Chronicles of Eden - Act V (43 page)

As Falla’s words echoed in his mind he felt a surge of energy race through him, channeling into his hand as he refused to let anything take her away from him.

“I said, let her
go!
” Daniel roared before a flash of bright light shot out from his hand. Everyone watched with surprise as he heaved the swarm back with incredible strength, the monster letting go of Falla and screeching loudly while the hand of his arm which was holding the swarm by its neck formed a brightly glowing blade of light. The edges shimmered with a blue and crimson hue while around his wrist green and purple light glimmered in the shape of a gauntlet. All eyes watched with wonder as Daniel yanked his arm away from the swarm, drawing his glowing blade in his hand across and through its neck before slicing its head clean off. The swarm’s body tumbled back and dropped onto the grass while its severed head bounced further away with a stunned expression on its face, an expression that Triska and Squeak also had as they had halted in their tracks from seeing Daniel kill the swarm with a glowing sword of light.

Silence befell the clearing as everyone stared at Daniel with surprise, Falla especially as she saw him standing over her holding his magical blade while his eyes were set in a focused glare at his kill.

“Daniel,” she breathed out as she started to feel lightheaded. Her eyes wearily watched as Daniel glanced down to her while his blade flickered then vanished along with the lights around his wrist. Slowly he knelt down next to her and held her hand while everyone else watched quietly in wonder.

“Why?” Falla breathed out as she started to lose consciousness. Before she did she distinctly heard Daniel say something, something that caused her heart to flutter even with her then fainting from her ordeal.

“I’m not letting you go, Falla.”

Honesty was always considered the best policy, though not as often held to heart by those in Eden as it should have been. Whether it was a small fib to get out of being in trouble with one’s elders or perhaps a deeper lie about having an affair with the voluptuous flower girl in the market, lying about anything was wrong no matter how you looked at it. The giant butterflies of Eden rarely learned this lesson, since their deception and slick tongues were their primary way of stealing men away in the first place. However, sometimes their lies would catch up with them as well, as it did for many in the world.

And for them the costs for their false words may end up being much worse.

*****

Inside the cabin Falla was lying on the bed while Squeak and Luna were tending to her, the unconscious butterfly’s wound being cleaned with a wet towel by Luna while Squeak was licking around the injury to help with its healing. Sitting near them holding a pillow close to her chest Complica was watching as Falla remained still on the bed with worried eyes, her wings remaining limp behind her back while her antennae twitched slightly over her head. Specca stood beside the bed watching as the girls were taking care of Falla with hope that she would be alright, the nixie now dressed in a new shirt and tie after her frightening encounter with a swarm, before she glanced behind her towards the entryway curtain. Walking over to it she brushed it aside and peeked outside to seeing Daniel trying to keep the peace as there were some anxieties being voiced by the other girls.

“Holy shit!” Triska cried out while staring at Daniel with wide eyes. “Did you use magic just now?”

“Where’s Lucky?” Alyssa demanded while looking around quickly. “Why didn’t he come back with you?”

“That’s a fairy!” Clover screamed out while pointing to the unconscious Pip who was being held close by Kroanette. “That’s a fucking fairy!”

“Could you please control your language?” Kroanette scorned with discontent. “There is a child inside the caravan as we speak.”

“How did you do that, Daniel?” Triska exclaimed looking over Daniel with awe. “What was that I just saw?”

“Where’s Lucky?” Alyssa cried out again while waving her hands around. “Where’s my horse?”

“Holy fucking shit!” Clover yelled out as she grabbed an arrow and aimed it in her bow at Pip. “What are you doing with that thing? Are you out of your fucking mind?”

“How dare you point that thing at her!” Kroanette shouted as she held Pip close to her side and stepped back. “She just saved all our lives from those swarm! What is the matter with you?”

“Hey!” Daniel called out as he stepped back from all of them, the girls looking to him as he held his hands up to try and silence them for a moment. “Can we please talk about all of this one at a time? We all have questions, so let’s be rational about this and calm down a bit, alright?”

All the girls fell quiet as they briefly glanced to one another before Daniel took a steady breath.

