chronicles of eden - act I (69 page)

'Triska, I do hope our paths cross again soon. Stay alive for me until then, my dear little kitten.'

In the world of Eden, regions were often divided up into ‘safe zones’ where monsters were rarely encountered and the wilderness that was known as ‘the outerlands’. In these parts of the world monsters were known to run more freely while bandits and raiders often traveled in search of their next victims. There were smaller towns and villages spread about in the various regions, however they often lacked the strength and fortitude of the more heavily defended cities and kingdoms that were further away. Traveling through the outerlands was dangerous, and it was always advised that if you must do so that you never travel alone. Those that made their way through the outerlands knew to be aware of their surroundings, to pack plenty of supplies for survival, and to travel with those you could trust.

Otherwise you were in for a rough journey.

*****

Traveling across a dirt road outside of the city of Ashwood, a caravan was rolling along as it was pulled by a single white horse. Sitting at the driver's seat of the ride Alyssa and Daniel were looking around at the surrounding area while Lucky pulled the caravan with little trouble. The sun was shining through a few clouds as birds were seen flying overhead, the sky slowly darkening as the day was passing by. Traveling east into the outerlands the scenery remained mostly the same, with a few hills and trees being seen here and there. To the far north the mountains were seen rising up near the clouds while to the south the outerlands seemed to meet with the edge of the forest that connected to Ashwood.

"So this is the outerlands?" Daniel asked looking around curiously.

"Yep yep. Ashwood and the forest behind us separate your homeland from the surrounding region. It doesn’t look any different to you I’m sure, but don’t assume it’s as quiet out here. Inside your homeland you probably had very few, if any, monster encounters, but out here they are much more common," Alyssa warned while glancing around carefully. Even though nothing was seen even remotely close to them she still seemed to be on guard, showing that they were certainly not in the ‘safe zone’ anymore. Daniel nodded and looked up in thought. He knew his home village of Edgewood was located near the mountains to the north and west, the settlement resting in the valley with a forest near it along with the rolling plains to the east. To the south of his village were more empty fields before it connected to rocky bluffs that nobody traveled through, man or monster.

"In a way your home was pretty much hidden from the world. If I remember correctly, the only way into it was through Ashwood, or crossing the Devilo River," Alyssa added, looking up thoughtfully.

"Devilo River? What's that?" Daniel asked. Alyssa looked at him with a curious smile.

"You don't know? It's the river south of your homeland. How can you not know about that?" she asked.

"Well, we knew there were some bluffs to the south, but we never really ventured out further than that. No travelers or monsters ever came from that way, so we assumed it was naturally blocked off," Daniel reasoned with a shrug.

"It's blocked off alright, but not by rocks. The Devilo River is south of your village and runs down into the southern region near Ashwood’s forest. Nobody crosses it though, nobody," Alyssa said shaking her head.

"Why not, what's so special about it?" Daniel asked.

"Nothing's special about the river itself, it's just a normal river. You couldn’t really swim across it, you would need a boat or raft, but other than that it's just water," Alyssa said with a shrug.

"Then why does nobody ever cross it?" Daniel asked puzzled.

"Because on the other side of the river there is the Devilo Forest, and the nesting grounds of wild hornets," Alyssa explained. She paused for a moment then glanced to Daniel.

"And I don't mean little insects, wild hornets are a type of monster that you
don't
want to meet," she warned, shaking her head. Daniel looked at her with concern as she looked back ahead with a solemn expression.

"They don't usually leave their homes, and they don't want to cross over water either, so your home is perfectly safe from them. But if any humans or monsters wander through that forest they'll attack and in great numbers," she said simply.

"Wild hornets? I don't remember reading about those," Daniel said looking down. He looked back inside the caravan’s cabin with a curious expression.

"Hey, Triska? Could you please grab my monster book for me?" he asked. His mouth opened a bit as he stared with wide eyes at something, with Alyssa slowly looking back then jumping in surprise at seeing something as well.

