FSE

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Chapter 1

The Iron Doors

Tek wished he had been born before the end of the world. In a time when kingdoms and villages could exist outside of walls, and rats weren’t forbidden to leave The Burrow. Life had become plain for his kind. Painfully so. His daily routine usually went as such. Wake up and try to find something to eat before making the arduous climb to The Iron Doors. Try not to disturb any dragons when entering the upper peaks of the mountains. Monitor The Iron Doors until the sun begins to set and practice his rune tapping. Then, climb back down to The Burrow and get what sleep he could before repeating the process the next day, and of course pray the crimson moon never rises.

The sun was particularly hot today and Tek wanted nothing more than to pour his water skin over his fur. Sadly that would leave him with no water for the journey back down the mountains. So he sat in the scarce amount of shade provided by the rocks jetting out around The Iron Doors. Being a rat was enough to make Tek feel small, but being next to The Iron Doors was enough to fill even a dragon’s heart with inadequacy. Stretching higher than any building Tek had ever read about and reaching out wider than a dozen dragon’s wing spans, The Iron Doors were a divine mystery to the world. Glowing runes carved deep into the metal erupted with a constant flow of ethereal light. Staring into the runes was like staring into a tempest of magic, each rune blazing with energy. Little was known about The Iron Doors, only that the last time they opened, the world came to an end.

Picking up a stick, Tek etched a rune into the dirt. A bitter sadness welled up inside of him at the sight of the rune, and he violently pushed down memories that tried to creep into the forefront of his mind. A tear dropped from his fur, dotting the dirt next to his freshly drawn rune. Wiping the tear away, he took in a deep breath and cleared his heavy mind. There wasn’t enough water to waste on tears.

The smell of sulfur filled Tek’s nostrils. A dragon must be making its den nearby. If he followed the scent he would likely find a hoard of treasure along with a fiery death. So he kept quiet, looking over the details of the only rune he’d ever learned. The symbol lay dormant in the ground, a powerless rune that would appear alien to most, but when Tek placed his hand over the strange symbol, the rune burst with silver light.

In an instant Tek’s body filled with power. His eyes became a storm, crackling with silver light as his physique struggled to contain the magic writhing within his body. In his mind he swore he could hear the screaming of rats.

It wasn’t your fault. a child’s voice said from somewhere behind him.

“Yes it was.” Tek whispered, breathing heavily. He was afraid to turn around. Afraid he might see her standing there, bloody with that scared look in her eyes. It had been years since Iary had died. Yet every time he closed his eyes he saw her again and again.

“Toying with your little magic tricks again?” A different voice called out from above him. Tek looked up to see his sister, Gritta, lounging across one of the rocks that stretched into the shade.

“Tell him to stop wasting his time. We found a better way to spend it.” A more gruff female voice spoke. Tek recognized it to be his other sister, Gretta.

Tek sighed, then pulled his hand away from the rune, extinguishing the light. Letting out a long breath, the magic slowly dissipated from his body, giving off the illusion of silver mist rising from his otherwise red fur. “You found the dragon, didn’t you?” Tek asked. Gritta and Gretta jumped down to his side, smiling down at him mischievously.

“Come on Tek, you always enjoy trying to prove you’re the more cunning. Why not take this chance to prove it once and for all?” Gretta asked.

“If I wanted to prove I am more intelligent, I would just make the intelligent decision to stay here.” Tek said, tapping his spear against the tip of Gretta’s snout, stopping her advance. She wrinkled her nose in annoyance.

Gritta pushed her sister out of her way before sitting beside Tek. “You’ve already mastered your soul rune. You may spend the rest of your life drawing it into the dirt in this same spot, constantly trying to convince yourself that you’re furthering your understanding of rune tapping or, you can come with us. It’s a dragon hoard, Tek - do you have any idea how many runic scrolls you could find?”

“You only want the gold.” Tek sneered.

“You seek scrolls, I seek gold. What difference does it make? Either way, greed is greed. Don’t pretend you’re any better by having a differing desire. Imagine how much food we could buy.” Gritta said, gesturing to Tek’s bag. It contained Tek’s meal for the day. A single apple that had already begun to rot.

“No one wants to trade with a rat.” Tek said, hiding his meager meal.

