407 The Archon's Summons

As Arran stepped through the gate that led into the mountain, he found not the simple tunnel he had expected to see, but instead a spacious cavern, nearly a hundred paces deep and half as high.

The floor sloped upward toward the far end, with several rows of low walls with archers standing atop them, while the walls on both sides had stone balustrades that held more archers still. And finally, at the far end of the cavern, there was another gate, also forged from starmetal.

Arran instantly recognized the space for what it was — a killing ground, much like the courtyard one would find beyond a castle's gate. Even if an attacking army somehow broke through the first starmetal gate, its troops would only be able to enter a few at a time, while finding themselves instantly flanked by defenders and pelted with arrows.