5 of 5 parts released
The Last Light of Ironspine
When darkness climbs the Ironspine Mountains, two card hunters seek the Elder Ape—and find a forest that still wants to live.
Watch the music videoOfficial soundtrack for this storyThe lamps in Pinewatch went out one by one. Mina and Oren had come to trade cards, but now they were the only ones willing to follow the strange knocking under the mountain.
Part 1 · October 3, 2026
The Knocking Below
By sunset, every lamp in Pinewatch was dark. Mina stood outside the card shop with her pack under her coat. Gray dust fell from the sky. It rested on roofs and covered the empty market stalls. Beside her, Oren shook his little hand lamp. “Still nothing,” he said. “Shaking it more won't help.” “It might help me.” Normally, Mina would have laughed. Tonight, she listened to the mountain. Knock. Knock. Knock. The sound came through the soles of her boots. An old woman stepped out of the shop. Nessa kept the town's cards, maps, and spare keys. She carried a tray of tiny pine trees. Their needles had turned gray. “It's reached the roots,” she said. “What has?” Mina asked. Nessa set down the tray. “Something under the forest is taking its warmth. The upper paths froze this morning. Now our lamps won't burn.” Oren looked toward the Ironspine Mountains. Mist hid their peaks. “Then we should leave.” “The lower bridge is covered in ice,” Nessa said. “We're clearing it. Until then, everyone stays in the meeting house.” She took a card from her pocket and passed it to Mina. A huge ape stood between mountain pines. Its thick gray fur looked like tight coils of wire. Small letters at the bottom read: Elder Ape, Edition 1. Mina knew the card. She had saved for months to buy one. “The forest's guardian,” she whispered. “He doesn't fight for fun,” Nessa said. “But he will protect his home.” “Can this card call him?” “No. It's a field card. Hold it near his tracks, and the picture will grow warm. It can help you find him.” Nessa pointed at the shop's back door. Beyond it, narrow steps climbed into the trees. “The knocking started near the old weather station. I was its keeper once. I can draw you a map.” Mina looked at the gray seedlings. One still had a green tip. She tucked the card into her clear wrist sleeve. “We'll look,” she said. Oren sighed and tightened his pack straps. “Together. No running off.” They climbed until Pinewatch disappeared below them. Then Mina's wrist grew warm. A giant handprint marked the frozen path. Beyond it, a whole pine tree slid sideways into the mist. Something enormous was coming down the mountain.
Part 2 · October 6, 2026
The Guardian in the Mist
Oren pulled Mina behind a rock. The tree moved again. Roots scraped over stone. Then a huge gray hand lifted the trunk and set it beside the path. The Elder Ape stepped through the mist. He was taller than the card shop. Ice clung to his thick fur, but his eyes were clear and watchful. He looked at the children, then at the card on Mina's wrist. Mina slowly raised both empty hands. “We came from Pinewatch,” she said. “The forest is freezing.” The ape turned away. “Wait!” Oren called. The guardian stopped beside a fallen branch. Under it, two small mountain foxes shivered in a hollow. He lifted the branch with one finger. Mina wrapped the foxes in her spare scarf. They pressed close together. The ape watched until she placed them inside a sheltered gap between rocks. Then he started uphill. “I think we're invited,” Mina said. “That's a very large guess.” But Oren followed. The guardian led them through trees with gray needles. There were no bird calls. Even the wind had gone quiet. At a split in the path, Mina checked Nessa's map. “The weather station is that way.” She pointed left. The ape put his hand across the path. A moment later, the ground ahead broke open. Black metal pipes lay under the ice. Frost crawled along them toward the trees. With every knock, the pipes shook. Oren swallowed. “Good thing he checked first.” They followed the pipes to a stone building set into the mountainside. Its roof had fallen in. Through the broken doorway, Mina saw a wheel turning without anyone touching it. A sign hung above the door. WEATHER ENGINE. KEEP GREEN SWITCH RAISED. The switch was down. Mina hurried toward it, but the ape caught the back of her coat. He lifted her off the ground just as a metal door slammed across the entrance. Red letters lit up on the door. HEAT FOUND. DRAWING POWER. The pipes began to shake faster. A thin red light crossed the Elder Ape's chest. He set Mina down and pushed both children behind him. Deep inside the station, something clicked. Metal arms unfolded from the walls. Their open claws turned away from the children and reached straight for the guardian.