"Sure, one second, Daniel," Triska said while she was packing her duffel bag to the side near the rear of the cabin. Inside the caravan were wooden floors and walls, a roof that was curved up slightly, and a small window in the back looking out behind the ride. At least that's how it was when they left Ashwood, now however it had a soft blue blanket spread across the floor like a carpet, a few white pillows lying around against the walls, and a very surprised ant girl and nixie who were staring at Triska with wide eyes as the human pulled out yet another pillow from her bag and set it down against the wall near her.

"Where… is she getting all of these from?" Specca asked looking around at the cabin as Triska glanced back to her.

"What do you mean? It's just a blanket and some pillows, nothing wrong with making this place a bit more comfy to rest in, right?" she asked while she pulled out a lantern and set it down next to the travelers' bags.

"How did she pack all of that into one bag?" Alyssa asked with bewilderment. Squeak stared at Triska's duffel bag with wide eyes then over to the human while Specca looked around with disbelief.

"But… the physical dimensions of these and your carrying bag…" Specca pondered, scratching her head as she looked around inside the cabin. Triska moved over towards Daniel's bag and sifted her hand around inside of it, then pulled out his monster book. She smiled and moved towards the front of the cabin while Specca and Squeak looked at each other with puzzled expressions.

"Here you go, Daniel, so what are we looking for first out here?" she asked as she handed him the book. Daniel glanced to the book, back inside at the cabin, then to Triska as he remained silent. After a pause he took the book with a weak smile and shook his head.

"I'm not sure just yet, but first I want to check out something. Alyssa says there were monsters living south of our village past the bluffs," he said as he started looking through the pages.

"What? There were? There are?" Triska asked looking to Alyssa with surprise.

"Relax, your home isn't in any danger, wild hornets don't leave their nests or cross over bodies of water. Nothing to worry about," Alyssa said with a wave of the hand while she looked around inside the cabin with a curious eye. Even with all her knowledge of magical spells and bending the laws of physics with her power, she couldn't fathom how Triska could pack everything she had into a single duffel bag.

"Wild hornets? What are those?" Triska asked looking to Daniel. He shrugged as he flipped through his book.

"I'm not sure, I don't think I have those in here," he said shaking his head. Triska looked at the book worriedly then over to Specca.

"Hey, Specca, you said you memorized that monster book back at Ashwood, right?" she asked quickly. Specca glanced to her and nodded while Squeak stared at Triska's duffel bag with wonder, her antennae twitching a bit as she glanced around at all the stuff the human pulled out of the bag then back to it with confusion.

"So, what are wild hornets then?" Triska asked, sitting down while looking at the nixie curiously. Specca looked up for a moment in thought as she sat back, her eyes darting around slightly before she looked back over to Triska.

"Oh, yes. Um, let's see. Monster class: Wild Hornets. An insect class monster, they are found primarily in forests. These creatures operate in a hive based society with a queen and workers. They are extremely aggressive and territorial, and are known to be rather sadistic with the men they capture. Although they have stingers much like their insect counterparts, they do not use them to attack with. Their venom acts as a powerful aphrodisiac that keeps a man they sting in a constant state of lust, who the hornets then take back to their hive to use him as they wish. They will provide as many men as they can to their queen, while the workers are allowed the rest. It's common for any men that are captured by them to die of exhaustion as the hornets will repeatedly sting them and keep them active until their body gives out from the strain," she stated in a professional tone. Daniel and Triska stared at her with stunned expressions while Alyssa raised an eyebrow at the girl.

"Dear god, those things are just south of our home?" Triska cried out shaking her head.

"No wonder nobody ever came from that direction," Daniel said looking down to his book with concern. Specca looked at them worriedly and shook her head.

"But Alyssa is right, wild hornets don't leave their home forest where they build their nests. And they don't like to cross bodies of water, even rivers. Wild hornets don't like water. They won't be attacking your home, if anything they're serving as a natural blockade into your homeland," she reassured. Daniel and Triska looked at her with wonder then to each other.

