chronicles of eden - act I (82 page)

"I'm trying to, the current's too strong!" Alyssa cried out as she focused her power, trying to pull the boy out of the raging water. Squeak let out a loud squeak as the ground cracked around her pickaxe. She looked to it quickly then back to Daniel as Triska's grip on the ground started to give.

"This is crazy, why won't that thing let go?" Triska called out.

"She must really want him badly!" Alyssa said looking at the slime monster that was still wrapped around the boy's leg. Another wave splashed over Daniel as the group braced from the impact. He slid down slightly in Triska's grip while Squeak struggled to hold onto his arm, the ant girl feeling her pickaxe budging slightly from the fierce pull. The whirlpool spun faster still as the water raged out of control. Alyssa looked at the sight with wide eyes as Triska and Squeak glanced to it.

"She really can control the water," Alyssa said with wonder.

"No shit!" Triska yelled out.

From the water nearby Specca shot up and over towards Daniel, grabbing onto his waist as she held him close while glaring over at the slime woman. The group looked at her with wonder as her scales had a faint glow coming from them.

"You may have good taste in humans, but your heart is far from pure enough for him," Specca hissed with discontent, keeping her arms wrapped around Daniel securely. Her tail wrapped around his leg as she held out her hand to the side, the nixie’s eyes narrowing as a large wave behind the group rose up into the air. The slime monster looked up over them towards it with wide eyes that were misshapen while the group looked back to it with surprise. Specca swung her hand fiercely towards the slime monster, in doing so causing the wave to barrel towards them with a roar.

"Hang on!" Triska yelled as she and Squeak held onto Daniel with all their might. Alyssa focused all her power to keep him from being swept away while Specca kept her eyes locked onto the slime monster.

"Now, let go of my Daniel!" Specca yelled out as the wave crashed down on them, blasting past the nixie in a powerful torrent as the other girls struggled to hold onto Daniel. The slime monster shook about in the current before washing off, being swept away by the wave and vanishing into the river with a gurgled groan. Specca smiled confidently as the water slowly started to calm down around them, the nixie then looking over to Daniel with a gentle smile. Although her vision was blurry she was close enough to him that he was seen somewhat clearly.

"Are you ok, Daniel?" she asked softly. He coughed out some water then looked at her with amazement as he floated in place next to the river's edge in her arms.

"Specca… thank you. That was incredible," he said looking around at the river that was calming down and returning to normal. The whirlpool nearby slowly vanished as the river returned to its docile state. Specca smiled softly with a blush and looked down, still holding onto him as her tail swayed behind in the water.

"I just did what I could to save you, I was so worried about you," she said bashfully. Alyssa cleared her throat, causing the nixie to look up to the blurry figures of three girls behind Daniel. Specca's glasses floated over and placed themselves onto the nixie's face, the girl's vision turning clear to reveal the other girls glaring at her while dripping wet. Daniel glanced back to them and smiled nervously as Specca continued to hold onto him.

"What did you just say?" Alyssa demanded, drumming her fingers on her staff.

"Did you just call Daniel
yours
?" Triska asked through bared teeth. Squeak merely squeaked with a low tone as she watched the nixie hold onto Daniel still. Specca blinked then smiled curiously.

"Oh, did I? I didn't notice, rush of adrenaline and such," she said with a simple giggle. The other girls continued to glare at her as Daniel chuckled weakly.

"Um… anyway, could we get out of the river now? I think I've had enough of being in the water for one day," he said with a nervous laugh. The other girls looked to him then to Specca, the three then pulling him out of the water as Specca climbed up over the river's edge. She smiled curiously as the other girls were still glaring at her while Daniel was back on his feet, the boy having soaking wet clothing as he was looking around at the obvious tension in the group.

"Is something wrong?" Specca asked innocently.

"Who the hell do you think you are calling Daniel
yours
?" Triska barked out at the girl. Specca looked at her with an amused smile.

"You seem angry, I thought you would be pleased that I saved Daniel from that horrible slime woman," she said simply.

