The Fifth Dawn

CHAPTER 14

“Weerm geddim clohmz nowm,” Geth’s head shouted through the leather pack on Glissa’s back. The grisly thing hadn’t stopped babbling since she’d taken to the air on the back of the silver pteron. Despite her efforts to shut the noise out she realized glumly that she was beginning to understand what Geth’s muffled ravings whether she wanted to or not.

“I know,” Glissa said, “I can feel it getting closer.” She grimaced, and added, “And shut up, will you? You’re going to attract carrion birds.”

The elf girl loosely gripped the reins. Contrary to Ellasha’s warning, the pteron hadn’t tried to run her through, but had actually landed at her feet to allow her to mount as soon as she approached. She wasn’t sure if it was the same one she’d ridden before, but the pteron hadn’t tried to kill her, which was good enough.

Glissa and the skyhunters had built up quite a bit of speed by the time the blackened edge of the Mephidross broke over the horizon. She squinted against the dusty wind that flattened her thick cables of hair flat against her head. The elf adjusted her goggles to ensure they fit snugly around her eyes. Now would not be a good time for blurred vision.

Elassha pulled ahead and to Glissa’s left, waving them to follow and take the pterons lower. She wished once again they’d thought to figure out a way to speak to each other up here. Glissa wanted to ask the leonin lieutenant if he had spotted something, or if this was simply the standard procedure for airborne leonin commandos approaching dangerous territory from the air. The leonin could communicate with hand signals, but Glissa could only understand a few simple commands. Fortunately, a slight nudge of the harness sent her pteron instinctively plunging down after the others. They leveled off only twenty feet or so over the razor plains.

The blackened edges of the Mephidross grew until they covered the horizon. Glissa didn’t see any activity, nim or leonin, which seemed odd. The razor grass below was dotted with low verdigris shrubs and short stubby trees. She looked off to her left, where the flora grow steadily in size until it ran into the distant Tangle. They had already reached the far side of the Dross, and the battle between Yert’s forces and Raksha’s people was too far away to see.

It didn’t make any sense. If there was an opening into the Glimmervoid, even if it meant taking the long way around to Taj Nar, why hadn’t the “master of the nim” sent expeditionary forces through this corridor? For that matter, why had the Tangle always been spared the depredations of the nim? The more she thought about it, the stranger it seemed.

Perhaps he just didn’t have enough troops, Glissa finally decided. But something about it continued to bother her.

She leaned forward and urged the pteron after the others. The formation drew out into a long column as the pteron riders broke through the corroded tree line and entered the Mephidross.

Glissa had flown over the Dross before, but that had been one of Bruenna’s spells. Navigating a silver reptilian with a ten-foot wingspan through the thick, decaying vegetation and around the blackened chimney towers that belched necrogen gas was something else entirely. Fortunately, the pteron had a mind of its own and dodged the spiky foliage. Mostly.

After half an hour, the group broke into a small clearing in the swamp where the muck was deep enough to prevent even the hardy trees and plants of the Mephidross from gaining a grip. Ellasha wheeled and circled, then floated gently to a landing on a wide, dead copper log half eaten away by the corrosive swamp. The log tipped precariously, but the pteron kept its footing by stepping from side to side. Soon they had all landed in a loose circle on other chunks of solid detritus that broke the surface of the deep pools of brackish oil.

Ellasha signaled three of the skyhunters to take up perimeter positions. The warriors bounded off their mounts into the trees, forming a protective triangle around the group.

The two other leonin had been introduced as Ellasha’s direct subordinates. Darlosh was the one with the black tips on her ears, while Tahk was recognizeable by silver streaks in her golden fur.

“Something isn’t right,” Ellasha whispered.

“Where are the nim?” Glissa asked.

“That’s what I mean,” the skyhunter replied. “They should be all over this place, if their numbers are as great as we think they are. Someone should have seen us by now.”

“Lieutenant, I did spot something on the way in,” Tahk said. “I had thought they were just creatures of the Dross, but now I am not so sure. They looked too … new. Too silver.”

“You should have brought this to my attention immediately,” Ellasha snapped.

“Easy,” Glissa said. She turned to the chastised warrior. “Where did you see them?”

“About half a mile behind us, clinging to one of those necrogen smokestacks,” Tahk said, momentarily relieved. “Two of them, like four-legged spiders, but together they would have outweighed a djeeruk.”

“Flare!” Glissa said. “No need to go back and check-I saw them too. Or felt them then saw them. They-they were watching me. Ever seen anything like them in the Dross?” Tahk shook her head.

“They do not sound like nim,” Ellasha said.

Glissa grimaced. “I agree. They must be Memnarch’s spies.”

She didn’t want to risk alienating the leonin with information that made her certain. The feeling she’d had when she sensed the small constructs was the same tingle that alerted her whenever the levelers had drawn near.

