chronicles of eden - act I (93 page)

“I think we can do that, Specca, that’ll be fine,” he said calmly.

“Thank you, Daniel,” Specca said with a timid smile. Triska sighed and sat back against the wall with a dull expression as Squeak looked back to Specca with worried eyes.

“We can’t keep stopping at every body of water we come across you know,” Triska said flatly.

“Daniel said it would be alright, and he knows best,” Specca said, looking back at her book with a bashful smile. Triska rolled her eyes in response while Squeak looked around at everybody. She glanced to Daniel then back to the girls as she started to get a bad feeling in her chest again. The other girls went back to minding their own business while Squeak looked towards the front of the cabin, the girl then moving towards it and looking outside with a worried expression. She saw the clouds above turning darker again as well as fog that was creeping around the surrounding landscape which looked exactly like before. Daniel glanced to her as the ant girl slowly looked over to him.

“So much for our sunny weather, huh?” Daniel chuckled. Her eyes widened a bit before looking around again, seeing the fog building around the area as the horse and caravan continued along the dirt road. She looked over to Daniel and squeaked a few times, the boy glancing to her with a curious eye as she pointed around at the passing fog.

“It’s alright, Squeak, it’s just a little fog. It should clear up soon,” he said before looking back ahead. She stared at him with surprise, looked back out towards the foggy surroundings, then to him with fearful eyes. She franticly squeaked a few more times while pointing to the fog.

“What’s she trying to say this time?” Triska asked glancing over to them.

“I’m afraid I haven’t figured out her type of language yet to even make an educated guess,” Specca commented, glancing over to Squeak with a raised eyebrow. Daniel looked at Squeak curiously as she shook her head while squeaking with a worried expression.

“It’s ok, Squeak, really. It’s just some fog, nothing to be afraid of,” he said reassuringly. Her jaw dropped as she heard everybody repeating their lines from her dream, feeling frightened even more while shaking her head and squeaking more.

“Squeak, calm down, what’s wrong?” Daniel asked as he watched her. She pointed around at the fog while squeaking franticly, having a fearful expression as she waved her hands around. Daniel just looked at her then glanced to the other two girls, both of them having puzzled expressions.

“I got nothing,” Triska said shaking her head.

“I’m not following either,” Specca said shaking hers. Daniel looked at Squeak curiously then up ahead, the boy suddenly holding the reins tightly as he saw something.

“What the… whoa, Lucky, whoa!” he called out. Triska and Specca looked over to him curiously as Lucky started to slow down. Squeak looked ahead and jumped with a loud squeak, watching as the overturned carriage from her dream came into view from the veil of fog ahead.

“What’s wrong? What is it, Daniel?” Triska asked, sheathing her dagger and moving towards the front of the cabin.

“Is everything alright?” Specca asked as Alyssa continued to sleep next to her.

“What happened here?” Triska asked cautiously as she looked at the carriage with a careful eye. Daniel looked around as he only saw fog around them.

“Hello? Is anybody there?” he called out. Squeak pulled him closer and shook her head, staring at the carriage with fright. She squeaked and pointed to it as he looked at her puzzled.

“Squeak? What’s wrong?” Daniel asked as he looked back to the carriage.

“Hello? Anybody still alive?” Triska called out. Squeak looked to her and shook her head franticly.

“What is it, what’s out there?” Specca asked.

“Looks like some travelers ran into trouble. I don’t see anyone here though,” Triska said carefully. Daniel peered around then spotted an arm slowly poking out from the torn cover of the carriage, the hand shakily grabbing the dirt as it trembled.

“Wait, somebody still in there,” Daniel said standing up. He was pushed back into the cabin by Squeak as she stared at the hand with shock. He rolled back and knocked into Alyssa, the witch waking up with a jump as Triska and Specca watched him land back on the floor.

“Squeak, what are you doing? Don’t throw Daniel like that!” Triska yelled at the ant girl. Alyssa blinked then looked to seeing Daniel lying on the floor in front of her.

“What… what’s going on?” she asked looking around. Squeak pointed towards the crashed carriage as she squeaked loudly, the group watching her with puzzlement as Daniel slowly sat up.

