“Wait!” Kroanette pleaded. “I didn’t do anything! I never even wanted them to come after me, honest!” The elf merely growled loudly with fire in her eyes, not seeming to calm down in the slightest as Kroanette feared she was just as dangerous as the men that abused her.
“Please, I’m sorry for anything I did to wrong you! I don’t understand what’s going on here, but please forgive me!”
“Forgive you for taking away my seeds?” the elf scorned. “Fuck that. You can die here along with those fucking men who abandoned me for some lousy centaur with fat boobs!”
“Okay, seriously,” Kroanette complained with a cringe. “It is not my fault I’m like this, I am how I am. Besides I’m sure you’ll fill out as well when you get older.”
“I’m 22 years old, you bitch!” the elf shouted out. “I’m not going to grow anymore!”
Kroanette looked at the elf curiously, noticed she stood nearly as tall as her human friend Triska did, glanced to the girl’s smaller bosom, then smiled weakly at her and shrugged.
“Oh,” she shakily replied. “I wasn’t aware you were three years younger than I. My apologies.”
“WHAT?” the elf roared out with, what Kroanette believed, flames of sheer anger shooting out from her eyes. “You’re only 19 fucking years old and you’ve got bouncy jugs like those? How the fuck is that possible? What the hell are you drinking every day? Ten gallons of milk or something?”
“Listen,” Kroanette said with a nervous smile. “Is there any way we can talk without you threatening me with your arrow? Please?”
The elf promptly fired her arrow straight into the ground next to Kroanette’s head, the centaur freezing in place with a faint whine as the loud whack of the arrow didn’t scare her nearly as bad as the bolt touching the side of her head did. Even a mere centimeter closer and the arrow would have struck through the side of her skull.
“Don’t you ever order me around, you bitch!” the elf yelled as she reached back and pulled out three arrows in her hand, having one bolt between each of her fingers as she primed all three with her bow and took aim at the centaur’s head again.
“I wasn’t ordering you, I was only asking nicely,” Kroanette whimpered. She glanced to the arrow next to her then up at the elf with fright.
‘The force that arrow was fired with… she could strike through steel armor with those things.’
Kroanette stared at the elf with fearful eyes, seeing the girl ready to fire three arrows straight at her at once. The bolts looked to be normal arrows with feathered ends and steel tips, all of them appearing finely pointed and easily capable of piercing right through the centaur’s skull with ease.
“Three arrows at once? Isn’t that a bit much?”
“Don’t tell me how to kill those who piss me off!” the elf shouted out. “Why shoot one arrow when you can fire three at the same time? You kill things faster that way, you idiot!”
Kroanette blinked then glanced over to the men who had been shot dead by a volley of arrows. She then realized something and looked up at the elf with wonder.
“Wait a minute, did you kill those men all by yourself?”
“Of course I did! Who do you think shot the shit out of them?”
“But…” Kroanette said slowly glancing around the area, seeing nobody else nearby. “The number of arrows fired at those men… there had to be more than one archer firing them. You mean to tell me you did that all by yourself?”
“You calling me a liar?” the elf demanded loudly. “There isn’t anybody else out here besides me and a dead centaur! Now say your prayers, bitch!”
“Please, stop!” Kroanette cried out while shutting her eyes. “I’m sorry, I really am! I mean if you wanted to get raped that’s all on you, fine, but I never wanted to come here in the first place! I’m just looking for my friends! They disappeared and I’m trying to find them again, I swear!”
“Spare me the sob story, I don’t give a fuck,” the elf scoffed as she brought all three arrows back to fire.
“I’m begging you not to do this! I need to find my friends! We were on our way to Flairwood when they just vanished on me! Please!”
The elf watched her carefully for a moment then slowly relaxed her stance.
“Flairwood?” she repeated with a raised eyebrow.
Kroanette slowly opened her eyes and nodded while trembling under the elf.
“Yes, we were traveling there when… I don’t know what happened, but everyone just vanished on me. I have to find them again, that’s all I was trying to do when I came through here.”
The elf glared at her for a while before slowly glancing to the left, her aim on the centaur remaining steady while Kroanette waited to see what she would do next.
“Alright then,” the girl said before staring down at the centaur with discontent. “You’re going to make up for ruining my chance to get pregnant. I’m on my way to Rackleholm right now, and it just so happens that’s in the direction of Flairwood. You’re going to take me to Rackleholm, it’ll beat having to walk there with a steed to ride instead.”
“Wait, what?” Kroanette asked before the elf stomped down on her gut, the centaur then coughing and squirming about under the girl’s boot.
“You heard me,” the elf snapped. “You owe me, either with your life or by being my personal horse. You’re going to take me to the village and then you’re going to take me back home again, and you’re going to do so with a fucking smile on your face. Got it?”
Kroanette caught her breath then smiled nervously at the elf while holding her hands up defensively.
“While I do wish to make up for… upsetting you as I have, I must find my friends again as I have already promised to help them with their own quest. I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to decline.”
“Do you have any idea who I am, centaur?” the elf hissed with narrowed eyes.
“Someone who I really wish I hadn’t stumbled upon,” Kroanette nervously answered.
