The second chain snapped with a sound like the earth itself crying out in agony.

  The massive iron platform, already tilting toward disaster, lurched another ten feet on the southern side. The drop hit with brutal force, a seismic jolt that ripped through the stone and sent anyone not anchored hurtling into a wild, uncontrolled slide toward the molten abyss below.

  "Grab hold!" Josh roared, his voice barely audible over the roar of the molten iron bubbling below.

  He had jammed his sword into a fissure in the floorplates, hanging on with one hand while his boots scrabbled for purchase on the soot-slicked metal. The angle of the floor was now steep, nearly thirty degrees and climbing. Below him, Brett was sliding helplessly towards the edge. The mage clawed at the stone, his fingernails tearing, but there was nothing to grip. His staff clattered away, rolling into the darkness.

  "I can't stop!" Brett screamed, his eyes wide with the primal terror of the fall.

  He went over the lip, disappearing from Josh’s view. For one sickening moment he thought he’d just seen the death of his best friend. Then he heard a sickening rip of heavy fabric. Josh saw Brett’s hand scrambling along the edge of the platform, and when the warrior raised his head higher, he saw that a jagged spur of iron on the platform's rim had caught the heavy hem of his scholar’s robes. The sudden jolt stopped his descent, but it left him dangling like a pendulum, his legs kicking over the white-hot lake of fire.

  The fabric groaned under his weight, the seam at his shoulder beginning to unravel.

  "Brett!" Carcan shrieked, reaching out a hand that was miles too far away.

  Perberos was already moving. He didn't fly; he lunged. Using the steep incline like a slide, the scout threw himself toward the edge, his boots sparking against the metal. Just as Brett’s robe began to tear further, Perberos slammed his hunting knife into a narrow gap between the floorplates near the rim, using the blade as a makeshift anchor.

  With a desperate reach, Perberos hooked his arm around the iron spur where Brett was snagged, his other hand diving down to seize the mage by the back of his belt.

  The sudden weight nearly tore Perberos's arm from its socket. He gritted his teeth, his muscles bulging as the rising heat from the abyss scorched the exposed skin of his face.

  "Do not wiggle," Perberos rasped, his voice strained and raw. "The fabric is failing."

  "Not wiggling!" Brett squeaked, his hands clutching uselessly at the air as he stared down at the bubbling magma. "Definitely not wiggling!"

  "Get him up!" Josh shouted, his eyes scanning the smoke-filled chamber even as he strained to hold his own position. "Where is the Master?"

  A mechanical screech answered him.

  The Master hadn't fallen. The massive beast had driven its iron fingers into the floorplates, gouging deep furrows in the metal as it arrested its own slide. It hung in the centre of the tilted platform, steam pouring from its ruptured cooling vents in thick, hissing clouds. Its armour was glowing a dull, angry cherry-red, the internal heat building to critical levels.

  It looked at them. Its eyes were no longer just coals; they were blinding white searchlights of rage.

  "It’s gonna jump!" Bhel yelled. The dwarf was wedged against a pile of scrap metal near the top of the slope, his axes dug in like climbing picks.

  The Master did not leap; it simply surrendered to the incline.

  Releasing its grip on the overhead supports, the massive construct allowed gravity to claim its three-ton bulk. It became a twelve-foot battering ram of superheated iron, picking up terrifying speed as it screamed down the soot-slicked slope toward the vulnerable forms of Perberos and the dangling Brett.

  "Move!" Josh’s roar was a command of pure desperation.

  He let go of his sword, leaving it vibrating in the floorplates, and threw himself into the slide. He gained speed instantly, the friction burning through his trousers, but he wasn't fast enough. He angled his shield, bracing his shoulder against the cold interior of the steel, praying that his skills could override the brutal reality of momentum.

  His dash skill ignited. Josh became a blur of silver light, a kinetic explosion that bridged the gap in a heartbeat. He slammed into the Master halfway down the slope.

  The CRASH rocked him to the core.

  Josh’s shield caught the Master squarely in its massive, glowing knee. The impact was horrific, the sound of a mountain being ground into dust. To Josh, it felt like being struck by a falling building. The shockwave rattled his teeth and drove the air from his lungs in a sharp, pained wheeze. He was spun into a violent, sickening rotation, his vision a kaleidoscope of red sparks and gray smoke.

  But his gambit worked.

