Crumbling Mine Oblivion Novels & Stories

The couple swallowed loudly, but the sound of the gulp irritated Madeline even more. “ You had the impetus to stop the two pillars of the Hill family. Pillars of the educational sector of this country. Pillars of the country itself, and you did it loudly too, but you seem to have lost your voices all of a sudden with your shitty I'm-not-worth-two-cents of a family name. How dare you! How dare you even attempt to claim that my sister's children are yours when it's clear that you both conspired with her husband to get rid of her children.”

The small flame cast dancing shadows on concrete walls, revealing more of their surroundings without actually illuminating much. They were in what looked like an underground storage room, filled with cardboard boxes and metal shelving that created a maze of shadows. Heavy footsteps echoed across the concrete floor, approaching slowly and deliberately. Not the hurried pace of someone in a rush, but the measured walk of someone who had all the time in the world. “Show yourselves!” Owen called out, his voice stronger now that he could see something beyond total darkness. “If you want something from us, at least have the courage to face us!”

Theresia asked, halfway through her sauvignon blanc. “If I say no, Claudia will burn my firm to the ground and leak something to Abuelo,” I replied flatly. Jasmine curled her lip. “Ugh. Claudia is literally the villain with a Chanel collection.” Theresia nodded. “We should send her a glitter bomb.” “I’d prefer a real bomb. But glitter works too,” I muttered, shoving another bite of pasta into my mouth. It tasted amazing. Or maybe I was just too starving to be objective.

​The cavern did not just shake this time; it imploded. ​The miles-wide black obsidian arches snapped along their central axes, the entire subterranean roof collapsing downward in a massive avalanche of multi-ton granite blocks and white volcanic steam. The iron lift platform didn't tilt, it was physically pulverized by a falling tower section, sending Elara, Garrett, and the dying Gideon dropping straight down into the black, boiling sulfur-springs below.

​The crater where the obsidian spire once stood had become a site of grim pilgrimage. Rhea stood on the rim of the blackened earth, her white cloak whipping in a wind that finally smelled of damp soil and pine resin. The artificial stillness of the "Archive" was gone, replaced by the messy, chaotic sounds of a mountain reclaiming its territory.

WHAM. The shockwave hit us mid-air. We were thrown out of the tunnel mouth. Tumbling down the scree slope of the ridge. We rolled through the white dust of the Bone Wastes. A tangle of limbs and armor. Until we came to a stop at the bottom of the ravine. BOOM. The side of the mountain imploded. A cloud of black dust mushroomed into the sky. Sealing the entrance forever. The observatory was gone. I lay on my back. Staring up at the shattered moon. My chest heaved. My arms felt like jelly now that the adrenaline—and Neoma's power—was fading.

A video loaded. My son’s voice. Soft. Vulnerable. Unaware. “I don’t want to go back there…” My breath caught. No. No, no, no. This wasn’t- This couldn’t be I exited the page. But the damage was already done. My phone started vibrating nonstop now. Messages. Notifications. Unknown numbers. It was spreading. Fast. Too fast. Another message popped up. From someone I barely spoke to anymore. “Girl… what is going on??”

Scooping handful after handful into my mouth, I felt like if I stopped eating at any moment I might pass out, my hands shook so badly the food almost slipped through my fingers. My stomach hurt from how empty it was but I just kept eating. Drops of tears dropped into the pack before I realized I had been crying I kept eating fast, not stopping until I cleared every single pasta in the pack. My breaths were shaky,eyes burning and my hands still trembling even though the food was gone I curled up on the kitchen floor, the empty pack beside me The cold tiles pressed against my skin but I didn’t move And soon I drifted off, still laying there, too drained to even stand.

That would stick with me. When I first got to Obscura Arcanum, I’d been a rumor. An orphan, no records, no legacy, no home. I’d walked into a world of supernatural, old houses and secret wars, and I’d spent the better part of that first semester trying not to drown in all of it. And then I burned. I burned through lies and unmasked truths. I set fires in the boys who only knew duty or pain. I broke every mold they tried to put me in and still… people still called me dangerous.