Author comment: This chapter is in the third person. It is hard for me to write it in the first person, but depending of the situation, the third person might be better for some chapters that contain less horror.
Beware the darkness
Chapter 1: Revelation of the light.
The Sangheili walked at the direction of the light given by the flash light of the little human girl walking by his side. The light only illuminated the darkness surrounding them. The rocks were gray and black, but also cold and felt like they are heartless. The footsteps were slow from the Sangheili and fast for the little girl. Dar 'Mdama looked at Lucia without saying anything. She pointed the flashlight only forward as he instructed her to do so.
He asked her to do that when she moved away and hit his toes on a hard rock. He grunted at her, but remained in control. Lucia apologised fast and she looked at the painful toes. It wasn't bad and Dar 'Mdama told her that he forgave her. He remembered that she thought a sound was made and pointed the flashlight at that direction. He did the same, so he didn't really have any reason to blame her.
They continued walking for a while. The cavern was silent. Nothing except them made a sound in the cavern. Nothing entered in their ears. Dar 'Mdama started to feel that his arms moved backward. He wondered what was happening and he saw that she started to walk slower than him. He wanted to get out of here fast, but he saw that she was getting exhausted. He said nothing to Lucia for a while.
"Mister Dar...Can we stop please?" She asked.
"Why?" He asked her.
"I'm exhausted." She answered.
He looked at her and he then remembered that she wasn't trained to walk for a long time and the fact that she was a child.
"Alright. We will take a short break." Said Dar 'Mdama.
Lucia moved her flash light and she saw some stones where they could sit on. They walked there and they sat on the rock. They were silent for a while, nothing was said. Dar 'Mdama looked at the girl and he wondered a little who she was. He knew he was stuck with her for a while, and the silence was starting to affect him. He is used to the sound of the war and talking to his kind or shouting at the Unggoy. He had a question for her.
"I want to ask you Lucia...Why are you here alone? I do not think adult will leave you...Unsupervised." He told her.
"...Well...I do not have adult to watch me during the attack. It was...I don't know what happen. It went to fast and I don't know what happen." She said.
Dar 'Mdama understood a young child will be confused about all this.
"Also...I don't have a mommy and a daddy anymore." She said quietly.
"..." He didn't understand perfectly the concept of mommy and daddy. "You mean...parents?" Asked the Sangheili.
"Hum...yes." She said looking sad.
The flashlight pointed at her face when she said that. The light made her look less sad than he was guessing. She looked to the ground and she said nothing for a while. He looked at her. He couldn't understand her. He wasn't raised by his parents. He was raise with a group of youngling and he was supervised by a few female Sangheilis. He knew that humans were raise by parent compare to his kind.
He thought about it and...He could guess that he would have been sad if he lost one of his watchers. He liked them and made him the warrior he was.
"...Do you miss them?" He asked.
She said nothing, but her face was clearly saying yes at him, even shouting by her silence.
"I see." Said the Sangheili.
He looked at her. She was looking in his eyes. She was sad at the memories of her parents. Dar 'Mdama moved his hand on her left cheek and moved it slowly and carefully.
"I'm sorry for bringing this up." Said Dar 'Mdama with a calm and honest voice.
"..." She said nothing, but she wasn't angry at him. "Who are your mommy and daddy?"
Dar 'Mdama gasped. He was caught surprise by the question.
"I don't really know. It is normal for my kind to ignore who our parents are." Admitted Dar 'Mdama.
He heard a sound and he looked at her. She got out of her bag a thing that she is holding up against her chest. It was a stuff bunny but the Sangheili didn't know. It was just a strange creature for him.
"..."Dar 'Mdama didn't ask anything. He could guess it is link to her parents. He said nothing, not wanting to open even more the scar.
"Why are you here?" She then said. "I know you fell here...But why are you here?"
"You want precision...Well...I was searching for something and I obtain it. When I try to move away...Earthquake and I fell in." Said Dar 'Mdama. He didn't want to be specific. He could guess she will tell anyone if she knew.
"...I'm happy that you are here." Said Lucia with a smalls smile.
"Why are you happy about it?" Asked Dar 'Mdama caught by surprise. He looked at her with his eyes wide open.
"I'm not alone...It's scary when I'm alone...And I'm afraid of the darkness. There is surely something behind something...But I can't see it." She said looking at him.
The poor human girl. Thought Dar 'Mdama looked at her.
He saw her moving closer to him. It was just a little, but he said nothing about this.
"I think we should move on now." Said Dar 'Mdama standing up.
