The Conquerors Path

Chapter 891 889-True Friends.

The whole room fell silent as the scene flickered in front of the two stunned women, whose minds couldnʼt even begin to process what was happening. Because the stone itself had gone forth to display a scene in front of the two of them—one of the past, one of pain, and one of uncounted loss.

The scene created itself to form the image of a far gathering of four dwarves, one female and the other three male. All of them had a certain elegance, standard, and royalty to them, which is carried off by the two women who watched the scene with bated breaths.

The four of the dwarves had wide, innocent smiles on their faces as they seemingly faced the recording stone. All of their eyes brimmed with hope for the future as they faced the stone. The message seemingly flickered and changed as one of the male dwarves took the lead, the dwarven male clearing his throat as he started to speak.

”Cough...testing.....testing.....good, itʼs working!”

The male spoke to the rest of the three as he focused back on the video at hand, a smile spreading his face as he started to speak.

”This is a message for you, Eleanara. We know your birthday is soon coming up, and we also know the fact that perhaps you might be forced back to return to your family without us ever even getting the chance to say goodbye. So we are creating this as a surprise. Oh! This is also a recording for Silva too, because we all know she will follow after you!”

The rest of the three dwarves soon laughed together at the words of the male as they formed a very warm and loving atmosphere. The situation turned around a bit as the male soon took the lead and spoke.

”First, I would like to say, happy birthday, Eleanara!”

Which was soon followed up by the rest of them greeting the message.

”Happy birthday!”

”Happy birthday!”

”Happy birthday!”

The voices sounded sweet and caring as the focus went back to the first male, who started to speak again.

”What we all want to truly say to you is the fact that it has always been an honor to be together with you and even Silva. To walk with such high blood of the dwarven lineage is a gift that none of us thought we would ever be graced with, and even more mind-blowing is the fact that we all became such good friends!”

As he stopped here for a moment, one of the dwarven females seemingly took the lead.

”Itʼs been the greatest happiness of my life to know you and work with you. All of us set forth to make the world get better, and we have achieved so many results, created so many things for the betterment of the world. But none of that happiness will ever come forth to the gentle times I have spent with you and Silva. They will forever remain my greatest and treasured memories.”

As she stopped here, the next dwarven male took the lead.

”Cough...as you know, I am not one for many words, but for now, I will forsake that. The truth here is that I was skeptical of everything. We had set forth to change a world that never wants to be changed, one that doesnʼt want anything affecting it, one filled with resistance. But bit by bit, I saw how your kindness and your leadership brought about changes, the smiles that came from the things we created, the fight Silva made to change me. All of this showed me a new path, and it also changed me too. So what I want to say is that I wouldnʼt have become the man I am today without your help. So, thank you....”

This dwarven male in question had a shy smile on his face as he scratched his chin at the end of his words, though his bright eyes spoke towards the sincerity of his words. Thus, with a low humming tune, the next dwarven male took the lead. This one had a small smile on his face, a shyness different from the one before, as he started to speak with a light smile.

”I still remember the first day we met. It was with you punching me in the face.....”

His words made the rest of them laugh and chuckle as he continued.

”But things changed for me from then on. Each of our fights only went forth to teach me more about who you really are, helping me grow and be better. To tell the truth, I didnʼt believe in this mission we set forth to. The whole prospect of it sounded false to me. I thought someone like you, having grown up in the world you did, would ever truly understand the pain of the ones who truly grew up in poverty. But I was wrong.....”

A wide smile came to the dwarven manʼs face as he said those words, many emotions being seen on his young, shy face as he spoke.

”And I have never been happier to be wrong. A lot of things happened from the first time we met till this moment—so many memories and emotions being in it. As you know, I am quite the hard-headed fellow, and your words along the way have only helped me. Our fights, Silva getting in between to deal with them, and more, changing the way I think and slapping some reality that I needed. However, our relationship has started, I am more than happy at how it is now—to be by your side, to see you change the world, to first-hand experience that kindness of yours, one that wishes to make the world better. There has been no greater privilege than that.”

As he said so, he lightly looked to the side, seemingly hearing a sound being heard from somewhere. He focused back on the stone and suddenly spoke.

”Looks like we donʼt have much time left. What I want to add finally to this is that you are my light, someone that showed me a way out of the darkness I was submerging myself in, which has provided me more happiness in my life than I can ever come to count. So, my dear friend Eleanara, stay as beautiful as you are now, strive to be better, and always keep leading us. For I never had come to believe in this so-called goal, but I had come forth to believe in you...”

With that, all of them looked at each other for a moment after which they focused on the recording, with smiles on their faces as they all spoke at the same time.

”Live and always be happy, Eleanara and Silva!”

Their shouts filled the room, after which the light on the screen flickered, its image gaining a certain heat to it, after which it died down. The stone returned to its quiet outlook, leaving the whole beautifully and lavishly decorated room in silence—a deafening silence that seemed to be making.

Both the women were stunned. The two of them just sat in that room, facing each other, their gazes unfocused and seemingly in a daze as they sat there like broken toys. Their minds seemed to be coming together, trying to understand what had happened, as time was only slowly crawling itself for their minds of the two revealing as the reality of what they had seen started to awaken.

”This.....this...this.....”

Being the only words that could escape from the mouth of Silva as she slowly turned her head to look at Eleanara, who seemed fully out of it. Eleanara, even right now, seemed to not fully understand the shock of what she had seen, but now she has started to do so. Her mind cluttered from the scene finally taking up to reality, and with it came the hum of the impossible.

”Huh?.....ah?....ammmm?.....um?.....”

Were the incoherent voices that came from the mouth of Eleanara. Her mind replaying what she had just seen, and then she focused her gaze on Silva. Seeing the same shock, sadness, and sorrow in her face, Eleanara came to understand what she had seen was no illusion. What she is going through is no dream.

And when the whole reality came crashing down, the tears, sadness, and everything she has been holding back till now started to burst forth. But it didnʼt come as a single full shock. A moment of total clarity caused a single stroke of tear to ring down from the eye of Eleanara. Her trembling hands once again gave some mana to the stone, which shone brighter this time as the message was replayed one more time.

The room froze again as the two women, with bated breaths, watched as the scene flickered in, twisting and turning, soon displaying the same thing again from the beginning. The two of them got lost into the scene of this reality as they watched it again—the voices of their long-lost friends, their expressions, their little laughs and words, all only pushing the two women forward.

The count was soon lost to everyone. They all sat seemingly silent as they watched, again, again, again, and once again. The recording kept repeating itself without pause. The scene played without any agenda, until each of them drilled into the minds of the two. And when only silence remained, true tears started to fall.

Tears of sadness....

Tears of regret....

Tears of loss....

Tears of happiness....

Tears of acceptance...

Tears of disbelief.....

Tears of unknown....