The Moons of Mirrodin

by Will McDermott

  * * * * *

  The leonin city was beautiful. Glissa had never seen so much brightly polished metal. The molder in the Tangle gave the forest a fuzzy, green look that Glissa found comforting, but the leonin city was trimmed with polished copper, silver, and gold. Even the guards’ shields were mirrors that reflected light ahead of them as they walked. The prisoners were led through a series of wide hallways made of copper, with silver trim around each door and along the edge of the floor. Golden sconces holding silver fire tubes like the one Slobad carried dotted the walls all along the hall. The entire hallway glittered in reflected light from the numerous flames.

  They passed an open door, and Glissa glanced inside. This was no holding room like the one she and Slobad had occupied. It was large and bright and filled with amazing furnishings. As she hobbled past, Glissa saw an ornate bed made from large metallic bones of some animal she didn’t recognize. Next to the bed were a matching bone table and chair. The table had been topped in gold, while the bone legs and back of the chair had been completely covered in silver. Everything in the room—even the bones on the table and bed—had been highly polished and reflected the light of the fire tubes inside. The effect was dazzling.

  The guards escorted them out into a large courtyard near the edge of the city. Glissa could hear the sounds of battle coming over the wall from the fields below, but there were no warriors to be seen. The leonin soldiers must have left the battlements and gone out to face the nim. Glissa glanced up and saw that much of the city still towered above them. She could see walled terraces at several levels. Each of them was brightly lit, and the walls of the entire city glittered in the night air.

  They walked on plates of silver and gold as they crossed the courtyard. The plates were arranged to create tapering gold lines radiating out from a large golden circle in the center of the courtyard. In the center of the circle stood a statue of a leonin warrior carrying an ornate shield on his back and holding a huge, bladed staff. The warrior’s outstretched hand held a ball of fire that illuminated the entire courtyard, but Glissa couldn’t see anything fueling the fire.

  “Your work?” she asked Slobad.

  The goblin shook his head, then nodded. “Not make statue, huh? Slobad tinker, not sculptor. Art not practical. Not keep you alive, huh? Slobad make fire. Like tubes in hall. Leonin revere light. Say they keep fire burning to stay close to their god, huh? I think they afraid of dark.”

  On the other side of the courtyard, the guards stopped. They moved to either side of the door and held open a thick, dark curtain. Glissa and Slobad limped through the opening, followed by their escorts. This room was darker than anything Glissa had yet seen in the city. Curtains of woven leather hung everywhere, and a pungent, smoky aroma hung in the air. It was a drastic change from the rest of the brightly lit city.

  “Sit,” said the guard, indicating a low bench inside the door.

  Glissa sat down, and two female leonin appeared from behind one of the curtains. As they got closer, Glissa noticed that the females were only slightly smaller than the males she had seen, but their faces were even more striking. They had no manes covering their heads, but Glissa could see a graceful curve of their necks and cheeks that was hidden on the males. Even more striking was the color of one of the females’ eyes. One was copper, like all the leonin Glissa had seen so far. The other was bright blue.

  The one with the odd eyes spoke. “She is not leonin,” she said. “Why do you bring this creature in here?”

  Glissa thought the leonin might not heal her after all.

  “She is a prisoner of Raksha,” replied the guard. “She must not die before he returns from battle.”

  After a moment’s hesitation, the two healers bent over Glissa and looked at her wounds. One reached out and touched Glissa’s forehead and shoulder, while the one with the single blue eye looked at her blackened foot and the decaying metal spreading up her leg. Glissa could see a white glow around the first healer’s fingers as she touched her wounds. The pain in her shoulder disappeared along with a dull headache she hadn’t even realized she’d had until it was gone.

  Glissa looked down at the other healer and knew something was wrong. The leonin’s hands glowed, but Glissa could feel no change in her foot.

  After another minute, the odd-eyed healer stopped trying and stood. “She must see Ushanti,” she said. “I have not the power to affect this wound.”

  “Stand,” said the guard.

