Daniel slowly looked around at seeing all the girls staring at him in wonder while blushing slightly, none of them seeming to be bothered by that idea at all. He turned his gaze from one girl to the next, each of them appearing to focus heavily on that suggestion while waiting for his response to it.
“Um…” was his response to it.
“You’re saying if Daniel impregnates us…” Specca asked, pausing for a moment to catch her breath before turning to the twins in awe. “If he does that, we’ll be able to give even more monster energy for him to wield?”
“Much more,” the sisters agreed. “If he gets all of you pregnant the amount of magic he’ll be able to summon would be extraordinarily high.”
“Us being pregnant would help him that much?” Triska quietly wondered. She glanced down and gently held a hand beneath her stomach before looking at Daniel with growing curiosity.
“We’re going to make babies now?” Cindy squealed in excitement. She picked up Daniel in a tight hug and merrily swung him around with cheers of joy while he had a stunned expression on her face.
“We’re going to make babies! I love babies! They’re so cute and amazing! Yay! This is the best day of my life!”
“Put him down!” Triska scolded as she rushed over to her. “Stop that, Cindy! Put Daniel down!”
“Go away, meanie!” Cindy snapped while holding Daniel away from the teen. “He’s not making babies with you!”
“He’s certainly not making them with you!” Specca argued as she ran over and grabbed Cindy along with Triska, the two struggling to pry her arms off of Daniel while he was still lost deep in thought about the subject and the complete lack of any objection from his mates.
“Let go of him!” Alyssa yelled holding her staff towards the wraith. Ripples from a magical force rolled across the girl as the witch focused on forcibly removing Cindy from Daniel, the wraith’s body and clothes shifting to sand and wavering about while struggling to remain strong against the unseen current.
“Go away! He’s mine!” Cindy yelled with eyes shut tight.
“He’s ours, you bitch!” Triska shouted.
“You’re going to crush him!” Specca wailed.
“Stop it, Cindy!” Kroanette pleaded.
“Let go or else you’re going to burn!” Alyssa warned.
Suddenly everything shook violently with a loud rumble echoing across the land. The group jumped and quickly looked around before noticing a large section of the trees to the side of the trail wavering about then dropping down into the ground with a deafening roar.
“What’s happening?” Luna cried out as she and Falla grabbed hold of each other.
“Groundquake!” Alyssa called out.
“Save me, Daniel!” Cindy whined while quickly burying her face in his shoulder. “Save me so we can still make babies!”
“Everyone hold on!” Triska shouted as Lucky started neighing and bucking about in a panic.
The land shook about fiercely with more of the forest next to the group falling into a deep pit of dust and haze. Birds took off into the air from the plummeting forest while the ground with the trail on it rumbled with cracks forming all over. Daniel saw the land beside them dropping away while holding Cindy close, the group tensing up as clouds of dirt and dust flew up around them. After a few more heavy tremors everything came to a quick stop, leaving Daniel and the girls waiting in silence to see if it was really over. The dusty banks of haze slowly began to fade, with the group then seeing the trial they were on being the only strip of land still standing for a few miles ahead. To their left was the great valley they had been riding alongside earlier, and on the right was now a large gorge where the hills and trees had fallen down into.
“Holy shit,” Triska quietly said. “That came out of nowhere.”
“We almost fell into that,” Specca nervously mentioned eyeing the nearby drop-off with fright.
“Is everyone okay?” Kroanette spoke up.
“I’m okay,” Pip squeaked as she poked her head up between the centaur’s breasts.
“We’re fine, I think,” Falla shakily said as she and Luna were holding each other tightly with wobbling legs.
“Well,” Apoch and Astreal spoke together while looking over the new cliff next to them. “That could have been rather unfortunate.”
