Outside the den the ant girl watched Daniel gasping for air as she helped him stand. He coughed a few times then looked at her with confusion as she watched him curiously.
"Thank… thank you. Why… why did you do that?" he asked, coughing again before catching his breath. She leaned in close to his face and eyed him over curiously, then pointed up while squeaking a few times. Daniel just looked at her curiously as she tilted her head and waited for his response.
"Um… what?" he asked. She grabbed her hair in frustration and looked around quickly, then started waving her hands around wildly. She pantomimed walking in place then staggering down to the ground while showing fright at something below her. Daniel watched as she then showed herself flexing her arm muscles before started doing a stabbing motion in front of her with vicious squeaks. She then looked to Daniel who was just staring at her with bewilderment.
"…what?" he asked again. She squeaked in frustration and stomped around, then looked to him with urgency. She pointed to him repeatedly then down the tunnel while squeaking at him desperately. He blinked and just watched the ant girl as she pantomimed running in place and then dropping down onto her back, feigning unconsciousness. She then looked at him as he just continued to stare at her.
"You're… trying to tell me something. I just know it," he said simply. She squeaked loudly and jumped back to her feet, the girl then running over to him and shaking the confused human by the shoulders. He looked at her with surprise as she squeaked franticly at him.
"What are you saying? I don't speak ant," he said shaking his head. She looked at him with frustration then down in thought as her eyes darted around, realizing that there was a slight language barrier between them.
"Listen, I don't know what you're trying to say, but can you help me? Your kind took me down here, my friends are probably looking for me right now," Daniel pleaded. She squeaked and looked to him with urgency, nodding quickly. He looked at her with surprise then around the darkened tunnels.
"My friends? Is that what you're trying to tell me? Are they here?" he asked. The girl nodded again and grabbed his hand, then started running down the tunnel pulling him along. He stumbled a bit in her haste and watched her with surprise, the girl pulling him down the tunnels quickly while other ant girls around the area watched curiously.
*****
Alyssa was staring ahead of her with wonder, standing at the entrance of a large den inside the nest. It was a spacious chamber with multiple tunnels connecting into the front area from all sides. On the other side of the den was a dark marble stone floor with dark blue marble walls, the area shifting from an underground cavern to elegant living quarters. There were gray marble pillars to each side with a few torches lit on them, illuminating the area with a soft bloom. And in the middle of the quarters was a large black throne where a figure was seated. It looked to be an ant girl at first glance however there were a few differences. For one, her long black hair was neatly combed behind her back, seeming to be clean with a soft shine to it. Another was instead of a simple tunic she wore a fine silk dress, the gray outfit having dark trimmings on her shoulders and waist. Her feet had dark crystalline shoes that shimmered slightly while she had her legs crossed casually. And finally, her abdomen was far larger, sticking out behind her seat that was a chair without a back. Her insect appendage rested on a large comforter behind the throne that had four elegant marble legs and a black cushion. Before the figure were several ant girls, all dressed in the usual tunics and boots. They however had swords sheathed at their hips and had more focused expressions, their hair being longer as it went down to their shoulders while they stood in a line before their leader.
"Wow… the queen," Alyssa said quietly as she looked at the queen ant along with her royal guard. She then looked down towards the middle of the area and saw a small gathering of ant girls. Some were looking at their queen with wonder while a few were treating a human girl who was injured. Triska was lying on the ground, slowly coming to from her blood loss, and was murmuring softly in a daze. She flinched then opened her mouth slightly, feeling a strange sensation on her leg. She blinked a few times then slowly sat up, her wounds on her back aching as she moved.
"Wha- ah! That stings. What… where am I?" she asked looking around. Hearing a squeak she looked down to see an ant girl licking her leg, her tongue lapping over the wound causing a strange euphoric feeling.
"Hey! What… what are you doing?" Triska asked with surprise. She quivered then shakily looked behind to see two other ant girls licking the wounds on her back.
"What are you doing… hey, stop," Triska said weakly as she felt lightheaded, the waves of pleasure rippling through her body and causing her mind to go numb for a moment.
"Relax, human, they are merely treating your wounds," the queen informed calmly. Triska looked around as her eyes focused in and out then saw the queen and her royal guard before her. She jumped a bit then wavered as she was held up by the two girls behind her, her body going numb slightly as they had her shirt held up and her hair held off to the side while licking her back. With each lick the pain was replaced with pleasure, the three ant girls treating her wounds with their saliva.
"Who… are you?" Triska asked wearily as she tried to focus her eyes. The queen smirked slightly as her guards kept a close eye on the human. Alyssa walked over to Triska's side and watched with wonder as she saw the ant girls treating the human's injuries. Triska looked up to her and blinked a few times, slowly making out the witch’s appearance as her vision was hazy.
"Alyssa? Is that… you? What… what happened?" she asked softly.
"That is what I would like to know. I hear from my workers here that you killed one of those accursed ant-lionesses that crept into my nest. I find it rather hard to believe that a simple human did such a thing, but they are being rather insistent by saying it is true," the queen said with an intrigued tone.
