Upon stepping into the mountain, it took Seonghwa's eyes a moment to adjust to the all-encompassing darkness. The sparse ray of light through the gate did little to help them find their path, and when the gargantuan doors fell shut with a resounding boom, a pitch black void engulfed them. The sound of the doors lost itself in the distance as the caves reaching into the mountains were too vast for the echo to return.

After a moment of nervous silence and Morana shuffling in the dark as her eyes adjusted quickest of them all, the dwarves had mercy on them and lit a lantern. It dangled on a long staff, casting shadows through its metal cage. Its light was a cool blue, matching the icy glaciers, but the rocky inside of the mountain was clear of snow and ice.

Seonghwa felt in the dark for the closest hand to his and found Aodhán, gently squeezing his fingers. Courageously, Aodhán squeezed back.

"Follow me," the dwarf with the lantern told them gruffly, barely glancing at them from under his dark brows.

Seonghwa thanked him with a graceful nod.

"Should we leave our weapons? We wish to signal we are trustworthy by all means to make your folk comfortable," he suggested, even when San might pull a muscle from his tension if he had to cross the darkness without his trusty blade.

But his husbands had expected as much, so they were ready to heed his call.

The dwarf considered the sword on San's hip.

"Eh? Nah. What are ye gonna do with that toothpick? Scratch my back? Keep 'em, keep 'em." He waved a dismissive hand before he wandered ahead into the stale coldness of their infinite darkness. The light danced over his bulky armour, forged from metals not common anywhere but in the Dwarven North. As their beacon in the dark, he led them down a slight decline while the other dwarves quietly followed.

There was little to see in this area of the path. The road kept winding and dipping up and down, but Seonghwa couldn't tell if they were avoiding obstacles or if a maze provided further safety.

But he could tell they were going deeper. The silence seemed to stretch infinitely, the air still and ice cold. Aodhán's fingers clutched into his provided nervous warmth, but most husbands lost their joy in bickering, silently straining their senses.

The swaying lantern was accompanied by rhythmic taps of the staff on the ground. Soon, they slowed and Seonghwa peered into the darkness to spot another wall closing in on them. Not unlike the path to the Cavern of Nightfall, the dwarves built a route they could easily defend or destroy to their sanctum. Who knew what lurked in the dark? How many weapons were pointed at that passage, ready to wipe out an army in the beat of an eye?

As the dwarf unlocked a second massive gate with a huge key, Seonghwa searched his husbands' faces in the pale shine of the lantern. Most of them looked apprehensive, nervous about being locked in so far inside the mountain with no way out. Mingi and Jongho were most comfortable, and seeing the latter gave Seonghwa confidence as well. The dwarves had many weapons, some automated, some used by hand, sentries and their own muscle power, all the advantage over this area.

But dwarves had no golems. They weren't friends, these two races. Much too often, the dwarves dug their pickaxes and hammers into the rock of the golems, stirring them from their slumber. If the golems moved and caused earthquakes, the dwarves were the first to hunt them down and extinguish their magic with specific machinery that could blast open a golem's body until the magic inside them evaporated.

Jongho was at risk, just like the rest of them. But if the dwarves attacked, he could react quickly enough to create a path out.

For the same reasons, Morana kept Pebble clutched to her chest when the doors swung open with a rumble. Onyx fluttered away indignantly at the rush of cold air from below, sailing over the new stream of light to settle on Yeosang's crown instead.

This time, they stepped into a light-flooded cave. Blue fires lit the grotto with a cold but ethereal glow. Winding stone paths connected small houses that were built into the stone, seemingly halfway swallowed by it, but homey light glowed through the windows.

An abyssal canyon split through the massive cave, easily bridged with stone paths. From below sounded the incessant hammering and hissing of machines. Steam billowed from the darkness as the dwarves worked so deep inside the mountain that the light could no longer reach the village.

Other than the Cavern of Nightfall, where the palace loomed over its population with pride, the buildings of the dwarves carved deeper into the rock, disappearing through the tunnels. Seonghwa didn't immediately spot anything he would regard as a royal dwelling.

The dwarven people wandered about, some in armour but many in casual cotton clothes. They were dressed lighter than the temperatures would demand of most, resilient against the cold, even more so than gryphon-borns. Seonghwa marvelled at elaborately braided hair, at women carving decorations into their houses or stone furniture and at a group of men at a nearby inn downing their drinks and barking their booming laughter.

It was lively, social and bustling. Many trekked up and down from the far end of their mining canyon, bearing heavy equipment in excellent condition to last for centuries of use.

"Stick close together," their guide told them as he extinguished the lantern and turned on his heel to lead the way along the side of the canyon. Seonghwa tugged his hood over his head and his children did the same, not drawing too much attention with their glow from the far skies. Still, their group earned a lot of curious gazes as they marched through. Some dwarves called over in their language, likely inquiring who they were, and their guide answered, but Seonghwa didn't understand those words.

But they remained unbothered by the curious dwarves that passed by them to do their daily business. Huddled in a close group, they followed their guide along the canyon, deeper into the mechanical wonderland of the dwarves.

Instruments of brass and bronze loomed into the air at regular intervals. Some were used to transport metals and gems from the canyon up to the village. They ran by themselves, spinning ever-forth to create a constant influx.

