Her form turned liquid as she passed through the bars, she walked towards the center of the room. Slowly approaching Kol. Her deformed face was right next to his, he could smell the halitosis wafting off of her every breath. Kol's
Avoiding her direct gaze Kol looked for his companions. Each of them cowering in a fetal position in every corner of the room.
'What is wrong with you? Now is your chance to attack her.' Kol thought to himself, unwilling to admit his deep fear.
"I like you," Eden says as she pulls away looking at the rest. "Mother will surely like you too. She likes them fresh."
'Mother?'
Eden then walks towards the bars her form liquifies once again, then reforms on the other side.
"Mother will be here in 5 days," She looked towards the other companions. "We have much to prepare."
She then snaps her fingers, the sound echoes through the wooden dungeon. Then, two fish-men came running towards her, harpoons at the ready. They stood behind her, waiting for her command.
"You like them?" She says as her hand floats over to one of the fish. "They're my babies. Aren't they cute?" giving one of them a kiss.
"Take the elf." She said, her voice changed from playful to demanding.
The fish then opens the cage, pulling out a set of keys from its waist. Drew tried to fight back but was easily pushed aside, while Zar remained in his position cowering.
They take Balfir by the arms, one fish on each side as they carry him outside. The fish locked the bars and then presented Balfir In front of Eden.
Balfir looked strong, second only to the captain, and yet there he was. On his knees shivering from fear in the presence of Eden.
"Are you going to kill me?" his voice shaking.
"Branches no, I just want to play with you." She says holding a crooked smile. She then turns to Drew and Zar inside the cage. "I'm going to play with all 3 of you."
Eden snaps her fingers again, and the fish lifts Balfir by his arms once again and then starts dragging him past Eden.
"Careful now. You wouldn't want to injure your new Daddy now, would you? Take him to my chambers."
Eden turns to look at the cage one more time, then leaves. Following the same route the fish went.
As soon as Eden leaves, the pressure in the room disappears. The fear they felt quickly shifted to anger and disgust.
"What's gonna happen to him?" Kol asked.
"Isn't it obvious? She's growing her army." Drew said the whites in his knuckles began to show. "This is all your fault." Gesturing to Zar.
"We didn't intend for any of this to happen," Zar said. "She wasn't here when we came a few weeks ago. How could we have known that it would bring the wrath of someone as unnatural as her upon us?"
"Her wrath?"
"What happened if I may ask?" Kol interrupted.
The two turned to Kol. Drew was unwilling to let go of his anger and just sat in the far back of the corner.
Kol then turned to Zar, who seemed shocked and full of regret.
"We're a shipping vessel, we ship goods from Pilwin to Garford. One day we spotted a shipwreck near the borders of Oakheart, on one of our routes. Our captain wanted to investigate, in case people needed help. But the ship was empty from what I heard."
"You weren't with them?" Kol asked.
"No. I stayed in the ship. Anyway, the ship was empty apart from one thing. A chest. It was filled with gold leaves, books, scrolls, and other valuable items that only nobles could have. At the time we didn't think any of it, so we brought the chest back with us."
"Yes, that always is the best idea," Drew added from the corner.
"It was a treasure chest; we couldn't just leave it behind. From that day a storm started following up. Only then did we realize the mistake we had made. When the fish people started attacking, we went straight to Oakheart since it was the closest."
Kol took his time thinking to himself. He concluded that Eden was not here during the time Zar and his men took her treasure and the treasure was just left unguarded as opposed to Eden leaving the treasure as a trap for others to take and capture. The reason for this is due to the response time the fish had between taking the treasure from the shipwreck and boarding the shipwreck.
Meaning Eden left her treasure unguarded and stolen, which she then needed to get back by attacking a town.
'What is so important in that pile of treasure?' Kol asked himself.
"You're one of Ross's students, aren't you?" Drew said coming over from the corner.
"Yeah, though it's only been a few weeks." Kol clarified.
"So, how do we get out of here?"
"I used to have a plan. But after witnessing what Eden can do to us just by her sheer presence I need to think of a new one."
Kol thinking about his previous plan which is to just blast through the wall and use the bars to fight their way out of the shipwreck would now be useless when Eden shows up rendering everyone immobile. Now he has to think of a better one.
"If we were to fight our way out do you think you can handle it?" Kol asked.
Drew stopped to think for a while before giving his answer.
"If we fight our way out, I can handle a few if I have help, I won't be much use alone. These monsters are stronger than me."
"In any case, I want to observe them for a while before sharing my plan. Do you think you can wait for a few days?" Kol asked.
The toll of what Kol was asking did not register to him. Waiting for a few more days means Eden can use them for her playtime.
"We need to do this before her mother comes. Otherwise, we will have 2 problems on our hands."
"Right. Her Mother."