Slobad patted the giant on the chest and walked toward the door. Glissa followed him, and they headed into the Dross.
“Vault should be that way,” said Slobad, pointing.
“Are you sure?” asked Glissa. “All these chimneys look alike to me. Is Ingle already up? I can’t see any of the moons.”
“No, Ingle not up yet, huh?” said Slobad. He pointed at another chimney just visible through the haze. “Elf fight nim controller there. We ran straight from the Razor Fields to here. Vault farther into Mephidross, huh? Come on. We go.”
Glissa had no idea. All the chimneys looked similar. They were bluish-black and craggy. Some had large, reddish-orange patches of flaky metal that looked like the infection she’d had on her leg, but the differences were far outweighed by their depressing sameness amidst the inky haze and the ever-present Dross. Slobad seemed to have an innate sense of direction, probably from spending all his life crawling through tunnels.
As Glissa followed Slobad into the Dross, she stared at the chimney they had just left and tried to commit it to memory. Maybe they could come back for his golem later. When she looked forward again, she froze. What she had thought was another chimney ahead of them had just moved.
“Slobad,” whispered Glissa. “Did you see that?”
“See what?” answered the goblin.
“That chimney,” said Glissa. “It moved.”
“Haze make crazy elf see things, huh?” said Slobad as he continued forward.
The dark shape in the haze moved again—moved toward them—and Slobad stopped short. “Now crazy goblin see things,” Slobad said, rubbing his eyes.
The shape was moving faster now and heading straight at them. Glissa couldn’t tell what it was through the haze, only that it was as big as a chimney. She looked left and right, but there was nothing but haze and Dross as far as she could see. They definitely couldn’t outrun this thing, whatever it was.
“Back to the chimney,” she shouted. “Quick!” Glissa grabbed Slobad around the waist and lifted him from the Dross. Holding the goblin under her arm like a vorrac carcass, she ran back toward the chimney.
The huge creature gained on them with every step. Glissa wasn’t sure they’d make it to the chimney in time. The ground shook beneath her feet, and the Dross washed over her hips, slowing her down. Glissa pressed on, diving through the entrance into the chimney just as a wave of Dross slapped her in the back. She jumped to her feet and ran to the stairs.
“Get behind the golem,” she called to Slobad. “Maybe it’ll do something for you yet.”
Glissa reached the balcony and looked out a window. The monster was right outside the chimney. It looked for all the world like a nim, but it was easily twenty feet tall. Its grayish-purple skin was emaciated. She could see every gigantic rib sticking out from the beast’s chest. They must each be six feet long, thought Glissa. The cartilage along its back—what Glissa had thought was an exoskeleton on the nim—was easily three feet high and five feet across. There was something odd there, though. Its backbone looked different from the ones she’d seen on the nim.
The beast slithered around the chimney, peering back and forth as if trying to find its prey. It moved off toward the chimney where Glissa had fought the nim controller. As it wandered off, she noticed the creature held a long staff in its hands. The top of the staff curved over into a vicious-looking hook. If it went just a little farther, Glissa thought, they might be able to make it to the next chimney and hide until the monster left.
The beast stopped and whipped the hook end of its staff down into the Dross. When the hook came back up, there was something impaled on the end. It was the remains of the controller. Glissa watched as the huge beast lifted the hook over its back. The cartilage pulled away from its body with a terrible sucking sound to reveal some sort of chamber. The beast shook the staff until the body came loose. The carcass fell into the chamber with a sickening plop.
Glissa was frozen to her spot. She watched as the chamber closed and the beast turned and strode back through the Dross. It came up to the chimney, its face just a few feet from Glissa. She turned to run, but it was too late. The beast slammed into the structure, knocking Glissa from the balcony.
The elf screamed as she fell. There was nothing to hold onto, nothing to kick off from. She was plummeting straight to her death. Then she stopped. Something had caught her. She looked over and saw the squat face of the golem, its red eyes open and staring at her. Perched atop its shoulders was Slobad, grinning from pointed ear to pointed ear.
