by Cory Herndon
“All right, Yert. You win,” the elf girl said. “Release Bruenna, and stop fighting the leonin, and I’ll … ugh … come to you.”
Raksha and Lyese both opened their mouths to object, and Glissa silenced them both with a glare.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” the head replied. “You have heard the offer. I expect to see you within a day. If not, the mage dies. Then, and only then, I will call off my nim.” With that, Geth’s eyes rolled back into place, gazing up at Glissa.
“Wait, you’ve got to be reasonable—” Glissa said and picked up the grisly transmitter by both ears.
“I miss anything?” Geth’s head asked.
“Geth?” Glissa snapped. “Let me talk to Yert.”
“Sorry, he’s really going to be tied up for the rest of the day,” Geth replied, “Or maybe it was other people getting tied up, and he’s merely preoccupied. Such a busy fellow, my old pal—”
Glissa dropped Geth’s head into the pack without warning and shut the bag. She called the others into a huddle, hopefully out of earshot.
“You cannot—” Raksha began with a whisper.
“I can and I am,” Glissa replied in kind.
“You would have to fight your way through the nim. Alone. That is madness,” Raksha said.
“What about Slobad?” Lyese asked.
A familiar sinking feeling set in. “He’s just going to have to hold on,” Glissa sighed. “Memnarch wants him alive for some reason, I’m sure of it.”
“Perhaps the Kha could speak with this Dwugget alone,” Raksha replied. “We are somewhat experienced in these matters.”
“This isn’t at all the behavior of the Dwugget I know,” Glissa said. “He may not be in a negotiating mood. When Vektro comes too, he can lead you there. Or one of the other goblins. How will I find you after I get Bruenna?”
“Return to Taj Nar. If the mage can signal us, we shall find you,” Raksha rumbled. “We see now a simple retrenching will not be enough. We need a new battle plan.”
“I knew it!” Lyese whispered excitedly. “Raksha and I can talk to the goblins, Glissa, while—”
“No. No, no, no,” Glissa said, and added, “No.” She scowled when she saw the set of Lyese’s jaw. “And don’t argue.”
Lyese simply stared incredulously at her sister, and Glissa thought of the many, many times over the years she’d been forced to lie to her mother about her whereabouts. One didn’t become the greatest hunter in the Tangle by getting in every night by sundown and studying with troll scholars and elf academics. Raksha coughed unconvincingly.
“Think, Glissa. Say you’re Dwugget.”
“You don’t even know Dwugget,” Glissa snapped.
“Not my point,” Lyese replied. “Say you’re Dwugget, and you see these guys.” She jerked a thumb at the commandos, who looked up curiously. “You’re going to call out the goblin guard and maybe something even worse than that meathead Vektro. Now say you see the Kha and his consort—”
Glissa’s eyes narrowed, and Raksha’s muzzled dropped open.
“—Or, the Kha and a dignitary from the Tel Jilad Chosen,” Lyese deftly continued. “From a distance he might even think I’m you.”
“She has a point,” Raksha ventured. “Her presence should help us avoid another confrontation. But we should go alone, in case more patrols or ‘meatheads’ are about.” Glissa noted Lyese began to blush dark green. “My warriors shall serve you as they would me, Glissa. They will see you to Bruenna, and help you free her from this Yert.”
“Flare,” Glissa muttered. “All right, but if anything happens to her, Raksha …”
The Kha merely cocked his head to one side and arched an ear. “Your sister shall return alive.”
“I’m holding you to that, your Kha-ness,” Glissa said. “Thank you. Lyese.” She stepped forward gingerly swept her sister into a hug that sent pain down her injured arm, but Glissa ignored it. She leaned in to Lyese’s ear and whispered so only her sister could hear—she hoped. “And behave yourself. Don’t trust anyone, except maybe Raksha—I really think he’s a good man, but I thought Dwugget was too. Remember, a ruler is always going to have his own priorities. And that might not include marrying the Viridian princess, so get that look out of your eye.”
Glissa stepped back and held her sister at arm’s length. Lyese nodded solemnly, but soon couldn’t hold back a lopsided grin. The younger elf blushed a deeper green.
