The hidden passage narrowed as Adrian, Edmund, and the others moved deeper beneath the mountain.
Behind them, the distant voices of imperial soldiers echoed through the tunnels.
They were coming.
Adrian didn’t look back.
“How far to the exit?” he asked.
Edmund kept moving.
“If the old passage still exists…”
“About an hour.”
Tomas stared at him.
“An hour?”
“We don’t have an hour.”
Edmund gave him a tired smile.
“Then we’d better walk faster.”
The passage eventually began to slope downward.
The walls changed.
The ancient stonework disappeared, replaced by rough natural rock.
Adrian noticed something strange.
The tunnel had been expanded.
Recently.
He stopped.
“Who dug this?”
Edmund looked back.
“The people who used the passage after the kingdom fell.”
“Who were they?”
“Survivors.”
“All loyal to House Ardyn?”
Edmund shook his head.
“Not all.”
“Some wanted the royal family restored.”
“Some wanted revenge.”
“And some simply wanted to survive.”
Adrian continued walking.
“Which were you?”
Edmund was silent for several moments.
“At first?”
“Survival.”
“And now?”
Edmund looked at him.
“Now I’m tired of surviving.”
A sudden sound echoed behind them.
Metal against stone.
The imperial soldiers had reached the previous chamber.
Edmund’s expression hardened.
“They’re closer.”
Adrian turned toward Tomas.
“How many men did Roland take?”
“Eight.”
“Good.”
Tomas frowned.
“Why?”
“Because eight men can hold a narrow passage.”
He looked toward the darkness behind them.
“They don’t need to defeat the Empire.”
“They only need to delay it.”
The group continued.
Eventually, they reached an old wooden door.
Edmund pushed it open.
Beyond it was a small underground room.
There were shelves.
Maps.
Old weapons.
And a table covered in dust.
Adrian walked toward the table.
A map immediately caught his attention.
It showed the region as it had existed before the fall of House Ardyn.
Several borders had been drawn differently.
One kingdom was marked in black ink.
Its name had been scratched away.
Adrian pointed.
“What was this?”
Edmund looked at the map.
“The Kingdom of Valedon.”
“Valedon?”
“It disappeared twenty-eight years before your kingdom fell.”
Adrian studied him.
“Conquered?”
“No.”
“Destroyed?”
“No.”
“Then what happened?”
Edmund’s expression became grim.
“It vanished.”
Edmund explained what little he knew.
Valedon had once been a small kingdom between the eastern mountains and the old imperial frontier.
It had survived several invasions.
Its armies were never large.
Its territory was never vast.
But its rulers were skilled at diplomacy.
They survived by making larger powers fight each other rather than fighting them directly.
Then, one year…
Its capital stopped sending messages.
Trade routes closed.
The royal court disappeared.
No invading army was recorded.
No major battle was fought.
Within months, neighboring kingdoms occupied abandoned towns.
Valedon simply ceased to exist.
Adrian frowned.
“A kingdom can’t just disappear.”
Edmund looked at him.
“That is why people still whisper about it.”
Adrian examined the map more closely.
The borders of Valedon had once stretched surprisingly far.
Then he noticed something.
A small symbol near the royal capital.
The same unfamiliar crest from the torn parchment.
His expression changed.
“This family.”
Edmund nodded.
“House Vale.”
Adrian looked at him sharply.
“Your name.”
Edmund didn’t answer.
Tomas stared at him.
“You’re from Valedon.”
Edmund finally nodded.
“I was born there.”
The room became silent.
Adrian studied Edmund.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because Valedon isn’t a story people tell proudly.”
“What happened?”
Edmund looked down.
“My family served the royal court.”
“When the kingdom disappeared, most of us died.”
“Some fled.”
“I became a scout.”
“Years later, I found the first passage into this mountain.”
Adrian asked,
“And the Chronicle?”
Edmund’s face hardened.
“That’s where things become complicated.”
Edmund explained that twelve years earlier, he had encountered a group carrying documents bearing the seal of House Ardyn.
He followed them.
They entered the mountain.
One of them carried a sealed chest.
Edmund managed to identify what was inside.
The Founder’s Chronicle.
But before he could intercept them…
The group disappeared through a hidden route.
The route led south.
Toward the ruins of Valedon.
Adrian stared at the map.
“You’re saying the Chronicle went to Valedon?”
“I believe so.”
“Why?”
Edmund pointed toward the old capital.
“Because whoever stole it wasn’t trying to sell it.”
“They were taking it somewhere.”
“Somewhere protected.”
A distant crash interrupted them.
The wooden door behind them shook.
The Empire had reached the chamber.
Edmund immediately rolled up the map.
“We have to go.”
Adrian took one last look at the old map.
Valedon.
A forgotten kingdom.
A missing chronicle.
A secret network beneath the mountain.
The pieces were beginning to connect.
But there were still too many missing answers.
They hurried toward the exit.
The tunnel became narrower.
Cold air began flowing through the passage.
Adrian felt it against his face.
“We’re close.”
Edmund nodded.
“Very.”
Then the ground suddenly trembled.
A loud crack echoed behind them.
The imperial soldiers had breached the chamber.
Adrian stopped.
He could hear voices.
“Search every tunnel!”
“Don’t let them escape!”
Edmund looked at him.
“They’ll follow.”
Adrian smiled faintly.
“Good.”
Edmund frowned.
“Good?”
Adrian pointed toward the tunnel ahead.
“If they follow us…”
“They’ll reveal the exit.”
“And if they don’t…”
“We disappear.”
Edmund understood.
The Empire had entered the mountain expecting to hunt them.
Instead…
They were about to become the ones being led.
The tunnel finally opened.
Adrian stepped outside.
Cold night air struck his face.
He looked around.
They had emerged on the far side of the mountain.
The imperial camp was invisible from here.
Only forests and distant hills stretched before them.
Edmund looked toward the horizon.
“That road.”
Adrian followed his gaze.
An old road disappeared into the forest.
“Where does it lead?”
“South.”
“Toward Valedon.”
Adrian stared at it.
For the first time since the siege began…
The path ahead wasn’t toward survival.
It was toward answers.
Back inside the mountain…
The Emperor’s Hawk reached the chamber they had just abandoned.
He found the old map table.
One piece of parchment remained.
A single word was visible.
Valedon.
The Hawk picked it up.
His expression became serious.
“Valedon…”
The commander beside him looked confused.
“What is that?”
The Hawk folded the parchment.
“A kingdom that disappeared from history.”
He looked toward the tunnel.
“And apparently…”
“…it wasn’t as dead as we believed.”
Far beyond the mountain…
Adrian mounted a horse.
Edmund took the reins of another.
Tomas looked toward the distant battlefield.
“What about the others?”
Adrian looked back at the mountain.
“They’ll survive.”
“You sound certain.”
“I have to be.”
He turned toward the southern road.
Behind him lay the ruined kingdom he had sworn to reclaim.
Ahead lay a kingdom erased from maps.
And somewhere beyond those forgotten borders…
The Founder’s Chronicle was waiting.
Adrian pulled the reins.
“Let’s find out why Valedon disappeared.”
The horses began moving south.
Behind them, the mountain stood silently beneath the night sky.
And for the first time in centuries…
Someone was traveling toward the kingdom that history had forgotten.
————————–The End———————
Next : The Road to Valedon
By : Zenryth