“How are you able to understand them? I’m just hearing squeaking from them.”
“I’m able to understand a great many monsters in this world, Mika. The words of the ant girls are among the simpler ones to hear.”
“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised by now,” Mika commented to herself.
The ant girl squeaked and raised an eyebrow in question at Daemon.
“No, she is not my mate,” Daemon flatly replied, with Mika jumping in surprise.
“Hey, why would you think that?” she demanded with a deep blush. “I just met this guy today!”
The longhaired ant girl slowly looked over Daemon before showing a curious smile, the girl’s antennae twitching slightly while she rested a hand on her hip. She squeaked at him with a sultry smile on her face, her words doing nothing to change the blank expression he had on his.
“Just take us to my companions.”
The ant girl huffed with a playful pout then smirked and waved them to follow her. Daemon and Mika walked after the monster while the other ant girls exchanged curious glances. When the longhaired one reached the tunnel entrance she stopped and squeaked loudly at her kin, the other monsters quickly jumping to attention before rushing off in all directions. Daemon and Mika watched the monsters racing into tunnels and off in mine carts before turning to the longhaired one that smirked at Daemon. She tilted her head and squeaked something with a twitch of her eyebrow then walked off down the corridor with her hair swaying behind her, the girl being accompanied by two others who looked at Daemon curiously before following after the one in charge.
“What did she say?” Mika asked.
“She told her sisters to get back to work,” Daemon answered as they followed their guide into the tunnel. “And that she’s got her eye on me.”
“Her eye on you?” Mika dryly repeated with a raised eyebrow.
Daemon nodded as the longhaired ant girl glanced back to him with a smile on her face, the girl winking at him before looking forward again and trying to contain her excitement. In their nest only the strongest men would do, either for the queen or her workers, and this swordsman who appeared before them was no doubt one of those men in the eyes of this ant girl.
He was certainly one that Saffron was determined to have, however she could.
Chapter 7
Strangers Down Below
In the world of Eden there was more than one would first imagine buried down below. Of course there were miners who dug out minerals and forgotten treasure as well as explorers who ventured into caves in search of what might be hidden within. But that was only scratching the surface, so to speak, as the deeper one would dig the stranger and more unique sights they may find. Even ant girls would occasionally stumble across things other than rocks when digging their nests. Sometimes they may find treasure, monsters, or even stones that blew up like bombs.
And other times they may find something that shouldn’t be uncovered.
*****
“Wake up!” Forrus yelled, right before a painful smack was felt. Tabitha yowled while recoiling from the hit then opened her eyes to see the lycan snarling at her. “Get up, you bitch!”
“What the fuck are- dammit, my arm!” Tabitha cried out as she suddenly felt her left arm aching. She also then noticed a steel shackle attached to her wrist with a short chain leading to the lycan’s right hand which she was bound to.
“What the hell is this?” Tabitha yelled while struggling to pull her hand free.
“Move!” Forrus shouted as she yanked the yowling cat off to the side. Tabitha landed on the hard ground with a thump then glared at the lycan, seeing the wolf growling at something else while backing up near her.
“What is your problem?” Tabitha demanded. She then saw an ant-lioness charging them with a vicious howl, the monster clad in a ripped crimson tunic while her legs skittered along the rocky ground. Tabitha screamed and jumped back onto her feet before Forrus yanked them both off to the side to avoid the incoming monster.
“What is going on?” Tabitha yelled before she saw two more ant-lionesses charging them with screeches.
“Shut up and move!” Forrus barked back as she ran off to the side, dragging the stumbling neko with her while the three monsters behind gave chase. Tabitha looked to her with surprise then around to seeing themselves in a large underground cavern. Above them were steel beams set in a tangled and crudely fashioned cage over the lowered pit that had several large boulders scattered about within. From the overlook above dozens of ant girls dressed in red tunics were squeaking and banging their digging tools on the steel canopy, all of them appearing to be riled up while laughing at those down below.
“Where are we?” Tabitha asked.
