EPISODE 16 : BENEATH THE FALLEN MOUNTAIN
802 Words
Dust rolled through the underground passage like a living thing.
Asher pulled the edge of his cloak over his mouth as another tremor shook the tunnel. Pebbles rained from the ceiling, followed by frightened cries from the families huddled deeper inside.
"Keep moving!" Vivian called. "Don't stop! Stay together!"
The narrow passage had become a river of people. Mothers carried sleeping children, elderly servants leaned on younger guards, and healers struggled to push carts filled with medicine through the uneven ground.
A deafening crash echoed overhead.
The mountain groaned.
One of the guards froze.
"The ceiling won't hold much longer."
Asher looked back toward the entrance they had just left. The path was already filling with fallen rocks.
"If we lose that tunnel," he said, "everyone behind us will be trapped."
Vivian grabbed his arm.
"You can't go back."
"They'll die if I don't."
Before she could answer, another guard rushed toward them.
"My Lady!"
He was breathing heavily.
"The northern passage has collapsed. The civilians are trapped between two cave-ins."
Vivian's face lost its color.
"How many?"
"Nearly sixty."
Silence swept through the tunnel.
Sixty people.
Children.
Servants.
Healers.
They had nowhere to run.
Asher stepped forward.
"Show me."
The guard hesitated.
"But His Majesty ordered you to stay safe."
"And I'm giving you a new order."
The determination in Asher's voice surprised even himself.
After a brief pause, the guard nodded.
"This way."
They hurried through a smaller tunnel until they reached a massive wall of shattered stone. On the opposite side came desperate cries for help.
"We're here!" a child shouted.
"Please!"
The voices echoed through the darkness.
Several guards were already trying to lift the largest boulders, but they barely moved.
"It's impossible," one of them gasped.
"The entire mountain came down."
Asher placed a hand against the broken stone.
It was cold.
Yet beneath his palm, he felt something else.
A strange vibration.
Almost...
...a heartbeat.
The silver mark on his wrist began to glow.
At first, it was faint.
Then brighter.
Much brighter.
The surrounding air grew strangely still.
Vivian noticed it immediately.
"Asher..."
He stared at his hand in confusion.
"I didn't do this."
The glow spread from his wrist across his fingers, forming delicate silver lines that shimmered like moonlight.
The rocks before him began to tremble.
One of the older guards stepped backward.
"The prince's power..."
Cedric's words echoed in Asher's memory.
Power answers emotion before it answers reason.
Asher closed his eyes.
He wasn't thinking about kings.
Or enemies.
Or destiny.
All he could hear were the terrified voices trapped beyond the cave-in.
"I just want to save them."
The silver light burst outward.
A powerful wave swept through the tunnel.
The enormous rocks shook violently before sliding apart as though invisible hands were pushing them aside.
Everyone watched in stunned silence.
A narrow opening appeared.
Fresh air rushed through.
"We're free!"
The trapped civilians stumbled through the gap, many of them crying as they embraced their loved ones.
Vivian looked at Asher with wide eyes.
"You moved the mountain..."
Asher stared at his own hands.
"No..."
His voice was barely a whisper.
"The mountain moved."
Before anyone could make sense of what had happened, another guard came running from the direction of the estate.
His armor was torn, and blood covered one side of his face.
"My Lady!"
Vivian hurried toward him.
"What happened?"
The guard struggled to catch his breath.
"The enemy..."
He swallowed hard.
"They've retreated."
A wave of relief spread through the tunnel.
But the guard wasn't finished.
"They left after setting fire to the royal archives."
Cedric had failed to stop them.
Asher's heart sank.
"The records..."
"They're gone."
Every document that could prove the royal bloodline...
Every account of the old kingdom...
Every piece of history...
Reduced to ash.
Then the guard spoke the words no one expected.
"They also took someone."
Vivian's expression hardened.
"Who?"
The guard lowered his head.
"Captain Rowan."
Silence filled the tunnel.
Rowan had led the defense of the archives.
If he was alive, the enemy wanted information.
If he broke under torture...
The hidden allies of the royal family would all be exposed.
Asher looked toward the tunnel leading back to the estate.
Lucas was still fighting.
The archives were gone.
An innocent captain had been captured.
And for the first time since learning the truth about his bloodline, Asher felt something stronger than fear.
Resolve.
"They came here believing we would only defend ourselves."
He slowly fastened the sword at his waist.
"They're wrong."
Vivian understood immediately.
"What are you planning?"
Asher's silver eyes reflected the fading light inside the tunnel.
"We're going after Captain Rowan."
Somewhere beyond the mountains, the enemy believed the battle was over.
They had no idea...
The prince had decided to hunt them instead.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD