chronicles of eden - act I (24 page)

"I'll be right back, I'm going to go get Alyssa," he said quickly. Triska nodded then scooted over to her bag, leaning against it while holding her leg. She shook her head with frustration then grabbed her sword, then using the blade pushed herself up to her feet. Daniel watched with awe as she fought the pain, breathing heavily for a moment before she sheathed her dagger back at her hip and yanked her sword up into her hand. She may have been wounded, but she lived up to the reputation of a fighter with her high pain tolerance.

"Triska? Maybe you should take it easy right now," he said worriedly. She shook her head then sheathed her blade behind her with a determined expression.

"I'll be alright. C'mon, let's go make sure she's still alive," she assured. Daniel nodded in agreement, the two then quickly heading out of the carriage. They ran, or at least Daniel ran while Triska limped quickly, over to where Alyssa was lying on the ground. She was unconscious as she lay on the loose dirt and rocks, having a bit of blood on her head as well as her legs. Her staff was still in her hand, although loosely held.

"Oh no, Alyssa!" Daniel called out as he knelt down beside her and looked her over. Triska looked at the witch with wonder then up towards where the carriage fell from. Daniel shook Alyssa a bit then examined her body worriedly. Nothing appeared to be broken, and her injuries seemed to be minor, however she was out cold from the fall.

"She's still breathing, that’s a lucky break. She's lucky one of those rocks didn't smash her head in," he said looking around at all the large chunks of debris from the fallen ceiling.

"Weird… what's this tunnel doing here anyway? I wasn't aware of any mining or excavating projects around the plains," Triska said looking around. It was certainly a larger underground passageway, with both ends extending deep into darkness where light from above couldn't shine to. Prairie dogs would dig tunnels, sure, but nothing of this size.

"I have no idea, but we need to get her out of here. Lucky will probably be waiting for us up above, at least he's not injured too," Daniel said looking up to the opening.

"I'll grab our things, then we can try to climb out of here or something," Triska said walking slowly back towards the carriage. She glanced to see Daniel lifting the unconscious witch into his arms while holding onto her staff, the boy looking at her with worried eyes. Triska glanced to Alyssa then to Daniel.

‘You really are chivalrous, Daniel, she doesn't deserve you.’

She then walked back towards the damaged carriage while Daniel looked around with curious eyes.

"I wonder how deep these tunnels go," he said looking at the dark passageway that seemed to have a small amount of airflow coming out from it. He looked around at the darkness then up at the bright sky above. Triska walked over and crawled into the carriage, hastily packing up her things into the duffel bag, cringing slightly as the bandages around her leg wound were turning red with her blood.

“Day one, we find a monster that nearly rapes Daniel. Day two, we fall into a goddamned hole in the ground and I take my dagger into my leg. Oh I can’t wait to see what happens on day three,” she muttered to herself. Daniel walked back to the carriage as Triska finished packing up their belongings into their two bags. As she did she glanced over to see Daniel kneeling down and laying the unconscious witch down against the duffel bag while resting her staff down next to her.

"I'm not sure we can climb up those walls, with her being unconscious like this and with your wounded leg," Daniel commented as he looked at the tunnel walls. They were somewhat rounded, but nothing seen to really grab onto and climb up with. Especially with a sleeping girl, Triska's wounded leg, and their heavy carrying bags.

"Then we'll have to try out luck inside the tunnel, hopefully it'll lead somewhere towards the surface," Triska reasoned as she crawled back out of the carriage, looking towards the other tunnel entrance nearby.  Watching it carefully she started to get a bad feeling.

‘Why do I feel like we're being watched?’

"We can't see in there though, doesn't seem to be any light," Daniel said examining the dark passageway. He then glanced over and saw Triska watching the nearby tunnel entrance with narrowed eyes.

"Triska?" he asked. She glanced to him then around at the two dark tunnels.

"Just… getting a bad feeling down here. But you're right; we can't see much like this. I didn't pack anything to travel into caves with, I was planning on getting a lantern or something from Ashwood," she said shaking her head. Daniel looked at the nearby tunnel with concern.

