chronicles of eden - act I

by Alexander Gordon

  "You'll pay for that, girl, you're dead!" one of the men yelled as he ran towards her with his weapon held out. Suddenly he was tackled to the ground by an extremely heavy duffel bag. Triska watched with wonder then over to see Daniel nearby as he glared at the men. He unsheathed his dagger from his shirt and held it out shakily with both hands.

  "Daniel?" Triska asked with surprise.

  "Holy shit… what the hell is in this thing anyway? Oh god, get it off me!" the man yelled out as he struggled to get the heavy bag off of his back. Triska whipped her dagger at the other man, the human dodging to the side as she raced towards her sword. She rolled onto the ground and grabbed the handle as she passed by, jumping back to her feet and holding her sword once again. With a fierce yell she then raced towards the armed man while Daniel held his blade close to the face of the one that was pinned under Triska’s bag.

  "Why are you doing this? How could you try to kill an innocent girl?" Daniel asked with anger as the man just looked at the blade near his face. Triska swung her sword and whacked off the end of the other villager's pitchfork, then swinging to the side she sliced across his chest. He screamed in pain while dropping back as the other villager looked over to the burning carriage with fearful eyes.

  "You don't understand, kid, she needs to die," he said with frustration. Daniel shook his head and stood back up, holding the blade towards the man still.

  "How could you?" he said with disbelief.

  "Daniel, get the girl out of there!" Triska cried out as she ran over towards them. He jumped a bit then looked to the carriage.

  "Ah… right," he said before he headed over to it. Triska ran over to the pinned villager and held her blade towards his head.

  "How dare you try to kill a little girl, for thieves you've sunk to a new low," she hissed out. The man looked at her and shook his head fearfully.

  "You don't understand, we're not thieves, she's-" he started before the girl yelled and swiped her blade through his head, blood and bits of the skull splattering out near her bag and across the grass. She growled with anger then looked to the carriage that was engulfed in fire. Daniel was eyeing around at it with worry as he sheathed his dagger. He shook his head as he backed up a bit, shielding his face from the heat with one arm.

  "Hey! Are you alive in there? Say something!" he called out. Carefully he tried to get closer toward the burning cart, again being forced to step back as the fires around the carriage flared around wildly.

  "No, I can't get close to it," he said with frustration. Triska watched with sorrow as the fires flared around the burned carriage.

  "Dammit. She was just a little girl," she said sadly before looking down with closed eyes. Daniel watched the fires burn with remorse, shaking his head then looking down as well.

  "I'm sorry…" he said softly.

  "Sorry? For what?" a girl's voice asked curiously. Daniel jumped a good foot in the air then looked ahead as the fires parted to show a little girl climbing out of the burning carriage. The fires swirled around her as she leapt gently off the charred wood and landed down next to the very surprised boy. He and Triska watched with wide eyes as the young girl giggled at them without having a single burn or mark on her. She wore brown leather boots with a pink ribbon on each foot for the lace, striped black and white stockings that went up to her thighs, a small light green skirt, a red long sleeve shirt that had gold and white trimmings on the ends as well as red and yellow trimmed shoulder covers, a little light blue bow tie, and a necklace that had a large round blue crystal on it. The girl had short blonde hair that was curled around her ears, purple eyes, and a red wide trimmed hat that was pointed at the top, the cone of the hat looking to be crooked slightly. There was a small jackrabbit skull tied to the hat with a brown leather strap as the hat’s rim covered her forehead. She looked to be around thirteen years old as she hopped on her feet with a giddy smile, giggling playfully then looking over to see Triska staring at the girl with surprise. Daniel backed up and stared with astonishment as he recognized the appearance of the girl.

  "What… how…" Triska asked in disbelief.

  "You… you're a…" Daniel said with caution.