“I’m Clover, the finest huntress of Green Haven, and I am not an elf to be fucked with!”
“But you just said you wanted three men to have sex with you,” Kroanette pointed out with a weak smile.
Clover fired her arrows down at the girl, all three bolts striking into the ground with loud whacks as Kroanette froze with a frightful expression on her face. She felt two of the arrows resting against her neck on either side while the third had struck down into the dirt between two of her fingers. The centaur turned pale with fear as she glanced at the arrows that had been fired in a straight line across her while just avoiding drawing any blood.
‘Dear lord, her accuracy with three arrows is just as true as with only one.’
“Now you listen up,” Clover hissed as she brought out another three arrows with one hand and primed them in her bow. “You’re going to be a good horse for me and take me to Rackleholm, then you’re going to take me back to my home forest, and then you’re going to take me wherever the fuck I need to go after that. And do you know why?”
“Because you are the most frightening person I have ever come across?” Kroanette shakily asked.
“Because I’m being nice and allowing you to live after you ruined my shot at getting pregnant. Now, I’m sure you have your centaur pride and wish to humbly serve me for all that you’ve done, but just in case that’s not enough to persuade you into being a good little horse for me then consider this.”
Clover stood up and aimed down at Kroanette with a sharp eye, the centaur now frozen in fear as she stared at the elf with wide eyes. In an instant Clover set loose her arrows, all three striking down and splitting each of the three bolts that she had fired across Kroanette earlier right down the middle with loud snaps. Kroanette glanced to each of the new arrows that lay lodged in the dirt near her then up at the elf with shock as the girl pointed down at her with a harsh glare.
“My arrows always hit their target,” she threatened. “If you decline my gracious offer to be my personal horse than I
will find you no matter where you run off to. I’ll find you, and then you’ll die by my arrows without ever seeing them coming. You got it?”
“I thought elves were peaceful creatures,” Kroanette whimpered.
Clover stomped on the centaur’s stomach, with Kroanette gasping in pain before coughing.
“You got it?” the elf sternly repeated.
“I got it, I got it,” Kroanette coughed out while cringing under her.
Clover scoffed at her then proceeded to untie the centaur’s hooves. Kroanette watched her with a nervous whine while remaining still on the grass, not wishing to set off the temperamental elf with even the slightest movement. Clover undid all the centaur’s binds then walked over and yanked her three arrows up from around the girl before shoving them into the quiver behind her.
“Get up,” she ordered, with Kroanette property stumbling up onto her feet. “So then, what’s my new horse’s name?”
“Kroanette,” the centaur shakily replied.
“Fine, whatever. Wash your face off in the river, you’ve got semen all over it,” Clover ordered while pointing to the nearby stream.
Kroanette nodded then quickly trotted over and knelt down by the river, scooping up water in both her hands to try to clean herself off from her ordeal. As she did Clover walked over to the bodies of the men, eyeing over the fallen humans with a dull glare before she started to take the belts off of them.
“This royally stinks,” Kroanette grumbled to herself. “I wouldn’t be in this horrendous predicament if it wasn’t for that accursed fairy. When I find her again…”
She cleaned her face and hair off then started to wash her breasts, shuddering again at the memory of what the men were using them for earlier as she tried to clean them the best she could.
“I can’t say I didn’t deserve that. After all we centaurs have done to humans… we truly have been Darker Ones ourselves. My people have to listen to Daniel, they must or else they are damning themselves and their pride to hell.”
After she washed herself off she pulled her shirt back down and looked at the moving stream with a distant gaze. She imagined Daniel smiling back at her in the reflection from the water, her hand slowly reaching out and touching the surface which caused the image to waver and vanish in the ripples.
“Will he come for me? Will the others look for me? They are my friends, are they not?”
She then looked over to the side as she heard Clover approaching, the elf snapping a long strap in her hands made of three belts fastened together while eyeing the centaur with an arrogant smirk.
“Is my new horse ready to ride?” the elf quipped.
“Can you at least call me by my name? You did ask for it earlier after all. Just say my name like I would say yours.”
Clover looked at her with a blank expression for a moment then promptly whipped the long belt at the centaur, striking it across her rear with a loud snap. Kroanette yelped with a jump as the elf slowly shook her head.
“I told you before, never order me around,” she reminded with a threatening tone.
Kroanette whimpered and nodded while trying to control her tongue from letting out her real opinion of the elf and her abrasive personality. Clover grumbled then walked over and swung the belt around Kroanette’s waist, the centaur watching as the elf then hopped onto her back and fastened the long strap around her as well to bind them close together.
“What are you doing?” Kroanette asked before the elf yanked the centaur’s hair to turn her gaze back towards her.
“Making sure my new horse doesn’t try to throw me off while we’re on our way to Rackleholm,” Clover dryly explained.
“I owe a debt to you,” Kroanette strained out while her hands trembled at her sides. “I will make good on that and take you to Rackleholm, I promise.”
“Your debt doesn’t end there. Keep that in mind.”
“Surely you can find a horse to ride with instead of me along the way,” Kroanette hopefully reasoned. “You shouldn’t need me longer than it takes to reach Rackleholm.”
