—— ? ——

  Simon led the way as they moved deeper, Kaelalin keeping pace. They moved quietly into the cavern Simon had scouted before. For Simon, it felt like hours had passed since he was last here. In reality, it had barely been one.

  He crept forwards and scanned the cavern. It was silent.

  I mean… the big golden guy would have attracted anything near here. Simon reasoned with himself

  He waved Kaelalin forward and they entered the dimly lit space. The silence grated on Simon’s nerves. As they crossed the room, He flinched every time his new oversized boots scraped. Then Kaelalin’s bag jostled and made a soft clink sound. He froze

  “Simon.” Kaelain said in a whisper, touching his shoulder. Simon’s heart nearly exploded.

  “What?!” He hissed.

  “You’re wound up pretty tight.”

  “Oh really? I hadn’t noticed.”

  She shook her head and pulled her hand back, pointing to the far wall. “Look, two exits.”

  Simon’s eyes followed her finger. “Got an idea on which to check first?”

  Kaelalin shrugged. “Just pick one?” She gestured to the cave around them. “The only thing here are those disgusting pools.”

  Simon’s eyes swept the room again, then he sighed. “I’m thinking of a number one through ten.”

  “Six.”

  “We go right.”

  The two crossed the room, Simon taking the lead. They paused at the arch’s threshold. The passage spiraled downward at a gentle slope, vanishing into the depths. They started their descent, looping endlessly into the metal.

  Minutes bled by, but the tunnel never changed. Simon trailed a hand along the wall and felt his skin crawl. It wasn’t rough. Instead it was polished and unnaturally slick. Fine grooves spiraled along the surface, running in perfect symmetry around them, like a gun barrel’s rifling. Despite the feeling on his hand, he kept it on the wall. With every curve, his fingers traced the grooves. Something bothered him about the wall. A nagging thought tugged at his mind, but he couldn’t form it.

  Simon decided to wait. He paused his descent and waited for Kaelalin to catch up . She had purposefully lagged behind, setting up traps in case they needed to retreat.

  Simon crouched down, putting his hand against the wall. This place was so strange.

  He heard soft footsteps approaching, and he turned to look back up the passage. Kaelalin came around the bend, then her body stiffened and her eyes frantically searched the tunnel. She gestured at him, trying to communicate.

  ‘What's wrong?’ she gestured with her hands.

  “Nothing yet… ” Simon said quietly. “Maybe it's crazy, but I’m just getting a bad feeling about this.” He gestured toward the walls. “Something is… off.”

  Kaelalin peered at the wall, studying it.

  “Hmmm… Maybe this place is getting to us?” she said, then muttered. “But I get what you mean.”

  They stood in the curving tunnel, staring at the shining metal. Kaelalin moved next to him and placed her hand on the wall. Her body went rigid.

  “Simon.” she eeked out, her voice tight

  “Figure something out?” He asked.

  Kaelalin’s gaze flicked to him. “But we need to get out of here” She stood, walking quickly back up the passage. “Right now.”

  “Okay…” Simon took several large steps, catching up to her. “What’s going on?”

  The inventor’s strides lengthened, her hand brushing the wall as she moved. The polished surface gleamed, grooved in spirals. After a few seconds, her hand recoiled as though the wall had shocked her.

  “More than a hunch. We need to move right fucking now.” She broke into a jog.

  Simon pushed after her, heart pounding.

  “But I was thinking… What could have made this tunnel? It’s too smooth, too perfect. Different from the others.” Her words came ragged between breaths. “As if someone made this for a purpose.”

  “That’s when I realized: We’re in a realm of molten metal.” Her face twisted, grim.. “And we’re heading down.”

  “Oh.” Simon blinked. “Shit!”

  They broke into a sprint.

  —— ? ——

  Simon and Kaelalin burst back into the cavern, lungs burning and hearts pounding. Kaelalin doubled over from the exertion while Simon bent low, gulping deep breaths.

  After a moment his pulse slowed, and he slipped her pack off his shoulders.

  “Thanks for taking it,” Kaelalin wheezed, reaching for it.

  “No problem. But yeah… down is bad. If that ends up being the right way to go, I vote we walk away instead.”

  Kaelalin nodded in agreement as she pulled two waterskins from her pack and handed one to Simon.

