Chapter 42

-------------------------------------------

After searching for a long while, Adrian had walked quite some distance away from his room.

Although he couldn't find Rose yet, he did stumble onto an interesting place.

He had accidentally discovered a hidden prison in a very undiscoverable location. It's just that, he had seen a guard secretly entering the place and trailed behind him for curosity.

After the guard left, Adrian walked around the prison and after finding nothing noteworthy, he went downstairs sneakily.

The prison had 4 floors, built underground and seemed to have no facilities for drainage. The air had grown stale as the ventilation was also very poor.

What it all meant was that, it reeked of shit, very badly so as to speak.

Adrian pinched his nose as he moved onwards. He hoped to find Rose as soon as possible.

[Rose is certainly not upstairs. Maybe she is hiding at the last floor? Hopefully she did not hurt herself yet...]

As Adrian moved on to the last floor, he hid himself under a shadowy place, as the guard was moving back upstairs.

After the guard left, Adrian entered the floor and investigated, as he finally found an occupied cell.

Though, unlike he had hoped, it was not Rose.

Apparently, the guard had come to deliver some food, since Adrian could see the thin porridge placed inside the cell.

Adrian also noticed the prisoner, who seemed to have been kept in secrecy.

What attracted his attention the most was the prisoner's race.

It was a female dark elf.

She seemed to be similar to the appearance to a 14 year old girl, but the dark elves were known for their long lifespan, so nothing could be said for certain. 

Although not as long as forest elves, but they still lived longer than normal humans.

And honest to her race, the girl looked supremely beautiful!

She was a different kind of beauty. Her slender body, dark black hair, red eyes, long ears and most importantly, her dark skin color made her look like an exotic beauty.

Although she was dressed minimally and looked quite starved, but she was still a beauty in Adrian's eyes.

Adrian salviated over her beauty, as he scanned her body inch by inch, until he had firmly recorded all of it inside his head.

(...Woah ho ho... what a beauty?! But, why is she trapped inside this cell?...)

Although she was not chained up, but she seemed to be in a very bad state. Her health especially was detoriating to a visible extent.

Her cheeks were sunk in and dark circles were visible under her eyes. Her hair had not been washed for quite some time and were stuck together in a mess.

The bones under her skin were being visible to any observer. She sat in a corner as she stared at the ceiling. The thick aura of despair radiated from within her.

Unable to hold himself back, Adrian moved towards the cell, as he spoke,

[Miss... are you alright?]

Although it was stupid to ask this question to a prisoner, but it certainly attracted his target's attention.

The girl directed her gaze towards Adrian, as life seemed to return to her eyes. Her eyes widened in wonder, as she studied every detail about Adrian before she replied,

[A-Are you from the Moonlight Kingdom?]

Adrian became puzzled instantly, as he scratched his head in confusion.

[Moonlight Kingdom? No, I belong to the Camp for now.]

The girl gasped in surprise as her anticipated soared even higher instead.

[T-Then! Have you been sent by Mother? You are the first human to speak our language so perfectly after all!]

Now it was Adrian's turn to be astonished, as he realised that he couldn't really pin out the difference between the human language and the dark elf language.

He became nervous instead, as he feared to let the girl know the truth, but decided to be honest in case he shot himself in his foot later on.

[No.. I just.. just happen to know the languages pretty well... But Miss, why have you been captured? Your state is very miserable right now.]

The girl became sentimental upon being showered by such affection and concern after such a long time. She felt a desire inside her to let everything out infront of this stranger.

[I... came to the human nation to inform everyone about their impending doom. The Demons have declared war upon humanity and have started their invasion.]

Cold sweat drenched his back, as his hands and feet started to shiver in fright. Adrian didn't doubt the girl's information since she had no benefit in lying to him. 

He became terrified of the upcoming future & worried about the potential destruction.

But, as soon as he remembered about Rose, Floriana, Ella, even Dana, his fear started to morph into rage, as the desire to protect the ones close to him, soared within him.

He also reminisced about Leaf's death. He held himself at fault for all of the events. He couldn't really let the circumstances to such an end anymore.

He refused to be a pawn to fate any longer!

[I won't let such a thing happen anymore! Miss, Tell me, where are they?!]

The girl could feel the rage hidden within his voice, as she realised that her intentions had finally been fulfilled.

[My name is Nihara. I am the only princess of the Moonlight Kingdom. My people were hurt emotionally by human's betrayal several years ago, but I don't hate humans. My father was a human after all.] 

[I have been loved very dearly all my life. I understand that not all humans are evil.] 

[I hoped to meet someone like you, in hope that the Demon Invasion could be stopped in time, otherwise... there would be no tomorrow to speak of.]

Adrian gritted his teeth and punched the cell's gate in rage. He knew that he had to act fast, as he trembled in rage.

[Grimer, come out.]

The space around Adrian distorted, as Grimer walked out from the shadows.

Nihara trembled in fear, as the monster seemed to have appeared out of thin air. It's appearance reminded her of the nightmares she had when she was little.

Adrian glanced at the Grimer, before he spoke,

[Grimer, use POUND on that lock over there.]

The Grimmer nodded grimly and turned to stare at the door. Raising it's grimy arm, it unleashed it's move.

*Badam* *Clang*

The lock broke apart instantly as the door became unhinged.

Adrian stared at the girl in contemplation, as he spoke to her.

[Princess Nihara, I request you to delay the oncoming demon army before the humans can put a resistance. I can only place my hopes on you.]

Nihara stared at Adrian emotionally. All her life, she had been told that the humans were not a trustworthy race and she herself had seen her father tormented by others constantly.

Unable to agree with them all, she resolved herself to prove that some humans were born different and could be very helpful.

Nihara wiped her wet eyes, as she nodded towards Adrian and started to escape the cell.

She glanced back towards Adrian once, as she remembered his figure within her memories.

[Farewell My Savior.]

She ran away, hiding in the shadows. Her fate was no longer bound by the chains of hatred.

-------------------------------------------

Adrian turned to the Grimer, as he spoke,

[Go along with her. Make sure that she escapes this place safely.]

<Yes, Master.>

Grimer nodded twice before it started to trail after Nihara.

Adrian watched as the duo proceeded to get away from the prison area, before he went out himself and restored the entrance back to it's previous state.

----------------------------------------

Chapter 42 End