“I’m not supposed to talk to prisoners,” Rolian quietly said. “I’ll get in trouble again.”
Kroanette mumbled something and glanced down to her gag then back to the arachne. Rolian hesitated while showing a nervous frown then shook her head and looked away.
“I’m… sorry.”
Kroanette murmured again and again, with Rolian slowly glancing back to her and seeing the centaur desperately trying to speak with tears forming in her eyes. Rolian quietly whined then looked around to see everyone still watching the orgy in the field nearby. Ever so slowly she reached out and touched the webbing around Kroanette’s mouth, her fingers very carefully toiling the sticky thread while she scooted her body over a bit to hide what she was doing from the others.
“Please don’t scream, okay?” Rolian said looking back to the centaur. Kroanette nodded a few times, with Rolian then unraveling the gag and lowering it down. “What do you want? Are you hungry?”
“Please,” Kroanette whispered. “Can you please let me go?”
“I’m sorry, I can’t do that.”
“Please. Just loosen this webbing on me and I’ll make a break for it. Don’t let those monsters eat me.”
“I’m sorry,” Rolian again replied looking down. Kroanette looked at her carefully then shook her head.
“Do you really not want to be here with them?”
Rolian shook her head.
“Then why are you?”
“Mother made me come,” Rolian pouted. “She dragged me all the way out here, even though she hates me. She’s never been happy with me. I’m the worst daughter in the whole world according to her.”
“I’m sure your mother doesn’t hate you,” Kroanette off-handedly said glancing around to make sure nobody was looking their way.
“Yes she does. She’s told me many times,” Rolian said, with Kroanette then turning to her curiously as the arachne whimpered and clutched her jug closer. “She’s beaten me up many times. She lets others beat me up too. I know she hates me.”
“Your mother beats you?” Kroanette wondered.
“It’s my fault,” Rolian muttered. “I never should have been born. I’m just a mistake like everyone says.”
“Why would you think that?”
“I don’t like hurting others,” Rolian whimpered. “I don’t like causing pain. It’s so mean. I’m the only arachne I know who thinks like that. I’m a failure in my mother’s eyes. I’m a horrible daughter. I’m a joke to everyone.”
“You… you don’t like hurting others?” Kroanette repeated.
“I don’t,” Rolian agreed shaking her head. She took a few heavy gulps of her drink then glanced to Kroanette, pausing for a moment before holding the jug towards her. “Would you like a drink too?”
“No, no thank you,” Kroanette said with a weak smile. “I’m not thirsty. Wait a moment, I don’t understand. If you don’t like hurting others, and you don’t want to be here, why are you with these monsters?”
“My mother dragged me here, remember?” Rolian said before drinking again.
“Yes, I remember you said that. But why not just leave here if you don’t want to be with them?”
“And go where?” Rolian sighed lowering her head and wiping her mouth. “There’s nothing back home for me to return to, everyone hates me there too. Being here is all I have now. What else am I supposed to do? But it’s okay. I’ve learned to make do with it. Plus I have Juggy with me. Juggy never hurts me or makes me feel bad. Juggy only makes me happy.”
“I see,” Kroanette slowly said while watching the arachne tenderly hugging her bottle. She glanced to the woodland behind her then looked to Rolian, opening her mouth to speak before stopping as the spider was again taking several large gulps of her drink.
“You… really like to drink, don’t you?”
“Juggy always makes me happy,” Rolian said wiping her mouth again. She put the cork back on then slowly turned to Kroanette. Tilting her head one way then another she blinked her eyes at different times before showing a confused look.
“Wow. I just realized your boobs are gigantic. I wish mine would grow like that.”
“Um… thank you,” Kroanette unsurely replied. “Anyway, I really-”
“Not like having bigger boobs would help me anyway,” Rolian scoffed looking down at her own chest, an irritated scowl now coming over her. “I’m a scary looking spider to men. Doesn’t matter how big my boobs get, they’ll always see a horrible monster with what I am and be scared of me. Who would ever want to have sex with me? Nobody, that’s who.”
