Chronicles of Eden - Act V (63 page)

“What is she talking about?” Specca asked.

“If she goes back without that treasure she might be exiled for her failure,” Kroanette explained, with the group watching as Clover looked down and away while shutting her eye tightly. “If we explain that the swarm and Tabitha interfered with her work she might be excused for what happened.”

“So she needs us now,” Triska reasoned while crossing her arms with a harsh look at the elf. “Well too bad. Maybe if she wasn’t such a bitch to us we might have helped her.”

Daniel watched Clover with a glimmer of sympathy before Pip fluttered over in front of his face, the fairy having a remorseful frown and shaking her head slowly while holding her hands together in a pleading manner.

“Please, help her,” she implored. “She saved me from being eaten by a bird. She’s not bad. She’s just mad about what happened in the past, that’s all.”

“She saved you?” Daniel asked, with Pip nodding and quickly hugging his chest while looking up to him with a worried eye.

“I don’t want to be alone, I hate it. I know how bad it is. Don’t let her be alone too.”

Daniel glanced over to Clover as the elf was struggling not to lash out with her frustrations, her eyes shut tight while her teeth were slightly bared. He then looked around at the other girls, all of them exchanging worried glances before turning to him again.

“She did save Pip’s life,” Kroanette reasoned. “And is agreeing to help you with getting another monster ruler to side with us.”

“I’m not crazy about her coming with us,” Alyssa spoke up. “But the elves would be a big help to have on our side.”

“She’s so foulmouthed and rude,” Specca huffed while crossing her arms. “If she’s like that the entire way this journey is going to be dreadful.”

“We can find others to help us,” Falla insisted. “We don’t need her coming with us at all.”

“I do feel bad that she’s hurting so much though,” Luna admitted looking down. “The poor girl.”

Squeak pointed to the elf and then to Daniel while squeaking with a worried expression before waving her arms around then pointing to Clover again with discontent.

“Don’t let her be alone,” Pip said softly. “It’s so sad to be alone. I know.”

Daniel looked around at them with uncertainty then to Triska, the girl watching Clover with a dull stare before she shrugged at him.

“It’s up to you, Daniel,” she reasoned simply. “I’d rather we leave her here, but that’s just me. What do you want to do?”

Daniel lowered his head and sighed as he thought about whether the prospect of getting another ally with the elves was worth dealing with Clover for. He recalled how she had both good and bad merits to her, and his harem seemed split on deciding whether to let her come along for the ride or not. After taking his time to think about it he turned to face the elf as she peeked at him with one eye and nervously awaited his answer.

“I’m going to give you one chance,” he stated, with all the girls including Clover looking to him with wonder. “Just one, Clover. We’ll take you back to your home if you agree to help me speak to your priestess. We’ll also explain to her what happened with you and her treasure, that you ran into complications that couldn’t be helped. However, you
will
treat my mates with respect the entire way or else we will leave you behind. Understand?”

Clover stared at him for a while with a blank expression then pointed to him with a raised eyebrow.

“
Mates
?” she asked carefully. “Are you saying
all
these girls are your mates?”

Daniel looked back to the girls, silence filling the area while he eyed one girl to the next. He saw Falla and Luna smiling happily at him before glancing over to someone with concern. Specca and Squeak watched Daniel with loving eyes before they too looked over towards someone in the group. Triska’s gaze went from Daniel with a calm smile over to Alyssa with a raised eyebrow as everyone waited to see how the witch would react. To their surprise she nodded with a smile at him before glancing to Pip and Kroanette, the two showing joy from her approval of them.

“All of us,” she said with a wink before looking back to Daniel with a giggle. “So you’d better take care of all us, Daniel.”

Daniel smiled as all the girls watched him with cheerful faces before he turned to Clover and nodded, with her looking around at all the girls behind him with puzzlement.

“All of them,” he answered. “Is there a problem with that?”

Clover opened her mouth to speak, paused as she looked to him again, then slowly closed her mouth and shook her head. Daniel nodded as the elf lowered her head again while she questioned what she heard.

“Good. Respect my mates and treat them kindly, and we won’t have a problem.”

The other girls exchanged troubled glances then looked at the elf again.