“Do you believe Memnarch will attack us here?” Ellasha asked.

“Maybe,” Glissa said. “I don’t know. But I’m pretty sure between the seven of us we can handle a couple of metal bugs. I’ve taken on bigger ones, and I’m still here.”

“Agreed,” said Ellasha. “Right now we should focus on the immediate task of finding the human.”

“Her name is Bruenna,” Glissa said. “And she’s a friend of mine. We’re not just going to find her. We’re getting her out of here.”

“Of course,” Ellasha agreed. “But first things first.”

Glissa nodded apologetically. “Sorry. Just anxious to get this done. I’ve got another friend in trouble, too.”

“Mid mit meverm moccurm moo mamy mum moo matt moo mould mask meem?” Geth’s head shouted from inside the leather pack. Ellasha’s hand shot to her long knife, but Glissa raised a finger to stop her from doing anything rash. She slung the pack around and flipped the top open.

“Ask you? You expect me to believe you would guide us? I think your head’s been off your shoulders too long,” Glissa said.

“Don’t underestimate the power of hate,” Geth’s head said matter-of-factly. “You think I hate you? Well, yes, I do. Of course I do. Before you came along, everything was perfect. And you really, really messed up my vampire. But there are degrees of hate. And as much as I’d like to flay you all alive with your own long knives, that’s nothing compared to what I want to see happen to that usurper.”

“‘Usurper?’” Glissa asked. “You told me Yert was in charge now. You seemed happy about that. And you still haven’t told me how any of that happened.”

“I’ll get to it,” the head snapped. “I don’t like to talk about it. I told you the facts as they are now. Come on, I need some secrets. You don’t get over being the supreme power of darkness overnight, you know.”

“You mean we can trust you because we have a mutual enemy,” Ellasha interrupted in an attempt to cut through Geth’s convoluted explanation. She turned to Glissa. “Is a mutual enemy enough when it admits it isn’t telling us the whole truth?”

The elf girl cast her eyes around the misty darkness that loomed in every direction, here and there interrupted by a flash of moving shadow or the splash of something vile slipping into the muck. She flipped the bag shut again and leaned in close to the leonin, speaking in a whisper. “It might have to be enough. I thought once I got in here, something might look familiar. But I’ve never approached this place from here. I think,” she sighed, “we’re lost.”

Ellasha flashed teeth and growled softly, “I was lost the minute we entered. I was trusting my mount.”

“Great. Some rescue team we are.” Glissa grinned. She opened the bag and addressed Geth’s head. “Okay, you and I are going to take point. If you try anything-lead us into an ambush, shout out at the wrong time, or bite my neck-and you’re just another dead head sinking into the swamp. Understand?”

“Crystal clear,” Geth said. “But something’s gotta be in it for me, eh? How about when this is all over you help me find my body. Make a man of me again.”

“What?” Glissa said with an involuntary shudder. “Not a chance. You’ll guide us to the Vault, or you’re dead. It’s that simple.”

“Wrong, elf girl,” Geth’s head replied. “I’m dead already. Well preserved, yes, but dead. So that’s no threat, and we all walk out of the Vault together, or no one does.”

“How do I know you won’t just take control of the nim yourself?” Glissa asked. “Continue the war?”

“You don’t,” the head said, “And that’s a pretty good guess. If the world saving doesn’t work out, I think you’ve got a future in prophesying. But yeah, that’s the deal. You’re one of those honorable types whether you want to be or not, so I’m willing to take your sworn oath as a guarantee. You’re not going to get a better deal than that. But I want a body after I help you. Scrap’s sake, it doesn’t even have to be mine. I’d even take a leonin if you happened upon one later. And then, when I’ve got my body and you’ve got your future, I never want to see you again.”

“Likewise,” Glissa agreed. She turned to Ellasha. “Call the sentries back in. We’re heading out.”

“I cannot agree to this,” Ellasha snarled. “He as much as admitted he will attack us at the first opportunity!”

“She’s got you there,” Geth’s head agreed.

“Shut up, Geth,” Glissa said. “Ellasha, we’ll deal with that when the time comes. Until then, we don’t have a choice.”

“She’s got a point,” Geth’s head added, prompting a slap from Glissa.

“Very well,” Ellasha agreed. “But as soon as that thing puts us in danger, I’m putting it down. Permanently.”

“Way ahead of you, lieutenant,” Glissa said, and made a grimace of distaste as she pulled Geth’s head clear of the pack and rested the morbid thing on the pommel of her saddle, where it balanced without much help from her.

“Lead on, Geth,” Glissa said.

