Will McDermott - The Moons of Mirrodin

“Don’t worry, huh?” said Slobad. “Goblins don’t cut easily. We’re thick and strong like the mountains. Have you seen mountains? I’ll show you when we get out of here.” The goblin pulled half the blade away, and Glissa’s foot was free. He tucked the broken blade into his pouch, then inched his way out from under the leveler.

Glissa slid off the back of the leveler, gasping when she landed. She nearly lost her balance as her ankle buckled under her. The elf shot her hand out and slammed it into the side of the leveler to keep her from crumpling to the ground. Looking over at the injured beast, she muttered, “Does nothing wake these creatures from their slumber?”

Slobad came up beside Glissa and stuck his clawlike hand out to her. The flame tube in the goblin’s other hand spread enough light around them to show the three closest levelers. “They not sleeping, huh? They turn off in here. They not beasts. You think they’re beasts, huh? Crazy elf.”

“They’re not alive?” asked Glissa, leaning against the goblin for support.

“You see their metal blades and legs? Their glass domes? Do you see any flesh, huh? Any?” asked Slobad, pointing to the leveler.

“Well, I’m alive and I have metal arms and legs. You have a metallic … uh … nose.”

“Levelers are all metal,” said Slobad, “inside and out. I know, huh? I open them up and look.”

“They’re constructs?” asked Glissa, realizing what that meant. “Somebody made these … things … and sends them out to kill?” She pushed off the goblin and raised her sword.

“Whoa, crazy elf lady,” said Slobad. “We’re safe in here, huh? This is safest place on Mirrodin. Blades turn off as soon as they enter. They only hunt outside cavern. That’s why Slobad live here. It safest place I know.”

Glissa ignored him. The rage over her family’s death had returned. Someone had created these killing machines! Well, she was going to put a stop to it.

“Out of the way, Slobad.”

She balanced on her good foot and swung her blade at the leveler that had held her captive. Sparks flew from the sword as it tore through the metallic body. Her first swing lopped off the construct’s front end, sending the rest of its broken blades clattering to the floor. She swept the sword underneath the creature, slicing off the legs. As the leveler flopped to the floor in front of her, Glissa brought the sword down, cutting a huge gash in its side.

She struck again and again until all that was left in front of her was a pile of ragged metal. At last she stopped, breathing heavily.

“You done now?” asked Slobad. “Feel better, huh?”

“They killed my family,” snarled the elf. “This one slaughtered my sister. I won’t feel better until I destroy them all.”

“Then what?” asked Slobad. “More will come. They always do, huh? Broken ones get fixed, missing ones are replaced. It’s better to hide and live than seek revenge and die, huh?”

Glissa nodded. Inwardly she resolved to find the true master of these beasts and exact her revenge where it would matter. Meanwhile …

She grabbed Slobad’s shoulder and hobbled along beside the goblin. Her ankle was swollen so much it ached constantly inside her boot. Even the slight pressure from limping shot searing pain up her leg. Perhaps the goblin was right, after all. She needed to hide and rest before seeking her revenge.

On their way through the cavern, Glissa saw something glint in the goblin’s firelight. She glanced over at the shiny object, then stopped and stared in horror.

“What’s the matter now, huh?” asked Slobad. “You want to destroy that one, too? It won’t bring back your family. It will just make more trouble for us. Come on, huh?”

“I’m not going to destroy anything,” said Glissa, her voice low and measured as she fought to remain calm in the light of her discovery. “Give me a moment, will you?”

She left the goblin’s side and hopped over to a leveler nearby. She leaned on its side and reached out toward the blades arrayed across its front. The object was still out of her reach, so she leaned even farther. Just before losing her balance, she grabbed the object, then pushed herself away from the leveler to regain her balance.

“What did you find, huh?” asked Slobad when she hopped back over to him.

Glissa showed him. It was a severed hand. An elf hand with long, delicate fingers tipped with sharp claws. The wrist was red and moist, though the blood had all but drained from it.

“That’s my mother’s wedding ring,” said Glissa. “It’s been passed down from mother to son for generations. Nobody knows what the gem is anymore, or the metal.”

Glissa pulled the ring off the hand and placed it on her own finger. She kissed the fingers of the severed hand and tenderly laid it aside. “It’s all I have left of them.”

* * * * *

A subdued Glissa let Slobad lead her to the back of the chamber and through a small hole hidden in the wall. She crawled through the hole behind the goblin into a small room where Slobad obviously lived. It wasn’t much to look at. He had spread a couple of furs on the floor in one corner. A small table and chair stood in the center and another, larger table was placed against the far wall, covered with small tools and scraps of metal. After hiding the hole with a small section of wall, Slobad put the flame tube on the table and picked up a knife.

Glissa stepped back from him, pointing the sword. “Mine’s bigger,” she said.

“I told you to put that thing away, huh?” said Slobad. “You are one crazy elf, do you know that? Lie down so I can cut your boot off and look at your leg.”

Glissa breathed easier. “I don’t know who to trust,” she said apologetically. “Just be careful. My ankle is swollen right up against the boot.”

Slobad came over with the knife, and Glissa kept her sword ready just in case. She held her mother’s ring against her chest as if clinging to the past for comfort. The goblin, however, was as skilled with the knife as he had been with his tools. He sliced right down the boot all the way to the heel, never once touching her metal skin beneath.

As Slobad pulled away the leather, Glissa could see that her ankle was swollen to more than twice its normal size, and the blades had cut into her metal shin. Green pus oozed from the wounds on either side of her leg. Slobad went to the table and brought back a metal bowl full of water. He cut a strip of leather from the furs and wetted it in the bowl, then used the wet leather to wash off the pus. The goblin then cut two more strips and tied them around Glissa’s ankle.

“That looks bad, huh?” said Slobad. “I’ve not seen a lot of elves, but I don’t think your ankle should be that color. What you think? I think you lose leg if that pus doesn’t go away.”

“Let me see what I can do,” said Glissa. She sat up against the wall, dropped her sword on her lap, and placed her hands over the wounds. She knew some healing magic, but in here she could barely feel the power from the trees. What little she could muster she sent down through her fingers, and a few green wisps of energy floated down from her hands to her injured leg. The ankle glowed for a moment, and the swelling went down somewhat.

“That’s all I can do,” she said. “My magic can heal wounds, but that must be something else, some sort of disease.”

“Rest now,” said Slobad. “We leave in morning.”

Suddenly Glissa was suspicious again. “Why?” she asked. “I thought you said it was safe here.”

“It was until you came here, huh?” said Slobad. “I told you, broken levelers get fixed. Missing ones are replaced. Nobody ever bother Slobad during repairs, huh? I stay hidden here until repairs finished. This was the safest place on Mirrodin, huh? But you destroyed a leveler in the cavern. They will know somebody here. They will look for us. They will find Slobad and you.”