Nyx (Complete✅)

Chapter 39

Kelbar left the place where he'd spent the night. He stretched his long legs and looked up through the trees at the morning sky. Something flew past. Kelbar was slightly startled but realized it was only those creatures he'd seen the day before. He watched a few fly around until he started to feel unnerved. Those creatures looked so much like The Slayer!

Then a sudden thought entered his mind. "What if these things are The Slayer's offspring?" He closed his eyes in dismay, hopelessness flooded into his heart. He wished the ground would just swallow him up.

After falling to his knees in defeat, images of Beth came into his mind. He saw her face and remembered her quiet assurance and strength. Then he saw an image of The Slayer, bloodied and dead.

He stood up with renewed faith and felt silly that he had given up so easily. He followed a faint buzzing sound and was soon face to face with a swarm of 'Mini-Slayers'.

He stood there staring at them, his brain churning. As he studied he noticed that they were not exactly the same as The Slayer. These creatures had little beak-like snouts that looked like they would be good for sucking nectar. On the other hand, The Slayer had a hideous mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. These creatures looked harmless, while The Slayer had always had a sinister murderous look in its eyes. And finally, these creatures looked relatively the same size and fully grown, some even looked near the end of their lives.

Kelbar inhaled and realized he'd been holding his breath. He breathed out with a sigh of hope-filled relief. His findings concluded that these creatures were in fact only reptilian insect-like birds and that as far as he could tell, were of no threat.

As Kelbar continued on his way through the forest he hoped that The Slayer was the last of its kind and prayed that he wasn't the last of his.

He trudged on for miles, looking straight ahead with determined hope. He made his way through forests, through fields of long undisturbed teal grass, and through barren, stony areas filled with red rock formations and cliffs.

Even after he felt the strength leave his limbs, he continued. He focused his gaze onward. The only thing that kept his legs moving was the shard of hope in his heart.

The sky grew dim and Kelbar felt he was about ready to collapse. Just when he was about to call it quits and find shelter for the night, the ground gave way beneath his feet and he slid into darkness, falling deeper and deeper. As he slid into the ground he felt his skin being scratched and scuffed by unseen objects. His skull was struck by something that jutted out of the shadows. He lost consciousness immediately and his body continued to fall.

When Kelbar awoke, his head ached so badly he could barely think. He tried to survey his surroundings, but there wasn't a speck of light to see by. He felt the cold hard stone beneath him and figured that he'd fallen into some kind of underground cave. He dreaded that this would be his tomb if he couldn't get out. Then he made the mistake of trying to get up, the pain from his bruised and battered body caused him to black out a second time.

He didn't know how long he'd been out but was determined to try again. He needed to get out. So he gritted his teeth and moved his limbs. After a few painful attempts, he finally managed to come to a sitting position. He sat for a few minutes and fought to keep his head clear. Then he mustered up all his strength and willed himself to stand. He began to take a step, but his knees buckled, dizziness overcame him, and he fainted.

As he awoke for the third time Kelbar decided against trying to stand to prevent further blackouts. But his determination hadn't dimmed. Even though he felt a little stronger, he decided to be cautious and not strain himself, so he slowly rolled onto his stomach and began to crawl along like a bug, taking frequent breaks.

He continued on, inch by inch, no idea where he was going. Faith and hope fueled him forward. He refused to think of the 'what ifs' and hoped that this blind journey would lead somewhere good.

He soon lost track of time. His present life became a pattern of crawling and resting. Every hour his strength increased and his ability to go without food helped, but he would eventually need sustenance. He occasionally found trickles of water on the cave walls and sometimes small pools or puddles, so staying hydrated wasn't a problem.

To prevent hitting his head or slipping and falling he continued to crawl, even after he was strong enough to stand. Admittedly walking would be faster, but crawling was safer. So he continued on like this, not knowing if it was days that passed or hours.

After what seemed an eternity, he saw light ahead and desperately hoped it wasn't his imagination. As he neared the light he became surer that it was real. He concluded that he was nearing a section of the cave that contained power stones. Those were the stones that gave off light when touched. But how they were glowing he did not know. To be activated they had to be touched by something living. So, either the glow he saw was actually daylight, or some creature had touched the power stones.

Now with light to see by, Kelbar stood up. The ceiling of the cave was in fact quite tall. He stretched his arms over his head and let out a sigh. It was good to stand up again. He cautiously walked towards the light. When he reached it, he had to squint. It was very bright. His eyes had to adjust from being in sheer darkness for so long. Before his eyes could properly adjust, there was a flash of movement to his left. He had no time to react before he was thwacked in the head with something that caused him to collapse into foggy blackness.

________

"Limnek you fool! What were you thinking?" A stern female voice said.

Limnek stammered a mumbled reply.

The female's eyes softened a little. "I am sorry. I should not have yelled." She said. "But you could have killed him." She added with seriousness.

"I...I...I honestly thought he was a monster." Limnek admitted. "He came in from The Dire Region."

"Well, he's obviously not a monster. He's one of us." She replied. "And he should know, as well as any that it's not permitted go into The Dire Region."

"Then he got what he deserved," Limnek said.

"No. Do not try and excuse what you did." She said sternly. "Only guards are allowed to go to The Outskirts. You shouldn't have been down there."

"Will he live?" Limnek said, gesturing to the body lying beside them.

"Yes, I believe he will. Thank you for bringing him to me. You can leave now." She replied.

"One more thing." He said.

"What is it?" She patiently asked.

"You know I dream of being a guard someday...and..." He didn't finish.

"Don't worry Limnek. I won't tell, but promise me this won't happen again." She said.

"I promise." He said, happily grinning as he left.

Meelah sighed and rolled her eyes. She took a damp cloth from a bowl of water and wrung it out a bit. Kneeling at her patient's side, she began dabbing his bruised head. He looked like he hadn't eaten in a while and his face was unfamiliar to her. She had prided herself in knowing just about everyone in her underground village, yet could not place this stranger's face with any name.