“Ominous,” Kiva noted, her eyes scanning the dim edges as they entered into the mountain, the door slowly shutting behind them, sealing them in complete darkness.

“Garrote can you pull out a-” Trenton started, meaning to ask for a light. But just then, lights lining the walls flickered to life, magical torches which emanated a dim light.

They were standing at the start of a massive hallway, the floor wide and the ceiling arched to a point some hundred feet above. The architecture wasn’t anything spectacular, carved stone arches lining the walls, a paved stone path leading straight forward, but it was enough, luxurious even considering where they were.

“Old magic,” Karfice noted, eying the torches on the wall. Pretty much every city in the world used magical light instead of magical fire, mostly just because it shone brighter and wasn’t prone to starting a conflagration, so it was odd to see something so…archaic.

“Old city,” Raligoth said, his voice wistful. “Avar was one of the first successful cities in the world outside the nation capitals. I still remember the day they started working on it. A handful of cities had been attempted, but few lasted very long. Avar, however, was different. The location gave it natural defenses, a city effectively built to be a fortress. And unlike the others, it actually flourished, developing its own little ecosystem here in the middle of the world, shut away from the outside noise that drags down the other cities. It was meant to be a haven…so I’m surprised it's still standing. There aren't many safe spaces left, anymore.”

“Since it developed outside the scope of the rest of the world, Avar has some unique technology to its name which hasn’t traveled to the other cities, more focus on fine engineering and metallurgy than anywhere else in the world,” Walibeld said, leading their charge forwards, jogging faster than Trenton could run to match Blithe’s pace.

“What kind of metallurgy?” Garrote asked with excitement, hovering in the air over Blithe to practice his magic, holding onto Trenton’s shoulder to make sure he didn’t fall behind.

He’d been trying to be less dependent on using his arms to cast his spells recently, trying to do away with the physical movements. They did help in casting, and made magic generally more consistent to use, but they were still a crutch, and if ever he needed to cast without moving, he really ought to know how. Trenton had been thinking similarly recently. Although, geomancy did function differently to graviturgy, the movement more ingrained in the casting. Regardless, it wouldn’t hurt to try.

“The kind that we can’t afford. We have no money,” Trenton said, glaring at Garrote

“Boring, I wanna get trinkets,” Garrote said, flipping over and crossing his arm over his chest.

“Trinkets!?” Millie shouted, set off by Garrote's comment.

“We can’t afford trinkets,” Kiva said. Thank the gods at least Kiva was with him, corralling the children. “But I'll tell you what, if we can get some money, maybe do a job while we’re in town, then we can go shopping.”

“You sound like my mother,” Garrote said while Millie jumped around and cheered, Karfice grabbing her so that she wouldn’t fall off.

“The one that wants-”

“The one that wants me dead, yeah. She came around to murder more recently. Before she was just a regular ass, not a psycho,” Garrote said, cutting Trenton off.

“I’m pre-psycho mother?” Kiva said, her smile dropping.

“Wow, would you look at the time? I’m going to scout ahead, see if there’s any dangers up there. Okay byeeeeeee,” Garrote said, pushing off of Trenton, over Kiva’s grasping hands.

“Oh no you don’t,” Kiva said, raising her hands at Garrote’s receding form, a handful of vines shooting out towards him. Garrote dodged the first couple, but his aerial mobility was still severely lacking, so it wasn’t long before one caught him around the ankle, dragging his body back through the air towards them.

“Okay I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I DON’T CONSENT! I DON’T WANNA DIE!” Garrote shouted as he struggled for his sword, managing to cut the vine around his ankle just before Kiva managed to get her hands on him, Garrote standing horizontally on the front of Blithe’s snout to keep away from her.

“Behave yourself you two. We’re nearing the city,” Walibeld said, motioning towards another steel door ahead of them, this one much smaller than the first.

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Garrote cautiously climbed off of Blithe’s nose, leveraging his sword between Kiva and himself, ensuring his safety as he sat down on Blithe’s back. Walibeld held up his hand to signal Trenton to slow, choosing to approach the gate with some class rather than barreling into the dozen or so guards standing out front. They trotted the rest of the way with a dignified grace, standing behind Walibeld as he talked to the guards.

