“I’m sorry,” Pip sadly said. “I am. I wish I could do that, but I can’t. I know I can’t. I’m not that powerful, I’m really not.”
“I see,” Daniel lamented as he lowered his head. “I was afraid of that. I knew it was a lot to ask for, but I had to ask just in case.”
“I’m sorry,” Alyssa and Pip regretted.
“It’s okay, girls,” Specca gently told them. “You have limits to what you can do, we all do. You can’t be faulted for that.”
“If only we had more magical power we could get all those elves to safety,” Falla said in frustration. “That would be the best way of rescuing them.”
“It was a good idea, Daniel,” Luna softly said. “It’s too bad we can’t do it.”
“What else can we try?” Doku worried. “I’m not certain how else an entire village of elves could escape such horrible monsters.”
“We’ll think of something,” Clover insisted. “We have to. There’s got to be another way of getting my people out of that forest.”
Star and Squeak looked to each other with concern then down in thought as they struggled to come up with any other escape scenario for the enslaved elves.
Walking slowly with staff in hand Alyssa made her way over to the edge of the camp and gazed ahead at the scarred landscape with a troubled frown. She looked to her staff that she lightly patted in her palm and thought about their options for a while before glancing back to the elf in the group.
“Clover?” she asked, with the girl turning to her along with everyone else. “Are there any big fields of grass outside of Green Haven?”
“Yeah,” Clover answered with a nod. “There are some here and there. Why?”
Alyssa looked to the skull ornament on her staff as she considered Daniel’s plan then shrugged at the elf as she thought of a way around the daunting magical requirements of his idea.
“Do you think your priestess would be okay with me starting a wildfire in one of them?”
Chapter 17
Rescue Party
In the world of Eden there may come a time when some would be called upon to fight, be they knights of a kingdom or fighters of a simple village. Perhaps it was a call to war, a call to arms, a call to fight for those around them or others in peril. They would need to be strong, both in body and mind, in order to properly answer the summons. In body for they would need to be fit for combat, ready to fight against those who wished them harm, prepared to even kill should it be required. And also in mind in that they would need to stay focused on their task, be ready to adapt to any scenario, and also for something that could be even more difficult in the end.
Saying goodbye to those they would leave behind, those they may never see again.
*****
“Alright,” Falla slowly said. “Could someone please explain it to me again?”
“Of course,” Specca said as she adjusted her glasses. She pointed to a map on the table that the girls were gathered around within their home’s library, the chart showing a marker on it for the forest of Green Haven and the nearby grasslands that lay to its southern borders. Standing atop the map Pip was looking at the location in question with a curious eye while floating beside her Reiko had a more bored expression on her face.
“Our plan has three parts to it,” Specca explained. “We must prepare the teleportation spell outside of Green Haven to get all the elves out of there as fast as possible, we must alert all the elves within the forest of our plan and get them to evacuate Green Haven, and then we must get everyone back here to the abandoned countryside of Ruhelia where they’ll be safe.”
“No, not the plan,” Falla argued shaking her head. She then pointed behind them to where Rolian was seated on the ground chugging away at her brew that seemed to be perpetual. “I mean explain why the hell we let her into our home! Why is she even here still?”
“Because she kept crying and bitching that she didn’t want to be alone outside,” Alyssa groaned. “She didn’t want to leave before seeing Kroanette either. And our mate is too damned nice to monsters, remember? Daniel said she could wait here since she’s Kroanette’s friend and because she helped save her life.”
“She did help save her life, and I’m thankful for that,” Specca had to agree with. “We do owe her a great deal for that deed. And she does seem rather harmless despite being an arachne. She’s not going to eat you, Falla. Just pay her no mind and let her be.”
“Trying to,” Falla muttered as the group heard Rolian let out a long burp followed by an awkward giggle.
“I’m not scared of her now,” Luna admitted raising her hand. “She does seem nice and doesn’t want to hurt anyone. If Kroanette likes her then I’ll try liking her too. Though she is a little weird.”
“And that’s coming from you,” Falla dryly mentioned. “So that’s saying something. Anyway, just go over the plan again so I can focus on something other than the drunken spider behind me.”
“Alyssa, are you sure you can do this?” Doku worried as she looked at the map with a troubled frown. “That’s going to be a lot of elves for you to move through the magical ether.”
“I can make it work,” Alyssa assured as she pointed to the grassland near Green Haven. “If I can create a big enough wildfire in that prairie I can use it to fuel my reserves and erect a large enough casting base to transport everyone back here. As long as the fire is big enough and I’m standing right in the middle of it of course.”
“That’s going to need to be a very large fire alright,” Specca agreed. “Hopefully it will be enough to restore your magical reserves faster than you can deplete them.”
“How big of a fire do you think you’ll need?” Clover asked.
“The more fire I’m near the better,” Alyssa reasoned. “Hope your priestess won’t mind me scorching a good amount of that grassland out there, I’m going to have to create a pretty big inferno to get enough power for this.”
“That sounds like a lot of fire,” Cindy worried as she coddled Snapper close, the youngling merely focusing on chewing the wraith’s sandy arm rather than anything else.