"I never would have thought we were being
protected
by monsters," Triska said softly.

"How is that hard to believe, you're being protected by them now," Alyssa commented as she glanced to her. Triska shot her an annoyed glance while Daniel looked down in thought.

"Do you think they would be willing to listen to me like Squeak's race was?" he asked curiously. Alyssa looked at him and shook her head quickly.

"No way, Daniel, don't even consider it. The ant girls nearly raped you to begin with; it was only by a lucky chance you got to talk to their queen and an even luckier chance they listened to you. The wild hornets wouldn't listen to your words at all, you probably wouldn't even be able to form any cognitive thoughts while they have you drugged up and using you to breed with," she warned.

"She's right, Daniel, ant girls are very kind and caring with the men they take," Specca said looking to Squeak. The ant girl smiled at that before Specca looked back over to Daniel.

"But the wild hornets are completely different. They won't just use you to breed with, they'll literally rape you to death," she said worriedly.

"Ok, I vote no on the wild hornets then," Triska commented while shaking her head. Daniel nodded in agreement and looked up at the sky as a few clouds passed by overhead.

"I suppose you're right. Ok, we'll avoid them entirely while out here," he agreed softly.

"Don't worry, I'm sure there are plenty of other races that you can talk to, ones that aren't so wild and animalistic," Specca reassured hopefully. Daniel nodded then looked back over to her.

"Like who? Where do you think we should go first out here?" he asked. Everybody turned over to Specca as she looked down with a thoughtful expression.

"Yeah, you're our guide out here. So, guide us, where do we go from here?" Triska asked with a raised eyebrow. Specca glanced to her then down with a curious eye. After a pause she looked over to Triska's duffel bag.

"Well, do you have a map or anything in there?" she asked as she crawled over towards it. As she did everybody's eyes went wide while the nixie leaned over the bag curiously, her tail swaying gently behind her as it lifted up her skirt.

"What the hell?" Triska cried out before quickly diving over and tackling Specca to the ground and holding her down.

"What are you doing? Let me go!" Specca shouted as she squirmed around under the teen, her tail flailing around as Daniel looked up again at the sky with a blush.

"Why the hell aren't you wearing any underwear?" Triska yelled out. Specca stopped moving and glanced back up to her.

"What?" she asked.

"You're not wearing any underwear!" Triska cried out. Squeak and Alyssa looked over to see Daniel keeping his eyes on the sky above rather than on Specca who, when she leaned over to crawl towards the bag, revealed that she was in fact not wearing anything under her skirt. Even with her scales covering her lower body everybody could very easily make out the girl's private parts while her tail swayed above her.

"I never do, not all monsters wear clothing like humans do you know," Specca said shaking her head.

"You're wearing a shirt and tie along with glasses and a skirt, so why not any underwear?" Triska asked in disbelief.

"Because it's itchy," Specca complained. Everybody blinked and then just looked at her curiously; even Daniel who glanced over to her now that her private parts weren't visible.

"Itchy?" Triska repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, I hate wearing clothing over my scales; they get dry and itchy then. I had to tolerate it while in Ashwood to hide my hands, but at least I didn't have to worry about my lower body being seen with that long skirt so I never wore any under it. It's so uncomfortable," Specca said looking back down. Daniel looked at the girl curiously, remembering how her hands always fidgeted in the library while she was talking to him. She must have been uncomfortable with the clothing covering her scales and was trying to remain quiet about it.

Specca looked back up to Triska as the human was showing a puzzled expression.

"And I wear glasses because I have to, not because I want to. I can't see clearly above land without them," she said with a downtrodden expression.

"You can't see…
above
land?" Alyssa asked curiously. Specca shook her head and looked over to her.

"No, my eyesight is very poor above land, just like all nixies. I can only see clearly while underwater. I need these glasses while on land or else everything is incredibly blurry to me," she explained while squirming slightly underneath Triska.