“How should I know?” Forrus snapped while they ran around a boulder. “I just woke up with you shackled to my wrist and these things trying to eat us!”
The two stopped as three more ant-lionesses skittered out in front of them from around the crag, the monsters screeching while swiping at their prey with sharpened claws. Tabitha reached for her sword only to find that they were both missing, the neko then screaming as she grabbed an ant-lioness that tried to hit her and struggled to push the monster away.
“Where are my swords?” she demanded while the ant-lioness snapped at her with its mandibles. “And why the hell am I stuck with you like this?”
“Stop sitting around and move!” Forrus yelled before an ant-lioness tackled her to the ground, bringing Tabitha down with her as the girls tried to keep the monsters from eating their faces.
“Get off!” Tabitha yelled as the ant-lioness wildly scratched her with her claws.
“Filthy creatures!” Forrus shouted before the ant-lioness chomped down on her arm. The lycan screamed while the ant girls above cheered and hopped about in excitement.
Tabitha and Forrus struggled to fend off their attackers before seeing more of the monsters coming closer. Two of them lunged for the neko and lycan before being plowed into by a stampeding orc, the heavy moving monster slamming the ant-lionesses into the boulder while a reptile girl quickly whacked the fiend atop of Forrus off with her tail.
“Forrus!” Sasha shouted while Rulo kept the two thrashing ant-lionesses pinned to the wall. The lycan roared and sent a punch to the one atop Tabitha, knocking it off the neko before she yanked the meowing cat back onto her feet with her.
“Dammit, my arm!” Tabitha whined as her shoulder ached even more.
“What are you complaining about, that monster just chewed on mine!” Forrus snapped.
“Yeah well mine feels like someone was trying to rip it off!”
“I was! I was going to try chewing it off next before those things attacked me!”
“You?” Tabitha shouted at her. “You’re why my arm hurts so much?”
“My stomach hurts so much from the very thought of being chained to you like this!” Forrus retorted as she held up their shackles.
“Hey!” Rulo yelled. The girls looked to her as she was holding the ant-lionesses against the wall while having Sasha shackled to her wrist, the reptile girl stomping down on another one of the monsters and crushing its head before glaring at the neko and lycan.
“If you two are done yet, we have a situation here,” Sasha hissed before she jammed her hand into the neck of one of the monsters held in place by her friend. Rulo grabbed the other ant-lioness’ head and smashed it repeatedly into the rock, splattering blood and brains onto the crag before she tossed the body aside. The four girls looked around to seeing more of the vicious creatures gathering nearby, their howls and screeches being heard along with the squeaking and clanging of the ant girls above.
“Would someone mind explaining what the hell is going on here?” Tabitha demanded. “Why am I bound to this mutt and where are my weapons?”
“They took all of our weapons,” Sasha corrected.
“Even my bolas,” Forrus growled.
“What happened to master?” Rulo asked looking around quickly.
“He’s okay still, right?”
“Is he okay?” Tabitha repeated in disbelief. “I think we’re the ones in danger here!”
The ant-lionesses screeched and raced at the girls from all sides, skittering along the ground and against the large boulders as they swarmed the group of fighters. Sasha and Rulo darted to the side, both moving in sync with their steps as they avoided a few of the crazed monsters. Rulo grabbed one and swung it against the crag, stunning the monster before the orc finished it off with a heavy swing of her fist that smashed the beast’s skull in. Sasha grappled another ant-lioness while one grabbed onto her tail, the reptile girl hissing as she grabbed the monster’s mandible, ripped it out, and then jammed it into the fiend’s eye before striking it back into the second monster’s face.
Tabitha and Forrus jumped the other way before trying to run, both then being yanked back to each other as they had tried to run in opposite directions.
“Stop pulling me around!” Tabitha shouted.
“Shut up, cat!” Forrus yelled while backhanding her. The ant girls above laughed and pointed to them while Tabitha yowled and tackled the lycan to the ground. She held the chain against Forrus’ face while the lycan was pushing back against hers with one hand, the two growling and hissing at each other while ant-lionesses closed in around them.