  Slobad helped Glissa back to her feet, and they followed the healers through the maze of curtains into the center of the large room. Smoke filtered up to the ceiling from a brazier suspended over red-hot coals. Another female leonin stood with her back to the group, sprinkling sand into the smoking pot. A flash of yellow light shot from the brazier and scattered across the ceiling.

  “Ushanti,” said the odd-eyed healer, “Raksha’s prisoner needs your healing power.”

  “Raksha and his prisoner will have to wait,” replied Ushanti. “There are more important matters in the world than a nim prisoner.” She dipped her hand back into a bowl beside her and grabbed another handful of sand.

  Glissa couldn’t see the seer’s face but could tell by the tremble in her voice and the hunch in her back that this leonin was old, older than any of the other leonin she’d seen in the city.

  “She is not nim, Ushanti,” replied the healer. “I believe she is an elf.”

  Ushanti’s clenched hand stopped halfway between the bowl and the brazier. “Elf, you say? Female elf?” The seer’s voice rose in pitch dramatically. Glissa wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw the woman tremble.

  “Yes, Ushanti.”

  Ushanti turned to face Glissa and Slobad. As soon as her eyes locked with Glissa’s, the seer screamed and staggered backward. The sand Ushanti still clenched in her hand spread across the floor around her as she slumped to the ground.

  RAKSHA AND USHANTI

  “What have you done to my mother, elf witch?” screamed the odd-eyed healer as she rushed forward and knelt by Ushanti.

  Glissa reflexively reached for her sword, but the blade wasn’t there.

  “I did nothing,” she said. She turned slightly and took a half step back, so she could keep both the healers and the guards in view. “You saw what happened. I never even moved.”

  Nobody flinched. The guards seemed to be waiting for the odd-eyed healer to tell them what to do, but she was busy tending to her mother. Glissa stood her ground waiting for the healer to awaken.

  The odd-eyed healer held Ushanti in her arms and passed her hand across the old leonin’s face. A sheen of energy surrounded the unconscious healer like a bubble.

  “She is fine. I sense no evil, Tangle magic about her.”

  Ushanti’s daughter reached up to the table next to her and picked up one of her mother’s bowls. She took a pinch of red powder and sprinkled a little under her mother’s nose.

  Ushanti coughed and sneezed then sat up and pulled away from her daughter’s grasp. “Why have you brought this elf to us, Rishan?” she demanded.

  “She is Raksha’s prisoner, Mother,” replied the young healer. “The guards brought her. She has a grave wound and a disease that threatens her leg. The guards feared she would die before the Kha could interrogate her.”

  “Bring Raksha to us now so he may interrogate her,” spat the old healer. “We will not heal this one unless ordered by the young Kha himself.”

  Rishan looked up at the guards. “Fetch Raksha,” she ordered. The guards didn’t move. “Now!” she screamed.

  “B-But our Kha is in battle,” one stammered. “It may be some time.”

  “The battle has ended,” said Ushanti. “We have seen it in the fire. Bring Raksha now.”

  Whether the old healer was telling the truth or not, it was obvious to Glissa that these guards feared her more than their leader’s anger. One turned smartly and marched back through the curtain maze.

  “Tie her up,” said Ushanti’s daughter as she r
ose and brushed herself off.

  Glissa put her hands in front of her. She hated to be bound but saw no alternative. She could no longer feel her foot, she had no weapon, and there were two armies between her and freedom. All she could do was keep her options open. She allowed herself to be bound, but kept her hands slightly apart to make sure she could escape the bonds should a need arise. The guard also tied Slobad’s hands.

  “May I sit?” asked Glissa. “This wound is painful.” It actually was more tolerable since the healer’s efforts, but she wanted to appear more vulnerable than she was. Her only advantage now lay in surprise … and patience.

  Rishan indicated a bench behind Glissa. After the elf sat down, Ushanti pushed herself up from the floor and approached her slowly. Glissa noted that the old healer had two blue eyes and couldn’t help wondering who had sired her odd-eyed daughter.

  “Yes, yes,” said the old woman as she paced back and forth in front of Glissa. “We do believe this is the one.” She looked at the guard. “She had a sword, correct?”

