chronicles of eden - act I Page 6

  "Oh no no no, silly. I only screamed because I was upset they broke all my merchandise. I wasn't in any real danger. Thank you for your concern though, that's so kind of you," she said happily. Daniel nodded slowly then looked at her with wonder. She watched him stare at her for a moment then giggled again.

  "What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked playfully.

  "It's just… I can’t believe that I found a witch so soon," Daniel said in wonder. He had thought he would have to travel for a good distance, day and night before he came across any monsters in the world. Yet here he was, having cookies and milk with one the day he had left his hometown. Alyssa looked at him bashfully and batted her eyelashes.

  "Do you like what you see, Daniel?" she asked softly. Triska looked at her cautiously then to her plate of cookies. Daniel smiled nervously and nodded.

  "Well, I guess. I mean… for a monster you seem… nice," he said with a shrug.

  "Thank you, Daniel. You're pretty nice for a human, cute too," she said with a wink. He smiled weakly then glanced to Triska, the teen looking at the witch with a dull expression.

  "Anyway, who were those guys that were trying to kill you? Were they just wandering thieves or something?" she asked as she glanced around the cozy home of the witch. Alyssa shrugged and took another bite of her cookie, chewing the snack with a happy smile as Daniel and Triska looked at her curiously. After she finished she looked to Daniel.

  "So, Daniel, where are you off to?" she asked, seeming to ignore Triska’s question altogether. He looked at her for a moment then smiled a bit.

  "Well, truth is we were looking to meet monsters like you," he said simply. Alyssa looked at him with wonder as she wiped the crumbs from her mouth.

  "You were? You wanted to meet me?" she asked curiously. He nodded and reached down to his bag, the witch watching closely as he pulled out his monster book. He opened it and flipped through a few pages.

  "Yes, we're on a bit of a journey to meet monsters and-" he started before Alyssa leaned over the table with a cute smile.

  "And?" she asked as she had her hands on the table and leaning closer to the boy, eager to hear what he was going to say next. He blinked then smiled weakly.

  "And to see if any monsters could be trustworthy, to be able to join humans in peaceful coexistence in the world," he said as he leaned back a bit. Alyssa looked at him funny then sat back with an amused smile.

  "Join you? To coexist?" she asked curiously.

  "Well, yes. You see there are some monsters out there that are very powerful and dangerous, to both human and monster alike, the Darker Ones of Eden. I have this belief that certain monsters and humans can live together peacefully. We can aid each other with our common enemies and help each other grow and prosper," Daniel said hopefully. He glanced to his book as he turned the page while Alyssa smiled at him curiously.

  "Wow, never heard of a human that thought of such ideas before," she said before she casually took another cookie from her plate. Triska looked at the witch curiously then to Daniel.

  "Well, Daniel's not like other humans; he's got more of an open and optimistic mind. But he is right though, mankind could use help surviving in this world, and so could other monsters that are threatened by the Darker Ones," she said in agreement. She then noticed Daniel was looking at a page in his book closely, his eyes going back and forth slightly as he was reading something. Alyssa giggled and looked at the boy with a smirk.

  "I see, so you came to talk about living together, just you and me, Daniel? I'm flattered," she asked with a sly smile. Daniel finished reading something on the page then glanced to Alyssa.

  "Well, not exactly. More like talk to your kind and see if such a peace could be achieved between us," he said cautiously. Alyssa laughed a bit then looked up with an amused smile. Triska looked at Daniel cautiously then glanced to the witch who was looking around at the gems hanging from the roof with a playful smile. After a pause Daniel glanced out the window.

  "But before we get to that, Alyssa, who were those men trying to kill you? I wasn't aware there were bandits in the area," he said casually. Alyssa giggled to herself and shrugged.

  "I don't think they were bandits per se, but they certainly weren't very nice either way. Hee hee, that rhymed!" she said with a laugh at the end. Daniel smirked and nodded, then glanced over to her.