"Saved him? You nearly washed him away! I had to hang onto him for dear life otherwise he would have been swept away!" Triska yelled out. Specca looked at her with a pouty smile and shook her head.

"Well, somebody had to do something to save him, and since we couldn't pull him out without risking him being dissolved into nothing by that monster, I did what I could. I used the power of the river to wash the monster away. It was only because the slime woman couldn't hold onto Daniel with the force of my current against her that she was removed from him safely," she reasoned with a shrug.

"Safely? It took all three of us to hold onto him from your raging river, you could have killed him!" Alyssa yelled out.

"Easy, Alyssa, she helped save my life. You all did. Thank you, all of you for doing that," Daniel said looking around at the girls. Triska looked back to him with worried eyes.

"But, Daniel, I was the one that tried to save you. Specca nearly killed you by washing you away with that slime woman," she said shaking her head. She flinched a bit then looked to her arm which was reddened and burnt in some places. Daniel looked at her worriedly as he walked up to her.

"Are you ok, Triska?" he asked gently. She nodded slowly as the group looked to her arm.

"Yeah, I'll be alright," she said softly as she slowly flexed her hand. Her skin was slightly burned from the acidic touch of the slime woman, but other than that no serious damage was seen.

"Thank you, Triska," Daniel said gratefully. She glanced to him as he was looking at her arm with concern.

"For trying to save me like that, and for not letting me go," he said with a kind smile. She blushed and nodded with a small smile.

"Of course, Daniel, I would never let another monster take you away like that," she said softly.

"Hey, what about me? I helped keep you from being washed away by Specca too," Alyssa whined with a pout. Squeak nodded with a squeak as well while Specca glanced to them with an annoyed expression. Daniel chuckled and looked over to them.

"My thanks go out to both of you as well, Alyssa, you know that. Thank you all for coming to help me like that," he said with a smile. Alyssa and Squeak smiled softly at him while Specca had a dull expression on her face. She cleared her throat to get their attention then looked at Daniel with a gentle smile.

"Daniel, if you wanted to get cleaned up please feel free to use the caravan. Perhaps a new set of clothing would be more comfortable for you," she suggested pointing to his clothing. The group looked down to the boy's clothes that were dripping wet while it had small holes and tears from the slime woman’s acid. He chuckled and nodded with a weak smile as he examined himself.

"Yeah, I think that might be a good idea," he said with a small laugh. Specca nodded and glanced to the caravan.

"Go ahead and take your time getting changed, we'll wait out here and keep an eye out for any other unwanted surprises. We'll make sure you're not disturbed," she said before looking to the other girls. They all looked at her carefully and nodded.

"Yeah, go ahead, Daniel," Triska said watching the nixie closely.

"Take your time," Alyssa added. Squeak nodded with a small squeak. Daniel looked at them curiously then down to his ragged clothing.

"Well, alright then. I won't take too long," he said before walking over to the caravan. The girls watched him climb up and into the cabin before looking to Specca with glares. She giggled softly and raised an eyebrow with an amused smile at them.

"What's with those looks? I did nothing wrong back there," she said softly.

"I'd say you did do wrong claiming Daniel to be yours," Triska said with narrowed eyes.

"Very,
very
wrong," Alyssa added sternly. Squeak nodded in agreement, also showing discontent for the nixie. Specca merely looked at the girls with an arrogant smile.

"I'd say it's a rather fair claim. After all, I'm the only monster girl here who
hasn't
tried to rape Daniel," she said looking over to Alyssa and Squeak, both girls showing a bit of concern as they glanced to each other.

"I can talk to him about his favorite interests and stories," Specca continued as she looked up with a thoughtful smile. The girls just gave her dull glares at that remark before glancing over to the caravan.

"I just removed a slime woman from around his body before it could rape and or kill him while none of you could," Specca said while counting on her fingers.

"You nearly killed him yourself in doing so," Triska accused, pointing to the nixie with narrowed eyes. Specca looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I told you to hold onto him didn't I?" she asked plainly. Triska growled loudly before holding her arm with a flinch, the girl's skin burned and sensitive still. Alyssa and Squeak glanced to her with concern while Specca shrugged with a calm smile.

