chronicles of eden - act I (25 page)

"Get off of me! Let him go right now! Daniel! Daniel!" she cried out as she thrashed about. The ant girl on top of her picked her up with one hand by the neck as the other two scurried away. Triska grabbed the arm and tried to break free, her efforts in vain as the monster kept a firm grip on her throat. Triska choked loudly as she stared at the girl with surprise, realizing an apparent fact about this type of monster.

‘Holy shit, they're strong!’

The ant girl didn’t have any real noticeable muscle compared to Triska, and was nearly the same size and height as she was. However it was more than obvious her muscle strength was far above that of a human’s.

"Let him go, or I swear I'll hack every one of you into pieces!" Triska coughed, thrashing about in the monster’s grip. She grabbed her dagger and swung with it towards the monster's head, the ant girl catching the wrist with her other hand and holding it there. She applied pressure and caused Triska to drop the blade as she cringed in pain, her hand flinching as the monster disarmed her effortlessly. The ant girl squeaked in discontent then hurled the human over towards the carriage, the teen crashing through the side of it and tumbling into the cart as it partially collapsed down. The ant girl scoffed at her then darted into the darkness after the others.

"Daniel!" Triska coughed out as she struggled to get up. She looked over to seeing Alyssa next to her, unconscious still from her fall.

"Hey, wake up! Wake up!" Triska yelled out while shaking the witch. Alyssa groaned as she lay there while Triska looked around franticly.

"Dammit, Alyssa, wake up!" she yelled before she slapped the witch across the face. Alyssa jumped a bit in surprise then looked at Triska with shock as she held a hand to her cheek.

"Hey, what was that for?" she yelled out.

"Never mind that, get up! They took Daniel!" Triska shouted out before scrambling out of the damaged carriage. Alyssa blinked a few times then looked around with surprise.

"What? Who took him? What the hell happened here?" she asked looking around at the damaged carriage she was in. She quickly followed Triska out into the open tunnel, looking around with wide eyes as they stumbled to their feet.

"Where's Daniel? Where are we?" she asked looking around franticly.

"We fell underground into this tunnel. There were all these ant girls here, they-" Triska started before Alyssa gasped.

"What? Ant girls?" she cried out. Triska looked to her and nodded.

"Yeah, you know of them?" she asked quickly.

"You let Daniel be taken by those things? Do you have any idea what they're going to do to him?" Alyssa yelled out before looking around the ground for her staff. She blinked then looked down at her body as she noticed something.

"Yeah, they're monsters; they're going to rape him. I already figured that out," Triska said looking around with anger.

"No!" Alyssa yelled out looking around quickly. She dashed back into the damaged carriage while Triska looked towards her puzzled.

"They're
not
going to rape him?" Triska asked as Alyssa searched inside the carriage franticly. She threw the blankets around as she scrambled in search of something.

"No… no! It's not here!" she yelled out. Triska looked at the carriage with confusion then shook her head.

"If you're looking for your staff it's in the carriage. Now c'mon, we need to find Daniel fast, I didn't like how they were looking at him, not to mention they stole him along with all our stuff!" Triska yelled out with anger as she looked from one dark tunnel nearby to the other. Alyssa growled loudly then scrambled out of the carriage.

"They took it… they took it, not good. Not good!" she said franticly.

"Took what? Your staff? I already said it's in the carriage," Triska said, pointing over to the damaged ride.

"No, my necklace!" Alyssa said looking down, seeing that her blue crystal necklace was gone.

"Yeah, they took all our stuff, even my sword, those lousy thieves," Triska grunted with frustration. Alyssa looked around worriedly and held her hands together in front of her chest, biting her lip as she shook her head. Triska looked at her puzzled then with frustration.

"Would you forget about your jewelry? We have bigger problems here! Didn't you hear me, they took Daniel!" she cried out.

"I heard you! You think I don't know that?" Alyssa yelled back.

"Then why are we waiting here? Let's go after them!" Triska barked out. Alyssa looked around then down with a nervous expression.

