Chronicles of Eden - Act V (33 page)

‘Had that building not have been there those would have killed me. How did she fire them so quickly and with such accuracy?’

“Okay, she knows we’re here,” Triska reasoned.

“She knows
you’re
here,” Tabitha hissed while watching the corner closely. “I wasn’t making a sound. That was all your fault.”

“You sure it wasn’t your stolen jewels rattling around that tipped her off?” Triska shot back while keeping her eyes forward as well.

“I told you it’s not stealing if they’re left behind.”

“Well now what? She’s obviously not friendly.”

Tabitha growled and quickly darted back over towards the corner of the building, ducking low and keeping close to the wall while preparing to swipe out with both her blades held behind her. Triska ran back over to the side and looked around at the nearby buildings, watching for any other movement yet seeing nothing in the dark town.

“This isn’t good, there could be more hiding anywhere here.”

“Be quiet,” Tabitha hissed at her while keeping her eyes focused on the edge of the building. Triska glanced over and watched the neko remaining perfectly still and silent while poised to attack, the girl’s tail slowly swaying side to side while the bells tied to it never made a sound.

“We can’t fight an archer out here in the streets,” Triska quietly cautioned. “We have to take cover.”

“I said be quiet, I can handle this,” Tabitha sternly hushed her while keeping ready to attack.

Triska scowled at the girl then quickly looked around, her eyes resting on a window near them leading into the building they were hiding against. She quickly rushed over then jammed her sword into the wooden frame of the window, jerking it to the side with a grunt as the glass cracked and the frame bent with a creak. Tabitha glanced back to seeing Triska pushing up the window before she quickly climbed through, a small thump being heard from her dropping onto the floor inside.

“What the hell are you doing?” Tabitha hissed. She looked back ahead then gasped with wide eyes, staring straight at an arrow that was poised to fire right into her head by the archer who had now stepped out from around the corner and taken aim at the girl. Tabitha froze in place as she saw the arrow set to strike right into her face then looked at the archer. Even though her hood was pulled up Tabitha’s eyes saw the girl’s face clearly, the narrowed glare and grimace she had showing she was not in a friendly mood. Slowly Tabitha forced a harsh glare in return while keeping her swords held back still, knowing she wouldn’t be able to swing them in time before the arrow pierced through her skull.

“Where is the girl you kidnapped?” Tabitha demanded.

“What girl?” the archer merely replied with.

Tabitha watched her carefully for a moment then glanced around while keeping her body still.

“You humans stole the butterfly princess from Flairwood, where is she?”

“What humans?”

Tabitha blinked then looked back at the archer.

“You’re… not human?”

The archer shook her head slowly.

“You didn’t kidnap the little butterfly girl?”

Again the archer shook her head.

From around the corner Triska slowly opened the door to the residence she had silently gone through, peeking out from inside as she saw the archer holding her bow onto Tabitha who was on the other side of the building.

“Have you seen anyone else here in Rackleholm?” Tabitha questioned.

“No,” the archer replied while keeping her arrow set to fire.

“I see. Then if that’s the case, I have a missing girl to find. So, if you don’t mind,” Tabitha replied while keeping a sharp eye on the archer.

“Nice try,
neko
,” the archer scorned. “I know your kind are hired as assassins. You tracked me down to kill me.”

“I don’t even know who you are.”

“And you never will,” the archer said as her eyes turned vicious while her hand holding the arrow tensed up. Tabitha stared with surprise at the archer before the woman quickly looked over to the side and saw Triska rushing towards her with her sword held down to the side. In a flash the archer darted away from Tabitha out into the street and fired her arrow, with Triska swinging her sword out before her with a desperate yell. The blade deflected the arrow with a sharp clank while Triska followed through and ran out from the corner at the archer, swinging her sword around with her wrist before slashing across the archer’s face with it. Tabitha watched with wonder as blood splattered out from the skull with a slick crunch before the woman dropped dead onto the ground. Her bow bounced away while Triska caught her balance and looked down to her kill as the moonlight above shined through a few clouds and lit up the street slightly.

“Did you… just
block
her arrow with your sword?” Tabitha questioned.