“As long as you get my people out of there you can burn whatever you want,” Clover promised. “I’ll take full responsibility for it if my priestess bitches about it later. Still, there’s not much out there to burn other than grass. You can torch it all if you want, but it’s not going to stay lit for very long.”
“We know,” Specca agreed. “We’re going to have a very short window for this to work. Once Alyssa starts her fire it won’t take too long for it to die out after everything is burned up. We’ll have to move quickly and get the elves to the rendezvous point before it’s too late or else The Sisterhood will catch everyone.”
“Can’t she start the fire after all the elves get out of the forest?” Luna asked raising her hand. “Couldn’t she take her time then?”
“I could,” Alyssa said shaking her head. “But then while I’m building the fire up and getting ready to cast the spell The Sisterhood will already be on top of us. It will take a while to get this spell going and I need to have it ready to cast as soon as all the elves get there. Not before, and not after.”
“So we need to time this just right,” Specca explained. “The elves need to be evacuated at the right moment or else Alyssa won’t be able to get everyone away from The Sisterhood in time. If they leave too soon Alyssa won’t have the spell ready and The Sisterhood will catch everyone, and if they leave too late the fire will have burned out and Alyssa won’t be able to cast the spell anymore.”
“This is going to be difficult to coordinate,” Doku nervously said.
“That’s where you two come in,” Alyssa said to the two tiny monsters atop the table. “You’re both small and very fast. You can sneak into Green Haven unnoticed and tell the elves how they’re going to escape before I start the fire. Hopefully once you tell enough of them the whole community will catch on quickly and get on board with the plan.”
“I’m not su
re about that part,” Clover mentioned shaking her head. “The elves aren’t going to like seeing a fairy in their grove. You know the horror stories they’ve heard about fairies destroying everything around them.”
“Then she can either convince them to join in with our plan or scare them into running out of that forest,” Alyssa reasoned with a shrug. “She and Reiko are the only ones who can slip through that village without being seen, and we need to get every elf to work with us if we’re going to help them.”
“I’ll try my best,” Pip worried looking down to the map. “It’ll be scary, but I’ll try to warn everyone and their boobies to get out of there as fast as I can.”
“Hold on,” Reiko scoffed. “You still haven’t convinced me to help with any of this. Why should I care what happens to those elves anyway? Why should I help you at all with any of this?”
“Because we need your help to tell the elves about our plan,” Specca reminded her. “You and Pip are able to sneak into the village the easiest given your size, and we need to tell as many elves as we can what’s happening today and also to help spread the word to as many other elves as possible.”
“But why should I?” Reiko snapped.
“Because Star asked you to,” Luna said pointing to Star who had her arms crossed and was glaring at Reiko.
“Don’t you wish to help your friend and all of us save the lives of many innocent elves?” Doku asked.
“No, I don’t!” Reiko complained hopping up and down. “I’m a harvester! Killing is what I do, not saving lives! And I already went against what I am by not only helping your fat cow escape The Sisterhood but also sparing all the men they had prisoner too! Those were all delicious souls I could have reaped and grown stronger from, yet I let them all go just to make Star happy! But she’s not happy, she was mean to me earlier and now she’s asking even more of me and I haven’t even gotten a single kiss yet for the first set of nice shit I did for her!”
“She was mean to you earlier because you shoved your face into her crotch without her permission,” Specca flatly pointed out.
“And don’t call Kroanette a fat cow!” Alyssa shouted. “Now quit being so stubborn and help us out here! Pip can’t do this alone!”
“I deserve a treat after all I’ve done for Star already!” Reiko shouted while waving her arms around. “I’m not bending over backwards to do any more favors without some reciprocation from her!”
“What is it you want from her anyway?” Falla tiredly asked.
“To kick that stupid human Daniel aside and accept me as her one true love!”
Star meowed and shook her head.
“A full night of torrent lovemaking with just me and her!”
Star meowed and shook her head.
“One hour of heaven with kissing and smothering myself between her boobs!”
Star meowed and shook her head.
“Then just give me a fucking kiss, goddammit!”
Star meowed and shook her head.
“Then I’m not helping!” Reiko declared as she turned away and crossed her arms.
The girls turned to Star as she growled and noticed everyone staring at her except for Rolian who was again trying to grab something in front of her that wasn’t really there. The jinx rolled her eyes and muttered something before lowering her head and stomping her foot in frustration. With great reluctance she meowed a few times and glanced up to Reiko, the harvester turning her head around and watching her curiously as the jinx said something with slight scowl on her face.
“Do you mean that?” Reiko carefully asked.
“What did she say?” Alyssa wondered.
Star nodded and looked away with a huff as the harvester spun her body around to align with her head again while her face now had a big smile on it.
“You promise?” Reiko quickly asked. “You promise, Star?”
“Promise what?” Specca questioned. “What did she say to you?”
“If I help you with saving the elves she’ll give me a kiss. And a real lover’s kiss too, right Star?”
Star shuddered as she watched the harvester smiling eagerly at her, the undead monster licking her bare jaw and half of what lips she had in anticipation, then slowly nodded with a very low and defeated meow.