  The guard’s eyes widened for a moment when confronted by Ushanti. Then he nodded.

  “Silver. Bright as the noon sun. The blade flows from the hilt like water, yes?”

  The guard nodded again.

  “Yes, she is the one,” said Ushanti as she headed back to her brazier. “Keep your eyes on her. The fate of our world depends on it.”

  Glissa glanced at Slobad, who had a smirk just barely perceptible on his face. He was obviously enjoying this spectacle. Glissa wasn’t so sure. Ushanti seemed to know her even though Glissa had never traveled outside the Tangle before.

  “What is going on here?” she asked.

  “Be quiet, elf,” said Rishan. “Mother is working. You shall not interrupt again.”

  Glissa was about to argue further, but Rishan motioned for the guard to stand between the elf and the brazier. Glissa breathed deeply, trying to regain her patience.

  Ushanti was now tossing colored sand into the brazier in huge handfuls. As smoke rose into the dark room, the air around Glissa began to grow hot, and the room seemed to close in around her. She found it hard to breathe and had to fight to stay awake. The whole scene seemed unreal. Not even Chunth had acted this strangely. She felt herself falling asleep and tried to fight against it.

  * * * * *

  Glissa started as the curtains were pulled back violently and Raksha strode into the dark room. She couldn’t tell whether she had fallen asleep or not, but some time seemed to have passed. The smoke had cleared, and the guard was no longer standing in front of her. Raksha stood by the curtains, flanked by two guards, staring at the old leonin’s back. Glissa glanced back and forth between Raksha and Ushanti. Neither seemed willing to acknowledge the other’s presence. Raksha stood, holding a gleaming metal mask underneath one muscular arm, and tapped his feet impatiently. Ushanti stared intently into the smoke emanating from the brazier.

  The leonin leader could wait no longer. “Why have you summoned us from battle, seer?” he roared. “What could be more important than the safety of Taj Nar?”

  “The safety of the entire world, young Kha,” said the seer, her head rising from the brazier and splitting the smoke. Ushanti turned to face her leader, but she did not bow, and Glissa sensed no deference in her voice or manner. “It has been many weeks since our last trance, but the horror of what we saw in the fires that rotation haunts our dreams still. We saw the sacred sun stop above Taj Nar. We saw a huge gout of emerald fire erupt from the world. We saw the leonin ripped from the world.”

  Ushanti paused. The light of the coals and the smoke from the brazier limned her in an eerie glow. She advanced upon Glissa, and the elf, seeing the hostility in the old woman’s eyes, began to work her hands loose.

  “We saw our world end, Raksha,” Ushanti continued. “We saw this elf at the heart of it all.”

  Glissa remembered what Chunth had told her the night her parents died. He said that Glissa had a destiny. Surely Chunth had not tried to save her from the levelers so she could destroy the world. The old woman was mad.

  “That’s ridiculous,” she said. “I’m only a single elf, and lame, for that matter. How could I destroy the world?”

  “All we know is what we see in the fires,” said Ushanti. “The fires tell us that you are dangerous. We believe you should be destroyed … for the sake of the leonin, for the sake of the entire world.”

  “Look,” said Glissa, “believe the fires if you want, but I am not your enemy. This all started four nights ago when the levelers attacked me and my family. My family is dead, and I could do nothing to stop it. Now you’re telling me I will destroy the world? If I had that kind of power, would my sister be dead?”

  As she talked, Glissa worked on her bindings. “Listen, someone is trying to kill me. I saw him in the Tangle after the attack and again just yesterday. Tall, robed, face hidden behind some kind of reflective mask. For all I know, it’s one of you, but Slobad here told me you are a good people and that you could heal me. Somebody sent those levelers to the Tangle for me. Maybe that’s who you should be looking for in your smoke and fire.”

  Her hands were almost free. She still needed a weapon, though, to have any chance to make it from the city. The guard was close. She could probably take him before Raksha got to her. Glissa looked up at Raksha and stopped. He was staring at her. Had he seen her loosen the ropes?

