Chronicles of Eden - Act VIII (34 page)

“You’re not human,” she realized in surprise. “You’re a… monster.”

“What defines a monster for you?” Daemon replied.

“What trickery is this?” the arachne hissed before racing towards Daemon. She struck out with her two front legs to stab him as he glanced over to her while removing his hand from his sword’s handle. The monster lunged forward with her pointed legs before he grabbed them each and halted her attack, a surprised gasp coming from the arachne’s mouth as the swordsman held her in place. Without a word he yanked the two legs right off her body, the sickening snap echoing out as the monster shrieked in pain.

“What are you?” the monster wailed as she dropped to the ground holding her hands over the two bleeding wounds.

Daemon spun around one of the pointed legs then thrust it straight through the monster’s skull with a crunch. The dark monsters around the area as well as Hollia stared in shock as he impaled the arachne with her own severed limb. He then threw the other leg and speared a troll through her chest into a wall, pinning the screaming monster in place while she kicked about in agony.

“Monster,” Hollia softly murmured as she dropped down onto her legs. “How can this be… he’s not human… he’s a monster.”

Sasha smirked then swung her blade to slash through the skull of a gremlin, splattering blood and skull fragments to the side while a troll gripped her large battle axe in frustration before her.

“You can’t win,” the reptile girl warned.

Rulo smashed her hammer into a goblin and then into a wall, crushing the monster with blood painting the cracked surface, then yanked it back and started walking towards a cowering arachne with heavy steps.

“We don’t lose to weaklings,” the orc snorted.

Forrus pounced a troll down onto the road and slashed apart her throat before dashing forward and pinning a goblin to the wall of a building with both hands over her neck.

“When we find your accursed leaders they too shall fall,” the lycan cursed before slashing her claws to the sides and dropping the gurgling monster to the ground.

“Kill them!” a goblin shouted as more of the dark creatures rushed in from around the area with loud yells.

Everything became blurry and muffled to Hollia, her eyes slowly going from Daemon to each of his followers then back to him again as she felt like her whole world had been turned upside down.

‘He’s not human… he’s not normal… none of them are. Who in Eden are these people?’

She watched Daemon grab a sword swung at him by a goblin, angle the blade back, and then strike it through the monster’s chest. Looking over to the side she saw Sasha spinning her large broadsword above her with one hand, the reptile girl slashing it down and cleaving through a troll and her battle axe with sparks and blood shooting out. Nearby Rulo swung her hammer around and knocked an arachne into the air, throwing the monster’s limp and broken body into a tall building with a crash. Running along the ground Forrus tackled a troll down and slashed apart her face and chewed into her throat viciously before jumping off and quickly doing the same to a goblin that ran by.

“They’re incredible,” Hollia breathed out in wonder. She then was grabbed and thrown down onto her side with a grunt, a surprised gasp coming from her mouth as she then noticed a troll standing above her with a heavy axe in hand and a goblin holding a dagger and torch.

“End of the line,” the troll sneered lifting her axe up.

“Bye bye!” the goblin laughed.

Hollia screamed as the troll readied to behead her. Daemon and his girls took notice as the centaur screamed and kicked about on the ground while bound in sticky webbing.

“Hollia!” Forrus called out.

Daemon grabbed his sword’s handle and tensed up then paused as he noticed something.

“Off with your-” the troll said before a katana sliced across and through her neck and arms. The monster’s head and limbs along with the axe fell to the ground before a katana then struck through the goblin from behind. A strained scream was made before the monster dropped dead, the torch rolling aside on the dirt road while Hollia saw a new fighter standing above her with two katanas held inversely in her furry hands.

“Head?” Tabitha mockingly finished as she flicked off the blood from one of her blades.

“A neko?” Hollia wondered.

Tabitha glanced down to the centaur for a moment then over to the side as an arachne and mite were moving towards them.

“More meat,” the mite droned with a drooling mouth.

“You shouldn’t have come here, pussycat,” the arachne hissed.

A slithering blur raced out of the shadows and tackled the arachne down to the ground followed by maniacal laughter echoing out into the air.

“HELLO!” Scay screamed as she wrapped her long body around the spider’s and started hacking her dagger into the monster’s chest in a crazed frenzy. “STAB! STAB!
Nrrghmmm
I want to STAB YOU! HAHAHAHA! You’re so CUTE! I LIKE YOU!”