“Why did you do that, Squeak? What’s gotten into you?” he asked, rubbing his head with a confused expression.

“Why did we stop?” Alyssa asked as she grabbed her hat and put it on.

“What’s out there?” Specca asked curiously.

“It looks like some travelers were attacked, I think one of them is still alive,” Triska said looking back outside. She started to move to get off the caravan before Squeak grabbed her hand and pulled her back, the teen looking over to seeing the ant girl shaking her head franticly.

“Squeak? Let me go, somebody’s still in that thing, they need our help,” she said as she tried to pull free from the ant girl’s grip. Squeak shook her head and pushed Triska into the cabin, the teen stumbling back and crashing into Daniel.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Alyssa asked as Daniel and Triska landed down on the floor.

“What are you doing, Squeak, we have to help them,” Daniel said as he and Triska slowly got back up. Squeak shook her head and pointed towards the carriage with fright, squeaking and waving her hand around. The group just watched her with puzzled expressions as she squeaked many times at them.

“What the hell is she trying to say?” Triska asked shaking her head.

“We don’t have time for these games, Squeak, there could be survivors in there,” Daniel said urgently. Squeak shook her head then looked over to her pickaxe. She grabbed it then stood up on the front seat of the caravan, the girl then throwing the tool towards the moving arm in the overturned carriage. Daniel and Triska gasped as they rushed towards the entryway, the two watching the digging tool whipping towards the arm. It struck through the covering with a loud whack, the cloth covering then dropping down to reveal nobody inside. Squeak stared at it with surprise as the arm seemed to have vanished along with what it was attached to. Squeak slowly pointed to it and squeaked a few times, then looked back into the cabin. In the entryway she saw two ant-lionesses staring at her, their mouths extended out revealing their rows of razor sharp teeth as they screeched at her. Squeak let out a loud squeak before they grabbed her feet, the monsters pulling her into the cabin as she franticly clawed at the entryway’s frame. Inside the cabin loud screeches along with crunching sounds were heard, with Squeak thrashing around as blood splattered out onto the front seat. She was dragged back into the cabin, her grip on the wooden frame holding a few more seconds before letting go followed by loud squeaks and screeches.

Squeak jumped up with a loud squeak as she woke from her dream, thrashing around wildly before freezing in place. She blinked then looked around to seeing that she and the other girls were all sitting back in the caravan again, with Daniel riding in the driver’s seat while looking around outside. Alyssa was asleep still while Specca and Triska were staring at Squeak with surprise from her outburst.

“Squeak? Are you ok?” Specca asked.

“Bad dream?” Triska asked with a raised eyebrow. Squeak looked at them with fright then towards the front of the cabin, seeing Daniel looking back to her while the cloudy sky above was growing darker.

“Squeak? What’s wrong?” he asked. Squeak looked at him for a moment then around at everybody. She shook her head and started squeaking franticly, waving her hands around as she tried to explain her dream to them. The group just watched her with puzzled expressions as the ant girl squeaked quickly while looking around at them. After she was done Daniel scratched his head with confusion while Specca and Triska glanced to each other.

“Well… that sounds… bad,” Triska said with a shrug.

“Indeed, but you can relax, Squeak, it was just a dream.” Specca reassured before looking back to her book. Squeak yanked the book away and shook her head more, squeaking franticly as Specca looked at her with a jump.

“Hey, I was reading that. Would you try to calm yourself, it was just a bad dream,” Specca informed firmly before grabbing the book back. Squeak looked around at the group then to Daniel, the girl then rushing up to him and squeaking franticly as he just watched her. After she finished saying whatever it was she was trying to say he merely glanced to the other girls.

“I got nothing,” Triska said shaking her head.

“I’m not following either,” Specca said shaking hers. Squeak looked back to them with fear then back to Daniel, the ant girl pointing ahead at the fog that was building around outside. Daniel looked out towards it then back to her with a gentle smile.

“It’s alright, Squeak, it’s just a little fog. It should clear up soon,” he said before looking back ahead. She grabbed him and turned him around, squeaking again at him franticly while he watched with a surprised expression.