"But…" she said softly.

"But what? I thought you were so insistent on being his guardian. I thought you were going to protect him. Well, he needs saving now, so let's get going!" Triska yelled out.

"I… can't," Alyssa said glancing up to her.

"What? You can't? What do you mean you can't? Why not?" Triska roared. Alyssa flinched then looked down holding her hands together by her chest.

"That necklace… it's my focuser," she explained. Triska blinked then looked at the girl curiously.

"Wait, what?" she asked.

"That necklace they took, it's my focuser. I… I can't use any magic without it," Alyssa said looking back up to her. Triska looked to Alyssa’s chest where the necklace was missing then showed a cautious expression.

"You can't?" she asked softly. Alyssa shook her head and looked around fearfully.

"No, I'm as useless as you are without it," she whimpered.

"Hey! I'm not useless!" Triska yelled out. Alyssa looked back to her with annoyance.

"Oh no? Then why isn't Daniel safe? Why didn't
you
save him? In fact, where's your sword? Oh that’s right, that was taken from you as well, wasn’t it?" she accused sharply. Triska growled loudly and looked around with bared teeth.

"Dammit, this isn't happening!" she yelled out, then flinched in pain while holding her wounded leg. Alyssa looked to it as the teen struggled to keep standing.

"What happened to your leg?" Alyssa asked looking at the wound, the white bandage now having a large red stain on it as some blood dripped down along Triska’s leg.

"I landed on my dagger on the way down here. But that's nothing to worry about right now, we need to get Daniel back," Triska said with frustration. She breathed slowly to calm herself then glanced to Alyssa.

"So what's the deal with these ant girls, I thought Daniel said they were friendly," she said with annoyance. Alyssa ran over to the carriage and grabbed her staff, looking at it with worry then around the area.

"They are, they won't harm a hair on his head. They'll never kill him or attempt to injure him in any way. If anything they'll guard him with their lives," she said walking back towards Triska. The teen looked at her with surprise then around at the darkened tunnels.

"What? But then what's with the rude welcoming if they're so friendly with humans?" she asked.

"No, they're friendly with men, not women. You're just lucky they didn't kill you when they took Daniel away, they don't like anyone else going near their…" Alyssa said before looking down. Triska watched her cautiously as the witch showed a concerned expression.

"Their what?" Triska asked slowly. Alyssa paused for a moment then slowly glanced to her.

"Their potentials."

*****

Daniel felt himself being carried from underneath by a few ant girls, looking around as nothing but darkness was seen. He only heard the squeaking from the girls below him along with their footsteps as he struggled to free himself. They didn't appear to be very muscular at first sight, but their strength was certainly higher than average as they held him firmly in their grips.

"What are you doing? Put me down, can't we talk about this? Hey!" he called out as he looked around to seeing nothing but darkness. He felt himself traveling downward slightly as the girls below carried him quickly through the corridors. Glancing around he heard rustling all throughout the corridor, knowing there were ant girls on the walls traveling alongside him.

"Where are you taking me? What's the big idea here?" he yelled out.

They traveled down the corridor for a long ways, turning around corners and down passageways while Daniel looked around franticly. There was no telling which way he was heading in relation to where his friends were behind him, and no telling how much further down they had gone as he had lost all sense of direction during the ant girls racing through what appeared to be a maze of tunnels. He heard digging and some rocks crashing around every now and then, and more squeaks echoing out as they ran through the darkness.

‘How many are down here? And where exactly are we down here anyway?’

After a few more twists and turns a soft red light started to illuminate the corridors. Daniel saw the outlines of dozens of ant girls all around the tunnel walls as they were traveling with him, all of them looking at him with bright smiles. A few were holding the bags and belongings to the group in a hand each as they used their feet and other hands to travel along the wall quickly, their fingers and feet digging into the dirt and holding strong. The two ant girls carrying Triska's duffel bag however were a ways behind, the two monsters straining to carry something that seemed immensely heavy even to them.