  The collision forced the Master off its lethal trajectory. The iron titan lurched, its massive weight shifting as it began to spin wildly out of control. It hurtled past Perberos, it’s outstretched hand missing the ranger’s shoulder by a hair's breadth, and slammed into the raised lip of the platform. The entire structure groaned under the force, stone shattering into jagged shrapnel, but the heavy iron rim held firm against the beast's momentum.

  "Pull him up now!" Josh gagged, struggling to find his footing on the tilted floor.

  Perberos hauled Brett up with a grunt of exertion, dumping the mage onto the solid iron. Brett scrambled away from the edge on hands and knees, hyperventilating.

  "Weapon," Perberos ordered, kicking Brett’s staff towards him. "Fight now. Panic later."

  The Master was standing up, its feet creaking on the edge of the ramp. It moved slowly, its joints grinding. The heat radiating from it was now visible as shimmering waves of distortion. The air around it smelled of burning ozone and melting copper.

  "He is overheating!" Carcan called out. She had braced herself against the upper chain anchor, her staff glowing with healing light. "Something dangerous looks exposed! Look at the chest!"

  In the chaos of the crash, the chest plate of the Master had buckled. Beneath the thick iron, a pulsing core of white fire was visible.

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  "Target the core!" Josh ordered. He drew his short sword, his longsword still embedded in the floor. "I will hold him here! Bhel, drop on him!"

  "With pleasure!" Bhel roared.

  The dwarf released his hold on the scrap pile. He didn't slide; he ran down the slope, using the momentum to fuel a reckless, tumbling charge.

  The Master raised its hammer. The weapon was glowing white-hot, dripping molten droplets of steel and swung it at Josh.

  Josh didn't try to block it staticly, he couldn't. The platform was shaking, his footing was terrible, and the boss was enraged. He stepped into the swing again, but this time he dropped flat, letting the hammer whistle over his head.

  The heat of the passing weapon singed his hair.

  "Now, Bhel!"

  Bhel launched himself into the air, spinning in a tight ball of steel and beard. He uncurled at the last second, bringing both axes down in a cross-chop.

  CLANG-CRUNCH.

  The axes struck the buckled chest plate. Sparks showered the platform like fireworks. The metal groaned and tore, peeling back like a tin can to reveal the blinding light of the core.

  The Master shrieked, a sound of pure, mechanical agony. It backhanded Bhel, sending the dwarf tumbling up the slope, but the damage was done.

  "Brett! Core!" Josh yelled, blocking a desperate knee-strike with his shield.

  Brett was already casting. He stood precariously on the tilted floor, one hand gripping a protruding bolt for balance. His eyes were glowing blue, mana pouring from him in a visible torrent.

  "Eat this," the mage snarled.

  Ignis Ray

  The flame missiles shot out of his hand, smaller than his usual bolt, each offering less damage but much better damage overall. The little spikes of flames flew true, slamming directly into the exposed, superheated core of the Master.

  Thermal shock is a violent thing.

  The reaction was instantaneous. The white-hot core met the magical flames, and the result was catastrophic. The Master froze for a second, its internal machinery seizing and melted. Then, cracks began to race across its armour, glowing bright orange.

  "Cover!" Josh tackled Brett, pulling him down behind the scrap pile. Perberos grabbed Bhel and dragged him behind a pillar.

  BOOM.

  The Master detonated.

  It wasn't a fire explosion; it was a shrapnel storm. Pieces of superheated iron and armour plating blasted outward in every direction. The sound was deafening, a thunderclap that shook the cavern and caused the third chain to snap.

  The platform dropped again, swinging wildly, the remaining links groaning in distress.

  Josh looked up, shaking debris from his shield.

  Where the Master had stood, there was only a pair of smoking boots and a cloud of glittering dust.

  "Is it dead?" Brett’s voice was small, coming from behind a slab of iron.

  "It blew up," Bhel coughed, waving smoke away. "Usually means dead."

  "We are sinking!" Perberos warned.

  The chains were stretching. The platform was dipping lower, the heat from the lava becoming unbearable. The metal floorplates were starting to glow dull red.

  "The exit!" Josh pointed.

  Across the gap, past the broken chains, was a stone ledge leading to a heavy iron door. It was twenty feet away.

  "We can't jump that!" Brett cried. "Not uphill!"

