The celebration lasted well into the night.
Forkroot's villagers set up bonfires. Musicians dragged out battered lutes and drums. Kids ran around wearing goat horns, pretending to ride siege lizards. Tessa sat on a barrel, throwing knives at a target with terrifying precision.
Kai was parked at a rickety banquet table, halfway through a suspiciously purple meat pie, when the mayor leaned in conspiratorially.
"Grand Defender," the mayor whispered. "There's... another matter we hoped you might help with."
Kai narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Does it involve more goats?"
"No!" the mayor said hurriedly. "Well. Probably not. Maybe just a few."
"Great," Kai muttered.
The mayor unfurled a yellowed old map onto the table. It was hand-drawn, messy, and smelled faintly like pickles.
"Long ago," the mayor said dramatically, "Forkroot was built atop an ancient outpost. Some kind of old magic or tech from the Founders' era."
"Founders?" Kai asked, leaning closer.
"The first settlers from the other world," Tessa piped up, joining them. "The ones who built half the weird stuff nobody understands anymore."
Kai's heart skipped a beat.
Other world.
Tech ruins.
Magic fusion.
Exactly his kind of chaos.
The mayor stabbed a pudgy finger at a spot near the river bend.
"We found a sealed hatch two summers ago," he whispered. "Too dangerous to open. But you... you have the Goose. The Goose can do anything!"
Kai wiped his hands on his jacket.
"First of all, that's extremely accurate," he said proudly. "Second — sure. I'm in."
The Next Morning:
Kai prepped the Iron Goose for exploration mode.
"Deploying subterranean scanning protocols," G.A.I.L. chirped. "Warning: probability of traps, curses, and/or giant rats is approximately 73%. Proceed with stylish caution."
"Stylish caution is my middle name," Kai said, flipping down his aviator shades.
Tessa climbed into the passenger seat, backpack loaded.
"Figured you'd need backup," she said.
"You just want to see me set off a deathtrap," Kai grumbled.
"Correct," Tessa said cheerfully.
At the Riverbend:
The hatch was exactly where the map said — half-buried in mud and roots.
It looked ancient. Heavy metal. Strange glowing symbols spiraling outward like a mechanical flower.
Kai climbed out and circled it, whistling.
"This thing looks straight out of a sci-fi museum," he muttered.
"Looks like it's been sealed for centuries," Tessa said, tapping the edge with her dagger.
The Goose projected a 3D hologram of the hatch layout.
"Detecting multi-tiered locking mechanisms," G.A.I.L. reported. "Manual override possible. Caution: triggering the wrong sequence may activate security systems."
"You're saying it could explode," Kai said.
"Or implode," G.A.I.L. said brightly. "Or release a time-anchored ethereal entity! 92% chance of minor inconveniences."
Kai cracked his knuckles.
"Let's risk it."
He used the Goose's mini drone to interface with the hatch's ancient tech.
The drone sparked, buzzed, and beeped, working faster than Kai could follow.
"Progress at 40%," G.A.I.L. said. "50%... 60%..."
Suddenly, the ground trembled.
"Uh... normal?" Kai asked.
"Unknown," G.A.I.L. said cheerfully. "Would you like me to prepare your last will and testament?"
Before Kai could answer, the hatch hissed — and opened.
Cold mist rolled out. The air shimmered with old magic.
And beyond the hatch... stairs led down into darkness.
Tessa shivered.
"Well," she said dryly. "Either that's treasure... or doom."
"Only one way to find out," Kai grinned.
He popped open the Goose's weapon bay, pulling out a sleek collapsible energy rifle and handing a second one to Tessa.
"Partner up?" he said.
"You're buying lunch if we get cursed," she warned.
"Deal."
Together, they stepped into the forgotten ruins.
The Goose's external cameras pivoted automatically, tracking them from above — and quietly scanning something huge and slumbering deeper underground.
Something... that woke when the hatch opened.