chronicles of eden - act I (21 page)

"Seriously, we can't trust her, Daniel," Triska said as she glared at the witch.

"Hey, I'm not doing anything bad here. Besides, he's the one who dreamed about me," Alyssa said arrogantly.

"He did not, you little bitch!" Triska yelled out with fire in her eyes.

"You just love to yell at people don't you?" Alyssa asked flatly.

"Only if they piss me off!" Triska shouted out.

"And who
wouldn't
that be?" Alyssa questioned. Triska tightened her grip on the sword as Alyssa narrowed her eyes. Daniel groaned and looked up with closed eyes.

"Enough. Enough already!" he shouted out. The girls looked to him as he shook his head, the boy then glancing to both of them with annoyance.

"No more of this. Alyssa, please keep your magic and nature in check while with us. We could really use your help out there, and I don't want to just abandon you again, but you need to treat Triska with respect. Got it?" he said sternly. Alyssa looked at him with worried eyes while Triska smiled arrogantly.

"But she keeps trying to kill me," Alyssa whined.

"And you keep throwing her around like a ragdoll. You're going to seriously hurt her if you keep doing that. If you want me to trust you, Alyssa, then you need to behave," Daniel argued. Alyssa nodded slowly as Daniel looked to Triska.

"I know you don't want her with us, but she can help us on our journey. Try to get along with her, ok? She is showing some control so far, and I have faith she can keep her nature in check. Please try to control your temper with her," he said gently. Triska looked at him with worry then to the witch with a glare.

"You are far too trusting, Daniel, I see no reason to trust this witch or to get along with her," she said sternly. Alyssa looked at the girl for a moment then to Daniel.

"I am trying, Daniel, really I am. I didn't do anything bad last night when you were asleep next to me, just like I promised," she pleaded. He looked down a bit as Triska glared at the witch. Alyssa sniffled then looked down as she started to cry.

"Please don't leave me, Daniel, I will be the proof you need, I swear I will," she whimpered. Daniel looked at her with worry while Triska just shook her head, not buying the witch's sorrow for a minute.

"I'm not going to leave you, Alyssa, it's just-" he started before Alyssa jumped across the carriage and hugged him, burying her face into his shirt.

"I'll be good! I promise!" she pleaded before crying. Daniel held her and smiled gently while Triska growled through her teeth. Alyssa shook her head as she cried, shooting a quick glare over to Triska out of the corner of her eye while holding onto Daniel’s shirt. Triska's grip on her sword tightened as Daniel held the witch.

"It's ok, Alyssa, we're not going to leave you," he reassured gently. Triska kept her anger from breaking out as she glared at the young witch.

‘That little… I'm so going to hack her into pieces!’

Alyssa sniffled then looked up to Daniel with gentle eyes as she held her hands on his chest.

"You mean it? I can stay with you?" she asked softly. He nodded and smiled calmly at her.

"As long as you behave yourself, and treat Triska kindly, then yes," he said as Alyssa gazed up into his eyes. She nodded with a smile of relief then hugged the boy, nuzzling against his chest again. Daniel smiled down at the witch, not seeing her smiling smugly at Triska from that angle.

"Whatever you want, Daniel, whatever you want," Alyssa said softly as she narrowed her eyes at Triska. Trembling with fury Triska struggled against her desire to swipe at the witch with her sword again, knowing very well that the blade would never reach her.

"Triska?" Daniel asked. She looked to him with a jump as he was glancing to her with a raised eyebrow. Triska blinked then looked back down to Alyssa, the witch smiling innocently at her.

"Friends?" Alyssa asked. Triska gave her with a dull glare then glanced to Daniel, the boy waiting to hear what she would say with an inquisitive expression.

"Daniel…" she said softly.

"Please, Triska, try to get along with her," he said gently. Triska glanced down to seeing the smug grin on Alyssa's face then looked away.

"Fine. On one condition," she said softly.

"Condition?" Daniel asked. Triska nodded then looked back to him carefully. Alyssa watched her with narrowed eyes as the carriage rocked a bit on the road.

"Yeah, can I speak to you… alone for a minute?" Triska asked softly. Alyssa growled softly to herself as Daniel watched his friend curiously.

"Talk to me alone? About what?" he asked. Triska nodded then smiled at him gently.

"Please?" she asked.

