The Gate of Eight Worlds

Chapter 10: The Flooded Aqueduct

The descent down the outer winding stairs of the high watch-spire was a treacherous crawl against the gale. Giant waves smashed against the lower marble steps, sending freezing cascades of white foam soaking through their gear. At the base of the spire, where the ancient white stone met the turbulent, black waters of the channel, a wide arched culvert lay three-quarters submerged beneath the swells.

"That's the intake for the old aqueduct!" Caleb yelled over the roar of the surf, tying a long, greased hemp rope securely around his waist before passing the line to Alex and Dwaho. "When the swell drops, the opening clears for about ten seconds! We take a deep breath, drop into the current, and kick hard toward the inner ledge!"

Barnaby let out a sharp, farewell chirp from the higher ledges, snapping his broad wings and soaring up into the violet thunderheads to draw the attention of the iron-drake scouts circling above the black-iron dam.

"On my mark!" Princess Rose called out, her boots wedged into a crack in the slick marble as she watched the rhythm of the crashing waves. "Three... two... now!"

A massive swell retreated, exposing the dark, moss-slick archway of the submerged aqueduct.

Alex plunged into the churning sea first, his left hand gripping the rope while his right held his scabbard clear of the rocks. Dwaho followed immediately, the freezing salt water instantly knocking the breath from his lungs. The powerful drag of the receding wave pulled them deep into the narrow stone throat of the aqueduct, where the roaring storm above abruptly gave way to a heavy, echoing darkness.

They kicked frantically against the dark current, guided only by the rope sliding through Caleb’s hands ahead. Within moments, Dwaho’s head broke the surface inside a long, domed stone tunnel. He gasped for air, his chest heaving as the echo of the ocean thundered behind them.

"Everyone up?" Queen Natasha’s voice called out from the darkness, calm and unruffled as she hauled herself onto a narrow, wet masonry shelf running along the wall of the tunnel.

"We're here," Alex spat out a mouthful of brine, helping Dwaho scramble onto the slippery stone ledge beside Rose and Caleb.

The air inside the aqueduct was hot, stifling, and thick with the oily smell of coal smoke and scalding steam. Farther down the stone corridor, a heavy, rhythmic thumping vibrated through the foundation—CLANG-thump... CLANG-thump—the sound of massive iron pistons driving the Sovereign's floodgate machinery above.

Alex held up his right palm. The pale crest mark flared with a soft, steady golden light that pushed back the gloom, revealing ancient carved friezes of sea-captains on the stone walls, now covered in black grease dripping from the iron framework above.

"The main furnace chamber is directly above this ceiling," Caleb whispered, wringing out the hem of his dark wool coat. "The aqueduct runs right under the secondary steam-pipes. If we can reach the maintenance hatch at the end of this ledge, we'll come out right beneath the central pressure bolt."

"Keep your guards up," Princess Rose warned, nocking a dry, oiled arrow onto her bowstring. "Vane's engineers use steam-hounds to patrol the lower pipe-lines."

The party moved silently along the narrow ledge, single file. Dwaho kept his eyes wide, his Sight glowing electric-blue behind his pupils as he scanned the shadowy ceiling. Through the thick granite masonry, his supernatural vision picked up the hot, orange ley-lines of pressurized steam coursing through heavy brass pipes overhead.

"There," Dwaho pointed to a spot where four massive iron pipes converged around an eight-foot iron hatch bolted into the stone ceiling. "The brass fittings on the central valve are under maximum pressure from the tide outside. If we release the primary locking pin from below, the whole winch system will seize."

"And if the valve blows while we're standing beneath it?" Alex asked, looking at the glowing red heat pulsing through the stone.

"Then we had better be ready to run," Queen Natasha said, drawing her silver blade.

Before Caleb could reach the ladder leading to the hatch, a harsh, metallic hissed echoed from the shadowy water beneath the ledge. Two six-legged iron hounds, modified with long, paddle-like webbed appendages and glowing green oil-lanterns set into their iron skulls, broke the surface of the dark canal, their steel jaws snapping open in silent alarm.