Will McDermott - The Moons of Mirrodin

She had no time to dwell on the strange physiology of the beast or to marvel at the power of her new sword. A dozen more nim reached for her as she ran on.

“Stay close, Slobad!” she shouted. “I’ll keep them off us.”

Glissa swung her sword in a figure eight in front of her as she ran, slicing through the grasping nim. The blows from each side came faster as more nim closed around them. Glissa could do nothing but hack at their hands and arms. The nim were too fast, and their arms were too long.

They were almost through the throng when one nim got past her blade barrier and caught Glissa on the shoulder. She tried to dodge the attack, but the nim’s claw dug into her skin. The force of the blow sent her stumbling forward. The elf scrambled to keep her footing, but her numb ankle betrayed her and she fell to the ground. Glissa rolled over, expecting another blow to land, but she was free of the nim army. The blow had sent her past the horde.

Slobad had not been so lucky. Glissa couldn’t see the goblin anymore. The two nim flanks merged behind her and began to advance.

“Slobad!” she called as she got to her feet.

As if in response, a nim several ranks back burst into flame. Glissa could hear the familiar hiss of Slobad’s flame tube. She limped toward the burning nim to help the goblin fight his way out of the horde, but she had to fight her way in to get to him.

The elf warrior struck at one nim’s arm, cutting it clean off, then brought the sword back around and cut the creature in two. She stepped into the horde and ducked down as three more arms flew in toward her head. Glissa crouched low and swung the sword in an arc around her, taking out the legs of all three attacking nim.

What had seemed a clever tactical move almost proved to be Glissa’s undoing. All three nim continued to fight, pushing themselves up on the stumps of their legs with one hand while slicing at her with another. From her crouched position, Glissa jumped over the grasping claws. She landed behind one of the legless nim, wincing as pain shot up her leg. She gritted her teeth and kicked back with her good leg to topple the attacking creature back into the other two.

She turned back toward the hiss of Slobad’s flame tube and came face to ugly face with the burning nim. It shambled forward, hardly seeming to notice the flames. Glissa parried one attack, sending a fiery arm flying into the face of another nim. She sidestepped as the beast lunged forward, swinging her sword down through the flaming nim’s carapace, severing the creature’s head from its hunched shoulders.

As the burning nim’s headless body slumped to the ground, Slobad ran past Glissa and dived over the tangle of legless nim. The elf followed, leaving a bloody mess behind her. The pain in Glissa’s ankle had returned with a vengeance after her previous vault. Her entire leg now felt as if it were on fire. It was all she could do to keep moving. Slobad returned to help her, and the two limped toward the tower just ahead of the merged army.

Glissa glanced back at the slow-moving nim. They were barely outrunning the creatures. “Are you sure they’re not after us?” she shouted over the din of the approaching army.

“No,” replied Slobad, “but Slobad don’t care. Just keep moving, huh?”

Glissa could see figures on the wall high above, but they were too far away to discern any details. As she watched, a hail of arrows rained down. Most slammed into the ranks of the nim, but several fell uncomfortably close to Glissa and Slobad.

“Hey!” shouted Glissa. “We’re not your enemy.”

Another volley followed the first, and Glissa ducked her head as she and Slobad pushed on toward the massive gate. It seemed carved into the side of the tower, the top edge looming forty feet above them. Fresh scratch marks on the ground showed how far out the gate extended when open. Glissa now realized what the horn had signified. Until very recently the gate had been standing open.

A third volley of arrows fell behind them like a sheet of rain. Glissa and Slobad were protected under the buttresses, but they had another problem. The gate was closed. They were running straight toward a wall with an army on their heels.

Glissa clanged on the metal gate with the pommel of her sword.

“Let us in!” she shouted. “We are not your enemy.” She thought she heard movement behind the blank metal, but there was no answer.

The horde was almost on them. Glissa turned to face her death. Standing with most of her weight on her good leg, she raised her sword and stepped in front of Slobad. “Get your flame ready, goblin,” she said. “We’re not going to die without a fight.”

She heard the tube ignite behind her, but Slobad didn’t step up beside her. “Protect us, huh?” he said to her. “We not dead yet. Slobad have way out … or in. Yes-way in.”

Glissa glanced back to see the goblin running his hand up and down on the gate as if looking for something. “What are you doing?” she cried. “That little flame won’t cut through a gate.”

“Just protect us, huh?” said Slobad, glancing back. “Crazy elf. Let Slobad do his job. You do yours. Swing big sword. Look out!”

Glissa ducked instinctively before even turning back to the invading nim. A clawed hand tousled her hair as it whisked by, just missing her head. The elf shot her sword hand forward, catching the attacking nim in the abdomen. A quick jerk slid the blade through the creature’s groin. It toppled over backward, but two more nim took its place, trampling over their downed comrade to get to her.

The elf whipped the sword back up, cutting off the first beast’s arm, before slicing across to lop off not one, but two heads. As those two nim slumped in front of her, Glissa marveled at the power of her new blade. She hadn’t given it much thought since her battle with the levelers, but this sword she had stolen from Chunth was amazing.

Another claw swung at her. She parried the blow, sending the nim’s hand flying back over its head. Glissa took the opening and hopped forward a half step to impale the injured nim just as its other claw raced toward her. The beast went limp on her sword. Glissa flexed the muscles in her arms and flung the creature back off her sword into two other advancing nim. The awesome show of strength almost toppled the limping elf as she came down too hard on her injured leg. Glissa screamed as pain shot through her ankle.

Perhaps sensing weakness, the nim closed in on Glissa from three sides. She was running out of room to maneuver. The press of bodies drove her back into Slobad and the gate. All she could do was parry at the encroaching claws. She took a blow from the right that ripped into her already bleeding shoulder. Another claw got past her blade to the left, gashing her forehead. Blood flowed into her eyes, and Glissa was forced to swing her blade blindly back and forth.

The nim pressed in all around them, the stench from the gas jets belching out green clouds of noxious fumes. Glissa coughed and felt nauseous. She didn’t know if she was going to vomit or faint from the fumes. She couldn’t hold up much longer.

“If you’re going to do something,” she shouted as she wiped blood from her eyes, “you’d better do it now!”

“Almost got it,” said Slobad. “Give me a moment, huh? Not easy to find. Supposed to be secret. Slobad’s secret.”

“I don’t have a moment to give,” Glissa snapped. “Stop talking and do something!” She ducked again, barely seeing the incoming claw in time. She swung her sword but couldn’t even tell if she hit anything. The air was filled with a green haze, and blood streamed into her eyes.

An odd sound came from behind her, like metal striking metal only muted as if heard from far away. She swung through the air in front of her again to keep the nim at bay, then felt something tug on her from behind.