Chapter 154: The Elf and the Bat

Orphella saw the ground upside-down as she tumbled down a small rabbit hole that broke during the beast's ear-shattering screech. It was nauseating as her world tumbled over and over again into a chaotic mess. She wanted to close her eyes but with the monster in her wake, it's the last thing she wanted to do.

It was a long way down. Orphella felt the stones pierced and scratched her skin. She tucked in her chin and protected her head as she went further into the never-ending hole. She made a violent turn right, then a left and then another right. It was like the hole was of a giant's gut, the curves looked like its entrails and her like shit tumbling down towards its exit.

Finally, she reached the end of her arduous journey. After another sharp turn and some bruises, she fell into a murky pool cushioning what could've been a very deadly fall. The cold and muddy water began to fill her mouth and nose. She tried her best to paddle back to the surface as she slowly realized the dank water was about to fill up her lungs.

She successfully paddled her way into the surface and got herself to the safety of the shore. It was a short yet laborious swim, as the muddy water weighed her down like she wore a full-plated armor while she saw. The water's depth seemed to transition rather quickly. A few moments ago, she felt like she was drowning in a bottomless well, right now, she could feel her feet touching the muddy and slipper waterbed.

Her head was banging like a drum as swan closer and closer to the surface. Her vision was blurry and spinning, but she does not have the time nor the pleasure to rest, not when she's in danger. She stumbled out of the muddy water, slipping on the moss-filled ground, hurting her left hand in the process.

She fumbled her way to dry land holding her sprained hand while spewing out the murky waters out of her. She laid flat on the damp ground with labored breathing as her eyes looked around tracing the path of where she fell.

Luckily, elves can see rather clearly in the dark. As her eyes wandered, she saw the hole where she fell from. The entrance was way too high for her to climb back up. She dragged herself back up and checked what was in front of her.

It was an oddly sight for her to behold. In front of her were two statues facing each other one had features of a female elf wielding a dagger and a bow on her back while the other was a man stoically facing the female statue with his hands resting on a broad sword placed on his front. A few steps beyond those statues were a door that seemed to be created by elven artisans.

"SSKKKKREEEECCCCHHHHHHH!!!!!" Orphella heard the monster's screech coming from within the hole where she fell from.

She immediately stood up and rushed towards safety. Orphella hurriedly passed the statues and went for the door. She pushed the metal-forged door, but it wouldn't budge. She tried yanking it and before pulling it hard, but the door won't move.

Orphella had nowhere to go. The unmovable door proved to be her dead end as now she's trap between a body of water and an unpassable entrance. It was only a matter of time for the monster to show himself and kill her right there. The only refuge she had left were the statues. The seven footlingish high statues were her only means of hiding but even then, she's still exposed. She knew how it will end badly for her at that moment. Without her weapons and with an exhausted exousia she was nothing more but a fawn waiting to get slaughtered by the stalking beast.

The beast came tumbling out of the hole the same way as she did and made a splash in the water. It looked like the monster's injuries got a better of it and was now weakened just like her. But even with that in mind, that was still something she cannot be relieved about. She hid herself in the shadow of the male statue, not that it would conceal her, but it was the only one thing closest to being hidden.

The monster emerged from the dark and murky water. It took a while for it to do, most likely because the creature cannot swim. Somehow it did emerge from the murky waters, its gait unbalanced. One of its wings was slump down along with its shoulder, it seemed like it dislocated it while tumbling down.

The knife she stabbed it with was still lodged in its arm, stopping the wound from bleeding. It was a mystery to her what the monster truly was. Was it really a monster or a changed one? The monster did elicit some form of intelligence, at least its kin did.

It stumbled down the muddy shore vomiting the dirty waters it drank. It sat on the shore and tried to pull-out the dagger that got lodged in its left arm, but it was stuck. The monster screeched as the dagger stayed on its arm.

