In the past, there was a massive Earthquake.

The entire planet shook. The trees fell down, as did the homes; the oceans submerged the lands with massive waves, and the mountains crumbled to the seas.

Many caves appeared; abysses and pits, from the scars of the world.

So people went into the valleys under the Earth and found gates. Large doors of a bright red, like blood. Behind them, were monsters. Things of nightmares, like when we feel chased in our dreams, but cannot escape.

Had the gates always been there? Could it be Hell? Nobody knew yet, but thousands of them were there, deep inside the planet.

So the people built fortresses around them, dug inside the hard rock of millions of years, on which stood everything they knew. There were thick walls of many feet, with artillery and armies. The best soldiers were sent to explore the depths of the Red Abysses below the bottom of the world.

It had been several years.

---------

Aien was a village farmer. He grew wheat in the valley, from west to east, like an ocean of gold.

The work days were long and harsh, but in the end, he was always proud of his craft.

In the evenings, he laid on the long green grass of spring, bushy like a couch, under a majestic blue sky, as if he were on a cloud, watching the sea. Some birds flew in harmony, far away, as if they were ships, pushed by the warm breeze of the coming summer.

Every day after his job, he sat here, with a cup of hot milk and melting honey, letting the sugar of the bees thank his tired body for all the efforts.

“Hello, Aien!”

He searched for the voice. He saw his wife walking on the wide campaign path, towards him. She met him here every day, always. She worked at a food store and made all the honey in the town. Delighted, he walked to her. She made a sweet “hi” with her hand, before letting her fall in his arms. She smelled like the flowers she used as perfume, to hide a full day of labor.

He kissed her on the neck, then on her ear and cheek. She loved it. Then, they walked hand in hand on the paths, talking about their day, among the yellow fields. Her voice was like a warm wind, and her hand was sweeter than the milk.

“I have to leave for a week,” he said.

His job required going from town to city, to get tools and sell things.

“Okay, I’ll wait for you,” she said in a kind voice.

The sky got dark, revealing all the stars. Millions of shiny islands on the vast ocean. They paused under a large tree.

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

It had been a hard day. He fell asleep in her arms, in her breath and the warm breeze.

… But there was something she ignored about him.

---------

(Several days later.)

Someone screamed, in the heart of a large cavern, “Hello, fellow explorers !”

A man shouted in front of a multitude. In a military suit, with his fist in the air, he was waving a giant flag of blue and white like the sky, the symbol of the expeditions.

“We’ve lost contact with heroes today, past the Red Gate. You must go there and find them! The teams will be set as usual. All of you will enter at once, then spread to cover every tunnel.”

The usual speech.

After the earthquake in the past, people went under the earth to explore the red tunnels. When they wouldn’t come back, others would rescue them.

Here, Aien was a hero among many.

After listening to more minor details about personal safety, Aien went to meet his teammates. They would go in teams of four. It may sound too few, but the corridors were many and narrow, and air was scarce so deep in the rock.

Among the team, Ran was part of the choc troopers, the first lines of the first lines. Heavily armored, with pride larger than an alp.

“Hey, friend! Having a good day ?” he said.

Aien responded, “Better now that I see you here !”

He looked intimidating, but inside he was a good man.

Then there was Nila, she could heal someone by touch. A weird power no one had yet explained.

“Hey, I have what you asked me to bring !” said Aien.

He gave her candies made with honey from his wife’s shop. They were quite renowned.

“Thank you, they are perfect !” She loved candies.

Some said she could feel all the pain she removed from others, but she had always denied it. He believed she was too kind to be here, but she had volunteered like the rest of them, so who was he to judge?

And finally, Lise was here too. She also had a power: she could feel the tides in the stone. It may sound odd, but please wait and see. She was nicknamed ‘the Shockwave’.

“Have you told your girl yet ?” she said, judging Aien.

She was quite mean actually, but reliable. They thought something bad must have happened to her in the past, but she had always avoided the subject.

“No, I don’t want her to know, or she will be scared for me all the time,” he said.

“If she finds out you lie, she will hate you.”

“I don’t want her to suffer, so I’ll tell her when there will be no more danger. She might find out by herself, but that’s a risk I wish to take,” he continued.

What joy and pride she would feel when she would finally learn what her own husband had done! Aien would retire soon, once he was no longer needed. It’s okay.

He will be a hero for her.

By the way, Aien’s role in the team was to be great with a sword. Why would he require a sword in a cave? Well, his blade was special: It was made from energy, and he could alter its shape! From a knife to a rapier, or from a scimitar to a spear, it was perfect to dig where he wanted and make new tunnels.

The ambiance was friendly, but they knew too well what laid behind the red walls: The forbidden and unexplored red caves, going everywhere under them, like veins.