“The most important thing is to find out if they know anything about Slobad. An alliance is important, but if we can’t figure out why Memnarch was willing to send so many levelers after Slobad, that all might be beside the point.” Raksha nodded his agreement as Glissa continued. “If you can’t get to the Prophet, try to find someone else who might know something. But if you do get a chance to talk to Dwugget,” Glissa said, “tell him what happened down below, in the interior—what I told you. Both of you fill in the story for him. He probably knows more about the big picture than you think. Tell him about Slobad. If he really is following Krark, he should help you. If not, we’re going to have to fight Memnarch without the goblins’ help.”
Raksha looked a little ruffled at suddenly being on the receiving end of the orders but nodded in agreement. “We shall,” he said.
“I just hope we don’t have to fight too many of the goblins,” said Lyese, rubbing her sore wrists. “They don’t fight fair.”
“Neither should you,” Glissa said. “You should fight to survive.”
Raksha arched the wiry whiskers on his brow at this dishonorable notion, but said nothing.
“Take care of yourself, big sister,” Lyese said. “Go save Bruenna, and we’ll meet you back at Taj Nar.”
“Yes you will. I’m not about to become the bride of Yert,” Glissa said.
Raksha reached under his breastplate and pulled out a small gemstone pendant hanging from a chain. The stone glowed a faint yellow in the dim light. Without ceremony, the Kha pulled it over his head and offered it to Glissa. “Take this,” he said. “It will protect you from the necrogen mists. They can become toxic over several days’ exposure. Hopefully you won’t be in there that long.” He shrugged and added, “You might also say it’s lucky.”
“Thanks. Now to see if I can get there in time,” Glissa said, placing a hand to her temple. “There’s got to be a way to cover the distance. Where are your pterons?”
“Safely out of the fight. They are more a hindrance than a help in such close quarters, and frankly Taj Nar can’t afford to lose even one. That said, you shall take my personal mount,” Raksha rumbled as he waved the nearest skyhunter over. “This is Lieutenant Ellasha. Lieutenant, we are placing you under the command of Glissa, Chosen One and Champion of the Tangle. Do you understand?”
Glissa groaned inwardly. Her supposed status as “Chosen One” was, as far as she was concerned, still in dispute. “Chased One” was more like it. Raksha’s lieutenant didn’t seem to find her title that impressive. Ellasha let her lip curl just enough to reveal the tips of her fangs before military demeanor took over and she nodded curtly. “Yes, my Kha.” The leonin lieutenant flipped Raksha a crisp salute and returned to securing the goblin prisoners.
Glissa saw that the leonin had left a few of the goblins’ weapons lying about—neither team was going to be able to take a number of angry goblin prisoners along, but leaving them tied securely without some way to eventually escape was tantamount to murder.
Yet there was still the problem of what to do with Alderok Vektro, who presented a much greater danger than the goblin guards, but from whom Raksha and Lyese would need directions. The Vulshok’s head had started lolling lazily, and he might soon come to. Maybe his power was in the gauntlets, maybe not, but Glissa didn’t think it was a chance they should take.
Raksha finally settled on keeping the human’s arms tied behind his back, and gagged his mouth with strips of the Vulshok’s robes. They were stopgap solutions, the Kha admitted, but should keep Vektro from trying any magical
tricks on the journey into the mountains. The gag could be removed briefly to get directions out of the priest, and Raksha promised the human a swift death if he attempted to run. Vektro nodded, in no position to argue. And it might have been her imagination, but Glissa could have sworn that Vektro now looked a little smaller and less muscular without his gauntlets. Perhaps they were simple strength-enhancing artifacts.
With a final farewell and one more assurance from Lyese that she would be careful, the leonin and the young elf set off, their Vulshok prisoner stumbling ahead of them.
Lieutenant Ellasha turned from watching them go to address Glissa. “Your orders, Chosen One?”
The elf girl thought the leonin’s effort to disguise her disdain was admirable, if not quite successful.
“We’re taking the pterons for a ride into the swamp. Can you lead me to them?” Glissa asked. “And call me Glissa. Please.”
“Of course,” Ellasha replied. “Glissa, the pterons will have us within the Mephidross before the next sun clears the horizon.”
DROSSBOUND
“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?”