“Now, first things first,” he said before walking over to Triska, grabbing her close, and kissing her deeply. The girl closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck as she felt him holding her in their embrace, relishing the comforting gesture after the nightmare she had just been through. After the kiss ended Daniel smiled at his blushing mate while holding her still.

“You had me worried sick about you,” he said before nudging her nose with his. “I thought I was going to lose you.”

“Nothing could keep me from coming back to you, Daniel,” she replied with a bashful smile forming.

Daniel kissed her again then brushed her hair around her ear before looking to Kroanette as she was still cradling Pip close to her.

“I’m glad you’re back too, Kroanette. We were all worried we might have lost you today as well.”

“Thank you, Daniel,” Kroanette said glancing down to Pip with a gentle smile. “I was rather concerned when we were separated, but it feels great to be back again.” She then watched as Daniel walked over to her and gently rested his hand on her hip.

“Seems we’re always losing you every now and then,” he jested with a smirk. “We’re going to have to keep a closer eye on you, aren’t we?”

Kroanette giggled softly and shrugged before Daniel turned his eyes toward Clover, the elf still keeping her arrow primed and aimed towards Pip with a stern glare.

“Before we introduce ourselves like civil beings of Eden, would you mind not aiming that at us?” Daniel plainly asked.

“Wait a minute, where’s Lucky?” Alyssa asked again while looking to Triska with worried eyes. “Where is he? And where’s Tabitha?”

“Tabitha ran off,” Kroanette spoke up. “When Triska and Complica were surrounded by the swarm she assumed they were lost and took her leave. I’m not sure if she escaped the village in one piece, though I do hope she did.”

“And Lucky?” Alyssa whined with tears forming in her eyes.

“I left him outside the village when we arrived,” Triska remorsefully said. “I didn’t want him being found so I tied him to an old fence outside the village limits. I don’t know if the swarm found him or if he managed to run off. I’m sorry, Alyssa. We didn’t have time to go back after him when things got bad.”

Alyssa whimpered and dropped to her knees as she started crying, her hands shakily grabbing hold of the grass while she shut her eyes and wept quietly for her missing horse. Triska showed a saddened smile as she knelt down and held the witch close.

“I’m sure he ran off before anything got to him. He actually refused to go into Rackleholm when we got there, he knew something was wrong about that place before we did, he wouldn’t have stayed when the swarm came out.”

“We’ll head out at first light to look for him,” Kroanette offered. “I’m sure he managed to run off before he was found, he’s very lucky after all.”

Alyssa sniffled and looked up to Triska with watery eyes as the teen smiled gently and wiped a few of her tears away.

“We’ll find him, I promise,” Triska gently assured her.

Alyssa nodded and looked down again while Triska held her close, praying her horse didn’t become food for the swarm.

“What the fuck is wrong with you people?” Clover demanded. Everyone looked to seeing her eyeing them like they were crazy. “Who cares about your stupid horse, there’s a goddamn fairy right there and you’re all acting like that doesn’t matter!”

“Why are you so upset about Pip being here?” Kroanette asked. “You act like she’s a Darker One or something.”

“She
is
a Darker One!” Clover shouted at them. The group looked at her puzzled while Specca glanced back into the cabin at the monster book on the table with a cautious eye. “Are you all insane? You didn’t know that? Fairies are Darker Ones, how could you not know that?”

“What do you mean she’s a Darker One?” Triska questioned as she and Alyssa stood up together. “She’s not some evil monster, she’s extremely friendly and cheerful wherever she goes; she’s nothing like a succubus or a deathmare.”

“She’s a bit strange, I’ll give her that,” Alyssa admitted with a shrug. “But I wouldn’t rank her as a Darker One in the world, not even close.”

“Why do you say she’s a Darker One?” Specca asked carefully as she hopped down from the ride and walked over to them.

“Because fairies are the most destructive monsters in all of Eden!” Clover cried out. After all she got were confused stares from everyone she continued. “What is wrong with you people? Don’t you know the danger you’re all in with that thing near you?”

“Her name is Pip, and she is not a
thing
,” Daniel sternly told her.

