Will McDermott - The Moons of Mirrodin

Bruenna evidently misinterpreted the elf’s thoughts. “I did not know about the blinkmoths,” she said defensively. “Not before you told me. Father never mentioned where the serum came from.”

“Maybe he ashamed,” said Slobad. “Ashamed of killing for vedalken, huh?”

“Maybe,” said Bruenna. “Just like them to make us do their dirty work. But that has changed. They have not used this facility in twenty cycles. The vedalken do not trust the humans with the serum anymore. Not after my father got as far as the Pool of Knowledge.”

Glissa left Bruenna to deal with her personal demons, opened another crate, and looked through the vials inside. After a time, Bruenna came over. Glissa glanced up. The tears were gone and a steely determination had returned to her eyes.

“Do you think there’s any serum left in any of these vials?” Glissa asked Bruenna. “We’re going to need more before we get to the Pool.”

“What happened to the vial you had?” asked Bruenna.

Glissa looked over at Slobad, who shrugged his shoulders. “Oh,” she said, “I thought Slobad would have told you. I used the serum when I went into the quicksilver to save Bosh.”

Bruenna’s face turned red with rage. “Why in the winds did you do that?” she shouted. “We needed that serum. Without it, I … we’ll never get the information you need!”

“I had no choice,” said Glissa calmly. “If I hadn’t used the serum, we would have lost Bosh.”

“So?” shrieked Bruenna. “Without the serum, all you will get from the Pool is random images. The trip is worthless without the serum. Did you think it would be as easy to replace as finding a stray vial in a crate?”

“No,” said Glissa. “I made a decision to value the life of my friend over the value of the serum.”

Bruenna was hardly even listening anymore. “Getting more serum will be impossible. If I could have found my own serum, I would have come here long ago. I’ve waited thirty cycles -thirty cycles -for this chance! All I lacked was a vial of serum, and you threw it away to save the life of a construct. He’s not even alive, for wind’s sake!”

“Stop this!” Glissa glowered at Bruenna. “I know you see him as just a construct, like these lifeless things here. But he is my friend. And that is more important than serum, or knowledge, or even power. Maybe that’s what the vedalken have forgotten in their rush to rule the world. Maybe that’s why humans are now slaves and not equals to the vedalken.”

Bruenna slammed her hand down on the crate. The vials jumped and clinked together inside. “This was my one chance,” she said weakly. “My last chance to finish what my father started.” She looked over at Bosh. Tears streamed down her face. “I am sorry. Glissa. Slobad. Bosh. I am sorry. This room. The vial. I thought we could really do it this time. I’m sorry. I did not mean what I said. Without Bosh, we would not even be here. I know that, but there is no way to get another vial. I have tried.”

“Yes,” said Glissa, “but you didn’t have a goblin and a golem to distract the vedalken for you.” She put her arm around Bruenna and led her away from the crates toward the door. “We can still do this. You have to believe me. You have to have faith in your friends.”

Bruenna shuddered within Glissa’s embrace, but she didn’t argue. Glissa stopped at the door and turned to Slobad. “You know where you’re going?” she asked.

Slobad nodded his head. “You not be disappointed, huh?”

“I’m sure I won’t,” said Glissa. “I’m sure I won’t.”

Bosh opened the door. Slobad ducked under the metal man’s arm and glanced into the hall. He nodded to Bosh but then hesitated and turned back to Glissa. “Glissa,” he said. “I … how we get off this rock, huh?”

Glissa looked at Bruenna. “There are vedalken transports at the sea level. Meet us there.”

“Good,” said Slobad. He looked at Glissa again, nodded, then slipped through the door.

Glissa grabbed Bosh’s arm. “Don’t wait for us too long,” she said.

“We will not,” said Bosh as he stepped through the door. “If you are delayed, we shall retrieve you.” The door closed before Glissa could argue.

* * * * *

Glissa turned to Bruenna. “Are you ready for this?” she asked.

Bruenna nodded and tossed Glissa her cloak. Glissa donned the cloak and pulled the hood up over her ears. “You know,” she said, “this didn’t work very well the last time I tried it.”

“Don’t worry,” said Bruenna. “As I said, the vedalken do not even notice humans walking around. We are less than beasts to them. In fact, humans probably outnumber vedalken here in Lumengrid.”

“I hope you’re right,” said Glissa. “You were smart enough to see through my disguise.”

“Do not worry,” said Bruenna. “You did not have a friend who knew what to say if challenged. As long as we look like we are supposed to be here, nobody will bother us. Just let me do the talking.”

Lumengrid looked nothing like the deserted tower they had visited the day before. The walls were completely opaque. Glissa could see her own reflection in the silvery surfaces but couldn’t see anything else through them. Perhaps they were thicker, or perhaps there were just more walls between her and the outside world. Glissa didn’t know. The walls glowed, providing ample light. There seemed to be no seams between the walls and the floors. The metal looked fluid-almost alive, like the quicksilver monster that attacked Bosh.

The Tangle trees, the mountain ridges, the leonin mounds, and even the chimneys in the mephidross looked and felt organic from the outside. But all showed signs of being worked and shaped on the inside. Glissa had seen elves cut chambers within the Tangle trees for new homes. The floors and walls in the goblin tunnels were pounded into shape. The leonin inlaid tiles of gold and silver throughout their city. Even Geth had a door that had been cut and placed to seal him off from intruders.

But the chambers and corridors inside Lumengrid flowed from one to another and reflected the light everywhere at once. If Glissa stared too long at one spot, she began to see multiple copies of herself in the wall. Maybe it was a trick of the light but she felt like she could pass her hand right through the walls and touch one of her infinite selves.

The main difference between Lumengrid and the other towers, though, was size. The corridor they walked down seemed to go on forever ahead of them. It curved slightly in the distance, but it never seemed to end. They passed doors every so often, but the view never changed.

After walking for a while, Glissa saw something in the distance. They had yet to see anybody else in the complex, and this was the first indication that they weren’t just walking in a circle around the base of the fortress. Bruenna explained that most of this level had been used for serum processing and was now largely abandoned. The thing in the distance turned out to be stairs up to the next level.

Bruenna led them up the stairs. “Pull your hood forward more,” she cautioned. “We will see humans and vedalken on this level.”

When they reached the top of the stairs, Glissa was almost disappointed to see yet another long, curving corridor ahead of them, devoid of any people. She wondered if all of Lumengrid was nothing more than a warren of spiraling passageways. At this rate, it would take them forever to get to the Pool of Knowledge, and Slobad’s surprise would come too soon.

“Why is this taking so long?” asked Glissa, as they trudged down another endless, curved corridor.

“There are no direct routes though the center of Lumengrid,” said Bruenna. “I do not know why. It is a secret closely guarded by the vedalken. It must have something to do with the Pool of Knowledge. That room, I know, is in the center of the fortress on the highest level. We will make better time as we get higher, but we will also encounter more vedalken.”