“What the flare?” exclaimed Glissa. “How—”
“Don’t know how,” said Slobad. “Just sit up and look at me, huh? Like I said … need more time.”
Glissa fought to regain her composure. “Is it friendly?”
“Slobad think so,” said the goblin. “Tell the golem to catch crazy elf, huh? It did. See? You caught, huh?”
“Great. Tell it to get us from here. Now!” The chimney shook as the beast slammed into it again. “Before that thing brings this chimney down on top of us!”
“Golem, walk,” said Slobad, pointing toward the entrance.
The golem walked toward the door, holding Glissa under one arm. Slobad perched on its shoulders. The elf could tell they weren’t all going to fit through the narrow entrance. It had been barely big enough to drag the golem through on its back. Now that she saw the construct standing, she realized it must be tall. When the golem reached the entrance, it thrust an arm out and smashed through the wall. Debris rained down on them, but they were through.
“Golem, run!” cried Slobad.
Glissa strained to look behind her. The huge creature was coming around the chimney. The golem broke into a trot, moving away from the creature, but even with its long legs it couldn’t move through the Dross faster than the twenty-foot-tall beast. The creature gained on them with every stride.
“I need to slow it down,” shouted Glissa. “Tell your golem to put me down.”
“Golem,” called Slobad. “Drop.”
Glissa found herself facedown in the Dross. She pushed herself up onto her hands and knees and looked for the beast then had to dive back into the Dross to avoid its foot. After the monster passed, Glissa stood and followed, pulling out her sword as she ran. She dived forward, hoping to cut into the beast’s tail, but it moved too fast and she couldn’t reach it.
“Help,” screamed Slobad up ahead.
Glissa looked up to see the goblin hanging by his pack on the end of the beast’s hook. The chamber on its back was opening again, and Glissa could do nothing but watch in horror as it dropped Slobad into the chamber.
“No!” she screamed, rushing forward again.
The monster turned at the sound of her voice and moved toward her. Its hook came arcing down at Glissa, but she batted it away with her sword and ran on, trying to get inside its reach. She swung her sword back around at the beast’s tail. The blade cut easily through the creature’s pale skin and sinewy muscles, then stopped halfway through the limb. Glissa tried to pull the sword back out to swing again, but the blade was lodged in the bone and wouldn’t budge.
Glissa looked up and dived from the way just as the hook came slicing at her again. She couldn’t dance around this thing all day, she knew. The Dross limited her movement, and now she had no weapon. Glissa breathed hard, trying to catch her breath and think.
She dived under the Dross again and tried to swim forward as the beast swung the hook at her. The swamp was too thick to swim through. She came up for air right as the hook sliced down at her.
The weapon stopped. Glissa looked up. The golem had caught the beast’s arm in mid-swing. The creature now turned its attention to the larger target. It slapped its hand against the golem. The golem strained to hold on to the beast as it slammed its palm into the metal man’s chest. The golem looked at Glissa, its red eyes seeming to plead for help.
The elf warrior jumped to her feet and ran toward her sword. Instead of trying to pul
l it out, she jumped into the air and kicked both feet at the hilt, driving the blade through the bone and out the other side, slicing the tail in half. Glissa landed and dived forward again, following her sword as it flew through the air toward the Dross. Behind her, monster teetered, trying to keep its balance.
Glissa grabbed her sword as it went into the Dross and turned to help the golem. It seemed to be struggling with the hand holding the hook, but as Glissa approached, she heard something snap and saw the hook rise up again. Before she could scream, the hook came down hard, slicing through the emaciated abdomen of the giant monster. Pus and entrails exploded from the back of the beast, showering the Dross around Glissa with a putrid rain of gore.
Glissa watched as the beast fell into the muck, cut in half by one swing of its own hook. The giant metal man stood holding the weapon but looking as calm as when Glissa and Slobad had pulled it from the Dross.
“Golem,” Glissa shouted, “pick it up!”
The golem moved forward and lifted the beast’s torso from the Dross and turned it over. Glissa cut into its back beneath the cartilage and pulled open the chamber. A wash of acidic juice poured from the opening, along with Slobad and a number of partially digested bodies.
