Chronicles of Eden - Act IV (27 page)

Specca whimpered and looked back to Daniel with watery eyes, seeing him glaring at the alpha witch while holding onto her with all his strength. Charlotte chuckled and tilted her head playfully while giving him a small smile.

“Oh really? She’s worth killing yourself over?”

“Daniel, let me go, she’s going to kill you too,” Specca shakily said.

“I’d rather die than watch her be murdered by you,” Daniel scorned while glaring at Charlotte.

Specca stared at him with an open mouth as she felt him holding her tightly, her heart beating faster while the other girls watched Daniel worriedly as he and the nixie were pulled forward again closer towards the blades. Charlotte looked at him puzzled then slowly shook her head.

“You really are a foolish human, choosing to die over a monster,” she said carelessly before holding her wand up, with Specca gasping at the sight while Daniel braced himself.

“Daniel, let me go!” Specca cried out. “Now, please!”

“I’ll never let you go, no matter what,” Daniel said sternly, with the nixie looking back to him with fearful eyes.

“Daniel, I’m not worth-”

“I’d rather die than forsake any one of you!” he shouted out, with the girls all then looking at him with wonder while Alyssa stared up at the sky and questioned what she just heard. Charlotte and her two helpers watched the boy curiously as he closed his eyes and shook his head slowly.

“I don’t want to lose any of you,” he gently said. “I can’t, I just couldn’t bear it. I… could never let any of you go.”

“Daniel?” Specca asked softly.

Daniel paused for a moment then looked to Charlotte with a stern glare, the witch watching him curiously as he slowly pulled Specca back a step.

“We came out here to talk to monsters about living in peace,” he snapped. “To talk to those who would wish to end countless generations of bloodshed and fighting. But it seems to me that you aren’t able to do such a thing. Is this what witches like you are, how you want to be, how you want the world to see you as?”

Charlotte growled quietly while turning to face them with narrowed eyes.

“I don’t believe I like your words much. I think I want you to stop talking now,” she threatened while pointing her wand at him with a glare. Daniel continued to stare her down while holding onto Specca, with Falla backing up towards the side of the cage to get as far away from him as she could while watching the alpha witch nervously.

“There’s an ant girl nest that’s willing to give peace a try,” Daniel stated. “We have a nixie here who is an advocate of living with humans peacefully, and even the Wildfire Witch herself wants to bring peace between humans and monsters. Yet you couldn’t care less, could you? A noble alpha witch, a leader of her people, and you don’t want peace at all, do you?”

“What you speak of can’t be done,” Charlotte snapped back. “It’s not possible, you stupid human.”

“Not if everyone was as closed-minded as you,” Daniel retorted. “Not if everyone wouldn’t even give it a try because they’re so pessimistic. But luckily there are monsters in this world that want to give it a try, monsters who are capable of doing so, unlike you.”

“Excuse me, what did you just say?” Charlotte demanded loudly. “Are you belittling me?”

“Kill him, my grace,” Apoch hissed.

“Yes, we don’t wish to play with him tonight anymore,” Astreal growled while the twins glared at Daniel.

“You are digging your own grave here,
human
,” Charlotte threatened coldly. “I don’t care for your words at all.”

“Then prove me wrong,” Daniel challenged. Charlotte narrowed her eyes at him as he smiled confidently at her. “I know good witches are in this world, Alyssa is proof of that.”

“Alyssa?” Charlotte scoffed. “She is hardly an example for your belief in any manner. How could you possibly credit her with anything when she’s the lowest of any witch in this world?”

“Because she’s saved my life and my friends’ lives. If it wasn’t for her we wouldn’t be here now.”

“That’s only more of a reason to kill her,” Charlotte derided. “I don’t like that you’re here at all. Are you going anywhere with this?”

Daniel grunted as he and Specca slid towards the blades again, struggling to hold the girl back from being sliced through the prison by the magical force.

“She’s helping us,” he defended. “She’s helping me with my quest, she wants there to be peace between our races as well. If she can do so then other witches can as well, ones that want the fighting between us to end for good. She’s the most trustworthy witch I know, I trust her with my life, we all do. And that means that there are witches in this world who aren’t evil, who can be allies of mankind.”

