chronicles of eden - act I (39 page)

"Let him go right now!" Alyssa yelled out with anger. Squeak shook her head as she squeaked loudly, hanging onto Daniel tightly while he was looking around with a stunned expression.

'Give me a break, I just woke up here!'

"Let go of him!" Triska yelled out. Squeak shook her head again and held on tightly, all while Daniel was shouting from being thrown up and down in the air by the witch's magic.

"Alyssa, put us both down right now!" he cried out. Alyssa growled then lowered the two down as Triska ran over and grabbed her sword. She unsheathed it then ran back over to see Squeak and Daniel standing on the ground, with the ant girl holding onto him securely while staring at the two girls with discontent. Daniel was breathing heavily as he tried to calm down from being woken up in a very bizarre and hectic sort of way.

"Squeak, for the last time, let him go NOW!" Triska yelled as she gripped her sword tightly. Alyssa narrowed her eyes at the ant girl as her staff glowed orange. Daniel shook his head a bit then looked around at everybody.

"Ok… ok! What the hell is going on here?" he called out. The girls looked to him as he glanced from one to the other.

"I wake up to Squeak kissing me and then I'm being thrown around in the air without warning, why?" he cried out. He blinked then looked to Squeak as she was still holding onto him.

"Squeak? What are you doing? You can let me go now," he said, trying to pry free from her embrace. Her arms held him tightly as she shook her head, staring down the other two armed girls who were glaring at her.

"Let him go right now so I can hack you into pieces!" Triska yelled out.

"Nobody kisses Daniel but me!" Alyssa yelled out with anger.

"What? Like hell you're going to kiss him, Alyssa!" Triska barked back.

"Of course I am, I'm going to be his mate after all!" Alyssa snapped.

"You are NOT going to be his mate! No freaking chance in hell!" Triska shouted back. Daniel watched them with a tired expression while Squeak looked at the girls with a dull glare, still holding onto the boy securely.

"Yes I am! We're perfect for each other, and I'm going to help him on his quest! I'm his proof remember?" Alyssa yelled out.

"I'm the one helping him on his quest, and all you're proof of is that witches really are sneaky and underhanded!" Triska yelled back. Daniel sighed and shook his head, and then noticed Squeak wasn't holding him anymore. He looked around curiously while Triska and Alyssa aimed their weapons at each other.

"He wouldn't last out here with only your dumb sword protecting him! He needs a monster to help with this journey, and that's me!" Alyssa shouted out.

"It's because of my sword that he's alive and standing above the ground right now, Alyssa, and the only one he needs on this journey is me!" Triska shouted back. Daniel looked around puzzled then over to the tree where Squeak was grabbing her pickaxe, having a focused expression as she looked back to the other two girls.

"Big deal, you killed a few ant-lionesses. That doesn't mean your sword can do anything against the Darker Ones, or even me for that matter!" Alyssa shouted out.

"My sword will protect him from all those that get in his way, I won't let you or any other monster take him away!" Triska yelled back.

Alyssa growled then looked to see a gloved hand grabbing her necklace, watching with surprise as Squeak yanked the necklace off of her and held it in her free hand. The ant girl squeaked with discontent then swung her pickaxe towards the witch with the flat edge, knocking her back into a tumble while Daniel and Triska watched with surprise.

"Squeak? What are you doing, stop! Don't hurt them!" Daniel yelled out. Squeak gripped the pickaxe firmly in her hand while holding the witch's focuser with her other, turning her sights over to Triska with a narrowed glare. She held out her pickaxe towards the human and squeaked firmly, the teen looking at her with surprise then caution as she gripped her sword tightly.

"What the hell are you doing? Give that back to me!" Alyssa yelled out as she stumbled to her feet, looking at the Squeak with frustration and anger. Triska glanced to the witch then to the ant girl with narrowed eyes.

"So, you want to fight do you?" she said with a bite.

"What? Fight?" Daniel said with a jump. Alyssa watched the ant girl carefully as the monster had her eyes narrowed at Triska.

"You think you can take him away from me that easily?" Triska threatened with a glare. Squeak nodded then dashed towards her, swinging her pickaxe down towards her in a flash. Triska darted back then swung her blade around, the ant girl lifting up her digging tool and deflecting the sword with the steel part of her tool. She may have only been using one hand with her digging tool, but had more than enough strength to block the human's attack with it. Gripping her pickaxe tightly she swung again at Triska, just missing the teen who rolled off to the side. Triska jumped back up to her feet as Squeak swung down again at her, the teen darting to the side before the ant girl moved forward and kicked her in the gut. Triska rolled off to the side with a loud gasp into the grass while Daniel watched with surprise.

"Squeak, stop! Don't hurt her, she's my friend!" he called out.

“Damn… just how strong is she anyway?” Triska grunted, slowly getting up as she held a hand to her side. Nothing appeared to be broken, but the ant girl’s kick certainly had a lot of force to it. Triska coughed a few times before Squeak ran towards her with another swing. Alyssa watched with frustration as Squeak held her focuser, the ant girl pushing the human back with fierce swings of her digging tool. It made a whistling sound as she swung it around wildly at the human who darted around quickly. Triska swung her blade out and it clashed against the pickaxe, the two deflecting from each other before the girls swung at each other again. Triska's blade swung by the ant girl who darted back, the monster then dashing forward and swiping up with her digging tool. The tool struck and knocked Triska's sword up out of her grip, the teen stumbling back before Squeak tackled her to the ground. The sword flew up in the air then struck down into the ground blade first as Triska stared with wide eyes, being held down by the neck with a gloved hand that had the witch's focuser in it.

“Triska!” Daniel called out, watching the fight drawing to a close with shock. Squeak geared back with her pickaxe for a finishing blow, with Triska’s legs kicking around as the monster was straddling her and keeping her down with great force. The ant girl squeaked with narrowed eyes as Triska grunted with frustration while trying to budge the ant girl’s hand.

"Squeak, STOP!" Daniel yelled out. The ant girl blinked then looked over to see him glaring at her.

"Don't you DARE hurt her!" he shouted as he ran over to them. Squeak looked at him curiously before he marched up to her and grabbed hold of the pickaxe. She looked to it then to the Daniel as he shook his head.

"What do you think you're doing? Get off of her right now!" he shouted out. She squeaked softly then slowly stood up, with Triska quickly scooting back and stumbling to her feet. Daniel took the focuser crystal from the ant girl's hand then tossed it over to Alyssa, the witch catching it and quickly slipping it back on while she watched Squeak with caution.

"Triska is my friend. Don't you ever try to her hurt her like that again, do you hear me?" Daniel scolded the ant girl. She stepped back with a worried expression and nodded slowly. He looked around at all the girls then shook his head.

"We're all supposed to be on this journey together, remember? We're on the same side here," he proclaimed, looking from one girl to the other.

"But, Daniel, she kissed you," Triska whined while pointing to Squeak. Daniel looked to the ant girl curiously as she watched him with a worried expression.

"Squeak, why… why did you do that?" he asked. She squeaked as she waved her arms around, the other travelers watching with confused expressions. Squeak then ran up to him with pleading eyes and squeaked some more while the group glanced to each other then back to her. Daniel just stared at her for a moment then scratched his head.

"I have no idea what you're trying to say, Squeak," he said with confusion. She looked at him with frustration then down as she pulled on her hair while squeaking. Her eyes darted around slightly in thought then she pointed to Daniel's mouth with a worried expression while making a few small squeaks. He glanced down then back to her with puzzlement, still not following whatever it was she was trying to say. Squeak dropped onto her back and lay on the ground, pretending to be asleep while squeaking loudly with an open mouth. She jumped back up and pointed to Daniel's mouth again.

"What are you trying to say?" Daniel asked confusedly. Squeak looked at him with concern then opened his mouth with her hand, pointing at his throat with quick squeaks. Daniel looked at her with bewilderment then glanced to the other two girls. Triska blinked then looked at the ant girl with a dull expression.

"Wait… hold up. You mean you thought Daniel was in pain because of his snoring?" she asked flatly. Squeak nodded quickly as Daniel looked around with concern.

"Huh? Because of my snoring?" he asked while his mouth was being held open still. He stepped back and looked at the ant girl curiously.

"Oh, she must have been worried about you like I was. We thought something was wrong with you this morning, Daniel," Alyssa said softly.

"Wrong with me? Why? My snoring isn't that bad, is it?" Daniel asked worriedly. Triska looked at the ant girl with a bewildered expression then shook her head.