Slobad was covered in red welts, and the strap on his pack had completely dissolved. Glissa helped the goblin to his feet. “Are you okay?”
Slobad nodded. “Let’s never do that again, huh? Huh?” He looked at his satchel. “Need new strap. Have to cut some rope. Get dagger …”
“Later,” said Glissa. “Let’s make sure you’re okay first.”
Slobad looked up at the severed beast in the golem’s hands. “How did you …?”
Glissa shook her head. “It was your golem,” she said. “He may come in handy after all.”
The golem dropped the half of the beast it was holding at the same moment Glissa saw something dart behind a chimney. “Golem,” she said, pointing, “fetch!”
Slobad started to argue, but Glissa glared at him and he stopped. A few moments later, the golem returned, holding a man by the neck. The man’s eyes and forehead were covered in a metal cowl that made him look more like a nim than a human. Glissa recalled the nim controller had a similar hood, but it had been pushed back at the time. The elf pushed the hood back from his face. His jagged mouth was contorted, and his bony body shook as he dangled in the grasp of the golem.
“Who are you?” she demanded. “What are you doing here?”
“Yert. My name is Yert,” he sputtered, then began to cry. When the sobs turned to wails, Glissa motioned for the golem to drop him. Once he hit the Dross, the man rushed over to the hewn beast and bawled afresh.
“She killed you, my precious,” he wailed.
“Is this your … monster?” asked Glissa.
The man looked up at her. “It’s not a monster,” he said. “It’s … it was a reaper, the most feared enforcer in the Mephidross. Without him, I’m nothing. I’ll never get another reaper. I’m nothing without him. Kill me now.”
“Maybe later,” said Glissa, shaking her head at the pathetic man. “First, you tell me who sent you, then maybe I’ll let you die.”
“Geth,” said the man. He continued to sniffle. Glissa wondered how such a pathetic creature could gain control of a monster. “Geth said, ‘Kill the goblin. Bring me the elf.’ He never said anything about a giant metal man.”
“Who is Geth?” asked Glissa. “What does he want with us?”
It was too late. Yert had begun sobbing uncontrollably again. Glissa would get nothing more from him until he calmed down. Meanwhile he draped himself over the body of the reaper.
Glissa looked at Slobad, who shrugged. She bent down next to the pathetic controller and put her arm around his shoulder.
“Look,” she said, “take us to this Geth, and we’ll help you. We’ll force him to give you another … reaper. Okay? Just tell us why Geth wants us.”
Yert shuddered, then wiped his eyes. He looked over at Glissa. “You would do that for me?”
Glissa nodded. “We’re all just trying to stay alive here, right?” she said. “Following orders. Tell us why Geth wants us and we’ll help you.”
“I can’t tell you,” he said with a sniffle. “I don’t know. Geth gave orders. Controllers don’t question leaders. We follow orders or are banished to Dross. I can take you to him. You can ask him.”
Glissa sighed. “Fine. Where is this Geth?”
“He’s in the Vault of Whispers.”
VAULT OF WHISPERS
The dark moon—the “sun” Slobad called Ingle, where souls are stored—hung over the Vault of Whispers like a giant hole in the sky. The top of the huge chimney was shrouded in the ever-present haze of the Mephidross. A viscous purple and green liquid cascaded down one side of the Vault from somewhere within the haze. The rest of the Vault was etched, as if by acid, with a web of interconnecting lines and swirls. The Vault pulsed, much like the chimneys, throughout the etched web-work. Glissa felt a shudder travel down her spine as she stared at the forbidding edifice. She couldn’t help feeling that the Vault was somehow alive.
“You sure you want to do this, huh?” asked Slobad again. “Look dangerous. Could be trap. Must be trap, huh? Very dangerous.”
“That’s why you two will stay out here,” said Glissa. “If I’m not out by the time Ingle disappears behind the Vault, you and the golem come crashing in and get me.”
Slobad nodded.
