chronicles of eden - act I (74 page)

"Really? Thank you, Daniel, you're far too generous," she said glancing to him with a small smile.

"Yeah, he really is," Triska said dryly while glancing to him with a careful eye. He laughed a bit with a weak smile and shrugged in response. Alyssa drummed her fingers on her staff then looked away.

"Anyway, we should probably get some rest for the night soon, the earlier we start out again tomorrow the sooner we can reach the elven forest across the outerlands," she mentioned. Daniel nodded and looked up as he leaned against the wall.

"I wonder what I could say to them to help convince their race to join us," he asked himself. Specca looked at him curiously for a moment then smiled timidly.

"I'm sure you'll be able to help them see that we can live together, Daniel, I believe in you," she reassured. He smiled and looked back over to her as the other girls were giving her dull stares.

"Thank you, Specca, I'll sure try my best," he said hopefully. Triska quickly looked to him with a hopeful smile and nodded in agreement.

"You'll do great, Daniel, you already opened up the possible alliance with Squeak's nest near our hometown, talking to elves should be a piece of cake for you," she agreed enthusiastically. He chuckled as Specca glanced to the girl with a raised eyebrow. Squeak nodded in agreement and squeaked something while Alyssa smiled and bounced up and down with a giddy giggle.

"Yeah, Daniel, you've already got three monster girls helping you with your quest, how could you have any doubt about yourself?" she asked with a bright smile.

"Thank you, all of you. It really means a lot that you're all out here helping me too, I don't think I would have gotten this far without it," Daniel said with a small laugh.

"That's funny, I remember saying something along those lines to you before we left home," Triska mused slyly. Daniel laughed slightly and looked down in response.

"Wait, there's an ant girl nest near your home?" Specca asked curiously. The group looked to her and nodded as the nixie looked at Squeak.

"Where?" she asked puzzled. Squeak pointed behind them and squeaked something while moving her hand around, the group watching her as she seemed to be trying to explain where her nest was. After she finished with her little speech Specca just glanced to Daniel.

"Um… where?" she asked again. Squeak twitched a bit then looked down with a slightly frustrated expression.

"It was a few days away from our home, about a day or so away from Ashwood. We kind of stumbled upon it while we were heading to the city," Daniel explained. Specca looked at him curiously then to Squeak.

"How… did they get into the safe zone behind Ashwood?" she asked puzzled. Squeak tilted her head with a curious expression while the group looked over to her.

"Well… I don't really know. Underground I guess?" Daniel reasoned with a shrug. Specca looked at Squeak carefully then down in thought, moving her finger around as she seemed to be tracing some sort of path in her mind.

"Specca? What is it?" Triska asked. Specca showed a confused expression and shook her head.

"I don't understand how they got past the city like that," she said looking back over to Squeak.

"What do you mean? They probably went right under it," Daniel said looking to the ant girl.

"No, the humans would have noticed them tunneling under the city. And they certainly would have been seen around the city limits if they had a nest under it. They had to have tunneled in from somewhere else," Specca said looking down in thought. Her eyes darted around in thought then looked up curiously.

"They couldn't have come from the south, the Devilo Forest is inhabited by wild hornets and they would have been a problem. They couldn't have come from the north or west, it's all mountain ranges, ant girls need soil and dirt to tunnel through," she said carefully. She shook her head and looked back to Squeak.

"How did your nest end up out there? You would have had to slowly move underground beneath Ashwood in order to get out that way, but you would have been found out before ever making it out that far," she asked bewildered.

"Yeah, I was kind of curious about that too. I mean, Alyssa was traveling out that way so I can understand running into her. But still, I never knew an entire nest of monsters was a few days away from home," Triska asked curiously. Squeak looked around at the group and shrugged.