“What the hell are you two doing?” Rulo shouted.
“Watch out!” Sasha warned.
One of the fiends grabbed Tabitha from behind and skittered back with her, the cat yowling and thrashing about while Forrus was dragged after her. Another ant-lioness grabbed the wolf by the legs and pulled her back, the two then snapping to a halt while being pulled in opposite directions. The ant girls cheered and clanged their digging tools against the steel beams as they watched the predators swarm the lycan and neko, both of them screaming as the monsters began biting down on them.
“AHHH!” Tabitha yelled as she felt teeth sinking into her shoulder.
“STOP!” Forrus shouted as two bit down on her back.
“You idiots!” Rulo scolded as she and Sasha rushed over. They grabbed the monsters that were on top of Forrus and threw them aside before they yanked the lycan towards them, in doing so also pulling Tabitha out of the ant-lioness’ grip with a painful cry. The neko was dragged over while blood covered her shoulder, the girl unable to tell if the bite was hurting her more or the fact her arm felt like it was nearly pulled out of its socket now.
“If you want to kill each other may I suggest doing so later?” Sasha dryly questioned as she pulled Tabitha up onto her feet. The neko growled then swung back with her foot, kicking aside an ant-lioness before she stumbled to the side holding her wounded shoulder.
“Tell that to her!” she shouted at Forrus.
“If those creatures don’t kill you, I sure as hell will,” the lycan growled at her before she swung aside with her claw and struck an ant-lioness across its face. Sasha kicked away the one Tabitha stunned while Rulo punched the other that had lycan claw marks across its face, the girls quickly backing up again while more of the fiends skittered towards them from all sides.
“Forrus, stand down,” Sasha ordered. “We’re outnumbered here, we need the neko’s extra hands right now.”
“Tabitha, back off,” Rulo threatened. “If you don’t I’m sitting on you. And you will not like it.”
Forrus and Tabitha glared at each other then around at the approaching monsters while the ant girls continued to cheer on the fight from above.
“Those ant girls placed us in this situation for their entertainment,” Sasha mentioned. “Don’t give them the satisfaction of a good show by tearing each other’s throats out.”
“Fine,” Tabitha hissed. “Not like I want to be shackled to a lycan’s corpse anyway.”
“If there were to be any dead body attached to these chains, it would be yours,” Forrus shot back.
“Shut up both of you or I’m sitting on each of you!” Rulo shouted at them.
“Those monsters must have taken master somewhere as well,” Sasha mused.
“They’re going to try to rape him,” Tabitha assumed.
“They will try,” Forrus scoffed. “But they will fail. My lord will not be taken so easily by any.”
“They’re going to have a hell of a time trying to get his pants off,” Rulo chuckled. “Kinda wish I could see them try.”
Sasha looked around then noticed something she pointed to.
“The others are here too,” she said, with the girls then seeing Hollia dashing around a boulder further away with Scay slithering close to her side, the two bound together in the same manner while they ran away from a horde of ant-lionesses that were chasing them.
“Hollia!” Forrus called out.
“Scay, you okay?” Tabitha asked.
“Hi, Tabitha!” Scay said waving to them with a cheery smile before the two vanished behind another large crag in the underground arena.
“What the hell is going on here?” Hollia cried out before they both started screaming.
“Goddammit,” Tabitha muttered before the four girls raced towards them. Rulo and Sasha bashed away two ant-lionesses while Forrus tackled another and brought Tabitha down with her.
“Stop doing that!” Tabitha shouted as the lycan slashed the monster’s face apart. “I’m chained to you still, remember?”
“Not my fault,” Forrus growled before she took off running, dragging the stumbling neko along with her as the girls ran towards the sounds of more screeching and shouting. They rounded the large boulder before coming to a quick halt, all watching in wonder as Hollia was swinging Scay around by her arm and knocking away all the surrounding fiends with the naga’s long tail.
“Get back, you vile wretches!” Hollia yelled while sending more of the ant-lionesses flying off into rocks and each other by swinging her companion. She staggered a bit while catching her breath before Scay quickly slithered along the ground and wrapped around an ant-lioness, crushing the monster’s body with her own before she waved at Hollia.
