THE FORGOTTEN SAGE

The Secret Beneath Oakhaven

THE FORGOTTEN SAGE

Episode 6: The Secret Beneath Oakhaven

The blue light continued to rise from the crack in the market square.

At first, it appeared like smoke trapped beneath the earth. Then it grew brighter, twisting into thin streams of glowing energy that illuminated the frightened faces around it.

People backed away.

Some screamed.

Others fell to their knees.

“What is happening?” Mayor Vance demanded.

No one answered.

Silas stood at the edge of the fissure, staring into the darkness below. Something within him stirred as the blue light touched his face.

A memory.

Not a complete memory.

Just a voice.

“The light will return when the seal is broken.”

Silas suddenly stepped backward.

Kaelen noticed the fear in his eyes.

“You know something about this.”

Silas remained silent.

Before he could answer, Master Boros came running from the direction of the council archives. His face was pale, and several old documents were clutched tightly beneath his arm.

“The council lied,” he said breathlessly.

Mayor Vance turned sharply.

“What are you talking about?”

Boros threw one of the old documents onto the ground.

“The mines were never simply abandoned.”

Silas slowly looked at him.

“What do you mean?”

Master Boros hesitated before answering.

“More than sixty years ago, the first Guild Artificers discovered an enormous Aether chamber beneath this mountain. They believed it was an endless source of power.”

The Mayor picked up the document.

“And?”

“They began extracting the Aether.”

Another tremor shook the town.

Everyone turned toward the mountain.

Boros continued.

“But the deeper they drilled, the more unstable the mountain became. The miners began reporting strange sounds beneath the tunnels. Some claimed they heard voices. Others disappeared completely.”

Kaelen looked toward the glowing fissure.

“And the mines were sealed?”

“Yes,” Boros replied. “But not because they were empty.”

His voice lowered.

“They were sealed because something was found.”

Silence fell over the group.

Silas felt his heart pounding.

“What did they find?” he asked.

Boros opened another ancient document.

It contained a drawing of a large circular chamber beneath the mountain. At its centre stood a stone structure covered with symbols.

Above the drawing were three words:

THE CHAMBER OF THE SAGES.

Silas froze.

Kaelen noticed immediately.

“You recognize it.”

Silas slowly reached toward the document, but his hand began to tremble.

Another memory entered his mind.

A cold stone floor.

Glowing symbols.

A group of elderly men and women standing in a circle.

And a young boy kneeling before them.

The boy looked frightened.

One of the figures placed a hand upon his head.

“You must forget before you can survive.”

Silas suddenly collapsed to his knees.

“Silas!” Kaelen cried.

Kaelen rushed toward him.

The memories came faster.

Fire.

Screaming.

The mountain shaking.

A man carrying him through a dark tunnel.

Then—

Darkness.

Silas opened his eyes.

For several moments, he could not speak.

Mayor Vance looked down at him, but there was no longer arrogance in his expression.

Only fear.

“Who are you?” he asked.

Silas slowly raised his head.

“I don't know.”

But somewhere deep within his heart, he knew that was no longer entirely true.

Another violent tremor interrupted them.

A section of the council hall collapsed.

People scattered as stones crashed into the street.

Kaelen helped Silas to his feet.

“We need to get everyone out of here!”

Silas nodded.

Then his eyes fell upon the glowing fissure.

A faint sound was rising from deep beneath it.

The same voice.

But this time, the words were clearer.

“Come home...”

Silas stopped breathing.

Kaelen stared at him.

“What did you hear?”

Silas looked into the darkness beneath Oakhaven.

For years, he had lived as a poor and forgotten man. He had swept streets, repaired broken machines, and survived on the kindness of strangers.

He had believed that his past was gone forever.

But the mountain had remembered.

And now, it was calling him back.

Silas took one step toward the fissure.

Then another.

“Silas,” Kaelen warned.

Silas turned to him.

“There is something beneath this town.”

A powerful gust of blue energy suddenly burst from the crack, throwing everyone backward.

When the light finally faded, the people of Oakhaven stared in horror.

The fissure was no longer a narrow crack.

It had opened into a deep passage leading beneath the earth.

And carved into the stone above its entrance were ancient words that none of them could understand.

Except Silas.

His lips slowly moved as he read the inscription aloud.

“Only the forgotten shall remember the way.”

To be continued...