They arrived at the great forest a full day before Randel was supposed to receive the letter that Torglin had given to Kaelan — the one meant to make sure the message eventually reached Randel.
Amanda sat beneath the great oak, gazing into the forest. Leo and Torglin — visible now, since there was no one else around — had settled nearby. They had lit a small fire and were roasting meat.
“We need to think everything through,” Amanda said. “Randel will arrive angry. He’ll have questions. And the main one will be: ‘Where is the proof?’”
“And where is it?” Torglin asked.
“The fissure,” Amanda shrugged. “The one I saw earlier. Black earth, dead grass. Nothing grows there. That should be enough. I hope.”
“What if he wants to see the creatures?” Leo asked.
“There are no creatures,” Amanda smirked. “I made them up. I’ll say they died when I sealed the fissure.”
“And if he asks about the Reaper?” Torglin grinned.
“I’ll tell him he was wrong,” Amanda shrugged. “That the Reaper is a warrior. A man. A shadow who served my brother. That I watched over him, but never intervened.”
“And he’ll believe that?”
“He’ll want to believe it,” Amanda said, looking out into the forest. “He always wants to believe. That’s his weakness.”
“And the most important question?” Leo asked. “What will you say when he asks: ‘Do you love me?’”
Amanda fell silent.
The wind rustled the leaves. Somewhere in the distance, a bird cried out.
“I’ll tell him the truth,” she said at last. “That I love him. And that I will never leave again. At least… I hope I won’t.”
“What if he doesn’t believe you?”
“Then I’ll prove it,” Amanda smirked. “I have an entire lifetime to prove it.”
She stood up.
“I need to go into the forest,” she said. “To be alone for a while. To think.”
“Don’t go too far,” Leo warned. “A forest is still a forest.”
“I’ll be back in an hour,” Amanda waved her hand and walked off.
Torglin looked at Leo.
“Will she manage?” he asked.
“She has to,” Leo shrugged. “She doesn’t have a choice.”
Amanda walked through the forest without any particular goal.
She loved this place. The scent of moss, the rustle of leaves, the soft light filtering through the tree crowns. Here she felt… not exactly at home, but at least not like an outsider.
“The fissure isn’t far from here,” she muttered to herself. “I’ll show him the black earth. Tell him there was a battle here. That I sealed the rift. That should be enough.”
She walked on, stepping over roots and skirting bushes. Her thoughts flowed slowly, like resin.
He would be angry. He would shout. He would demand answers. And she would stand there and lie. Because the truth was worse than any lie.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Damn it,” she whispered, not watching her step.
A root. Old, thick, jutting out of the ground. She tripped, lost her balance, and fell forward.
But not onto the ground.
The earth beneath her feet simply gave way.
“Aaaah!” she screamed as she plunged into darkness.
Branches whipped across her face. The air grew damp and cold. The fall lasted only a few seconds — she slammed into the ground, pain shooting through her shoulder and hip.
“Aaaah!” she kept screaming, more from shock than actual pain.
From above, through the hole where sunlight poured in, came Leo’s voice:
“My lady! My lady, are you alive?”
“I’m alive!” Amanda shouted back. “But it hurts! And it’s dark!”
“We’re coming down!” Leo yelled.
A minute later they were beside her. Torglin held a torch, Leo gripped his sword, ready for anything.
“What is this place?” the dwarf asked, looking around.
Amanda glanced around as well.
She was in a cave. But not an ordinary one — the walls were smooth and even, as if carved from solid stone. The air smelled of ozone and ancient times. Far ahead, a faint bluish light flickered.
“I don’t know,” Amanda said, pushing herself to her feet. “But let’s take a look.”
What they saw made all three of them freeze.
A vast hall. Columns rose upward, disappearing into darkness. The floor was covered in a mosaic depicting the sun, the moon, stars, and creatures no one recognized. On the walls burned torches — without smoke, without flame, just cold blue fire.
“This… this is a palace,” Torglin whispered. “A real palace. Underground.”
“Who built it?” Leo asked.
“I don’t know,” Amanda replied, walking forward. Her footsteps echoed loudly through the empty hall.
The mosaic beneath their feet shifted — now it showed figures in long robes, holding staves and wearing crowns. The text was written in a language they could understand.
“Keepers,” Amanda read aloud. “What the actual fuck?”
She stopped in front of a huge fresco.
It depicted seven figures — six men and one woman. All of them had golden hair and red eyes. All bore the same symbol on their foreheads. All held staves that sparkled with stars.
“Keepers of the Ancient Pact,” the inscription read in an ancient tongue that Amanda somehow understood. “Those who sealed the Darkness in the depths of the earth.”
“Darkness?” Amanda repeated. “What Darkness?”
“The one you made up in your little story, girl,” Torglin said quietly.
Amanda looked at him. Then at the fresco. Then she burst out laughing — wildly, hysterically.
“Do you realize?” she said through her laughter. “I invented bullshit about creatures under the ground. And it… it actually exists! It’s real! AHAHAHAHAHA!”
“My lady, this isn’t funny,” Leo said.
“It is!” Amanda continued laughing, though her voice carried clear hysterical notes. “I’ve been lying to everyone for so long! And it turns out the truth is even worse than the lie!”
“Girl,” Torglin grabbed her by the shoulder. “Calm down.”
Amanda fell silent. She exhaled shakily.
“Alright,” she said. “Alright. Let’s keep going. We need to figure out what this place is and how we can use it.”
They moved deeper.
The hall gave way to a corridor, the corridor to a staircase, and the staircase opened into a library.
A vast, endless library.
Hundreds of shelves rose upward, vanishing into darkness. Thousands of books — bound in leather, wood, and metal.
“This… this is incredible,” Torglin whispered. “How much knowledge is stored here?”
“I don’t know,” Amanda said, approaching the nearest shelf. She pulled out a book that looked the best preserved.
“Chronicles of the First Keeper,” read the title.
She opened it. The pages were fragile and yellowed, but the text was surprisingly clear.
“I, Aelion, the First Keeper, write this chronicle for those who will come after me. The Darkness we sealed is not eternal. It will struggle to break free every thousand years. And each time, a new Keeper must come and renew the seal.”
“This… this is exactly what I wrote in the letter,” Amanda said. “I made it up. And it… it’s real. Fuck! FUCK!”
“Calm down, my lady,” Leo said. “It means your lie has become truth.”
“Or the truth was always here,” Amanda shook her head. “And I just accidentally guessed it.”
She turned the page. Then the second. Then the third.
She read about battles, about sacrifices, about how the Keepers died one after another. About how the Palace fell into decay when only the last one remained. About how he left and never returned.
“Aklei…” Amanda whispered. “Holy shit… The name I completely made up… was actually a real Keeper. What the fuck!”
They emerged from the palace an hour later.
Amanda had found the exit — a narrow passage that led straight to the foot of the hill, just two hundred paces from the great oak.
“We need to remember this place,” she said. “This is where we’ll find proof for Randel.”
“And for Cassius?” Torglin asked.
“And for Cassius,” Amanda nodded. “Let them look. Let them see. Let them believe.”
She gazed out into the forest.
“Everything I made up… turned out to be true,” she said quietly. “It’s… terrifying.”
“But it gives you power,” Leo said. “Now you’re not lying. You’re telling the truth.”
“Yes,” Amanda smirked. “For the first time in a year, I’m telling the truth. And that’s the scariest part.”
She walked off to think.
Ahead of her waited Randel.
And a battle that had suddenly become very, very real.