The Gate of Eight Worlds

Chapter 21:The Molten Channels

The ground beneath their boots grew progressively hotter as they descended into the low basin of the Obsidian Wastes. The air was so dense with heat and sulfur that every breath felt like inhaling dust from a blacksmith’s forge.

Before them lay the Molten Channels—a labyrinthine delta where four sprawling rivers of glowing orange lava converged before pouring into a subterranean abyss. The heat radiating off the liquid rock created shimmering thermal waves that distorted the horizon, making the towering black silhouette of the Crucible Spire look like a jagged tooth rising from a sea of fire.

"There are no stone bridges across these channels," Caleb said, crouching at the edge of a basalt ledge to inspect the glowing river twenty feet below. He held up a piece of dry cedar wood and tossed it over the brink. The wood burst into flames mid-air before even touching the surface of the lava. "The heat alone will melt leather boots if we stand too close to the bank for more than a few minutes."

"There's an old industrial transit rail," Dwaho pointed out, his electric-blue Sight tracing a row of rusted iron pylons anchored deep into the basalt riverbed. "Look along the upper canyon wall. The Sovereign’s forces used suspended iron gondolas to transport raw ore across the channels to the foundry."

High above the roaring river of fire hung a thick, twisted iron cable. Suspended from it was a heavy, bucket-shaped iron ore-cart, sitting motionless near a small mechanical winch platform bolted to the cliff face.

"The winch is abandoned, but the cable is intact," Queen Natasha observed, shielding her face from the glare with the edge of her cloak. "Can we reactivate the hand-gear?"

"The gears are locked with cold iron slag," Princess Rose said, squinting up at the platform. "If we force the lever, the rusted cable will snap under the strain."

Alex stepped forward, stepping onto the iron winch platform. The heat from the river below made the metal plates beneath his soles sear through his leather boots, but he focused his mind, raising his right hand. The Sun-Crest on his palm flashed with brilliant golden light, channeling controlled sun-fire directly into the rusted gear housing.

The intense heat instantly burned away the hardened iron slag, melting the rust until the heavy gear teeth groaned and disengaged with a loud CLANG.

"It's clear!" Alex shouted over the roaring river. "Get into the cart—one at a time!"

Barnaby went first, leaping onto the heavy iron cable with his sharp talons, using his massive golden wings to balance himself against the scorching thermal updrafts rising from the channel. One by one, Caleb, Rose, Natasha, and Dwaho climbed into the reinforced ore-cart while Alex worked the heavy hand-winch, slowly cranking the iron cable to send the cart sliding across the wide expanse of molten rock.

As the cart reached the midpoint of the three-hundred-foot span, a deep, rhythmic thrumming echoed from the dark caves lining the opposite canyon wall.

"Alex, look out!" Dwaho yelled from inside the cart, his blue Sight flaring. "The heat from your crest woke the roosts in the basalt cliffs!"

From the dark caverns above the lava river, a dozen winged shapes burst into the sulfurous sky. They were not birds, but steam-drakes—vicious, reptilian beasts reinforced with iron scale-plating and brass exhaust tubes along their spines. Their eyes burned with furnace-red light as they dived straight toward the suspended iron cable, aiming their razor-sharp claws at the support ropes holding the cart.

"Hold the winch!" Queen Natasha commanded, drawing her sword as Princess Rose drew her longbow. "Alex, get across!"

Alex clamped his left hand onto the winch lever and used his right hand to unleash a sweeping arc of sun-fire into the night air, turning the sky above the molten river into a wall of golden flame as the steam-drakes descended.