"That would be nice, but I really doubt we have enough money to afford something like that. I only brought enough just for some basic equipment and food, certainly not enough to buy something like a new carriage," Daniel admitted with regret. Triska nodded and looked down with regret as well.
"Even if we have sunny weather all the time we still need to stock up on proper gear and food reserves. We can't count on finding everything we need out in the wilderness, and there's no telling how long before we find another town. Something to carry all that stuff in would be a big help," she said with concern. Alyssa glanced to her then looked to Daniel curiously.
"I have money. I could get another carriage for us," she offered. The group stopped and looked back to her as she smiled happily.
"What? You do?" Daniel asked with surprise.
"Yep yep. I got a good amount of gold for my potions last time I was here. I can take care of that no problem," she said with a nod. Triska looked at the witch with a curious eye.
"Really? But… where is it? You didn't bring any bags or anything with you while you were traveling with us," she asked with a confused expression. Alyssa giggled and smirked at her.
"Why would I carry all that gold around with me while out in the wilderness? It's back at my home, I store all my money there after my visits to human cities," she explained with a shrug. She looked to Daniel and winked at him.
"I can get you another carriage no problem, anything to help with your journey, Daniel," she said gently. Daniel looked at her with wonder then smiled at the witch.
"Thank you, Alyssa, but are you sure that's alright with you? You don't need to spend so much on our account," he said shaking his head. She giggled and nodded eagerly.
"I want to, silly, it's not like I had anything else I wanted to buy with it right now anyway," she reasoned with a laugh. Daniel smiled at her with amazement as Triska and Squeak glanced to him.
"You really are something, Alyssa, I'm glad we have you with us on this trip. Thank you, really," he said graciously. She smiled bashfully and looked down with a timid smile while Triska and Squeak looked at each other with worry.
"Daniel, please, you're making me blush. I only wish to help you is all," Alyssa giggled softly. Triska gave the witch a dull glare then glanced away with a scoff. She didn't want to admit it, but Alyssa being able to provide a new ride for the group would be a big help. Of course that didn't change the fact that she hated the extra attention Alyssa was getting from Daniel for it. Alyssa smirked at her as she twitched her eyebrow with an arrogant demeanor.
"After all, somebody has to take care of him, and I'm just the girl to do it," she said proudly. Squeak gave her a dull glare while Triska glanced down in thought. After a moment Triska looked back to Alyssa with a calm smile.
"Well then, we'll leave the carriage to you. But, oh wait. How are you going to go home to get your money? You can't use your magic here in the city limits," she questioned curiously. Alyssa let out a dry laugh and shook her head.
"I'll just run back outside the city walls and pop back home, I'll be back in no time," she boasted. Triska nodded then shrugged with a small smile.
"That's right, I guess you could," she said simply. Alyssa smiled arrogantly at her then looked to Daniel with a wink.
"I'll be back soon, Daniel. I'll run home and grab the money then meet up with you again," she said assuredly. Daniel nodded and looked around the street curiously.
"Um, where should we meet you though? This place is huge," he asked with a shrug. Alyssa looked down the street and pointed her staff.
"Down that way is a courtyard with a fountain in the center. I'll meet you there with Lucky when I get back," she said with a smile. Triska glanced in that direction and nodded.
"Ok, sounds like a plan to me," she said with a smirk. Daniel nodded and then smiled at the witch as he walked over and took his backpack from Lucky, slinging the carrying bag around his shoulder.
"Thank you, Alyssa, it really will be a big help to have something to ride in on this journey," he said gratefully. Alyssa smiled coyly at him and twitched her eyebrow a bit.
"Like I said, Daniel, I'll do anything for you," she purred, the witch then turning Lucky around and riding back down the street towards the main gate with a quick trot. Squeak narrowed her eyes at the witch then looked to Daniel worriedly as he watched the witch ride away.
"She really came through for us, talk about a lucky break," he said with a small laugh. Triska nodded then smiled slightly.
'Take your time, Alyssa, there's no rush.'
