Jess Lebow - The Darksteel Eye

Glissa just managed to get her blade around in time, blocking the vedalken’s strike. Had she missed, she would now be missing an ear. Twisting away from the blow, the elf stepped in, pulling her sword free.

The guard was defenseless, unable to bring his long weapon in so close, and he backpedaled, but it was too late. Glissa cut a long gash across his belly, opening his robe and abdomen in the same stroke. Pink and purple blobs of flesh poured from the warrior’s open stomach. Glissa assumed they were vedalken entrails, though she’d never seen the inside of one before.

The guard went to his knees, scooping up his guts in both arms and trying to stuff them back in. Glissa turned away, sure that he’d cause her no more trouble, at least for the foreseeable future.

Four halberd blades descended on her at once, blocking each of the cardinal directions.

“Drop your weapon,” came another gurgling voice.

Glissa bashed away one of the great spears, dodging through the hole as she did so and coming around behind the circle of guards. As she spun, something caught her foot, and the world spun with her. For the dozenth time in as many minutes, the elf landed on her head and saw stars.

“Not again.”

Glissa tried to sit up, but her path was blocked by a trio of spearheads.

“That’s far enough.”

Glissa looked up into the eyes of a vedalken guard. His head swam inside a helmet full of serum, making his lips and eyes appear stretched and rubbery. He looked like a cross between a fish and a human-no elf could ever be so grotesque.

Glissa lay on the ground, panting. “What do you want?”

“I want you to drop your sword.”

Up this close, Glissa could see the creature’s lips move as he spoke. Somehow the words seemed to be coming from his neck or the top of his chest.

The vedalken jabbed his spear into her belly.

“All right.” Glissa released her blade, and one of the other guards kicked it across the floor, away from her open hand.

A great splashing sound echoed through the room, and a wave of serum spilled over the sides of the Pool of Knowledge. Bosh’s head and chest rose into the air. The golem lifted himself from the pool, his feet coming down with a thud as he landed on solid ground.

“Stop right there,” sputtered one of the guards.

Glissa felt two pairs of hands reach under her arms, and she was yanked to her feet by a vedalken. To her left, Slobad and Bruenna were being held in the same fashion, their arms pinned back by a pair of guards, blades to their necks.

“On your knees, golem, or your friends are dead.”

Bosh looked to Slobad and Bruenna then to Glissa.

She shook her head. “No.”

A guard grabbed her by both cheeks, immobilizing her head and jaw. The elf struggled, but it was no use. The vedalken had a good grip, and all she could do was move her eyes in their sockets.

“On your knees,” repeated the vedalken.

Slowly, Bosh lowered his head and dropped himself to the ground.

A pair of four-armed warriors rushed over and pried open a metal plate on his back. Flakes of rust fell to the floor. Bosh flinched at the sound.

“No,” shouted Slobad. “Don’t turn him off. I just turn him back on, huh?”

A guard shoved the goblin to the floor and knelt on him.

Glissa felt a cold chill run down her spine. She’d gone too far. All of this had started because she had vowed revenge for her parents’ death. Along the way Bosh and Slobad had joined her, and this personal quest had turned into something bigger. Now Glissa had dug too deeply, and they were all going to die. She closed her eyes. She couldn’t bear to watch.

A clank rattled around inside the room, echoing over the pool and the walls. Glissa cringed, remembering how she and Slobad had found the golem, sunk and forgotten, lying in pieces in the Dross, and a tear ran down her cheek.

There was another clank, and another, followed by the sound of footsteps and shouting.

Glissa opened her eyes.

Humans, wizards and soldiers alike were flooding into the room. They all wore blue robes, and most carried wicked hooked staves, ending in jagged points, covered with glowing jewels.

Half of the vedalken guards holding Glissa broke off, heading to intercept the humans. The elf’s head and jaw were again free.

“Bosh, get up,” she shouted.

The iron golem anticipated her command. Standing in a single fluid movement, Bosh brought his hands together-behind him. The clap crushed a vedalken to pulp and shut the golem’s open access door at the same time. Spinning to face the remaining guard, the golem let the vedalken’s limp body fall to the ground.

Glissa didn’t see any more. With her arms still held firm by two guards, she kicked her legs into the air, flipping over backward and coming down behind the vedalken. Twisting, she got one arm lose. That was all she needed.

Funneling mana into a spell, the elf willed her body strong as a bear, her skin tough as bark. Her arms grew thick and muscular, and her once-lithe elf frame doubled then tripled. Reveling in her new found power, Glissa scooped up the guard who still had hold of her arm and lifted him over her head. With a feral grunt, she heaved him against the wall of the chamber. His face mask cracked from the impact, leaving a wet streak down the wall as he slid to the ground.

Turning, Glissa reached for the other guard, but he was gone. A human soldier had the crook of his staff wrapped around the vedalken’s neck, the tip dripping blood as it poked from his throat. The rest of the vedalken guards had suffered similar fates, and as quickly as it had started, the fight was over.

Bruenna, her arms draped over the shoulders of two soldiers, hobbled up to the elf.

“They got here just in time,” she said.

Glissa looked around. “These are your soldiers?”

Bruenna chuckled. “You saw the marketplace. Many people from my village work inside Lumengrid.”

“But they seemed so scared before. Everyone scattered when Pontifex came through.” She scratched her chin. “What makes them so brave now?”

“There is no love for the vedalken in my village,” replied Bruenna. “When the time comes, we take care of our own.”

Bosh stepped up beside the women, Slobad on his shoulder. “No time to waste,” he said. “The other vedalken warriors will be coming from the pool any minute.” He ran his huge, glowing eyes over the floor. “I do not think they will be happy to see us.”

Glissa leaned back onto a comfortable bed and pulled her boots from her feet. Quicksilver rushed onto the floor. As Bruenna had said, it had been an easy thing to catch a vedalken transport from Lumengrid. The humans far outnumbered the blue-skinned, four-armed creatures. Once the group had hit the lower levels, they disappeared in the crowd of human workers.

Now she was safely inside the human settlement of Medev. Bruenna had been immediately carted off to a healer. Glissa, Slobad, and Bosh had been shown to a large metal building, not unlike Bruenna’s own home. Three well-made beds with soft cloth coverings greeted them inside. Slobad lounged on one of them now. Bosh sat beside another, his body much too large to fit on the frame.

“I’ve never seen a bed like this before,” said Glissa, as she dried the remainder of her body. “In the Tangle, there isn’t much cloth. The leaves and thorns tear it to shreds pretty quick. My mother had a shawl, but …” Glissa felt something stick in her throat, and tears welled up in her eyes.

Slobad sat up on the bed, leaning toward the elf. Glissa smiled at him then looked away. She closed her eyes to keep the tears from running down her cheeks and took a deep breath. Behind her, the bed sagged under the goblin’s feet.