Chapter 131: Darkness Never-ending

"Was that the last of them?" Commander Crovar asked his men as piles of carcasses from both sides filled the passageways.

"Nay, Lord Commander." One of his knights shouted as he stabbed a dead monster lying on the ground.

Orphella went around searching the lying bodies for any signs of life. The dead bodies scattered on the floor was a gruesome sight to behold. She treaded carefully over the heaps of scattered body parts and pools of blood. The massacre had ended with them claiming the victory over those vicious monstrosities.

Almost half of the squads' members lose their lives in the process. Most of the green knights from Lord Prestonheim's faction succumbed to their deaths at the hands of the monsters. Sometimes, even she questions how Lord Prestonheim trained and disciplined his men.

For a so-called Commander and Lion of the Gorge, he seemed to be just a self-righteous man with no idea on how to get his men in line. His knights fled from the battle a couple of times and the way they conducted themselves during the attack…Orphella doesn't want to comment on that.

She looked back at the remaining squad resting near the white wall. Surprisingly, the remaining knights seemed to have retained the fervor in their eyes. They looked at the bodies of their dead comrades with rage and from the looks of it, they wanted vengeance.

Orphella walked back to the Commander and reported what she saw. She did her best to simply her gestures so Commander Crovar could understand. The old Commander raised his eyebrows as she slowly pointed at the corner where she went while shaking her hand.

"…And that means?" Commander Crovar squinted his eyes as he mended some of his wounds on his arm. "Can anyone—"

"Err…Lass said tis nay there." Ghwynmyr interrupted the Commander.

Orphella noticed the glare from Commander Crovar as he acknowledged the dwarf's answer albeit, distastefully. He looked back at Ghwynmyr cursing silently at the dwarf. The Commander looked back at her and nodded.

"Good work, elf!" He smiled back at her and went back to tending his wounds. "You may go."

Orphella bowed to him slightly and then went back to Ghwynmyr and Urfaal who sat at the far end of the white stone wall. Commander Crovar's men were tending to their wounds healing them with salves and potions inside their grey satchels.

As she was approaching his comrades, Wahakim called her from the adjacent corner.

"Orphella! Orphella!" The ever-smiling Orkamuu called out.

She approached the Orkamuu with a bow and tried to gesture if he was alright.

"My friend…" He smiled. "You know that I cannot understand your gesture, but if you're saying how am I…" Wahakim looked at him and raised his thumb.

Orphella couldn't help but smile. Wahakim's sunny disposition was very welcomed during that time of pain and confusion. The Orkamuu gestured her to come closer. She went closer enough for him to whisper.

"Make sure not to use your powers here." He said. "Something is draining our energies here…especially us of the moons and the sun."

The comment confused Orphella, she wanted to ask for what Wahakim meant by it, but his Amang-Indicens was as relatively bad as that of Commander Crovar. She instead nodded and excused herself from his presence.

She went back to her comrades, who was almost done with their healing sessions. She looked at the both of them with a worried face before hugging them as tight as she could.

"Oww…I'm glad your okay, Orphella!" The beastman sniffled as she felt her tears welling on her eyes.

"Easy, Lass." The dwarf cracked a smile. "Yer gonna open me wounds!" He patted her head.

Orphella did her best to control her overwhelming feeling of relief. Her tears where already welling up her eyes, one more word from her and she might weep in joy.

"Phellie, yer eyes waterin' now." Ghwynmyr pointed at her eyes.

She sniffled and wiped the tears from her eyes, "I wasn't crying…" She signed. "The dust was making my eyes itch!" She added.

The dwarf made a subtly and nodded, "Indeed, tis place a wee dusty!"

The beastman approached her and patted her back, "Are you alright?"

She had nothing more to explain, so Orphella nodded back.

After their wounds were tended, they went into a corner and sat along the stone-cold wall. It didn't take long for the Ghwynmyr and Urfaal drift into sleep. She couldn't blame them; they just defeated the monsters with the both of them on the offensive. Their diversion and unrelenting fury managed to cut the monsters' line and made it easy for Orphella's line to defend.

She looked at their worn-down faces; the faces of those who fought harder than anyone else in there. Orphella couldn't believe that they made it through that ordeal especially with her powers not activating at the time she needed it the most.

Then, Wahakim's comment from earlier suddenly surfaced. She opted to close her eyes to get some rest, but instead, it was Wahakim's words keep on playing in her mind. She stared blankly at the stony ceiling. What did the Orkamuu meant when he said that someone was preventing their powers? What did he mean by the children of moons and the sun?

All those questions just made her restless. She parted her thoughts for a while and focused herself for sleep. She took deep breaths and emptied her mind, hoping that she could sneak in a moment of rest. Her thoughts slowly drifted away as she took heavier breaths and suddenly her mind went blank.

"Orphella, here!" The image of the little girl came flashing again. Orphella looked around and saw the cave and all its dead glory. She also saw the Commander Crovar and the knights who seemed to be busy with carrying their dead while the Orkamuus clustered in the other side of the cave bowing their heads low as if they were praying.

She looked around and saw herself along with her comrades resting themselves against a stony wall. When she realized what just happened, Orphella began to panic. She cannot wrap her mind around what was currently going on.

It seemed like her soul had left her body. She immediately ran back to her body and tried to go back in, but her efforts were fruitless. The child called her name out once again.

"Orphella! Over here!" The child's image seemed to be fading as every moment passed. "Orphella!" She called out again, but her voice was fading away too.

Orphella stood her ground and just stood there. She was too tired to humor the child with her invitation and she was afraid of what that tunnel might surprise her with. The last time she saw child in her vision was with those monstrous eyes hidden in the darkness. She opted not to come any closer in fear of another hellish vision.

She could clearly see the disappointment on the fading child's face. The girl seemed to be saying something, but she couldn't hear it. Suddenly, the girl gestured to her the message in Amang-Indicens signs, but her hands were too faded for her to clearly see what she meant.

The child faded without Orphella knowing the entirety of what she was saying. She felt the child's frustration even if she saw her from a distance.

"Phellie! Phellie!" She heard Ghwynmyr's voice echoed throughout the cave. "Phellie, wake up, lass!"

Suddenly the earth started to rumble, and the ground crumbled into nothingness. Orphella fell into the never-ending darkness below before finally waking up from that confusing dream.

She opened her eyes and saw the dwarf was shaking her shoulders. In front of her was a knight under Commander Crovar's faction.

"Good that you are awake, elf!" The knight said. "Lord Commander requested for your presence in the meeting."

"Meetin'?" Ghwynmyr asked sarcastically. "Me thoughts we ain't tah mingle with 'er likes." He scratched his beard.

The knight didn't answer. Instead, he looked at all three of them, bowed and went away. The knight's actions and the Commander's sudden inclusion of them in his meeting baffled all the three of them.

"Did dem monstars hit 'em in the noggin' ard?" Ghwynmyr raised his eyebrow.

She looked around and assessed their numbers, "Maybe this had something to do with our numbers." She signed.

"Numbers?" Urfaal asked. "Just because were from a different race doesn't give them the right to exclude us at things!"

Orphella shushed the beastman and reprimanded the dwarf. "Let's just keep this one with an open mind." She signed to them. "No matter what it might be, let's hear it out." She added.

The knights were already huddling in the corner of the cave along with the Orkamuus. From the looks of it, they were waiting for them—truly waiting for them.

Orphella looked at the both of them. From their eyes she knew they had no interest to be in the meeting, especially with the Commander Crovar around, but Orphella felt a different vibe. She felt a sincere longing from Commander Crovar to talked with them—but she might be wrong.