Chronicles of Eden - Act IV

by Alexander Gordon

  “Well,” Emily said looking up thoughtfully. “The women and children were killed since they weren’t needed, and the men were raped to death.” Luna stared at her speechless as the child giggled and looked to her with a playful smile.

  “That’s why I decided to leave this village for another. No more men after all.”

  “Wha… what are you saying?” Luna asked shakily. “What do you mean that’s why…”

  Emily giggled before she started walking towards Luna, the butterfly girl backing up against the wall as the ground around Emily started to turn dark as if cast in a deep shadow.

  “Just what I said,” Emily explained. “After I raped them all to death I was tired of waiting for more to show up, so I decided to move to another place.”

  Luna stared at her with wide eyes as the child giggled and waved her hand towards her dresser, with the drawers opening up and clothes flying into the air in a circle above the room.

  “Emily?” Luna asked nervously. “What are you saying? What’s going on here?”

  From the ground two long black tentacles made of sludge started to slink up through the dark shadows near Emily, with Luna staring with fright at seeing the slender limbs wavering about and rising up from the floor. On the ends of them bulbous yellow eyes slowly formed, the two eyeballs turning around for a moment before focusing on Emily. The child looked to each one directly with eyes that didn’t seem to focus on anything, using one hand to casually brush her hair while she gave a mocking sneer.

  “Wow, my hair is so filthy. I’ll have to take a bath later,” she laughed, and then turned to Luna who was watching her with a stunned expression. “Oh, I’m sorry, Luna. I should probably explain.”

  Luna looked to the floating clothes in the air then to the tentacles with the eyes on them, and then to Emily with an open mouth as the girl shrugged modestly.

  “You see,” Emily confessed. “I’m not human either. I’m a witch.”

  “You… you’re a witch?” Luna asked with shock.

  Emily nodded then took off her dirtied dress, tossing it aside before holding her arms out. From the swirling clothing above a few flew down and appeared to wrap themselves around the girl, dressing her on their own while Luna watched with wonder. The two tentacle eyes watched Emily while never blinking, witnessing as she dressed herself with a magical torrent of clothing. After a moment the rest of the clothes flew up then dropped down around the sides of the room, with Emily now standing dressed in white shoes with black laces, black stockings that went up to her knees, white underwear, and a black shirt with side tails hanging down over the girl’s hips. She had black shoulder covers with dark blue trimmings on them held together with a silver chain across the middle, and a white scarf that she left hanging loosely down behind her.

  “There we go. How do I look, Luna?” she asked turning to smile at Luna.

  The butterfly girl just continued to stare at her with shock, words failing her as the tentacle eyes also turned to look at her.

  “You… you’re… a…” Luna stuttered nervously.

  Emily nodded with a giggle then shrugged with a coy smile.

  “Yes, I’m a monster, just like you.”

  Luna glanced to the tentacle eyes with a nervous whine, seeing the two strange eyestalks just staring at her constantly, before Emily shook her head while holding a hand up.

  “Don’t be afraid. Those are my doing, I summoned them so I can see.”

  Luna blinked then looked at the strange eyes with puzzlement.

  “What? They… let you see?”

  “Yep yep,” Emily giggled. “With my magic I can summon them again, I’m very skilled with summoning creatures from the underworld, and these special tentacles allow me to see with their eyes.”

  Luna looked at the eyes with shock then to Emily while pointing to her.

  “Wait, hold on here! You’re a witch?”

  “Yes, I am,” Emily replied. “I just told you, plus I thought seeing all this would be even more proof for you. Hey, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

  “I don’t… I don’t understand… I thought… but you were…”

  Emily, or rather the tentacle eyes she summoned, stared at the girl while Emily had a curious expression on her face, the witch then giggling as she gently ran a hand through her hair.

  “Sorry about not telling you,” she apologized with a worried smile. “I was afraid if you knew what I was you might not have trusted or helped me. You’re not mad, are you?”

  Luna looked at her with wonder then to the strange limbs, then back to the witch with concern.