  "You love playing the part of a little girl, don't you?" he asked with an amused smile. Triska looked at him confused while Alyssa shrugged with an innocent smile.

  "What? What do you mean 'playing the part'?" Triska asked cautiously.

  "What's in that book? I haven't seen one like that before," Alyssa asked curiously while looking at the book in Daniel's hand. He looked to it and smiled proudly.

  "A monster guide so to speak. You see in the interest of finding peaceful and trustworthy monsters I've read up on different types of them out in the world, just so I'm prepared should I happen to come across one. And it just so happens that's exactly what occurred. I thought since I'm talking to a witch I'd better brush up on their known background," he explained, looking to the witch with a calm smile. She giggled and leaned towards him with a playful smile.

  "Oh, I see. So what does it say about witches in there?" she asked. Triska looked at the little girl then over to her friend as he read the description.

  "Monster class: Witch. Found commonly around human civilizations and grasslands. They use powerful magical spells and hexes to charm and subdue their prey. Their bodies don't physically age further than that of a young girl; however their lifespan can easily surpass a human’s. Although not commonly hostile a great deal of caution is recommended as they have been known to be deceptive and misleading. They've been known to use their magic and allure of innocence to steal men away," he read aloud. Closing the book he looked to Alyssa with a knowing smile, the witch smiling happily at him.

  "Something tells me those men out there knew what you were, Alyssa, one way or another," he said with an accusing smile. The witch giggled and nodded.

  "Yeah, they found out eventually. Whoopsie," she said with a shrug and a small laugh.

  "Allure of innocence? You mean…" Triska said looking to the young witch with wonder. Alyssa smirked then held her staff up, the relic glowing orange as she looked to the table. A few cookies floated up a bit and broke apart into humanoid forms with legs, arms, and a head. Four of them floated together as another broke apart and formed into a smaller human form.

  "Oh help, oh help, I'm all alone," Alyssa said in a cutesy voice as she had the smaller cookie shake around slightly.

  "Oh ho ho, what do we have here?" the witch said in a gruff voice as the four bigger cookies bounced up and down towards the small one.

  "I'm all alone, help me," Alyssa said as she had the smaller cookie shake.

  "Heh heh heh, we'll help you out, little girl, won't we boys?" she said in a tough voice as the other cookies bounced a bit. Daniel and Triska glanced to each other worriedly then back to the strange puppet show.

  "What are you doing? Oh no, please don't. I beg of you," Alyssa said in a cute innocent voice as she had the other cookies move closer to the little one. Daniel and Triska watched with slightly disgusted faces as the witch had the cookies act out what transpired between her and the men that were dead outside, in full detail complete with sound effects and colorful commentary. After the two travelers watched the demented cookie show Alyssa giggled and bounced up and down on her seat, looking to Daniel with an adorable smile as the cookies crumbled onto the table.

  "So you see they were bad men anyway. They actually wanted to have their way with a little, innocent girl. Hee hee, well actually, they did. Hee hee!" Alyssa said with a cute smile.

  "I'm never going to want a cookie again," Daniel said weakly as he wavered in his chair.

  "You… bewitched them into having sex with you?" Triska said with shock.

  "What? Oh god, no no," Alyssa said shaking her head. She laughed and looked to the broke
n cookies.

  "I didn't have to use a single spell, they wanted a little girl from the start," she said with a smirk. She laughed as Daniel glanced to his book again. Triska shook her head then looked at the girl with disbelief.

  "What… but… you're just a little girl still!" she cried out.

  "Her body may have stopped aging physically, Triska, but she's older than we think. She may even be older than your mother," Daniel pointed out looking back to the witch. Alyssa nodded with a bright smile.

  "I'm actually 72 years young. Don't you think I still look good in this skirt?" she asked looking to her body with a curious smile. Triska stared at Alyssa with disbelief as the witch hopped out of her chair and twirled around joyously. She bounced around with a giddy laugh then looked to Daniel with a curious smile.

  "It was so brave of you to come after me like that, you're so caring for a human," she said gently.

