Chronicles of Eden - Act V (55 page)

“Falla?” Specca asked slowly. “What is she doing to you?”

“Yummy!” Pip cheered while she was slurping and licking under Falla’s skirt.

“She’s… drinking the juices of life,” Luna weakly said with a troubled smile.

“She’s
what
?” Kroanette asked before Falla cried out and dropped down face first onto the ground with her rear sticking up in the air. The centaur jumped then quickly covered Complica’s eyes and held her close as the young princess was watching Falla curiously.

“What is she doing?” Specca exclaimed with surprise.

“She’s feeding of course,” Alyssa giggled.

“Why?” Falla cried out at the witch with a flushed face, her body trembling while she started breathing heavier. “I only said what I did to save Triska from the swarm!”

“And I said what I did to save her from Pip,” Alyssa replied with a shrug.

“Sister?” Luna asked worriedly. “Are you okay?”

Falla squealed and dropped onto her side while holding her rear, feeling the tiny fairy constantly licking and sucking on her under her skirt, and trembled with a shaky whine.

“She’ll be fine,” Alyssa said with a smirk at the butterfly.

“What is going on?” Triska asked as she sat up and stared at Falla with bewilderment.

“What’s Pip doing?” Complica asked as she tried to remove Kroanette’s hand over her eyes. The centaur glanced to her with an uneasy smile then watched as Falla shakily moaned while one of her legs kicked on reflex.

“Pip’s just playing with her,” Kroanette insisted while keeping the young princess’s eyes covered. “That’s all. They’re just playing… together.”

“Daniel?” Triska said as she slowly stood up and kept her eyes on the butterfly girl who was on the ground being eaten out by a fairy. “Care to explain?”

Daniel merely sighed and lowered his head while holding a hand over his eyes, hearing Falla shakily crying out and Pip giggling playfully between loud slurps of the girl’s juices. The other girls watched the sight with confusion while Alyssa snickered to herself and Luna slowly knelt to hold Falla’s hand and gently reassure her that it would be over soon.

*****

Far away from human civilization amongst a few rolling hills stood a small inn, the old building being spacious enough to accommodate a dozen travelers or so, and a dilapidated barn next to it which had its front and back doors missing entirely. This rest stop wasn’t deserted however, evidenced by the single green lit lantern hanging before the doorway of the inn, but it was void of human life. Within the lodging used by monsters as a place to relax the main foyer had guests going about their own business while seated at long wooden tables and benches, with overhanging chandeliers holding many candles to keep the room well lit and guestrooms set both next to the main hall and out in the barn should the monsters be too big or repugnant to sleep with the others.

Amongst the varied crowd of inhuman patrons, with the goblins and orcs keeping to their own kind with derisive glances to the others as they usually did, a lone witch was seated at a corner table. Resting at her side against the seat was a sword that instilled a dark aura just as much as the girl herself did, a candle set to the side having burned halfway through its candlestick showing a passing of time which the little monster was very well aware of.

“She’s late,” Ember scoffed quietly to herself. “Every time she’s supposed to check in, she’s
late
.”

From the entryway the door quickly slammed open, not from a gust of wind but rather a woman who walked into the hostel like she owned the place. She strolled past other patrons who glanced to her with quiet scoffs and withheld annoyance from her loud entry. Her light green hair flowed gently down her back to her hips next to a tattered brown skirt that hugged her figure. The small belly bearing white tank top she wore barely held in her bust while atop that a light blue shawl was loosely hung around her shoulders and knotted together over her chest. The woman’s blue eyes glanced around at the other monsters as her arrogant smirk never faded despite her being largely ignored by the crowd.

“Come along, dear,” she called back behind her. From the door another girl walked in, this one taking a moment to look back at the door curiously before using both hands to close it with a simple smile. She was slightly younger than her partner whom she quickly trotted over to in her brown sandals, her short white skirt that hugged her hips being clean and straight while her yellow short sleeved shirt was opened all the way down the middle and only held together over her equally large bust by a black belt with blue embroidery edgings. Her long blonde hair was held back in a ponytail which swayed behind her while her blue eyes looked around at the local monsters with wonder before resting on the woman that she stayed closed to.

