The Darksteel Eye

CHAPTER 17

The centipede was huge and so very fast. The creature’s razor sharp arms opened wide, and Glissa closed her eyes, not wanting to watch them as they tore into her flesh. Metal screeched. A whoosh of air rushed through the elf’s hair, followed by a shower of foul smelling swamp water that stung her face.

Glissa opened her eyes. She was still alive. The centipede’s opened arms had crashed into the walkway, burying themselves up to the elbow. The floor had kept the blades from scissoring closed around her, but now the bulk of the creature’s body was on top of her, squeezing her life away.

The centipede’s great bulk threatened to pop Glissa like a grape. Her chest was restricted, and her arms were pinned to the ground. She couldn’t breathe, except in quick short breaths, and she could feel all the blood in her body being pressed into her head.

The giant bug twisted and pulled, shaking the platform as it did. Metal complained, and its arms lifted a few centimeters. Relief flooded through the elf’s body. She took in a deeper breath, and the pressure in her head subsided. Then that relief gave way to the reality of her situation. The centipede was struggling. It was only a matter of time before the blades were free, and then they would close-catching her in between.

Taking stock, she looked for a way out. To her left, a hundred killing blades waited for her, barring her escape. To her right, more of the same. She tried to lift her sword, but it was too long, and she couldn’t get it into a useful position, and even if she could, what good would it do against such a creature?

The floor heaved again, and the centipede lifted another six inches, releasing her enough to pull her arms to her chest. Still, she was trapped. One more good heave by the centipede and its scissoring arms would be free of the platform, ready to cut her into little bite-sized chunks.

A rhythmic tinkling sound, like a set of wind chimes, rang through the confined space between the centipede’s chest and the floor. Shards of metal cascaded over Glissa, and a huge hand reached in and grabbed her by the shoulder.

“Time to go,” said Bosh.

Though part of him was becoming fleshy, his feet were still metal, and he’d kicked through two dozen of the centipede’s razor-sharp arms.

“I couldn’t agree more,” replied Glissa. With Bosh’s help she pushed the ground, sliding out from under the big bug.

Free of her prison, Glissa got to her feet and ran, Bosh right beside her. Behind them, Glissa could hear the walkway complain as the centipede heaved again. Metal shrieked, and the creature let out a high-pitched squeal. The elf didn’t know what it meant, but she was pretty sure it wasn’t good.

Up ahead, Slobad was waiting in the opening between the pipes, but he was distracted by something. His eyes were glued to the ceiling, and he was wringing his hands. Glissa followed his gaze.

“Oh, no.”

There, seemingly stuck in the hole Bosh had punched through the pipe on the ceiling, hung Al-Hayat. His back legs were tangled up. His front paws flailed, and his whole body swung. With each swing, the wolf lifted his head to bite at something near his tangled back feet. Back and forth he went, and Glissa watched, unable to do anything for her friend.

Al-Hayat caught whatever it was that he’d been trying to reach, and the wolf slipped free, plunging toward the underground lake.

“Bosh!” shouted Glissa over her shoulder. “We’ve got to keep the centipede busy long enough for Al-Hayat to get out of the lake.”

“How?”

She stopped running and turned to face the golem. “We keep its attention focused on us.”

Over Bosh’s shoulder, Glissa could see that the centipede had retreated a bit. It followed her and the golem with its beady eyes, but it hadn’t given immediate chase. Perhaps Bosh’s attack had been more damaging than it appeared. Glissa could clearly see the blank spot on the creature’s left side where it was now missing several of its limbs. Still, in the grand scheme, the damaged blades were only a tiny fraction of the centipede’s legs. It still had hundreds, if not thousands more.

Its attention wholly on the elf and the golem, the big bug clearly hadn’t seen the falling wolf, and this gave Glissa a small amount of confidence.

“Hey, bug face,” she shouted, waving her hands over her head. “We’re over here. A tasty meal, just the way you like it.”

Bosh stopped beside her and turned. “Do you really think it is a good idea to taunt such a creature?”