Triska glanced to her sword then smiled a little and shrugged.

“Totally what I meant to do,” she answered, trying to sound calm and collected while inside she was freaking out and thanking the lord for that lucky swing which saved her life.

Tabitha stared at her with disbelief for a moment then quickly sheathed her swords and grabbed her bag of jewels before running over to her. Triska knelt down and examined the archer who had a stunned expression on her face along with a large gash across it which was dripping blood.

“I didn’t want to kill her,” Triska spoke up shaking her head. “But when she was about to fire at you I figured it was the right thing to do.”

“I could have handled myself just fine,” Tabitha reasoned while looking away with a scoff. Triska glanced to her with a raised eyebrow before the neko sighed and smiled at her a little.

“Still, not bad. I guess that makes us even now, doesn’t it?”

Triska smirked at her then looked at the woman on the ground with a careful eye. With the moonlight shining more brightly they both noticed something about the archer. Her head was turned slightly and along with her golden hair they now saw her pointed ear sticking out from her cowl.

“Is that…” Triska said with surprise.

“An elf,” Tabitha answered before looking at Triska with wonder. “I don’t believe it. You blocked an arrow from an
elf
. That’s simply impossible.”

“I just killed an elf?” Triska asked shaking her head. “Oh crap, oh no, what have I done?”

“What do you mean? You stopped her from trying to kill us. You did nothing wrong here.”

“I just killed an elf!” Triska cried out while grabbing her hair. “They’re like the most peaceful and gentle of monsters! Oh shit, maybe she was just defending herself; she probably wasn’t out to kill us at all!”

“Triska?” Tabitha said with a raised eyebrow as she watched the human panicking.

“Dammit, we were going to go visit the elves after we were done in Flairwood, Daniel wanted to talk to them about peace with us as well. And here I just slashed this elf’s face apart!”

“Triska, it’s alright,” Tabitha assured holding a hand out to the teen.

“No it’s not,” Triska mourned with despair. “I just killed an innocent and probably frightened monster. Elves are peaceful and respectful monsters, they’re known to be very kind and caring to everything around them.”

“What the flying
fuck
?” Clover yelled out from nearby.

Triska and Tabitha looked over to seeing the enraged elf standing in the middle of the street, yanking down her hood and staring at the scene with shock and fury while she held her bow and arrow tightly in one hand.

“Did you just kill her?” she demanded pointing to Triska.

“Another elf,” Tabitha cautioned while reaching back and grabbing one of her sword’s handles.

“Oh no,” Triska said while quickly stumbling back a few steps away from the elf she just killed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. I mean I did, but… well we thought she was trying to kill us! She even shot at us, we were just defending ourselves! Honest!”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Clover yelled out. Triska and Tabitha watched the elf with confusion as the girl growled and muttered something while she stomped her feet around before she marched over towards them with a murderous look in her eye.

“Did you just kill her?
You
killed her?” Clover shouted out at Triska.

“I am so,
so
sorry,” Triska pleaded as she held a hand over her chest. “Really, I didn’t even know she was an elf until after I… and she tried to shoot us so we thought… and then things kind of happened and… I’m sorry.”

“What the fucking hell?” Clover shouted out with eyes shut tight. “You can’t kill her!
I
was supposed to fucking kill that bitch!”

Triska just stared at her with a stunned face as the elf began to furiously kick the corpse of the fallen monster with snarls and vicious grunts.

“I traveled all the fucking way out here to shoot this fucking bitch dead, I had to deal with nothing but bullshit the entire way, and you just walk along and fucking slice her fucking smile off her fucking face before I even get to fire a single fucking arrow! Fuck!”

Triska watched the elf with an open mouth while being rendered speechless, seeing the girl curse and vent her obvious frustrations while beating the body of the dead elf with her boots. Tabitha watched Clover with a blank expression then glanced to Triska with a raised eyebrow.

“They’re peaceful and gentle, huh?” she dryly repeated.

“Um…” Triska slowly said with bewilderment.

