“But who are these filthy girls beside you?”
Hollia charged through a group of dark monsters, knocking them aside in a stampede while she flung the impaled attackers off her spear to the side of the road. Coming to a halt she quickly bucked behind her and kicked a troll back with extreme force before she spun her spear around expertly and knocked away surrounding monsters from getting closer. With a precise thrust to the side she struck an arachne through its head, then jabbed back at a troll’s face which earned a broken nose from the hit, and finally swung around and sliced her spear’s blade across the chest of a goblin that then fell to the ground with a torch falling from its hand. As the wounded monster screamed and caught fire from her own light Hollia spun her lance around to the side before holding it at the ready behind her arm as she glared at her attackers with obvious rage.
“My my, they are nothing but children, aren’t they?”
A mite flew towards Hollia along with two others, the centaur tensing up with her spear before two of the low flying monsters were cleaved into halves by a swiftly moving neko who passed by. Tabitha nimbly dashed along the dirt road while swiping her katana through a troll’s side before darting around the screaming monster and slashing her other blade down a goblin’s back. Hollia speared the remaining mite that lunged towards her then watched as Tabitha jumped back and sliced her katana down the spine of a troll from behind then leapt over to the side and rammed her other blade through the back of a gremlin.
“Amateurs.”
Tabitha ducked down under a troll’s swing of her axe before slicing both her blades through the monster. As the diced troll fell before her she saw Scay tackling a goblin down to the ground while having another bound by her tail. The naga laughed manically with a deranged smile to match as she mercilessly hacked her dagger into the monster while her tail constricted around the other goblin extremely tight. Scay went mad with joy as she butchered the goblin with her dagger, her eyes twitching and darting around at the tattered corpse she continued to jam her blade into while the monster bound in her tail let out a strained gasp before feeling its ribs crushing inward with a painful crunch.
“Degenerates.”
While Scay failed to notice she was now slashing apart a monster that wasn’t alive anymore and the goblin held by her tail coughed out blood and innards before being squished by the naga’s strong body, Forrus ran by and tackled a troll to the ground with a vicious howl and bared teeth. The lycan slashed apart the monster’s face and throat before charging forward and striking her claws across the neck of an arachne that she quickly passed by. As the spider dropped to the ground gurgling its dying words Forrus pounced a gremlin to the ground and chomped down on its throat. Holding the monster’s hands down which had alchemic bags in them Forrus chewed apart the gremlin’s windpipe before grabbing the bags and throwing them over towards a group of dark monsters. One exploded into a noxious green cloud that poisoned those that breathed in the gas while the other simply exploded and sent a mite and goblin tumbling away trailing smoke.
“Animals.”
Forrus took off and jumped onto an arachne that started flailing around with the lycan slashing at her face and shoulders. As the monster skittered about off-balance Rulo swung her hammer around and knocked out some of its legs, the orc’s heavy weapon following through and bashing a troll off into a building with a fierce crash. The arachne fell to the ground with Forrus slashing apart its body while Rulo walked towards a group of dark monsters that growled at her with harsh glares. A goblin armed with a torch and a rusty short sword ran towards her along with two of her sisters, the monsters closing in as Rulo wound back with her hammer then swung it over her head right onto the first one which was spiked into the ground along with a splatter of blood coating the dirt around her. The two other goblins jumped towards Rulo, with one grabbing onto her shoulder and the other her arm. Rulo reached over and snatched the one on her shoulder by the face then threw both monsters to the ground before she started stomping on them with her foot, smashing the screaming fiends into the dirt with loud crunches.
“Lowlifes.”