Squeak nodded with a squeak then noticed Star clinging to her back while shaking a little. The jinx slowly peeked over her shoulder and meowed while she was riding atop the ant girl’s abdomen. Squeak blinked then cringed slightly with a squeak, with Star looking at her curiously then quickly removing her hands and nails from the girl’s shoulders with a nervous smile. The ant girl shook about and threw the jinx off her back then looked around at the new adjacent chasm while rubbing her shoulders.
“What in Eden?” Alyssa gasped with wide eyes. Everyone gathered closer to her as she stood at the edge of the drop-off, all watching in disbelief at seeing the dust settling to reveal a large, deep valley of boulders and timber now reaching out far into the distance.
“Hey,” Cindy said in confusion. “Where did the forest go? It was right here, wasn’t it?”
“It… just collapsed,” Specca slowly pointed out.
“Everything did,” Daniel added.
“How does an entire landscape fall into itself like that?” Kroanette wondered.
“Look, Falla,” Luna said in awe as the sisters beheld the large missing chunk of Eden before them.
“I am,” Falla replied while staring at the sight. “Kind of hard to miss, Luna.”
“That chasm is the size of a city,” Triska remarked. “How did everything just fall like that?”
Daniel looked around at the large valley that had suddenly appeared next to them then to Cindy as she too was eyeing the new change in scenery with wonder while holding onto him still.
“Are you alright, Cindy?”
“Yeah, I’m okay,” she replied softly. “It just scared me.”
“You’re a sand wraith,” Specca reminded her. “Even if you did fall down there you would be just fine. Nothing but fire can hurt you.”
“I know,” Cindy shyly admitted looking down. “But it was loud and sudden. I didn’t like that.”
Daniel smiled a bit at the wraith then let go of her and walked over towards the edge of the cliff next to Alyssa, seeing that only rubble and the remains of a few trees were visible on the valley floor.
“That would have been a bad way to end our trip, wouldn’t you say?” he jested with a light chuckle.
“I’ll say,” she quietly agreed taking hold of his hand. As she did Daniel felt her gripping him more tightly than usual, a concerned look on her face being seen beneath the brim of her hat.
“Alyssa?”
“I already lost my daughter in a landslide,” she spoke with words that barely carried over her breath. “If I lost you too…”
“You’re never going to lose me,” Daniel assured her. She looked up to him with tears seen in her eyes, a sympathetic smile coming across his face as he knelt down and gently wiped them away. “You’ll always have me, Alyssa. I’m never going to let you go.”
The witch quickly leapt forward and hugged him, burying her face in his chest as he held his mate close. Standing back up he kept Alyssa in his arms, her legs holding onto his hips while she clung to him like a young child.
“You’ll never lose any of us,” Daniel promised, looking around to seeing his mates smiling at them. Star was as well, although hers seemed more saddened than happy, while Cindy was watching Daniel with a curious expression on her face.
“You really do care for her, don’t you, Mr. Daniel?” Apoch and Astreal asked together.
“I do,” Daniel agreed while cradling his witch. “I don’t know if we could go on without her. I know I couldn’t.”
“Even after all she’s done in her past, you still feel so strongly towards her?” Astreal wondered.
“Without a doubt.”
“I see,” Apoch
mused with a curious eye on Alyssa. “Do keep a close watch on her then, Mr. Daniel. Should other witches learn of her real identity she could be in real danger.”
“I’ll always protect her,” Daniel vowed. Alyssa peeked up at him as he smiled and winked at her. “She’s my mate after all. I won’t let anything take her from me.”
“Thank you, Daniel,” she softly said before resting against his chest again.
“Wait, what’s her real identity?” Cindy asked pointing to Alyssa. “Who is she?”
“She’s Alyssa the Wildfire Witch, remember?” Triska answered with a raised eyebrow.
“She is?” Cindy gasped in surprise. She smiled brightly and raced over to grab Alyssa, only to stop at the last second then lower her head with a frown. “Oh, right. I can’t take her anywhere now. I forgot.”
“Oh, Cindy,” Specca sighed shaking her head.