“Kobolds will trade with anyone. We give them the gold, they will bring us whatever we want for it, and you know it.” Gritta said. Tek looked back down at the dormant rune inscribed into the dirt, but Gritta stomped her foot onto it, smearing it back to nothing. “You’ve triggered that rune a thousand times.”

“Three rats can’t outwit a dragon.” Tek said, getting to his feet.

“Oh Tek, we both know you don’t believe that,” Gritta said, smirking. “And if you don’t think three is enough,” Gritta grabbed Tek’s spear and handed it to him forcefully, “Then you can always split your soul into more.”

The scent of sulfur grew ever stronger as Tek followed his sisters towards the dragon’s den. Smoke billowed into the sky in the distance, heralding the beast's presence. He had never seen a dragon up close before, only massive shadows whenever one of the winged reptiles would fly overhead while he was guarding The Iron Doors. Gritta and Gretta ran ahead, stealthily crouching in the shadows by a ridge. Tek followed, peering over the rock to see the massive slumbering beast. Puffs of smoke rose from the dragon’s nostrils as it growled quietly in its sleep. Tek found himself squinting from the sunlight reflecting on the pile of precious metals the dragon had collected. Yet no scrolls could be seen.

“We’ll just need a closer look.” Gritta said, reading the disappointment on Tek’s face. Gretta punched him playfully on the arm, before running off down the side of the mountain, careful not to make too much noise that may disturb the dragon’s slumber. Tek followed, if only to make sure his sisters didn’t get themselves killed.

Pulling the front of his hood up over his snout, Tek tried not to choke on the fumes. The air was thick with dragon smoke and the closer they descended to the beast's lair, the darker the air became. Tek could now make out features of the dragon he could not before. Its amber scales had coins and jewels encrusted into them. Two horns erupted from its brow curving back in a spiral. Spines protruded down the length of the dragon’s back that looked sharper than any sword the rodent had ever seen.

Tek’s eyes flicked from the dragon to the hoard surrounding it. Though few in number, he could make out several canisters that could potentially contain the knowledge of rune tapping that he desperately craved. “Looks like there’s something here for both of us after all,” Gretta whispered into Tek’s ear, “You know, we could use more hands to carry some of this gold back to The Burrow.”

Sticking the butt of his spear into the dirt, Tek etched out the runic symbol for soul splitting, then placed his palm over the rune. Silver light erupted from the symbol and Tek’s eyes. He could feel the runic energy fill his body, and removed his hand from the symbol, careful not to draw in too much of its power.

The runic magic filled his body. It felt exhilarating. Yet he also felt her. Staring at him from behind as he always did when he called upon his power. Tek didn’t look behind him.

A second identical copy of Tek, both in appearance and knowledge, stood beside the rat. He took a moment to get a feel for how much runic energy he had absorbed. “I’d say we have about an hour before my soul converges. Take only the treasure furthest away from the dragon near our escape route. If something goes wrong I will distract it as best I can. You two just run for safety.”

“An hour is all you got from that?” Gretta explained, her ears and tail drooping in disappointment, “I’ve seen you pull twice as much time from far smaller symbols.”

“It’s dangerous to take in too much energy. Besides, I’d rather not tempt you with more time.” Tek said, before stepping out into the dragon’s lair.

Gretta rolled her eyes at this. “You just feel guilty using your power. When are you going to-” Gritta cut her sister off with a swift punch to the arm.

“Let’s just get this over with.” Quietly, Tek ran to the first canister, removed the lid, and frowned in disappointment to find it filled with coins.

“Jackpot.” Gretta whispered, yanking the canister from the treasure pile.

A small, but noisy, avalanche of gems and gold spilled down around them.

Both Tek, and his copy stood with spears pointing towards the dragon, putting themselves between it and each of his sisters. If the dragon awoke, then there would undoubtedly be casualties on their end. Dragons were extremely dangerous, and four rats were no match for such a powerful beast.

The best Tek could hope for would be a quick death for either himself or his copy, while his sisters escaped. Soul splitting allowed for either himself or his copy to die, so long as the other survived. If Tek were to perish, then all his memories and experiences since the split would return to his surviving copy, and the same would happen if his copy were to die. While this essentially would give him a second life, the trauma of experiencing death itself was a hefty toll he would rather not pay, as the pain of his dead self would return as well.

