Chronicles of Eden - Act 2 (12 page)

“You know, now that I think about it, Specca’s the only one you
haven’t
threatened with your sword,” Alyssa commented. Triska glanced to her with annoyance as the witch gently flicked her fingers, causing the apple in front of her to spin around in place.

“You threatened me with your sword when we first met, if you
had
it with you at the time you would have been pointing it at the ant girls when we met them, you tried to attack a Darker One with it, which was incredibly stupid by the way, you threatened that nightmare we came across even though your sword couldn’t do anything to it at all, and-”

“SHUT UP!” Triska yelled as she grabbed her sword and yanked it out with a swift pull, swinging it over to point it at Alyssa as the other girls watched her with worried eyes. Alyssa however just stared at Triska with a dull expression as the apple continued to hover in front of her.

“I use my sword to protect Daniel, to keep monsters from taking him away! I pointed it at you when
you
stole him from me! I would have pointed it at the ant girls back then because they
kidnapped him
from us! I attacked that succubus to save your ungrateful life when you were being strangled! And I struck down the nightmare in my dreams with my sword! I haven’t had to aim it at Specca;
she
never tried to steal Daniel away!” Triska yelled out. Daniel at this point was glancing back to her with a worried eye while Specca had scooted further away from the loud teen.

“Triska, no swordplay in the cabin, you know the rules,” Specca reminded nervously. Triska growled while keeping her blade aimed at Alyssa still.

“You want me to apologize for trying to keep him safe? You want me to say I’m sorry for fearing that he was going to be raped and killed earlier? I’m out here to protect him, I love him more than anything, and I’ll be damned if I let his quest come to an early end because of some lustful creature he comes across!” the teen shouted out. Alyssa merely waved her finger up, causing the spinning apple to float over to the blade and push against it, carving the fruit into a spiral while Triska narrowed her eyes at the witch.

“The only thing that stupid sword of yours is good for is cutting up our food,” Alyssa mocked before a piece of her sliced apple floated over into her mouth, the witch chewing it casually as the rest of the apple hovered over into her hand.

“Again, put your sword away, Triska, right now,” Specca insisted. Alyssa leaned back against a pillow and watched Triska with a raised eyebrow while eating her apple casually.

“You can’t threaten me with that piece of metal,” she said simply.

With a furious yell Triska thrust her sword forward in the blink of an eye, striking the blade into the wall of the cabin with a sharp strike. Alyssa twitched on reflex as her hand jerked, dropping the sliced apple onto the floor as Specca and Squeak stared at the sight with wide eyes.

“Alyssa!” Daniel called out as he turned to see Triska’s sword struck into the wall next to the witch’s head, with Alyssa staring at Triska with wide eyes while the blade had grazed her cheek. A small trickle of blood dripped from the cut onto the steel as Triska glared at Alyssa with anger.

“I’ve had it with you criticizing me at every turn, I’ve had it, Alyssa!” Triska yelled out. Alyssa slowly lifted a hand up to her chin as she felt blood dripping off it, the witch glancing to the blade in the wall next to her then to Triska with shock.

“Lucky, stop!” Daniel shouted out as he snapped the reins. The horse neighed and started slowing down as Daniel entered the cabin and stared with surprise at the sight.

“You… you…” Alyssa stuttered before glaring at Triska with anger, her purple eyes giving off a soft bloom as she clenched her fists.

“Triska, what is wrong with you?” Specca cried out.

“All you ever do is say my sword is stupid, that I’m stupid. Well guess what, this stupid piece of metal could have killed you just now if I hadn’t aimed it to the side of your head! I don’t care if it’s a witch, a Darker One, or whatever, if any monster tries to take Daniel away you can be damned sure they’re going to be answering to my blade, you got that?” Triska yelled out.

Alyssa growled with anger as she prepared to throw Triska out of the caravan again before Daniel grabbed Triska’s hand and blade and yanked it away from Alyssa, the boy holding Triska by the arm with a stern expression.

“Drop it, now!” he yelled out.

“But, but, Daniel-” Triska started before the boy shook her hand and his head.

“I said drop it now, Triska!” he yelled out. The girl stared at him with surprise then let go of the sword, the blade dropping to the floor with a clank as Alyssa held a hand to her cheek and cringed.