“We seek entry,” Walibeld stated simply.

“Entry…okay, yes. I practiced for this,” a young boy around their age said, the guard's apparel he was wearing obviously too big for his shallow frame.

“Gyrus!?” Garrote called out, squinting at the boy.

“Huh?” The boy looked up, his eyes widening with recognition. “Oh, it's you! I don’t think I got your name before,” Gyrus said, Garrote hopping down off of Blithe and approaching him, the other guards watching them with interest. It was probably the most entertainment they’d had all shift.

“D’yah know this kid, Gyrus?” The man next to Gyrus asked, looking down at Garrote.

“Sure I do! He was the guy who came into the uh…our old workplace with the red haired kid. How’s he doing by the way?”

Garrote froze, glancing back at Blithe where Leo’s charred body sat, “...great. He’s doing great. He’s actually on…vacation right now, so he’s not with us at this moment.”

“I wish I could go on a vacation. They sound fun,” Gyrus murmured to himself, his eyes far away.

“Right, well, sorry about running out on you before. We really had somewhere to be, didn’t want to keep anyone waiting. You get it,” Garrote said, trying to ease the tensions.

“It’s okay. People don’t typically say goodbye to me,” Gyrus said, not even the slightest hint of sorrow in his voice, simply acceptance. The other guards walked over to Gyrus, putting down their weapons and consoling the boy.

“Well, that’s uh…hey what do you say we get into the city,” Garrote whispered to Walibeld, clearly panicking.

“Of course, was waiting for you to finish,” Walibeld said, pulling out his bull ring and showing it to the guard closest to him.

“Is that…open the gate!” The guard shouted through the steel door. It took a second, but soon, the gate started to creak open, giving them full access to the mountain city of Avar. That ring was really something nice, saved them quite a bit of time trying to get into new places, what with how fast they were moving.

They crossed through the city’s threshold, Garrote looking back over his shoulder and shouting behind himself, “Hey Gyrus! Find me in the city and I’ll take you out to lunch, my treat!”

“Really? You’d do that?” Gyrus shouted back, flabbergasted.

“Of course!”

“Okay! It might take me a while, though. I’m not very good at finding things!”

“Well no, I didn’t mean actually find me! I was just saying…” Garrote said, trailing off as the door slammed shut behind them. He’d figure it out…probably.

“Holy…Trenton look at this,” Kiva said, pointing towards the direction of the city.

They had exited the door onto a massive bridge held up by a beautiful mix of masonry and metallurgy, the little bronze designs on the railings resembling birds, plants, and other aspects of nature. It was a gargantuan structure which overlooked the city, a pathway lined with guards who saluted them as they entered, almost as if they were guests of honor. And that was only just the beginning. As they neared the edge of the bridge, which lead down to the ground in a massive set of stairs, they were able to see the city in its entirety, massive bronze towers adorned with spiraled pipes puffing out white steam, gilded streets lined with dwarves and their automaton helpers, and a great wealth of areal flight, bronze birds which soared through the air, the dwarves riding them to reach their destinations. It was a marvelous sight, a city unlike anything Trenton had ever known, unlike anything he’d ever even dreamed of. But what really tied it all together was two particularly notable features.

Off to their sides, visible despite the many miles separating them, were two towers far larger than the rest, piercing the top of the expansive cavern the city was built within with their pointed metal roofs. And in between the two towers, hovering over the middle of the city, was a massive ball of light, which radiated heat with an unfathomable radiance. It was gorgeous, but it was also hard to look at head on, the light scorching Trenton’s cones.

“It’s incredible,” Kiva muttered, her voice light and airy, “isn’t it, Trenton?”

“It is…to think something like this has existed in the mountains this entire time,” Trenton said, wrapping his arm around Kiva’s shoulders.

“Tell me, lad. What does it look like? It’s been ages since I was last here. I wish I could see it,” Raligoth said, a bitter edge to his voice.

Trenton quickly gave an overview of everything he saw, taking care to give some of the finer details. But when he got to the two towers, Garrote scoffed, his eyes boring into the tower on the left, which was marked with the initials “D.I.”

“Something wrong, Garrote?” Kiva asked, looking at him with concern.

“Wheel, you bastard,” Garrote muttered, his face twisted with a wild fury.