"What… where are we?" Daniel asked looking around ahead of him, turning his head to see that he was being carried backwards down the corridor as the red glow increased. He looked to see the ant girls holding him below, having excited expressions as they squeaked wildly.

"Hey, put me down! Please!" he called out. The ant girls paid him no mind and continued to carry him down the corridor as they passed a few torches lit on the sides of the walls. Daniel looked around and saw other tunnels branching off every now and then. They traveled up a small incline then down another, then around a corner as the group of ants raced him further into the subterranean tunnels. The ants on the walls and ceiling broke off and scattered down other corridors while the ones below him raced along still. Daniel looked around curiously then ahead to see they were heading towards a wooden door. The ant girls raced up to it as one of them opened the door, then they scurried him inside quickly. He looked around to seeing a large den with a few torches lit along the sides before he was rushed over to a bed near the wall. The girls quickly set him down on it, then started examining and feeling all over his body with their hands.

"Hey, knock it off. What are you doing? Quit it. Haha! Hey, that tickles, what’s going on?" he cried out. One of them took his dagger while another examined his head closely. Another spent a large amount of time groping him gently while another was examining his arm curiously. The girls then backed away as he sat up on the bed. It was a simple mattress with a dull brown blanket on it along with a beaten white pillow. He looked at the ant girls carefully as they were just staring at him, and then glanced around before jumping in surprise.

“What… the…” he said softly to himself. Inside the large den were dozens of beds alongside one of the walls, all with other human men sitting on and around them. They looked to be villagers as they only had simple clothing on, ranging from young teenagers to mature adults, with some of them looking at the newcomer with dull expressions. Others were just talking amongst themselves or lying in their beds looking up at the ceiling with tired gazes. Around the area dozens of other ant girls were seen, some hanging from the ceiling while others were standing around next to the walls. There were a few other wooden doors on one side of the large den, the area being shaped like an underground dome with the beds on one side and the doors on the other.

"What… who are you?" Daniel asked looking at the men. They all appeared average in appearances, with some seeming to just look at the boy with tired expressions.

"Looks like they got another one," a man said shaking his head.

"A young one too, such a shame," another said with a sigh.

"Eh, this might be the best he'll ever get in life anyway," another said with a careless shrug while lying back on his bed.

Daniel looked at the men with surprise then over to see the ant girls that brought him in running back out the door quickly. The others monsters near it closed the door then looked back to the boy with bashful expressions. Daniel looked around slowly as all that was heard was the quiet squeaking of the ant girls while the other men looked around with dull expressions. Daniel stood up slowly and looked around puzzled.

"What… what is this? Where are we?" he asked.

"Haha, where are we, such a stupid question. You're underground, kid, you really didn't notice?" one of the men laughed.

"Shut up, Rick, he's new here. Give him a break," another man said with a glare at the other human. He then showed the boy a somewhat sympathetic expression.

"You alright, kid? What's your name?" he asked. Daniel looked at him curiously then around to see all the ant girls in the area staring at the humans with curious smiles. He then turned to the man and walked up to him.

"Yeah, I'm alright, I think. My name's Daniel. Daniel Sorres, sir," he said. The man chuckled a bit and waved it off.

"No need for formalities here, kid, we're all living down here for the rest of our lives together anyway. Name’s Richard," he said. Daniel stared at him with surprise then to the other men.

"What? For the rest of our lives?" he asked loudly.

"He really is clueless isn't he?" Rick said again with a roll of his eyes.

"Dammit, Rick, shut up. He doesn't need that crap right now," Richard snapped back with a stern tone. He then looked to Daniel again and shrugged.

"Sorry about him, he's… well he's an asshole," he said simply. He motioned Daniel to sit next to him on the bed, the boy then slowly walking over and sitting down while looking around at the ant girls that were staring at him with lustful eyes.

"What… what's going on here? Why did they bring me down here? And why are you all here as well?" he asked. Richard sighed and shook his head.

"They're monsters, kid, didn't you ever learn what monsters do to us men in the world?" he asked. Daniel looked at him with worry then down.