"What I said was a fact, after all I am the best match for him out here," Specca boasted arrogantly. The other girls looked at her with glares, but before they could say anything about the matter Daniel started to climb out of the cabin dressed in a new set of clean clothes. Specca smirked at the girls then looked over to Daniel with a gentle smile as he walked towards them.

"You look very handsome, Daniel," she said softly. He chuckled with an amused smile.

"I'm just wearing the same kind of clothes I had on before," he said examining himself. Specca nodded with a calm smile still.

"I know, I just felt like saying what was on my mind," she said softly. Triska narrowed her eyes at the girl as she clenched her fists.

'I'd love to give you a piece of my mind.'

Daniel smiled at the nixie then looked over to the other girls, all of them jumping a bit before forcing quick smiles for him. He glanced to Triska's arm with a worried expression then to her.

"Are you sure you're ok, Triska?" he asked. She nodded and looked to her arm.

"I've gotten worse just training back at home, I'll be fine. Really, don't worry about me, Daniel," she reassured softly. Daniel nodded then looked over to the river.

"I guess we can rule out slime women as possible allies of mankind," he said scratching his head.

"I could have told you that, those monsters are more feral than sentient, they're just like wild animals," Alyssa said shaking her head. Daniel smirked then looked off into the distance.

"I didn't think that every monster I met out here would be up for talking, never had any delusions about that. Still, I've got to try, I know there are those out there like you girls that would be willing to give peace a chance, I just need to find them," he said assuredly. The girls watched him stand there with curious expressions. He was nearly raped/killed/swept away by a raging river a short while ago, and yet he was just as determined to seek out other monsters in the world as before.

"You're the bravest human I know, Daniel," Specca complimented with a gentle smile. He glanced to her curiously as she looked at him with adoring eyes.

"To have such faith in your beliefs even though they are so radical, to be so brave as to stand before the monsters of this world all in hopes of talking to them about peace, you're incredible," she praised softly. He smiled at her while the other girls looked at her with dull expressions.

"Thank you, Specca, but I'm not really that incredible," he said shaking his head.

"Yes you are," Triska, Alyssa, and Specca said eagerly, along with Squeak who squeaked quickly in agreement. The girls glanced to each other then back to Daniel as he looked around at them with a curious smile.

"Um… well, thank you," he said with a small shrug. He looked over to the campsite then back to Specca.

"Specca, were you hungry at all? Alyssa took care of lunch and prepared some delicious food for all of us," he asked. Specca glanced to Alyssa, the witch glaring at her, and then looked back to Daniel.

"Oh, that's quite alright. I managed to catch a few fish while I was in the river, I'm fine. Thank you for offering though," she said gratefully. Daniel looked at her curiously at that remark.

"You caught some fish in the river? And ate them… alive?" he asked. She nodded with a small giggle.

"Well, I am a water monster after all, we need to eat too. They looked so good I just couldn't help myself, although I'm sure Alyssa's cooking was still adequate," she said with a shrug. Alyssa clutched her staff tightly as she scoffed at the nixie.

'I would imagine it was better than raw fish, yes.'

"Yeah, it was. She's quite the magical cook," Daniel said looking to Alyssa. She smiled brightly and nodded while Triska and Squeak glanced to her with dull expressions. Specca smirked bitterly at the girls then smiled gently at Daniel again.

"Perhaps next time we stop I can try my hand at cooking you a meal. I've read a few cookbooks back at Ashwood and I would love the chance to make you a warm meal as well," she offered. Daniel looked at her with a curious smile while the other girls glared at her again.

"Really? I suppose if you would like to, sure, Specca. That sounds great," he said with a nod. Specca nodded eagerly with an innocent smile.

"It would be my pleasure to be able to cook for you," she said softly. Daniel smiled at the nixie then looked over to the other girls, all of them jumping a bit and once more forcing quick smiles.

"Well, shall we head off then? We still have a ways to go before we reach the elven forest," he asked looking around at the girls.

"Whatever you say, Daniel," Specca said softly.