Chapter 153: Screeching Death

Orphella woke up to the sound of flapping wings and wind crashing against her face. It was painful for her to breathe, as if someone has held her tightly right on her stomach. She slowly opened her eyes and saw nothing but the ground. She immediately looked up and saw the grotesque face of the bat-like creature, it was looking at her with intent to make her a good delicacy later on.

She tried calming herself despite the dire situation she was in. After all, that was all that she could do at that point. She looked down and saw the huge humanoid arms squeezing her tightly by the stomach and the ground that will welcome her with no question should she plummet to her demise.

Her heartbeat was going erratic. She knew where this was going. She knew that it was only a matter of time for her to become food to this hungry creature. She looked around and saw no one but them. Her heart sank just thinking about the worse that might have happened to her comrades. With Ghwynmyr and Urfaal nowhere on sight, it only meant two possibilities; either they managed to hide from them or they're already good as dead. She hoped it wasn't the later.

The bat-like monster swoop down to avoid a protruding stalagmite in the middle of its path. As it moved, so did its grip loosen a bit. The sudden shift caused Orphella's belt to shift and her dagger to dangle loosely from her waist.  However, her arms were bound too tightly by the monster that she wasn't able to freely move it.

She began to feel a warm sensation on her chest. It started off as a ticklish warmth but the longer it went, the heat was close to becoming unbearable. She noticed her chest glow oddly a shade of pale blue, that's when she remembered what it was—the gem necklace.

The monster flew lower once more as it tried to avoid another bulging stone in front of it. Orphella took the distraction to catch the swinging dagger from her waist as it swung towards her. The monster was about to ascend when she immediately stabbed its arm forcing the beast to scream in agony and dropped her off the ground. The monster crashed into the wall and fell limped unto the ground below.

Meanwhile, she rolled unto the dry and dusty ground, tucking her head near her chest to protect her head from the fall. She fortunately landed safely on the ground with a few bruises and scratches. She stood up immediately and limping her way out of there. As far as she could tell, the beast might awaken somehow and without a weapon, her chances of survival were low.

She could hear something moving just across to where she was. She desperately hurried away, but her bruises proved to be a deadweight to her. The injuries were causing her body to slug and cramp. The muscle twitches were deliberately slowing her down.

Orphella was able to move away from there, but she didn't feel safe. She could still hear some weird noises in the background. She could hear claws scratching the hard stone wall and wings flapping albeit clumsily. She was right she wasn't safe yet.

She moved further into the darkest recesses of the cave until she saw a small crevice hidden in between two boulders near the wall. She slipped her way into it, bearing her body's throbbing pain. She curled herself inside the small crevice to fit herself. From the distance, she could hear the creature screeching. It wasn't too happy with whatever happened to it and she knew all too well that the creature was definitely looking for her.

She squeezed her way through the crevice until she was able to fit herself in. She tried to calm herself as much as she could. Her labored breathing might be audible enough for the humanoid monster to hear. She bit her lip and slowed her breath. She could hear the monster's footsteps approaching her. The worse part was it was getting closer to her.

Orphella patted herself for any weapon, but alas she was left with none. She took a deep breath and tried to be as quiet she possibly can. That was the only option she had now, being very quiet and unmoving hoping for the monster to lose its track of her.

The footsteps became louder. The beast was on her tracks. She could hear the beast's wings rubbed against the wall. From the sound of the footsteps, she could tell that it was badly injured. It limped as it went nearer.

Suddenly the monster shrieked. Its shrill clashed with the walls of the tunnel. Orphella gnashed her teeth and covered her ears as the sound harassed her ears. It was a terrible sound that left her ears in pain and numbed. Her ear rang uncomfortably, a very bad situation to be in.

Without her hearing, it became more difficult for her to time and detect the humanoid bat. Her heart raced and thumped hard on her ears. She took a deep breath and hoped for the best. She cautiously peeped into the crevice and tried to check the goings on outside.

There was nothing there. She slowly shifted her body and tried to peep a little bit more clearly, but she saw nothing. Only a barren tunnel with nothing but the cold hard ground and stony wall painting the landscape.

Orphella shifted to a more comfortable position once again, as her back was starting to protest on her position. However, just as she shifted a sharp claw came popping out of the crevice. The monster had located her and she had nowhere to run.

Without any runes or weapons, she was nothing more than a fodder to the furious monster. As the monster tried to reach out to her, hoping to grab her hair or something that it could bury its claws into. All she could do was lean back as far as she could away from the monstrous hands that were out to get her.

The monster tried over and over again, but it was unable to reach her. Her knees and back were starting to cramp from leaning too much but she couldn't let herself rest, not with the relentless creature outside. After a long time of trying to claw Orphella out of the crevice, the monster finally stopped.

It took its arm out of the crevice and stood in front of her salivating as it stared at her. In her mind, there was nothing else more to do. It was just her waiting for her end, but Orphella wasn't about to give up that easy. She's not going to die without a fight.

After the intense staredown they have with the monster, it began clawing its way in. Its sharp claws dug into he stony wall attempting for it to break. The monster punched and clawed its way in but the stone wall proved to be too strong.

Even with this little glimmer of hope, Orphella still felt uneasy. She knew that at some point, the monster would finally break the stone wall open either by it alone or with its grotesque kin. Small, chipped stone flung against her face. The relentless monster was now on its way to splitting the crevice open. Suddenly it stopped. Orphella was confused, did it finally figured out how hard it was to dig? Was it resting and licking its wounds? From the angle where she was, it was hard to tell. She tried to peeped at the crevice again, but what she saw ultimately shocked her.

The bat opened its maws and positioned itself in the crevice's opening. Orphella's blood ran out from her body. She knew she had no escape on what was about to happen next. She covered her ears and coiled in, as it was clearly obvious what the monster wanted to do.

Just as she did, the bat-like humanoid let out an ear-shattering scream. The small space she called her haven suddenly became her undoing.

The monster screamed at the crevice, letting out a shrill sounding wail that shook the very stones of the cave. The sound became too concentrated that the stony wall began to crack. Orphella was petrified. She was unable to move. The shriek had paralyzed her.

As the sound bounced inside, she could feel it piercing inside her. Her muscles swelled and her organs felt like it was about to burst. Orphella was trapped, her eyes were about to pop out from the sound of the monster's voice. It was only a matter of time before she suffers the same fate as the rest of the knights.

Death was already inevitable for her, but she still wasn't about to give up just yet. She tried kicking the wall to disrupt the bouncing sound. She knew it wouldn't work, but she tried it anyway. There was nothing wrong about doing it, she had nothing more to lose.

The shriek increased a pitched higher. She could feel her blood boiling inside her veins. Orphella was already vomiting blood and her vision was beginning to go blur. Her head felt like it was about to explode. She finally stopped kicking the wall, it was useless at that point.

It was already dawning on her that she was about to die. Sadly, she had to make terms of this grisly demise. Orphella sat and leaned her back towards the wall while still covering her ears. She knew that if she took her hands off her ears, it would kill her. But she had already ran out of options and her body was already losing strength.

Just as she was about to take her hands of her ears, she felt the stone she desperately leaned her back onto, crumbled. With the stone gone, she tumbled down a slopy pathway, down another rabbit hole. Or maybe down to her demise.