The Moons of Mirrodin

CHAPTER 10

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 fearsome 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.

“Good, Yert,” said Geth. “I did not expect you to return so soon … and so successfully.”

“Not so successfully as you might think,” said Glissa. In a single fluid movement, she twirled around behind Yert, snatched her sword, and snapped the edge of the long blade against the sniveling man’s neck.

“Do you expect me to be afraid, little elf?” asked Geth. The ruler of the Vault had not even flinched or blinked at the sudden role-reversal.

“No. I expect you to tell me why you want me.”

“And if I don’t?” asked Geth, smiling again.

“If you don’t start talking,” replied Glissa, “I’ll kill Yert.”

Geth leaned forward in his throne and looked straight at Glissa. “Kill him. He is a boil on the surface of the Dross. I have hundreds of Yerts.”

Glissa tried in vain to read Geth’s eyes, but he was either telling the truth or merely cold and calculating. Either way, it mattered little. She stared for a moment more, then shoved the controller into the wall behind her. Yert’s head bounced off the wall, and he slumped to the floor, unconscious. She turned back toward the throne. “How many Geths do you have?”

Geth slapped his hands. The vampire stood sneering behind the ruler. “Well done,” said the ruler of the Vault. “A lesser being might actually be cowed by your display of mercy.”

“He did ask me to kill him,” replied Glissa. “I would have if he deserved it. Do you deserve death? Or will you tell me why you wanted me killed?”

“I did not want you dead,” said Geth. “I had hoped to barter your life for a larger payment, but capturing you has proved too large an inconvenience. It will now be my pleasure to kill you. Do not expect mercy from me.” Geth snapped his fingers, and the green-skinned vampire dropped its robe to the floor. The creature’s chest was indeed broad, but its arms looked like skin stretched across bare bone. The tubes from the vampire’s mouth ran back over its shoulders and wound their way down both arms, ending at metallic scythes on both wrists.

Without warning, the vampire leaped from behind the throne and barreled into Glissa, driving them both to the floor. It pinned her legs together with its knees and slapped at the blade when Glissa swung it at the creature. Before she could bring the sword back up for another attack, the vampire grabbed Glissa’s wrist and squeezed until she dropped the silver blade.

“To answer your question,” said Geth from his throne, “there is only one Geth, because there is only one vampire in the Mephidross. I control the Dross because I control the vampire.”

The vampire raised its arm and slammed the scythe point down into Glissa’s shoulder. The elf screamed in pain, then horror, as liquid rose up the tube toward its shoulder. The vampire was draining her blood!

Weakness flowed over her. She raised her free hand and hit the vampire in the face, but it was like hitting the golem. She grabbed the vampire’s wrist and tried to pull the spike out, but it was too strong. She grew cold, and her vision started to blur. She could see her life disappearing through the tube and could do nothing to stop it.

She flailed at the arm, but the creature was too strong and she was getting weaker. Then her fingers felt a small tube coming from the scythe’s tip. She wrapped her claws around the tube and pulled. At first, the tube didn’t move at all and Glissa lost hope, but after another moment she felt it shift a bit. She looked up into the vampire’s eyes, but it was reveling in the kill too much to notice. Glissa pulled harder, focusing all her strength into that single task. Little by little the tube inched from the sheath. All at once, the tube sprang free. Blood sprayed over Glissa and the vampire as the tube whipped around in the air.

The vampire roared as the blood stopped flowing into its mouth. Glissa pressed her advantage. She wound the loose tube around her wrist and yanked on it like a rope. The tube snapped taut, pulling the vampire’s head violently backwards. The creature toppled off Glissa, its spike slipping from her shoulder as it fell.

Glissa rolled over and grabbed her sword again. Rising to her knees, she brought the blade down hard on vampire’s wrist. The spike snapped as the sword sliced through it on its way through the creature’s wrist. Geth screamed, “No!” from his throne as the vampire roared in pain. The vampire’s black blood spilled from the severed end of its arm, mixing with Glissa’s red blood in a growing brown puddle.

Glissa stood up and stepped on the vampire’s good arm. She felt a little unsteady but tried not to show any weakness.

“Now,” said Glissa slowly, looking up at Geth, “tell me what I want to know or I will cut off its other arm. You said yourself, there is only one vampire, and I will not show it the same mercy I showed Yert.”