Daniel smirked at seeing the sand wraith scratching her head as she apparently became confused again about the fact that she wasn’t taking Alyssa away anymore then turned to Apoch and Astreal as the twins were watching him with a slight amount of interest.
“Well, this has been an eventful day. Thank you again for coming to visit.”
“Of course,” they replied together. “Just remember what you learned today. If you want them as your mates, then don’t let anything get in your way of having them.”
“I won’t,” Daniel promised. “I’ll be sure to fight for my mates without hesitation from now on.”
Apoch and Astreal nodded then waved at the group before walking away, both twirling their staves at the sides before clanking them together overhead. A bright flash erupted around the twins along with a burst of dust that swirled outward from the magical light, with the group shielding their eyes from the glare before it slowly vanished to show the sisters were gone.
“Wow, where did they go?” Cindy asked looking around with bright eyes of wonder.
“It was actually nice having them here,” Specca commented. “They certainly are friendlier with us now compared to when we first met them in Eston.”
“Yeah,” Alyssa dryly agreed. “I mean they did nearly kill Daniel with their little test and I swear Astreal ate all the cookies we had for her ‘lunch’. But I guess it is nice having them on our side now.”
“They didn’t mean to cause trouble,” Daniel reasoned with a shrug. “At least not too much trouble. They just wanted to help and make sure I was doing well with you girls.”
“Um, Daniel?” Falla spoke up. The group looked to the butterfly as she shook her head and walked up to him. “That’s not entirely true.”
“What do you mean?”
“When they said they stopped by to make sure you were happy and doing alright, I could tell from their voices,” Falla warned. “They were lying.”
“Lying?” Specca questioned.
“Are you sure?” Kroanette wondered.
“I’m positive,” Falla insisted with a few quick nods. “Before when they talked to us it was so hard to see if they were telling the truth or not, it was like they had a mask on with their words. But when they were trying to defend their actions after what they did with you they let that mask slip. I heard them, Daniel. Saying they came by because you were troubled and wanting to help you, that was a lie.”
“They were lying?” Daniel worried. “But why would they lie about that? What else would they have come here for if not to help us?”
Everyone looked to one another as they questioned that themselves, silence filling the area as the group began to feel uneasy about the witch sisters’ sudden deception with them. After thinking hard about it Triska sighed and shook her head with a dull expression on her face.
“Wanna bet they just wanted Twilight’s wine that was locked away in our kitchen?”
Daniel and the girls blinked then smiled weakly as that sounded like too good of an answer for the mystery.
“Of course,” Alyssa muttered. “That must have been their target the whole time. Helping Daniel was just an excuse to visit and get their hands on it.”
“I suppose we shouldn’t be too surprised,” Specca reluctantly agreed. “Those two are quite skilled when it comes to manipulating those around them.”
“They really are witches,” Falla said shaking her head.
“What was that?” Alyssa questioned with a sharp glance.
“Nothing!” Falla exclaimed, quickly backing up and holding both hands over her rear. “I didn’t say anything!”
“You just said they really are witches,” Luna mentioned with a curious face at her sister.
“I heard her say that,” Pip agreed raising her hand.
“I did too,” Cindy added with her hand raised in the air.
Daniel smiled amusedly at seeing Falla nervously laughing while turning pale in front of Alyssa, the witch showing her a small glare as she contemplated punishing another of her co-mates. He then set Alyssa down and looked over towards where Lucky and the carriage were on the trail.
“Anyway, we should be on our way again. We’re close to reaching Ruhelia, and in the meantime I intend to get closer with my loved ones.” Turning back he saw all the girls staring at him in wonder. “If that’s alright with all of you.”
“When you say closer…” Alyssa said with a smile forming.
“You know what I mean, Alyssa,” he replied with a smirk. “Go get your horse ready to ride. Kroanette, go fetch Clover from inside the carriage. I’m trusting you two to keep us on the trail toward Ruhelia. Think you can handle that?”
“Of course I can,” Kroanette proudly answered with a salute.