  "So they were only trying to kill you after they found out what you were. Still, knowing that they actually wanted to do that to a little girl makes having killed them feel justified," Triska said looking down in thought.

  "I didn't mean for them to end up dead from the start, I was planning on riding away after we were done, but they weren't content with that. They wanted more of the sweet human girl they thought they raped and to keep me as their personal plaything. Haha, actually, if it was willing, it wasn't rape was it? Hee hee," Alyssa giggled as she bounced around happily and hopped over to the fireplace. She then showed a saddened expression as she watched the fires burn.

  "Then they had to go and knock my carriage over and burn it. All my valuable potions broken just like that. That wasn't very nice. And after I let them have their dark desires with no resistance they go and do something naughty. Serves them right being dead and deader now," she said with a scoff. The witch pouted as she watched the flames crackle in the fireplace then looked to Daniel with a curious smile.

  "Then you showed up and tried to rescue me. Nobody's ever done that for me before, nobody," she said softly. Daniel smiled slightly before Alyssa walked up to him and hopped onto his lap with a playful giggle, holding her staff behind the chair as she held her other hand to his chest.

  "Is there any other way I can thank you for being so caring? I don't think cookies and milk are enough. Whatever you want from me, just name it and it’s yours," she said as her eyes gazed deep into his.

  "Hold it, just what do you think you're doing?" Triska demanded as she quickly stood up.

  "Really, no thanks are needed, I didn't really do anything out there," Daniel said nervously. Alyssa leaned in close to him and smiled gently.

  "But you did, you tried to save me from those horrible men. Please, you can have anything you want," she said as she bounced on his lap. Triska ran over and grabbed Alyssa by the shoulders, then threw her off onto the floor with a glare.

  "Knock it off; we're not here for that! We just told you-" she started before she was thrown by an invisible force back into a bookshelf. She slammed into it and dropped down with a groan as books fell on top of her. Daniel looked over to see Alyssa standing up with her staff in hand, glaring at Triska. She then giggled and smiled arrogantly as her staff glowed orange.

  "This doesn't concern you, girl. You may leave now," she said simply. With a wave of her staff Triska flew across the room towards the stairs. The teen grabbed her duffel bag and came to a halt as her legs were being pulled up at the opening above. She held onto the bag as it started to budge before stopping again, the girl then looking over to see the witch staring at the bag curiously.

  "Wow, what's in that thing anyway?" Alyssa asked. Daniel ran over and grabbed hold of the staff, struggling to take it from the witch as she pulled back.

  "Stop this, Alyssa, put her down!" he yelled as they struggled to pull the staff away from each other. The witch ducked under and put herself between the boy and relic, hopping up onto the level staff and sitting on it while smiling playfully at the boy. She giggled as she held her arms around his neck then lifted her foot upwards behind her, holding the staff behind her knee.

  "I've got a better idea, Daniel," she said seductively. The staff glowed orange and the room started to rumble suddenly. Triska looked around as the building was shaking then over to see Alyssa pulling Daniel into a kiss, the boy watching with surprise as he held the staff that the witch sat upon. Triska gasped then growled with fury at the little witch.

  "Hey! What do you think you're doing, bitch?" she yelled out. From the ceiling large twisted vines broke through the wooden roof and snapped around. Triska looked back as one wrapped around her leg, the vine then hurling her along with the duffel bag out through the opening above. She screamed as she flew into the air before crashing down back onto the grass next to the dead humans. As she got up she looked to see vines whipping around and thrashing through the dirt around the opening before slowly receding back in. Triska scrambled to her feet and raced over as she unsheathed her sword, her eyes filled with rage. As she got near the entrance the vines swarmed around violently while a hissing sound was heard beneath them. Triska yelled and swung her blade down, slicing across the tangled weeds and carving up the ground below it. The vines slowly slinked back into the ground revealing nothing but dirt there.

  "What? No… no! No no no!" Triska yelled as she hacked again and again at the ground. She tossed her sword down and started clawing away at the dirt frantically.

