Chapter 9: Beneath the Oak Tree
540 Words
The iron door slammed shut behind us.
The sound echoed through the narrow stone passage like a warning.
I spun around and grabbed the handle.
It wouldn't move.
"It's locked," I whispered.
Lucien lifted the lantern, its golden light revealing ancient walls carved with strange symbols.
"It only opens from the outside," he said.
I stared at him.
"You knew that?"
He nodded.
"I was hoping we wouldn't have to come here."
A cold breeze swept through the tunnel.
The air smelled of damp stone and dust, as though no one had walked there in years.
We descended the winding staircase in silence.
Each step echoed into the darkness below.
Finally, the stairs ended.
Before us stood a vast underground chamber.
Broken pillars stretched toward a ceiling I could barely see.
In the center of the room stood a stone altar covered in glowing silver markings.
"This place..." I whispered.
"It was here long before the school was built," Lucien replied.
I stepped closer to the altar.
The pendant around my neck began to glow.
Its light matched the symbols carved into the stone.
The moment I reached out—
The chamber shook.
A brilliant flash of silver erupted from the altar.
I stumbled backward.
Images flooded my mind.
A young woman who looked exactly like me...
A boy standing beside her.
His face was hidden by shadow, but his voice sounded familiar.
Then another vision.
The same oak tree.
The same silver pendant.
A promise made beneath the moon.
The visions vanished as quickly as they had appeared.
I fell to one knee, struggling to catch my breath.
"What... was that?"
Lucien helped me to my feet.
"The altar showed you a memory."
"My memory?"
He hesitated.
"Not exactly."
Before he could explain, footsteps echoed through the chamber.
They weren't ours.
Someone else was down there.
The lantern flickered.
The shadows between the pillars began to move.
A hooded figure emerged slowly from the darkness.
It wasn't the stranger who had attacked us at the school.
This person was shorter...
Older...
And carried a long wooden staff.
They lowered their hood.
An elderly woman with silver hair looked directly at me.
"So..." she said softly.
"The Light Bearer has finally returned."
I froze.
"You know me?"
"I knew your family."
She turned to Lucien.
"And I warned you this day would come."
Lucien lowered his head respectfully.
"I'm sorry."
The woman sighed.
"Sorry won't stop what's coming."
She looked back at me.
"My name is Evelyn."
"I have guarded this place for many years."
"Guarded it from what?" I asked.
She pointed toward a pair of enormous stone doors at the far end of the chamber.
"They are not meant to be opened."
A deep rumble echoed from behind the doors.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Then came a single, thunderous knock.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Whatever was behind those doors...
It was awake.
Lucien's expression turned pale.
He tightened his grip on the lantern.
"We're too late."
Another deafening knock shook the chamber.
A c***k spread across one of the stone doors.
Evelyn whispered a prayer under her breath.
Then she looked at me with fear in her eyes.
"Luna..."
"Whatever happens next..."
"Do not let that door open."
- Writer