Everyone watched as the naga relentlessly stabbed and slashed apart the arachne’s body, the spider’s scream of pain ringing out for only a few moments before she collapsed on the ground with Scay still hacking her apart. A long while of stunned silence from those around her passed as the naga laughed and continued striking her bloodied dagger into the mangled corpse, blood and bits of bone painting the ground below them while some sprayed onto Scay’s twistedly smiling face.

“STAB! STAB! HAHAHAHAHA!”

“Um, excuse me,” Hollia spoke up.

“You’re so cute in red! I’m going to pet you so much!”

“Excuse me.”

“
Nrrghmmm
bleed more for me! Pretty please! HAHAHA!”

“Hey.”

“Can we be friends? Are we friends now? HAHAHAHA!”

“Hey!” Hollia called out. Scay halted her butchering and turned to the centaur with a curious face dripping with blood as Hollia eyed her and the slaughtered remains of the arachne nervously.

“I think… you got her.”

Scay looked down to the spider and tilted her head before jamming her dagger into the monster’s head one more time. She glanced to Hollia and raised an eyebrow in question, with the centaur gulping then looking around at everyone.

“Um… whose side is that girl on?”

“Scay,” Tabitha spoke up. “That one is dead already.”

Scay looked down to the arachne and jammed her dagger into the dead monster’s head again, seeming to be testing that theory as she just watched the spider remaining motionless below her.

“But that one there isn’t,” Tabitha mentioned pointing a sword towards the nearby mite.

The little monster jumped and turned to see Scay watching her with a twitching eye and arachne blood dripping off her face.

“No. No,” the mite flatly said before quickly buzzing away along the ground. She didn’t make it far before the crazed naga suddenly tackled her to the ground and started hacking her dagger into the monster’s back and head.

“HAHAHAHAHA!” Scay laughed wildly as blood splattered around the mite. “Your wings are
so cute
! Or at least they were! STAB! STAB! Happy Scay!”

“How did they get here so fast?” Rulo asked in puzzlement.

“That’s a very good question,” Forrus cautioned while keeping a close eye on the neko.

Hollia watched Scay brutally hacking apart the very dead mite with shock then looked up to Tabitha as the cat was looking around at all the surrounding monsters with a sharp eye.

“Why are you here? Were you sent to kill me?”

Tabitha glanced down to her with a raised eyebrow.

“Why would I kill you? I don’t even know who you are.”

“Then why are you here?”

“I’m here to do my job,” Tabitha called over to Daemon. “Now listen up. I’m being paid to help you, so I’m
going
to help you! You are not getting rid of us until my job is over, do you understand?”

“Are you talking down to my master?” Sasha hissed in anger.

“Sasha,” Daemon replied while keeping his eyes on Tabitha.

“I mean, Daemon,” Sasha corrected with a twitch.

Tabitha marched towards Daemon while all the monsters around the street remained still, some watching the neko in puzzlement while others were seeing Scay still decimating the dead mite with her dagger.

“I don’t care what it takes,” Tabitha firmly stated as she got in front of his face. “You are not leaving us behind like that again, we are going to do what we’re being paid for and that’s final.”

“You caught up to us pretty quickly,” he pointed out.

“My employers gave me a lift here,” Tabitha reasoned with a shrug. “They’re very insistent on me helping you. Charlotte wants you to have those key fragments, and is paying me very handsomely to ensure you get every one. So, whether you like it or not, I’m coming with you until this quest of yours is finished.”

Daemon remained silent as the neko stared into his eyes, the girl trying to summon all the fortitude she could in the cambion’s presence like this. After a moment she grunted and looked back to Scay who didn’t seem to realize or care that the mite she was hitting was just a bloody smear on the road now.

“Scay!” she yelled, prompting the naga to turn to her with a jump. “For crying out loud, that one’s dead now too. Stab something else if you must.”

“Okay,” Scay cheerily said. She quickly slithered over atop Hollia and held her dagger up high with a wild look in her eye. “You look so pretty, can I
have your fur
? I want to
wear you
!”

“No, wait!” Hollia screamed as she thrashed around under her. “Please, I can’t die yet!”