“Cindy,” the woman spoke with a small chuckle of amusement. “You don’t have to concern yourself with closing the door behind us; some other peon will take care of it. You’re not a doormonster.”

“But a draft could come in, mother,” Cindy said with a curious smile.

“And we should care about that why?” the woman laughed before walking ahead again, with Cindy quickly following after with an innocent smile on her face. The two made their way through the main hall towards Ember’s table in the corner, with the witch slowly glancing to her with a brooding scowl.

“Hey, been waiting long?” the woman jested as she and her daughter sat across the table from the witch.

“For an hour now,” Ember coldly replied. “What took you this time, Felucia?”

“Oh, you know,” Felucia said with a simple shrug while looking around the hall carelessly. “It’s so easy to lose track of time when you’re enjoying life.”

“Mother killed another human woman near here,” Cindy mentioned with a curious smile. “She sure did scream a lot, but then she stopped and died.”

Ember merely glanced to the girl with a dull eye then back to Felucia with a raised eyebrow.

“Why is your daughter so stupid?”

“It’s not her fault,” Felucia droned while looking up with a bored face. “She’s only been alive for a few weeks now. You know how kids are when they’re just discovering the world and learning how to kill humans.”

“I’m going to kill one too one day,” Cindy said with a bright smile and a nod. “And then I’ll make another me just like mother did with me.”

“I can’t wait,” Ember harshly quipped before looking at Felucia with a glare. “Enough with the chit-chat, did you find her yet or not?”

“Sorry, no Alyssa or Wildfire Witch to speak of,” Felucia replied with a shrug. “We’ve been looking but haven’t turned up a trace of her. I take it you’ve had no luck either?”

“She was around her old home in Ritherwood,” Ember said looking down with a distant gaze. “The alpha of the region says she visited there briefly a few days ago and then left, she didn’t say to where.”

“Ritherwood, huh?” Felucia repeated while looking around without any interest. “So where could she have gone then?”

“I don’t know, that’s what I’m paying
you
to find out,” Ember snapped at her.

“We’re trying,” Felucia said while still looking around with a bored expression.

“Then try
harder
!” Ember shouted out, with the sword at her side glowing red and the ground it rested on sizzling for a moment. The flame of the candle flared up powerfully, burning through nearly all the remaining wick and wax before slowly subsiding again. Felucia and Cindy quickly looked to the fire then to Ember while a faint trail of smoke came up from where the sword had burned the ground. “Need I remind you that if you fail with finding her for me I’ll have no choice but to
replace
you?”

“Fire,” Cindy squeaked out before clinging to her mother’s arm.

“Easy there, Ember,” Felucia said with a nervous smile. “Don’t scare the kid like that.”

“Oh, I’m
sorry
,” Ember hissed with discontent at them. “Does she know that fire is very bad for you sand wraiths? Does she know if she burns she’ll dry up and fall apart?”

“Knock it off,” Felucia retorted while holding her daughter close, with Cindy glancing to Ember with fright. “We’re looking for your mother just like you wanted; it’s not our fault she’s not easy to find. You yourself haven’t found her yet and you can teleport around with your magic, we on the other hand have to walk everywhere.”

“Don’t give me excuses,” Ember growled with anger. “Give me results. I don’t care what it takes, you find her and you bring her to me. Quit wasting time having sex with humans or killing them, I’m paying you to find my mother so I can rip her heart out!”

At this point other monsters were looking towards the loud witch who’s aura was nearly as dark as the blade that rested against her table while Felucia and Cindy were watching her nervously.

“We’ll find her,” Felucia insisted with a few nods. “We will, don’t worry.”

“Please don’t burn us,” Cindy whimpered fearfully.

“Then get to work,” Ember ordered as she stood up and walked to the side with her sword in hand, dragging the large blade behind her where it sizzled and seared the ground from the touch. “I don’t care who you have to kill or what you have to do, just bring me my wretched mother so I can kill her myself. Next time we meet you’d better have good news for me, or else.”

Felucia and Cindy quickly nodded before the witch walked across the hall with her sword, all the patrons just staring at her in silence and not moving unless it was to get out of her way, which they did so with haste. Ember opened the door and headed out with her sword scraping the ground behind her, the door then quickly being closed by a nearby goblin before the monster shuddered and looked to her fellow sisters with concern.