“You’re going to kiss her?” Clover slowly asked as she pointed to the harvester who was doing backflips with giddy laughter. “On the mouth?”
“With… tongue?” Specca nervously added.
Star made a very clear disgusted grimace to that thought then growled and lowered her head as she nodded in agreement to the deal.
“That’s… very noble of you, Star,” Doku said while trying to force a smile.
“Yeah, that’s taking one for the team,” Alyssa agreed. “Also, you kiss Reiko on the mouth and we’re never kissing you. Just saying.”
“I’d have to agree with that,” Specca commented as she watched Reiko with a horrified grimace. “In fact I dare say we can’t allow her to kiss Daniel afterwards either. We just can’t in good conscience allow him to do such a thing knowing where her tongue will have been.”
Squeak slowly nodded to that as she shared similar revulsion from the thought while she watched Reiko bouncing about happily atop the table. Next to her Cindy was looking at the tiny harvester with a curious expression while Snapper was still chewing on her arm while playfully kicking her feet underneath.
“How can she kiss her though?” Cindy asked. “Half of her mouth is missing.”
“Oh, it’s going to happen,” Reiko purred as she wiped away some of her increasing drool. “I’m getting my Star’s affection and it’s going to be glorious! I’m going to savor this, I’m going to make it last as long as possible and enjoy my sweet Star’s true love for me!”
Star mewed with a cringe as she saw the way Reiko was staring at her then looked around to see everyone else sharing her concerns while voicing no objections that she wished they would at least try to make.
“Perfect,” Alyssa said looking back down to the map. “Reiko will help Pip with telling the elves of our plan in exchange for ruining Star’s mouth forever. You two will need to alert as many elves as you can while avoiding being seen by The Sisterhood. Let them know where to go when they see the signal and to spread the word to as many other elves as they can.”
“What’s the signal?” Luna asked.
“They’ll know it when they see it,” Alyssa assured with a smirk. “I’ll set off a little light show when I’m ready. They won’t miss it.”
“At which point every elf in Green Haven will have to get there as quickly as possible,” Specca explained. “It’s very close to their village so everyone should be able to get there in time for Alyssa to use the spell. Pip can guide them towards the location while Reiko can help herself to reaping souls of The Sisterhood should they give chase. By the time all the elves arrive at the rendezvous point and get within the casting circle Alyssa can then send them all back here to Ruhelia where they’ll be safe and sound.”
“But what about Alyssa?” Falla asked. “If she’s standing in the middle of a field that’s on fire to get energy to use the spell that means she won’t be in the teleportation circle when it gets used, right?”
“That’s right,” Alyssa said with a worried smile. “I won’t be going back with them, I can’t if I need to stay in the firestorm to cast the spell. It’ll be up to Pip to get me back after I send the elves away.”
“But you’ll be surrounded by fire,” Cindy pointed out. “How can she do that if you’ve got dangerous fire all around you?”
“Either the fire will die out by then or else I’ll need to run out of it,” Alyssa reasoned with a shrug. “I can’t leave there until the elves are transported away or else they’re not going anywhere.”
“Pip,” Specca carefully said to the fairy. “It’s very important that you’re not in Alyssa’s teleportation spell when she sets it off. If you leave with the elves Alyssa will have no way back, she’ll be trappe
d there with The Sisterhood.”
“I won’t let you down,” Pip promised with a salute. “Or her. Or her small boobies. Actually, she doesn’t have boobies. But I still won’t let her down.”
“You could have stopped after the first sentence,” Alyssa muttered.
“Please be careful, all of you,” Doku pleaded. “You three will be in a great amount of danger being there. Please watch over yourselves.”
“You mean us four,” Clover corrected. “I’m going too. I need to make sure my priestess and my people are okay and get them the hell out of there. The Sisterhood won’t notice another elf running about in the village, I can help warn everyone of what’s happening with Pip and Reiko.”
“I figured you would be going as well,” Specca admitted. “I don’t think we can tell you not to since this is your grove we’re talking about, but please do be careful, Clover. We’ve just started to grow to like you, it would be a shame if you were taken from us now.”
“Nice to know you care about me,” Clover quipped at her with a smirk.
“That and you do owe me a massage still,” Specca coyly reminded her. “You promised to be my luststone the other night and I’m still waiting for you to fulfill that promise.”
“Provided crazy shit stops interrupting us you’ve got it,” Clover promised with a wink.
Cindy looked back and forth between Specca who was giggling softly at the elf and Clover who eyed the nixie over briefly before turning her gaze down to the map with a small blush forming.
“What’s a massage?” Cindy asked in confusion.
“Never mind them,” Alyssa said looking at the map carefully. “So, the four of us will head out and hopefully come back with a whole village of elves. We’ll need to leave right away, after Pip teleports us out there she’ll need time to rest before she can help Reiko and Clover warn everyone, and there are plenty of elves we have to tell before we do this. Everyone else will wait here and hope to god Kroanette finally finds her way back at some point.”
Chronicles of Eden - Act XI Page 59
