Chapter 582 — Inside
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 4
The "Spine," built from a blend of special alloys and rune stone, extended from the base of the Sentinel Tower like some enormous root system, or perhaps like a conduit, running all the way from Thunder Hill to the plains. Long ages of magical erosion out in the wasteland had left the marks of time upon this artifact of civilization; the alloy shell that had once been smooth was now rough and pitted, and the sturdy rune stones blessed by the elements were mottled all over.
But the damage to the shell was only on the surface. Within the Spine, ancient magical devices still operated faithfully, sustaining the Sentinel Tower's normal functions—the Silver Empire might have declined, but the works of the elves were still far more reliable than those of humans.
A small squad of elite steel rangers, led by Suo Jilin, arrived at the northern section of the third Spine. Gao Yang, Amber, Suo You, and an elven mage named Banner stepped to the front of the group. They raised their heads and looked at the raised artificial structure—on the side of the Spine, an ancient gate was quietly sealed shut, and the mottled lettering upon it was still legible: Service Hatch-III.
"Since the Sentinel Towers were completed and the bounds of civilization drew back, this gate has never once been opened..." Suo You stepped forward, running his hand with feeling over the elven-style relief patterns carved into the gate. "There are several dozen Sentinel Towers along the wasteland border, but over the past seven hundred years only a third have received effective maintenance and inspection—some towers are far from the Silver Empire, some are deep within zones of extreme contamination. Those that cannot be maintained rely entirely on the automatic repair systems from back then to keep running."
"Fortunately, most things the elves made are sturdy and durable," Gao Yan nodded, and looked toward the mage named Banner. "Master Banner, the rest is up to you."
Banner, a tall, lean man with long slender eyebrows, nodded. He came to the gate and took from his person a peculiar maple-leaf-shaped metal plate. After inserting it into a gap somewhere among the elven reliefs of flowers, grasses, and trees that adorned the gate's surface, he began channeling magic into the carvings.
A hazy glow flickered across the gate, and deep within, ancient machinery began to turn. All around the gate, one locking mechanism after another released with a creak and a groan—but the gate itself did not budge.
Banner looked at the motionless gate, shrugged, and casually drew a bent-head wrench from the tool pouch at his waist, bringing it down hard on one of the latches beside the gate: "Occasionally... these things need a little help."
He struck three or five times before an audible click finally came from somewhere, and the magical door, adorned with exquisite reliefs, at last swung smoothly open, revealing the dark passage within.
Amber's eyes went wide: "Hey, now... that doesn't exactly match the elegant style the elves are supposed to have."
"If you watched carefully, you'd notice that the arc of my wrench swing was a perfect quarter circle—if you insist on putting it that way, that is elegance," the elven mage said as he put his tools away, glancing at Amber. "The world has a great many mistaken impressions about elves, and the labels are severe. As a half-elf, you of all people mustn't let those false impressions cloud your judgment, little girl."
Amber rolled her eyes at once. Gao Yang, for his part, did not trouble himself at all over whether the elves were elegant or not; he strode toward the gate, warning those around him as he went: "Everyone stay sharp—no living soul has been in here for seven hundred years."
The soldiers crossed the threshold and stepped into the Spine's main passage, and the instant they entered, the breath of the wasteland was shut out behind them.