“If it wasn’t for all the gold we’ll be paid for dealing with this shit,” Felucia grumbled as slumped down on the seat.

“She’s scary,” Cindy sadly said. “I don’t want to work for her. She’s mean.”

“Once we find her mother and toss her to the bitch we’re done,” Felucia reasoned while stretching out her arms. “Now we just need to figure out where that Alyssa girl is.”

“How are we going to find her?” Cindy asked confusedly. “Wherever we go she’s not there. We need to go where she is this time.”

“You hit the nail on the head, honey,” Felucia dryly said with a roll of the eyes.

“I did? What nail? And with what hammer?” Cindy asked looking to her hands confusedly.

“I can’t wait until the grains of brain you have split into more,” Felucia tiredly said before she stood up and pulled her daughter to her feet by the hand. “C’mon, we have a job to do.”

The two made their way out of the inn together, with Cindy again stopping outside for a moment before turning around and closing the door with both hands. Felucia sighed and shook her head while waiting for her daughter to trot back over to her side with her usual innocent smile.

“Where to now, mother?” Cindy asked looking around eagerly.

“We have to find that witch, and the sooner the better,” Felucia said glancing around carefully for a moment. She then smirked and turned to Cindy with a raised eyebrow and her hands set at her hips. “Alright, Cindy. Are you ready to walk on your own out there?”

“I’m already walking on my own, see?” Cindy replied looking down to her feet curiously. “I can do it just fine.”

“Close enough,” Felucia dryly reasoned before looking towards the west. “We need to cover more ground to find this Alyssa, Ember’s getting too impatient. I want you to head west towards Ruhelia, search every village you can on the way, and with any luck you’ll stumble across her.”

“You want me to go alone?” Cindy asked worriedly. “But I’ve never been away from you before, mother.”

“You can handle this,” Felucia assured while holding a hand on her shoulder. “You need to have more confidence in yourself, Cindy. Now, the witch we’re after is called the Wildfire Witch, but remember what your mother told you about her?”

“She can’t create fire like Ember can. She can’t hurt me like Ember can. And she’s a little bitch just like Ember is.”

“That’s my girl,” Felucia cooed pinching her daughter’s cheek. “So nothing can hurt you out there, except for fire. Just keep away from any fires you see and you’ll be fine. While you’re searching out there I’m going to head north, I know a few holes in Eden this Alyssa may be trying to hide in.”

“Okay, mother,” Cindy said looking down with worry. “I’ll do my best for you.”

“Now now, dear,” Felucia said lifting the girl’s chin to smile at her. “You’ll be fine. You’re a sand wraith, no man or monster can hurt you. You have nothing to fear from swords or arrows, not even magic is a threat to you. So be strong just like your mother. You are a very powerful and beautiful monster, don’t forget that.”

“I’ll try,” Cindy promised with a nod.

“Good girl,” Felucia said patting Cindy’s head, with the naïve sand wraith giggling and wiggling her chest. “After you search Ruhelia then make your way towards Stonegate, I’ll meet you there if I don’t locate Alyssa. Hopefully one of us will find out where that sneaky witch is.”

“Okay, I just have one question,” Cindy said raising her hand.

“What is it?”

“Where are Ruhelia and Stonegate?” Cindy asked holding a finger to her lips.

Felucia stared at her with a dull expression for a moment then turned her daughter around by the shoulders to face west.

“Head that way, and just ask any travelers for directions if you get lost, alright?”

“Okay!” Cindy cheered before she started marching off into the rolling fields of grass with large steps. As she did Felucia watched her go with a quiet sigh before she began making her way north while casually fluffing her hair behind her with both hands.

“I really hope she absorbs someone smart while she’s gone.”

In the world of Eden many monster classes had a ruler or champion that they would follow or worship. From alpha witches to monarch butterflies and even to centaur empresses, these matriarchs led their sisters how they saw fit and often times for the good of their race. Many were quite noble with their leadership, despite their need and wish to use the men of the world to breed with however they could. They displayed true care and concern for their subjects, for their families. Although they would still rape the men of Eden in order to continue their race without remorse they could often times show real heart towards others.