"Yeah, I suppose she did. Well then, let's get our supplies while we wait for her to come back," Triska said looking back to Daniel. She glanced to Squeak and smiled as she saw her looking around curiously at the city streets and surroundings, the ant girl’s antennae twitching slightly as she made soft squeaking sounds.
"So, Squeak, what do you think of a human city?" Triska asked curiously. The ant girl looked to her and pointed around while squeaking something in her own language. Triska merely blinked then smiled weakly.
"I'll take that as it’s interesting," she said with a small laugh. Daniel chuckled and nodded then looked around to seeing people pointing and whispering about them still. His smile faded as he shook his head.
"If only they could see that not all monsters are evil," he said softly to himself. The two girls glanced to him then looked around at the people staring at them still.
"Well, they're at least letting some monsters in to trade with, that's progress right?" Triska asked carefully.
Suddenly a stone hit Squeak's head, the ant girl flinching as she let out a loud squeak. The group looked over to seeing a small boy running back behind his mother with a stubborn expression while the people around were laughing.
"Great shot, kid," a man laughed as the crowd smiled bitterly towards the ant girl. Squeak looked around worriedly then to Daniel as he showed an annoyed expression.
"What was that for? She hasn't done anything wrong," he called out.
"She's a dirty stinkin' monster!" the boy yelled out from behind his mother, the woman nodding as she held her son back. Daniel looked around at the crowd then to Squeak, the ant girl showing a worried expression as everybody around was glaring and yelling at her. The nearby guards of Ashwood merely watched the commotion, none of them making any effort to calm the crowd in the least.
"What the hell, I thought Ashwood was a monster-neutral zone," Triska called out with annoyance. The people around merely scoffed at her as they continued talking harshly about the ant girl. A nearby guard shook her head as she crossed her arms before her.
"Just because we're willing to pay some gold for their wares doesn't mean they're welcome here. The only reason we allow them in is because some of their weapons and medicine are useful to us, if it wasn't for that we would never let any of those things step foot in here," she explained with discontent. Daniel looked around at all the people glaring at Squeak then showed some discontent for them.
"Alyssa was right, this is far from coexistence. Even the ones they do let into their towns they treat so harshly," he said shaking his head. Squeak looked around worriedly as Triska glanced to her with a sympathetic expression. She looked to Daniel then back around at the crowd.
"What are you doing with that thing, kid? It's going to try to take you away the first chance it gets," a man in the crowd called out. Triska growled with frustration then glared at the man.
"Her name is Squeak, she's not a thing!" she yelled out.
"She's a monster, you idiot, she'll just try to steal away any man she can," another man in the crowd called out. Triska looked around at the crowd then scoffed as she glanced away.
"Let's just go, Daniel, there's no reasoning with these people, not now anyway," she said with annoyance. Daniel nodded then looked to Squeak, the girl looking around with worried eyes.
"It'll be ok, Squeak, let's go get our stuff before Alyssa comes back," he said gently. Squeak looked at him with a timi
d expression and nodded, the girl stepping closer towards his side quickly. Triska quickly grabbed and stopped her while she shook her head.
"Don't get too close, Squeak, you can't touch Daniel here or else we'll really have a problem," she said in a hushed tone. Squeak glanced to her then to the nearby guards of Ashwood, the women narrowing their eyes as they kept a keen eye on her. Squeak slowly stepped back and looked down with a saddened expression, squeaking softly as Daniel and Triska looked at her with sympathy.
"I feel bad for her, her first time in a city and she's treated like a… like…" Daniel said before looking down and away.
"Like a monster," Triska said softly, watching Squeak showing signs of worry as she glanced around timidly. Daniel sighed and nodded, then looked back at the ant girl with a gentle expression.
"Don't let them get to you, Squeak, they just don't understand yet. They don't see that you're not an enemy," he said gently. She looked up to him and nodded slowly as she squeaked softly. Triska glanced to Daniel then back to Squeak, then gently took hold of the ant girl's hand.