Hushing Gretta and throwing her a stern look, Tek smacked her over the back of the head. “Ow” Gretta squeaked.

“Be more careful,” Tek said through clenched teeth, “I’d rather not know what it feels like to burn alive.” Gretta nodded, then Tek moved onto the next canister. It contained several small scrolls. Carefully removing them from the canister, he skimmed each of their contents, disappointed to find they only contained maps and intercepted messages from the squabbling kingdoms that had shunned The Burrow for hundreds of years. He would find no personal gain from such texts.

One canister in particular caught his eye. Onyx in color, with a ruby encrusted in the lid, it looked to contain something of great importance. Getting to it, however, would take him far from their only escape. He signaled to Gritta and Gretta to finish up taking what they could carry. Then his copy made sure to usher them towards the exit. Creeping towards his prize, he slid the lid off, revealing only a single scroll. Drawn onto the scroll was a single rune. An incredible rarity. Each rune was but a single word in the written language of dead gods, used to speak reality into being and lost to mortals for thousands of years. Tek rolled the paper around his spear, before tying it off. Turning to take his leave, he found himself being thrown back onto the treasure hoard by an earth shattering boom. The ground shook violently and Tek half expected the entire mountain to collapse.

What in the name of the guardians was that? Tek thought to himself.

The dragon stirred from its slumber, locking eyes with Tek. Unable to spend any time considering what had caused the tremor, Tek hurled his spear with all the strength he could muster. It flew singing through the air, past the dragon’s neck as it reared back its head. Gritta jumped into the air by the entrance of the lair to catch the spear, as the dragon’s maw opened revealing red hot flames only seconds before they engulfed Tek.

Tek’s soul, memories, and experiences he had experienced since the soul split returned violently to his copy. He screamed and thrashed as the feeling of fire biting at his skin burst into his mind. Burning flesh from bone in an intense heat, before being overwhelmed by the icy touch of death. Gritta and Gretta grabbed him by the arms, forcing the three of them tumbling down the mountainside as the dragon roared angrily in the distance behind them. Fire and smoke erupted in the sky as it unleashed its fury on the mountain itself.

Gretta held Tek close, his entire body now trembling as the experience of death lay at the forefront of his mind. He squeaked quietly to himself, as Gretta covered his mouth with her hand as the dragon swooped overhead. Tek spasmed violently.

“Hold him still!” Gritta hissed.

“I’m trying!” Gretta said, her voice panicked as she tried to prevent her brother from thrashing in agony. Gritta pointed out a kobold hole nearby and with Gretta’s help, they supported Tek under each of his arms and moved him into the hole. There they would wait out the dragon’s hunt until it returned to its lair.

“You’re okay Tek. It’s not real. You’re still alive, we won’t let it find you. Stop trembling, you’re safe now.” Gritta whispered. But it had been real. The fire, the pain, the death. All of it had happened. Tek merely was able to pass the experience and the split part of his soul back into his copy. All the memories of the copy had lingered as well. His concern for his sister’s safety. His annoyance at Gretta for almost waking the beast. His attempt to brace for the convergence. It hadn’t been enough.

Gretta pulled Tek’s water skin free and poured it over his head. Shaking off the water, Tek seemed to snap out of his trance-like state. The cool liquid helped him push the inferno to the back of his mind, although he knew the memory would never be extinguished. Sitting up and pressing his back against the cool rock he stared at the entrance, too nervous to close his eyes for fear the dragon’s flame would consume his mind.

“Are you going to be okay?” Gritta asked.

“Yeah, I think I just need a few minutes.” Tek said. He felt exhausted and his body was still trembling. Rune tapping had never been that physically tolling on his body. Not since…

Something prodded at Tek’s side and he turned to see Gritta poking him with the butt of his spear. His original spear, with the scroll still intact. He smiled, opening the scroll he began to memorize the runic marking. The dragon would be patrolling for a while, which would leave him with ample time to look over the scroll and try to forget the fiery heat of dragonfire and the resulting cold embrace of death.

The sun had begun to set when the air finally grew still and the dragon had returned to its lair. “You seem better.” Gretta said, nervously broaching the subject.