“Hopefully she’ll keep in line with us,” Kroanette voiced with not much hope.

“It’s just until we reach Green Haven,” Triska reasoned before looking away.

Squeak rolled her eyes and squeaked something before crossing her arms and glancing away with a pout.

“She’d better help Daniel or else,” Alyssa grumbled.

“She’d better keep her foul mouth shut or else,” Specca huffed.

“Do you think she’ll learn to be good like us?” Luna asked softly.

“I really doubt it,” Falla answered shaking her head.

“Boobies!” Pip cheered as she flew over and darted into Squeak’s breasts, the ant girl squeaking loudly before dropping to the ground and rolling around with the fairy’s legs kicking out from her cleavage.

Daniel watched the two with a small smile before turning back to Clover as the elf slowly approached him with a cautious eye.

“Do you really trust that fairy to be around you?” she asked carefully. “I’ve seen the damage they can cause. If you really value the lives of those girls you wouldn’t want her around them.”

“I trust her, Clover,” Daniel assured her with a nod. “She’s helped us a lot since we met her, and has always been so kind with all of us. I trust her with my life, with all of ours.”

Clover glanced to Squeak as the ant girl was looking down to the fairy in her bosom with a deep blush and loud squeaks then back to Daniel while shaking her head slowly.

“You really are too trusting, aren’t you?”

“I’m trusting you,” Daniel quipped with an inquisitive eye. “Am I going to regret that?”

“I’ll keep my word, you can count on that. Just keep an eye on that fairy. She could be the end of all of us.”

Daniel watched her as he considered her words for a moment then walked over towards the girls with her slowly following after. The others were smiling amusedly at Squeak before Triska reached down and pulled Pip out of her bosom, with the fairy gasping for air then giggling at the human with a smile on her face.

“Okay, Pip, that’s enough,” Triska said as she let the fairy go to flutter in the air again.

“Please try to use some control, Pip,” Specca insisted with a weak smile.

“You can do that, right, Pip?” Alyssa asked with a knowing smile.

Pip nodded with a giggle then flew over to sit on Alyssa’s shoulder, the witch smiling at the fairy as she happily hopped a few times before all eyes turned to Daniel as he walked up to them.

“So shall we get going then?” he asked around at them.

“Sounds good to me,” Triska agreed.

“Now that we have Lucky we’re all set,” Alyssa said with a nod.

“Wait,” Clover said eyeing the caravan carefully. “You only have
one
horse? How does he pull that all by himself? Does the centaur pull it with him?”

Alyssa struck her staff down onto the elf’s foot, with Clover holding in her yell as she hopped about holding it before she scowled at the witch.

“I mean does
Kroanette
pull the ride with him?” she growled out through her teeth.

“No, she doesn’t,” Alyssa dryly replied. “Lucky is able to pull this just fine, you’ll see.”

“I can’t wait,” Clover muttered before looking away with a grunt.

“Oh, Daniel?” Specca mentioned with an eager smile at him. “Do look inside; I believe you’ll like what you see.”

“Yeah, about that,” Falla said looking to the nixie with excitement. “Is it true what Squeak told me? Is it?”

“What are you all talking about?” Alyssa asked looking around at them.

“Well, you see…” Specca said with a nervous smile while Squeak watched her with a dull stare.

Falla quickly flew over to the caravan and stuck her head through the front curtain, right before she started laughing and raced in.

“Sister? What do you see?” Luna asked before she flew over and raced inside as well.

“Yes, Daniel?” Kroanette said looking to him. “We noticed quite a lot of giant butterflies leaving the caravan earlier. Any idea why they were here?”

“We have an idea, yes,” Triska chuckled with a glance to Squeak as the ant girl huffed and marched off to board the ride. Specca smiled weakly and followed after before the rest of the group did as well. Daniel hopped up onto the front seat behind the two girls then entered the cabin, his eyes going wide as he gazed around at noticing a few changes.

“What do you think?” Specca asked as she stood before him and gestured around the interior, with Daniel smiling with wonder.