The trip through the Dross to the site of the Vault of Whispers had taken an uneventful half hour when Glissa spotted the first sign of trouble. Her pteron actually gave her the first indication that something was up ahead, and she squinted into the greenish mist to see what had caused the reptile to buck suddenly.

There. Several shapes like large, man-sized beetles scuttled through the dense foliage. Glissa waved to the others to slow their approach, and placed a hand over Geth’s mouth, the signal that told him the elf girl would gladly let him drop this instant if he didn’t keep quiet.

The nim hadn’t given any indication it had seen them. Fighting the urge to retch at the fetid smell, she lifted Geth’s ear to her mouth and whispered, “Are they going back to Yert? Or is this the trap?”

“That’s just a patrol,” Geth whispered. “Most of his soldiers are on the front lines. I’d say that’s why you haven’t seen any until now. Lucky you. Those fellows look to be headed back to the Vault, if you ask me.”

“We can follow them,” Glissa said.

“And they say I’m the one with all the brains,” Geth’s head cackled. “Just be sure you get in before the last of them. Those doors don’t dawdle.”

“Then I’ll just make sure the last one never makes it through the door,” Glissa said.

Glissa stuck Geth back onto the pommel and waved Ellasha, Tahk, and Darlosh into whispering range. Half of the day Yert had given them was gone, and it was time to finalize the plan.

Ellasha argued for complete stealth, slipping in with the nim and staying in the shadows. But while Glissa had no doubt the skyhunter commandos had the agility and skill to pull off such a task, as did the elf girl herself, she still didn’t trust Geth. It would be ridiculously easy for the severed head to alert the nim they’d be hiding from. No, they’d best approach stealthily, then surprise the nim and take them out while the doors to the Vault-whatever was left of it after Glissa’s last visit-were still open. That seemed to satisfy everyone’s concerns, though it would not be easy.

They had to set the pterons loose for now, Ellasha insisted. She could always call them back later, and if they kept flying they might overtake the nim. The team had to proceed on foot from here on out.

After another hour of much slower travel, the lead nim finally halted. Glissa heard an alien chittering noise-was that what nim language sounded like? — and saw the wide trunk of the blackened, rust-covered swamp tree in front of the nim split open. An archway big enough for two nim to enter side-by-side took shape, glowing with the light of necrogen lamps mounted on the inner walls of a long tunnel.

“All right,” she whispered, and the leonin turned to her as one. “Let’s go in hard and fast, but don’t take any stupid chances. The important thing is getting through that door. Remember, go for the necrogen tubes. It won’t kill them right away, but they won’t last long without that green stuff pumping into them.”

“We know their vulnerabilities. We have been fighting nim since before you were born,” Ellasha said.

“I doubt it,” Glissa said, stuffing Geth unceremoniously into the pack. “Everyone ready?” she whispered she drew her sword.

Six muzzles nodded in unison, and six silver longblades flashed in the night.

“Go,” Glissa said.

The elf girl reached the nim first, charging in with a wide sweep of her blade that met the hideous creature’s neck just above its armored carapace, slicing neatly through and out the other side. The remaining nim whirled with supernatural speed Glissa had learned to respect and emitted a cacophony of chittering shrieks. Green necrogen tubes glowed as the nim entered the fray, reflexively attacking their attackers. It seemed like odd behavior for the nim, who would follow whatever order they had last been given until they were dead, or received new directives. Apparently, these had been given the order to patrol and retaliate.

Green necrogen glinted on the silver blade of her Glissa’s sword. She wheeled in the tight enclosure near the entrance to the Vault and hacked off another nim head, spraying green necrogen and black ichor onto the tunnel walls.

Ellasha slipped ahead of Glissa and nearly bisected another nim with her silver longknife. The broken nim toppled out of the entrance and slid into the muck, still twitching.

Glissa continued her charge, catching the next nim down the line. Or trying to, anyway. Her blade came down hard on the iron carapace of the scuttling monster and bounced off with a painful clang that made her entire arm numb. The nim, swung around with a massive claw that caught Glissa full in the chest, knocking her back through the doors and into the swamp. The next thing she knew, she was tumbling head over heels through the green mist. She landed head first with an oily splash in the viscous mud.

Something brushed her leg and Glissa scrambled to her feet before whatever it was could take a bite. She still had her sword in her hand somehow, and lashed out at the nearest nim with a cruel uppercut that slit the insectoid nim open like a fish. Greenish-black gore poured out of its open abdominal cavity before the shift in weight sent the nim tumbling onto its heavy back.

Glissa quickly took stock. The leonin were in trouble, and this surprise attack was in danger of turning into a debacle. Ellash, Darlosh, and Tahk were still moving, but the other three skyhunters were being driven steadily back into the Dross. One of the leonin sliced through a necrogen tube with a clawed kick, sending green liquid spouting into the air. The nim attached to the tube swung its vicious arms wildly, and one clean swipe to the leonin’s torso cut the female clean in two. Bright red blood mixed with bilious necrogen as the two foes collapsed into the oily mud.

