The Gate of Eight Worlds

Chapter 4: The Iron in the shadows

The creature that stepped out of the tunnel mouth was not born of any natural wood or wild valley.

It stood nearly six feet tall at the shoulder, its long, lean torso built like a grey wolf, but supported by six jointed legs encased in heavy, rusted iron plates. Its jaw was a jagged steel trap that hissed with escaping steam, and where its eyes should have been, two burning orb-lanterns of sulfur-yellow fire cast a sick, flickering light across the marble floor.

Behind it, two more iron-clad hounds crowded the tunnel archway, their iron talons scraping against the stone in a rapid, rhythmic clatter.

"Brace!" Queen Natasha commanded, drawing her slender silver blade in one fluid motion.

Alex stepped in front of Dwaho, bringing his practice sword up in a firm two-handed guard. The pale mark on his right palm flared with a sharp, golden light, traveling along the fuller of his steel blade until the dull metal shimmered like polished sunfire.

The lead hound did not bark. It lunged silently across the terrace, its six legs propelling it forward with terrifying speed.

A sharp thwip cut through the air. Princess Rose’s arrow struck the beast directly in its central knee-joint. The heavy iron arrowhead shattered the brass fitting, sending a shower of sparks and black oil spurting across the marble. The hound stumbled, its momentum carrying it sideways into an overturned wagon, but the remaining two beasts leaped over their fallen pack-mate, heading straight for Alex and Queen Natasha.

Barnaby let out a deafening screech that split the mountain air. The griffin reared back on his lion hindquarters, snapping his massive wings forward to create a gale-force gust of wind that threw the second hound off balance. With a brutal downward stroke of his front talons, Barnaby pinned the iron beast to the stone, his brass-colored beak slamming down to crush the lantern-housing in its skull.

The third hound bypassed the griffin entirely, darting low toward Dwaho.

"Dwaho, duck!" Alex yelled.

Dwaho didn't run. He locked his feet into the gravel, slipped a smooth, dense river stone into his leather pouch, and whirled the sling twice above his head. With a sharp snap of his wrist, he released the chord.

The stone struck the hound’s exposed steam valve right above its neck joint. The brass valve cracked wide open, releasing a blinding cloud of scalding white vapor that sent the beast thrashing blindly across the terrace, shrieking with a sound like tearing metal.

Alex seized the opening. He leaped forward, driving his sun-lit blade straight through the iron collar behind the beast's head. The creature shuddered once, its sulfur-yellow eyes flickering out as it collapsed into a heap of lifeless iron plates.

Silhouetted against the dark tunnel entrance, a tall, cloaked figure stood watching the battle end.

He wore no iron armor, but rather a long, dust-stained coat of dark green wool bound with brass buckles, and a wide-brimmed traveler's hat that shadowed his face. Across his back hung a pair of long, leather-bound map cases, and in his left hand, he held an unlit iron lantern attached to a heavy bronze chain.

"Not bad for a fallen queen, a runaway princess, and two boys from the upper houses," the man said. His voice was gravelly, rich, and entirely unbothered by the metallic wreckage at his feet.

Queen Natasha kept her blade raised, her dark eyes narrowing. "State your name, traveler, before my griffin decides you belong to the same pack."

The man reached up with two gloved fingers, tipping his hat back just far enough to reveal a weathered, bearded face and a pair of sharp, amber eyes.

"The name is Caleb," he said, stepping over the smoking frame of the steam-hound. "Head scout of the Great Forest Rangers—or what's left of us since General Vane took the lower locks. If you're planning on heading down to the Altar of Glass through the main stairs, you might want to reconsider. Vane’s men have just collapsed the lower archway."

Rose lowered her bow an inch, her grey eyes searching the scout's face. "Caleb? My father spoke of a forest ranger who knew the hidden water-routes beneath the shale."

Caleb offered a short, solemn nod toward the princess. "I knew your father well, Princess Rose. And if we want to reach the Sunken Vault before Vane breaks the inner seals, we need to take the old miner's shaft behind the waterfalls. But we have to move now—more hounds are coming up from the valley floor."

Alex wiped his glowing blade on his coat sleeve, returning it to its sheath as the golden light faded back into his palm. He looked at Dwaho, then at Queen Natasha. "Lead the way, Caleb."