"Ant-lionesses?" Triska asked as she wavered, her mind hazy from the ant girls treating her.
"Triska? Are you ok?" Alyssa asked curiously.
"It feels… nice. What… what are they doing?" Triska asked before she shivered slightly.
"They are cleaning your wounds human, a small token of appreciation from me. Their saliva is able to help heal and speed up recovery of injuries, as well as relieve the pain you may have been experiencing before," the queen said casually. Triska shuddered a bit as the ant girls licked over her wounds, feeling her pain disappearing while a pleasurable sensation was spreading around the inflicted areas. The bleeding of the wounds had stopped as well, with the cuts and bruises appearing to slowly fade away slightly.
"Little witch, please step forward," the queen commanded. Alyssa looked to her cautiously then to the guards that parted for her to approach the queen. She slowly walked forward while glancing back to Triska, the teen having a blush on her face as she felt nothing but pleasure rippling through her body. She quivered and giggled softly as the ant girls held her upright.
"Since your companion is a bit preoccupied, I'll ask you. Now, what exactly happened in my nest?" the queen asked with a raised eyebrow. Alyssa blinked then looked to the queen with discontent.
"What happened? You took Daniel from us, that's what happened," she said accusingly.
"Daniel? What's a Daniel?" the queen asked curiously.
"Not a what, a who. He's a human who was traveling with us," Alyssa said shaking her head. The queen laughed and shrugged in response.
"Oh, I see. Sorry, but we don't care to learn the names of our breeding tools, we go through so many after all," she chuckled.
"He's not your breeding tool, he's our friend. You took him from us!" Alyssa yelled out. The queen looked at her carefully while the guards narrowed their eyes at the witch.
"You think that makes a difference to us? Your friend or your enemy, human men are all the same. Now quit wasting more of my time witch, and explain what you and your companion were doing in my nest," the queen demanded.
"We f
ell in from above, one of your tunnels collapsed and we-" Alyssa started before the queen scowled at her.
"So, you're the reason one of our tunnels was breached today," she said bitterly. The guards reached for their swords as Alyssa backed up a bit.
"Hey, it's not our fault your tunnel collapsed. We never wanted to come down here in the first place," she defended with.
"No? Then why were you found so far deeper in my nest? Did you fall down there too?" the queen asked with a scoff.
"No! We came looking for Daniel after you had him taken from us. We just wanted him back," Alyssa said urgently. The queen chuckled and shook her head.
"Well, I'm afraid that just won't be possible, witch. All men that are taken by us remain with us. One way or another they will serve a purpose for my nest," she said examining her fingernails with a smug expression. After a moment she then looked back to the witch with a raised eyebrow.
"Now, you and your companion did us a slight service by killing one of those ant-lionesses in my nest, and for that I'll reward you both by sparing your lives for your intrusion here. After your friend is treated with her injuries you will be taken back to the surface, and you are never to return here again, am I understood?" she stated firmly.
"What about Daniel? You can't keep him here like this," Alyssa pleaded. The queen looked at her with a scoff as her guards kept their hands on their swords.
"Don't mistake my generosity for letting you live as anything more, witch, I'm merely being fair to you two for killing that pest in my domain. However let me make this clear to you in case you haven't learned yet, this Daniel you speak of will remain here as will the rest of his kind. Whether he's worthy of mating with me is irrelevant, he will still provide relief for my many workers," the queen explained with a stern tone.
"What? No! You… you can't," Triska said wearily, somewhat hearing the conversation while her mind was swimming. The ant girls continued to lick her wounds, and as they did so the teen's mind was having trouble focusing.
"Please, you can't keep him here, he's trying to help monsters everywhere, he's trying to help you as well," Alyssa pleaded. The queen laughed a bit as the guards smirked at the witch.
"Help me you say? And just how is a human going to help me otherwise?" the queen asked amusingly.
"He's trying to get monsters and humans to coexist together, to live together peacefully," Alyssa said.
Silence filled the den as the queen looked at the witch with an amused smile. She chuckled at first then started laughing, as did her guards who squeaked with amusement.
"Hahaha! Coexist? Oh my, that's rich. You're quite the jester, witch, I should keep you here as my personal clown. Live together peacefully, such nonsense," the queen laughed while holding a hand to the side of her head.
"It's not nonsense; I'm proof of that possibility alone. I'm a monster, and I'm not trying to take him away to breed with. I'm trying to help him," Alyssa pleaded.
"No no, please stop. It's simply too much. First the ridiculous story of this human slaying an ant-lioness, then you saying this Daniel thinks monsters and humans can coexist as equals. Oh my, I haven't laughed like this in ages," the queen said with a few more hearty laughs. She sighed in content and then smiled amusingly at the witch.
"But Triska did kill an ant-lioness. She killed two even!" Alyssa shouted out. The queen burst out laughing as the guards held their sides while squeaking in amusement. The ant girls around Triska looked at them curiously then to the human, the one they all saw kill at least one of the predators firsthand. Triska however was still rolling her eyes while her head rocked back and forth as she had trouble thinking straight, her hearing not really picking up the conversation regarding her at all.
