The Gate of Eight Worlds

Chapter 9:The Storm Over the Tide

The transition through the Second Gate hit like a plunge into freezing spray. The cold, mountain-scented air of the High Threshold vanished in an instant, replaced by the bitter, salt-laden gale of the Drowned Citadel. Torrential rain lashed sideways across the stone landing, blurring the horizon into a violent expanse of churning black water and jagged white spray.

Dwaho wiped torrential rainwater from his eyes, gasping as his leather boots splashed into three inches of seafoam. High above, dark violet clouds rolled in heavy, turbulent waves, illuminated by frequent flashes of violet lightning that rattled the sky. Rising out of the roaring ocean were the flooded spires of the ancient city—lofty white-marble domes and slender sea-towers, now standing half-submerged like gargantuan gravestones in the rising tide.

"Stay back from the ledge!" Caleb shouted over the roar of the gale, holding his brimmed hat down with one hand while keeping a firm grip on the bronze lantern chain with the other. "The lower terraces were swallowed days ago! We're on the high watch-spire!"

Barnaby landed on the narrow stone terrace behind them, his broad wings held low to catch the wind while his sharp brass beak clicked nervously. The griffin disliked the open ocean, his golden eyes tracking the massive, unnatural swells crashing against the ruined marble architecture below.

Princess Rose ran to the edge of the balustrade, her dark braids soaked and clinging to her crimson coat. She raised her hand to shield her vision, her grey eyes locking onto a dark line of towering structures spanning the narrow channel three miles off the coast. The structures were made of crude, jagged plates of black iron, rising fifty feet out of the sea and belching thick plumes of red, sulfurous smoke that hung low over the water.

"There they are," Rose called out, her voice trembling with a mixture of anger and focus. "The Sovereign's iron floodgates! They've choked the Great Channel, forcing all the sea-tide back into the harbor. My father's ships are pinned against the inner reefs—if those gates stay closed for another day, the entire lower district will drown, and the harbor fleet will be smashed to splinters!"

Alex stepped up beside her, leaning his hand on his sword hilt as rain ran down his brow. "How do they control the gates from up there?"

"Steam-pumps and heavy iron winches," Caleb answered, unrolling a oilskin map from his leather case and holding it flat against the sheltered side of a stone pillar. "Vane's engineers built three main pumping towers across the dam. Each tower is anchored by a massive central pressure bolt. If you break the central bolt on the main tower, the hydraulic locks will fail, and the ocean pressure itself will tear those black-iron gates wide open."

"And what guards those towers?" Queen Natasha asked, her silver blade drawn and kept low against her side to keep the rain from slicking the hilt.

Rose pointed toward the nearest black-iron tower, where small, armored shapes moved along the narrow walkways under the flashing violet sky. "Archers equipped with heavy iron cross-bows, steam-throwers, and sea-hounds trained to hunt in the surf. They have the high ground and total control of the channel."

"Then we don't attack them in the open water," Dwaho said, stepping closer to the map. His Sight flickered faintly blue behind his pupils, cutting through the heavy rain to trace the dark ley-lines beneath the waves. "Look at the base of the central tower. The ancient marble aqueduct runs directly under the iron foundation. The miners built it to drain the lower city during high tides. It's submerged, but it leads right into the furnace room beneath the main winch!"

Caleb looked at Dwaho with a slow, impressed nod. "The boy is right. The iron-dams were built over the old stone foundations. If we use the aqueduct, we can bypass their catapults and come up right beneath the main pressure bolt."

"It means swimming through dark, flooded tunnels in full gear," Alex said, looking down at his practice sword, then up at the roaring sea.

"We have no choice," Queen Natasha said, her voice steady and firm against the crashing storm. "Rose, you and Caleb will guide us through the aqueduct. Alex, your mark will provide light where the water drowns the torches. Dwaho, keep your Sight trained on the structural points of that central bolt." She turned to the griffin. "Barnaby, draw their aerial scouts away from the dam when the alarm sounds."

Barnaby let out a fierce, brassy screech that cut through the thunder, spreading his wings in agreement.

Alex tightened his grip on his belt, his pale crest flashing golden through the rain. "Let's free the harbor."