covered, we had to shout to hear each other. And even with the mask, I could feel the poisonous air deep in my lungs, burning me from the inside out. The foul smell accosted my nose and each step was a battle.
In the end, we didn’t see Skormhead until the gates loomed over us, a dark scar on the landscape, at the roots of the jagged black mountains. A smooth, rock wall, taller and more rigid than the one surrounding the citadel, stretched between two jagged cliffs framing a narrow ravine.
The settlement crawled upwards like giant stairs, a multi-leveled city built into the rocks. Massive statues guarded the entrance, armored elite with shields and raised swords. I wondered if they knew what they were guarding.
The air seemed to roar and we were blasted by heat, before I realized it must be the purification engines within, creating a bubble of breathable air inside the compound, but also a wall of burning projectiles that stung us like murderous hornets.
As we got closer, the statues towered above us, the round heel of their boots stomping through the concrete barrier like they’d been carved from one piece of rock. Their helmeted faces were stern; their eyes covered. I couldn’t tell if they were beckoning us to shelter or warning us to stay away.
“Stay back,” Trevor said, pulling us down behind a sharp ridge in the desolate landscape. “They’ll have spotters on the walls.”
I scanned the compound, which looked more like a military outpost than a human settlement. Narrow ledges cut into the earth were linked with steep staircases carving zig-zag patterns up the face of the rocky mountain, and through the ash I could see great blooming trees and statues of onyx and gold. It was like an oasis in the middle of hell, garish and ostentatious.
“Look,” I said, pointing up at the top of the city, barely visible through the ash. Above the rigid, blocky houses leaning haphazardly out from the rock, a structure of glass and steel jutted forward proudly.
And on top of everything else, a tall circular door cut into the side of the mountain. Even from this distance it dwarfed the buildings beneath it.
“How do you know what’s in there?” Luke asked. “It could be anything.”
“But the ash is thick here, right? It seems to be coming straight out of the top of that mountain.”
“Why build a compound here, this close? If it’s meant to be this massive secret? I mean, wouldn’t the compound notice, and know the truth?”
“We don’t know what King Richard’s been telling them,” Jazmine said. “Maybe they have their own myths here. Maybe they tell people what they need to know.”
“Did any of the other compounds have a giant, ominous steel door built into the side of the mountain?” I asked. “Maybe Richard keeps a military presence here to defend his big weakness, maybe it’s all engineers and mechanics. They might not all know what’s really going on here, they probably never leave the compound. From inside, would you even know which way the ash was blowing if you never saw it yourself?”
“I’ll bet Richard keeps them fed and comfortable, and they don’t ask questions,” I said. “They just breed and pay their blood tax and live in blissful ignorance. I mean, look at that place, it’s practically a palace. Maybe this is where his guards go to retire after years of service. All I know is, if there’s a machine brewing ash, it would be here, and probably that’s the way in.”
“Okay fine,” Trevor said, “but it’s not like they’re going to let us in like in the other compounds. I’ll bet they don’t get many traders or random strangers rolling into town. They probably shoot trespassers on sight.”
I frowned, staring up at the sleek wall of massive stones, too smooth for even a toehold. Even full of elixir I wouldn’t be able to jump it, and if I did, there would no doubt be dozens of guards waiting inside.
But I couldn’t just give up, and going back wasn’t an option now that we were this close. My eyes scanned the surrounding rocks, squinting into the flaming ash.
“What about that?” I asked, pointing to the rocks to the side of the city.
“What?” Luke asked.
“I see it,” Camina nodded grimly.
High above the town, spanning a fissure in the rock face, was a feeble-looking bridge of wooden planks and wire.
“If there’s a way to cross, that must mean there’s a path.”
“It’s just solid rock,” Trevor said, scanning