"Well… what's our plan here then?" he asked. Triska looked up at the opening above then towards the carriage.

"I do have some rope in my bag. If we can get to the top we can pull Alyssa and the carrying bags up easily with Lucky," she suggested with a smile. Daniel nodded then looked up at the opening as well.

"Alright, I'll try my luck with climbing out. You shouldn't push that leg too much right now," he commented. Triska nodded reluctantly then looked to the carriage with the sleeping witch and bags in it. She wanted to help Daniel now that Alyssa wasn't able to do so, but she herself wasn't in any condition thanks to her dagger wound.

"I guess we don't have any choice. Alright, c'mon I'll help you get the rope and-" she started before quickly looking back towards the nearby tunnel with a jump.

"Triska?" Daniel asked as he saw the girl narrow her eyes at the darkness.

"I thought I heard something," she said cautiously.

"What? I didn't hear anything," Daniel said looking to the tunnel. They both watched it for a moment before Triska relaxed a bit from her defensive stance.

"I guess I'm just a bit on edge," she said shaking her head.

"Probably just shaken up from the fall. C'mon, let's just get out of here," Daniel said turning to walk back to the carriage. He glanced back to the tunnel and jumped a bit. Triska looked over and saw a figure slowly walking towards them from the darkness.

It looked to be a girl about Daniel's height. She had tall dark boots and wore a navy blue tunic with no belt, the outfit going down to her thighs, along with dark blue gloves. Her messy dark hair was cut short while her blue eyes were looking up at the bright sky with wonder, her lovely figure noticeable despite the fact that she had dirt smudges on her in most places. Daniel and Triska glanced to each other then looked at the girl curiously.

"Um… who's she?" Daniel asked slowly. The girl then suddenly looked to him from hearing his voice, her eyes locking onto him with wonder. As her head turned down to face them something else about her was seen instantly.

"She's not human," Triska said in surprise as they saw a pair of bug antennae on the girl's head, the curious monster just staring at Daniel while remaining silent.

"What… is she?" Triska asked slowly as she glanced to Daniel. He was looking at the girl carefully as she took another step closer to them. As she did another feature was seen as she stepped into the light; she had an insect's abdomen sticking out behind her, the dark brown extension resembling something that Daniel recognized.

"Ant. She's an ant girl," he said softly.

"Ant girl? I don't remember reading about them in your book," Triska said carefully as she slowly raised her hand back towards her sword. She glanced to her friend then back to the monster as it just stared at Daniel in silence.

"So… friendly?" Triska asked carefully. The monster stood still as a rustling sound was heard behind her. Daniel and Triska watched with surprise as two more of the monsters slowly walked out of the darkness.

Then two more.

Then three.

Daniel and Triska backed up worriedly as the eight ant girls stared at Daniel with wonder, all of them dressed in the same dirtied attire. Some had short hair while others were of longer length, their hair and eye colors being the same as well as the fact that they all had lovely physiques.

"Daniel? Friendly? Or not?" Triska asked as she gripped her sword's handle.

"Don't anger them, Triska, lower your hand," Daniel said glancing behind him.

"Are they friendly then?" Triska asked as she slowly did so.

"I’m not sure, but you'd better not test them now," Daniel said looking behind them. Triska turned her head then jumped in surprise. A dozen of the ant girls were seen around the carriage, with two of them on top of the damaged cart. A few of them were holding pickaxes while some were holding shovels, and all of them were looking at Daniel with wonder.

"Because we're in no position to fight back now," Daniel said worriedly as they saw more of the monsters slowly coming out from the tunnels, some of which literally crawling on the rocky walls with their gloved hands and boots. All of them looked nearly the same in appearance. All of them were making a quiet squeaking sound as their antennae twitched around.

And all of them were watching Daniel with eyes of wonder while their mouths slowly formed into bright smiles.