“That’s not… um…”
“To hell with big boobs,” Rolian scorned before gulping down more of her drink. Kroanette watched the arachne downing the bubbling brew before slowing shaking her head.
“Okay, I think… I think you’ve had enough now-”
“What?” Rolian scoffed at her with a clearly inebriated look on her face. “No I haven’t. Now you sound just like my mom. Doesn’t she sound like my mom, Juggy?”
Kroanette stared at the spider in disbelief as Rolian gulped down another mouthful of her brew, all hope for escaping her captors swiftly dwindling as she saw the only one she could talk to was group’s drunken reject. Rolian took a deep breath and wiped her mouth while somehow her jug still had plenty left in it. The arachne wavered slightly with a few eyes blinking and a few that Kroanette swore turned in opposite directions for a moment before she turned her head towards the centaur with a stubborn grimace.
“Looking at me like that,” she grunted. “Judging me like my mom does, like all these stupid-heads do. You’re just a mean jerk like they are. I thought we were friends.”
“I don’t… even know you,” Kroanette said slowly shaking her head. “We just met.”
“My name’s Rolian,” the arachne said in front of her face, the strong breath she had making the centaur struggle with keeping a straight face while Rolian’s head was struggling to remain steady atop her shoulders. “Rolian. Rhymes with… um… what does Rolian rhyme with?”
“Uh… smolian?” Kroanette guessed.
“Is that- is that a word?” Rolian asked while swaying even more now. “Whatever. That’s a word now. That’s what my name rhymes with… uh… that word you just said. That. So… yeah, remember that.”
Kroanette hung her head with a sigh as Rolian took another few large gulps of her drink, the spider then looking around at the other monsters who were still going about their own business before setting the jug down hard on the grass.
“I hate my life,” she muttered with a hiccup. “Juggy’s the only one who understands me. Everyone else… they’re so mean and stupid. I don’t want to be here anymore.”
“That’s good,” Kroanette eagerly agreed, hope once again rekindling within her. “You don’t have to take their crap if you don’t want to. You deserve better than this.”
“I don’t want to fight anyone,” Rolian pouted.
“You don’t have to, my dear.”
“I don’t want to be around these jerks.”
“Neither do I.”
“I just want to live in peace,” Rolian whimpered.
“You can, Rolian. We both can.”
“I just want to drink,” Rolian said before again chugging away at her brew. Kroanette watched the arachne with a stunned smile then slowly nodded.
“I… believe you.”
Rolian set her jug down and wiped her mouth before looking at Kroanette carefully. She looked over the centaur before shaking her head and quickly putting the cork back in her container.
“No, no no no. What am I saying? I can’t go. I shouldn’t be talking about this with you, I shouldn’t be talking to you at all. I’m going to get into trouble and-”
“Do you want to be like them?” Kroanette quickly asked. Rolian froze for a moment then slowly glanced around at the other monsters. “Do you want to stay here, to be abused, to be mistreated, and to be unhappy with those fiends?”
“W
here else am I supposed to go?” Rolian quietly whined. “I’m an arachne. Being around monsters like this is the only thing I can do.”
“You don’t want to hurt anyone,” Kroanette insisted at her. “You said it yourself. You don’t want any of this. You want to be free to live your life in peace. Isn’t that right?”
“Well… yeah.”
“Then you should do just that. You really should.”
“But how can I? Where will I go?”
Kroanette started to speak then noticed the two arachne above watching them from their webbing.
“Hey!” one of them yelled out. “Get away from the centaur, Rolian!”
“Don’t fuck around with her!” the other shouted, with the monsters in the clearing quickly turning to Rolian as she whimpered and hugged her jug close. “We need her in one piece to give to our leaders! You put a scratch on her and you’re dead!”
“What the fuck are you doing?” a troll demanded walking towards her with an axe held tightly in hand. “Get away from her right now!”
Rolian quickly pulled Kroanette’s loose gag up into her mouth then stumbled to her feet, the arachne skittering to the side with a nervous smile as all the monsters were glaring at her with anger.
