Nyx (Complete✅)

Chapter 44

   "I know I said a few more days, but you said to bring him as soon as possible, and I believe he's ready." Meelah's voice drifted to Kelbar's ears through the hollow doorway that presumably led into another cavern like the one where he'd been staying.

   Another voice answered, this one much deeper and stronger, and Kelbar recognized it as the voice of Jakam, the village leader, but the words were too quiet for him to hear exactly what was being said.

   "Kelbar, come in!" this was Meelah again.

   Kelbar shuffled forward slowly. Why did they want him? From the sound of things, they'd been talking about him ever since he'd shown up.

   The room was pretty much exactly the same as the healer's cavern, except a very slight amount smaller, and there were no shelves in this one. Several small power stones glittered in the ceiling.

   Meelah and Jakam were sitting in the middle of the room, and with a small pat on the stone next to her, Meelah invited Kelbar to sit as well. He sat in the place she had indicated, waiting for one of the others to speak first.

   "Kelbar." It was Jakam who spoke. "You say you come from the surface, but the surface I know was plagued by a terrible beast. Is this not so?"

   Kelbar nodded slowly. "The Slayer killed my family, and it nearly killed me, but then beings called humans came from a world far away, and they killed it. The Slayer has been slain." He replied.

   "What are these humans? You're words ring true, but how can this be so? From a world far away?" Jakam seemed very confused.

   "I don't know how it's possible, but I know what I saw. The slayer is dead, and there is now a large village of these humans living on the surface." He wished he could offer a better explanation, or maybe even a story without such a strange subject, but he could only tell the truth, even if he only knew half of it.

   "If it is as you say, and the Slayer is dead, then that means we can go back up." Jakam's words got softer as he spoke until Kelbar had to strain to hear him on the last few words.

   Back to the surface? So these strange underground people had originally come from up there. That would explain how they knew about the Slayer, and also how they were still alive. They had fled underground when the threat had grown too large. He almost wished his own village had thought of something similar, but then he thought of the way they lived.

   Only darkness in every direction, with unknown caverns stretching far and wide. The light of the sun would never touch the cold stones of the caverns where they lived. The only breezes that passed through came from deep underground, where the only air was icy and foreign. It was hardly more of the life that he'd been living when Beth had found him.

   He was about to open his mouth to reply, but then there was a sudden flicker of movement in the corner of his eye, and he spun around.

   He could hardly believe his eyes. It was Beth! She was standing right there in front of him, more real than any dream he could come up with. He heard a stifled gasp from behind. Meelah came up to stand beside him.

   "Kelbar, who—what... is this?" she sounded almost afraid.

   "Kelbar!" Beth sighed, heaving out the breath as if she'd been holding it for a long while. "I was so worried, and you've found more Viscordians!" she smiled.

   "Kelbar, you know these?" Jakam was now standing on his other side, opposite Meelah.

   He nodded mutely. His mind was still on the fact that Beth was even there in the first place. He could hardly answer all the questions that buzzed around the room like the miniature slayers he'd seen on his journey. He blinked, trying to figure it out.

   "Kelbar, why did you disappear?" Beth's question brought him out of his thoughts. This was a question he could answer.

   "I wanted to see if I could find some of my people, but then I fell. I've been here since." He replied. He wished he could give a better reason for not telling her that he was leaving. Even if he hadn't fallen into the caverns, he'd still left. He had been planning on being gone for a long while, and he hadn't told her a single thing. He realized that he must have worried.

   "Well, your quest was clearly successful." She smiled, lifting a hand to gesture vaguely towards Meelah and Jakam.

   "Yes." For the first time, it really sank in exactly how significant that was. He wasn't alone, and from the looks of things, he never would be again. He didn't even mind living down in the sunless caverns if it meant he could live with more of his kind. He could adapt, just like they had when they'd first traveled underground to escape the Slayer.

   "Kelbar, are these the humans that you spoke of before?" Jakam was the one to break into his thoughts this time.

   "Yes. This is Beth, and her friend is Liam." It was the first time that Kelbar had really realized that Liam was also there.

   "Strange names," Meelah muttered.

   "And you say they come from a far off world?" Jakam seemed much more interested then Meelah, and his eyes held a careful defensiveness as if he was gauging them as a threat. Kelbar could practically read the question in his eyes. Are they a threat to my village?

   "Yes. A place called Earth." He answered the question, remembering what Beth had told him. "They have a thing called a mirror, and you can see yourself inside of it, like in water." He thought of the funny reflective sheet. Why would they think of something like that? There was hardly any purpose in it.

   "Very strange indeed," Jakam mumbled. He seemed to be a bit less tense now as if he didn't think the humans would be any threat.

   Beth was opening her mouth, clearly about to say something, but then there was a rush of footsteps outside the door, echoing strangely through the system of endless caverns.

   A young male rushed through the door. "Limnek was caught in the outskirts." He said, his chest heaving as if he'd run a long way. "He's been hurt." He added urgently, fear sparking his gaze.

   "Not again," Meelah muttered darkly, pushing briskly past the guy who had brought the news. Someone had been injured, and Kelbar knew that was Meelah's responsibility, but there was something else flickering in her eyes—a fear deeper than just that of a fellow village member getting hurt. Whoever had been injured was close to Meelah.

   Kelbar wanted to find out exactly what had happened, but when he made a move to follow, he felt a hand on his arm, holding him gently back.

   "You'll only get in the way. Let Meelah to her job." It was Jakam. "You must stay here and tell me more about these humans."

   Kelbar nodded.

   "And we can help you with that," Beth added, coming up to stand beside him. Jakam took a step away from her as if he found it disturbing to be so close to something that wasn't well known to him.

   "The first thing I must know is, do you and your tribe hold any threat to my people? I don't think mirrors are used as a weapon, but surely a people advanced enough for such a pointless invention will have great weapons." The guarded look was back in his eyes as if he'd only just thought of the words he was saying. He was clearly very suspicious of the newcomers.

   "The humans want nothing but peace with any inhabitants of Viscordia that remain." Beth dipped her head courteously. Kelbar hoped she spoke for more than just herself, and that no humans harbored secret ill intentions toward the surviving little underground village.

   "Then peace there will be." Jakam smiled.

   Kelbar could practically feel the relief coming off of him in waves. He tried to imagine himself in the leader's position. He had only just learned that the Slayer—a major threat to his people—had been killed, only to discover a moment later that there was a new force to reckon with. He must have been very glad to find out that there was nothing to fear from these other-worldly settlers.

   "Kelbar, w—" whatever Beth had been saying was cut short by a horrible noise.

   Kelbar tensed up, listening and trying to pinpoint the sound. It was a long, low wail, reverberating countless times off the walls of the caverns until the noise seemed to overtake everything else. It was a wail of grief. The voice, achingly familiar.