With the sky empty pocket equalized and the sound tumblers locked into their outward detents, the final clockwork interlock was primed.
At the lower right side of the Great Basalt Portal, a heavy bronze rocker arm had pivoted outward from a hidden wall pocket, its knurled handle hanging at waist height. The bronze was coated in a dry, wax-like protective grease that had preserved the metal through thirty thousand years of underground stillness.
Lin Tao stepped up to the lever, his bandaged palms gripping the cold metal firmly.
“Tie Shan,” Lin Tao called softly. “Take the lower grip. On my count, we pull downward with full body weight.”
Tie Shan stepped in behind Lin Tao. He wrapped his massive, scarred hands around the bronze bar above Lin Tao’s grip. The giant’s shoulders bunched, his boots locking into the flat stone slab seams.
“Ready on your word,” Tie Shan said, his jaw rigid.
“Three. Two. One. Pull!”
Together, mortal engineer and mountain miner drove their combined mass downward.