  “You say the levelers attacked you four nights past?” he asked. “What proof have you of this attack?”

  “Slobad can vouch for that, your … your Kha-ship,” piped up Slobad. “I found her the next rotation, huh? She caught up in the blades of half-destroyed leveler. Slobad get her free. Make new friend, huh? So I bring her to see old friends. Then nim attack.…”

  Raksha glared at the goblin, and Slobad stopped talking.

  “We will deal with you later, goblin,” he said. “You will fix our door or die. We speak to the elf now. Tell us about this attack.”

  Glissa saw no harm in telling Raksha about the leveler attack, but she hated to be at a disadvantage. First, Ushanti apparently knew her, and now Raksha was demanding information about the worst night of her life. She would feel better if she had her sword in her hand. Perhaps she could gain his confidence by cooperating. Slobad had said Raksha was a decent leonin. He might at least hesitate if it came to battle.

  “They came in the night as they always do,” she said, “but they’ve never come so far into the Tangle. They passed many other homes to reach ours.”

  “If they truly attacked as you say, how did you survive?” asked the Kha. “Surely one elf is no match for the levelers. Or are you lying to us?”

  Glissa gritted her teeth at the insult and at the painful memories of that night. “I was … not home when the attack came.” She saw no reason to tell the leonin about her discussion with Chunth just yet. “I fought my way into the tree, but it was too late. My parents, my sister … they were already dead. All I have left of them is my mother’s ring.”

  Glissa showed Raksha the ring, then dropped her head into her hands, half-feigning the emotion she showed. She pulled at the bindings, which were now hidden from view as she continued. “I tried to kill the levelers, to make them pay for what they had done, but there were too many of them. They cornered me. I thought I was about to join my family, but then … then they turned and left. I tried to follow, but my ankle got caught in a leveler’s broken blades. The beast dragged me all the way back to its lair. Slobad rescued me and brought me here for help.”

  Glissa raised her head and looked at Raksha. She tried to read the leonin’s face, but it seemed as impassive as ever. “If you’re not going to help us, then we’ll just leave, thank you very much.”

  Glissa threw the loose ropes into the face of one guard, then rolled off the bench and came up behind the other guard. Before he could react, she had taken the claw-tipped staff from his back and whipped it down through the ropes tied around Slobad’s hands. She pushed the gu
ard into a curtain. He tumbled to the floor, caught up in the voluminous leather. The other guard stood ready to attack. Glissa looked to Raksha. He merely stared back at her.

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” she said to the Kha. Her staff wavered between Raksha and his remaining guard. “Just let us leave.”

  “You need not hurt anyone,” replied the leonin leader, “and you need not leave just yet.”

  With blinding speed, Raksha rushed forward, ducking as Glissa snapped the staff toward him. He slapped the staff out of the way and moved in. Before she could bring the long weapon back around, the leonin leader grabbed her wrist and pulled the staff from her grasp. Casually he twirled her around and pushed her back down onto the bench.

  When Glissa rolled over, the Kha was standing before her as impassive as ever. He reached up to his forehead and dabbed his finger at the cut she had inflicted. “Impressive,” said Raksha. “We have never seen anyone move that fast before.”

  Glissa was thinking the same thing.

  “As we said, there is no reason to hurt anyone.” The leonin leader turned to Ushanti, who had hidden behind her cauldron during the scuffle. “Tend to this warrior’s leg, old woman,” he said. “She is our guest and is to be treated as such.”

  “But the fire trance,” protested Ushanti. “The visions—”

  “Can often be misleading,” growled Raksha, “as you well know.”

  “I don’t understand,” said Glissa. “What just happened here? I attacked you, and now I am your guest?”

  “We will excuse the attack,” said Raksha, “this one time. We are in the midst of trying times, and such behavior is understandable, but that is not why you are now our guest.”

  Ushanti came out from behind her cauldron, chose a variety of colored sand and oils from her table, and began mixing them in a bowl. Raksha spoke a few words to the standing guard, who helped the other guard to his feet then hurried from the room. Raksha turned back to face Glissa.