“Ah, that stings,” she whined. Triska glanced to her then to Daniel as the boy was watching her with a stern expression.

“Triska, you just broke three rules in one go. You used your sword while
inside
the caravan, you
threatened
our friend with it, and then you
hurt
our friend with it,” he scolded firmly.

“But, Daniel, she’s always-” Triska started before he grabbed her sheath and pulled it up off of her, the girl watching with surprise as he took her blade and slid it back into the sheath before pointing to Alyssa, the witch glaring at Triska while holding a hand to her bloodied cheek.

“Apologize to her right now,” he demanded.

“What? But, Daniel…” Triska pleaded while shaking her head.

“Right now!” Daniel repeated. Triska looked at him with growing concern then to Alyssa, the witch flinching with a scowl at the teen.

“I… I’m sorry, Alyssa,” Triska said softly. Daniel then glanced to Alyssa with a stern expression still.

“Alyssa, you too, apologize to her,” he ordered.

“What? But she was the one who broke the rules and hurt me,” Alyssa whined.

“You were the one heckling her, that cut came from you pushing Triska into a fight,” Daniel stated.

“But… Daniel,” Alyssa whined with an innocent frown.

“Alyssa,” Daniel repeated sternly. Alyssa glanced to Triska then to the floor with a pout.

“Fine, I’m sorry,” she said softly.

“To her, not the floor,” Daniel ordered. Alyssa flinched then slowly looked to Triska, the teen watching her with a dull glare.

“Sorry,” she said quietly. Daniel shook his head then looked to Triska with discontent, the girl watching him with worried eyes as she could tell he was really angry with her. Alyssa flinched again from her cheek hurting before Squeak gently pulled the witch over to her, with Alyssa then watching as the ant girl held her in her lap. Squeak gently turned Alyssa’s head to the side and started licking the witch’s cut, with Alyssa feeling her mind going numb in waves as the euphoric sensation of the ant girl’s saliva rippled across her face.

“Squeak…” she said softly before collapsing in Squeak’s arms, the ant girl holding her carefully as she licked and cleaned up the girl’s wound with quiet squeaks.

Daniel glanced to seeing Squeak taking care of Alyssa then held Triska’s sword out to Specca.

“Specca, hold onto this for me,” he asked, with Specca nodding and reaching out to take it.

“What? Wait a minute, why does
she
get my sword?” Triska asked shaking her head.

“Because you’re done with it for the night,” Daniel scolded her. Triska looked at him with a stunned expression then to Specca as the nixie took hold of the blade. Specca set it down beside her with her tail wrapping around it, the girl then glancing to Triska as she adjusted her glasses.

“I warned you, those are the rules,” she reminded. Triska stared at her with disbelief then looked to Daniel as the boy was shaking his head at her.

“You’ll get it back tomorrow, until then hands off, you’ve lost the right to hold it today after you attacked Alyssa like that,” he lectured firmly. Triska opened her mouth to protest before the boy pointed to her.

“If you argue with this or try to take it back before tomorrow, then you can skip your ‘turn’ tonight,” he added. Triska gasped then shook her head quickly.

“Wait, please don’t say that, I’m sorry, really, it won’t happen again,” she pleaded. Daniel breathed out then looked to seeing Alyssa giving Triska a weary glare while Squeak kept licking her cheek.

“We need to talk about this, I’m not going to have what happened earlier start more fights between you girls,” he spoke up. All the girls watched him curiously, with Squeak sitting back up next to Alyssa as the witch held a hand to her cheek, feeling the sharp pain having vanished while the bleeding had stopped as well. Daniel looked around at all the girls, with Triska quickly sitting back down against her pillow while watching him with worried eyes, Specca lying down on her legs while holding her skirt down a bit to keep it from rising up, Squeak lying on her legs with her abdomen sticking back alongside the wall behind her, and with Alyssa glancing to Triska with a glare before looking at Daniel with timid eyes. The boy sighed and looked up with a tired expression as he knew he had to quell this dispute with them quickly or else more blood would be spilled.

