Chapter 21: The Stone Beneath the Well
It started with a creak.
Then a crack.
Then Mrs. Tilda's scream echoed through the square.
"The well's collapsing!"
Villagers rushed out of their homes, buckets abandoned, chickens flapping. The wooden planks around the old well had given way, and the earth underneath looked unstable—like something was shifting below.
Elric was already running toward it, Pebble Jr. waddling behind him like a loyal potato with feet.
Riven arrived just behind him, eyes sharp.
"This ground…" he muttered. "It shouldn't be this soft. Something's wrong underneath."
Elric knelt near the edge, carefully peering down.
He couldn't see water.
Just… stone. Carved. Covered in dirt.
"Pebble Jr.," he said softly, "think you can squeeze through?"
The tiny golem tilted its head and sneezed once—then slowly lowered itself through the gap, gripping the earth with little mossy hands.
The village waited.
Nothing for a moment.
Then—
CRACK.
The ground shivered. Pebble Jr. popped up again, holding a piece of stone covered in glowing lines.
Elric took it, heart racing.
"Grandpa," he whispered, "this… looks like a seal."
Riven's face darkened.
He took the stone from Elric's hands and examined the faint glyphs etched across its surface.
"These aren't from this village," he muttered. "They're old. Very old."
Elric leaned in closer. "A dungeon?"
"No." Riven's eyes narrowed. "Something sealed."
That night, the villagers set up wards around the well, just in case. Riven stayed watchful. The old man didn't speak much, only glancing at Elric now and then with that quiet look he wore when things were about to change.
Elric, curled up by the fire with Pebble Jr. on his lap, stared at the glowing stone fragment in his hands.
The System stayed quiet, but deep down, something stirred.
Not a threat.
Not yet.
But the world was beginning to wake.