“Wait a second,” Specca nervously interjected. “Daniel, Clover doesn’t know how to reach Ruhelia from here. How are we going to get there with none of us driving the carriage?”
“I can get us there,” Kroanette snapped at her. “It is my home after all. I know exactly how to get there.”
“I repeat myself. How are we going to get there with none of us driving the carriage?” Specca said shaking her head.
“Specca!”
“Kroanette can lead us there,” Daniel asserted, with the girls looking at him curiously as he smiled confidently at the centaur. “I trust she can guide us towards her home just as she’s been telling us. I have faith in my mate.”
“Daniel,” Kroanette sighed with adoring eyes.
“Are you nuts?” Alyssa asked with great disbelief. “She has no navigational skills whatsoever! Before we stopped here she was contemplating leading us right off that cliff because she believed it was a shortcut! We can’t let her do this alone, Daniel!”
“I trust her,” Daniel repeated with a stern tone. “She’s my mate and yours too, Alyssa. I’m giving her this chance to prove that she can do this.”
“But, Daniel,” Alyssa whined hopping about. Kroanette crossed her arms with a smug grin at the witch while the other girls were looking at each other with concern about the centaur’s reputation for getting lost.
“Besides,” Daniel added with a shrug. “If we take a wrong turn and end up getting to Ruhelia a little late it’s not so bad, it just means we’ll have more time to spend together. And I wouldn’t mind that at all, especially if it means I could get more time ‘training’ with you girls.”
All the girls jumped and blushed from that as he twitched an eyebrow with a suave smile at Alyssa.
“I want you inside with me, Alyssa. I can tell this groundquake has you a little shaken, maybe I can help you feel better again. Unless you aren’t in the mood for such a thing and would rather ride outside instead of Clover.”
The witch blinked then smiled brightly at Kroanette while pointing to her with her staff.
“It’s all you, Kroanette! I believe in you!” she commended before sprinting off towards Lucky. Daniel chuckled at seeing his witch having been motivated by his words then turned to the girls and shrugged as his mates were all watching him with eager smiles.
“Kroanette and Clover can get us
further along towards Ruhelia. Of course, Kroanette, if you find a nice place for us to stop and rest, preferably somewhere that we can find some more fish to gather, by all means do so. I would like to spend some quality time with you then.”
“O-Okay,” Kroanette breathed out while her hips wiggled in anticipation. “I’m going to go get Clover then, so we can find that place to stop- I mean so we can get closer to my home.”
She stumbled to the side while keeping her eyes on Daniel as much as she could before quickly racing off towards the carriage and dashing into their home. Daniel smirked at seeing his mate sharing the same enthusiasm as Alyssa then turned to the other girls while giving a fanciful gesture towards their ride.
“Now then. Shall we, ladies?”
The girls giggled and nodded before all following him towards where Alyssa was rushing to get Lucky ready to go and Kroanette was dragging a cursing Clover by her foot out from the carriage. As they did Star stopped and glanced over into the new valley with a curious eye, her ears twitching slightly as something caught her attention. After a moment she shrugged and quickly trotted after the group.
While the travelers got ready to head out once again all finally settled in the chasm, the dust and haze fading away to reveal rock and timber littering the valley floor. Nothing was moving or making a sound as all wildlife that had been caught in the unexpected quake were killed. Deer were crushed between boulders, rabbits buried in their own burrows, and a few birds were caught by falling trees and lost their lives.
And the body of an ant girl was partially seen above the rubble, laying face first down in the dirt with her red hair tangled and messy, rosy tunic being tattered, insect abdomen which had a crimson hue to it being bruised, tall black boots worn on her broken legs, and a broken pickaxe held in hand.
*****
Deep within the ancient City of Eden two witches were kneeling before their master’s throne, the sleek metallic floor having glowing blue lines and markers that provided ambient light to show their nervous smiles and fearful eyes towards the grand Darker One in the room.
Act IX Page 26