With a heavy swing of her large broadsword Sasha cleaved through an arachne and then a troll, the reptile girl cutting through those nearby with fierce swipes of her weapon which she handled with ease. Moving forward with a thrust she struck through a troll’s chest, lodging the sword in the monster while she reached over and grabbed a gremlin’s hand before throwing the beast behind her into another. An alchemic bag attached to the gremlin exploded into bright blue and purple flames, burning the two monsters which screamed in agony while Sasha grabbed her sword and kicked the dead troll off it. A swing to the left to strike down a goblin, a swing to the right to block an axe from hitting her, and a swing around behind to slice through a mite that flew to the side in bloody pieces, Sasha moved about while blocking and striking down the monsters that attacked her from all around. Her focus remained adamant while her poise mirrored that of the swordsman she idolized, her fighting spirit showing no signs of fatigue or wear on her stamina.
“Simply pathetic examples of real strength,” the woman mused in exasperation. “My big brother is surrounded by weaklings. How dare they tarnish the very vicinity to which his perfection resides with their mediocrity.”
Daemon parried an axe while spinning his blade to the side, knocking a troll back before following through and slicing off her head. He swung to the left and struck down a goblin before sending a fierce slash before him which trailed a glowing arc of light. A thin wave of light flew forward and pulverized a few dark monsters before exploding against a gremlin that was then blasted into a colorful boom by her bags igniting. Slowly Daemon held his sword out at the ready, eyeing the monsters that were keeping a safe distance from him now while more gathered behind them in the shadows.
“So what is our plan here?” Tabitha called out as she struck down a goblin then rammed her other blade into a troll behind her. “Because this doesn’t seem to be accomplishing anything.”
“We’re going to slay them all!” Hollia declared loudly as she ran by, skewering a troll and mite with her lance before she swung them over into a building. “For Ruhelia! For revenge! For all centaurs everywhere!”
“Okay then,” Tabitha slowly said before glancing over to Daemon. “I don’t recall fighting off an entire army of monsters for a fallen city being part of your quest.”
“It’s not,” Rulo snorted as she smashed another gremlin under her hammer. “These bitches are just getting in our way.”
“Our way of what?” Tabitha asked as she blocked an axe with one blade then parried a sword with the other. “Are we actually going to stand our ground in this graveyard or are we going to go anywhere?”
Sasha and Forrus struck down another two arachne then took notice of the growing horde still closing in on them. Burning bodies and buildings along with torches provided enough light to show the streets were filling with more monsters coming after them from the ruined kingdom.
“We’re not taking back this place from them, not like this,” Sasha stated.
“I don’t mind killing all who follow those accursed demons,” Forrus growled while she remained on guard. “However the odds aren’t in our favor here, and even if we are victorious we will have gained nothing.”
“Exactly what I was thinking,” Tabitha agreed. “There’s no point staying here, especially if we’re not exactly welcome.”
“We will not leave my homeland to these devils!” Hollia yelled while charging by and trampling a goblin under hoof. “Every last one of them must die for what they did! I will not let any of them get away with what they have done to my people!”
“It’s us against an army!” Tabitha retorted. “This isn’t going to end well if we stay here!”
“I am not leaving until every last one of these vile monsters have been slain!”
“Are you crazy? We’re hilariously outnumbered here!”
Hollia merely charged off into a
group of dark monsters, her warcry being incredibly slurred as not a single word or obscenity she shouted was understood by anyone. Tabitha watched the centaur with a raised eyebrow as the infuriated princess swung her spear around wildly, knocking away a few monsters while impaling and swinging others around like flags.
“She has got an anger problem.”
“I must agree with you on that,” Forrus commented as she saw Hollia going blind with rage.
“She said she was a princess, right?” Rulo asked in puzzlement.
“She’s like a wild bull,” Sasha said shaking her head. Looking over to the side she saw Scay hacking apart another arachne before slowly slithering off the mangled corpse while rubbing her arm.
“So much stabbing… my arm is starting to hurt,” the naga complained. She ducked under a troll’s swing of an axe and swatted the monster away with her tail before quickly slithering off as spears and toxic alchemic bags were thrown at her from all sides.