“Stay out of sight until I get back,” counseled Glissa as she pushed Yert toward the chimney. The trip to the Vault of Whispers had gone quickly with Yert’s guidance and the golem’s long legs. Now the sniveling little man was going to walk them both into Geth’s chambers.
“Here,” said Glissa, passing her sword to Yert. “Take this. You were told to bring the elf to Geth. That’s just what you’re going to do.”
She walked past him, unworried. The little man could barely hold the sword, let alone swing it. The two walked through the Dross up to the Vault. Yert guided her toward the disgusting waterfall, and her apprehension rose. The liquid would surely blind her as she passed through. Was Yert playing at something? As they approached, however, she saw the path led behind the falls to a dark opening guarded by two nim.
They passed inside. Glissa stared at the guards, ready to seize her sword should either of them attack. Neither nim moved an inch. They stared forward, waiting for an order. Glissa and Yert entered a great hall that seemed to stretch the entire length of the Vault. Glissa could see the walls disappear into the haze above her, which hung thick in the air just as it did outside. There were a few nim walking about, all apparently on errands. Most held objects stiffly in front of them and walked in straight lines back and forth, appearing from and disappearing into dark openings that lined the sides of the hall.
A few controllers also walked through the hall. They wore their cowls crumpled around their necks within the Vault, so Glissa could see their faces. Yet even without the cowls, these men looked more nim than human. Many of the controllers had nim escorts. Glissa even saw one leading a reaper. This controller stopped in the middle of the hall for a moment to stare at the odd duo. Glissa was just about to snatch her sword back from Yert, when the controller moved past them. She watched him until he left the Vault.
“Why does nobody question us?” asked Glissa. None of the controllers seemed to want to get involved in Yert’s affairs, but Glissa knew her subterfuge couldn’t be that convincing. She could hear her sword clanking on the ground behind her as well as Yert’s occasional sniffle.
“As I said, we do what we’re told,” replied Yert. “We follow orders. To do less would invite Geth’s wrath. To do more would impose on Geth’s power.”
The controllers weren’t that much different than the nim or reapers, realized Glissa. They only did what they were told to do. “Hasn’t anyone been told to guard against intruders? Doesn’t Geth worry about his own safety?”
“Geth controls the most fea
rsome beast in the Mephidross,” said Yert. “He has magical protections guarding against intrusion.”
Glissa stopped. “When were you going to tell me about this?” she demanded. Some of the other controllers had stopped to watch the exchange, so she lowered her voice. “What protections? What creature?”
“There is a magical barrier that prevents enemies from entering his quarters bearing weapons.”
“And the creature?”
“A vampire.”
* * * * *
They were almost halfway through the great hall. Nim and controllers meandered back and forth on either side of them. Glissa was too deep into the Vault now to battle her way out … at least not before confronting Geth.
“Fine,” she said. “Where is Geth?”
Yert pointed at a doorway ahead of them, easily twice as large as all the others. Its edges glowed faintly. This, Glissa thought wryly, was what came of being clever. If Yert didn’t make it through the barrier with her sword, she would have to face a vampire with no weapon. She had to risk it. She needed answers, and they were behind that door.
She passed through the doorway, but nothing happened to her or Yert. Before her was what must be Geth.
He was not at all what Glissa had expected. So far, all of the residents of the Dross had looked alike, emaciated with dull gray skin and carapaces or cowls of metal hiding their faces. Those faces she had seen had twisted features and gashes for mouths.
Geth looked nearly human. His skin still had some color and life to it. He wore no cowl, and the only hint of a carapace was a strip of metal that ran down the back of his head into the folds of a gray cloak he wore. He sat on a metal throne smiling and staring at Glissa as if he had expected her.
A large creature stood behind him, gray of skin, thick of neck, with a powerfully built chest. It wore long black robes, and Glissa could see little save the face. Deep-set eyes reflected no light at all. Its bare forehead glowed with a mystic purple emblem. Crimson tubes ran from the sides of its mouth down into its robes. As Glissa approached the throne, the vampire sneered, exposing yellow teeth that looked like sharpened pegs.
The Moons of Mirrodin Page 11