"We shouldn't really stop now, we're making good time towards the city," Alyssa commented while keeping her glare fixated on Triska.

"This will only take a minute. Please, Alyssa?" Triska asked while looking to the witch with a gentle smile, knowing full well if she showed anger that would only cause problems. Alyssa growled quietly then glanced to Daniel worriedly, the boy looking out towards the moving scenery outside before glancing to Alyssa.

"Well, ok then. Alyssa, could you please stop the carriage for a moment?" he asked.

"If you want, I can just sit on the front seat while you two are back here, I'll give you your privacy," Alyssa offered with a smile.

"I'd rather we be on solid
ground
when I talk to him. Besides, we could use a moment to stretch out. Didn't you yourself say how uncomfortable it was to sleep on the floor of the carriage? Walking around a bit could be good for you," Triska reasoned. Alyssa glanced to her with a frustrated look then over to where Lucky was still going strong. After a pause she nodded then clapped her hands. Lucky slowed to a stop as Alyssa picked up her hat and staff.

"I'll just let Lucky find some tasty grass to feed on nearby. I'll… be right back then," she said as she glanced back to the two humans. Daniel nodded and smiled at her while Triska smirked and waved politely. Alyssa reluctantly hopped out the front then unfastened Lucky from the carriage, the horse grunting slightly as she brushed his nose. She then walked off to the side of the road with the horse following her closely, glancing back to the carriage with narrowed eyes while Lucky was sniffing around the grass. Triska watched her lead Lucky off from inside the carriage with a careful eye while Daniel watched his friend curiously.

"So what's going on here, Triska? What did you want to-" Daniel started before Triska jumped over in front of him and leaned in close to his face.

"Please Daniel, we can't let her come with us. You have to trust me, she's up to something," she quickly hushed out.

"What are you talking about? She hasn't done anything bad since she started traveling with us," he questioned while shaking his head.

"Aside from her attempts to take your pants off and kill me, yeah, she's been a delight. But still you need to trust me. She just wants you to mate with her, she's going to take you away by force again," Triska pleaded.

"We're out here to try to find allies to mankind, remember? She could be one of them, maybe all of her kind if she helps convince them. Plus we could really use the help against the ones out there that wouldn't be so… reasoning. She's trying to keep in control, that's what we had hoped the monsters could do out here," Daniel reasoned. Triska shook her head and looked at him with pleading eyes.

"I'm begging you, Daniel; you can't let her come with us. She'll ruin everything. She'll take you away and rape you and use you to make more monsters. She'll steal you away from me again, I just know she will, it's written all over her face," she said urgently. He looked down with concern as Triska jumped back towards the front of the carriage and searched around outside quickly, seeing no sign of Lucky or Alyssa nearby.

"What… where… where did they go?" Triska asked looking around carefully. There was no trace of the horse or witch around the path or carriage. Daniel looked out the back around the area curiously.

"She probably just took Lucky off somewhere nearby to find something to eat," he said with a shrug. Triska looked around nervously then back to Daniel.

‘We're all alone, now's my chance. This may not be the most romantic spot to tell him, or the most idealistic moment, but he needs to know.’

She jumped back over to him, the boy leaning back against his backpack with surprise as she leaned in closer to him.

"Daniel, please… there's something I've been trying to say to you since we came out here. I need you to know… that… that I…" she started, and then once again struggled to continue as she felt her heart racing. Daniel watched her curiously as she struggled to force the words out.

"Triska? What is it?" he asked. She gulped and looked at him with nervous eyes.

‘Do it, Triska… say it. Be strong… be strong… dammit, just say it!’

"Daniel… I lo-"

"Daniel!" Alyssa's voice cried out. The two looked over to see the witch running up to the back of the carriage then hopping up onto it. She looked at the boy with worried eyes as she caught her breath.

"Alyssa? What’s wrong?" Daniel asked.

"It's Lucky, he ran off. Something spooked him, I can't find him!" she cried out. Daniel looked at her with surprise while Triska growled loudly at the witch.

"What do you mean he ran off?" Daniel asked looking out at the rolling plains behind the carriage. Alyssa looked back out the opening, her eyes franticly searching the surrounding area as she was breathing shakily, then over to Daniel as she shook her head.