“I’m just trying not to think of it, but I can still feel the sting of his flames.” Tek said, not looking up from his scroll.

“We should get moving,” Gritta said, getting to her feet and walking towards the exit, “You won’t be able to read that scroll in the dark anyway and it’s a long walk back to The Burrow. Besides, I don’t want to...” Gritta paused. Tek looked to his sister to see her staring at the sky, seemingly in shock.

“Gritta?” Gretta asked, stepping away from Tek and cautiously approaching her sister. Tek got to his feet and tucked the scroll between his waste and his loincloth, then hurried to see what it was that had captured their attention. An icy chill ran through his body as the sky was blood red. The crimson moon hung at the sky’s center and the distant howl of demons sent his fur on edge. He hadn’t seen the bloody light of the demon moon since he was a child, but he could never forget the sight of the wounded sky. Nor the screaming that accompanied it.

*****

“Can you soul split?” Gretta asked, the moon above bathing the land in crimson light made Gritta and Gretta’s fur look almost as red as Tek’s did naturally.

“I’d rather not,” Tek said, crouching behind a rock and keeping an eye out for any shadows that may be lurking in the pass below, “The more bodies we have the harder it will be to hide. We should make for the nearest entrance to The Burrow.”

“We won’t find one for at least another mile.” Gritta said, exchanging a nervous look with Gretta.

“Then we should start walking,” Tek said, carefully making his way down the mountainside, “If we stay here a demon will find us for sure.”

The cacophony of cackles and howls of beings long bound behind The Iron Doors nauseated the mind. Tek could hear distant shouts in a language whose words sounded almost impossible to pronounce and pained his ears to hear. He tried his best to focus on the path in front of him, all the while staying low and praying a demon wouldn’t come across their path.

“This can’t be happening,” Gritta squeaked, “The next crimson moon shouldn’t be for another few weeks.”

“Did the rest of the world know this was going to happen?” Gretta asked.

“If they did, they didn’t feel the need to warn Rodentia,” Tek whispered, “How typical.”

Overhead a shadow eclipsed the light of the crimson moon as a cloud of winged demons swarmed through the air, combing the landscape for any sign of life. Tek thought this would be the end as they passed overhead, until he heard the roar of a dragon in the distance.

Tek’s fur stood on end, and his skin burned as memories of the dragon’s fire caused him to drop to a knee.

Gritta squeezed his shoulder, grounding his mind back to reality. Getting back to his feet, Tek pressed on. Better to have the dragon deal with the flock of demons than their small band of rats.

The sound of pebbles tumbling down the path behind then caught Tek’s attention, and he pulled Gritta and Gretta back behind the nearest rock. A snarl followed by the sound of claws scraping against stone grew closer. Tek squeezed his spear, and began to outline the rune for soul splitting into the ground at his feet. As the demon drew closer, Tek placed his foot over the rune, and it burst into silver light. His eyes erupted with magical energies, as he split into two beings. One climbed the side of the mountain, his spear held in his mouth. The other remained with Gritta and Gretta, waiting cautiously for the demon to appear. He had only tapped into a small well of the runes magic, his soul would converge in only a matter of minutes. It would be more than enough time.

Gritta and Gretta pulled out knives they had hidden in their cloaks. Rats always had weapons on them. They were necessary for survival in the mountains. But every rat preferred stealth over combat if possible. In a hostile world, those seen as prey were often at a disadvantage when it came to direct conflict.

Dust kicked in the air, as the demon sniffed the path just around the corner. Hiding was no longer an option, and if they were going to be found, it was best to have the element of surprise. Tek leapt out of hiding and thrust his spear into the demon’s gut. It made an awful trumpeting sound, rearing back and spitting some kind of strange liquid at him. He barely managed to dodge it, but where it touched the ground it bubbled and melted the very stone of the mountain around it. Gritta and Gretta screamed defiantly, rushing to aid their brother. With a swing of its arm, the demon nearly knocked all three of the rats off the mountainside. Gretta managed to duck under the attack, while both Tek and Gritta barely managed to cling to the cliff’s edge. Gretta stabbed her knife into the demon’s leg, but it merely hissed and grabbed her by the throat, lifting her in the air.