  “I’m not… mad,” she said shaking her head. “Just… surprised. I never knew you were a witch this whole time.”

  “I’m sorry,” Emily said sadly. “But you were my only chance at surviving out there in The Outerlands, I didn’t want to scare you away if you knew the truth. I lied about being human, yes, but not about being in trouble. Those two man-eaters really did kill the humans I hexed into taking me to Ashwood. They were going to eat me too.”

  Luna blinked then looked at her with disbelief.

  “Hexed? You hexed those humans into helping you? They weren’t really your parents? You just put a spell over them?”

  “Of course they weren’t my parents,” Emily reasoned with a shrug. “They were just some travelers that came through this town, so I decided to use them to go someplace where there were more men for me to have sex with. It would have been strange for me to just wander into a city alone, so I used those humans as fake parents so nobody would suspect that I was a witch.”

  Luna’s eye twitched a bit as she stared at the witch with a stunned expression.

  “Um… but… huh?” she squeaked out.

  Emily nodded then looked down with a solemn gaze.

  “It was horrible,” she sadly continued. “Those damned monsters killed those humans before they could take me to the city, and what was worse was they took me by surprise. I had my other focuser off at the time during my nap and I couldn’t get it back before I was forced to run for my life. I had to leave it behind while I ran in fear of being eaten alive.”

  Emily gently rubbed her ring with one finger before Luna glanced to the ring then to Emily with bewilderment.

  “Your… focuser?” she asked.

  “Yeah, the other ring I had like this one,” Emily said holding her hand with her ring out to show it. “It’s what lets me use my magic. Luckily I always like to have a safe refuge to retreat to in emergencies, so I left this one here in case I ever needed to come back. I was even luckier that we ended up here of all places. It’s almost too perfect, now I have my magic again, and it’s all thanks to you.” She paused then held her hands out in front of her, with the eyestalks leaning closer and examining them for her.

  “Still, I’ll have to go back and grab the other one I left behind. No sense in leaving it out there.” Lowering her hands she then smiled at Luna, with the tentacle eyes turning to her again, causing the butterfly girl to tremble slightly in fear. “But thank you for bringing me here though, now I at least have my magic again.”

  “Um… you’re… welcome?” Luna replied nervously.

  Emily giggled while she just faced Luna with a blank stare behind her eyes, with the tentacle eyes swaying around as they gazed at the surroundings without ever blinking.

  “This is indeed a great turn of events,” Luna praised. “But it still pales in comparison to me finding you, Luna.”

  “Me? Why?” Luna asked shakily as the tentacle eyes rested on her again.

  “Luna, I meant what I said,” Emily gratefully said. “I love you, you’re so special to me.”

  Luna looked at her curiously as the witch walked up to her and held her hands.

  “I never had anyone, anyone, care about me so much before,” Emily explained. “It was the most incredible thing I’ve ever felt. Not even my own daughters make me feel that way. Hell, they never even come to see me anymore, I don’t think they care about me l
ike you do.”

  Luna blinked then looked at her with an awkward smile.

  “Daughters? You… have daughters?”

  “Why yes, I have seventeen of them,” Emily replied with a nod. Luna looked at her with surprise as the witch tilted her head with a coy smile. “Truth be told, I’m 139 years old, and I’ve had many daughters in that time, with hopefully many more to come.”

  Luna stared at her with an open mouth as she was rendered speechless, with Emily then showing a gentle smile and shaking her head slowly.

  “But you, you’ve made me feel so loved, so happy, more than I ever thought possible. I mean it, Luna, I truly do love you so much.”

  Luna looked at her with a mixture of wonder and concern then slowly smiled a bit.

  “Well… I… um… don’t know what to say,” she hesitantly replied with a small shrug.

  Emily hugged the girl tightly with a happy sigh, with Luna nervously looking to the two eye tentacles that kept staring at her. Emily nuzzled against Luna’s chest with a giggle then stopped as she showed a curious smile.

  “Are you okay? You look a bit tense.”

