Chapter 13: When the Ground Screams
The next shard didn't fall with fire.
It landed quiet.
Too quiet.
A ripple spread through the ground far below. In a quiet canyon past the River of Ash, old ruins began to hum.
Then scream.
Not loud. Not with sound.But with memory.
The kind that makes the dirt curl and the air forget it's supposed to breathe.
Alex felt it from the clouds.
He stood in the Cloudfolk tower, hands grippin the rail as a low pulse echoed through his bones.
"System," he whispered. "Where was that?"
"Impact detected. Coordinates match: Red Hollow. Former village. Now uninhabited."
"Why?"
"Because it ate itself seventy years ago."
Alex winced.
"...Cool. Real encouragin."
The Cloudfolk didn't argue this time.
They gave them a ship—literally a cloud boat that ran on storm-essence and angry lightning geese.
Jun named it the "Farting Sky Potato." No one stopped him.
Yun'er took the helm.
Meilin adjusted her sword harness.
Alex packed three extra cabbages.
Because at this point? Cabbages were comfort.
They flew all night.
The stars stayed dark.
As they neared Red Hollow, the world changed.
Trees bent away from the land. Water refused to flow near it. Even the wind went around.
And the ground—it wasn't right.
Too smooth.
Like it had been chewed and spit back up.
They landed on a stone ridge overlookin the ruins.
Or what was left of them.
Buildings melted into stone. Statues turned inside out. Symbols—old, ancient cultivator marks—burned across broken walls like scars.
And in the center?
A shard.
Perfect. Uncracked. Like a jewel made of night.
It pulsed.
Every few seconds, the entire ground twitched.
"...I think it's breathing," Jun whispered.
Yun'er narrowed her eyes. "Or dreaming."
Then it woke up.
Not like a monster.
Not with roars and teeth.
It woke like a feeling.
A tide of sadness.
Loss. Regret. Anger that curdled into hunger.
It rolled over the land like a wave—and the very soil screamed.
Not sound. Not air.
But the memory of people who once were.
Alex stumbled back, clutchin his head.
"System!!"
"Warning: Emotional contamination detected. Mental defenses advised. Deploying Root-Still Protocols."
Roots burst from the boots of his robes, anchoring him to the stone. His breath returned.
"Meilin, Jun, Yun'er—status?"
Meilin wiped blood from her nose. "I'm fine. Mostly. Head hurts."
Jun pointed at his mouth. "I forgot language for a sec. It came back."
Yun'er just growled. "Let's burn it."
But it didn't let them.
The shard pulsed once—
—and bodies rose from the ground.
Not corpses. Not ghouls.
Echoes.
People of Red Hollow. Trapped memories. Faces twisted in grief and fire. They screamed silently, reachin toward the four of them.
Alex's hand shook. "They're not enemies…"
"They're trapped," Meilin said.
"We can't fight that," Jun whispered. "We're not priests. We're just—"
"Farmers," Alex said.
Then he stepped forward.
He reached into his bag.
Pulled out a seed.
Held it high.
"System," he whispered, "Plant of Peace. Grow."
"Confirmed. Channeling full essence. Planting now."
A light bloomed from his palm—soft, green, warm.
It flew forward, buried itself in the stone—
And exploded into vines.
Not to bind…
But to soothe.
The roots swept across the ruins. The echoes paused. Watched. Then... relaxed.
One by one, they faded into light.
The shard cracked.
Once.
Twice.
Then shattered into dust.
The silence after was the loudest thing any of them had ever heard.
Jun sat down hard.
Meilin exhaled.
Yun'er placed a hand on Alex's shoulder. "You're not just a farmer, you know."
He didn't look at her.
"Yeah," he said quietly. "I'm also a guy who's gonna need a bigger tree."
Later, back at Still Wind Hill...
The memory tree glowed a little brighter.
And in the roots...
A new seed formed.
Something deep.
Something old.
Something watching.
Because peace, like farming...
Takes work.
End of Volume 2: Seeds of StormTo be continued in Volume 3: Shadows Beneath Soil 🌱⚔️