The demon cackled, turning back to look at Gretta, who let out a choked squeak. The demon opened his jaws to reveal unnaturally jagged teeth. A drop of saliva slid from his mouth so large that it made a splash upon impacting the ground. However the demon’s bite would never come.

The split copy of Tek dove down from the mountainside bringing his spear deep into the demon’s skull, causing the creature to let out a horrid screech as it thrashed before falling limp. Gretta scrambled away from the demon’s grasp as its body burst into a violent display of multicolored fire. Moments later, Tek’s soul converged, leaving memories of his struggle with the demon as well as his journey up the mountain to ambush it. Gretta pulled Gritta safely away from the cliff’s edge and they continued to make for The Burrow. Their conflict had not been a quiet one, and the faster they could distance themselves from the cliff the better.

“I’ve never been out of The Burrow during a crimson moon. Where are the demons coming from? I always thought there would be a portal or something.” Gretta asked, between panting breaths as they continued to run.

“I read they can appear anywhere the crimson moon shines its light. They will be all over the continent by now.” Tek said.

As the rats reached the base of the mountain the true scale of the invasion had become clear. Demons ran wild across the lands, scouring for victims. Gritta grabbed Tek by the wrist and pulled him towards the entrance to The Burrow, but something caught his eye. “There’s a kobold out there.” He said, noting a small kobold wandering aimlessly in the open. She looked horrified.

“We’ll die if we stay out here.” Gretta said, “No one would look back for a rat. Why should we look back for a kobold?”

“If we don’t help her, then we’re only proving to the world that we are what they imagine us to be.” Tek said, pulling free from his sisters and running for the kobold. He could hear them shouting at him to return, but his mind was already made up.

I can save her, Tek thought to himself, It will be different this time…

“Hey you!” Tek called out, the kobold saw Tek approaching and ran in his direction.

Unfortunately, Tek’s shouting had also gained the attention of several demons, who quickly galloped in his direction on hooved feet. Tek cursed to himself, and threw his spear at the first of the three demonic entities. He managed to hit the demon in the arm, causing it to let out a howl, but it hardly slowed their advance. By now the kobold had reached him, and stood looking up at him, confused and scared. Grabbing the kobold by the arm, Tek hurried her towards the entrance to The Burrow.

A searing pain shot through Tek’s left leg and he dropped to the ground screaming. A serrated whip coiled around his leg, digging into his flesh. Yanking on the whip, blood burst from the rodent’s fur causing Tek’s scream to amplify. He could feel the whip digging deep into his muscle. A wicked grin sprawled across the demon’s face, as if savoring his agony like one would a fine wine.

The kobold grabbed the center of the whip and bit through the leather, freeing Tek. Pulling the whip free from his leg, Tek began frantically etching a rune into the dirt.

A knife flew through the air, nearly catching Tek’s ear, and struck one of the demons in the center of the chest. The demon let out an ear piercing scream before exploding into pink and black flames. “Get up you little red idiot!” Gretta shouted, pulling at Tek’s arms. Tek refused to leave, completing his rune, as Gritta fought off one of the other demons. Silver light exploded from the runic drawing and Tek’s soul split into another copy. Unfortunately, his copy was just as injured as he was.

“We can’t fight them off and they won’t leave a chance for an easy kill.” Tek said.

“Are you sure about this?” Gretta asked. Tek nodded, but he was fully aware she could tell he was lying. Then he allowed his sisters to pull his copy back to The Burrow, along with the kobold, as more demons came into being in the crimson light.

A hunched demon strode towards Tek. If he could stand, then the demon would have stood about a head taller than him even with its hunch. A loud scraping sound scratched at the rodent’s ears as the demon dragged a scythe across the ground. The demon looked like something out of a disturbed child's drawing. His arms were too long and seemed to stretch and shrink like an accordion. “How noble to let your friends get away,” The demon gargled, as if its throat found it difficult to form the words. “You will pay dearly for that.” His face looked to be carved like a jack o'lantern and a pink fire seemed to illuminate its head. Two long, almost rabbit-like ears stretched over the back of its head like antennas and his skin almost seemed to be the texture of crumpled up paper. The demon let out another chuckle, that same ticking sound emanating from its throat. “Does my appearance frighten you?”

