or if those man-eaters find her, is she going to be ok on her own?” she asked nervously. Luna nodded and held the girl gently by the shoulders.

“She’ll be fine, Emily. We’re giant butterflies, if we even sense there’s danger or trouble coming we can fly away, remember?” she reminded gently as she held her close.

Before the child could say anything there was a rustle from a nearby bush, with a bolas being thrown from the thicket towards the two girls in a sharp spin. Luna looked over with surprise to see the rope and three round rocks flying towards them before the throwing trap hit against her, with the rocks quickly spinning around the two girls and binding them together. Emily and Luna screamed as they dropped down onto their sides, both of them struggling to move as the rope held them tightly together.

“What’s happening?” Emily cried out.

“Danger is coming, and I can’t fly away!” Luna whined loudly as she kept trying to move her arms, her wings having been tied behind her in an uncomfortable fold. The girls struggled about then looked towards the sounds of growling coming from the nearby bushes, with Emily whimpering and trying to move still while Luna held her close with a fearful expression.

“Luna…” Emily said nervously.

“It’s going to be ok, it’s going to be ok, Emily,” Luna tried to reassure with a shaky tone. She watched as a figure came out from the bushes, her eyes widening at the sight as she held Emily close.

“I promise, I won’t let you go.”

*****

Elsewhere in the outerlands Daniel’s group had come to a stop along the trail, with Lucky calmly eating some large grass near him as he was still hitched to the caravan. Standing close to the ride Specca was looking from Daniel’s monster guide in her hands to something in front of her with a cautious expression, the nixie going back and forth between the two as she kept turning the pages to find something in particular in the book. Next to her Alyssa was watching something in front of them with a careful eye while holding her staff in her hands, glancing to Specca then back ahead as she kept on guard from something.

“Well?” the witch asked impatiently.

“I’m looking, I’m looking, I don’t remember this one off the top of my head, I’m sorry,” Specca quickly replied while shaking her head.

Ahead of them, struggling to keep her foothold on the grass, was Triska, the teen holding onto one of Daniel’s arms tightly while she held her sword in her other hand. She was sliding a bit from being pulled by incredible force, even with Squeak next to her who was also holding onto Daniel by his other arm, the ant girl having her pickaxe dug into the ground as she used it like an anchor. Daniel however was watching with a nervous smile as long green tendrils were wrapped around his legs and torso, the strong appendages belonging to what was easily assumed to be a monster.

It appeared to be a very large flower blooming from the ground, with colorful red and yellow petals along with twisting vines and tendrils that were dug into the dirt around it. From the flower’s center was the monster’s body, resembling a human female from the thighs up with long green hair. Her skin was a light green texture and appeared silky smooth and slightly moist, her hips and bust were fully developed, and it had a few colorful flowers blooming in her hair like a headpiece. Her dull blue eyes watched as Daniel thrashed around in its grip, the tendrils leading towards the base of the monster’s body inside the large flower petals. The monster had a coy smile on her face while she gently motioned for the boy to come closer with one finger, something that Daniel was trying not to do with the help of his friends.

“Um, like I was trying to say, there’s no reason we can’t… um, could you please stop for a moment?” Daniel called out weakly.

“I don’t think it’s listening to you, Daniel,” Triska grunted as she struggled to keep the boy from being dragged towards the monster. Squeak shook her head while squeaking, the ground cracking from her pickaxe as she held onto Daniel’s arm tightly.

“Seriously, Specca?” Alyssa called out.

“I’m looking, I don’t remember what that one is or if it can be reasoned with,” Specca shot back with a flustered tone.

“I
really
don’t think it can be reasoned with, just putting in my opinion here,” Triska mentioned loudly as her foot slipped on the grass for a moment. She struggled to hold Daniel back as the flower monster continued to pull with great force, with Squeak and Triska feeling the boy inching out of their grasp. Daniel tried to kick free, doing absolutely nothing to get the monster to let go, while trying to keep a calm and collected mind in which to speak to the creature.

“We’re here… to talk… about… peace… so let go… and we can… talk about it…” he grunted as he was yanked repeatedly by the flower monster.

“It’s not in the mood to talk, Daniel, we have to kill it,” Triska grunted as she clutched her sword. Squeak yanked her pickaxe up out of the ground and geared back to strike before Daniel shook his head at her.

“Stop! Don’t hurt it, we have to try to talk peacefully before attacking like that!” he called out. Squeak stopped and looked at him with surprise then to Triska as the human was feeling her footing giving out.

“Daniel, it doesn’t want to talk, look at it!” Triska shouted out as she tried to hold onto the boy with all her might.

“Specca!” Alyssa yelled out at the nixie. Specca flipped through the pages in the book frantically then stopped and traced her finger along an entry.

“Wait, here, I found it! I found it!” Specca called out enthusiastically.

“Daniel!” Triska cried out as the boy slipped from her grasp, the girl falling back from her feet sliding on the grass while Squeak tumbled forward as the boy was yanked away from her. Daniel was quickly reeled in by the flower monster, the creature pulling him over to her body before her arms wrapped around him. The vines ensnared around the boy’s body before the monster sunk down into the ground through the center of the flower, pulling Daniel down with her while the flower petals closed up over them.

“Daniel!” Alyssa cried out. She started to run towards the closed flower bud before Specca grabbed her shoulder and stopped the witch.

“Wait, it’s ok, stop,” Specca assured while reading the entry in the book.

“What? It’s
ok
? It just swallowed up Daniel!” Alyssa cried out at her. The two then looked to seeing Triska and Squeak racing towards the bud with their weapons drawn back.

“Wait! Don’t hurt it!” Specca shouted out. Squeak stopped and looked back to her while Triska raced up towards the bud and geared back with her sword.

“Daniel!” she yelled out as Specca gasped and shook her head.

“Don’t, Triska! Leave it alone!” Specca called out. Triska looked back to her with frustration while holding her sword back behind her.

“Are you crazy? It ate Daniel!” she yelled out before swinging her blade across the petals, slicing through them and cleaving one off onto the ground. A high pitched wail was heard from below while a few tendrils whipped up around the flower monster, with Triska furiously swinging her sword around and hacking them apart before striking at the flower petals again.