  The girl held her hand out back towards the burning carriage, the flaming cart rattling around suddenly. From the ashes and charred wood an object burst forth and flew towards her hand, the carriage seeming to explode into a fiery ball with ashes fluttering away wildly. The girl caught the object with one hand, which was a greenish wooden staff about her height that had the skull of a ram on it, the curled horns and slightly cracked, bleached bones of the dead animal mounted on the top. As she swung the staff around gently towards Triska she giggled with an eerie smirk.

  "You tried to kill me. Naughty," she said with a bite.

  "Wha…" Triska said with wide eyes. Daniel looked over to his companion then gasped.

  "Triska, get down!" he shouted out. Triska gasped then dropped down onto the ground as the girl’s staff gave off a strange orange glow. Triska looked back to see the villager she cut across the chest earlier having his pitchfork raised up to strike at her. Suddenly his weapon yanked up into the air, the man looking up with shock before slowly over to the little girl who was giggling.

  "Very. Naughty," she said with a cold smile. She waved her staff down, and in doing so the pitchfork shot down towards the ground. It struck into the soil as it impaled the man down with a quick crunch, the man screaming in agony before falling limp as his weapon was pierced through his chest. Triska and Daniel looked back over to the little girl as she giggled to herself.

  "That'll teach you," she said before sticking her tongue out at the dead man. She then looked to Daniel with a curious smile.

  "Hello," she said happily. Daniel just stared at her with wide eyes then slowly backed up a bit. She giggled and skipped up to him playfully.

  "You're cute, what's your name?" she asked curiously. Triska slowly got to her feet and stared with surprise at the girl. She slowly held her sword up and glanced to Daniel.

  "What… what… is she?" Triska asked worriedly. The little girl giggled then looked over to Triska with a cute smile on her face. She held out her staff towards Triska as it started to glow orange. Triska watched as her sword lifted out of her hands and slowly turned to point at her.

  "It's not nice to point such things at a little girl," the youngling said with a snicker. Triska backed up as the blade hovered closer to her. Daniel stared at the possessed blade then over to the little girl.

  "You're… a witch," he said with wonder. She giggled and nodded at him with a bright smile.

  "Yep yep. My name is Alyssa. What's yours?" she asked happily. Daniel looked at her with astonishment.

  "Daniel… its Daniel Sorres," he said softly. She hopped up and down playfully and then tilted her head with a smile.

  "Well, Daniel Sorres, what were you sorry about? You didn't do anything wrong here. At least I don't think you did. Did you do something wrong you want to say sorry for? And if so, what did you do wrong?" Alyssa asked playfully.

  Triska watched her sword with fear as it hovered in place before her. She narrowed her eyes then darted around the blade, grabbing the hilt and yanking it out of the air. In a flash it yanked right back and threw her over into a small tumble. Alyssa laughed and looked over to the girl with an amused smile.

  "Oh sorry, I forgot about you. Did you want your knife back?" she asked innocently. She waved her staff towards the sword, and it instantly shot towards Triska at high speed. The girl stared with shock as she froze in place, her eyes watching her own sword race towards her head.

  "Don't!" Daniel cried out.

  The sword struck into the ground with a powerful thrust, with some dust shooting off from the impact point. Daniel stared with wide eyes as the blade had dropped down at the last second and struck into the ground right between Triska's legs. She stared with shock and an open mouth then slowly over towards the little girl. Daniel breathed out in relief then looked to Alyssa, the witch giggling
and looking back up to him. She smiled with a coy expression and walked up closer to him.

  "Well if you insist, Daniel. Say, are you ok, you look kind of pale. Are you sick?" she asked innocently. He wavered a bit then dropped down onto his rear, his eyes locked onto the monster that stood before him. She giggled again then looked to Triska as the teen was slowly standing back up. Triska glanced to her sword then to the witch with a careful eye. Alyssa just looked at her with a calm gaze while holding her staff at her side. Triska slowly grabbed her blade then pulled it out of the ground as she tensed up, with Alyssa smirking slightly as her staff started to glow orange.

  "Wait, we don't want to fight, really," Daniel said quickly. The witch looked to him curiously then to Triska.