Reaching for his spear, Tek hurled it at the demon. To the rat’s surprise, its flesh tore like paper, and the demon howled like an injured animal. The horrible shriek that emanated from the demon’s maw turned to that same twisted ticking sound that the rat had interpreted as laughter. To Tek’s horror the demon was not only still alive, but dozens of glowing hands were not reaching out towards him from the wound created by his spear. “What’s wrong rat? Are you scared?” Then the demon pounced on him, and began tearing his body apart.

Tek, or rather the copy of Tek, it was all the same to him, was pulled into the dark of The Burrow. The kobold crouched nervously in the dark nearby as Tek’s sister held him, knowing full well what was about to happen. Tek could hear his own screams from outside The Burrow as the demon turned that version of him into a bloody mess. Closing his eyes he waited for the pain, memories, and death to come pouring into him. When silence finally fell outside The Burrow, Tek let out a wail of torment. It had not been a quick death. Nor a painless one. Gritta and Gretta held their brother close as he thrashed and screamed for hours, until the crimson light disappeared and the sun rose once more.

*****

“How’s the leg?” Gritta asked. It had been several hours since the sun had risen. Hundreds of rats had gone missing overnight. Confusion and panic was rampant as the world tried to piece together such a violent and unprecedented attack.

“Not as bad as I originally thought,” Tek said, standing up and putting his weight on his leg to show he could walk. “The demon’s blade must have been made to cause more pain rather than real damage.”

“And how are you doing?” Gritta asked.

Tek hesitated before answering. “I think I’ll be fine. I’m going to try not to die for a while.” He joked, still trying not to think about any of the events that had occurred the day prior.

“You haven’t slept at all.” Gretta said.

“Neither have you.” Tek retorted.

“We’ve both napped. Besides, we didn’t die,” Gritta snapped, holding up two fingers “Twice!”

“I’m here,” Tek gestured to himself, “I’m present. Clearly I’m not dead.”

“You know what we mean!”

“I’ll survive. All pain passes in time.” Tek said, You’re lying. A voice said in his mind. He pushed the voice away and continued speaking, “How are you two holding up?”

“You’re just trying to change the subject, but if you must know, I’m doing terribly.” Gretta complained.

“You’re what?” Gritta asked, an expression of confusion and disbelief falling on her face.

“I’m the only one of the three of us who didn’t kill a demon. Tek stabbed one through the head, Gritta threw a knife into that other one and it exploded! I’m supposed to be the tough one. Everyone is going to know I was the only one out of the three of us who didn’t get a kill!”

“They’re going to know because you’re literally shouting it. Just lie and tell them you killed two. We don’t care.” Tek said.

“You’re the tough one?” Gritta asked.

“I’ll know Tek,” Gretta said, her voice still raised, “And yes Gritta, I am the tough one.”

“Tek literally died for you, but if you insist.” Gritta shrugged, ignoring her sister’s outburst and turned her attention back to Tek. “Your little kobold friend wanted to talk to you, she’s been waiting outside The Burrow since the sun rose and the demons were banished.

“She left The Burrow?” Tek asked.

“Technically she was escorted by the guard. Outsiders aren’t allowed in The Burrow, you know that. You should be happy they let her stay until the crimson moon set.” Gritta said.

“Rats aren’t that heartless.” Tek said, looking out the tunnel. “I’m going to The Iron Doors. We should check to make sure they’re undamaged.”

“We’re coming too.” Gritta said.

“No, the threat of another invasion is gone, at least until nightfall. I will be back by then. I don’t need either of you getting tempted by another stupid treasure hunt.”

Gritta and Gretta’s ears drooped guiltily. Tek rustled the fur atop both their heads, then left The Burrow. The kobold was waiting for him, sitting on a rock. She nearly knocked him over with how quickly she rushed at him.

“You’re the rat who saved me!” The kobold said excitedly.

“Yeah, I’m Tek.” Tek noticed something he hadn’t the night prior. The kobold had runic markings on her forearms and engraved into her horns. Before he could get a good look at the kobold wrapped her arms around him and squeezed.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” The kobold said. Tek felt as if she was squeezing the air out of his lungs. “I’m Gimmick.”

“Well I’m glad I could help, but if you don’t mind me asking where did you get those markings? Are you a rune tapper?”

“A what?” Gimmick’s head tilted curiously.