"I mean he just ran off. I found a nice spot of grass for him, and he started eating, then he took off crying out with fright. I didn't see anything around but he kept running. I lost him over the hill, I can't find him anywhere!" she cried out.

"Bullshit! You weren't gone that long; he couldn't have run that far off!" Triska yelled out.

"I'm telling you he's gone! I looked all around from a nearby hill, I couldn't see him anywhere! I don't know how but he's just gone, you've got to help me find him!" Alyssa franticly pleaded with tears starting to form. Daniel nodded then started to get up while Triska clenched her fists with fury.

‘That goddamned… little… ARG!’

"We'll help you, Alyssa. C'mon, Triska, we need that horse to get to the city," Daniel called out as he and Alyssa jumped off the carriage. Triska grabbed her sword then jumped out as well, keeping her glare locked onto the witch.

"I was over there with him before he just ran off," Alyssa said, pointing to the base of a nearby hill. Daniel nodded and the two started running over to it. Triska growled loudly as she kept her sword in her hand, feeling her anger rise even more for the witch. Alyssa turned back to the girl with a small glare and a smirk, pointing her staff towards the carriage.

"Triska, I'll trust you to watch over the carriage while we look for him," she called out. Triska shook her head then yelled out at the witch with fury.

"What? Like bloody hell I'm staying here when-"

"You have to, please! What if he comes back when we're gone, or bandits come by and nobody's here to keep them from taking Daniel’s things? We can't all go out there," Alyssa said, shaking her head with a concerned expression.

"No way, Alyssa, you're not leaving me alone here while you take Daniel off on some goddamned wild goose chase!" Triska yelled out while pointing her sword at the witch.

"Horse. It's a wild
horse
chase, and yes you need to stay here. I need to get my horse back and I need help to find him. You're good with a sword so you can defend the carriage from bandits if need be. Besides, if anybody can calm Lucky down the best it's me, if you two go out there he might not listen if he's really scared of something," Alyssa said with urgency.

"You think I'm just going to fall for this crap? You're not fooling me, Alyssa," Triska threatened with narrowed eyes.

"What are you talking about? I'm not trying to fool anybody," Alyssa defended with.

"Triska, just watch the carriage, we'll be right back," Daniel called out.

"But, Daniel!" Triska pleaded while shaking her head franticly.

"Don't worry, we'll find him. You already had to chase him down before; I'm not going to ask you to do it again. Just sit tight and keep an eye out for him in case he comes back," he said reassuringly. Alyssa nodded at the girl then looked to Daniel with worry.

"C'mon, let's get going before he runs too far off," she said quickly. They ran off towards the hill while Triska watched with disbelief. She shook her head as she glared at the witch, watching Daniel and the monster run to the top of the hill.

"No way… no way are you pulling this shit, Alyssa," Triska said with anger. She growled then took off after them with her sword held tightly in her hand.

Daniel and Alyssa looked around franticly while atop the hill, searching for any sign of the missing horse. Alyssa glanced behind her and smirked as Daniel just blinked and scratched his head while watching something.

"Um… there he is," he stated as he pointed down towards the base of the hill. Lucky was seen clear as day grazing calmly while a gentle breeze rolled by, the tall grass he was eating swaying slightly. Alyssa looked over to her horse and giggled while hopping up and down playfully.

"Yay, you found him! I don't know how he escaped my eye like that, I couldn't see him anywhere. Thank you, Daniel," she said sweetly. Daniel chuckled as the witch hugged him gently, her eyes glancing to the side behind them with a sly grin.

"No problem, I guess. You had us worried there," he said with a shrug. Alyssa smiled happily as she started walking towards the horse.

"I'll just go get him and bring him back to the carriage. Wait here, Daniel," she said simply. After taking two steps she then looked back to see Triska racing over the hill at her with fire in her eyes.

"Alyssa!" Triska yelled out, swinging her blade towards the witch. Alyssa gasped and darted to the side, then back as Triska swung again and again at her.

"Triska, what are you doing?" she cried out as she darted around while the teen swiped at her furiously. Triska spun around and swung at Alyssa again, just missing the witch's hat in the process. Daniel watched with surprise as Alyssa stumbled to the side then rolled onto the grass, with Triska striking her blade into the ground next to her. The teen yelled out as she swiped her sword back up, sending dirt and grass flying into the air, and then swung around towards the witch again.