Lucia stood up too and she grabbed his hand. Dar 'Mdama looked at her and it was still annoying him that she grabbed his hand, but it is less worse, now that he knew it was to remember that she wasn't alone.
"You should put this thing into your bag." Warned Dar 'Mdama. "You don't want to lose it."
She looked at him and she said nothing. She gave him a small smile and she putted it back into her bag before grabbing the Sangheili hand again; her small little hand into his big one. They then continued to walk into the darkness for a while when Dar 'Mdama wondered how long the flashlight can hold on.
"Lucia...How long the flashlight can shine?" Asked Dar 'Mdama.
"Hum...For a long time...I have spare battery in case it won't hold on." Said Lucia.
"Good." Said Dar 'Mdama smiling with his mandible.
They walked in the darkness without any more work. The small light guided them through their way and walked in silence.
A sound was made far away from them. Dar 'Mdama stopped brutally and the little girl bumped against his butt. He grunted quietly about it, but he said nothing. He looked around and he searched for the sound while he felt the little girl grapping his leg and hugged it in fear. That was pissing the Sangheili off, but he forced himself not to react or he might lose any source of light or killed her by scaring her off.
"What...is...that?" Asked Lucia afraid.
"I don't know." Said Dar 'Mdama. He looked at the little girl and he saw her afraid and searching conform from him. He looked around when the sound was made again. He felt the ground shaking this time and he knew what was happening. "There is a battle...Over us. It's on the surface."
"..." Lucia continued hugging his feet despise the fact that there was nothing dangerous.
Dar 'Mdama sighed and he waited for her to let him go. He couldn't move as long as she was restraining his movement. If he had legs like humans, he could have try, but his double joint prevented him to move. After a while, no sound was made and she braced herself and she let go of his leg. She took his hand.
"...Are we going to be alright?" Asked Lucia afraid.
"...I promise on my honor that we will get out of here." Said the Sangheili.
They continued walking for the rest of the day. The walk was long and none of them knew how much closer they are from any exit. As they walked during the say, Dar 'Mdama started to get used to the presence of the little girl. Her little hand in his big one was so little and so much for the Sangheili. This warm contact comforted the little girl and helped the Sangheili to deal with this situation. He was in a cavern with her and this wasn't making him safe. They walked and walked until they stopped one and for all. The little girl was too tired and it was clear that she needed to rest. The Sangheili was also exhausted form his mission and he needed to rest if he wanted to get out of there.
The Sangheili looked around and asked for the little girl to move the light. She pointed at different direction and they saw a perfect spot to rest; perfect from their situation of course.
The Sangheili sat on the ground and he putted his back against the wall. He knew he had to rest that way even if he hated it. It wasn't the less comfortable. He slept in worse situation than this one. He looked at the little girl and she sat by his side. He grunted a little at the thought of a human sleeping by his side. He looked at her and he wondered if he should be annoyed or not.
"Mister Dar...When are we going out of here?" Asked Lucia to the Sangheili worried.
The voice touched his two hearts. The way she said it awake his fatherly instinct he never thought he had.
"...I don't know." He said honestly. "But we will found a way out. We should rest for now. We need all our strength tomorrow." He told her.
Lucia nodded at his suggestion. The little girl opened her back and she searched for her stuff bunny. She took it out of her bag and she hugged it. A small paper felt from the bag and flew on the ground. It felt near the Sangheili and he took it. He looked at it and he wondered what it is. He then saw an image. At the bottom, there was Lucia younger and smiling in the pictures with two other persons.
He looked at it and he saw those two humans, a male and a female being familiar. He looked deeply at it and he looked at the little girl. He then looked at the pictures when his powerful memory activated. He recognised those two humans. He looked at the little girl.
"Who are they?" Asked Dar 'Mdama at the little girl.
"Hum...This is mommy and daddy." Said the little girl with a sad smile.
Dar 'Mdama looked at the pictures and he gasped.
"Where they...soldier...or warrior?" Asked the Sangheili.
"No...They were doctor." Said Lucia.
Dar 'Mdama felt a pressure on his two hearts. He looked at them. Her mother and her father, those she had lost and broke her heart. Those two weren't warriors. He looked at the little girl who closed her eyes and started to fall asleep now. His eyes showed guilt and shame. Dar 'Mdama was the one who brought great pain to Lucia. He was the one who murdered her parents. He also realised, that this murders weren't honorable at all.
He looked at the little girl and he breathed faster in fear and shame.
"...What have I done?" He asked to himself.
AC: Here's the end of the first chapter.
The next one will have some horror in it. It will be in the first person.