“Damn, damn, damn, damn, DAMN!” Clover yelled while she repeatedly kicked the dead monster before she finally stopped and just glared down at the elf’s battered body while breathing heavily.

“What the hell?” Triska quietly said with disbelief.

“Sensing a lot of hate in this one,” Tabitha mentioned.

Clover growled furiously then glared at Triska with what the teen believed to be the most menacing look she had ever seen in her life.

“You… just who the hell are you anyway?” Clover shouted out.

Triska and Tabitha glanced to each other then looked further down the street as something was galloping towards them along the cobblestone road.

“Clover!” Kroanette cried out. “Don’t leave me out there! Dammit, you owe me for giving you a lift here!” She ran over to the group while looking all around the darkened town with nervous eyes then noticed Triska staring at her with surprise.

“Triska? Is that you?”

“Kroanette? You’re okay!” Triska said with relief.

“Of course I am, but what happened to all of you? Where did you all go?” Kroanette asked as she ran over and hugged the teen. She then noticed Tabitha and slowly stepped back behind the human. “And who is she? What are you two doing here? And where’s Daniel and the others?”

“Hold it!” Clover yelled out, with everyone looking to her as she scowled at the centaur. “You know this bitch?”

“Yes, she’s one of my friends that I was separated from before we met,” Kroanette explained, then noticed the dead elf on the ground before them. “Um… who is that?”

“That was the thieving elf that stole from our priestess, that I chased all over Eden to this fucking place, only for
her
to just fucking kill her first!” Clover yelled before glaring at Triska with fire in her eyes. “Goddammit, she was mine to kill! That was my job!”

Triska and Tabitha watched her with bewilderment for a moment then turned to Kroanette as she was looking down at the dead elf with a curious eye.

“Kroanette? Who is this girl?” Triska carefully asked.

“Her name is Clover,” Kroanette said while watching the temperamental elf glaring at Triska with a scowl. “She… came to my aid after I was separated from all of you, and was rather insistent that I give her a ride to this place.”

Clover grumbled something to herself as she knelt down and took the black satchel from the dead elf’s belt. She opened it and peeked inside briefly before closing it tightly and then securing it to her own belt. Standing back up she growled at Triska with fury before looking away with a grunt.

“Fine, I got what I needed to, I guess. Let’s get going.”

“Going?” Triska asked slowly.

“Oh, yes,” Kroanette mentioned glancing to her with concern. “And she’s also rather insistent on keeping me as her personal horse. Perhaps because if she owned one prior to myself the poor animal likely leapt off a cliff and killed itself to be free from her.”

“What?” Triska asked again while watching Clover carefully now.

“You got a problem, bitch?” Clover snapped at her.

“You think my friend here is your personal horse?”

“No, she’s my personal
centaur
.”

“You’re not keeping Kroanette with you, she’s coming back with me to her friends,” Triska said narrowing her eyes at the elf.

“I saved her fat ass from some very unsavory bandits in the woods, she’s mine.”

“Okay, again, stop calling me fat,” Kroanette whined with a flustered huff. “I am not fat!”

“You don’t own her,” Triska argued at the elf.

“Yes, I do,” Clover retorted glaring at her.

“Hey,” Tabitha spoke up, with everyone turning to her as she drummed her fingers on her sword’s handle with a dull expression on her face. “I really don’t care what you’re talking about right now, but could you please take your senseless argument away from here? I still have a job to do, and it would be a lot easier without all of you shouting in the middle of the street.”

“Job?” Kroanette asked.

“Look, we don’t have time to be dealing with you right now,” Triska sternly said to Clover. “Kroanette is coming back with us, with or without your approval. But first we need to find a missing giant butterfly girl who was kidnapped, that’s our priority now.”

“Um… what?” Kroanette said shaking her head.

Clover glared at Triska for a moment then glanced over and up at something with a raised eyebrow. The other girls looked over to seeing a window lit up with a soft orange glow on the second story of a nearby building. And in the window they saw the blurry silhouette of a small girl quickly waving her hands in the air near the glass, almost like she was trying to get their attention.

“Is that…” Triska said peering at the darkened figure.

“That might be her,” Tabitha answered before she took off towards the residence.