Oken Rebirth: Tales of An Unknown World

CHAPTER 27: SILENT NIGHT

"Dercaris, what level are you now?" a beautiful tall girl dressed in black asks as she gets ready to sleep.

"Uhm," Dercaris checks his scroll. "I moved up a rank thanks to those wolves we made quick work of back in the mountains." he continues.

"Hmm, that's nice."

"What about you?"

"Still the same." she says. "Oh? No need for the long face, we'll get some training in and work on your ranking up before we get back to-" Dercaris is cut off by a high pitched, but low, sound going off in the distance. "What's that?" He asks looking over at his sister.

"What's what?" She answers his question with her own.

"That sound just now." He gets up and looks out their tent only to see the dwarf fast asleep and snoring his socks off.

Hagias, it has only been a few minutes and are you already fast asleep? Ha, some lookout you are.

"What sound are you talking about Aris?" the beauty asks with a dumbfounded look snapping Dercaris (Aris) back to the subject at hand.

"There it goes again. Don't tell me you can't hear that." he says stepping out of the tent and into the surprisingly roomy and well lit cave with a one way in one way out narrow tunnel that leads out to the cave's entrance.

"What are you going on about Aris?" she follows him out of the tent.

"That sound just now, you mean to tell me that you can't hear that?"

"Quiet. Listen." she puts her finger up to her lips.

"What, you hear it?" Dercaris asks.

"Quiet."

"What?"

"Quiet."

The ground shakes violently. "What's that?" she exclaims trying to regain her footing after almost being toppled over. A moment passes as they wait in silence.

Could-, could that be a giant? Dercaris thinks.

"What was that?" the party leader asks stepping out of her tent followed by her tent-mate, Eve, both dames dressed in their slightly revealing sleepwear.

The rest of the party members make their way out of their tents and over to Dercaris and his sister next to the fire, everyone except Hagias who goes on snoring unaffected by the sound and rumbling.

"I don't know." Dercaris answers the leader's question. "Maybe our little hideout has been found out." one of the elves with very short silver hair states casually.

"No, that's impossible. We're close to the mountain's core and giants can't sense this deep underground without help or without making their way down here personally. Plus I put up a strong barrier around this area, there's no way the giants could've found us."

The loud sound sounds off again followed by more violent shaking that causes everyone to take a knee.

"Well, from the sound of it... it seems we're not that hidden." the tranquil looking elf adds another casual note dusting herself off. The thudding sound goes on for a while, getting louder and louder that it even causes the seemingly lifeless Hagias to fall off his hind and wake up from his deep sleep until it suddenly stops. "Is everyone okay?" the party leader asks.

""Yeah.""

"Aye."

"Diana, are you okay?" Dercaris asks crawling up to his sister. "Yes brother, I'm fine."

"Good."

"No, not good. I-am-not-good, okay! My nightwear is covered in dirt and now I'm going to have t-" The thudding sound goes off again, but this time it's louder than all the other turns and with it, the cave's ceiling slowly starts giving in until it finally collapses, rendering a second of the three elves' protests trifle.