  "No! Daniel! Daniel!" she screamed while digging furiously through the dirt, her eyes searching for any sign of the way into the witch’s home. After a moment she stood up, looking around franticly while breathing heavily.

  "Daniel!" she yelled out with fright, her voice echoing out around the empty plains.

  *****

  Inside the home of the witch the fire was crackling softly as it cast the room into a reddish glow. Outside the trees of the forest were seen to be dead and decaying as the ground was barren and lifeless. The daylight had been replaced with a cold night sky with stars seen above the rotting trees. It was a mess inside the home as books and bits of wood were scattered everywhere. The ceiling was a clutter of tangled vines and the remains of the support beams. Furniture was knocked around and broken as Alyssa looked around with an amused smile.

  "Oh dear, I'll have to clean up later. Always such a pain after I have company over, but what can one do? That's the price of being a hostess after all," she said with a giggle. After gazing around at her home she looked over to the side of the room and smiled slyly. Over by the wall Daniel sitting on a plush red chair, watching the witch carefully as she held her staff behind her. She giggled then walked towards him, swaying her hips slightly as she licked her lips. Daniel darted off to the side to run for the nearby door, instantly being thrown back onto the chair by the girl's magic. She laughed a bit then leaned towards him with a playful smile.

  "Where do you think you're going, Daniel? You can't leave yet, that would be rude," she said innocently. He looked towards where the witch had thrown his friend out through the ceiling before sealing off the entrance then back to her with caution.

  "Why are you doing this, Alyssa? I told you before we're only here because-" he started before the witch began to giggle again.

  "You want us to coexist right? To get along together? To join together?" she asked curiously. He slowly nodded, knowing the witch wasn’t thinking about his quest at all. She smiled softly then walked up towards him slowly, the boy watching her with concern as she had a twinkle in her eye.

  "You have your desires, Daniel, and I have mine."

  Chapter 3

  The Witch’s Desire

  In the world of Eden monsters come in many different forms and classes. They all have the appearance of human women in some shape or form, and some even speak the language of man. However the similarities between man and monster didn’t always stop there. Some types of monsters wore clothing or armor, and even used weaponry similar to humans. Swords, bows and arrows, and even shields sometimes - certain
monsters used either crudely made or expertly crafted weapons of war. And of course there were those that used magical spells and arcane rituals that granted them otherworldly powers. Either by using their magic to charm and control their prey or casting destructive spells to wound or kill their enemies, magical wielding monsters were among the more dangerous ones that roamed the lands.

  After all, no shield in the world can defend you from them.

  *****

  “Daniel!” Triska cried out as she looked around with fright. She looked down to the ground as the wind gently rolled by, grass nearby swaying slightly as she whimpered softly to herself. Nearby four human men were lying dead, with three of them pretty much reduced to smoldering piles of flesh and bone from a magical onslaught by a little witch. The charred remains of a destroyed travel carriage were off to the side of the path with a few wisps of smoke still coming up from it. Triska screamed out into the air with frustration then looked around as she held her sword in hand.

  “Damn it! Alyssa! Bring him back now!” she yelled out with anger and a few tears forming. She shook her head and looked down to the small patch of ground she had dug up in her rage, both angry and scared of what happened a few minutes ago.

  “When I find her again… I’m going to chop that bitch into pieces!” she roared as she struck down at the dirt, her sword carving into the ground with a loud whack. Growling furiously she screamed again, and then dropped to her knees next to her blade that was thrust into the dirt. She trembled then looked to the dug up ground.

  “Daniel,” she quietly said to herself.

  *****

  Inside the living room of a house Daniel was looking ahead of him at a little girl in a witch’s outfit. The room was cast into a reddish glow from the fireplace as the daylight outside had been replaced with a cold night sky. Books and bits of wood from the ceiling were scattered around while vines seemed to be entangled into the roof from above. Daniel looked at the witch before him then to her staff with cautious eyes. Alyssa giggled then walked up towards him with a playful smile.