  He took it with a smile. With a slight pull of his hand, it was uncorked and he tipped it back. The icy water was bliss, like liquid magic sliding down his throat. He groaned in relief.

  “Damn, that’s good.”

  Kaelalin drank deep from her own before slumping against her pack. After a minute, her breathing steadied.

  “Better?” Simon asked.

  A faint metallic tang clung to the back of his throat, reminding him of the tunnel they’d just fled. Simon looked back at the tunnel, examining the cavern around it.

  “Interesting.” he muttered, taking a few steps back to it. Now that he was looking for it, Simon could see grooves in the floor leading to the tunnel. His gaze swept the room, and it almost looked like the floor of the cavern was slightly tilted towards the tunnel.

  Maybe we are just getting spooked. He mused.

  His thought had barely finished when a deep gurgle echoed through the chamber. Simon's head snapped to the noise. One of the bronze pools near the far wall shivered, bubbles swelling on its surface. With a wet glorp, molten metal surged upward, spilling over the lip.

  “Uh…” Simon stuttered.

  The metal bubbled and hissed, as it pushed outward.

  Glowing rivulets spread, sluggish but unstoppable. Then it ran into the grooves in the floor and flowed towards them. Kaelalin shot to her feet, yanking her pack out of the way. The two of them stood transfixed as the bronze flood hissed and rippled, heat washing over them in shimmering waves.

  The flow gathered itself, funneling with terrible purpose, and poured in a steady gleaming stream straight into the right tunnel.

  Simon turned, sweat prickling his brow.

  “Yup. Going down is a no.” he waved at the molten flow. “Thoughts?”

  Kaelalin let out a strangled laugh. “Yeah. No thank you.”

  Simon gave the glowing flow another wary glance, then shrugged. “Hey, at least it’s nice when the universe confirms our bad ideas.”

  They continued to watch the flow.

  Boom! A distant detonation broke the silence, slight tremors pulsing through the metal.

  Kaelalin cringed. “Damn. I guess I missed a mine on the way back up.”

  Boom!

  She winced harder. “…Okay, maybe two.”

  Boom!

  They waited.

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  Kaelalin opened her mouth to speak.

  boom!

  She shut it again, lips pressed thin.

  Simon raised a finger. “That it?”

  “Yeah, thats–” boom! “--it.” Kaelalin’s eyes snapped back to the bronze flow, studying it intently.

  Simon just laughed. “Oh man, haha!” he wiped a tear from his eyes. “Where were those anyways? I saw you grabbing them left and right as we sprinted.”

  Kaelalin gave him a flat look. “Everywhere. Right wall, left wall, ceiling. I was trying to make sure nothing could get past that tunnel without them going off.”

  Simon snorted. “Well, you sure accomplished that. That molten bronze had no idea what hit it.”

  He raised his waterskin in a mock toast toward the glowing stream. “Here’s to bad ideas that haven’t killed us yet.”

  Kaelalin smiled, tapping her waterskin against his. “May they never catch us.”

  Together they tipped the skins back, drinking deep.

  Simon corked his waterskin and threw it to Kaelalin. Her hand snapped out, and it disappeared into her pack.

  He turned, then walked to the arch of the left exit. Simon leaned in, craning his head past the threshold. His heart almost sank when he saw it curve, but then a grin grew across his face.

  He pulled back and shot Kaelalin a big thumbs-up.

  “It goes up!”

  She shouldered her pack and returned the gesture. “Onwards and upwards!”

  “Onwards and upwards!”

  The two of them stood for a heartbeat longer, watching the molten stream hiss and vanish into the right-hand drain. Then they turned their backs on it, stepping into the left passage.

  —— ? ——

  You would think the prospect of going up should have been a relief. However, every minute spent in the spiral was pure terror.

  Every step made Simon’s shoulders knot tighter. The walls were the same polished metal, rifled with grooves, and he couldn’t shake the thought of molten bronze pouring down from above. Each creak of his boots echoed like a countdown, each glimmer on the wall a threat waiting to happen.

  Minutes dragged. Sweat slicked his palms despite the heat never changing. He kept glancing up the slope, half-expecting to see a glowing tide rolling toward them. Kaelalin didn’t set traps this time, her movements sharp and hurried. Neither of them spoke. The only sound was their ragged breathing and the endless ring of footsteps on metal.

  Then, at last, the spiral broke. Simon stepped out into open space and despite his caution, he let out a shaky laugh he hadn’t realized he’d been holding back.