“It’s bleeding to death,” gasped Geth, looking down at his vampire’s severed arm.

“Then talk fast,” said Glissa. “Why did you kill my family?”

“I didn’t kill your family,” said Geth. “I didn’t even know your name until a few rotations ago. We were paid to attack you and that leonin ruler.”

“Who paid you? What was his name?”

“I never knew,” growled Geth. He glared at Glissa, then looked down at his bleeding vampire. “Let me bind his arm and I will tell you everything I know. If he dies, I will tell you nothing!”

Glissa shook her head. “The person who paid you,” she said, recalling the figure she and Raksha had seen the night of the leveler attacks. “Did he wear gray robes and have a domelike head?”

“I don’t know,” snarled Geth. Sweat was pouring down his forehead. “I never saw him. My instructions and payment were delivered by flying artifacts-silver birds with globe heads and no beaks. I never met whoever controlled them. I was paid ten vials of serum for the attack on Taj Nar. I was to get twenty-five more for killing you. I thought I could renegotiate if I captured you alive.”

“Why should I believe you?” asked Glissa. She pressed a little harder on the vampire’s arm, and a fresh gout of black blood spilled onto the floor.

“The proof is in my throne,” screamed Geth. “Now let me help my vampire, or I will call down the entire force of the Vault upon you!”

It was too late. The vampire stopped struggling, and the bleeding stopped. Geth jumped off his throne and ran forward. Glissa slapped the hilt of her blade into the human’s face. There was a crack, and Geth dropped to the ground at her feet. Glissa kicked Geth in the chest to make sure he was truly unconscious, then, satisfied he no longer posed any threat, walked over to the throne.

What was this serum he had mentioned? A compartment in the arm held a single clear vial of blue liquid, the vial no larger than her thumb.

“Hmmph,” said Glissa. “You caused a lot of trouble for so small a price. I think I’ll just take this, if you don’t mind.”

There was no argument from Geth. Glissa dropped the vial into the dagger sheath in her boot and stepped over the ruler of the Vault and his vampire. A trickle of blood still flowed from the vampire’s severed arm.

I don’t want to leave another enemy behind me, she thought. Besides, Geth had done no real harm to her. She kneeled beside the vampire. With her sword in one hand, and an eye on both Geth and his creature, Glissa summoned the power of the distant trees. A ball of green energy filled her palm, and she pushed it down onto the vampire’s wrist. The wrist glowed green for a moment as the wound closed.

Glissa pulled the tubing free from the vampire’s mouth and tied Geth’s hands and legs behind his back. She walked over to Yert’s inert form and prodded him awake. She held her sword tip to Yert’s throat and placed a finger on her lips. Yert nodded his understanding. Glissa walked back over to Geth and slapped the leader’s face a few times until he opened his eyes.

“I could have killed you,” she said, “but I believe you didn’t kill my family.”

Fire raged behind Geth’s eyes as he struggled against the bindings.

“I have healed your vampire, so you may maintain control of the Mephidross, but I suggest you remember who saved your life, Geth. Choose your allies more carefully in the future. Do we understand one another?”

The bound leader glared at Glissa, refusing to nod.

“Come here, Yert,” said Glissa. “Yert here has lost his reaper. Either you agree to keep your nim inside your border, or I leave you tied up and Yert in charge when I leave.”

Geth glared for another moment, then nodded his head. Glissa pulled the tubing from his mouth.

“I will not harm you or the leonin leader,” he said.

“Fine,” said Glissa. “I believe you. One more thing, though. You should find another reaper for Yert. He is your loyal servant.”

Geth nodded his head. “You can trust me.”

“I said I believe you,” said Glissa. “I don’t trust you.”

She replaced the tube, then slammed the pommel of her sword into Geth’s forehead, knocking him out once again. She handed her sword back to Yert and pushed him through the enchanted doorway. Glissa followed the controller into the main hall. The nim in the Vault of Shadows were still doing their menial tasks and took no notice of her. She snatched her sword from the young controller and ran for the entrance.