"Two you say? Haha! Such a wild imagination, as if a human could kill two of them. One alone was hard enough to believe, but two? My my, witch, you are the fool I need to brighten my days down here, I'm quite thankful I didn't have you executed after all," the queen said, wiping a tear from her eye. She breathed out in content then looked at the witch with a small smile.
"I'll be the generous one here, and grant your freedom, witch. However that's as far as my kindness goes on the matter," she said simply. She snapped her fingers and a guard walked up to the witch.
"My guard will escort you two back to the surface; go spread your wild tales elsewhere. And don't worry, we'll be sure to keep your Daniel safe and sound down here," the queen said with a smirk. Alyssa growled a bit and then looked at the guard's sword on her hip.
"Hey… hey! That's Triska's sword!" she yelled out. The guard had the human's sword at her hip, with the belt strapped around her waist. She glanced to it then back to the witch with a simple squeak. The queen chuckled and shook her head amusingly.
"Don't worry, witch, it sounds like your friend can handle herself just fine without it. After all, she killed two ant-lionesses," she laughed. Alyssa looked at her with frustration then to Triska's sword.
"She helped save one of your workers from that ant-lioness, and this is how you say thanks? By taking Daniel away and stealing our stuff?" she accused with anger. The queen scoffed at her as Triska struggled to think clearly.
"I'm allowing you both safe passage out of my nest. I'm seeing to it that your friend's wounds are taken care of. I've done more than I have to for you, witch, I am under no obligation to show you any charity or kindness after you invaded my domain, so do not speak as if I owe you anything," the queen said firmly. The ant girls around Triska looked at the human with wonder while the guards kept their sights on the two newcomers with a keen eye. The queen sat back in her seat and glanced around casually.
"Now then, where is this worker of mine that you claim was saved by your friend? I'm very much interested in hearing about how this human saved her," she said simply. Alyssa looked around carefully.
"I… I don't know. She was right behind us when we were running after Triska here, then she vanished down a side tunnel," she said.
From the tunnel across from the queen an ant girl raced in pulling Daniel behind her. He ran in and stared with wide eyes at seeing all the ant girls and the queen sitting in her elegant court. Alyssa looked back to him and smiled brightly, then ran over to him and quickly hugged him around the waist.
"Daniel! You're ok!" she cheered out.
"Alyssa? You're ok, thank god. I was worried about you. Where… where's Triska?" Daniel asked looking around. His eyes stopped at seeing Triska sitting on the ground facing away from him, with two ant girls licking her back and what appeared to be one licking something in front of the girl in her lap.
"Wow… that… feels so good," Triska said with a shiver. Daniel just watched with wide eyes while Triska rolled her head slightly as the two treating her back stopped licking her, the ant girls lowering her shirt and hair while still holding her upright.
"Triska?" Daniel asked slowly.
"I’ve never… felt anything like this," Triska said looking down at something. Daniel saw an ant girl leaning down in front of the teen while squeaking softly, the monster seeming to shift around slightly while her head tilted from side to side slowly.
"Um… Triska?" Daniel asked nervously. Alyssa glanced to him then to the teen that was feeling waves of pleasure rippling from the ant girl's treatment of her leg wound.
“Hee hee, wow… their tongues really do… feel great,” Triska murmured as she shivered again, looking down towards the ant girl that was treating her leg. Daniel’s expression turned to a combination of both confusion and worry as he saw Triska rocking her head back while an ant girl appeared to be leaning down into the teen’s lap.
"What is the meaning of this? Who told you to bring this human here to my chambers?" the queen demanded. The rescued ant girl ran up to the guards and squeaked franticly at the queen, the elder watching her with a careful eye. Daniel looked to her then to Triska who was gazing up with a glazed look in her eye. She shivered a bit as the ant girl in her lap squeaked a few more times.
"Wow
… your tongue… feels so good. Thank you… for doing this," she said in a daze. Daniel stared at his friend with shock while Alyssa raised an eyebrow to her.
"What… what's going on here?" Daniel asked shaking his head. Alyssa giggled and hugged him tightly again.
"Never mind her, Daniel, she's fine. But what about you? I was so worried when they took you away, are you ok? They didn't touch you did they?" she asked worriedly. Daniel looked to her then to the other ant girl.
"No, she… she saved me before the others could do anything to me," he said as the rescued ant girl squeaked franticly at her leader. The queen watched the worker carefully then glanced to Triska.
"I see, so this human did indeed kill two ant-lionesses. Very commendable, but that's still no excuse for removing this male from the mating den. I never gave such an order," she said sternly before looking back to the ant girl. The worker squeaked loudly and pointed to Triska.
"I don't care if this girl wanted him back; he belongs to the nest now. Take him back immediately!" the queen yelled out. The ant girl backed up and trembled a bit as the guards watched her with narrowed eyes. Daniel looked at the queen then walked up next to the lone ant girl, glancing to his friend who was sitting upright with an ant girl licking her leg. He looked at them puzzled for a moment then shrugged before breathing out in relief that at least it wasn't what it looked like to him earlier. The queen glanced to him and scoffed.
chronicles of eden - act I Page 23