Orphella saw the monster's weakened state. She knew that if the monster rested even for a moment bit it would recover much faster and she doesn't want that. Being cornered with the humanoid creature was at best a risk for her. She could remain hidden as the beast was distracted, but without any possible exits, she would just be a sitting prey to the healing monster.

She took a deep breath and decided on the impossible, she will fight the creature and risk it. Orphella slowly tiptoed towards the beast making sure that even her breathing was bated to not let the beast detect her as it licked its wounds.

Unfortunately, she planned it too poorly. Just as she was about to reach the beast, the monster's ears twitched, and it immediately turned around at her. Its maws grotesquely opened and revealed its full set of teeth in its segmented jaw. The beast stood upright but was having difficulty standing up straight with its wings on full spread. The beast's gait was askew, it was indeed injured.

Orphella lept back and readied herself. She knew her plan was too risky to do but she did it anyway, unfortunately now, she had to deal with her mistake. Without weapons or magic, she was nothing more than a fodder to the hungry creature, but the elf boldly stood her ground. Like a cornered animal, she knew her best way out was to fight—and fight she did!

In her desperation she took a fistful of mud on her hands and charged towards the monster hoping her other plan won't fail her. She carefully watched the monster's reaction. She observed at its arms, hand and body as she went on for the attack.

The monster swung its sharp claws unto her, but the injured creature had become sluggish, and she was able to duck from it. She kicked the creature's knee, attempting to shatter it and rend its ligaments to shreds, but her strength wasn't enough.

Her attack only angered the beast even more. The monster swung its wings towards her, Orphella managed to dodge it barely by the hair. Its wing got stuck in the soft mud giving making the beast immobile for a while as it tried to be unstuck itself.

As the creature pulled its wing out of the soft ground, she immediately rode its back and slapped the fistful of mud into its ears.  The bat demon shrieked as its ears got covered with mud. For a monster born without eyes, its ears served as its sight and now with that gone, it became disoriented.

Orphella immediate jumped out from its back and hurriedly grabbed the dagger lodged on its forearm. The monster shrieked in pain, as the dagger was finally out of its forearm. However, Orphella was unable to attack, the shriek dazed the poor elf.

The monster's wing was finally detached from the soft mud and immediately swung it towards her hitting her in the stomach. Orphella was thrown from the impact and landed near the elven statue. She heard a crunch as she landed and knew a rib or two broke. She got winded from the attack that she found it hard to even stand up.

From a distance she saw the monster struggled with the mud on its ears. Orphella knew she had one shot at this. Dragging her body, she stood up holding the dagger on her hand. Blood trickled from her mouth, but she never got bothered by it. She spat some on the ground and although limping from her injuries, decided to attack the monster.

She winced in pain as she did another dance with the monster, dodging its wings and claws from hitting her. Orphella saw a small opening went to the monster's limped side tried thrusting a dagger on its neck, but alas the monster caught it by its maw.

The blade shattered along the monster's maw, along with the last ounce of hope she had of her surviving. Both of them fell down and tumbled as the creature was trying its best to dominate her. The monster was able to trap her left hand and began to squeeze it. Orphella winced in pain as she tried he best to block the monster's maws from reaching hers.

The monsters squeezed her hand even stronger that she heard it break. The poor Orphella groaned in agony on the ground and was finally ready to succumb to her fate. When all of a sudden, the amulet she wore began to glow and flew towards the monster, piercing its heart in the process.

The monster halted its attack as Orphella saw the small whole burned in its chest, but the gem wasn't finished. It attacked a few more times piercing the monsters' hide like a butter. The monster died and Orphella immediately shoved it away from her.

As she tried to compose herself trying to understand what just happened, the gem hovered right in front of her. Its beautiful glow seemed to shout for her attention and so her eyes followed as the gem hovered away from her and went into the metal door where it latched itself.

Suddenly the door lit up and the closed metal slabs finally opened, welcoming the brave elf of whatever it was on the side.