"C'mon, let's go," she said gently with a smile. Squeak looked at her hand then to Triska with wonder, the teen smiling at her before looking over to the nearby guards.
"There's no rule for a girl to not touch them, right?" she called out with a bite. The guards glanced to each other then looked back to her while shaking their heads. Triska looked at them with annoyance then over to Squeak with a sympathetic smile, and then started leading her away as Daniel followed after. The crowd watched them head off into the city then slowly started to disperse while talking amongst themselves.
"Stupid kids, hanging around a monster like that. That foolish boy has no idea what that thing wants to do to him does he?" a woman said with discontent as she walked away.
"There are much better things in this world to have as a pet than a monster, I feel a bit of pity for that lad," a man said as the crowd walked off to resume their daily lives. A few guards watched the travelers head off then glanced to each other before walking off as well.
As everybody left the scene a single figure remained watching the group of newcomers walking away. She stood slightly taller than Daniel and had a blue silk cloak on with a purple gemstone in the middle over her chest as a button. Her hood was pulled up as she watched the travelers walk away; her eyes being light green with small blue specks in them. She smiled curiously as she made an intrigued murmur before turning to walk away, her hips swaying slightly as she walked in her dark blue high heels.
*****
Alyssa rode out of the gateway of Ashwood then took off towards the nearby rolling hills, putting some distance between herself and the city so not to arouse suspicion with her magic. She rode the white horse up over a knoll then came to a quick halt, hopping off of the steed while glancing back to seeing the city no longer in sight behind the hill.
"Daniel will be so happy with me for this, I just know he'll want me as his mate now," she said happily to herself, waving her staff in front of her.
"Providing another carriage for him and being the best protector he has, he'll see that I'm the perfect girl for him. Triska and Squeak don't have anything on me, nope nope," she giggled as twisted vines started to creep up and swarm around on the ground. The green vines then parted revealing the entrance down into the witch's home, the girl playfully skipping down the steps into the dwelling as Lucky stood and looked around leisurely. Alyssa hopped down into her living room and looked around, remembering when she first had Daniel here, and how she tried to take him by force after throwing Triska out of the home. She sighed softly as she imagined the image of how Daniel had brought her back into the home after wolves attacked them, and how he nearly died from his injuries on her floor.
"I'll be your proof, Daniel. For everything that you've done for me… I'll be anything you want," she said softly as she looked down with remorse. She clutched her staff tightly then glanced to the side towards a door.
"I won't let you down," she declared confidently before she ran over and went into the adjacent room. All around the living room it was quiet and peaceful while the forest outside seemed to be alive and thriving in the sunlight. After a while Alyssa walked back out as she held a small leather bag with a large amount of gold coins in it, the carrying pouch tied shut with a purple ribbon. She held it up curiously and shook it a bit, listening to the rustling of the coins within.
"I think this should be enough. Feels about right," she reasoned with a shrug. Alyssa hopped up the stairs and back onto the field next to Lucky, swinging her staff behind to close up the gateway to her home. She walked over to Lucky and climbed onto his back, holding her staff in one hand along with the bag of gold and Lucky's reins in the other.
"Let's go get you a new carriage, Lucky, won't that be fun?" she asked sweetly. She blinked then looked over to the side, staring with surprise as Lucky backed up with a grunt.
"You…" a young girl's voice said with a low growl.
Standing near the horse and witch was another girl who was the same height as Alyssa. She had black dress shoes on with short purple socks, wearing a long skirt that went down to her knees which was checkered black and white with rips and holes in it. She wore a black short sleeved shirt that had a row of purple and red gems lined down the middle, all of them shimmering a bit in the sunlight. On her right hand she wore a black long-sleeved fingerless glove while on her left she had a black ring that had a red gem in the shape of a pyramid on it. She had dark blue eyes that were set in a glare, her lips curled slightly with a scowl while her black hair was set in two long pigtails held in place by white ribbons. In her gloved hand she held a staff, the dark blue wooden relic having a unique skull adorning the top. It was a human skull; however it was comprised of two right halves of a human’s skull, with one upside down on the left creating a strange yin-yang like appearance.