“Hey, would you get a grip already? It was just a bad dream, settle down,” Triska said moving forward and pushing Squeak off of Daniel. The ant girl looked at her worriedly then down as she squeaked a few times, the group watching her curiously. Squeak closed her eyes and held her arms around herself, squeaking softly as she trembled while sitting on her legs.

“She’s really frightened about something,” Specca said worriedly. Daniel moved down into the cabin and held the ant girl in a gentle hug. She squeaked with a jump as she looked over his shoulder with worry.

“It’s ok, Squeak, it was just a bad dream. You’re safe now, I promise,” he said gently. She closed her eyes and gently nuzzled against his cheek as she squeaked quietly, the girl trembling slightly. He leaned back and lifted her gaze up to his by her chin, then leaned forward and kissed her. She went wide eyed as she jumped a bit, the girl then being gently laid down by him as she kept staring at him with wonder. After a moment she closed her eyes as he held her, kissing her while having a hand resting on her cheek. He leaned back from his kiss and looked down at her with a loving smile, the girl blushing and slowly opening her eyes. She blinked then glanced over to the side, seeing the others were no longer in the cabin. Squeak looked around then back up, her expression turning to horror as she saw an ant-lioness above her with its open mouth and wide eyes. It screeched before lunging down on Squeak, the ant girl squeaking loudly as the monster held her down while eating her face. Squeak kicked and thrashed around as blood splattered around the empty cabin, the ant-lioness’s loud howl echoing out of the caravan.

Squeak shot up with a loud squeak from her dream, thrashing about before looking around to seeing everybody sitting where they were before again. Specca and Triska looked at her with surprise as Alyssa was still asleep against the wall.

“Squeak? Are you ok?” Specca asked.

“Bad dream?” Triska asked with a raised eyebrow. Squeak looked around as she scooted back against the wall in the corner, shaking her head while she squeaked franticly with terrified eyes. Daniel looked back at seeing her huddled in the corner as Specca and Triska watched her curiously.

“Squeak? What’s wrong?” Daniel asked. Squeak covered her eyes with her hands as she let out a loud squeak, shaking her head furiously. She looked back ahead at the group with fright, letting out a high pitched squeak as the cloudy sky above started to turn dark again.

*****

Sunlight was starting to fade as the cloudy sky above blocked out the light. A small amount of fog was drifting around slowly through the fields of tall grass and old trees that covered the nearby landscape. Flying around the trees two butterfly sisters were following a dirt road below, their wings flapping gently and quietly as they surveyed the area for their elusive human.

“Are you sure he came this way? Maybe he went a different way,” Luna suggested curiously.

“The road only goes this way; he had to have come through here. Just keep an eye out for him,” Falla grunted with annoyance as she and her sister flew around tall trees and weaved between bare branches.

“What are we going to do about the other girls with him? I don’t think they’re going to let us mate with him, they seemed against that idea before,” Luna said worriedly.

“That human promised to help me get pregnant, and I’m damn well going to hold him to that. If those other girls don’t like it then too bad, a promise is a promise!” Falla yelled out. Luna nodded slowly then looked around curiously.

“But we can’t fight them, and they didn’t seem to like us very much. I don’t want to die before I get pregnant,” she said softly.

“Then we’ll just have to take Daniel somewhere that we can be alone with him. Once we’ve got him all to ourselves he’ll give us what we want, one way or another,” Falla said sternly. Luna giggled and flew around erratically behind her sister.

“I CAN’T WAIT TO BE A MOTHER! JOY OF JOYS!” she shouted as she laughed hysterically. Falla glanced back to her then looked ahead with a dull expression.

“Those lucky children of yours,” she said flatly.

The two girls flew up over the trees and looked around carefully, soaring over the land as they kept a sharp eye out for the traveling caravan. After a while they spotted something and darted down into a nearby tree, the two girls sitting on a branch as they peered through the leaves. Up ahead they saw a familiar caravan parked near the side of the dirt road. Small banks of fog were drifting by as a calm breeze caused the tall grass nearby to sway slightly. They saw a white horse hitched to the front of the caravan, the animal looking around causally as all was quiet.

“Is that them? It looks like them. Is it them? I can’t tell if it’s them or not. Is it?” Luna asked under a whisper while leaning close to her sister. Falla pushed her back with a grunt.