“I-I-I-I-I was just sitting down for a drink!” Rolian quickly pleaded. “That’s it! I was only drinking from Juggy! I swear!”
“Go drink over there then!” the troll yelled pointing to a shady part of the clearing. “I don’t want to see your sorry ass anywhere near our prized catch!”
Rolian quickly dashed over to the shade with a scream while all the monsters watched with harsh stares, their gazes then turning back to Kroanette as she remained still as stone. The centaur held the webbing in her mouth by biting down on it, her heart racing as she grew fearful from all the monsters staring at her. After Rolian hid behind a tree and Kroanette turned her sights down and away from everyone the monsters resumed their orgy, all except for a troll that came over and sat down on the log next to the centaur while facing away from her.
“Almost want to say sorry about that,” she said without glancing back to Kroanette. “That one’s… a fucking moron. Don’t worry, we’ll keep you nice and safe until we get back to the others. You’re going to make one hell of a feast for them and one hell of a reward for all of us.”
Kroanette looked around to seeing all the monsters watching and participating in the orgy except for two other trolls who were talking beside a tree, a witch who was going through one of the wagons’ valuables, and the ogre that rolled over onto her front while still sleeping. Her gaze then rested on Rolian who was peeking around a tree away from them, the arachne coddling her jug close while seeming to watch the centaur from the shade. She took a few more big gulps from her brew, looked around quickly, and then skittered off in a hurry around the clearing near the trees.
“What do I do?” Rolian asked herself while skittering back and forth. “I don’t want to be here anymore. I hate this. But where can I go? There’s no place for me to go. I need to stay here with them. I need to be good. Need to be good. Argh! I hate being good for them. I hate them.”
She halted to drink more of her brew, taking a few huge gulps before stopping and wavering in place for a moment. After a while she put the cork back in her jug and looked over to where Kroanette was bound behind the troll.
“Maybe she knows where I can go. She was nice to me when she talked to me.”
Shaking her head she quickly started skittering back and forth again.
“No, she’s a prisoner. She just wanted me to free her so she could escape. That’s all. She just wanted to use me. She doesn’t really like me. She didn’t even tell me her name. Wait, did I tell her my name? I think I did. Did I?”
She ruffled her hair while now skittering in circles and looking down at the ground.
“I shouldn’t help her. If I help her I’ll be in trouble. But then again if I don’t she’s going to be eaten. I should help her, shouldn’t I? No, I shouldn’t. She’s not my friend. Is she? Isn’t she? Oh… oh no… getting dizzy… getting dizzy…”
The arachne stumbled around in circles before toppling over, her legs wildly flailing about in the air while she coughed and groaned on the ground. From the clearing the troll beside Kroanette watched Rolian drop to the ground and shook her head before turning her eyes back to a man being raped by a gremlin.
“Stupid girl.”
Rolian stumbled onto her feet again and skittered around off-balance, her eyes spinning before she stopped and held her head while catching her breath. She started to bring her jug up to her lips to drink again before stopping, her eyes then turning to Kroanette who lied down on the grass with closed eyes as she gave up hope again. After thinking for a while in silence Rolian holstered her jug in the hoop on her belt at her side.
“Juggy, do you think I should help her?” she asked looking down to it, the only response she got of course was the brew inside sloshing around a bit. “You’re right. She did say I could live in peace away from these meanies. Maybe she knows where we can go to be happy. Maybe she can help us.”
She stepped over behind a tree and surveyed the area, her vision still spinning slightly while she gripped the tree to keep her balance.
“How do I free her though?” she worried. “I’ll never get to her and undo her binds before I’m caught. Think, Rolian. Think. Mmmm… I got it! I need to create a distraction. Yeah, that’s it. Something to distract them while I free her. Now let’s see… what could I use for a distraction?”