Where the table once was now a larger round one stood in its place, the smooth redwood table having eight chairs set around it with a vase filled with colorful flowers resting in the middle. It had placemats made of flattened stiff yellow flower petals while the chairs had floral molding around the backs. Next to that against the wall was a large bookcase with each shelf lined with various tombs and books. Going over to the side Daniel saw a tall wooden pantry with multiple smaller doors and drawers which Falla was looking through and seeing their food rations and dishes stacked inside. To the left of their bed was a wide open closet with all the girls’ clothing hanging up and arranged to each one it belonged to while the travelers’ bags were resting underneath them on the floor. Triska’s duffel bag however was still on the ground near the table as it proved to be too heavy to move without the teen there to do it herself. The bed itself was given a makeover as well, with it now having a large soft red cover over it along with ten fluffy black pillows resting near the back. To the right of the bed a few small crates and carrying pouches were stacked near the wall, with Luna opening one of the boxes curiously and seeing it having sorted tins of strange materials and bottled liquids. The couch and two chairs they had were moved a bit closer towards the bed along the wall while now in the right front corner there was a smaller bed set up, with taught green vines holding it together along with delicately carved wooden legs, large smooth leaves and pink colored petals that served as the bed and sheets, and two fluffy white pillows set at the top.

“Wow,” Daniel breathed out with wonder as he walked in and gazed around at everything. All the girls entered and looked around with awe, except for Squeak who headed straight for her clothes in the closet to change with an annoyed expression and Clover who merely raised an eyebrow at seeing everything. Kroanette smiled curiously at the renovations as she leaned forward through the entryway and held the curtain aside while Pip merrily giggled and flew around the room in a blue blur.

“This place looks amazing,” Alyssa said with a bright smile.

“Look, Alyssa,” Luna said pointing to the strange contents in the boxes. “Is this your magic stuff?”

Alyssa ran over to see while Triska eyed the open closet with awe, seeing all their clothes they had been either setting off to the side during the day or thrown off to the side during their passionate love sessions with their mate hanging up and neatly organized. Squeak continued to change into her preferred tunic, gloves, and boots while glancing around at everything with a bit of concern.

“Look, our new bed!” Falla cheered as she ran over and eyed over the new bed before jumping forward onto it with a relaxed sigh. “Oh yes, this is what we needed.”

“This is perfect,” Alyssa said looking through all the materials and bottles that were in the boxes and pouches for her. “This is what I needed, and even more than that.”

“I’m particularly partial to the books,” Specca mused as she eyed over the bookcase with a cheerful smile. “I think they really pull the whole room together.”

“Everything smells like flowers in here now,” Clover muttered to herself.

“I do wish I could come in with you all,” Kroanette said with her tail wagging behind her. “It looks really exquisite in there.”

“This is all from Squeak wearing her swimsuit for the giant butterflies?” Alyssa asked looking over to Squeak. The ant girl shook her head and turned to Specca with a dull stare and crossed arms, with everyone then looking to the nixie as she smiled nervously and tugged on her collar.

“No, it isn’t,” Falla chuckled as she stood up and walked over to Specca with an accusing smile. “It seems the locals thought
somebody
was more attractive than her.”

“Specca?” Alyssa asked with a puzzled smile at the nixie.

“She outclassed Squeak in beauty,” Falla giggled while looking to Squeak with amusement, the ant girl showing no amusement herself as Specca glanced away with a blush. “Squeak said all the butterflies
fawned
over how cute and innocent Specca looked… and they completely ignored her in the process!”

Alyssa and Kroanette looked to Squeak with surprise while Daniel, Triska, and Luna smiled weakly at her, the three having heard from Falla earlier how Specca had proved to be more beautiful in the eyes of the giant butterflies and not the well-endowed ant girl dressed in a skimpy bikini.

“Specca, you did that?” Kroanette asked with a curious smile.

“They said I looked classy and sexy at the same time,” Specca reasoned with a shrug. “Wherever we went they all came straight to me and paid Squeak no mind.”

“But she was half naked,” Alyssa said looking at Squeak with confusion. “They didn’t care for her showing off her body like that?”

“I guess not,” Specca said with a worried smile at Squeak, the ant girl glancing down and away with a pout. “I tried to draw their attention over to her, I kept introducing her as my good friend, but they just wanted to talk to me.”