She waits too.

Machina's fortress was huge, metallic, and sharp. Thorned creepers crawled over the ramparts, their barbs made of metal. Jagged shards jutted away from the walls for no apparent reason. Everything was harsh lines and sharp edges, even the fey that lived here. Besides the ever-present gremlins, there were more armored knights, hounds made of clockwork, and creatures that looked like metallic praying mantises, their bladed arms and silvery antennae glinting in the dim light.

Isiea avoids them all.

(Sorry!!! Forgot to ping you!!)

(its cool)

Lise is pretty worried. There's no way they'll be able to take on Machina and his army and come out alive.

The dwarfs scattered as they left the staircase, breaking away in little groups of twos and threes. Gremlins scuttled along the walls, chasing one another and tormenting the other fey. Computer mice with tiny ears, feet, and blinking red eyes scurried away. Once, a gremlin landed on one, eliciting a high-pitched squeak, before stuffing the tiny creature into its mouth and crunching the sparks.

Even if it wasn't a real mouse, she thought it was disgusting anyway.

Isiea ignores it all.

At last they discovered a staircase, spiraling up hundreds of feet along the tower walls. There seemed to be an nfinite number of stairs. This was the one. Ethan was up there. And Machina.

Isiea picks up the pace.