Sifting through the crates in the wagon the witch grumbled while tossing out useless items such as dishes and clothes. She pulled out a small pouch, jiggled it to hear coins rustling inside, then shrugged and dropped it back in the wagon while rustling through a larger sack next. After a moment her ear twitched and she slowly looked up, her eyes widening along with her mouth while she turned pale in fright.
Without pause a heavy impact struck the wagon and annihilated it and the one beside it with a thunderous crash. Everyone turned to see dust and debris shooting off to the side from the impact while the horses cried out and took off running with broken reins dangling behind them. The ogre stumbled around in surprise while everyone else saw a gigantic steel battle-axe lodged in the wreckage of the wagon, its brightly glowing blue edges and ominous energy it emitted sending a dreadful vibe across all who could see it. The ogre stared it in bewilderment before rubbing her eyes, the monster then seeing along with everyone else a large newcomer of equal size trampling towards them with a heavy stride. Rolian watched with blurred vision as a huge figure jumped over the flattened wagon while grabbing the battle-axe with both hands, the monster then swinging the heavy weapon overhead and down into the ogre that it struck through with a large crash. Blood and gore splattered across the ground from the slain brute while everyone was rendered stunned in sheer astonishment from the sight. Shaking her head then rubbing a few of her eyes Rolian tried to focus her vision to see what happened and who just arrived on the scene.
“HAHAHAHA!” the giant monster bellowed while standing upright, her lower legs being that of a bull’s while worn below her rock-hard abs was a large leather skirt with steel hip guards and a sturdy black belt around her waist. Steel breastplates managed to hold the woman’s giant bosom with metal straps going behind her back. A golden gemstone adorned her chest with black straps going around her neck and over her breasts to hold it in place. From her neck down along her muscular arms glowing blue tattoos were seen in swirling patterns while over her wrists were brown leather bracers. Her long black hair dropped down past where her bull tail whipped about while a few shiny metal arrowheads were seen fastened to some of the locks. Her large ears had silver hoops pierced in them while atop her head her ivory horns had golden bands tied around the bends. The monster’s nose was large and flat while her eyes glowed with the same haunting blue as both her weapon and tattoos did. She spun around her battle-axe in the air before slamming it down hard into t
he ground beside her, shaking the land and startling all the monsters and humans that stared in shock at seeing this particular creature of Eden.
“COME AND FIGHT ME!” she roared while brandishing a fist towards those before her. “SHOW ME WHAT YOU’VE GOT!”
“Is that…” a gremlin nervously asked while crawling off the man she was on.
“It can’t be…” a witch breathed out while stumbling off the one she was raping and scooting back.
“A minotaur!” a troll cried out pointing to the large beast. “That’s a fucking minotaur!”
“What the hell is one doing way out here?” another demanded while quickly grabbing two axes.
“Who cares, that thing destroyed all our loot,” a gremlin snarled as she ran over to the sidelines and grabbed a few alchemic pouches. “We need to kill it before we’re next!”
“You don’t have to tell me twice!” a troll yelled running towards the minotaur. She quickly threw her axe then another at the beast, with the giant swatting one away with her fist before swinging her battle-axe around and destroying the second one with a flash of sparks. The brute then followed through with her spin, swinging the axe around as she leaped over to the side before striking it down into the troll with a heavy slam. A giant crevice shot out from the impact while the minotaur laughed loudly with a fierce smile towards the other monsters.
“SUCH WEAK ATTACKS! DON’T MAKE ME LAUGH! HAHAHAHA! OOPS! YOU ALREADY DID! HAHAHAHAHA!”
The witch who was still alive and not smeared across the ground further away grabbed her staff with a cluster of colorful crystals on the end then thrusted it towards the brute, creating a dark blue spell base in front of her that launched out bolts of lightning at the newcomer. The minotaur held out her hand and blocked the volley with a spell base of her own, a large multilayered golden and blue diagram of two intertwined hexagon bases that had numerous glyphs and separate circles lined around and within it. The bolts of lightning snapped against it, doing nothing to faze the shield at all, while the witch slowly stepped back towards the other monsters and fearfully clutched her staff.
Chronicles of Eden - Act XI Page 39