  Luna jumped a bit and looked down to her then back to the tentacle eyes, both of them just staring at her while swaying around slightly. Emily smirked as she looked up to Luna while holding onto her still.

  “Don’t be afraid. Just think of those eyes as my eyes, they are after all allowing me to see you for the first time.”

  Luna looked to her curiously as the witch backed up and just stared through her with a blank gaze while the eyestalks slowly moved closer and around the butterfly girl to examine her.

  “You’re so pretty, Luna,” Emily complimented. “I was so curious about what color your wings were and what you really looked like. You really are so beautiful.”

  Luna trembled a bit as the eyestalks kept turning and angling around her then smiled nervously at Emily.

  “Thank you,” she shakily replied. “But, Emily, this is kind of… scaring me.”

  “Aw, don’t be scared, Luna,” Emily giggled. “You’re as safe as can be with me. Now that I’ve got my power again I’m going to protect you for a change.”

  Luna looked at the two monstrous eyestalks with concern then to the witch.

  “Emily, what did you mean that… you killed humans here?” Emily’s expression changed to a curious one as Luna slowly shook her head. “Did you really kill people?”

  Emily showed a saddened smile and nodded, with Luna gulping silently with growing concern.

  “Yeah, I did,” Emily admitted. “I didn’t mean to kill the men though. I just got carried away humping them for their seeds. Turns out you can hump a human to death, hee hee!”

  Luna stared at her with a stunned expression as the witch looked down while holding her arms behind her and gently kicking with one foot, acting like a naive child who was being questioned for doing something wrong.

  “I wanted to get as many of their seeds as I could,” she said with a shrug. “So I raped them, and then I did it again, and again, and again, and again. Most of them died from exhaustion, and the rest I forgot to feed.”

  “Emily…” Luna breathed out, shocked to hear that Emily had killed humans without seeming to really care. The witch nodded slowly then looked to Luna with a hopeful smile.

  “But I never touched the women and children here. Honest, witch’s honor,” she said holding a hand up as a promise. Luna looked at her carefully then glanced to the window.

  “Then… what did? How did they all die?”

  Emily giggled then walked over to the door, opening it and waving for Luna to follow. After a moment to collect her bravery Luna slowly followed after, seeing Emily standing out on the balcony while two more eyestalks had sprung up from the ground near her. The eyes turned back to Luna while never blinking, with Luna looking at them nervously then to Emily as the girl was facing towards the road ahead of them while her hair gently swayed in the breeze.

  “Luna, can I tell you a secret?” Emily asked with a mischievous smile. “You have to promise not to tell anyone else though.”

  Luna looked at her with growing concern then slowly nodded.

  “Okay, I promise.”

  Emily held her hand with the ring on it out then waved it around in several circling patterns, with a trail of red light etching into the air from her movements before the witch then struck her hand through the circular casting ring, with strange emblems and symbols lighting up around the edges as the glowing crimson ring seemed to send a ripple of distorted air away from it.

  “Luna, you know what a Darker One is, right?” Emily asked cautiously.

  “Darker Ones?” Luna whimpered. “Those are the most evil monsters in the world.”

  “That’s right,” Emily agreed with a nod. “There are lots of different kinds of Darker Ones out there, but they’re extremely rare to come across. Most of them are chaotic, destroying everything around them as they please, like wild animals.” She then giggled and turned her blank gaze back to Luna with a creepy smile on her face, causing Luna to feel a real sense of terror from the girl.

  “Well, I tamed one,” she boasted with a twitch of her eyebrow.

  “What? You… tamed one?” Luna asked, not liking where this was going.

  Emily nodded then pointed her hand down to the road while the casting circle around her arm spun around slowly. The light then flared up brightly before shooting down from her hand into the road like a bolt of lightning, causing a powerful flash along with fire that swirled around in a circle on the road. The flames filled the circle then rose up into a torrent of fire that spun around with a monstrous howl. Luna stared at the sight with absolute fright while Emily faced the torrent with an eager smile on her face. The eyestalks turned to Luna and saw her shaking before Emily backed up and held her hand gently, with Luna looking to the girl as she pointed to the flames.

