The Language of the Iron Birds

In the rust-eaten city of Aethelgard, colossal clockwork structures groan beneath a smog-choked sky, monuments to a forgotten age.  Here, humanity clings to existence under the watchful gaze of the Iron Birds, ancient automatons whose intricate language of whirs and clicks has long been lost.  Liora Kestrel, a young linguist and tinkerer, lives amongst the discarded gears and sprockets, her mind consumed by the enigmatic machines.  When she repairs a downed Iron Bird, its resurrected voice carries a chilling warning: the core reactors powering their world are on the verge of collapse.
Now, with time running out, Liora embarks on a perilous journey across a fractured world.  Joined by Dominic Reese, an aging cartographer haunted by lost maps, and Sylvia Howard, a botanist who understands the delicate balance between the mechanical and organic, they race to decipher the Iron Birds’ cryptic language and avert a catastrophic shutdown.  Their path leads them through vibrant steam jungles teeming with bio-mechanical life, across bustling gear-driven cities, and towards the volcanic forges where the earth’s fiery breath fuels the relentless machinery.  They must evade the Iron Inquisitors, a zealous sect led by the charismatic Katherine Green, who sees Liora’s actions as sacrilege.
But the Inquisitors are not their only threat. The Gearsmiths, a secretive guild obsessed with ancient technology, and the desperate Scavengers, fighting for survival in the shadow of the failing reactors, also hold key pieces to the puzzle.  As they delve deeper into the mysteries of the Iron Birds, Liora uncovers a hidden truth: the ancient civilization did not perish, but ascended, leaving behind the Iron Birds as guardians. The core reactors, designed to bridge the physical and ethereal, are now malfunctioning, threatening to tear a rift in reality itself.
Caught in a web of intrigue, pursued by fanatics and coveted by those seeking power, Liora must confront not only the failing reactors, but the clash between faith and science, tradition and progress, that threatens to consume their world.  In the heart of a colossal volcanic forge, Liora faces a heartbreaking choice.  Can she harness the power of the Iron Birds and save her world, or will their forgotten language become the song of their final ruin?