In the world of Eden, men were always in danger of being taken by the monsters that roamed the lands. Some used trickery and allure, while others used magic and poison to capture their prey. There were those that traveled alone or in small groups, while others used greater numbers to overwhelm and steal away many potential mates at once. Raids on small villages and campsites were known to usually end badly for humans, as a large group of determined and lustful monsters was a formidable force to be reckoned with. In the event that a large group of monsters did set their sights on an unsuspecting group of potential mates or a lone traveler, the odds of running away were very low for most. When confronted with overwhelming numbers of monsters there were only two options for the humans. Try to fight, or be taken away.

With the latter usually being the ending result.

*****

Daniel and Triska were looking around with surprise as light shined in from above, the two having just recovered from their carriage crashing through the ground on their trip towards Ashwood. However the travelers were not alone inside the underground tunnel, not by a long shot.

"Oh my… Daniel…" Triska whispered looking around carefully.

After they had fallen down they had found the local residents of the subterranean area, many of which that had come to see what the disturbance was.

"Don't draw your sword, you might provoke them," Daniel warned, looking around cautiously as he and Triska went back to back.

Surrounding them along the walls and tunnel entrances on both sides were dozens of monsters that were looking at them with wonder. Or rather at Daniel as he was the only male there. They were all ant girls, smiling brightly at the sight of the human who was looking around at them worriedly.

"Are they friendly? You're the monster expert here," Triska asked in a hushed tone.

"I'm… not sure. I don't remember reading about their kind too much. Still, I think they're peaceful," he said with a glance to his friend. Triska kept looking at them carefully as the ant girls were not only standing all around them but were also hanging from the walls and ceiling.

"They're smiling, that's a good sign, right?" Daniel asked with a worried smile.

"They're staring at you, that's a bad sign, Daniel," Triska cautioned. Daniel glanced to her then looked to see an ant girl slowly walking up to them.

"Um… hello," he said carefully. The monster looked at him with wonder and a bright smile, her eyes darting around as she examined him. Daniel looked at her curiously for a moment then slowly took a step closer. She instantly looked to him with a curious expression as her smile vanished, her antennae twitching around as her eyes darted about to examine each part of his face.

"Do you… speak our language?" Daniel asked slowly. The ant girl only made a quiet squeaking sound as she looked at him curiously. She took a few quick steps closer, then slowly held out her gloved hand towards his face. He looked at her curiously as Triska tensed up.

"Daniel, get away from her, we don't know what she'll do," she said worriedly. Daniel watched the ant girl as she seemed to freeze in place and watch him curiously. He slowly held up his hand and touched hers, the girl looking at it with wonder then to him. She slowly felt his hand then along his arm, then backed up quickly as she eyed him over with her smile returning.

"What's… she doing?" Triska asked.

"I'm not sure. I think she's… examining me?" Daniel said unsurely. Triska looked at the monster carefully then glanced back to see a few others scurrying around their carriage. Two were rummaging through it while another was on top looking at the broken wheels curiously.

"Hey!" she called out. The ant girls looked to her with surprise as a few of them were carrying items out from the carriage, which included the Daniel’s backpack and Triska's duffel bag, the latter being carried by two ant girls who were showing signs of struggle with it. Daniel turned back to them before the ant girl in front grabbed his arm and pulled him closer, staring at him with eyes of wonder still.

"Hey, what are you doing?" he asked in surprise. Triska grabbed his arm and pulled him back, growling towards the monster with a sharp glare.

"Hey, let him go!" she shouted. The ant girl blinked and looked at her curiously, then glared back at her. She yanked Daniel away with great force, and then threw him back where two others grabbed him. They picked him up by the arms as another grabbed his waist, the girls lifting him up then running back into the tunnel while he thrashed about. Two more carried him from below by the legs as he looked around franticly.

"Hey, what's going on? Put me down!" he yelled out.

"What do you think you're doing with him? Daniel!" Triska cried out as she grabbed her sword and unsheathed it. She swung towards the ant girl in front of her, the monster ducking and darting back quickly. The monster glared at her then lunged forward and tackled Triska to the ground while two more raced over. One grabbed the human's sword and pried it away while the other held down Triska’s other hand.