Shouts rang out behind Glissa as she reached the waterfall. The nim guards turned, but they were too slow. Glissa cut them in half without slowing. She dodged around the murky sheet of water and ran into the Dross. Each step took her closer to her friends and farther away from harm. As she neared the chimney, she dared to glance back and was surprised to see nobody pursuing her.

What she did see stopped her in her tracks. There, just at the far edge of the Vault of Whispers, was the figure from the Tangle. His domed head was reflecting the pale light of the pulsing building. Above him, two birdlike creatures flitted back and forth, the pale light glinting off their blue-domed heads.

“Slobad! Golem!” she cried. “Come here, quickly!”

Her friends appeared in the chimney doorway, but before they could reach her, Glissa felt an all-too-familiar darkness close in on her.

“Not now,” she groaned as she fell face first into the Dross.

* * * * *

When Glissa looked up, she was no longer in the Mephidross. Instead of purple slime and green haze, she saw brown dirt and green plants. Instead of scraggy chimneys around her, she was surrounded by great trees reaching up to a yellow moon … no, a sun. Yes, that was definitely a sun. Its brilliance hurt her eyes when she looked straight at it.

Glissa stood. She was back in the same forest of her flare. It looked just as she had remembered-green and gold, bright and warm. Water droplets clung to the moss and flowers at her feet, glistening in the bright rays of sunshine that filtered through the leaves. The metal covering her arms and legs was gone. Instead, she was draped in vines and leaves. She felt calm, the stress of the Dross melting away along with the memory of her other life. This was where she belonged.

She began walking. A voice inside her beckoned her. Her inner serenity was replaced by fear, but Glissa knew she could not turn back. Her destiny lay ahead of her. After a time, the trees gave way to a clearing. Within the grove, she saw many elves dressed in leaves and vines. More appeared at its edges and walked forward without speech or expression toward a bright light in the middle of the clearing.

Glissa felt a sense of doom overtake her as she stared at the globe of light. It didn’t belong in the forest. It didn’t belong in this world. Glissa tried to stop, to back away, but her legs would not obey her.

She raised her hands in front of her to shield her eyes and shouted, “No! Stop. Stay away!” but she was too late. The globe of light flashed, expanding out to engulf the entire clearing. Glissa was falling. The bodies of the other elves, silhouetted in the bright light, fell with her.

* * * * *

Glissa was back in the Mephidross, drenched in muck. She looked up to see the golem’s face, with Slobad peeking around from behind. She was being carried through the Dross.

“Awake now, huh?” said Slobad. “Crazy elf pick funny time for nap. Fall facedown into Dross, huh? Not good. Slobad know, huh? Slobad know.”

“It was a flare,” said Glissa. “A vision we elves get.” She looked over her shoulder to see where they were going but could not see the Vault of Whispers any longer. “Where are we? What happened to the figure?”

“We not see anything, but you fall into Dross,” said Slobad. “Plop. Face first. Lucky you call us, or you still there, huh? The golem pull you out, and we head back to Glimmervoid.”

Glissa struggled to escape the golem’s grip. “No!” she said. “We have to go back. I saw the figure from the Tangle, the one in Ushanti’s vision. He had silver birds flying above him, just like the ones Geth described.” Glissa quickly told them what she had learned from the ruler of the Vault.

“Nim come swarming from Vault, after you fall,” said Slobad. “Plop. Right into Dross. No robed figure or silver birds, huh? Just lots of nim and another reaper. Bad if we stay, huh? Had to leave.”

“You’re right, of course,” she said. “I’m sorry, Slobad. At least I have this.” Glissa pulled the vial of serum from her dagger sheath and showed it to the goblin.

“What is that, huh?”

“I was hoping you could tell me. This was the payment Geth received for his attacks on Taj Nar. You’ve never seen it before? Geth called it serum.”

As soon as that word left Glissa’s mouth, the golem halted. Glissa almost fell from the sudden stop. She looked up at the golem’s face. His eyes had narrowed, and he was staring at the vial in her hand.

“What’s the matter, golem?” asked Glissa. “What is it?”

“Memnarch,” said the golem.

Glissa stared up at the golem. “Did he just talk?” she asked.

“Yes,” said Slobad.

“Has he done that before?”

Slobad shook his head. “No.”

“What do you think ‘Memnarch’ means?” asked Glissa.

“I don’t know.”

“Huh.”