Chapter 169: Overture

Death and more death! Adaloun was surrounded by dead, rotten bodies. The bodies of people he once knew throughout the ages, throughout his different incarnations now lie under his feet in heaps, dead and rotting.

He stood in center of them all, their faces embedded deeply into his heart. Their memories kept flashing back at him like lightning striking his mind, harassing him with their emotions, every bit of their emotions.

Their laughter, their pains, their sadness and the few haunting memories of moments before their deaths bombarded his mind and broke his heart the same way he felt when he first witnessed their deaths.

Adaloun's mind was quickly crumbling from everything happening all at once. He felt nauseated at the continuing flashing of visions until finally, everything went dark, and silence followed. There was a momentary peace in the darkness and somehow, it gave him a bit of relief.

Adaloun woke up after the ground shook violently beneath him. He immediately stood up but the wounds he got from his encounter with Zaduriel anchored him on the ground. His vision spun as his eyes tried to adjust from the flickering light of the torch his comrade stabbed on the ground.

He vomited from the flickering lights and was about to faint when Orphella caught him before his head could hit the ground.

She gestured to him, but everything was too gibberish, too jumbled for his mind to understand. Her hands were a blur to him, his eyes stressed from the flickering lights of the torch.

"W-where…are…we?" Adaloun asked as he closed his eyes trying to stabilize his vision.

After a moment, he realized how silly his question was. He remembered how Orphella was mute and apparently that made him more embarrassed that he couldn't even get it right. He bit his lip and silenced himself.

All of a sudden, the ground shook again, this time more violently. He tried to open his eyes, but his vision swirled once more and vomited again from the nauseating vision.

"Damn it!" He cursed under his breath. "What's going on?" He asked.

He felt Orphella's warm hands as she took his. She placed her hand in his palm and began to sign.

"Quake, seemed unnatural…gibberish…not giant…gibberish." Even then, the thoughtful elf tried her best to let him understand what was currently going on. Without his sight to see the situation, the elf became his eyes to the world.

"Stay…rest…heal." She signed.

Adaloun nodded and smiled, "Thank you, but with what's—" He felt Orphella's finger touched his lips.

"Not…a word," she signed. "You…rest…I…stand…watch." Her hands caressed gently in his palm. The warmth of her palm felt calming and trusting. He never said another word after that and went to sleep.

Adaloun went back on his dream once again. The serene darkness that he stared at before waking up welcomed him once again. He loved it! For once, the darkness that he so despised became his comfort, away from everything. He dreamt of nothing, but a calming void of darkness and he didn't loathe it.

He woke up rested and without a headache which he was very thankful for. He's vision was no longer swirling, and he did not feel nauseated at all. He sat up and saw Orphella sleeping peacefully with her weirdly beautiful bow by her feet.

The bow was intricately ornated with silver leaves that contrasted its body made from what seemed to be a mix of iron wood and aetherium infused in the shaft. It had a thin crystal bowstring that left him to wonder how it would stand when being pulled. In the middle of the bow was a hand guard, served to protect the hand from incoming projectile as the bearer hits their target. The handguard was designed to look like an eagle's head made of shiny, yet durable silver-like metal. In between the eagle's head was a pale blue gem, similar to that of an aetherium but felt different, energy-wise.

He stared at the weapon for a moment, piquing his curiosity at the gem. To say that the bow was beautiful was an understatement. It was something more than just a beautiful weapon, it went beyond that…it was otherworldly.

"I might blush if you don't blink!" A soft playful voice of a girl suddenly spoke out of nowhere.

Adaloun stood up and looked around while grabbing the torch erected in the ground. "Who said that?!" He shouted. "Show yourself. I am not afraid—"

Suddenly, someone grabbed his arm. He turned around and was about to strike it with the torch, only to find Orphella surprised as what he was about to do. He was able to stop himself at the last moment, before the torch could touch her face.

"Oh! No…dear…me!" He sighed in relief. "Don't you grab me like that! I could've burnt you!" He said angrily as he tried to deflect his surprise.

"What happened?!" The elf frantically signed.

"Someone is with us!" He lowered his voice. "Be alert!"

Orphella nodded and quickly grabbed her bow. She pulled the bowstring and an arrow made of light materialized. She held it well and pointed it around the hallway, waiting for the intruder to show herself, or attack.

But time passed and there was no one. Adaloun even observed her firing a few arrows to get a vision of the dark corners of the tunnel, but there was nothing. It was only just both of them.

After realizing how silly and lame he looked with his actions, he sat down on the ground, threw the torch and laughed his heart out like a madman.

"W-what's going on? What's so funny?" She asked in confusion.

"Haha..nothing," he replied as he stifled a laugh. "I might be the bumps on my head letting me hear things." He tried to mask his anger and frustration over himself.

Orphella approached him with a worried look on her face. She touched his forehead with her other hand while putting the other on her forehead. She closed her eyes and asked him to keep silent as she tried to focus.

"You're having a fever." She said after her short diagnostic procedure. "You need to rest a little—"

"Save me that rest advice for later." He interrupted. Now is not a good time to rest especially with our comrades in the brink of their deaths!" He stood up once again, picking up the torch once again.

"But you need to rest!" Orphella insisted.

"We need to get our surviving comrades and save them!" Adaloun rebutted. "We have no right to rest here. Not without them, not within here!" He looked up and feasted his eyes on the ceiling. "Beyond this earthly prison is where we should be! The surface!"

Orphella looked at him intently with the hint worry in her eyes, but his determination and drive made the elf helpless against him. She opted not to question him out of respect for his determination to save their friends.

"Fine, we shall go now." Orphella sighed. "But we have to take breaks every now and again. So your body can rest too." She added.

"Fair enough." Adaloun agreed. "Let's get into it then! Where should we be heading?"

Orphella nodded and pointed the tunnel at the eastern end. "I saw a door at the end of that path while firing my arrow over there."

"Lead the way, Orphella." He sighed. "Don't you worry about me. We shall make out of this alive." They walked towards the dark tunnel to where Orphella pointed the door was.

Orphella took out a dagger and gave it to Adaloun, "Here, just in case we need to fight."

He grinned at her, "This will do… and don't worry, I won't die." He nodded as Orphella gestured him to follow her.