Chronicles of Eden - Act VI (38 page)

Daemon nodded once then walked away with his hand on his sword’s handle. Sasha watched him head off not on the trail but rather in another direction across a field of grass away from the stone ruins. After he vanished into the night the reptile girl held a hand over her heart and lowered her head with a loving smile.

“My master is a cambion, a monster such as I. This is truly a gift, to be able to serve someone as powerful and great as him. I will not fail, I will not be the lowest of the low any longer, I shall be worthy of a mate such as him.”

She then turned to her broadsword which remained struck into the ground, the blade’s edge shimmering in the moonlight while the reptile girl walked up towards it with a focused expression coming across her face.

“When my master returns, I shall be ready. No matter what.”

In the world of Eden it was common to come across those that weren’t easy to get along with. Be they man or monster some had very abrasive personalities or quirks that made them difficult to tolerate even by those with great patience. Often times they were bitter, rude, volatile, or even disgusting to the point that they practically repelled everyone away from them. But this wasn’t to say they were evil at heart or were incapable of being kind to those around them. Sometimes it was just a matter getting to know them better, seeing them for who they truly were under their rough exterior.

After all, you never knew if they would one day become your close friend.

*****

“He’s a
cambion
?” Tabitha skeptically said rolling her eyes. “One of those mythical half-human half-demon monsters? You’re seriously going to try and tell me that with a straight face?”

“I just did tell you with a straight face,” Sasha pointed out. “Because it is the truth. My master is no mere human. He’s part demon.”

“Right, sure he is,” Tabitha dryly retorted before looking up at the moon. “Well your story wasn’t a complete bore at least, though the ending is nothing but a joke. Still, how about you tell me the truth now, since he did order you to tell me what I want to know before he comes back.”

“Are you calling Sasha a liar?” Forrus growled at her.

“She’s a decent storyteller, I’ll give her that much. She managed to give Scay quite the fright with that tall tale,” Tabitha reasoned with a glance to the naga who was still wrapped up in her tail on the ground. Scay whined with nervous eyes before looking to Tabitha from behind her tail and hair.

“Is he going to eat us tonight?” Scay fearfully asked.

“No, Scay. He’s not going to eat us. He’s a normal human, just like all men in Eden are. He’s not some kind of monster; they’re just trying to scare you with that story.”

Scay slowly unraveled her tail around herself and sat up while murmuring and tugging on her hair, eyes going from down at the ground to Tabitha then to Sasha as the reptile girl slowly shook her head at them.

“A normal human could outrun all of us through the forest?” Sasha questioned. Tabitha glanced to her with a dull expression while Scay held her hair over her face and peeked out from behind it at the reptile girl. “A normal human could fend off so many monsters back at that village all on his own? A normal human could have lifted and thrown your naga friend with one hand?”

“He’s using some sort of magic,” Tabitha reasoned with a shrug. “He enhanced himself with a spell to appear more formidable. Much more believable than him being part monster.”

“You’re too stupid to see the truth,” Rulo scoffed while looking off into the distance.

“What truth? All you’ve told me so far is nothing but lies. Sasha may have had a rough life, I can believe that, but a cambion coming and sweeping her off her feet like that? There’s no way that happened.” Tabitha then stood up and crossed her arms in discontent. “Look, if you’re not going to tell me anything then I’ll just go ask Daemon myself for this so called truth. Maybe he’ll show me what a monster he really is, maybe not. But I’m going to get some answers about him and those artifacts, and it’s clear you’re not going to tell me the truth about either.”

She started to walk away before Forrus leapt over in front of the neko and snarled while on all fours. Tabitha hissed at the lycan while grabbing hold of her swords as Forrus slowly stood up and walked towards her.

“My lord said for us to wait here until he returns,” Forrus firmly stated. “So that’s what we’re going to do. You are not going to disturb him, I will not allow it.”

“I’m not listening to anymore of your nonsense. Out of my way, mutt, or else I’ll go
through
you.”

The two growled and hissed at each other before Scay tugged on Tabitha’s tail, earning a questioning glance from the neko as she saw Scay shaking her head slowly.