“It’s not chasing us.”

The centipede stared at her, unmoving-no, it was moving. Now that she looked at it again, Glissa realized that the creature was rising higher from the water. Its head rose farther into the air, and its body just kept coming and coming-no end in sight.

“No wonder its not chasing us. It doesn’t have to,” she said, gripping the hilt of her sword tight in her hand. “It can reach us from anywhere.”

As if the centipede heard the elf’s words, it reared its head back and flung itself at the pair.

“Jump,” shouted the elf.

Both she and the golem leaped into the lake. Glissa’s head dropped below the surface, and she could feel the dull thud of the centipede’s head impacting the walkway.

Blindly she swam back toward the edge of the lake, staying underwater the whole way. The trick was going to be surfacing without coming up underneath the bug’s scissoring arms. There was very little more she could do other than guess. When her hand reached the edge, she slid two full arm lengths to her right then poked the tip of her sword from the water. It hit nothing, and she lifted her head.

She had guessed right.

The creature had impacted the walkway just to her left. Its giant head lay in the indentation its smashing attack had made, and it struggled again to free itself.

Tossing her sword up onto the shore, Glissa took the opportunity to pull herself from the water. It was a struggle. She was tired now, and even breathing seemed like a tremendous effort. Finally, she got out and onto her feet. Picking up her sword, she scooted along the wall, keeping her back to the pipes. The centipede, so busy pulling its head out, didn’t immediately notice her, and she rested against the wall, scanning the water for Al-Hayat.

The last time she looked, he’d been falling. She hadn’t seen him land, but she knew it would be near where she saw Slobad hit. And sure enough, she spotted the wolf in the middle of the lake dog paddling toward her.

At least he was headed in the right direction she thought, as she turned her attention back to the centipede. The creature had lifted its head again and was scanning the walkway. It hadn’t spotted her yet, but it would. Both she and Bosh needed to be-where was Bosh?

Glissa scanned the walkway and the edge of the lake. He was nowhere. She’d lost him when they jumped into the lake. She was pretty sure he’d made it out from under the centipede. His flattened body wasn’t smashed to the bottom of the indentation the big bug had left with its last slam. Where could he be?

Just then bodies began to rain from the sky. Falling from the hole in the pipes, four human-shaped creatures flailed. Each of them was covered in the same oily sludge that Glissa was. They plummeted toward the lake, right in front of the centipede.

This time the big bug saw the falling creatures, and it turned to watch them fall. As it spun its head, Glissa caught a glimpse of something shiny on its back.

Her jaw dropped. “Bosh.”

The iron golem hadn’t jumped into the water. He had jumped onto the centipede’s back, and now he was climbing toward the creature’s head.

Slobad was suddenly at her side. “Crazy golem gonna get killed, huh?”

“Let’s hope not.”

Halfway to the lake, the falling figures slowed their decent and began to float in midair.

“It’s Bruenna,” shouted Slobad, jumping up and down and pointing.

Glissa looked up at where the goblin was pointing. Sure enough, though her face was covered in slime, it was clearly Bruenna. Even from here, the elf could see that the human wizard was chanting something, and she hoped it was a spell that would destroy or immobilize the centipede.

The bug watched the flying humans, its scissoring arms opening and closing in anticipation. It reared back and lunged.

Glissa cringed, and Slobad squeezed her leg.

The flying wizards all darted away, avoiding the creature’s bladed arms. But the rush of air from the centipede’s attack knocked the whole group of them sideways in twisting gulf-streams. To Glissa they looked like a swarm of flies being swatted by a giant.

The swamp creature, its head bent, its body curled over like a question mark, tried to steady itself. Bosh held onto its back for dear life, pressing his face against the centipede’s metallic hide and squeezing with all of his might.

The bug straightened itself and scanned the room. Bosh took advantage of the momentary lull, climbing higher up to reach the back of its head. Grabbing hold of the centipede’s wavering antennae with both hands, the iron golem pushed away from the bug’s body with his powerful legs. He swung out then back, gaining momentum as he came, and kicked the creature with his right foot.

