Jess Lebow - The Darksteel Eye

Pontifex pointed at Orland. “You’re next, councilor,” he said. “If it’s the last thing I do, you will be next.” He turned and darted from the People’s Assembly Hall.

* * * * *

Glissa and the others marched through a forest of mycosynth. The going was slow, as the mossy ground grabbed at their feet. The tall spires made travel difficult as well. It was like navigating through the dense Tangle, only here the growths were less predictable. Several times the entire group marched through the mazelike mycosynth, only to find a dead-end and be forced to retrace their steps.

Pushing deeper into the forest, Glissa nearly lost her balance as she tried to avoid stepping on a squirming critter beneath her feet.

“What the …?” Glissa slipped back, but Bosh managed to catch her in his meaty palm. She looked over her shoulder at the golem. “Thanks.”

Bosh nodded, and the corners of his mouth turned up in a grin.

“Bosh,” she shouted, spinning around and grabbing hold of one of his fingers. “You smiled.”

“I did?”

“Uh huh. Here, kneel down.”

Glissa reached up, and the golem bent down. Her hand touched his face. It was soft and squishy. Though it retained its metallic look, there was no doubt, the golem’s face had turned to flesh.

“When did this happen?”

Bosh shrugged. “Just now.”

Glissa ran her hand along his cheek. “Your face is almost all flesh.”

The golem sighed. “Yes.”

“Well,” said the elf, “at least now you won’t always look so dour and serious.”

“Is that good?”

The elf smiled at him. “Yes. Very.”

At this the corners of Bosh’s mouth bent up again.

Another of the creatures that had tripped Glissa brushed against her leg. The animal was rectangular with very angular edges-no curves or organic irregularities at all. It had two skinny arms with three opposable digits attached to each, and its movements were smooth and swift, as if it traveled on wheels.

The creature moved back and forth between diamond-shaped objects embedded in (or perhaps overgrown by) the glowing mossy ground cover. Each time it reached one of this things, it fondled it with its fingers, then moved on to another, as if it were adjusting something or tending a plant.

Glissa reached down and grabbed the beast off the ground. It was the same metallic color as Bosh, but it too was soft and pliable. On its underside, as Glissa had guessed, there were three little wheels, and they spun now, trying to get free of the elf’s grip. Its arms too reached back and began pinching at her skin.

“Ow.” Glissa put the creature down. “What is that thing?”

“It is a grendle,” replied Bosh.

“A grendle?”

The golem nodded.

“What do they do?”

Bosh shook his head. “I do not know. I have only vague memories of them.” He looked down on the little creature. “They were made by Memnarch.”

From all around, more grendles came out from behind the towering mycosynth monoliths. They moved in a pack, touching and prodding the diamond-shaped boxes on the ground then moving on. They didn’t seem to mind Glissa or the others, simply moving around the obstructions where they stood.

“If Memnarch made them,” asked Glissa, “how did they become fleshy? Can he create organic creatures?”

Bosh shook his head. “No. They began as metal constructs.” He pushed a finger into his own skin. “They are like me, made from metal turned to flesh.”

Slobad knelt down to get a closer look. He poked at one, pulling his finger out of the way when it snapped its little hands at him. “These all flesh, huh? You only part flesh.”

Glissa scratched her head, then she looked up at the mana core. “Maybe something here in the interior causes metal to turn to flesh.” She scanned the mycosynth. “If this is the source, then it would make sense that these creatures would transform faster.” She shrugged. “Maybe they’ve been like this for a long time.”

“Look at this.” Bruenna was several steps away, standing at the base of a monolith. She poked at something on the ground with her toe.

Glissa walked over. Bruenna was looking at a grendle. Only this one was unmoving, and it looked pale and stiff.

“It’s dead,” said the wizard.

“From what?”

Bruenna looked up into Glissa’s eyes, then glanced up at Bosh. “Old age, presumably.”

Glissa understood immediately. “We need to go.” She grabbed Bosh by the hand. “We need to get you out of here as fast as we can-before you end up like them.”

Malil had never experienced desire such as he felt just now. Every pore of his body hated him and rebelled. His vision blurred. His arms were weak. His thoughts were scattered and incoherent, punctuated periodically by lucid moments of understanding and hatred.

This was one of those moments.

Leaping down from his leveler, he crossed the threshold and entered Panopticon. He had not waited even a moment for Pontifex. Who knew what that fool was after. Right now, Malil didn’t care. All he could focus on was getting to the top of the tower and acquiring some serum. Once inside the staging area at the base of Panopticon, the metal man hurried up the stairs and into the lift.

He had failed in his task, but he could go no further. Certainly Memnarch would understand this. Certainly he would give Malil another dose, something to aid him in his quest to capture the elf girl.

The lift rose.

If he’d only had more serum in Mephidross, reasoned Malil, he would have her by now. He tapped his fingers on his leg in anticipation.

He’d tell Memnarch about his newfound understanding. Explain to him that in order to accomplish his goals, he’d need more serum. He’d relate the tales of his long days and nights on the plain, waiting for the elf, no serum to be had-the tremors and shakes, the delusions and aching. He’d tell Memnarch of his suffering, and surely the creator would give him what he wanted.

He rose through the floor of the observation deck and climbed the spiraling walkway to the laboratory.

If that didn’t work, he thought, gripping the hilt of his sword in his weary, aching hand, he’d do whatever would be necessary.

The door to the laboratory slide open, and Malil stepped inside. The place was ruined. Shards of glass covered the floor-inches deep. Bits of broken metal lay in bent heaps. The windows were broken out. The tables were turned over, and all of the experiments were smashed on the floor, their liquids mixing with each others, their results lost.

Memnarch lay on the floor near his ruined serum-infusion device. His body heaved and shook, and he did not look up at the sound of the door opening then closing again.

Scanning the room, Malil looked for serum. The opalescent liquid was impossible to mistake. There was nothing else like it on the entire planet. The whole lab had been full of it. Big tanks and tubes were constantly pumping the stuff from one place to another-or into Memnarch. Certainly there would be some left.

Malil dropped to his knees. He pushed the shards of glass away, uncovering what lay beneath. The more he looked, the less he found. Getting back to his feet, he began kicking aside the debris on the floor, shuffling through the piles faster and faster.

“Where is it? Enlightenment! I must have it!” he shouted. Metal bent and a still-whole beaker, apparently saved from whatever had hit this room, spun across the floor.

Malil’s eyes lit up. The bottle came to a stop, rotating in place. Its sides were painted with the opalescent color of serum. The viscous liquid clung to the edges, slowly falling back to the bottom of the beaker-but only reluctantly.

The metal man lifted the vial to his lips. The sticky liquid rolled over his tongue and down his throat.