“First off, you’re all friends with each other, don’t lie and say you’re not, it’s obvious you all care for one another after all you’ve been through together. Remember that we’re out here for a reason, to speak to monsters about coexisting peacefully, and that means you all should be prime examples of getting along with each other,” he reminded, with the girls all slowly nodding while remaining silent. Daniel glanced around at them then looked to Specca.

“Now, Specca is our guide out here, she knows more about monsters in Eden than even I or Alyssa do, and as such we need to listen to her. If she says it’s safe, then it’s safe. If she says it’s dangerous, it’s dangerous. Let me make this clear about our monster encounters, her say is final. I won’t doubt what she says about any we come across, I trust her with my life, with all of ours even, and you all should do the same,” he informed, with Specca smiling bashfully and looking down with a small blush while the other girls glanced to her.

“However,” Daniel continued, with Specca then looking back to him curiously as he shook his head.

“She doesn’t know
everything
about the world, nobody does after all. And there will be times when we have to react faster than she can evaluate the situation. We have to trust our instincts then, it just may keep us alive,” he reasoned, then looked to Triska as the girl was watching him with concern still.

“In those situations, if we don’t know what we’re up against, then we may have to fight. Triska made the mistake of not listening to Specca earlier, we all know that, but if Specca hadn’t found out what that fluugher was, then her decision to attack it would have been correct based on survival instinct,” he pointed out. Triska looked down with remorse as Daniel looked around at all the girls.

“In cases like that, if Specca cannot determine what the monster is or if it can be reasoned with, and it appears hostile, then Triska will make the call,” he announced, with Triska looking back up to him with wonder. The other girls glanced to her curiously as Daniel nodded at his friend.

“She’s trained to be a fighter her whole life, and knows what she’s doing in a fight. There’s no denying she knows how to use her sword well, she even attacked a Darker One with everything she had to help save Alyssa. If there really is no other way out, if fighting is the only option we have, then Triska’s say is final,” he reasoned. Triska and Specca exchanged glances as Daniel turned to Squeak and Alyssa.

“Squeak, you’ve done well with listening to others and reacting to the situation properly. You attacked the fluugher on instinct along with Triska when you felt it was hostile, and you heeded Specca’s warning and stopped your attack when she told you to halt. You can’t say a word to us, yet you’re a team player on all fronts, and for that I’m glad,” he said, with Squeak nodding and smiling at him with a squeak, the girl then making some hand signals as she tried to say something to him with a bunch of squeaks, with the group just watching with confused expressions. After Squeak was finished saying whatever it was she was trying to say, Daniel just shook his head with a weak smile.

“However, we’re going to have to work on some sort of means for you to communicate with us, otherwise we might miss something important from you during these difficult situations,” he added, with Squeak blinking then looking down with a troubled expression. Daniel nodded then looked to Alyssa, the witch watching him with a timid expression.

“Do you really trust Triska more than me?” Alyssa asked softly. Daniel shook his head and sat down on the floor in the middle of all the girls, with all of them watching him curiously as he slowly looked around at them.

“Let’s get something clear here, I trust you
all
. You’ve all been by my side out here, you’ve all been helping me with my journey, all of you are important to me. And there are some things that each of you excel at, which is why the rest of us should be supportive of that. Specca is an organized thinker, she knows a lot about the world and the monsters we’re going to be seeing, she would be the first we should turn to when planning our next move or how to approach these monsters,” he started, with Specca blushing from the comment. Daniel pulled his dagger out from his shirt pocket and tilted it around in his hands, similar to how Triska always handled hers.

“Triska is quick to react on her feet, and would know what to do when we don’t have time to think or plan a course of action. She’s trained to fight and can take more hits than I can and still remain standing, that’s for certain. If we’re caught off-guard she would be the one I would trust to get us out of danger quickly, however we needed to,” he continued, with Triska smiling softly at him. Daniel then put his dagger away and looked to Squeak.

“Squeak is able to help us when we need it with her own skills, be it with her incredible strength in a fight, or with healing injuries using her saliva. We’re sort of her guide out here in the world above her nest, but she’s able to help us with whatever we may come across all the same. She’s there as our shield in a way, able to help us up when we stumble across trouble. We can always count on her to help us, I know I do,” he explained, with Squeak nodding with a squeak and a smile. Daniel smiled a bit and shook his head.