3.THE SECRET BENEATH BLACKTHRON
1482 Words
The scream seemed to come from the bones of the world itself.
Blackthorn Fortress shook violently.
Stone dust rained from the ceiling.
The enchanted chains around Aiden's wrists glowed bright blue, illuminating the prison chamber in ghostly light.
For a brief moment, time stopped.
Then chaos erupted.
Alarms rang throughout the fortress.
Footsteps thundered through distant corridors.
Somewhere outside, soldiers shouted orders.
Aiden barely noticed.
His attention remained fixed on Prince Lucien.
The prince stood motionless near the doorway.
His pale face had lost all color.
Not fear.
Recognition.
As though he knew exactly what had awakened beneath the fortress.
And wished it had remained asleep.
The realization sent a chill through Aiden.
"Lucien."
The prince didn't respond.
"Lucien."
This time silver eyes snapped toward him.
For a second, Aiden glimpsed something hidden beneath the prince's composure.
Not power.
Not arrogance.
Terror.
Real terror.
Then the expression vanished.
Buried beneath layers of discipline.
"What was that?" Aiden demanded.
Lucien's jaw tightened.
Before he could answer, another violent tremor shook the fortress.
The fireplace exploded.
Burning embers scattered across the floor.
Blue light pulsed beneath the stone walls.
The ancient runes carved throughout the chamber flickered like dying stars.
A low growl echoed from somewhere far below.
Ancient.
Hungry.
Awake.
The sound made Aiden's blood run cold.
No animal could produce such a noise.
No human either.
The prince moved immediately.
Crossing the room in three long strides.
His hand touched the glowing restraints around Aiden's wrists.
The enchantments vanished instantly.
Aiden blinked.
The chains fell away.
"You released me?"
"Don't make me regret it."
The response came quickly.
Urgently.
Another surprise.
Just hours earlier, Lucien had refused to remove the restraints.
Now he was freeing a prisoner.
Something had changed.
Something important.
The prince walked toward a massive bookshelf built into the wall.
Without explanation, he pulled a hidden lever.
Stone groaned.
A section of the wall slowly opened.
Revealing darkness beyond.
A hidden passage.
Aiden stared.
"You've got secret tunnels inside your prison?"
"Every royal fortress does."
"You trust me enough to show them?"
Lucien's gaze hardened.
"I trust the thing beneath us even less."
The answer wasn't reassuring.
Outside the chamber, screams echoed through the corridor.
Human screams.
The kind produced by genuine terror.
Aiden's instincts immediately sharpened.
Soldiers weren't supposed to sound like that.
Not trained soldiers.
Not veterans.
Whatever was happening beyond those walls was getting worse.
Fast.
The prince reached inside his coat.
Moments later, he produced a dagger.
Beautiful craftsmanship.
Silver blade.
Black handle.
Ancient runes.
Without hesitation, he tossed it toward Aiden.
Aiden caught it instinctively.
The weight felt perfect.
Balanced.
Deadly.
Another surprise.
"You're giving me a weapon?"
"You're welcome to try killing me later."
Lucien opened the hidden passage.
"But right now, survival seems more important."
For a brief second, Aiden almost smiled.
Almost.
Then another roar echoed beneath the fortress.
Closer this time.
Much closer.
The smile vanished immediately.
Lucien entered the hidden tunnel.
Aiden followed.
The passage descended deep into the mountain.
Ancient torches illuminated rough stone walls.
The air felt colder with every step.
Older somehow.
As though the tunnel existed long before the fortress above.
Neither man spoke initially.
The silence stretched.
Filled only by distant screams and trembling stone.
Finally Aiden broke it.
"You knew."
Lucien didn't stop walking.
"Knew what?"
"Something was beneath Blackthorn."
The prince remained silent.
Which told Aiden everything.
Anger immediately surfaced.
"You imprisoned me in a fortress built on top of a monster?"
The prince glanced back.
"I didn't know it would awaken."
"That's not the point."
"No."
Lucien's voice grew quieter.
"It's exactly the point."
The response confused Aiden.
For the first time, uncertainty entered the prince's normally controlled voice.
Regret.
The realization felt strangely unsettling.
Lucien wasn't acting like a ruler protecting secrets.
He was acting like a man carrying guilt.
Heavy guilt.
The tunnel eventually widened.
Revealing an enormous underground chamber.
Aiden stopped.
Speechless.
The cavern stretched endlessly into darkness.
Ancient pillars supported the ceiling.
Massive chains hung suspended over a bottomless abyss.
Each chain appeared thicker than a castle tower.
And every single one glowed blue.
Magic.
Powerful magic.
Ancient magic.
Aiden slowly approached the edge.
Far below, darkness shifted.
Something moved beneath the abyss.
His stomach tightened.
"What is this place?"
Lucien joined him.
"The Hollow."
"The Hollow?"
"The prison beneath the world."
The words sounded ridiculous.
Impossible.