“A centaur is faster than a horse though,” Clover mocked with a smile, brushing Kroanette’s hair gently as the centaur watched her with growing concern. “And why should I give up a perfectly good centaur when she belongs to me now?”
“I don’t belong to you,” Kroanette argued. “I’m merely giving you a ride to-”
Clover yanked on the girl’s hair again, with Kroanette crying out before looking at the elf with worried eyes.
“A ride to where?” Clover repeated.
“Seriously, I thought elves were gentle and loving creatures of Eden.”
“Answer me. Where are we going?” Clover demanded.
Kroanette watched her with fear then slowly showed a small smile and nodded.
“Wherever you want,” she shakily answered. “You’re in charge here.”
“Good girl,” Clover sneered while petting the girl’s head, much to Kroanette’s inner infuriation. “Now, off to Rackleholm. Let’s go.”
Kroanette slowly looked around the area then back to Clover curiously.
“Um… which way is it to Rackleholm?”
“What are you talking about? It’s on the way to Flairwood.”
Kroanette nodded and looked around the area again for a while before glancing to Clover with a curious eye.
“And Flairwood is in which direction again?”
“What is wrong with you? It’s to the southwest!” Clover yelled out at her.
“Okay, okay!” Kroanette pleaded while holding her hands up. She glanced around the area before biting her lip nervously, with Clover watching her with disbelief.
“Are you playing around with me?” the elf demanded. “You know damn well where Flairwood is, you said you were on your way there with your stupid friends!”
“Yes, I did say that,” Kroanette shakily agreed while scampering around in circles. “That’s… that’s this way, right? Or maybe it was that way? Or… um…”
Clover grabbed the centaur’s hair and yanked her to the side, with Kroanette crying out and stumbling about before the elf pointed straight head of them.
“That way, you idiot!”
Kroanette peered around at the path ahead of them before cocking her head to the side. After a while she looked back to the elf with puzzlement.
“Are you sure? I don’t think I came from that way earlier.”
“Get going NOW!” Clover yelled out with fury.
Kroanette jumped with a yelp then took off along the path as fast as she could, with Clover hanging onto her with a frustrated growl. The two made their way through the woods at a quickened pace while Kroanette prayed she would find her friends soon. That and hopefully find a way to be rid of the elven huntress who was anything but what she had believed elves to be like.
*****
Walking down the vacant road in Flairwood all was quiet for Daniel and his companions. The leaves in the trees only swayed slightly in the breeze as the home of the giant butterflies appeared completely deserted to the travelers who felt a sense of unease building.
“This is all because of Luna?” Triska asked with wonder.
“Why? What did I do this time?” Luna whined while walking slowly near them.
“Something isn’t right,” Falla said stopping and glancing around. “The residents may not like Luna too much with her eccentric ways, but I’ve never seen everybody hide like this before.”
“They were here earlier,” Daniel pointed out. “I know I saw them flying about in the grove when we were riding closer to here.”
“I know they were, I saw them too,” Falla agreed. “Last time we were here they at least greeted me, and even waved to Luna occasionally.”
“Is it because we’re here with you?” Triska asked. “You did mention that we would put them on alert from coming here as well.”
“Not like this,” Falla said shaking her head. “We’ve got a male with us, my sisters should be at least watching hi
m.”
“Hello?” Luna called out around them. “I’m sorry if I did something wrong again, really! Please come out, you’re making us uncomfortable!”
Nothing made a sound or moved anywhere around them, with the group glancing to each other with growing concern from each passing moment of silence.
“This is just like Eston,” Daniel worriedly said.
“Don’t say that,” Falla snapped at him. “I don’t want to even think about that nightmare again.”
“You mean deathmare,” Luna whimpered.
“Shut up!” Falla shouted at her. “This isn’t the same, we saw them here alive and well earlier. Something else is going on.”
Daniel looked around the vacant street with a careful eye then noticed Triska slowly reaching up towards her sword. Falla and Luna watched as the girl kept staring straight ahead with a focused gaze while her hand carefully took hold of her sword’s handle.
“Triska, what you doing?” Daniel cautioned.
“Don’t you dare take that thing out now,” Falla ordered sternly at her. “Are you trying to scare my sisters even more?”
“Triska? What’s wrong?” Luna asked nervously.
Slowly Triska started backing up towards a few tree homes to the side while the group watched her carefully, the girl keeping her eyes straight ahead at the street while remaining on guard from something.
“Don’t move,” she warned. “None of you.”
“What do you mean?” Daniel asked.
“Falla,” Triska said while slowly glancing behind her at a tree. “Giant butterflies don’t fight, right?”
“That’s right,” Falla answered. “So put your hand down and quit acting so damn suspicious. You’re going to cause even more alarm with my sisters if you pull this crap now.”
“So then your kind doesn’t use swords or anything, right?” Triska asked while gripping her sword’s handle.
“Of course we don’t, I doubt any butterfly has a weapon like that or even knows how to use it. What the hell are you doing?”
“I heard it,” Triska said looking back to them.
Chronicles of Eden - Act V Page 11