Specca whimpered as she got closer to the blades, feeling her feet digging through the dirt as Daniel struggled to hold her back. The boy glanced to her then to Charlotte with worried eyes.

“I’ve seen witches in this world, ones that raped and killed humans all to get pregnant from the men they captured. And one that risked her life, her very soul even, to help me with my wish to bring peace to this world. My grace, you are an alpha witch, a leader of your people, don’t you want the fighting to come to an end for them? Don’t you want them to live peacefully in this world rather than as scavengers and murderers?” Charlotte watched him carefully as the boy smiled a bit and shook his head a little.

“I can’t force you to believe in this,” he humbly beseeched her. “I can only tell you that it is possible if we both try, if we both have the willpower. Alyssa has the willpower. She resisted her inner nature and refrained from charming me, from raping me, from using me. As you called her, ‘the lowest of any witch in this world’ has the willpower to try and make a difference for everyone. Surely you do too.”

“Are you mad?” Charlotte questioned skeptically.

“No, I’m just a human who wants the world to stop killing and raping each other.”

“You’re mad,” Charlotte replied while shaking her head. She glanced to Specca then to Daniel with a raised eyebrow. “You would really give your life for this monster?”

“My grace,” Daniel proudly answered. “I would give my life for her, for Alyssa, for any of my friends. I told you, I believe in peace between our races, and that means helping each other survive in this world together.” He grunted and struggled to pull Specca back before looking at Charlotte with desperation.

“The choice is yours, I can’t tell you what to do, but I will not betray those that mean the world to me. If you want to kill her, if you really wish to choose blood over peace, then you’ll have to kill me too.”

“I mean the world to you?” Specca asked quietly while watching him with wonder.

“Daniel,” Triska said softly, with Squeak squeaking a few times as they stared at Daniel with adoring eyes. Alyssa almost felt a smile forming on her face from his words, still feeling scared to death about herself and her friends to actually smile though.

Charlotte looked at him carefully then slowly glanced around at those in the cage while Apoch and Astreal just continued to scowl at Daniel.

“You’re all serious about this?” she chastised harshly. “This is some sort of bad joke, it must be. There is no way humans and monsters can live together peacefully.”

“Open your eyes; Daniel’s willing to give his life for a monster!” Triska cried out at her.

Alyssa closed her eyes and struggled to speak, knowing that angering the alpha witch would result in her immediate death like this, yet still wishing to say something.

“I’ve resisted the urge to charm and rape him,” she spoke, praying the words wouldn’t be her last. “It’s hard but it can be done, and because of that he’s let me stay close to him. He trusts me, just as I trust him.”

Charlotte glanced back to her then looked to Specca as the nixie watched her with worried eyes.

“Please,” Specca begged. “We just want to put an end to the fighting.”

“Really now, all of you, huh?” Charlotte questioned skeptically. “And just what the hell are you all going to do to change anything?”

Triska looked around at everyone then back to the alpha with desperation.

“We’re trying to gain as many supporters from monster races that wish for peace,” she hastily explained. “To gather enough to show mankind that this can be possible. We have an ant girl nest that’s willing to talk if we are, we’re going to journey to the elven forest and also speak to the centaur empress in hopes those two races will join our cause. We’re going to talk to any monsters we can then show the queen of this region that we all want this stupid fighting to end.”

“That’s your plan?” Charlotte laughed. “To just wander around the land talking to any monsters you can, hoping they actually listen to such ideas and just go along with it?”

“You’re all insane,” Apoch and Astreal said shaking their heads at the same time.

“Dammit, no we’re not,” Triska shot back. “Somebody has to try and stop the fighting, so that’s what we’re going to do.”

“You won’t succeed,” Charlotte ridiculed.

“We have to try,” Daniel grunted as he struggled to hold Specca back, his arms loosening slightly as the girl was an inch away from the blades now. Charlotte watched him for a moment then slowly waved her wand down, with the boy stumbling back with Specca in his arms as the magical pull stopped suddenly. Triska and Squeak dropped to the ground with a thump, both of them being freed from their magical holds as well. Specca whimpered and turned around to hold onto Daniel for support, the boy holding her close while watching the alpha witch carefully. Slowly Charlotte walked up to the cage and eyed Daniel over carefully while Triska and Squeak got back onto their feet and walked over behind him.