“Hold it, Scay,” Tabitha called out.

“
Aww
,” Scay whined with a frown. “Please, Tabitha? I just want to stab her a little.”

Tabitha eyed the centaur over then looked to Daemon in question.

“Is she with you?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes.”

The neko slowly nodded then smiled slyly at the centaur. She walked over to the bound noblewoman and tilted her head with an intrigued murmur as Hollia trembled in fear underneath the crazed naga.

“You’re traveling with him too?”

“Yes, I am,” Hollia insisted. “He agreed to help me avenge my people from-”

“Okay, fine, whatever,” Tabitha interrupted eyeing over the centaur’s body. “Then you can give me a ride with them.”

“What?”

“Just what I said, I could use something to ride while traveling with them. I don’t know if you know this but they’re awfully fast, so much that it’s a real pain keeping up with them on foot. And since I don’t see any horses around here you’re the only option left for me. What do you say, can you let this light neko ride on your back?”

“Are you mad?” Hollia barked out at her. “I am not your horse, and I will carry nobody on my back! How dare you order me to do such a thing!”

“I saved your life. It’s the least you can do in return.”

Hollia struggled to argue with the neko while trembling in frustration then looked at Scay nervously as the naga kept her dagger held up to strike.

“Can I have your fur now?” Scay slowly asked with her right eye turning inward for a moment.

“Alright, I’ll let you ride on my back,” Hollia agreed nodding. “Just get this crazy girl off me.”

“Scay, help the nice centaur up,” Tabitha requested with a smirk. “She’s going to be giving me a ride while we do our job.”

“Okay,” Scay said before she quickly started cutting apart the webbing with her bloody dagger. Hollia froze as she felt the blade pressing against her while the naga roughly sliced apart the netting and ripped off tatters of it with a twitching eye.

“Are we on the same page now?” Tabitha called over to the other girls while Scay worked to free the bound centaur. “I’ve got a ride to keep up with you people, I’ve got a job to complete that involves helping you, and I’ve got a crazy naga who’ll butcher anyone that bothers you.”

“Yay! I’m appreciated!” Scay cheered with a hop as she fervently cut apart the webbing over Hollia’s chest.

“You know I’m here to help you, you know my reasons for doing this, so quit it with the damn attitude and let me do my job!” Tabitha yelled out.

Sasha, Rulo, and Forrus glanced to each other questionably then to Daemon as he watched Tabitha with a blank expression. The neko turned to him and cocked her head to the side with an expecting look on her face, waiting for his answer while all the dark monsters nearby were looking to each other in puzzlement from being ignored now. After a while Scay ripped off the last of the webbing and helped Hollia up onto her feet, the centaur smiling nervously at the naga who was smiling with insanity at her before turning to Daemon in wonder.

“Fine,” Daemon finally answered. “If Hollia wishes to carry you then that’s her choice, but it’s not something I’m going to ask her to do for you. I don’t care if you come along or not, just know that we won’t be slowing down for you again.”

“I’ve got a centaur to ride now,” Tabitha reasoned with a smirk. “I think I can keep up with you.”

“Excuse me, I’m not your property!” Hollia barked out at her.

“You owe me, I saved your life.”

“
He
saved my life!” Hollia shouted pointing to Daemon. “He’s the one I owe my gratitude towards! He’s the only one I wish to aid for all that he’s done for me!”

“And I’m aiding him with his quest, so quit complaining about having some help with that,” Tabitha retorted before turning back to Daemon. “I’m not going to accept failure with this.”

Daemon watched her for a moment before slowly turning his gaze around at the dark monsters nearby. Hollia picked up her spear and backed up towards him along with Scay, the naga holding her dagger out with a twisted smile on her face that she aimed from one approaching foe to another. Sasha, Rulo, and Forrus slowly backed up towards them as the group got into a circle in the street, watching as the wicked dwellers of the fallen city gathered in greater numbers. Atop the roofs of the buildings, lurking in the alleyways, stepping out from the corners and shadows, more of the vicious monsters came into view with weapons and torches as the group of fighters stood together in the middle of the road.

“I don’t think we’re going to be talking our way out of this,” Tabitha mused with both katanas held at the ready.