“I want to hear the rest of the story,” she softly said.

“Scay, they’re just lying to you. That story wasn’t real.”

“Yes it was,” Scay insisted as she backed up and nodded. Tabitha watched her with puzzlement as the naga turned her curious eyes onto Sasha again. “She seemed so sad when she was telling it. It had to have been real.”

“No, it couldn’t have been. Scay, there are no such things as cambions,” Tabitha argued with her. “What she said
could not have happened
. She was just trying to mess with us.”

Scay slowly slithered over in front of Sasha and watched her with a troubled frown, seeing the reptile girl just staring at her while holding the satchel in her lap still.

“Did what you say really happen?” Scay asked.

“Yes, I wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for him coming to save me as he did,” Sasha assured.

“Cross your heart, hope to get
stabbed horribly in your sleep by a dagger
?” Scay strained out through a worried smile while rapidly tapping her fingernails along her dagger. Sasha merely watched her with a dull expression for a moment then nodded once.

“Yes, sure,” she flatly answered.

“Tabitha, she’s telling the truth,” Scay implored towards the neko with a hopeful smile.

“Scay, no she isn’t,” Tabitha replied with exasperation. “For the last time, cambions don’t exist. They’re not real.”

“If it wasn’t for my lord being what he is I would not be alive today,” Forrus sternly said before jabbing the neko hard with her hand, knocking the girl back a step and earning a fierce glare from her.

“Neither would I,” Rulo spoke up.

“Nor would I,” Sasha agreed.

Tabitha looked around at the three girls with a scoff then to Scay as the naga was swaying side to side with a strained murmur while holding her hands to her face with a pout.

“Please, Tabitha?” she innocently asked. “I want to hear the rest of the story.”

Tabitha opened her mouth to speak in protest then halted as the naga whimpered with watery eyes. The neko sighed with annoyance with a hand held over her face before taking a deep breath then walking over towards her special friend.

“Fine,” she muttered before sitting down next to the naga. “Go ahead, tell her your story. I don’t believe a word of it but apparently you’ve corrupted this one’s impressionable mind with your lies, so keep on going I guess.”

Scay squealed with delight then quickly wrapped her tail around the neko and held her close, with Tabitha grunting loudly as the naga’s tail constricted tightly. The other girls watched as Scay held onto Tabitha with her arms and tail while smiling brightly at Sasha, all while the neko coughed and gasped for air.

“
Tell us the story!
” Scay forced out through her teeth in her obvious excitement while Tabitha struggled to free herself from the naga’s vicelike hold.

“Scay,” Tabitha coughed out with eyes shut tight. “Let me go, I can’t breathe.”

“Perhaps having this insane girl with us isn’t so bad after all,” Forrus chuckled with a smirk at seeing Tabitha grunting with the naga’s tail wrapped tightly around her. The neko growled with frustration then bit down on Scay’s tail, the two girls freezing in place before Scay glanced to her friend with a curious eye.

“Tabitha?” she asked, not seeming to be in any pain or discomfort from the neko biting her. “Are you hungry?”

“Get your tail off me,” Tabitha mumbled with her mouth full.

Scay blinked then giggled playfully as she unraveled her tail, with Tabitha falling back onto the ground with a loud gasp before coughing and trying to catch her breath. She started to sit up again before Scay grabbed her from around the waist and pulled her close, this time holding her only with her arms while turning to Sasha again with a big smile. Tabitha growled quietly to herself as the naga held her close like a stuffed animal while the other girls smirked at the neko and her blissfully innocent friend.

“Alright then,” Sasha mused. “Now, where was I?”

*****

The sun slowly began to rise over The Outerlands as a new day began. Light crept along the fields and hillsides before coming across a stone ruin beside a gently flowing river. Lying on the grass near a large broadsword that was struck into the dirt a young reptile girl was sound asleep while her armor leggings and hip plates were set next to her. Her tail slowly moved along the grass as she stirred from her slumber, eyes opening and watching a few clouds drifting by with a flock of birds soaring through the air above her. The girl sat up with a yawn and stretched her arms out, her senses gradually focusing before she looked to the sword that glistened in the sunlight.

