Chapter 45 - Encounter - V
Clutching Selene's arms, we flew in the opposite direction from the one we had taken to Senior Silas's residence.
Heading west toward the mountain ranges, I noticed we were approaching a mountainous area with visible signs of smoke in the sky.
"Where is this blacksmith?" I asked.
"The Imperial Forge is just ahead, inside that volcano over there," Selene replied, pointing to a large opening on the side of the volcano. As we got closer, it revealed a colossal black door.
We landed in front of the black door, and the security of the place was no joke.
A platoon of thirty soldiers was stationed at the entrance of the Imperial Forge, all divided into groups of five. They patrolled the vast area stretching in front of the door, as well as guarding the entrance itself.
"Your Majesty!" they all greeted, kneeling before Selene.
Without a word being spoken, we walked toward the doors, imposing as guardians of a forbidden kingdom.
Their surface was smooth like polished obsidian but studded with ancient runes that pulsed with a reddish glow, as if the volcano itself were breathing through them.
The heat was oppressive, even from meters away, and the air shimmered as if alive, heavy with the scent of sulfur and molten metal that I knew all too well.
'To think I spent three years in a place like this...'