“Hold on please! I need to rest before stabbing you more!” Scay whined as she slid around monsters while making her way through the crowded street. She rounded a gremlin then darted under the legs of an arachne as the fiends tried to grab the quickly moving naga, her long serpentine body quickly sliding along the ground before a large troll grabbed her by the tail and yanked her back.
“You little bitch, get back here!” the troll yelled as Scay desperately tried clawing away from her. The monster kicked her in the side then swung her around, tossing the screaming naga over into a face first crash in the road. Scay slowly slid to a stop then spat out dirt as she tried to sit up, her eyes rolling around a bit in a daze before she shook her head to regain her senses. Looking behind her shoulder she saw the troll advancing on her while drawing out two axes, the monster glaring at her with cold eyes as it prepared to charge.
“I’m going to skin this snake.”
After another step however a katana struck through her chest from behind, a surprised and strained gasp escaping her lips before she dropped to her knees in shock. The blade was pulled back out, blood pouring down the monster’s chest as she stared at her fatal wound, and then a kick from behind was made to knock the troll down onto the ground.
“Please don’t throw my friend around like that,” Tabitha dryly requested while flicking blood off her sword.
“Hi, Tabitha!” Scay cheered with a wave.
Tabitha smirked at her then noticed another troll down the street throwing her axe towards the naga.
“Scay, move!”
Scay looked ahead and squeaked as the flying blade spun towards her, eyes locked onto the spinning axe that soared straight towards her face. Right before it could strike the petrified naga it came to a sudden stop with a whack, leaving both Tabitha and Scay stunned as they saw a black reptilian hand had caught the axe by the sharpened end.
All around the street eyes took notice of the sight while the fighting suddenly halted, with Hollia throwing another dead gremlin off her spear before seeing everyone had stopped moving. Following their eyes towards the source of the silence that befell the area she gasped as she couldn’t believe what she saw.
Scay slowly looked up to see Daemon standing before her, his eyes locked onto the troll that threw the axe at her, and his hand holding the weapon by its blade right before it would have struck into her skull. She blinked, looked around to see Sasha and the other girls also staring at the sight in wonder, noticed all the dark monsters watching in disbelief, then turned her gaze back up to the swordsman as she felt she needed to ask a very important question.
“Doesn’t that hurt?”
Hollia fell speechless as she saw Daemon having actually caught the axe with his hand, something that struck her as unusual since the blade should have sliced right through his hand and into Scay’s face instead of coming to a sudden stop in his palm like it did.
“Impossible!” the troll shouted out. “How did you catch it like that? It should have cut your hand off!”
“What the hell is he?” an arachne hissed while trembling slightly.
“A mite couldn’t chew off his hand and an axe couldn’t cut through it?” a gremlin questioned. “Something isn’t right here.”
Daemon dropped the axe to the ground then glanced back to Scay, the naga staring at him in wonder before she held her hands to her cheeks and lowered her head with a timid expression.
“I want to stab you so much,” she softly voiced with passion.
He merely raised an eyebrow to that then looked to his hand while tilting it slightly, not showing any signs of pain or discomfort but rather a slight glimmer of curiosity. Scay murmured something to herself while watching him with a twitching eye then noticed a few drops of blood dripping down onto the ground and axe. Seeing the blade having some blood adorning its edge she jumped a bit in surprise.
“You’re bleeding! Oh no! Wait, you can bleed?”
“Master?” Sasha called out worriedly.
“My lord, are you alright?” Forrus asked in concern.
Daemon held his hand up and examined the cut along his palm, a thin stream of blood trailing down and falling to the ground as he eyed the wound while remaining silent.
“He caught an axe with his hand and all he has is a scratch?” Tabitha exclaimed in disbelief.
“Who is this knight?” Hollia softly wondered.
Rulo ran over to him with her hammer held over shoulder, looking him over quickly as if fearful for his life before gasping as she saw his hand which had blood coming from the palm. Staring at the wound in horror she held a hand over her mouth, seeming to be completely shocked at the sight while Daemon appeared to just be mildly curious about his own injury.