"Maybe they got pushed out further and further into the land by those ant-lionesses, Squeak's queen mentioned they normally collapsed any tunnels that became infested and then push further away," Alyssa suggested. Specca looked at Squeak curiously then down in thought. She quickly reached back and brought out the map, laying it down and examining it closely while the others watched her. Specca held her finger down to the mountains north of Edgewood then drew along the mountain ranges to the west. She stopped when she got to the break where the Devilo River flowed horizontally across the land and where the mountains stopped. Looking closely at it she jumped a bit.

"There, that's where they came from," she declared pointing to the small opening near the mountain’s southern range where the river came from. The group looked at it curiously as Specca drew her finger from the small gap out towards the bluffs south of Edgewood.

"They came from the west, right under the river and into the safe zone. They missed the wild hornets just barely and kept pushing up at this angle. That's the only way they wouldn't have ever been spotted near the forests of Ashwood, they came from the west and were moving east towards the city," she reasoned looking back to Squeak. The ant girl looked at the map curiously as the group examined it.

"Wow, you mean they moved just south of our home?" Daniel asked.

"Yes, it looks like they tunneled under the bluffs through the softer areas and wound up in the fields here, just east of your home and west of Ashwood," Specca said, adjusting her glasses while pointing to the fields near Edgewood on the map. She looked at the map towards where it ended past the mountains to the west.

"It must have taken them years to slowly move their nest from the neighboring region into ours," she said softly. Daniel glanced to Squeak as the ant girl looked at the map curiously.

"Those ant-lionesses kept following them wherever they went, I had no idea they chased you so far, Squeak," he said with remorse. Squeak glanced to him then looked down with concern, seeing just how far her nest had shifted through the land trying to escape the underground predators.

"Oh dear, if they keep moving in that direction they'll run right into Ashwood, the humans there will find them," Specca said worriedly. The group looked to her then down to the map as she showed the direction the ant girls nest was heading in.

"That's not good, ant girls may take men for their breeding, but they never raid and go that close to human settlements, it would be too dangerous for them. If their nest moves too close to Ashwood the humans may send in their fighters to kill them off," Specca warned, looking to Squeak with concern. Squeak jumped and looked down to the map with wide eyes.

"Oh no, you're right. If they keep moving their nest they'll run straight into Ashwood. Even our hometown of Edgewood would have been dangerous for them to run into, but if they get too close to that city they'll have armored soldiers clearing them out," Triska said shaking her head. Squeak looked to her with a quick squeak then down at the map with fear.

"Didn't you kill the ant-lionesses though? You and Squeak cleared out those infected tunnels together didn't you?" Alyssa asked looking to Triska. The teen nodded slowly with a concerned expression.

"We did, but what if there's still more down there in other tunnels? Or if they came back? Squeak's nest would likely try moving again rather than fighting, they were still scared to death of those things when we left," she cautioned.

"How long would it take them to reach Ashwood?" Daniel asked looking to Specca. She looked at the map carefully and shrugged.

"I'm not sure; I don't know how fast they can move their nest or how big it is. It could take years, or months, there's no way to be sure. They may even veer off course and head north where they would hit solid rock and come to a quick stop, or head south and run into the wild hornets," she questioned worriedly.

"They're trapped, there's nowhere else for them to run," Alyssa said looking to Squeak. The ant girl shook her head and looked around at the group while squeaking quickly with a fearful expression.

"What can we do to help them? We can't just stay back there and be their ant-lioness killers, especially after Squeak was sent with us to help with this quest," Triska asked looking around at the group.

"There's nothing we can do for them right now," Specca said shaking her head. Triska growled then looked at her with a glare.

"What are you suggesting we do then, just forget about them? That's Squeak's family back there in case you didn't know; her whole nest. We can't just do nothing," she argued firmly. Daniel looked at her curiously as did Squeak and Alyssa, the three noticing how adamant the girl could become in a monster's defense.

"I know that, but like you said we can't just go back and remain there as their soldiers. We're out here for a purpose, and this is just another reason why we cannot fail with it," Specca explained.

"What do you mean another reason?" Triska asked.

"She's right," Daniel said looking to the map. The group looked to him as he pointed to Ashwood.

