“If I may ask one question before we leave,” Specca mentioned, with Kroanette looking to her with a dull expression.
“Earlier our friend tried to get you to stop attacking us with her magic, yet she was unable to do so. How was it you were able to defend against her power like that?” Specca asked. Kroanette smirked and put her hands at her hips with a proud stance.
“Oh? I wasn’t aware she even tried. You see I’m immune to any and all magical spells being cast at me,” she boasted.
“Immune? How?” Specca asked as the others were climbing onboard the caravan. Kroanette chuckled and crossed her arms, her large breasts bouncing up above them as the centaur tapped her fingers on the gold bracelets on her arms.
“Enchanted refraction bracelets of course, with these I’m protected from any magical spells and curses thrown at me, a wonderful gift from my mother back home,” she explained. Specca looked at the bracelets with wonder as they gave off a slight shimmer in the sunlight. Kroanette laughed and looked to them as she held her arms out.
“Enchanted refraction bracelets? I never heard of such things before,” Specca said curiously.
“I doubt you would have, they were created for me and me only, perks of being the daughter of the centaur empress of the region,” she boasted arrogantly. Specca blinked then looked at her with surprise.
“Wait, what was that? Daughter of… the centaur empress?” she asked carefully.
“That’s right, didn’t know you were in the presence of royalty did you?” Kroanette said smugly as she looked up with a proud smile. Specca stared at her for a moment then slowly pointed to her.
“You’re the daughter of the centaurs’ leader of this land?” she asked again.
“That’s what I just said, did I stutter?” Kroanette snapped back. Specca stared at her with awe then slowly started backing up a bit towards the caravan.
“Daniel? Daniel!” she called out while keeping her eyes on the centaur. Kroanette watched her curiously as Daniel popped back out from the cabin in the caravan while Alyssa was at the reins.
“What?” he asked.
“Get over here, right now,” Specca called out while staring at the centaur with wonder. Daniel and Alyssa hopped down and walked over towards them while Triska got out and stood on the seat of the caravan.
“What’s wrong now?” Triska asked tiredly. Daniel and Alyssa walked over to Specca who was pointing to the centaur with a shaky finger.
“What’s wrong?” Alyssa asked.
“She just said that she’s the daughter of the centaur empress for this region,” Specca said looking to Daniel. The boy and witch looked at Kroanette curiously as the centaur set her hands on her hips with discontent.
“Is there a problem here? I thought you would be leaving by now,” Kroanette scoffed.
“Is that true? You’re the daughter of a centaur empress?” Alyssa asked. Specca nodded and looked at Kroanette with wonder.
“Yes, that’s what she said. I asked her how she was able to withstand your magic earlier, and she said it was because of those bracelets she has on her arms. They prevent any and all magic from touching her, and were a gift from her mother, the empress of centaurs for this region,” she explained. Kroanette backed up slightly while holding hand down over her whip.
“Wait a minute, I see what you’re thinking, you think you can kidnap me for a hefty ransom, don’t you? You think you can bring me down, that I’ll submit to being a damsel in distress just like that? Well think again!” she yelled out as she took her whip and cracked it hard at her side again.
“No, that’s not it at all. If your mother is really of royalty for your race, then Daniel would want to meet her,” Specca explained while gesturing to the boy. Kroanette looked at him carefully while keeping on guard.
“Meet her for what? What is it you’re after here?” she demanded. Daniel stepped forward while keeping his hands held up defensively.
“Please, the whole reason we’re out here is to find and talk to monster races peacefully. We’re traveling around the land to speak to the leaders of your kind and others about living in peace with mankind,” he explained genuinely. Kroanette just stared at him for a while before slowly raising an eyebrow.
“What?” she asked skeptically.
“We’re trying to talk to as many monsters as we can about forming peaceful relations with mankind, so that we’re not at war with one another and so that we can coexist together,” Daniel said with a kind smile. Kroanette stared at him for a moment then glanced to Specca.
“Is he being serious?” she asked flatly.
“Yes, he is. We’ve already gotten support from an ant girls nest; they will be willing to give peace a chance with the humans very soon. But we need more support for this before we speak to the human rulers of Eden, we need to show proof that monsters would be willing to live peacefully with mankind, and not try to steal away and rape their men,” Specca explained. Kroanette just looked back to Daniel with a bewildered expression.
“Really? You want monsters and humans to live together? Why?” she asked.
“Because I don’t believe all monsters are evil. There are some, like the Darker Ones in this world, who truly are malicious, but there are others, like Specca and Alyssa here, who can control their inner nature, and can be allies of mankind. We have so much we could share with one another, we could help each other survive in this world if we only worked together,” Daniel said as he lowered his hands. Kroanette showed a puzzled expression then pointed to him with a small smile.
“Did you hit your head or something? That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard of,” she said with a laugh.
“It’s not crazy, he’s trying to put an end to all the fighting and bloodshed between our races,” Alyssa argued. Kroanette laughed and holstered her whip while smiling amusingly at Daniel.