A loud clang rocketed through the chamber, echoing off the walls and ringing off the pipes. The centipede whipped its head side to side, and Bosh flailed around, still holding tight to the creature’s antennae.

Next to the flailing beast, the huge iron golem looked like a child’s toy. Hanging on for dear life, his body was flung this way and that. His limbs flapped wildly, and the only evidence that he wasn’t already dead from the thrashing was the fact that he still clung to the centipede. Each time the bug twisted in a different direction, Bosh’s body struck its hide, clanging like a tolling bell.

The swamp beast continued to flop, showing no sign of slowing, and the rest of its body got into the act. The length still under the dark waters thrashed, turning the thick underground lake into a frothing mess. Swamp water flooded up onto the walkway, washing against the walls and splashing up on the already wet companions.

Bruenna and her wizards steered as far away from the angered beast as they could, coming down on the pathway beside Glissa and Slobad, not far from the tunnel leading from this room.

“We must flee,” said the human wizard as she came into earshot of Glissa.

Glissa nodded. “Not without Bosh.”

Bruenna put her hand on the elf’s shoulder. “What he does, he does as a gift. Don’t let his bravery be lost.” She guided Glissa toward the tunnel.

The human wizards filed into the passage. One scouted down a ways, disappearing from view. Glissa reluctantly let herself be pulled toward the opening, glancing up at Bosh with every step.

The golem remained stubbornly attached to the thrashing centipede.

Glissa glanced down. Slobad clung to her thigh. With every step she took, he took two, and now the goblin looked up into her eyes. They were sad, scared. He looked like she felt. Reaching down, she grabbed hold of the goblin’s hand. She expected him to say something, but all she got was a tight squeeze. He knew what was going through her mind. It was going through his as well. There was no need to say the words.

The elf and goblin crossed into the tunnel. As the lip of the ceiling came over them, they ducked down, not wanting to look away from their friend.

“We must go,” said Bruenna. “The sooner we get what you have come for, the sooner we can face Memnarch.”

Glissa didn’t budge.

“Bosh would want you to go,” said the wizard.

The elf looked down at the goblin. He shook his head.

“No,” she said. “No, he wouldn’t.” Squeezing Slobad’s hand she broke away from Bruenna’s grasp.

“Come on,” she said. “Let’s go save Bosh.”

Glissa bolted back from the tunnel and into the chamber. Slobad ran right beside her. High above, their friend clung to the thrashing centipede.

“How we get him off, huh?” asked the goblin.

Glissa shook her head. Looking around the room, she searched for something, anything that she could use to help her. Half way up the wall, near the side of the lake closest to Bosh and the centipede, she found what she was searching for.

Grabbing Slobad’s shoulder, she pointed. “You see that?”

Slobad narrowed his eyes. “What?”

“The joint. The big round thing with the seam in it.” She shook her hand as she pointed.

“No,” replied the goblin.

“There, half way up. The silvery bend. Can’t you see it?” She got down on her knees so that she was closer to his level and pointed with both hand.

Realization blossomed on Slobad’s face. “Yes. Slobad see now.”

Glissa smiled. “If I can get you up there, can you take it apart?”

Now it was the goblin’s turn to smile. “Slobad can take anything apart, huh?”

She grabbed him by the cheek and kissed his little face. “That’s why I love you.” Then she stood up, lifting Slobad under her arm.

“Hey,” he said. “Goblins not toys, huh? Ride up here.” He climbed under her armpit and onto her back, wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

Glissa nodded and began reciting the words to a spell. Relaxing the muscles along her spine, she opened herself up to the powers of green mana. Here, deep under the Dross, there was little of the arcane energies that she sought. But the spell she was about to cast needed very little, and she could improvise with what was abundant here in the stronghold of darkness.

Gathering to her the powers she needed, Glissa began to form the framework of her spell. It was an incantation many of the forest elves were taught when they were very young, useful in many different situations, this one being no exception.

