Forever Destined To The Silver Shadow

Celestia's POV: 

"Dawn needs something from us?" The Orc gasped. "Tell us the word! We are ready to do anything for the Dawn."

All the Orcs looked at me, and they were all waiting for my reply. I understood what Darius did here. If I ask these Green Orcs to do me a favor, then they would obey me within a heartbeat. 

But I felt terrible for taking advantage of these innocent people. So I kept quiet and stared at Darius blankly. 

"The Dawn wants to know if there are any hidden artifacts here," Darius said to them. 

The Orcs thought for a moment before replying. "A while ago, master Silver Shadow came here, and he gave us a treasure box. He instructed us to bury the treasure box deep under the surface."

"That must be it," Darius almost screamed out. "The Dawn wants the treasure chest. Could you please take us to the place where you buried it?"

The Orc shook his head immediately. "I am sorry. We are ready to do anything for Dawn, but we can't give you the treasure box because master Silver Shadow told us to preserve the box at any cost," he announced. 

"But she is the Queen of the Magelands and the lady love of Silver Shadow. She has equal privilege for the treasure box just like your master," Darius protested. 

The Orcs began to discuss among themselves as they got confused. They were having trouble coming up with a decision. Then finally, the female Orc said, "We are ready to do everything the Dawn says!"

I didn't feel good about manipulating these people. They are gullible, and they trust us. But the Crown belongs to my father, and we should retrieve it for his sake. So I guess that there is no other choice than this!

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The old green Orc volunteered to take us deep into the cavern. Now we were at the extraction site. Some Orcs were hitting the large green rocks with hand chisels. 

At the center of the site, there was a massive pile of extracted emeralds that were dazzling in the yellow light from the fire torch. I was so tempted to seize one of the little emerald stones from that pile and have it for myself! 

Well, I am the Queen of this realm now, and even if I take one of these, no one is going to question me! But these Orcs work hard here. Stealing even a bit of these crystal is a sin. 

The old orc took a fire torch from the extraction site. "It is going to be dark from here," he announced. 

Why can't they place fire torches everywhere in the cavern? I hope that we retrieve the box soon and get the hell out of this place. I can't wait to be back up in the light! 

I wondered how long this cavern is. This tunnel seems to have no end at all. Lord Magnus seemed like a noble person to me, but he is actually greedy! 

That is the reason why he has built such long tunnels to get more crystal from the surface. He is using these gullible Orcs for this! But I can't interfere in this issue. The Orcs are doing this to wash off their sins, and if I interrupt, they might not get absolution! 

The orc stopped at a point, and he gave the fire torch to Darius. "Please hold this while I dig the surface," he said. 

He then took a shovel and began to dig out the soil from the spot. The Orc seemed to have great strength. Within a few minutes, he dug a deeper hole. 

Soon his shovel hit something, and it made a clashing noise. It must be the treasure box! He buried his hand deep in the hole and took out the box from the surface. 

Darius immediately got the box from him and peeked into it. "We got it," he shouted out, and he made the whole place echo. 

Finally, we got the Crown! Father Oberon might give me another chance when he knows that I helped Darius in retrieving the Crown. But I don't think that he is going to forgive me entirely for everything that I did. 

Still, I am happy to help him and Darius. I beamed at the Orc and bowed my head to show my gratitude. "Thank you so much for aiding us!"

"Anything for the Dawn," he replied. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After we got the box, we both bid goodbye to the Orcs and got out of the cavern. I pitied the poor creatures as they are obligated to be in this tunnel for the next hundred years. I wouldn't be able to stay here for one night! 

Darius carried the box in his hand and climbed on the stairs while I held my gown up and followed him. Climbing up the stairs seemed to be a lot harder than climbing down. 

I really wished that there was another way to go upstairs. When we were in the middle of the staircase, I sensed that something is not right. 

In the box, there were no other artifacts except the Crown. This is strange! Where are his other prized possessions? 

We were almost on the head of the staircase. I glanced at Darius and said, "Once we go up there, create a portal directly to the Highland castle and run away from here. Don't worry about anyone else because Father Oberon must get his crown back at any cost," I said to him. 

He nodded and stopped for a second. "Don't ever give up, Celestia! You still got this," he said with a smile. 

I smiled plainly and got out of the trapdoor first. It was so good to be back on the normal land. I am never going down there again! 

It took a while to realize that Theo was standing right in front of me. Oh my goodness! I must not let Darius come up here. But it was too late! He got out of the trapdoor even before I could warn him. 

"I will never forgive you for this one," Theo said in a stern tone.