“No, master,” Rulo oinked in distress. She then yelled and turned towards the troll that had thrown the axe with overwhelming fury coming across her. “You… you… YOU HURT HIM!”
“Well it’s about time,” the troll scoffed. “What the hell is his deal anyway? Why isn’t he screaming or losing his hand or anything?”
“Nobody touches my master like that,” Sasha hissed in sheer anger.
“Unforgivable,” Forrus snarled as the fur on her tail stood on end.
Tabitha glanced around at seeing the three girls exuding auras of vengeance and murder then shook her head slightly with a raised eyebrow at the troll who was now taking a nervous step back.
“You are so going to die,” the neko bluntly stated.
All the dark monsters slowly backed up a bit as they could feel the sheer amount of rage coming from the three girls who were apparently pushed past their limits from Daemon being injured, even if it was a minor wound that he himself didn’t seem to care too much about. Sasha, Rulo, and Forrus had their fierce glares locked onto the now frightened troll while their auras became the most vicious and intimidating in the area over all.
Except for one.
A powerful boom of bright light erupted from a distant tower, an overwhelming sensation of anger and wrath suddenly washing over the land as a shriek was heard echoing from the disturbance. Everyone saw the tower blast apart and topple away as a shockwave erupted from the top with a streak of white light shooting towards the road. It raced down towards Daemon and struck the ground before him, sending out a cloud of dust and dirt while the impact lit up like a star. The crowd of monsters shielded their eyes from the blinding light while an ominous presence was felt from within the unnatural bloom.
“That didn’t just happen,” a woman’s voice hissed from the light. “That did not just happen…”
The light and dusty haze slowly began to fade as a winged figure stood up from within the swirling cloud.
“I know it couldn’t happen, it just couldn’t. I have to be imagining this. Have to be.”
With a flap of the wings the dust billowed away from a radiance that illuminated the street and all those around it.
“I didn’t just see you draw blood from him. No. No. No. That would be simply inexcusable.”
She stood s
lightly shorter than Daemon, even with her white heels. Shimmering golden lace was tied around her ankles up to her knees while her voluptuous body was clad in a white skimpy toga dress. The shoulders were adorned with golden embroidery, the same as the right side of her dress near the hip in a wave design that went around to her rear. Her elbows were covered in fine silk with golden ribbons while resting against her chest above her large bust was a pink diamond gemstone held with a golden necklace. From her back large white feathered wings were arched up while her long silver hair was draped down past her shoulders, the wavy locks having red streaks running down through the ends. Her light blue eyes were set in a fierce glare towards the troll that was shaking now while her lips were curled in a bitter scowl.
“But it is true, isn’t it?” she snapped. “You touched him. You touched him, didn’t you?”
“What’s going on here?” the troll stuttered. “Who are you?”
“Nobody touches him,” the woman shakily pouted with a saddened smile. She appeared to be choked up with tears almost forming in her eyes. “You can’t… touch him. Nobody can touch him. That’s not allowed. It’s not.”
Sasha and the girls glanced to each other then to Daemon as he watched the winged figure with a blank expression, not seeming to be surprised by her appearance nor by what she was.
“Nobody touches him,” the newcomer murmured in a dull tone as she started walking towards the troll. The dark monster backed up as the winged woman kept her cold glare locked onto her. “That’s not allowed. It’s not. I won’t allow it. I’ll never allow it.”
“Um, do you know her?” Tabitha asked Daemon. He merely nodded while remaining silent.
“I can’t forgive this. I can never forgive this,” the woman muttered while a golden light began to swirl around her arm down to her hand.
“She can’t be what I believe she is, can she?” Hollia questioned as she eyed the white feathered wings of the newcomer. Daemon again nodded quietly while watching the familiar monster.
Chronicles of Eden - Act VIII Page 34
