Beneath The Roots
1146 Words
Chapter 6
The academy alarms screamed through every corridor.
Red magical symbols flashed across the walls while students ran through the halls in panic. Professors shouted orders as Fairy soldiers rushed toward the lower levels of the academy.
Another explosion shook the building.
Dust rained from the ceiling.
Orion immediately drew a silver blade from beneath his coat.
“Stay here.”
Liam suddenly burst through the chamber doors before anyone could move.
“What happened?”
“Something breached the underground chambers,” Orion answered quickly.
Liam’s expression darkened.
“The sealed chambers?”
Orion nodded once.
That answer alone was enough to alarm him.
Because the underground chambers beneath Lumierre Academy were forbidden.
Even most professors weren’t allowed inside.
Ancient things slept there.
Dangerous things.
Nyra, Caspian, and Elias appeared behind Liam moments later.
“We heard the alarms,” Nyra said, slightly out of breath. “The entire academy is freaking out.”
Then she noticed Selene’s weakened condition.
“…What happened?”
“Later,” Liam answered immediately.
Another scream echoed from below the academy.
This one louder.
Closer.
Elias suddenly stiffened.
His eyes glazed over silver.
A vision.
Dark corridors.
Blood covering stone walls.
Students running.
Something crawling beneath the roots—
His breathing became sharp.
“It’s coming up.”
Everyone turned toward him.
“What is?” Caspian asked quietly.
Elias looked terrified.
“The thing beneath the Tree.”
Silence filled the room instantly.
Even Orion’s expression changed.
Then the floor beneath them trembled violently.
CRACK!
A massive crack spread across the chamber wall.
Black roots burst through the stone like giant serpents.
Nyra jumped backward.
“What the hell?!”
The roots twisted unnaturally across the room.
But these were not normal roots.
Dark smoke pulsed beneath their bark.
Corrupted.
Orion’s eyes widened slightly.
“The corruption reached the academy already…”
Suddenly—
One root lunged directly toward Aretha.
Liam moved instantly.
His claws sliced through the root before it could touch her.
The severed piece hit the floor and dissolved into black ash.
More roots burst through the walls.
The chamber exploded into chaos.
“MOVE!” Orion shouted.
Everyone rushed into the hallway as the headmaster sealed the chamber behind them with glowing wolf symbols.
BOOOOM!
The roots slammed violently against the sealed doors from inside.
Students screamed nearby.
The corruption was spreading fast.
Too fast.
As they ran through the academy corridors, Aretha noticed something horrifying.
The roots weren’t attacking randomly.
They were following her.
Everywhere she moved, the black roots chased behind them through the walls and floors.
Like they could sense her.
Orion noticed too.
His jaw tightened.
“That’s impossible…”
“What is?!” Aretha shouted.
“The roots are connected to the Tree of Life.” Orion looked deeply disturbed. “They should never become corrupted.”
Another explosion shook the corridor ahead.
A group of students ran toward them in terror.
“There’s monsters downstairs!”
“Shadow creatures broke through the lower gates!”
“We’re trapped!”
Orion immediately took command.
“Fairy students evacuate everyone to the upper towers. Aquarians secure the water barriers. Nobody goes near the underground levels.”
The students scattered quickly.
Liam looked toward Orion.
“What about us?”
Before Orion could answer—
A loud growl echoed behind them.
Everyone turned sharply.
At the far end of the corridor stood a creature made entirely of twisted roots and shadow.
Its body resembled a wolf.
But much larger.
Its glowing red eyes locked directly onto Aretha.
Then it charged.
Liam transformed instantly.
Golden energy exploded around him as sharp claws extended fully from his hands. His eyes glowed brighter while silver markings appeared across his skin.
He met the creature head-on.
BOOM!
The impact shattered nearby windows.
Liam slammed the beast into the wall while Nyra launched into the air above them.
Her metallic wings expanded sharply before slicing downward like blades.
The creature roared violently.
Caspian raised both hands.
Water burst from nearby pipes and wrapped around the creature like chains.
“Now!”
Liam drove his claws through the beast’s chest.
The creature exploded into black smoke.
For one second, silence returned.
Then Elias whispered:
“There are more.”
The academy lights flickered.
Growls echoed from every direction.
Aretha’s heartbeat quickened.
They were surrounded.
---
Far below the academy…
The ancient underground seal had completely broken.
Massive stone doors lay shattered across the floor while dark energy flooded the hidden chambers.
At the center of the destruction stood a figure wrapped in black robes.
The hooded stranger stared calmly at the ancient prison now opened beneath the roots of the Tree of Life.
Inside the darkness beyond the broken seal…
Something breathed.
Slow.
Heavy.
Alive.
The hooded figure smiled.
“The child has returned.”
A deep voice echoed from within the shadows.
“…After all these centuries…”
Two enormous glowing eyes slowly opened.
---
Back upstairs, the academy had fallen into chaos.
Students evacuated through floating bridges while professors battled corrupted root creatures across the campus grounds.
The once beautiful academy now looked like a war zone.
And in the middle of it all—
Aretha felt something pulling her.
A strange force deep beneath the earth.
Calling to her.
The whispers returned inside her head.
“Come below…”
“Find the truth…”
“Wake the forgotten…”
She grabbed her head painfully.
“No…”
Liam noticed immediately.
“Aretha?”
She looked toward the underground stairway at the end of the corridor.
Her silver eyes slowly widened.
“They want me to go down there.”
Orion’s face darkened instantly.
“You will do no such thing.”
“But I can hear them.”
“That’s exactly why you stay away.”
Another violent tremor shook the academy.
This time stronger.
Part of the ceiling collapsed nearby.
Students screamed in the distance.
Elias suddenly stepped forward.
“She has to go.”
Everyone looked at him.
Nyra frowned.
“Have you officially lost your mind?”
Elias shook his head slowly.
“I saw it.”
Fear lingered in his eyes again.
“The underground chambers… the roots… the prophecy…”
He looked directly at Aretha.
“She’s connected to whatever awakened down there.”
Orion’s voice hardened dangerously.
“And sending her underground could trigger the prophecy completely.”
“But if we do nothing,” Elias whispered, “Lumierre falls tonight.”
Silence followed.
Heavy.
Terrifying.
Because deep down—
Everyone knew he might be right.
Then suddenly—
The academy alarms stopped.
Complete silence spread through the building.
Even the creatures outside stopped growling.
The entire academy became unnaturally still.
And from somewhere deep beneath the earth…
A voice echoed through the roots.
Ancient.
Cold.
Powerful.
“Bring me the child of shadow and light.”
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