  Relief flooded him so hard his knees almost buckled. He turned and grinned at Kaelalin.

  Strangely, the woman didn’t share his glee. Instead her eyes were wide in horror as Simon frowned.

  What?

  Wait.

  Why was he moving?

  Oh.

  Shit.

  These were the thoughts that went through Simon’s head as he was slammed into the metal wall.

  His brain rattled in his skull from the impact, stars dancing at the edges of his vision. Groggy thoughts tried to stitch themselves together.

  He had walked out into the cavern after their horribly long climb. He laughed. Then–WHAM! –catapulted into a wall.

  Simon’s head lolled to the side. Glowing bronze eyes stared back at him, set deep into nightmarish face.

  Simon blinked, trying to get his tongue under control. “Dohhh u knoo wha happn?” he slurred.

  The towering thing didn’t answer. It just tilted its head and let out an awful wail.

  A thought struck him, “Ohhhhhhhh it wss u!”

  His grin came crooked, blood running from the corner of his mouth. “Guh nuwss, Klahliiin… I fuonn uuut whut happn!”

  “SIMON! SUMMON SOMETHING!”

  Simon cocked his head toward her, blinking stupidly. “Wuhhh?”

  He looked back at his metal friend. “U kno whut she mens?”

  The construct leaned closer, giving him a great big hug, letting him know it was okay.

  Simon wheezed, ribs screaming under the pressure. “Hehy, nuot so tight… thhhhat hurts.”

  Heat pulsed out as his friend’s grip tightened, lifting him off the ground. His feet dangled, scraping uselessly at the polished floor.

  Kaelalin was already moving, her hands glowing with a very pretty color.“Simon! NOW!” Why was she so panicky? Stress isn’t good for you.

  Simon’s eyes bulged, a slurred laugh escaping him even as his vision went dark around the edges. “Klahliin, I thuink he luuvs me.”

  That’s when the real pain hit. Sharp, molten heat lanced through his chest, searing his nerves raw. The fog shattered.

  Simon’s eyes snapped open, clarity blazing back into them. His mind seized control, and his stubborn will roared to life. His mental skill engaged, blasting the haze away.

  “Ow! Shit!” he spat blood, rage burning hot in his eyes. “Oh you asshole!”

  He pulled on his summoning skill and two pops rang out. His hands snapped close around leather straps attached to two discs.

  “Of COURSE!” He roared as he struggled in the construct's grip, barely slamming the cymbals into the creature.

  Clang! Again. Clang!

  Again!

  Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

  Every impact echoed in the chamber, the discordant sound ringing Simon’s ears.

  The construct continued to squeeze. Simon’s frame popped and made sounds that no human body should, but he didn’t stop. Now no longer dazed, his ears rang from his racket and the inhuman wail from the mouth that was inches from his face.

  “Fuck off!” He snarled through gritted teeth. Pain rocketed through him as he continued to flail the metal discs into the golem. Every few seconds the creature shook from impacts to its back. Over its shoulder, Simon could see Kaelalin desperately throwing magic bolt after magic bolt into its torso.

  Then…

  Clang-thummm.

  Simon’s lips curled into a bloody grin. In a fit of inspiration he yelled a phrase from his memories.

  —— ? ——

  Kaelalin was bent over laughing. “It’s clobbering time?” She wiped her eyes, still wheezing.

  “Hey! It was a well-known battle cry from my world, okay!” Simon protested.

  “You were practically making love to this thing against the wall,” she laughed, gesturing at the heap of twisted bronze. “Smacking its hips with little cymbal love taps, then out of nowhere–‘It’s clobbering time!’”

  She nearly toppled over, tears in her eyes.

  Simon grimaced, uncorked a health potion, and tipped it back in one long gulp. He muttered into the bottle, “I thought it was cool…”

  Kaelalin, still giggling, wiped her face and croaked, “Sure, hero. Very intimidating. I’m sure it died of secondhand embarrassment.”

  Simon grumbled.

  Then his eyes drifted past Kaelalin, back to the cavern they had stumbled into. This place dwarfed every chamber before it. From where they stood, it seemed to stretch for thousands of feet, the roof vanishing into darkness high above. Like the other spaces in this sub-realm, it was littered with pools. However, unlike the other places they had been, Gold and bronze were joined by silver, copper, iron, and stranger hues: pools of green fire, violet sheen, and liquid white that shimmered like stars. The kaleidoscope of molten colors painted the chamber in a shifting, otherworldly light.