“Wait wait, so let me get this straight. You want to talk to my mother and see if she’ll agree to the notion of centaurs and humans living together in peace?” she asked. Daniel and his friends nodded before the centaur chuckled and set a hand at her hip.
“Really now. And, why would we want that? You humans treat us like abominations, you look down upon us and even try to kill us; mankind doesn’t want to ‘live peacefully’ with us. And even if they did, why should we care? We’re given our supply of men without trouble from our clients upon doing what we do best, being the fastest in Eden. Once I get my delivery taken care of I’m heading back to my client to get pregnant with a daughter of my own, I don’t need the man’s consent or happiness at all,” she pointed out with a laugh.
“That’s great for you, and all the while your kind are treated as enemies of mankind and greeted with spears and arrows if they venture too far into human territory,” Specca mentioned with a raised eyebrow. Kroanette laughed and shook her head with a smug grin on her face.
“Man and centaur don’t ‘coexist peacefully’ together, that’ll never happen. Not that we need it to, we do our job and are rewarded with men to mate with, we don’t need to form ‘relations’ with man to survive,” she reasoned. Daniel opened his mouth to speak before the centaur held a hand out to silence him.
“Enough, I don’t want to hear any more of this nonsense. If you want to waste your life trying to talk to monsters about something as absurd as peace, then go right ahead. Notice that I’m not trying to take you away? I’m not trying to rape you at all, I have no need to. Want to know why? Because there’s a human male set aside for me for doing this job, and whether he wants to give it to me or not is irrelevant, I’m going to get his seed upon my return. I have no need to try and take a human out in the wild, and neither does any centaur,” she stated proudly. Daniel looked to Specca and Alyssa with concern then to Kroanette as she waved them off towards the caravan.
“Now off with you, take your wild ideas with you and don’t get in my way again. Nobody, and I mean nobody, is going to stop me from delivering my parcel to its owner,” she informed before
reaching back into her bag and shifting her hand around. She froze for a moment then quickly rustled her hand in her bag before looking back to it with a jump.
“Wha… what the?” she said with surprise. The others watched as she lifted her bag up and quickly looked around in it.
“Hey, where is it?” she cried out as she moved her hand about before it went through a hole in the bottom of her bag, the centaur then screaming as the others watched her with curiosity.
“No! No, it’s not here!” she screamed out with horror. She looked around quickly before slowly turning to look at the river down below. Daniel and the girls looked down to it as a few small waves rolled on by across the surface.
“Um, you don’t think…” Specca said softly.
“Well, there goes your free ticket to getting pregnant,” Alyssa said with a shrug. Kroanette screamed then quickly jumped down the hill, sliding all the way towards the shore before she jumped into the river with a splash. The group watched as she dropped down below the water, bubbles forming up on the surface as the ripples traveled away from the abrupt entry.
“Can centaurs swim?” Daniel asked.
“Nope,” Specca and Alyssa said together.
After a while Kroanette surfaced again, thrashing around while scrambling back towards the shore.
“No! NO! This isn’t happening, I can’t lose it!” she cried out before she jumped back into the water. At this point Triska and Squeak were walking over to them, with the ant girl still wearing her wet clothing, while Daniel, Alyssa, and Specca were watching with weak expressions as the centaur once again didn’t come back up from the water.
“Hey, what’s going on?” Triska asked as she and the ant girl walked over and looked down at the river as well.
Kroanette surfaced again while scrambling back to the shore, coughing out water and crying loudly while flailing her arms around.
“NO NO NO NO!” she screamed as she shook her body to get the water off before looking all around the river with horror. She held her hands to her head and screamed while pacing back and forth along the shore as the group just watched her from atop the slope.
“What is she doing?” Triska asked.
“She lost whatever it was she was delivering,” Alyssa said with a shrug. Specca glanced to Daniel then quickly hopped down and slid down towards the shore along the grass.
“Specca, what are you doing?” Triska called after the nixie.
Specca landed on the shore of the river then walked over to Kroanette who was whimpering and pacing back and forth, her eyes darting all over the water as she had tears forming in her eyes.
“I can’t fail in my duty, that’s inexcusable! This is a nightmare!” she cried out.
“Excuse me,” Specca said gently. Kroanette turned to her as the nixie tilted her head with a curious expression.
“If I recover your lost item, will you agree to take us to see your mother?” she asked.
“What?” Kroanette said with confusion.
“Just what I said, if I recover your treasure for you, will you take us to speak to your mother?” Specca repeated.
“And just how do you expect to find it?” Kroanette cried out while waving to the water. Specca giggled and smiled at her confidently.
“I’m a nixie, the water is my domain. And right now I’m your only chance of finding it before it gets swept further downstream,” she asserted. Kroanette whined and looked back to the river, then over to where it led into a swampy bog, then to Specca with a worried expression.
“You could really find it?” she asked unsurely.
“I’ll certainly do my best to try. If I do will you please take Daniel to speak to your mother?” Specca asked.
“My mother isn’t going to listen to him, we don’t need to live with humans when we already get the men we need our own way,” Kroanette argued. Specca crossed her arms and glanced to the river with a raised eyebrow.
