Chronicles of Eden - Act III

by Alexander Gordon

  “Hey, calm down, we’re not going to hurt you,” Triska pleaded gently while holding a hand up defensively.

  Cowering before them two girls were seen in the dugout of the shelter, both looking to be Triska’s age and height and both holding onto each other while trembling fearfully. The first girl had short raven hair and wore a black webbed masquerade mask over her eyes, a red cocktail dress with black edgings and a black tail, the dress having gold embroidering below the bosom, and black high boots with two green straps. The second girl had long blonde hair, wore a purple floral masquerade mask, a long purple slit dress with long sleeves and a sapphire embroidered belt, and long black stockings under her dress along with black high boots that had red bow ribbons on the front. Daniel and his group watched the two girls curiously as they whimpered and looked up to them while holding each other close.

  “Please, what do you want?” the raven haired girl asked nervously.

  “I’m so scared, sister,” the blonde whimpered before burying her face in her sister’s bosom.

  Squeak and Alyssa looked to each other curiously then down to the girls as Triska slowly knelt down in front of them.

  “Hey,” Triska said gently. “We’re not going to hurt you, I promise.”

  “Are you two alright?” Specca asked.

  The two girls whimpered then looked to Triska with quivering mouths.

  “Who are you?” the raven haired girl asked worriedly.

  “My name is Triska Raylight. It’s okay, you’re safe now.”

  The two new girls slowly stood up and looked around at everyone.

  “Am I seeing this correctly, or… do you have… monsters with you?” the raven haired girl asked curiously. Daniel nodded and stepped forward.

  “Yes, but don’t worry, they’re not malicious at all, I assure you. They’re our friends,” he said gesturing around at the group.

  “You are friends with monsters?” the blonde haired girl asked softly.

  Daniel and Triska nodded before Triska pointed to Falla with a dull expression.

  “Well, we’re not exactly friends with her,” she mentioned. “But don’t worry, she’s harmless.”

  Falla scoffed at her then looked at the new girls carefully as the two kept close to one another while looking from one group member to the other.

  “What happened here, can you tell us?” Specca asked.

  “It was horrible, just horrible,” the raven haired girl said sadly, looking down and holding an arm over her eyes.

  “So much blood, so much death, it was almost too much to bear,” the blonde whimpered as she looked away while holding her hands over her face.

  “You poor things,” Triska said gently. “Tell us, what did this to these monsters?”

  The two girls looked back to her with fearful expressions behind their masks.

  “Monsters did this to these monsters,” the raven one spoke.

  “We saw it all unfold with our own eyes,” the blonde said gravely.

  Alyssa looked at the girls carefully then raised an eyebrow in question, noticing that she couldn’t actually see the strangers’ eyes at all from behind their masks.

  “Um, what’s with the masks?” she asked pointing to them.

  The two new girls’ gazes snapped to her instantly then after a moment they smiled and shrugged at the same time.

  “We like them,” the raven one said.

  “Makes us look rather mysterious, wouldn’t you say?” the blonde mused with a giggle.

  Squeak looked at them curiously then to Daniel while squeaking a few times, the boy looking over the two new girls and their outfits.

  “You two look like you were on your way to a ball or something, how did you get way out here?”

  The two girls looked to him with whimpers and started walking towards him.

  “We’re lost,” the raven one said sadly.

  “We’re alone,” the blonde whined.

  The group watched as the two girls walked up to Daniel then looked down and away while each holding a hand out to him.

  “Please, help us, we don’t know what to do or where to go,” they said together in perfect unison.

  “Wow, how did they do that?” Specca asked curiously.

  Alyssa and Squeak shrugged while Triska looked at the new girls with wonder at hearing them say that sentence in perfect sync. Falla however was watching the new girls carefully, her eyes glancing from one to the other as she thought about something. A moment later she jumped a bit then pointed to them.

  “Wait a minute,” she said with the sudden realization. The group turned to her as she pointed from one girl to the other before looking all around at the campsite. “You two were here when this all happened, you saw what happened? Did you see if there was a giant butterfly like myself here? Was there?”

  The two new girls looked to each other curiously then at Falla.

  “A giant butterfly?” the raven haired girl asked.

  “Yes, she’s my sister!” Falla cried out. “We’re looking for her out here and I need to know where she is. Please, I have to know if… if… if that was her or not!” She pointed to the skeleton over by the stone altar while grabbing her hair with fright. The two new girls looked over to the cadaver then to Falla as the butterfly whimpered while watching them with anxious eyes. After a moment the blonde looked up thoughtfully with a gentle hum.

  “Hmm, you know, now that I think about it,” she speculated. “I believe I saw a girl with butterfly wings flying away from here last night.”

  The group looked at her with surprise as the raven haired girl nodded in agreement and looked down with a hand held to her chin.

  “Why, yes, I believe you are correct, sister. There was one that got away,” she said, the last part seeming to sound rather distant.

  “Really?” Falla desperately asked. “Are you sure? Which way did she go, please tell me!”

  The two new girls looked around curiously then pointed off in the direction the group had arrived from.

  “That way, we think,” they said together.