“Master will return tonight,” Sasha spoke softly to herself while getting onto her feet. “I need to be able to prove that I am worthy of being his. Lifting this weapon should be no feat for me. Surely I can handle something as simple as that.”

She looked to her side and saw that her wound had mostly healed during the night, only having a faint mark from where she had been pierced by her sister’s blade. Moving her torso and arm around with a few stretches she felt no pain from where she had been struck through yesterday, although her body was a little stiff after recovering from it.

“Alright then,” she boldly declared before grabbing the handle to the weapon using both hands with a determined face. “No problem!”

The girl lifted the blade up out of its resting place, swung it around with a powerful yell, held it up high above her, then wavered off-balance and fell to the ground with the sword hitting the dirt hard. Sasha growled with frustration as she scrambled back to her feet and tried to lift the sword again, being able to hold the large blade up off the ground for a few seconds before dropping it down again with a loud grunt.

“Dammit, it’s heavier than I thought,” she cursed as she tried to lift it up once more, this time using her hand on the flat part of the blade as she held it across from her. After a few moments of heavy breathing and struggling to keep it steady the sword dropped to the side onto the ground before Sasha let go of the handle and stumbled back onto her rear with a grunt.

“I will not allow this chance to pass me by,” she snarled as she rubbed her shoulder and moved her arm around. Moving quickly she got back onto her feet and grabbed the handle of the blade, swinging it into the air and holding it straight up while using both hands to keep it steady. She growled and grunted as her arms strained to hold the heavy sword up before it wavered and fell forward once more, hitting the ground with a loud thump as Sasha breathed heavily while managing to at least keep the handle lifted off the ground this time in both hands.

“I don’t understand,” she grunted shaking her head. “How did my master carry both myself and this weapon like we were nothing? Surely I had to weigh enough, but he held this thing with one hand without so much as flinching. How did he do it?”

She blinked then smiled weakly with some self-amusement as she remembered the answer to that.

“Right, he’s no human. Of course not, he couldn’t have been if he managed to carry this damned thing so easily.”

The girl strained herself to lift the weapon up again before dropping it to the ground and keeling over with heavy gasps. She looked over the large sword with frustration as she tried to figure out how she could wield such a weapon let alone carry it with her when traveling with her new master.

“I should have picked a smaller weapon back home,” she muttered before scratching her head. “Perhaps I could make some form of sheath to carry it on my back…”

She blinked then envisioned having the mighty broadsword strapped behind her in a black leather sheath, walking proudly alongside her new master in shiny green and black armor, right before the sword ripped through the cover and dropped down her back, sliced off her tail, and left her screaming in agony as the weapon lay lodged in the ground once again beside her severed limb.

“No!” she screamed shaking her head with eyes shut tight, hands reaching back and holding her tail close as she pushed that image out of her mind. “No sheaths, not an option! I have to carry this thing with my own hands, there’s no other way!”

Growling with frustration and clenched fists she glared down at her weapon, cursing in her mind how difficult this was before she grabbed the handle and tried to lift it with heavy grunts. Again and again she brought the heavy sword up into the air before it dropped back down each and every time as no matter how much she tried she just couldn’t keep holding it up for more than a few seconds.

“Dammit!” she yelled out as she once more dropped back onto her rear, breathing heavily while staring with growing ire at the sword that again lay in the grass before her. “How am I going to be able to wield this weapon by the time my master comes back? If I can’t hold it up properly when he returns he’ll reject me as his for certain.”

With a heavy groan she slowly crawled over towards the edge of the river, sitting down next to the flowing current and looking at her reflection in the water with worried eyes.

“I must become worthy of him, I have to. What am I going to do? How will I be able to improve in strength so much in such a short amount of time?” She growled then splashed her reflection with her hand before lowering her head with closed eyes. “I’m so sick of being weak and pathetic like this. I was exiled once because of it, I cannot lose the most incredible male that Eden has to offer because of it as well. I
must
become stronger. Somehow…”