Part 3 · October 9, 2026
What the Mountain Remembered
The first claw snapped shut on empty air. The Elder Ape stepped aside. A second claw caught his shoulder, but its metal tips could not pass through his dense fur. He gripped the arm and bent it away. “It's trying to take his heat!” Oren shouted. Mina pulled him behind a low wall. Frost spread across the stones where they had been standing. The ape planted both feet. The mountain shook beneath him. Small stones jumped around his hands. He drew back one huge fist and struck the ground beside the station. A crack raced through the bedrock. The shock knocked the metal arms backward. One broke from the wall. The red light blinked out, and the great wheel slowed. For a moment, everything was still. Then came another knock. A row of blue lights flashed inside the building. The wheel began turning faster than before. “No!” Mina cried. The guardian raised his fist again. “Wait,” Oren said. He pointed to a pipe running into the deep crack. Orange light moved inside it. “Your strike gave it power too!” The ape stared at the pipe. Slowly, he lowered his hand. Mina opened Nessa's map. There were notes on the back, written in small, neat letters. Weather engine: turns ground movement into warmth. Green switch opens the forest vents. Lower switch only during repairs. “Someone left it in repair mode,” she said. “Now it keeps drawing power, but the warmth has nowhere to go.” Oren pointed upward. Fallen roof stones lay across a bent metal bar. The bar pressed down on the green switch. “Not someone. The roof.” Behind the broken arm, Mina spotted a narrow service door. It was too small for the ape, but wide enough for them. They slipped inside while the guardian held the remaining claws back. In a dusty workroom, they found a speaking tube marked TOWN OFFICE. Oren blew into it three times. After a long wait, Nessa's voice crackled through. “Who's there?” Mina explained everything in a rush. “Don't just raise the switch,” Nessa warned. “The stored power needs a safe way out. Find the three vent wheels first.” The floor shook. A heavy shutter dropped across the service door. Mina grabbed the speaking tube. “Nessa? Where are the wheels?” But the tube had gone silent. Above them, a bell rang once. A counter on the wall began counting down from fifty.
Part 4 · October 12, 2026
Fifty Turns of the Heart
“Fifty what?” Oren asked. Mina read the words below the counter. “Until the engine closes every pipe.” Forty-nine. Oren spread the map across a desk. Mina searched the wall beside the speaking tube. She found a faded drawing of the station. “Here! The vent wheels are in this room.” One stood behind the desk. Another was near the ceiling. The third sat inside a cage of bent bars. Forty-six. They pushed the desk aside together. Oren grabbed the first wheel with both hands. It refused to move. “Help!” Mina pulled beside him. Rust cracked. The wheel turned, and warm air hissed through a pipe overhead. One little lamp on the drawing turned green. Forty. Outside, metal scraped against stone. Through a high window, Mina saw the ape holding two claws apart. Ice was spreading over his fingers. “He can't hold them forever,” she said. Oren climbed onto the desk to reach the second wheel. His boots slipped, but Mina caught his ankle. “Got you.” He turned the wheel. A second lamp changed to green. Thirty-two. The third wheel was too far behind the bars. Mina could fit her arm through, but her fingers barely brushed it. Oren searched his pack. He pulled out his card trading mat, a spoon, and a long tent peg. “The peg!” Mina said. She hooked its curved end through the wheel and pulled. It moved a little, then stopped. Twenty-four. “It's stuck on something.” A chunk of roof stone rested against the wheel's lower edge. They could reach the stone, but it was too heavy to lift. Mina looked up at the window. “Guardian! Here!” The ape turned his head. She pointed at the rock, then held her hands close together. “Not a big hit. Just a push.” He released one claw. It scraped across his back as he reached through the window with two thick fingers. Carefully, he pressed the stone aside. Oren pulled the peg. The third wheel turned. All three lamps glowed green. Nine. Now they had to reach the switch outside. The guardian pulled the shutter up. Mina rolled underneath and ran through the doorway. Five. She grabbed the bar pinning the switch down. Oren joined her. They pulled with all their strength. The bar would not lift. Two. Behind them, the Elder Ape raised his massive fist.
Part 5 · October 15, 2026
A Small Green Thing
“Not the ground!” Mina shouted. The Elder Ape opened his fist. He caught the fallen roof beam above the switch and lifted it. Stones rolled off his arm. Oren dragged the bent bar free. Mina pushed the green switch up. The counter reached one. Then it stopped. For a moment, Mina heard only her own breathing. Deep below the floor, a door swung open. Warm air rushed through the three pipes. The metal claws fell loose and hung against the walls. The great wheel slowed to a steady turn. Outside, long strips of frost peeled from the tree roots. Water dripped from the station roof. Oren sat down hard. “I liked this trip better when we were buying cards.” Mina laughed. It came out shaky, but it was a laugh. The Elder Ape set the broken beam safely beside the building. Then he lowered himself onto the path. For the first time, he looked tired. Mina stood near his hand. “Thank you,” she said. He touched the ground with one finger. Water was sinking into the dry dirt. The speaking tube whistled inside. Oren rushed to answer it. Nessa's voice was loud enough for Mina to hear from the doorway. “The lamps are back! What happened?” “We opened the vents,” Oren said. “And we had help.” By morning, Nessa had brought a repair team up the mountain. They locked the green switch in place and built a strong cover over it. Until the station was fully fixed, someone would check it every day. The forest was not well yet. Many trees had lost their needles. Some would not grow again. Gray dust still covered the higher slopes, and the mist hid whole parts of the mountain. But the knocking had stopped. On the walk home, Mina checked the sheltered gap between the rocks. Her scarf was empty. Two sets of small fox tracks led into the trees. Near Pinewatch, she offered the Elder Ape card back to Nessa. “Keep it,” Nessa said. “You know more of its story now.” Mina looked at the picture. The guardian stood among healthy pines, as he had before the cold. “We'll help them grow back,” she said. That afternoon, the town planted Nessa's smallest pine beside the gate. Its single green tip stood above the dark soil. High on the mountain, a huge gray shape watched from the trees. Then the Elder Ape turned and walked deeper into his forest. There was still much to protect. And now, he was not the only one protecting it.