  Falla looked off into the distance with growing hope for her sister while the rest of the group watched the new girls curiously.

  “How do you keep talking together like that?” Alyssa asked.

  “Listen,” Triska said carefully. “That butterfly girl you saw leaving here, did she have anyone with her?”

  “With her?” the raven one asked.

  “I don’t remember, I thought she flew off alone,” the blonde said with a shrug.

  “She was traveling with a young human girl, or at least we believe so,” Triska explained. “Did you see such a child here last night?”

  The two new girls looked down in thought then back to her while shaking their heads at the same time.

  “I don’t recall,” the raven one answered softly.

  “Sorry, we don’t know,” the blonde said sadly.

  Triska and Daniel looked to each other with troubled expressions then back to the girls.

  “What happened here last night, what did this to the lycans?” Daniel asked looking around the ravaged campground.

  The two new girls sighed and looked down with troubled frowns.

  “They were all killed by two very bad monsters,” the raven one said softly.

  “We hid to survive the night, hearing dying screams and horrible howls all too well,” the blonde added with a tremble.

  “Monsters did this to them?” Triska asked. “But what kind were they, and where did they go?”

  “We do not know,” the raven haired girl answered. “We came upon this area at a rather unsavory time.”

  “Yes, we had to hide in order to save ourselves, we have no weapons with which to fight with,” the blonde said while raising her hands up defensively.

  “So the monsters that killed them, they’re still out there somewhere right now,” Specca said looking around nervously.

  Falla shook her head then looked back to the others with despera
tion.

  “We have to get going,” she ordered while pointing off to the side. “Luna was flying back that way towards us the whole time, we must have missed her.”

  “What about the human child?” Specca asked with growing concern. “What if they got separated, what if that poor young girl is wandering around alone out here?”

  “Forget about that brat, my sister needs our help!” Falla shouted out, pausing for a moment then jumping a bit as the group turned to her with accusing stares. She then smiled nervously and shook her head.

  “I mean, I’m sure Luna has her,” she politely answered. “She wouldn’t let the little brat- I mean, darling, out of her sight for a moment.”

  “You don’t care at all about the human girl, do you?” Specca accused with her hands at her hips. “You just wanted us to help find your sister.”

  “What? No, that’s not true, we were trying to bring that girl to you for protection, honest.”

  “Why were you doing that?” Alyssa asked sharply. “What were you hoping to gain in bringing us the girl?”

  Falla smiled nervously as she hesitated for a moment then shook her head slowly.

  “Nothing, we just wanted to-”

  “Oh save it, we’re not buying it,” Triska snapped. “I bet just Luna wanted to help the girl on her own, she’s kindhearted like that when she’s not being led astray to help you with your stupid plans to get to Daniel.” She blinked, looked to Daniel, then back to Falla with narrowed eyes.

  “Hold on, this was all part of some plan to get Daniel, wasn’t it?”

  “What?” Falla said with a weak laugh. “That’s crazy, how would this get me closer to Daniel? I just wanted to do something nice for that poor little girl, that’s all. I mean her parents were killed by those two man-eaters and then she nearly drowned in the river before Luna saved her-”

  “Luna saved her?” Specca questioned. “I thought you said you both saved her.”

  Falla opened her mouth to speak before stopping as the group watched her with dull stares.

  “Falla,” Daniel said flatly. “You never cared at all about the human child, did you?”

  Falla hesitated then smiled weakly and shrugged.

  “Hey, at least this proves I wasn’t lying about her, right? I told you, didn’t I?”

  “You just wanted us to help you find your sister and used the child’s disappearance to guilt trip us into helping you,” Specca accused with a stern expression.

  “I wouldn’t say guilt trip, per se,” Falla reasoned carefully. “I mean the child is lost and in need of protection. So, technically, I didn’t do anything wrong by leading you all out here to find her.”

  “I knew you didn’t care about the girl at all,” Triska snapped.

  “Hey,” Falla retorted with a shrug. “You thought I was lying about the child being real this whole time, so… you know, apology accepted.”

  Triska growled and reached for her sword before Daniel grabbed her hand and held her in place, the boy shaking his head slowly at Falla.

  “There’s no sense in reasoning with her, she’ll never change,” he pointed out, with Triska giving Falla a dull glare as she slowly lowered her hand. Daniel breathed then looked around the area carefully.

  “Still, that means Luna is out there somewhere, and might have that little girl with her. What matters is finding them and making sure they’re okay.”

  “So you’re still going to help me find my sister?” Falla asked hopefully.

  Daniel looked to her with a harsh stare while at this point the two new girls were watching them all curiously.

  “We’re going to help you find them,” he stated. “But we’re doing so for Luna and Emily’s sake, not for you.”

  Falla looked at him for a moment then nodded with a small smile.

  “Okay, I’ll take it.”

  Daniel just looked at her with a dull expression for a moment then over to the two new girls with a small smile.

  “Um, anyway, are you two alright now?”

  The two new girls slowly nodded while remaining silent. Daniel glanced around as everyone fell quiet, feeling a little uneasy as he knew he should ask something else but worried about how the other girls would take it. After a moment he sighed and smiled weakly at the two strangers.