Yet after everything Aiden had witnessed recently, disbelief felt increasingly difficult.
His eyes drifted toward the enormous chains.
Thousands of them.
Stretching into darkness.
Binding something.
Containing something.
Then he noticed several chains had broken.
Recently.
The metal looked twisted.
Torn apart from below.
Aiden immediately understood.
The creature from the battlefield.
The whispers.
The awakening.
Everything connected here.
The realization hit him hard.
"What exactly is imprisoned down there?"
For several seconds Lucien didn't answer.
The prince stared into the abyss.
As though confronting a memory.
Finally he spoke.
"Nobody knows."
Aiden blinked.
"What?"
"The first kings built this prison."
Lucien's voice echoed throughout the cavern.
"They left no records."
"No explanations."
"Only one warning."
The prince's silver eyes reflected the blue glow.
"If the chains ever break, the world ends."
Silence followed.
Aiden wished he could dismiss the statement as superstition.
Unfortunately, nothing about recent events felt superstitious anymore.
A distant crack echoed through the abyss.
One of the enormous chains snapped.
The sound resembled thunder.
The entire cavern shook.
Blue light erupted upward.
Aiden stumbled backward.
Lucien caught his arm.
Strong fingers wrapped around his wrist.
Steadying him.
The contact lasted only seconds.
Yet something strange happened.
Aiden felt it immediately.
A pulse.
Warmth.
Energy.
As though something moved between them.
Lucien seemed to notice too.
His eyes widened slightly.
Neither spoke.
Neither moved.
The moment stretched unexpectedly long.
Then another explosion shattered the silence.
The connection vanished.
Reality returned.
Lucien released him immediately.
Too quickly.
Almost as though the contact had affected him as well.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Before either man could comment, voices echoed through the cavern.
Soldiers.
Several armed guards rushed into the chamber.
Relief flooded their faces upon spotting Lucien.
"Your Highness."
The captain approached quickly.
"We've sealed most of the fortress."
Lucien nodded.
"Casualties?"
The captain hesitated.
"Thirty-seven confirmed dead."
The answer struck harder than expected.
Thirty-seven.
Already.
Aiden studied the captain's expression.
The man looked shaken.
Experienced soldiers rarely appeared that frightened.
"What attacked them?" Lucien asked.
The captain swallowed.
His face turned pale.
"We don't know."
Silence.
The prince's expression hardened.
"Explain."
The captain looked genuinely disturbed.
"We found the bodies."
A pause.
"No wounds."
"No blood."
"No signs of battle."
The cavern seemed colder.
"What killed them?"
The captain's voice dropped.
"They looked terrified."
Aiden exchanged a glance with Lucien.
Neither liked that answer.
Not even slightly.
The captain continued.
"And there was something else."
He handed over a small object.
Lucien examined it.
His expression darkened immediately.
"What is it?" Aiden asked.
The prince slowly turned the object around.
Aiden's blood froze.
A silver ring.
Marked with a crimson eye.
The same symbol from the battlefield ruins.
The same symbol from the threatening message.
The Crimson Order.
"They're here," Lucien said quietly.
The captain nodded.
"We found seven of these."
A heavy silence followed.
Then a distant laugh echoed through the cavern.
Everyone froze.
The sound came from nowhere.
And everywhere.
A cold laugh.
Ancient.
Mocking.
The abyss below began glowing brighter.
Blue light transformed into crimson.
One by one, the chains started breaking.
The cavern trembled violently.
The captain shouted orders.
Soldiers rushed into defensive positions.
Panic spread rapidly.
Aiden instinctively stepped closer to Lucien.
Neither acknowledged it.
Neither needed to.
Survival often erased unnecessary formalities.
The crimson light intensified.
Then a voice emerged from the darkness.
A voice unlike any they had ever heard.
"At last."
The words echoed endlessly.
The abyss answered.
The chains shattered.
Hundreds simultaneously.
A wave of power exploded upward.
Soldiers were thrown across the cavern.
The captain slammed into a pillar.
Several torches extinguished instantly.
Darkness consumed everything.
Then the light returned.
And something stood upon the broken chains.
A figure.
Humanoid.
Tall.
Beautiful.
Terrifying.
Its eyes glowed crimson.
Its smile seemed impossibly ancient.
The being looked directly at Aiden.
Then at Lucien.
Recognition filled its expression.
As though it had been waiting centuries for this moment.
The creature laughed softly.
"My kings."
The words struck like lightning.
Aiden froze.
Lucien froze.
The being smiled wider.
"You finally found each other."
The cavern fell silent.
Neither man understood.
Yet both felt the truth hidden beneath the statement.
Whatever this creature was...
Whatever destiny had awakened beneath Blackthorn...
It somehow involved them both.
And somewhere far away, hidden within the shadows of kingdoms and war, the Crimson Order was watching.
Waiting.
Preparing for the next move.
Because the real game had only just begun.
To Be Continued...
Next Episode:
"The Crimson Prophecy"
- Writer