  "Really? Because she seems like she wants to. Although she was kind enough to kill those humans that tried to kill me, so I guess the polite thing would be not to kill her right now," she said before looking up with a thoughtful expression.

  Triska slowly walked towards them while keeping her sword held to the side.

  "Daniel… get away from her," she said carefully as she watched the witch. Daniel held up his hand towards her to get her to stop while slowly getting back onto his feet. Alyssa looked to Triska with an amused smile then glanced to Daniel.

  "Does she still want to play?" she asked innocently. Daniel shook his head and looked to Triska quickly.

  "No, she doesn't. She was just about to put her sword away, isn't that right?" he asked cautiously.

  "Not quite what I had in mind to be honest," Triska said with narrowed eyes at the witch.

  "Then what did you have in mind?" Alyssa asked playfully as she giggled and held her staff up slightly. Triska looked at the witch's staff then to Daniel, the boy shaking his head slowly.

  "Don't make her mad. We're not here to harm her, just put your sword away," he warned. Triska looked to the little girl then slowly lowered her weapon. The witch laughed a bit then tilted her head amusingly, her smile never leaving her face.

  "I suppose I should thank you for trying to come save me as well, shouldn't I?" she asked playfully. With a quick wave of her staff Triska's sword suddenly whipped out of her hand and spun around behind her, the blade sliding into its sheath with one quick motion. Triska looked back to it then to the little girl with surprise.

  "I'll thank you by putting your sword away for you," the witch said with smirk. Triska stared with a stunned expression then glanced to Daniel. Alyssa giggled then looked to Daniel with a sweet smile.

  "And I suppose I should thank you too, Daniel Sorres," she said with a purr at the end. He backed up nervously as Triska stared at the girl with unblinking eyes.

  "That's not necessary, it looks like you could have handled it all on your own," Daniel said cautiously. Alyssa looked up with a thoughtful expression then smiled slightly.

  "Yeah, I suppose. Although they did burn all my potions I had stocked up. My entire month's inventory gone all because of them," she said before she frowned. Sighing she looked down, her hat hiding her eyes.

  "I worked forever making those too. They weren't very nice. So mean to me they were. So mean, so mean, so mean," she pouted while shaking her head. After a pause she held out her staff to the side, the relic glowing once again. Daniel and Triska looked over to see the two other men that were killed by Triska and the one holding his bloody stomach in pain suddenly lifted into the air, then slammed down onto the ground, then again and again. Their bodies cracked and snapped as they were smashed into the hard ground over and over again. With one more drop the bodies splattered and split apart on the ground with a crunch. Alyssa looked up with a bright smile as the two travelers turned back to her.

  "All better now! Hee hee!" she cheered.

  "What… is she, Daniel?" Triska asked with a bit of fear.

  "She's a witch. A magical monster," Daniel said looking at the little girl with awe. She giggled as she swayed side to side on her feet.

  "So… how should I thank you, Daniel, for coming to rescue me? Hmm?" she asked with a coy smile. Triska's eyes widened as she glanced to Daniel.

  "Um, no thanks are needed, really. Just… trying to help," Daniel said nervously. Alyssa giggled and hopped up closer to him.

  "Aw, but I insist on repaying you somehow," she said as she held her staff behind her, bobbing the head of the ram playfully as she swayed from side to side. Triska looked at the girl with disbelief.

  ‘No way, she's just a little girl, even if she is a monster. She couldn't possibly want… that… from him… so soon... could she?’

  The witch looked up thoughtfully as she hummed a happy tune. After a pause she looked back to Daniel with a bright smile.

  "I know, how about cookies?" she asked eagerly. Daniel and Triska blinked then glanced to each other.

  "Cookies?" Triska asked slowly.

  "Yeah, cookies. I love cookies, don't you?" Alyssa said looking to her with an innocent smile. She laughed playfully then looked behind her.