Other machines were powered by steam or water. Creating water currents that flowed through channels along the street, both providing for the homes and feeding water to carve into the stone below.

The machines created a mighty ruckus, scaring Seonghwa and Yeosang since the noise wasn't natural and neither was it fuelled by the familiar feeling of magic.

They also passed bundles of the same metal, curled up into shapes like boxes or big orbs along the street. If the legends spoke true, these were the automatons that guarded the dwarves. Sentries able to move by themselves, powered only by steam and pistoning motors. Their concept was scary and as interested as Seonghwa was to find out the truth about their tales, he was content not to see the sentries from up close.

He remembered asking his instructors in the past how the sentries knew who to attack. There was no talking to them. They were only made to kill anything in sight.

Looking around the marvels of creation as the dwarves greedily dug deeper and deeper to unearth the secrets of the world and find more metals, more treasures, to sell and build with, Seonghwa was more concerned than ever having them as his enemies. So far, the dwarves luckily didn't send their own armies, much too busy mining and smithing to sacrifice their priceless machines. But the weapons they provided left lasting scars on Seonghwa's husbands. If the dwarves ever fully turned on the empire, they would be near impossible to defeat.

Noise carried their way. Familiar languages, familiarly sized bodies. They were near a market, crowded with dwarves offering their wares and outsiders that gained access by invitations. Usually, the dwarven merchants travelled around the empire to offer their expert weapons and armour and even the most sturdy of jewellery there. Seonghwa once possessed some such pieces himself, and they never tarnished with age, never bent. The dwarven prices were high, but their craft was most suitable for royalty.

Several mages were out and about to search for stable magic diffusers and catalysts. Seonghwa saw humans, even a half-elf with pointed ears among them. They took no note of the emperor, busy swooning over the items that caught their fancy.

Seonghwa left them to it. No need to disturb them now.

Their path reached its end as they climbed a few stairs, winding around several houses to find another tunnel. This one was flanked by two more armoured dwarves, looking grim in their position. They had sentries well-sealed by their side, a dozen of them. The only giveaway that something important waited ahead.

One guard looked up when their guide approached him. He beckoned Hongjoong over and the mage smoothly slipped into the position of their leader, not risking Seonghwa catching the wrong sort of attention.

"Got a few guests here. Show em the paper," their guide asked gruffly and Hongjoong smoothly flicked out the invitation, not intimidated by their sharp glares. Yunho knelt next to Buddy while they talked, patting his flanks and whispering that he was doing great, sticking to his side behaved like that.

"An invitation, huh? Oi, ask around whether someone invited an elf." With a jab over his shoulder, the guard sent his companion down the tunnel and she rushed off on short legs, strides firm as they crossed the huge place they made for themselves. The corridor was decorated with art reliefs, carvings depicting past kings, battles against dragons and golems. Treasures seemed to be the greatest achievement to obtain.

Jongho quietly stared, learning the history of the dwarves while Wooyoung shuffled on nervous talons while they waited for the dwarf to return.

The guard peered under Seonghwa's hood, catching the glow of his skin. They were likely informed a group of surfacers were coming, but not of his identity. That was information to sell at a higher price.

"Shiny like a diamond, ain't ye?" The dwarf chuckled with a shrewd grin when he caught a glimpse of Seonghwa's features. Immediately, chain mail crunched by Seonghwa's side as San stepped up.

"Don't you dare speak to him like that," he warned the dwarf, blinding them with his unabashed light. Many dwarves never saw the surface in their long lives, never bothered to look at the sun, the moon, the stars. They were frightening to them, unreachable and uncontrollable. Seonghwa and San looked most peculiar to them.

But the dwarf laughed roughly.

"Calm, calm, lad. We just appreciate beauty where it's due. He's well-carved to yer needs. Not like his two raw crystals here." Amused, he jerked his chin at the kids who weren't as well-hidden, their glow showing on Morana's hands holding on to Pebble and Aodhán's curls peeking from his hood.

San was about to lecture the dwarf about treating the royals with respect when Morana had already lifted her head.

"Raw crystal? Did you see yourself in the mirror? Give that beard a trim before you speak to a lady, will you?" She barked, and the dwarf was stunned to hear a strong female voice among them. His gloved fingers caressed through his beard, self-conscious about its appearance, before he harrumphed.

"Interesting bunch ye are. But touch anything in here and ye won't see the light of day again. We even got some of yer elven friends working off their debts in the mine from breaking stuff. Terribly fragile and weak, those things. Wouldn't want to end up like 'em," he tried to threaten them, but Wooyoung rolled his eyes.

"We wouldn't think of it," Seonghwa assured with a perfectly kind song to his voice. The dwarves could hear it, since stars were made of stone and metal as well. So the guard was too fascinated what being he might be facing to continue arguing before his companion came rushing back through the tunnel.

"Aye, got an invitation for an elf right here. Many of 'em, aren't there? Not even all elves," she huffed, confused by the array of races at their doorstep. They barely regarded Mingi as a threat, but the glowing ones caught their gazes.

"Then go on through. We got an eye on ye," their guard told them, waving them past. Their guide nodded grimly before he picked up their march again, finally entering the residence of their king.