"Ashwood would have the manpower to wipe out their nest if they got too close, but what if Ashwood became their allies? If we can help our two races coexist then the ant girls' nest would be right next to their own guardians," he said thoughtfully. Squeak looked at him curiously then down to the map as Specca nodded with a smile.

"Exactly. If the humans of Ashwood were ok with the ant girls' nest being in their backyard, they would have the strength and power to help protect them. A prime example of why the ant girls need humans, not just for reproduction but for protection from their natural enemies," she agreed eagerly. Alyssa looked at the map and nodded slowly.

"Yeah, if Ashwood allied with that nest, the ant-lionesses would never be a problem again for them. They would have all the help they need to clear out those tunnels and keep them safe," she said curiously.

"Our fighters are more combat ready than their diggers, if we did become allies in this world then Squeak's nest would be protected and wouldn't have to move anymore," Triska said looking to Squeak. The ant girl looked at the map curiously then to Daniel, the boy studying the map closely.

"That would be their best bet for survival. But we can't just go back to Ashwood now and talk to them about it. For one they just got attacked by monsters, talking about coexisting with them to any extent is not an option right now. Also even if they weren't attacked, they're not going to just listen to us," he said shaking his head a bit.

"Well we need to do something, if we don't get that city to side with the ant girls then Squeak's nest is going to dig themselves straight into trouble," Triska said worriedly. Daniel nodded and glanced to her.

"We will, we'll do what we set out to do. Squeak's nest already sent us an ambassador of sorts; they're ready to talk about peace if we are. For them all we can do is help sway our kind in this region into giving peace a chance," he said looking back down to the map. Specca nodded in agreement then looked down as well.

"Worst case scenario is that her nest will be within Ashwood's sight in a few months, that is if they do indeed keep moving and rather quickly. Hopefully they won't be moving at all or it will take longer for them to move out that far, but even so how are you going to convince that city into siding with them before then?" she asked with concern.

"There's only one way we can gain their support quickly," Triska pointed out looking to Daniel. He nodded and leaned back against the wall while looking up at the ceiling with a deep gaze.

"We would have to convince the queen of the region of my belief, we would have to get her to side with us on this," he reasoned. Squeak looked at him curiously and squeaked something. He looked over to her then down to the map, and then pointed down further southeast into a large area marked as a safe zone.

"There, the kingdom of Rockhelm. We would have to go there and speak directly to Queen Leanna, only she would be able to approve true coexistence in this region," he said carefully.

"Tell me you had a plan about how to do that from the start, right, Daniel? I mean you would have had to talk to the rulers of Eden at some point about this, right?" Triska asked expectantly. Daniel sighed and shook his head.

"Truthfully, I was hoping that finding proof like these three would hopefully be enough to sway your mother into listening to us back home, I… haven't really worked out a plan on how to talk to the
queen
of our land about this yet," he admitted worriedly.

"But… what do you mean you haven't? Isn't that one of the most important parts of you getting mankind to coexist with monsters, talking to our own rulers? How can that not be on your to-do list?" Triska asked shaking her head. Daniel looked to her and held up his hands defensively.

"I'm sorry, but I didn't expect to be talking to the rules of Eden so quickly in this. I mean we just left Ashwood, I didn't think me talking to our queen would be coming up so suddenly," he defended with remorse.

"Well you're going to be talking to her now, you need to," Triska said urgently.

"If we go to Rockhelm as it stands now, Squeak, Alyssa, and I would be executed on the spot for walking into a human kingdom while you two might be imprisoned for talking about such things as monsters and humans coexisting," Specca pointed out worriedly.

"She's right, talking to your queen would be needed to make this happen, but we don't have anything to back up our case on this yet. Three lone monster girls aren't enough," Alyssa added shaking her head.

"How many would we need?" Triska wondered looking down.

"A lot, and even then it's still going to be a challenge to get the queen to listen to us at all," Daniel said with concern.