The Gate of Eight Worlds

Chapter 26:The Iron Barricade

The ascent up the Great World-Tree felt less like climbing a trunk and more like scaling an endless, living mountain. Swaths of emerald moss clung to the ridges of ancient bark, forming natural stairs that spiraled higher into the misty green canopy.

As Commander Lyra led the way across a sweeping suspension bridge woven from thick, braided vines, the soft rustle of leaves was suddenly broken by a harsh, mechanical hiss. Thick clouds of grey steam billowed out from a wide archway carved directly into the heartwood of the tree, smelling heavily of scorched coal and machine oil.

"Hold," Lyra whispered, dropping low against the wooden handrail. She gestured toward the archway fifty yards ahead. "That is the Gate of the Sylvan Promenade. It is the only path leading to the upper branches."

Alex crouched beside her, his hand resting on the hilt of his blade. Through the lingering fog, he could see a massive barricade forged from heavy, riveted black iron plates bolted directly into the living wood. Thick brass pipes snaked across the surface, venting superheated steam across the narrow bridge to prevent anyone from approaching.

Standing atop the iron fortification were eight heavily armored steam-infiltrators. Clad in thick steel plate, they carried pressurized steam-throwers and heavy repeating crossbows loaded with jagged iron bolts.

"They've scorched the sacred wood," Lyra said, her amber eyes burning with anger as she pointed to the blackened bark beneath the iron bolts. "Our archers cannot cross that bridge without being incinerated by the steam vents."

"Dwaho, what's the power source for those vents?" Alex asked in a low voice.

Dwaho stepped up beside them, his eyes flaring with the electric-blue light of his Sight. His vision pierced through the heavy iron barricade, tracing the glowing conduits running behind the metal plates.

"There are two high-pressure boilers mounted directly behind the main gate," Dwaho reported. "They're siphoning water straight from the World-Tree's internal sap-channels and superheating it with coal furnaces. If you cut the main brass intake pipe on the left side, the pressure in the vents will drop instantly."

"I'll take the pipe," Princess Rose said, stepping forward with her longbow ready. "Alex, Natasha, be ready to push through the moment the steam clears."

Rose pulled back her bowstring to full draw, sighting down the length of a heavy, broadhead arrow. She waited for a gust of wind to part the misty canopy, then released the shaft with a sharp snap of the string.

The arrow whistled through the air, passing straight through an iron sight-slit on the left side of the barricade.

CLANG!

The sharp steel head struck the brass intake valve directly at the joint. Superheated steam blasted outward behind the wall as the valve sheared completely off. The iron-clad infiltrators let out muffled curses as white steam filled their own firing positions, obscuring their line of sight. The thick wall of steam blocking the bridge sputtered and died away.

"Now! Charge!" Queen Natasha shouted, drawing her broadsword and sprinting across the wooden bridge.

Alex was right beside her, his palm-crest flaring into a brilliant golden blaze. As the steam-infiltrators scrambled to adjust their weapons through the dense smoke, Natasha delivered a sweeping strike that shattered the front crossbow mount.

Alex leapt high into the air, bringing his sun-fire blade down in a devastating diagonal strike against the central iron lock holding the barricade together. The white-hot energy sliced clean through the heavy iron bolts, sending the massive metal plates crashing down onto the wooden promenade.

"Clear the gate!" Alex yelled, thrusting his glowing sword into the boiler's secondary fuel grate to disable the remaining furnace.

With the iron barricade shattered and the steam vents dead, Commander Lyra and the Canopy Guard surged forward, their birch-wood bows raining arrows on the disoriented infiltrators until the promenade was completely secured.

Lyra walked up to Alex, looking at the glowing mark on his palm with newfound respect. "The path to the upper canopy is open. The Sun-Crown Vault lies just above the cloud-line."