"Tora," Alyssa said under her breath, instantly recognizing the witch that didn’t appear happy in the slightest. She smiled nervously and held onto the reins for Lucky tightly.
"W-What are you doing here?" she asked cautiously. The other witch glared at her as she seemed to be furious, her breathing sharp and her fist clenched.
"It is you, I thought I recognized that horse of yours," Tora said with anger.
"Oh, did you now?" Alyssa asked glancing away. Tora growled angrily and nodded.
"Yes. I saw you taking off from Ashwood, and I thought to myself, 'Gee, that looks a lot like that snake of a witch Alyssa and her filthy horse', and sure enough it was," she said with malice while her eyes gave off a bluish glow briefly.
"Hey, Lucky's not filthy!" Alyssa shouted out at the witch. She blinked, glanced down for a moment, and then looked back to Tora with a glare.
"And I'm not a snake!" she yelled loudly.
"No… you're worse. Snakes can at least be cooked, eaten, kept as pets. But you… you're not worth your weight in them," Tora hissed through bared teeth. Alyssa looked at her with a raised eyebrow and a puzzled expression.
"Um, what is worth its weight in snakes, because that's not a good synonym if you ask me," she stated flatly. Tora thrashed around with a loud growl then pointed her staff at Alyssa.
"That's not the point here!" she yelled.
"Good, because that was just plain bad in my opinion," Alyssa said shaking her head. She was then thrown from Lucky by a magical force, screaming as she shot down onto the ground. The bag of gold hit the ground and opened up, spilling coins onto the grass as Alyssa coughed out weakly. Tora glared at the witch as she held her staff out while Lucky neighed loudly and backed up.
"How dare you mock me, how dare you speak to another witch with that stupid smile of yours… how dare you!" she yelled out. Alyssa used her staff and pushed herself up, seeing the gold spilled out on the grass with worried eyes. She growled then looked back to Tora as the other witch waved her staff towards her, the object glowing with a dark green hue. Alyssa swung her staff out, the object glowing orange as a wave
of distorted air crackled and spread out in a spiral between them. The grass below fluttered wildly while Lucky neighed from the strange wave of energy that pulsated around the area.
"Alyssa. Alyssa. Alyssa. That name in the witch's world is nothing but a curse now," Tora hissed with anger. Alyssa glanced to the gold on the ground then to the other witch.
"Oh c'mon, isn't that a bit much?" she said cautiously.
"A bit much? You wretched little pest, how dare you act like you've done nothing wrong!" Tora yelled as she held her staff towards Alyssa with a glare. Alyssa held her staff out as well, another wave of distortion then erupting out between them, the ground below being carved across in a straight gash as the opposing magical forces clashed. Alyssa bared her teeth and glanced back to the gold, then over to Tora as the witch was growling loudly at her.
'You've got to be kidding me, now? I have to deal with this now of all times?'
"Tora, calm down. I didn't come out here to fight you," Alyssa said cautiously.
"Oh, neither did I, Alyssa. I came out here for another cause, something of greater importance than you'll ever dream. But I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see the famous Alyssa, the witch who got us banned from Cyllidon!" Tora screamed before the two witches aimed at each other again. The ground around them cracked apart as a wave of energy rippled out from where the two powers collided. Alyssa skidded back on her boots slightly before regaining herself, watching the other witch with frustration as a few gold coins slid away on the grass.
"It was because of you that we're no longer allowed in that city! It was because of you that we lost our right to sell our magic there, you goddamned fool! That city was a focal point for magic casters of the human race, our spells and potions were the hottest items there! And now we're never allowed back in there, all because of you!" Tora yelled with anger.
"It's not my fault we're banned!" Alyssa pleaded loudly.
"You killed two humans! How is that not your fault?" Tora yelled out.
"I didn't mean to kill them; I just wanted them to go away. They were heckling me in the market, they were even doing that to you, don't you remember?" Alyssa said urgently.
chronicles of eden - act I Page 38
