"Stay up there and don't move." Although there were barely any living creatures left to trigger in this largely abandoned temple, Ethemon still chose to split the party. Gale, Shadowheart, and Astarion took Scratch and hid on the upper level, where they could keep an eye on the situation below at any moment, while Ethemon and the others placed the forging materials and molds inside and spread out, with Karlach moving to pull the lever near the crucible.
It was only a dozen meters or so from the lava pool, and everyone was drenched in sweat. The lever itself had been baked by years of heat to the point where it could strip a layer of skin off at a touch—only Karlach, long accustomed to the heat and physically augmented, could handle such blistering temperatures.
Karlach planted her feet and threw her weight behind the lever. A sound like thunder echoed from above, followed by a loud *boom* as a massive cylinder slammed straight down from mid-air. The entire ground shook violently, and the whole platform began to descend, drawing gasps from those watching from above.
Chapter 78