  “Here, look,” she said eagerly, with the flames flashing with a powerful boom before dropping down and washing out along the ground with a sizzling crackle. Luna stared with shock at seeing something standing in the road while small patches of fire burned around it.

  “What… is that?” she asked fearfully.

  Standing on the charred ground was a centaur, however this one looked drastically different compared to most centaurs, and not only that it seemed to be twice as big. The color of the horse’s body was a dark purple with black hair on the lower legs and rear, the tail being long and black while trailing smoke behind it. Around its lower back it had a black cover on it that was tied around its belly, the blanket having two tails that hung down either side of the beast’s body near its hind legs with silver emblems woven into the fabric along the edges. Around the human waist that connected to the horse’s body it had a belt with three small skulls attached to the front, each of them having small traces of red light coming from their eyes. The monster’s human half was that of a woman, with a dark leather shawl that covered its breasts and draped down over its shoulders. Its skin was a dark blue while the eyes were solid white, her long raven hair being held back in a loose ponytail with the hairband being a crimson ribbon. However the most noticeable thing about this dark looking monster was the gigantic scythe it held in its hands, with the blade itself being the size of Luna’s body. The long steel handle was dark colored while the enlarged blade gave off a haunting purplish glow as the mere sight of it sent chills down Luna’s spine.

  Emily giggled at seeing the new monster as it just stood out in the road, the beast slowly turning its head to survey its new surroundings while its rear leg scraped against the dirt road.

  “That’s a deathmare. A Darker One.”

  “A Darker One?” Luna squeaked out.

  She then screamed and bolted back into the girl’s room, with Emily’s eyestalks turning to seeing the butterfly girl scrambling towards the opposite wall away from the balcony.

  “Luna? It’s okay, it’s not going to hurt you,” Emily pleaded as she quickly ran in a
fter the girl.

  Luna stumbled and dropped down onto the floor then turned around to seeing Emily walking up to her, with two of the witch’s eyestalks wavering around behind her as they kept their single eyes locked onto the frightened butterfly.

  “No, no, no,” Luna whimpered as she tried to scoot further away on her rear.

  “Luna? It’s alright, you’re safe with me.”

  “Safe? There’s a Darker One right outside!” Luna cried out.

  Emily nodded then knelt down beside Luna as the butterfly girl tried to scramble back, with Emily grabbing her arms and holding her as she smiled lovingly at the girl.

  “I told you,” she gently reassured. “I tamed it, it’s my Darker One now.”

  Luna stared at her with shock as the witch gestured over towards the balcony, with Luna then looking to seeing the tall deathmare outside still standing where it first appeared.

  “You see?” Emily said playfully. “It’s not going to attack you. It obeys my every command.”

  “What? It… obeys you?” Luna asked with disbelief.

  “Yes,” Emily answered with a caring smile. “Deathmares are Darker Ones, but they’re not of this world, they’re from the underworld. In order for them to come to be out here someone has to summon them from their home. They don’t exist to rape men, they can’t get pregnant, so instead they draw their power from stealing souls, and lots of them.”

  Luna stared at her with shock as this too wasn’t making her feel better about any of what was happening.

  “Souls? Like what a nightmare steals?”

  “Oh, you’ve heard of those, have you?” Emily asked. “Yes, nightmares steal souls to reproduce, but deathmares don’t do that. Instead, they steal souls to keep themselves from fading away in our world. They need them just to exist here. Basically, whoever feeds them lots of souls they treat as their master, doing whatever they’re told without question so they can remain here in our world.”

  Luna looked at her with wonder as the witch stood up and giggled with a mischievous smile.

  “So, I summoned it here,” she explained. “After I had all the men rounded up and set aside of course. I told the deathmare it could have every woman and child in the village, but the men were strictly off limits, and it obeyed. It killed everyone in one night, and after that it remained in this world, treating me as its new owner. It’s basically like having the coolest guard dog ever.”