  “So, I don’t suppose you have friends or a ride anywhere near here, do you?” he asked, with the two new girls slowly shaking their heads and the others looking to Daniel with concern as they knew where this was going. Triska looked back to the caravan then sighed before glancing to the two new girls.

  “Well,” she reluctantly said. “We can’t just leave them out here, can we?”

  “Sure we can,” Alyssa said quietly, with Specca whipping with her tail, the witch jumping with a small yelp as the nixie stepped forward with a tired smile.

  “Listen,” Specca offered. “We will be traveling towards the village of Eston while searching for two others who are lost. If you’d like… you can come with us, we’d be happy to give you both a ride as far as the village.”

  “What? We’re taking them with us too?” Falla complained.

  “If it wasn’t for Luna being in trouble out here with a human child in her custody you wouldn’t even be riding with us,” Triska snapped at her.

  Alyssa rubbed her rear with an annoyed expression then looked at the new girls worriedly.

  “Um, hold on, we don’t know anything about them.”

  Squeak nodded with a few quick squeaks, the ant girl eyeing over the two newcomers with concern as both of them had shapely figures. In fact, except for the hair colors and lengths, they both appeared to be the exact same physically.

  “You would help us like that?” the raven haired girl asked softly.

  “We don’t know what to say, that’s so generous of you,” the blonde agreed with a small smile.

  Daniel nodded slowly then glanced around at the others, all of them showing some concern at the thought of two more girls traveling with them like this. Falla groaned then looked down with a hand over her eyes.

  “Fine,” she reluctantly agreed. “Whatever, they can ride with us. Let’s just get going before Luna flies further away from us.”

  “Again, you’re not in charge here!” Triska shouted at her. “And you’re lucky we’re even letting you come with us at all!”

  Alyssa looked at the two new girls carefully then slowly pointed to them.

  “What are you hiding behind your masks?”

  The girls looked to each other then around at everyone as all eyes turned to them.

  “We are not hiding anything,” the raven one spoke.

  “We feel happier when looking through the eyes of a mask,” the blonde added.

  “Why?” Alyssa asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “We look so cute like this, don’t you think?” the two new girls cheered while showing happy smiles and holding hands.

  The group just stared at them for a moment then smiled weakly while Alyssa slowly shook her head to their response.”

  “Um, okay then,” Specca said unsurely. “Anyway, what are your names?”

  The raven haired girl smiled gently and turned to face her.

  “My name is Jovian, and this is my sister, Jacqueline,” she introduced while gesturing to herself and then her sister.

  “Hello,” Jacqueline said softly.

  “It’s nice to meet you,” Specca said kindly. “My name is Specca, this is Squeak, the witch behind us is named Alyssa, and the one leading our journey is Daniel. You’ve already met Triska, and unfortunately you’ve also met Falla,” she described, with the last part having a flat tone as she gestured to Falla who scowled at her. Jovian and Jacqueline looked around at the group then to Daniel curiously as he waved to them.

  “Leading your journey? Journey for what?” Jovian asked.

  “We’ll explain on the way, it might take a while to do so,” Daniel said with a small shrug.

  “Okay, fine, they’re coming with us,”
Falla said with exasperation. “Can we please get going now? Luna’s getting further away from us by the second.”

  Daniel rolled his eyes then looked around the area as the sky was turning to night.

  “Alright, we should get going then,” he announced. “We won’t be traveling for long though, it’s getting late and we need to stop soon for the night. Let’s put some distance between us and this graveyard and then we can prepare some dinner before turning in for the day.”

  The girls nodded and started making their way back to the caravan, with Falla quickly running ahead while Triska, Specca, Squeak, and Alyssa followed after. Daniel started to walk after them before Jovian spoke up again.

  “Daniel?”

  The boy stopped and looked back to her while the other girls except for Falla glanced back to them. Jovian and Jacqueline looked to each other with warm smiles then to the boy as they walked up to him.

  “Thank you, for your kindness,” Jovian praised gently.

  “Yes, thank you,” Jacqueline agreed.

  “Of course,” Daniel assured with a smile. “We’re not bandits after all, we’re here to help.”

  “We see that now,” Jacqueline said looking over to the other girls. “It’s good to know we’re safe with you and your friends.”

  The other girls all smiled a bit and nodded while Falla was watching them impatiently from the driver’s seat on the caravan.

  “C’mon you guys, let’s go!” Falla barked out.

  The girls looked to her with dull expressions as all but Triska started walking towards the ride.

  “Falla, just shut up!” Alyssa shouted out.

  “You are not in any position to order us around,” Specca asserted. “Any more of that and you’re not coming with us.”

  Squeak merely squeaked something at Falla while pointing to her, with everyone of course having no clue as to what she was saying. Triska shook her head at them then looked over to seeing Jovian and Jacqueline smiling kindly at Daniel.

  “Thank you, Daniel,” Jovian said brushing the hair around her ear. “Um, could you give us just a moment? We’re still a bit shaken up about our ordeal. We’ll be along very shortly.”

  “Yeah, we won’t be long. Please?” Jacqueline added.