“Answer me this then,” Charlotte proposed. “How do you believe humans and witches can live together?”

“My grace?” Apoch and Astreal questioned together.

Charlotte held up a hand to silence them while watching Daniel with a piercing stare.

“If we do live together, that means men are going to have to mate with us willingly, right?”

Daniel slowly nodded as he knew where this was going, the same question that came up before when talking to Squeak’s queen, one that he didn’t have a solution for then either. Charlotte tilted her head while showing discontent at the boy, waiting for his response before she set a hand at her hip.

“And just how do you plan to arrange that for us?” she demanded. “We’re going to need men to have sex with, and charming and raping them is how we get that, it’s the only way we get that. Do you want to know why? Do you want a hint? Look at us!” Daniel’s group watched her with concern as the witch waved down at her body.

“We look like little girls, only twisted and lecherous men wish to fuck a little girl willingly. I’m 168 years old, but I look like I’m twelve to you humans. Those that are pure wouldn’t touch us let alone have sex with us. We need to hex them into giving themselves to us in order to get their seeds, we have to trick them by any means we can, we have to force them with our magic, or else we would get nothing. So tell me, how do you plan for humans to accept not only fucking a monster but one that looks like a young girl?”

Alyssa closed her eyes as she worried about Daniel’s answer, with the boy looking down with a troubled frown as the other girls watched him with concern.

“I…” he said unsurely, desperately trying to figure out an answer to her question.

“And not just us,” Charlotte continued. “But other monsters as well, what about them? Not every monster is easy on the eyes, and many are far more twisted than we witches. Even those with impeccable beauty are still regarded as a plague to your kind, and are killed often by humans all the same. What’s your plan for getting your people to just accept all of us for how we are?”

“We can make it work, I know we can,” Daniel tried to reason with.

“No we can’t,” Charlotte scoffed. “No human is ever going to want to do us willingly. Not me, not Alyssa, not your friends there. Humans don’t want to have sex with monsters, humans can’t ever choose monsters willingly for a mate in life. That’s never going to happen.”

She started walking back over towards Alyssa, with Apoch and Astreal just watching Daniel with dull stares as he remained silent from the witch’s words. He looked to Specca, seeing the nixie watching him with worried eyes with a few tears dropping from her cheeks, then over to Squeak, the ant girl looking down with a troubled expression as she obviously felt some concern from the alpha’s words, then over to Triska as the girl turned her eyes from Specca to him while remaining silent. He then looked over to seeing Charlotte standing over Alyssa again, the alpha glaring down at the bound witch while Alyssa’s face was still hidden from view by the obsidian blades over her neck.

“I would choose a monster as a mate,” he declared firmly. Charlotte slowly glanced over to him with a raised eyebrow as he watched her with a confident expression. “I would choose any girl, human or monster, as my loved one in life, so long as they were kindhearted.”

“Right, I’m sure you would,” Charlotte replied mockingly.

“Like you would ever love a monster,” Apoch and Astreal scoffed together.

Daniel looked to them with concern from their words, then slowly down as he showed some clarity, his eyes darting around a bit as his friends watched him with unease from this topic. Something finally clicked in his mind, a sudden realization that was abruptly cut off as Charlotte raised her wand up in the air with its gemstone glowing brightly.

“Enough of this, it’s time for the Wildfire Witch to burn in hell!” she declared, with Alyssa gasping and staring at the alpha with fright.

Daniel jumped from that statement and looked to the bound witch as the blades over her neck budged slightly and creaked. Alyssa shut her eyes and cried out the only thing she could think of saying as she was faced with her own demise.

“DANIEL!”

Sometimes in the world of Eden things didn’t always go as they were planned. One could be met with unfortunate circumstances, faced with a tragedy and no way to avoid it. In battle they could be confronted with unsurmountable odds, or perhaps a simple trip through the land would be ruined by murderous bandits or lustful monsters with no way of escape. Perhaps their strategy hit a powerful barrier and they couldn’t figure out how to continue on, or maybe they suffered a great loss, and pressing forward became nearly impossible. Facing failure, facing defeat, could happen to anyone, no matter how hard they tried to avoid it. However, it was only true defeat should they actually fall, should they accept that they’ve lost and give up.