Chronicles of Eden - Act VIII (57 page)

“My pet knows how to take such good care of her master,” the woman’s voice playfully called out in the hall. “As well as how to deal with the likes of you and your fallen countess.”

Star narrowed her eyes then warped in front of one of the intruders instantly, pulling out a wooden stake from her bag that she then plunged into the heart of the woman. As she screamed hoarsely and dropped back Star yanked out two more stakes from her bag, the jinx warping into a kick that knocked another opponent back into a stagger before she followed through and jammed a stake into the woman’s heart with a heavy strike. Without wasting a moment Star jumped back with a flip then turned and plunged the other stake into another foe’s heart, the women screaming and dropping dead while the others glared at the jinx in frustration and low hisses. A torch from one of the fallen rolled to the side, lighting the carpet on fire then a long flowing curtain near the windows. As the flames spread and the hall was bathed in a warm light Star slowly glared around at the intruders of her home with her differently colored eyes and bared teeth.

“What the hell is this creature?” one shouted out.

“Kill her!”

A woman swung her blade at the jinx with a fierce yell before Star jumped into a grapple with her arm, grabbing hold of the hand while her legs kicked the woman in the face and held onto her shoulder. Star swung the woman down onto the ground, snapped the arm to the side which broke with a loud crack, got her to let go of her dagger as she screamed in pain, then yanked out another wooden stake from her bag that she promptly struck down into the heart of the intruder. Rolling backwards Star brought out two more stakes from her pouch, teleporting herself behind two other robed fighters that she then rolled back between. Jumping up onto her feet she struck a stake through the heart of one of them then reached out with both arms and blocked the other’s swing of her dagger by stopping her arm just below the handle. Star grabbed the woman’s hand and jumped up with her knee, breaking the arm of the fighter before she knocked away the dagger from her limp grip and then jammed the stake into her heart with a heavy crunch.

“You bitch,” another scorned with malice. “How could you side with this wretched predator?”

“To hell with you!” one yelled as she ran towards Star. As she tried swinging her blade at the girl a burning chunk of the ceiling dropped down onto her, crushing the woman into the marble tiles while smoke and fire spread throughout the court. Star merely watched the fighter who slowly stood up while lifting the large amount of debris above her, the invader’s crimson eyes glaring at the jinx before Star promptly struck a stake into her heart with a crunch. The woman dropped back down under the burning rubble while the other robed fighters hissed at the jinx. As they did one glanced over into the court at someone who was watching from the top of an overlook above the grand hall.

“Don’t worry about the fires,” the woman chuckled while gently drumming her fingers and long crimson nails on the railing. “We can easily clean up the mess afterwards. Dispose of those misguided souls, show them no mercy.”

Star pulled out a stake from her bag then warped over to the side, promptly swinging back and jamming the wooden spike into the heart of an attacker behind her before she teleported next to another that she kicked upside the head. The jinx yanked out a stake and rammed it into the stunned fighter’s heart then warped into a grapple of another nearby foe, hooking her leg around the woman’s neck and swinging her down onto the ground with a heavy thud. Star pulled out a stake and quickly struck it down into the intruder’s heart before she stood up and pulled out another two in her hands, her eyes glaring around at the remaining fighters in the hall as well as those that were gathering outside the main entrance of the estate under the night sky. The armed combatants that were still standing in the hall stared at Star in frustration and fear as she gave a low yowl at them while holding the wooden stakes inversely in each of her hands. The smell of blood and smoke filled the air while the hushed whispers of the intruders conveyed their growing concern of trying to reach their main target with this deadly cat standing in their way.

“You can try and run if you wish,” the woman dared from the balcony. “It makes no difference. My pet will be seeing you again soon, you and your beloved countess to whom you’ve mistakenly given your loyalty to.”

“You will burn in hell,” an intruder spat out. “Your time to rule has come to an end. We’re going to cleanse this land of you and your wretched followers. And that goes for your accursed cat too.”