  But none of it held Simon’s attention for long.

  At the cavern’s heart, the metal floor rose in a massive stepped tower. Four sets of broad stairs climbed its sides, each leading to a central landing.

  The landing was enveloped in a large glowing ball of energy. It pulsed with power, rippling with waves of energy.

  Kaelalin was finally recovering from her fit of giggles. Simon coughed.

  “So, we are totally checking that place out right?” he pointed toward the tower.

  “Since you already romanced the guard here it seems pretty clear to me!” She replied, her eyes twinkling.

  Simon rolled his eyes.

  “Jokes aside.” she continued. “Of course we are. I don’t see any more of your friends out there. Let's get closer.”

  Simon nodded, then pushed himself to his feet. He groaned as his bruised muscles protested.

  “Bah. That sucked.” he cracked his neck, then grinned. “To the magic tower!”

  They moved into the chamber, carefully scanning as they approached the tower. Glowing pools of metal cast vivid shadows of various hues around them. Despite their search, they found no more enemies.

  Simon paused roughly fifty feet from the base of the tower. The glowing ball of energy was several stories above him. He whistled softly.

  “This thing’s huge!”

  Kaelalin was busy pulling out magical tools, and grew more excited by the second.

  “Yeah, and full of magic!” she said as her hands dipped in and out of her pack, testing one instrument after the other.

  Simon stared up at the towering structure in awe. This was what he had imagined when he had first found out about the frozen hills. Magical cool shit.

  Kaelalin finished her examination, then shouldered her pack. “So. What do we do?”

  Simon stared at the tower, then her, then back to the tower.

  “Touch it?”

  Kaelalin stared at him.

  “So… don’t touch it?”

  Her face twisted. “How in the frozen wastes do you think touching it is the correct course of action?”

  Simon shrugged. “I dunno. When I was a kid, big glowing things usually did something cool when you touched them.”

  Kaelalin pinched the bridge of her nose. “And how many of those kids are still alive?”

  “Uhh… at least half?” he gestured to her, and then himself. “So, Math says I touch it first.” Simon crossed his arms. “And what, pray tell, is your plan?”

  The frost-kin reached into a pouch at her waist, and pulled out a wrapped bundle. She removed its covering and revealed the system anchor. She held it in her hands for a moment, then wrapped it again and stowed it away.

  “The system anchor is pulling up there.” she pointed up the steps. “So… I guess we don’t really have a choice.” she said with a sigh.

  Simon grinned at her. “Alright! See this is why you are the brains of the operation.” He moved toward the steps.” Let's go see what horrible things this has in store.

  “Why would you say that?” He heard Kaelalin mutter behind him, but then heard her footsteps as she followed.

  Simon strode confidently forward. He approached their stairs and paused. He steeled his nerves, as he stared at the massive steps. They were definitely not meant for anything human sized. If he had to guess, whatever used these things were at least double his size.

  He gulped, then stepped up onto the first stair. As soon as his foot touched the step, he was blasted back by a sonic wave.

  Thudummmm.

  The sound reverberated through the cavern. A wave of energy followed the sound, spherical in shape. It came from the sphere, and cascaded out and down the steps. Simon tried to move, tried to get out of the way, but it was too fast. He could only jump in between the wave and Kaelalin before it hit.

  He flinched and closed his eyes as it slammed into him. Arching energy sparked over his body. His muscles tightened and he grit his teeth, preparing for the pain.

  But it didn’t come.

  His eyes flew open in time to see the wave slam into the cavern walls, rebound, and rocket back toward them. Again he set himself to take the force, and again it passed over him with only a crawling static, like the brush of unseen fingers across his flesh.

  The wave returned to the orb, and then there was silence.

  He looked at Kaelalin, who exhaled a deep breath.

  “Well.. that was–” Simon began to speak, then a deep voice cut him off.

  “Strangers… I know not by what fate you have found this sanctum, yet I bid you welcome. You stand at the threshold of the Tower of Stabilization. Enter, if you will… but hasten your steps, for those that dwell in the molten darkness are unrelenting. They hunger, and they do not rest.”

  The pools shimmered in quiet response, casting fractured colors across the walls.

  —— ? ——