When the words were spoken and all the pieces in place, Glissa focused her attention on the pipes on the ceiling near the coupling and let the spell loose.

Long, stringy white strands of sticky silk shot from her fingertips, reaching high into the air. As they flew, they spread out, expanding like fingers reaching to grasp hold of the ceiling. Squeezing hold of the silk, Glissa and Slobad were lifted from the ground, propelled toward the wall by the web the elf had spun.

The first moment was the most exhilarating. Having been jerked from the floor, the pair accelerated, and everything became a blur. As they continued upward, the chamber again came into focus, and Glissa turned to check on Bosh.

In the time it had taken the elf to cast her spell, the centipede had slowed its thrashing, and the iron golem had come to rest against the great creature’s back.

“Uh oh. It see us, huh?” said Slobad from her back.

Glissa shivered. It was true. The centipede was watching her and the goblin as they sped toward the wall.

With lightning speed, the bug lunged, snapping its razor arms together, trying to catch the soaring elf.

Glissa twisted in midair. There was nothing she could do to control her flight. All she could do was cling tightly to the strand of webby silk. The creature moved in on them, rustling the air and pushing before it the foul stench of the underground lake. Glissa’s hair whipped around, and the unnatural breeze whistled as it whipped through the metal on her shins.

The centipede’s closing arms reached out, grasping for the elf and the goblin. Metal closed down on metal, missing flesh but slicing right through the magical web and sending the pair spinning off toward the wall.

The room whirled, and Slobad’s grip tightened around Glissa’s shoulders. Closing her eyes, the elf quickly ran through the words to another spell. It was all she had, and she wasn’t even sure it would work, but she forced as much power into it as she could.

The final word spoken, Glissa let loose. Strands of wire that looked like leafy green vines sprouted from her hands and feet.

Slobad gasped then giggled. “Hey,” he said, letting go with one hand. “Stop. Tickles, huh?”

Glissa ignored him. As they spun, falling back toward the floor, she grabbed hold of the wires with both hands. Whipping them around like a lasso, the elf flung them toward the wall with all of her might. It was her only chance, and she took it.

The wires clanked as they collided with the tubes, slapping around and spanking off the slippery, slime-covered metal.

“Damn!” shouted the elf.

The vines trailed down the wall as the pair fell, slapping and flapping the whole way. Then one of them got stuck in between two of the pipes-and it jammed. The other end of the cable-attached to Glissa’s foot-pulled tight. The goblin and the elf were flipped over, upside down, and flung sideways as their descent was stopped cold by the wire.

The pair swung out over the lake, suspended upside down by Glissa’s magical vine. All the blood in her body ran down into her head, and she struggled to recover from the sudden stop.

“You okay?” she asked Slobad.

“Yeah,” replied the goblin, though his words seemed labored.

Reaching the end of their swing, the vine brought the two back toward the wall. Glissa squeezed her gut and leaned into the vine, trying to accentuate the swinging.

The centipede loomed up large behind her, getting ready to strike again.

“Slobad,” she shouted. “Can you grab hold of my hand?” Reaching back up over her upended shoulders, she spread her palms out for the goblin.

Without a word, the goblin grabbed hold. Immediately his body flipped over, righting itself. The force of the shifting bodies changed the course of their swinging, and the vine gave way.

Glissa gasped as they fell again. A loud creak filled the chamber, and their descent was stopped once again. Only a few inches below where they had been, the vine caught again.

Suspended there, arms outstretched, looking up into the eyes of the upside down elf, the goblin said, “Now what, crazy elf?”

“Now I’m going to toss you onto that pipe coupling.”

Slobad’s eyebrows lifted. “What?”

“We’re going to swing as hard as we can, then I’m going to toss you up toward the coupling.”

“Why?”

“So you can take it apart.”

“What ’bout you, huh?”

Glissa smiled at him, her head still filling with blood. “I’m just going to hang out.”