  "The platform is swinging!" Josh realised. He could feel the momentum. The explosion had set the hanging structure into a pendulum motion. "We have to time it! When it swings close to the ledge, we jump!"

  "And if we miss?" Carcan asked, her face pale.

  "Then we get very warm, very quickly," Josh said grimly. "Go!"

  They quickly scrambled up the platform, heading towards the exit. They gathered what items they could on the move and Josh quickly reclaimed his sword. Soon they were stood at the edge of the platform as it swung away from the ledge, groaning over the lake of fire. Then, gravity took hold, and it swung back.

  "Wait..." Josh held up a hand. "Wait..."

  The platform reached the apex of its swing. For a second, it hung in the air, ten feet from the ledge.

  "NOW!"

  They ran.

  Perberos went first, vaulting the gap with ease, he landed and spun, ready to catch the others.

  Bhel threw himself across next, a flying brick of muscle. He landed heavy, rolling to a stop.

  Carcan jumped, her robes fluttering. She landed short, her stomach hitting the lip of the stone, her legs dangling over the edge.

  "Got you!" Perberos lunged, grabbing her wrist before she could slip. Bhel grabbed her other arm and they hauled her up.

  "Go, Brett!" Josh shouted.

  Brett ran. He pushed off the edge of the platform just as it began to swing away.

  He was going to make it.

  Then another chain snapped.

  The platform dropped like a stone into the lava below.

  Brett’s push-off lost its leverage. He flailed in the air, falling short of the ledge.

  "NO!" Josh didn't jump for the ledge. He jumped for Brett.

  He caught the mage in mid-air, wrapping one arm around his waist. Brett was a dead weight of pure terror, his fingers locked into Josh’s pauldron with a strength born of the abyss below. They slammed into the cliff wall below the ledge. Josh drove his sword into a crack in the rock, the blade screeching as it bit deep. His other hand clawed at the stone, fingers finding a narrow lip.

  Josh could feel the his friends ragged breath against his neck, a frantic terror, that spurred him to keep his own grip on the ledge, even as his fingers screamed in protest. They hung there, dangling over the magma. The heat was scorching Josh’s boots. "I have you," Josh grunted, his arm muscles screaming. "I have you."

  Then, a shadow fell over them. Bhel’s massive hand reached down, his silhouette framed against the orange glow of the forge.

  "Take my hand!" Bhel bellowed, but the angle was wrong. He couldn't reach Josh without losing his own footing. "Brett first! You’ll to climb!"

  Josh grunted, his muscles bunching. "Brett upclimb me. Use my armour as a ladder. Go!"

  It was a clumsy, desperate scramble. Brett didn't move with the grace of a warrior; he clawed. He dug his boots into the chinks of Josh’s leg guards and hauled himself upward, his knees knocking against Josh’s chest. Josh acted as a human pylon, bracing himself against the cold stone, feeling every ounce of Brett’s weight pushing him further toward the edge. With a final, panicked heave, Brett reached upward. Bhel’s hand snapped shut around the mages tunic like a vice, hoisting him upward and over the lip of the platform in one fluid, powerful motion.

  Now it was Josh’s turn. He reached up, his gauntlet slick with sweat and soot, but as Bhel began to haul him toward safety, Josh’s eyes flickered toward the incline.

  There, stuck in the wall, his sword. The blade was stuck, buried deep in the wall, the steel vibrating slightly as Josh let it go. It was a simple weapon, notched and worn, but it was the first thing he had come to own in this world. It had been his constant companion through every dark corridor and terrifying encounter since the moment he arrived. It was more than steel; it was his history here.

  "Josh, move!" Bhel’s voice cracked like a whip.

  The platform groaned again, a deep, terminal sound of metal fatigue. The section of floor began to buckle, tilting toward the white-hot slag below. The dwarf yanked him upward just as the platform behind them slipped away, splashing liquid metal into the air.

  Josh watched in silent, hollowed-out shock as the stone disintegrated. He was safe on solid ground, gasping for air, but his hand felt inexplicably light, and his belt felt horribly empty.

  Below them, the massive iron platform sank into the molten lake with a slow, bubbling hiss, vanishing forever.

  "That," Brett wheezed, staring at the ceiling, "was too close."

  "We are alive," Carcan whispered, pressing a hand to her chest. "By the grace of the stars, we are alive."

  Bhel sat up and spat a glob of soot onto the floor. "And rich. Look."

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