“A you know… like that thing I did last night?”

“The thing where you died and saved everyone?” Gimmick said bluntly.

“I… uh… yeah, kind of.” Tek turned to look at the sky. He wanted to make sure he could make the trip up and down the mountain with time to spare. “I have to go now, but I’m glad I could help.”

“Can I come? I owe you after all. Maybe I can help carry your stick?” Gimmick gave Tek the biggest grin he had ever seen.

“Well it’s a long walk, and I can’t really afford to be slowed down. You know, just in case there’s another crimson moon.” Tek said awkwardly. Gimmick stared at him, her smile not the least bit daunted. Realizing the kobold would likely follow him regardless of what answer he gave her, he sighed, then gestured for her to follow. “What were you doing all alone outside anyway?” Tek asked.

“My memory of what happened before you showed up is a little foggy. I remember rats screaming and dragonfire…” Gimmick said.

Tek felt as if his heart had been ripped out. Knowing it was his raid that had angered the dragon.

“Then you showed up and saved me.” Gimmick continued.

“I’m glad I could help, but you don’t owe me anything. You should go back to your people. There might be someone looking for you.” Tek said.

“I’m not sure there’s anyone left to look for me.” Gimmick’s voice trailed off and she stood still staring at the ground, distant in thought. “But if you want me to go I understand-”

“No!” Tek said quickly. “No, that’s not what I meant, I just… You should really come to check on The Iron Doors with me. They’re quite impressive if you’ve never seen them before.”

“Okay!” Gimmick perked up, “So those were your sisters fighting with you? Do you have a big family?”

“Uh, technically I have thousands of siblings. My mom is the queen so-”

“That makes you a prince!” Gimmick grabbed Tek by the shoulders and shook him excitedly.

“Yeah, but a vast majority of my siblings are sisters and we live in a matriarchy so-”

“Wow, a prince!” Gimmick exclaimed again, still shaking him. Tek removed her arms and not wanting to dampen her spirits allowed her to continue skipping excitedly behind him as if his title actually meant something. Gimmick continued to question him the entire climb. “Can you make me a knight?”

“Do you want to be a knight?” Tek said, thankful they were approaching The Iron Doors.

“I mean… no, not really.” Gimmick said, scratching at her horns.

“Well, good because I can’t make you a knight.”

As The Iron Doors came into view, Tek allowed himself to relax a bit. The doors had no visible damage to them and still remained closed. Gimmick was stunned at the sight of such an enormous construct, and Tek had to turn back to get her, not noticing she had stopped following him. “They’re quite something, aren’t they?” Tek said.

“I never knew they were so big, and the view from up here is amazing! You can see the forbidden valley from here.” Gimmick said, staring off over the horizon.

“Surely you’ve been out past the forbidden valley. I thought kobolds crossed over the surrounding mountains to trade with the rest of the kingdoms.” Tek asked, prying in an attempt to learn more about the kobold.

Gimmick shook her head. “I don’t ever recall leaving my cliff...” She trailed off. “In fact, I’m having a hard time remembering anything prior to last night.”

Tek frowned. He had been trying to avoid staring at the strange runic markings on her horns and forearms. It felt rude to examine someone he had just met so closely, but there was something about them that seemed familiar. Then it dawned on him. “Gimmick those runes on your horns and arms. How long have you had them?”

Gimmick tilted her head in thought, “As long as I can remember, which uh… isn’t very long.” She looked at her feet embarrassed.

“Your runes match those inscribed into The Iron Doors. They’re… oh no.” Tek said, a feeling of dread washing over him as he noticed something about The Iron Doors he hadn’t upon his approach.

“What’s wrong?” Gimmick asked. Tek could hear the clacking of her claws tapping against the stone as she ran to his side.

“The runes in The Iron Doors always glow a steady blue glow, but look there.” Tek pointed to one of the runes near the top of the doors. The light of the rune had completely extinguished.

“What does it mean?” Gimmick asked.

“It means The Iron Doors are damaged. We need to warn the rest of the kingdoms before-” Tek froze. He heard something that scared him even more than the dragon fire and demon howls. It was a subtle thing, but it sent the chill of death throughout his entire body. A slow, but rhythmic pounding was coming from the other side of The Iron Doors.