The pair swung away, reaching the apex of their arc, slowing, then coming back down and gaining speed. They were headed back toward the coupling.

“This is our best chance,” said Glissa. “It’s now or never.”

Slobad looked up and only nodded.

From the corner of her eye, Glissa could see the centipede ready to strike again, its head curled back, its eyes pointed at her and Slobad.

“Here we go,” she shouted, and she swung her arms with everything she had. At the top of their arc, as close as they would come to coupling, Glissa let go of the goblin. As soon as she did, the vine complained once again, then it snapped, and she fell, head first, toward the ground.

As she dropped she watched Slobad soar through the air. He looked as if he were hanging on an invisible hook, weightless and unconcerned about being ten times his height from the floor.

The centipede’s head filled her vision. It came down, and the rest of the world rushed up to greet her. She could hear the scissoring sound of the bug’s arms closing and opening again. She hit something hard, and everything went black.

* * * * *

At the other end of the lake, a new predator emerged. Unseen but all seeing, it stalked from between the pipes. Scanning the room with its hawklike eyes, set deep above a birdlike beak, the four-legged creature stayed concealed within the shadows. It would watch and wait.

The myr had all the time in the world.

* * * * *

Slobad was weightless. One minute he was swinging from a vine like a monkey, the next he was being hurled through the air. The falling part he didn’t so much like, but the moment just before he fell-the point at which he wasn’t travelling up or down but was just stuck in midair-that he kind of liked.

Now he was falling again. Glissa had done her best to throw him toward the coupling. He hadn’t made it, and he was starting back down. Slobad felt his stomach rise as he began to pick up speed. He definitely didn’t like this part, and he reached out, reactions taking over for reason.

His fingers closed around nothing but air, and the goblin continued to fall. Then something solid hit his leg, and he lunged for it. Nimble hands caught the edge of a broken, magical vine, and Slobad crashed into the pipes.

His heart raced, and terror flooded through his veins. Looking down, he saw Glissa falling then saw the centipede dive after her-Bosh clinging to his back.

Glissa hit the water, and the swamp creature plunged its head under, leaving the room eerily quiet. Slobad clung to the wall, listening to himself breathe, trying to piece together what had just happened to him.

The sound of bubbling water interrupted his thoughts. The surface of the underground lake exploded upward, and the centipede’s head shot into the sky. This time, though, Bosh wasn’t attached.

Great, thought the goblin. Bosh and Glissa are gone, and Slobad is the one stuck up here with angry centipede, huh?

Before the creature could get its bearings, Slobad decided to climb. Grabbing hold of the smallest pipe he could find, hugging it as if it were Glissa’s back, the goblin shimmed up toward the coupling.

The going was tough, but Slobad was a good climber, and he managed to make progress. The coupling, however, was on a different pipe, and eventually he’d have to find a way to cross from where he was over to where he was going.

Now that he thought about it, he didn’t know why he was going there. Glissa had wanted him to take it apart, but that was when Bosh was still on the creature’s back. But, even when the golem had still been attached to the bug, Slobad didn’t know what good taking apart the connective coupling was going to do.

He’d almost reached the connection when he heard a loud chittering sound. Turning around, he looked into the beady little eyes of the giant centipede.

Slobad swallowed. “Nice bug, huh?”

The swamp monster reared and lunged at the goblin.

Slobad barely had time to scamper onto the neighboring pipe before the creature’s head impacted the coupling.

A dull gong, followed by a high-pitched hissing sound, rolled through the chamber. A flood of filth shot out, blinding the centipede and forcing it back. The creature’s attack had punctured the coupling, and all the swamp fluid stored within the pipe was released in one large shot.

“Oh,” said Slobad. “Now Slobad understand crazy elf.”

Below he could see that Glissa and Bosh had surfaced and were getting out of the lake. Bruenna stood below him, waving her hands.

“What?” he yelled.

Bruenna cupped her hands to her mouth. “Jump.”

“Oh.” Slobad shrugged and leaped into the air.