"Whoa whoa, hold on. You mean… you only kissed him… because you thought his mouth was in pain?" she asked with disbelief. Squeak looked at her curiously and nodded with a simple squeak. Triska stared at her with a bit of wonder then to Daniel. That explained why Squeak kept expressing concern about him while she and Alyssa were arguing, she thought his snoring was a sign of pain.

'She was trying to use her saliva to heal what she thought was an injury of some sort.'

Daniel smiled weakly and shook his head at the ant girl.

"I'm fine, Squeak, really. But thank you for your concern," he said gently. Squeak looked at him curiously then smiled, squeaking softly again. Daniel then looked over to the two other girls with an expecting glance.

"Now, can we please stop all this fighting already? I've already told you two enough times already that we're in this journey together, don't drag her into your fights as well," he said shaking his head. Alyssa and Triska looked at him worriedly then down.

"I'm sorry, Daniel, it's just… when she kissed you…" Triska said softly.

"She was only trying to help me thinking I was hurt, even though I don't think my snoring sounds
that
bad. She wasn't doing anything wrong, at least not on purpose," Daniel reasoned. Triska and Alyssa glanced to each other then to Squeak, the ant girl looking at them curiously as her antenna twitched.

"I'm sorry, Daniel," Alyssa said softly while looking down. She glanced back to Lucky then smiled at Daniel.

"I'll go get Lucky ready to head out with us. He'll at least be able to carry our belongings to Ashwood," she offered with a nod. She blinked then glanced to Triska's duffel bag.

"Not so sure about her stuff though," she said flatly. Triska twitched at that then glared at the witch, then looked to Daniel worriedly.

"Daniel… I didn't mean to… I was only worried that…" she said softly, hesitating to speak. He smiled at her and motioned towards the horse.

"Forget about it. C'mon, let's get our stuff packed up and get a move on. I want to be able to reach Ashwood today if at all possible," he said. Triska smiled and nodded, then looked to Squeak. Daniel walked over with Alyssa towards the horse as Triska smiled softly at the ant girl.

"I'm sorry, Squeak," Triska said gently. Squeak looked at her curiously as the teen pulled her sword out from the ground and sheathed it behind her. Triska looked back to see Daniel folding away the sleeping blankets while Alyssa was cooing Lucky gently by the tree.

"It's just… Daniel means the world to me," she said looking back to the ant girl. Squeak looked at her curiously then to Daniel, watching him as he gathered the blankets near their bags while Alyssa was feeding Lucky some tall grass. Triska looked down with a gentle smile and nodded.

"When you kissed him like that, I thought you were trying to steal him away from me. I didn't know you were only trying to heal what you thought was hurting him. I shouldn't have attacked you like that, you didn't do anything wrong," she said gently. Looking back over to Squeak she saw the ant girl watching her curiously again.

"I've been dealing with Alyssa trying to take him away from me all this time, for a minute there I was worried you wanted to be his mate too," she said with a slight laugh. Squeak looked at her puzzled and nodded as she pointed to Daniel. Triska glanced over to him then looked back at the ant girl with a small smile.

"Yeah, I thought you wanted to be his mate," she said again. Squeak looked at Daniel then back to Triska, nodding again with a simple squeak. Triska looked at her for a moment then showed some concern.

"You… you don't want to be his mate… right?" she asked nervously. Squeak smiled confidently and nodded, squeaking once. Triska stared at her for a moment then slowly glanced to Daniel.

"But… wait, you do?" she asked worriedly looking back to the ant girl. Squeak again nodded while having a confident smile. Triska stared at her for a moment longer then slowly shook her head.

"Hold on, why do you…" she said unsurely. She blinked then smiled nervously.

"Oh wait, is this because of your queen's order? To follow Daniel with his quest?" she asked hopefully. Squeak looked at her curiously as Triska laughed weakly and shook her head.

"No no, you've got it all wrong. You just have to follow Daniel and be his proof that your race can coexist with our kind, that's all," she reassured. Squeak nodded and squeaked once with a smile.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean that you're going to be Daniel's mate, he didn't choose you for that purpose," Triska explained. Squeak looked at her with a bit of confusion then glanced over to Daniel. After a moment she looked back at Triska and pointed to Daniel with a firm expression. Triska shook her head and smiled weakly.