“Let’s do it again! Yay!” she cheered happily. Hollia quickly scampered around on her hooves before swinging the naga and her prey around like a heavy sledgehammer, the increased weight and size with the naga and the ant-lioness being swung around and smashing into more of the fiends that charged at them. They were all knocked away wildly while the centaur let loose a loud warcry as she apparently became blinded by rage and adrenaline once again.
“Weeeeee!” Scay cheered as she was soaring around in a tight arc with the ant-lioness’ body in her tail being crushed and battered from hitting everything around them.
“They appear to be fine,” Sasha commented before ducking with Rulo to avoid a flying ant-lioness that soared past and crashed into a rock headfirst.
“Glad she’s having fun,” Tabitha dryly added before an ant-lioness latched onto Forrus from behind and started dragging her back, the neko then stumbling after before she yowled and struck her claws into the fiend’s face. Forrus slashed her claws down across the ant-lioness’ arms, severing the monster’s grip on her, then swung around and struck its neck. Tabitha and Forrus then quickly backed up as more of the ant-lionesses skittered around the crag and over it towards them.
“We need to get out of here,” Sasha ordered as she swung a fist at an ant-lioness and knocked it back. Rulo followed through with a hard strike to its face, sending it flying back into another, before the two girls jumped back to avoid more of the monsters that lunged at them.
“We need to get free,” Rulo snorted as she and Sasha tried yanking on their chain, both doing nothing to break the links as they held strong.
“We need to find my lord,” Forrus insisted before an ant-lion grabbed onto her and bit into her shoulder. The lycan howled before Tabitha yanked the fiend’s head back and clawed out its eyes.
“We need to kill all these bitches for putting us through this!” Tabitha argued while Forrus clawed out the ant-lioness’ throat. She then screamed as s
he was pulled down into the ground by a pair of hands, the neko struggling to kick free as she was yanked down into the dirt.
“Don’t drag me down with you!” Forrus shouted as she grabbed Tabitha and tried pulling her back up.
“I hate you!” Tabitha yelled out at Forrus and not the ant-lioness that was trying to pull her down to her death.
“Tabitha!” Scay cried out as she saw her friend sinking into the dirt. Hollia looked over to them then quickly ran forward while Scay flung the battered corpse of the ant-lioness she was coiled around into a boulder where it struck against with a loud crack. The centaur and naga rushed over and grabbed Tabitha, both pulling her back up along with the ant-lioness that surfaced beneath her while Sasha and Rulo struggled to push off two ant-lionesses that had grabbed onto them with loud screeches.
“Let her go!” Scay whined while slapping the monster. “Where’s my dagger? I wanna stab this thing!”
“These whores aren’t getting the hint!” Rulo shouted before she bashed an ant-lioness’ head in with her own.
“Nothing but wild animals,” Sasha hissed as she struck the fiend holding onto her with a punch before tearing its throat out and throwing the gore into its mouth.
“Unhand her!” Hollia yelled before moving over and stomping down with her rear hooves, crushing the ant-lioness clawing at Tabitha into the dirt with a crunch. The girls pulled Tabitha over before she dropped to her knees, the girl screaming in anger while having blood matting the fur on her shoulder and leg.
“Alright, I’ve had enough!” she yelled out with a furious glare. She looked back to her tail and jingled her silent bells, the neko then reaching forward with her claws and tearing into the air with them. A soft crackle of red light formed around her hands that she then slowly parted while growling in anger. She opened her magical treasure trove while the other girls fended off the ant-lionesses that continued to come after them, the neko then jingling her silent bells that caused the rift’s edge to shift to a blue hue and remain open as she quickly reached inside of it.
“Sword!” she yelled as she tossed over a longsword to Sasha, the reptile girl catching it and staring at it in wonder as the elegant blade had a golden handle, crimson rubies engraved into its hilt, and blue diamonds that were set within the sword’s finely polished steel.
Chronicles of Eden_Act X Page 23