“Well, seems like you’re not going to get any man after this, not to mention that your reputation will be greatly tarnished after this failure, you may not get another job offer. And no job offer means no man to get pregnant with,” she reasoned. Kroanette grabbed her hair and cried out as she looked around at the water.
“No! I’m the legendary courier Kroanette; I never fail in my missions! This is going to look horrible on my perfect record!” she cried out. Specca blinked then glanced to her curiously.
“How many successful runs have you had prior to this?” she asked. Kroanette paused then slowly glanced to her with a weak expression.
“Um… well…” she said softly. Specca watched her for a moment then shook her head.
“This is your first assignment, isn’t it?” she asked plainly.
“That’s none of your business!” Kroanette shot back with a flustered expression. Specca smirked then glanced to the water.
“Well, make your choice. Either I help you recover what you lost in exchange for you taking us to meet your mother, or your ‘legend’ washes away along with your treasure,” she reasoned. Kroanette looked to the river then back to Specca with frustration before she yelled out and stomped her hoofs in the water.
“Fine! I’ll take your friend to see my mother, just find my treasure right now!” she cried out.
“Do I have your word on that?” Specca asked carefully.
“Of course you do, we centaurs do not lie or cheat like lowlife scoundrels, we are a proud noble race,” Kroanette asserted firmly.
“A proud noble race that is paid with men to rape for their services,” Specca commented flatly.
“Are you going to help me or not?” Kroanette yelled out. Specca nodded and kicked off her sandals onto the shore before looking around at the water.
“Yes, now, what does your treasure look like?” she asked.
“It looks like a thing with marks all over it,” Kroanette explained. Specca glanced to her with a raised eyebrow.
“Can you give me anything more than that to work with?” she asked dryly. The centaur looked down in thought then to her with a shrug.
“It glows blue sometimes, but not always,” she added.
“Blue, that’s going to stand out splendidly in the water,” Specca said flatly.
“I don’t know how else to describe it, just look for something that’s not a damned rock down there!” Kroanette cried out. Specca nodded then took off her glasses and handed them to the centaur.
“Very well, hang onto these for me,” she said with squinted eyes.
“Wait, don’t you need these to see? Why are you taking them off now?” Kroanette asked worriedly as the nixie pushed the glasses into her hand.
“Not while I’m underwater, just give them back to me when I return,” Specca said before she ran out and dove into the water with a splash. Kroanette watched as the nixie vanished into the river then bit her lip nervously.
“She’d better find it,” she said worriedly.
Atop the hill Daniel and the others watched as Specca talked to the centaur before diving into the river.
“What is she doing?” Triska asked.
“I think she’s going to look for whatever the centaur dropped in the river,” Daniel guessed.
“Why is she helping her though, she already said she wasn’t going to take us to see her mother,” Alyssa said shaking her head.
“Her mother?” Triska asked, with her and Squeak looking at Alyssa then Daniel curiously from that. Daniel nodded and glanced to her with a small smile.
“That’s no ordinary centaur down there,” he said knowingly.
Swimming down into the river Specca looked around carefully for any sign of something that could have been dropped by the wayward courier. She gracefully glided around through the water without any trouble, the current that flowed by having almost no effect on her at all. The water all around her turned crystal clear while her scales gave off a soft glimmer, the nixie both enjoying the refreshing feeling of being in the water, and remaining as focused as she
could with her chance to help Daniel.
‘This centaur may not think much of Daniel’s ideas, but we can’t pass up a chance to speak to the empress of their kind in this region. If anyone can sway the centaur empress about the idea of peaceful coexistence, it’s Daniel.’
She swam around close to the bottom of the river, her eyes scanning the area carefully while sand and loose grains of soil drifted along behind her. Rocks and weeds littered the riverbed that a few fish swam across, with Specca glancing to them for a moment before shaking her head and looking back around with determination.
‘Now’s not the time for a snack, whatever she dropped could be swept further away or buried in the sand below if I’m not quick.’
Without any effort she gracefully floated along the bottom of the river, the rays of sunlight through the surface shining in ripples around her while her tail swayed around gently behind her. Her tie and the petals to her skirt fluttered in the current while her hair flowed gently back to show her ridged ears, the girl moving about while scanning the ground all around her in search for something that didn’t belong down there. After a while she suddenly stopped and slowly glanced down as she felt a strange pulse from nearby.
‘What was that?’
She slowly lowered down to the riverbed and moved a few stones around, the sand kicking up and washing away before Specca’s eyes widened at seeing something. It looked to be a fraction of a sphere the size of her hand, an eighth of one to be exact, which was made of a strange metal that appeared dull and dark. The rounded side of it had strange etchings and lines carved across while the flat edges had a few angular lines etched into them as well. The tip was pointed and gave off a faint blue glow while a strange pulse resonated through the water from the object.
“Wait, this thing… I’ve seen it before,” she said softly. Gently she reached down and picked up the artifact, feeling that it weighed nothing at all. It was as she wasn’t holding anything at all, yet could feel in her hands she was. Her eyes gazed around at the unique object before she jumped with a gasp.
Chronicles of Eden - Act 2 Page 23