“Haha, really now?” the woman laughed. “How very amusing. Such defiance and ignorance until the very end. Oh well, such is your fate I suppose. Star?”

Star glanced back to the woman with a meow while her tails slowly waved around behind her.

“No mercy.”

Slowly Star turned her eyes back onto the fighters as she hissed through her teeth. All the invaders tensed up while the jinx glared at them with fire spreading throughout the hall in wide flowing waves. As the cinders and ash floated through the air and the wavering light from the flames filled the hall with a warm bloom, the grandfather clock at the end of the court continuing to tick softly with each passing moment. The clockwork kept moving at a rhythmic pace, the hands on the dial moving ever so slowly and gently, and the swinging pendulum rocked side to side without ever ceasing.

All while the screams and dying cries of the intruders sounded off in the hall as the jinx they had encountered mercilessly slayed them all in the fashion that she was taught to do in order to fight off those that challenged her master, those that had strayed from her command and dared to oppose her, those that she read about and understood in every aspect.

Those that she killed without remorse or hesitation, with a wooden stake driven through their hearts.

In the world of Eden it wasn’t always clear when danger would rear its ugly head. Everything could be going well, the day would seem sunny and full of promise, and there would be no cause or reason to have any concerns about what lay ahead. Of course living in a world where lustful monsters roamed the lands it shouldn’t come as a surprise that trouble could be on its way at any moment, either from far, far away or right around the bend. Even during peaceful times it was best to remain ready for when these conflicts would inevitably arrive.

It was better to be prepared to face the threat than run unexpectedly into it.

*****

“So let me get this straight,” Clover dryly clarified. Sitting back against the edge of the bath with her long golden hair floating to either side of her body the elf had a perplexed look on her face as she attempted to make sense of what was being told to her.

“Dan’s magic is your sexual lust for him, which he is able to turn into magical power for himself?”

“That’s right,” Triska confirmed from behind. She was sitting on a small stool with her back turned to the elf and her sheathed sword strapped to her belt on her hip, the two of them being the only ones in the bathing room.

“And he gets his power from your ‘monster energy’, which is created from you all wanting to have sex with him because you’re monsters.”

“Yep,” Triska said while leisurely examining her fingernails.

“And in order for him to get better with using this magic he needs to have sex with you all more often to make your love for him stronger.”

“Essentially,” Triska agreed with a shrug.

“Alright,” Clover slowly said. “Well if that isn’t the most fucked up thing I’ve ever heard of I don’t know what is.”

“We were a bit surprised as well.”

“As much as I’m curious about how the hell all that is possible to begin with, I have a more prominent question to ask,” Clover mentioned before glancing back to the teen. “Why are you telling me all this?”

“Just making conversation.”

“Fair enough. Next question,
why
are you making conversation with me?” Clover retorted before looking back down with a grunt. “Why are you in here instead of out there having sex with Dan? I mean you just got done explaining why you practically need to be humping him every second of the day now, isn’t that how he’s going to get stronger or something? Why aren’t you doing that instead of sitting in here talking to me when I’m trying to take a peaceful bath?”

Triska lightly drummed her fingers on the handle of her sword before breathing out slowly.

“Right now Daniel and the other girls are busy. Not with
that
, but with other things. So I wanted to take this moment to have a little chat with you, Clover.”

“Seriously?” Clover scoffed. “You wanted to come in here and
brag
about how you having sex with Dan is essentially an honored duty now? I don’t need to be hearing about this crap.”

“No, that’s not why I came in here. I told you about Daniel’s magic because I honestly found it to be very interesting and I thought you would think the same. However the real reason I came in here is to ask you about last night.”

“What about last night?” Clover questioned with a small blush. “I already told you that my dream with Dan the other day was just a stupid dream, nothing more. Just get off my back about it already, would you?”

“That’s not what I’m here to talk to you about either,” Triska said shaking her head.

“Then what do you want?” Clover growled.

“Where did you get the arrows?”