“No!” Glissa screamed and clambered through the swamp to help her remaining allies. A nim came at her from the side, and she whirled with a low cut that should have taken the creature’s legs off at the knees. Instead, the nim raised an iron claw and effortlessly blocked the strike, then backhanded her across the face. Glissa staggered, the world spinning crazily around her as she struggled to keep her sword and her balance at the same time. She bumped hard into Ellasha, who steadied the elf with one hand without looking.

The two remaining leonin warriors dispatched two more nim simultaneously with wicked slashes of their longknives, but were almost immediately felled under the blows of heavy nim claws. Within seconds, the two were dead, reduced to wet sacks of broken bone.

Glissa saw Tahk and Darlosh, keeping the other nim busy at the Vault entrance, making sure the door didn’t swing shut unexpectedly. And now there were four. Glissa spared a glance at Ellasha. The skyhunter commander nodded in return.

“Charge!” Glissa shouted.

Elf and leonin launched themselves at the undead horrors with all their remaining strength. Glissa found herself facing the same creature that had nearly taken off her head a few seconds earlier. Not the most innovative tactician, the nim again took a swing with one huge claw. The elf girl was ready this time and ducked while bringing her blade down hard on the soft tissue of at the arm’s joint, severing the limb. Before the nim could bring down its other claw, Glissa twirled the blade wide and jammed it upward into the nim’s torso, gratified by the scrape of metal on metal as the blade emerged from the zombie’s iron shell.

Glissa jerked the blade free and rolled to escape the creature’s collapsing corpse, colliding violently with the armored legs of another zombie that had been trying to take her unawares. The nim tumbled forward as the elf girl bowled through its legs. Before the heavy, clumsy monster could regain its footing, Glissa had driven her blade through the back of its head.

Glissa turned to the leonin in time to watch in horror as one of the nim grasped Darlosh’s leg in one lobster claw and swung the commando violently into Tahk, who had been coming in for a strike from the opposite side. Darlosh’s sword impaled Tahk through the soft tissue under her chin and emerged at the top of her head, killing her instantly. A second nim grasped Darlosh, still dazed but alive, by the other leg.

With a sickening series of loud snaps, Darlosh was ripped apart like a wishbone. Her torn corpse showered scarlet gore and leonine guts across the swamp.

Glissa looked furtively at Ellasha, who let loose an agonized roar that shook the trees and made the elf girl’s teeth rattle. The leonin went mad, cutting into the remaining nim like a whirlwind. Glissa, fighting her rising gorge, charged in to help.

Leonin and elf worked as one unit, slicing, tearing, kicking and clawing through the ghouls that had slaughtered their friends. The nim fought as fiercely as before, but now Glissa and Ellasha were driven by something primal, and the zombies didn’t stand a chance. After half of minute of furious fighting, Glissa stabbed the last nim standing through the gut, and kicked the body toward Ellasha, who finished it off with one sweep of her longknife through the green tubes attached to the vile monster’s neck.

The sudden silence was made no less eerie by the green glow that suffused the mist as the dying nim spat necrogen smoke uselessly into the air. Glissa and Ellasha were covered head to toe in Dross muck and a foul mix of leonin and nim innards. Glissa staggered to the leonin and placed one hand on her shoulder. “Ellasha-”

“Do not say anything. They made their peace with the gods long ago, as all soldiers do. They died warriors, and we should be so lucky,” the grim leonin responded. She stooped and said a short, soft prayer over Darlosh’s and Tahk’s ruined bodies, which were closest to her, then slipped something from each dead warrior’s belt. She turned and handed Glissa Tahk’s longknife, which the elf girl accepted tentatively. Ellasha slipped Darlosh’s into her own belt.

“My sisters have gone to fight at the side of Great Dakan forever,” she said with a hint of ceremony. “I now claim the right of revenge.”

“That makes two of us,” Glissa said. “But their deaths were in vain if we don’t get Bruenna out of here.”

Ellasha nodded solemnly. “I can see why my Kha is fond of you, elf. You think like a leonin. There is a legend of an elf that fought at Great Dakan’s side, did you know that?”

“Uh, no,” Glissa said.

“His name is lost to history, but legends called him the Maneless One. He was a warrior of great skill, and ultimately gave his life saving the greatest of all leonin. You have the blood of the Maneless One in you, girl. I can smell it as surely as I can smell my own cubs. You honored them with your actions. Now don’t dishonor them with pointless mewling.”

Without another word, Ellasha turned on one foot and stalked toward the entrance to Yert’s lair. A stunned Glissa followed, sick to her stomach.