“Oh? Pip is it?” Clover scoffed at him. “Who cares what she named herself. You’re all going to die if you don’t get rid of her.”

“And just how is she going to kill us?” Kroanette inquired.

“Don’t you idiots know anything?” Clover snapped. “Nine times out of ten fairies annihilate
everything
around them along with themselves with their magic! And one out of ten times they completely destroy everything twice as far away along with themselves with their magic!”

“What?” Triska and Alyssa asked together.

“They can’t control their power,” Clover explained. “They’re so naïve and stupid, they barely remember how to breed to begin with.”

“She has expressed some confusion about that, yes,” Daniel reluctantly agreed as he glanced back to the sleeping fairy.

“How do they breed anyway?” Triska asked raising a hand.

“Who cares, that’s not the point!” Clover shouted at her while keeping her arrow set on the fairy. “The point is they are like stupid children who have enormous magical reserves. What do you think is going to happen once she gets upset about something? Or scared? Or jealous? If she throws a fit and loses her temper she’ll unleash enough power to destroy not only herself but everyone and everything around her.”

“That’s crazy,” Triska scoffed with a wave of her hand. “Pip wouldn’t do anything to hurt anyone around her; she’s as peaceful as they come.”

“Um, Triska?” Alyssa slowly said. Everyone turned to her as she and Daniel were showing concern about something. “That’s not… entirely true.”

“What do you mean?” Triska asked as Alyssa and Daniel exchanged worried glances.

“Well,” Alyssa said looking up at the night sky. “While you were gone Pip was flying up in the air, and she got a little scared with some birds that were coming after her.”

“Birds?”

“She doesn’t like birds,” Daniel clarified. “They always try to eat her.”

“So what happened?”

“She killed them,” Alyssa answered, with Triska, Kroanette, and Specca jumping in surprise from that. “She used her magic to attack them with way too much power, the entire sky above us was lit up by all the magical bolts of energy she fired at the birds.”

“She what?” Triska asked with disbelief.

“She was just defending herself,” Daniel unsurely reasoned. “But the way she did it was overkill. We were all surprised to say the least to see her using so much power like that.”

“She used that much magic?” Specca asked examining the fairy closely.

“Yeah, she sure did,” Alyssa answered with a nod. “The amount of energy she released was a bit frightening.”

Triska and Kroanette looked to Pip with wonder then to Clover as the elf continued to glare and aim her arrow at the tiny fairy.

“Like I said, she’ll kill you all with her power,” Clover repeated. “Fairies aren’t capable of dealing with fear or anger, they can’t handle emotions like we can, they’re too naïve. She’ll lose her shit eventually and when she does you’re all fucked.”

“We’re not killing her,” Daniel retorted as he stood in front of the elf. “She helped us get this far, she brought you all back before you were killed by the swarm, she’s been nothing but an angel with us since we met her, and she certainly has done nothing to warrant you pointing your arrow at her.”

“Are you not hearing me?” Clover snapped. “That fairy could wipe us all out before the night is over if she just has a nightmare while asleep. She’s a threat!”

“How do you know all this?” Specca asked carefully. “I haven’t heard or read anything about what you’re saying with fairies.”

“Every elf knows of those things,” Clover scoffed. “Fairies like to fly around through forests and nature, they’ve come across many elven groves before in doing so, and I know of one that was completely destroyed because a fairy found it. There was only one survivor of that grove, one elf who lived to tell the tale about how a fairy came to her home and got upset because she couldn’t find any other fairies. She started crying and crying, and then
boom
! The entire grove was leveled into a smoking crater!” Everyone looked at her with surprise then to Pip as the fairy remained silent in Kroanette’s hands.

“That thing has to be put down,
now
,” Clover ordered while keeping her arrow set to fire.

Daniel glanced to the elf then walked over and watched Pip as the fairy was breathing quietly with a gentle expression on her face. Slowly he reached out and took the tiny monster into his hands, with all the girls watching him curiously as he found the idea that such an innocent and caring monster could be considered a Darker One in the world.

“Daniel?” Kroanette asked.

“What should we do?” Alyssa said as the girls waited to hear his verdict.