  "Yes, I do believe cookies and milk are an order," she declared as she waved her staff around. From the ground twisted green vines seemed to creep out from the dirt and slither around. A large tangled mesh of weeds moved about together, and then parted to reveal an opening with a warm light coming from it. Alyssa giggled then looked back to the two travelers.

  "It's the least I can do. Please, come on in," she said before she hopped over and walked down what seemed to be stairs into the opening. Daniel and Triska glanced to each other then back to where the witch disappeared.

  "What… should we do now?" Triska asked worriedly.

  Alyssa's head popped up from the opening and she smiled at the two playfully.

  "Well? What's the hold up? Come on in," she said happily. Daniel and Triska looked to each other then back to the witch.

  "I'm not sure," Daniel said slowly before the young witch giggled.

  "Please?" she asked innocently. Daniel looked at the little monster then glanced to Triska.

  "Well… we are trying to be nice to them here… and she seems friendly…" he reasoned. Triska slowly nodded then looked to the young girl. They picked up their bags, with Triska putting her dagger back into its sheath, and walked over to the witch. The girl giggled happily then ducked back down into the opening. As the two teens walked over they looked down with wonder at the strange opening in the ground. From inside the twisted vines that formed the opening there was a wooden staircase that seemed to head down into a well-lit living area.

  “How… what is that?” Triska asked puzzled. They slowly walked down the stairs and looked around in awe. They just walked underground from the plains, and seemed to be in a small house of some sort. From the ceiling where they came from they walked down the stairs and saw that they were in a living room, with a fireplace that had a warm fire going, several bookshelves around the walls lined with books and tombs of all kinds, a window that was looking out into a nearby forest with daylight shining in, a rounded wooden door with a flower painted on it, a soft blue rug that covered the hardwood floorboards, a few paintings of landscapes and sceneries that were hung on the walls that were a soft white, and wooden rafters that held up the roof which appeared to be pointed up in a cone, with all sorts of strangely colored gems hanging from the beams on strings. And there was a table set up in the middle of room with a light blue table cloth, and on it were a few plates of chocolate chip cookies and glasses of milk already set up. Alyssa hopped around and took her seat next to the fireplace and then gestured to the other seats. Her staff was leaning against the table next to her as she took a drink of her milk, the witch bobbing around a bit with a happy demeanor. Daniel looked around in awe then up to see the opening that led to the grassy plains above them.

  "How…" he said confused as he saw the sky up through the opening. The witch giggled then smiled playfully at him.

  "Please sit, Daniel, these cookies are fresh for you," she said happily. The two teens set their bags down next to the staircase then walked over
to the table, both sitting down slowly while looking around in wonder.

  "Where… are we?" Triska asked looking out the window nearby.

  "My home," Alyssa said simply.

  "But… underground?" Daniel asked.

  "Haha, no silly. I live here in my home. Why would I live underground? That would be so silly," Alyssa giggled before she took a bite of her cookie, her eyes staying locked onto Daniel as she had a happy smile. He nodded and looked to Triska curiously.

  "Wow… I can't… believe it," Triska said as she saw the forest outside the witch’s home. Alyssa glanced over to the window and nodded.

  "Yep yep, not often I have guests here; sorry if the place is a bit of a mess. I'm not home too often," she said sweetly. The girl glanced to her two guests and giggled as they were both looking around slowly.

  "Is something wrong? You both seem tense," she said with a smile. The two looked to her then to each other. Alyssa studied Daniel for a moment then tilted her head curiously.

  "So, Daniel, what was it you were saying sorry for earlier?" she asked before she took another bite of her cookie. Triska watched the witch carefully as Daniel looked to her curiously.

  "Well… I was saying sorry because… I thought we didn't get to you in time," he said slowly. The witch stopped chewing then looked at him puzzled.

  "Get to me in time? In time for what?" she asked.

  "To save you. I mean… we thought you were going to be burned alive. We heard you scream," Daniel explained. Alyssa blinked then glanced to Triska quickly, then back to Daniel. After a pause she giggled to herself.