Silence filled the room as Clover remained still and quiet from that question. Triska waited for a while for the elf to speak up then decided to press the topic further when it was clear she wasn’t going to answer the question.

“We bought you half a dozen arrows yesterday, Clover. Six. Six arrows, and that’s all. Yet I saw that your quiver is filled with much more than six arrows. Different ones in fact. I know you didn’t make them yourself and none of us gave them to you. So I’m rather curious where you got them from.”

Clover continued to remain silent while Triska waited for an answer. Minutes passed before Triska looked down to the handle of her sword as she ran her palm along and around it.

“Alright, since that question is too hard for you to answer, let’s try a different one. Where did you girls go last night?”

“What do you mean?” Clover replied.

“You weren’t the only one that pulled something out of nothing somehow,” Triska answered looking over to her. “You see the strangest thing happened after I left the library. Star came up to me and started talking about something with what I thought was a guilty frown on her face. I have no idea what she said of course, she’s about as easy to have a conversation with as Squeak is, but it seemed like she was feeling remorseful about her actions with us. And then you know what she did?”

“What?” Clover cautiously asked.

“She gave me a bag of gold, almost as if she wanted to pay for the damages and trouble she caused. It was a sweet gesture, but what really surprised me about it was her having the gold to begin with. She didn’t have it before, all she has is the clothes on her back, and yet now she’s giving us gold out of thin air. It didn’t make sense.”

“That girl’s a mystery,” Clover reasoned with a shrug.

“Yeah, she is. She even has a nice looking pocket watch now. I’m certain she didn’t have it before, but now she does. Where do you think she got these things from, Clover?”

“How should I know? I’m not her keeper.”

Triska shook her head then reached back and grabbed the elf’s shoulder, causing Clover to cringe in pain as the teen kept a firm grip on her.

“I didn’t think sleeping outside would be so hard on your back, Clover,” Triska mocked before pulling aside Clover’s long hair, revealing a large bruise on the back of her shoulder. “Wow, that soft grass really did a number on you.”

“What the fuck are you doing?” Clover snapped as she yanked away and moved further out into the bath. She looked back to Triska with a frustrated glare while holding her arms around herself.

“What happened to you?” Triska asked standing up. “Where did you go? What did you and Star do last night?”

“It’s nothing, alright?”

“Don’t give me that. You’re hurt. Something happened to you, and I want to know what.”

“It’s none of your business!”

“Yes it is!” Triska shouted, catching the elf by surprise. “Dammit, why are you always like this? Why do you have to push everyone away from you, Clover? Can’t you see I’m concerned about you? I have no idea what you did last night or where you went, but I can see something happened and it doesn’t seem like something good. Now get back over here and talk to me.”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Clover snapped.

“Clover, either you get back over here or I’m going to
drag
you over here, and it’s not going to be pleasant,” Triska threatened.

Clover grunted and looked away, knowing the teen could very likely do just that without any trouble. Hesitating at first she then slowly came back over to the edge of the bath, keeping her eyes down at the water while holding her arms around herself. Triska knelt down and turned the elf around, parting her hair aside then jumping a bit as she saw a few bruise marks on the girl’s back.

“It’s nothing,” Clover shakily argued.

“Who did this to you?” Triska demanded. “Who the hell did this to you?”

“I said it’s nothing, I’m fine, alright? Just forget about it.”

“Clover, answer me. Who did this to you?”

“Why does it matter?”

“Because I want to know who needs to answer to my blade, that’s why!” Triska shouted. Clover looked back with surprise to see Triska fuming with rage. “Who did this to you? Did Star have anything to do with this? Tell me right now what the hell happened with you two.”

“No, she didn’t do this,” Clover insisted shaking her head. “Look, it… it was just some stupid bandits, okay? We came across them in the woods. But they’re gone now. They left and we’re all fine. So just drop it, alright?”

Triska watched in wonder as the elf lowered her head with a frustrated grumble and weakly splashed some water away from her.