Will McDermott - The Moons of Mirrodin

Glissa swept her sword out. She slapped the flat of the blade against the vedalken’s legs, knocking him to the ground. Pain shot up into her shoulder from the impact. Glissa gritted her teeth and sprang on top of the researcher. She pressed her blade against his neck and stared into his eyes. “I can give you your life,” hissed Glissa. “Or I can take it away, long before your precious guards open the door.”

“Which would gain you nothing,” said Pontifex, his expression stoic even in the face of death, “for your friend would still die, and the Synod would either kill you or send you to Memnarch.”

Bruenna’s body shuddered next to Glissa. She didn’t have much time. Glissa pressed the edge of her sword into Pontifex’s neck. It was her only advantage and she had to hope the vedalken’s survival instinct would override his humongous ego. Blood seeped out around the blade and ran down to the floor. Glissa pressed harder. Finally, Pontifex’s calm demeanor cracked slightly.

“I will help you save your friend,” he said, “but only if you pledge to lay down your sword and accompany me to Memnarch. By delivering you to Memnarch myself, I will not only gain a seat on the Synod, I shall rule it.”

Glissa looked at Bruenna and thought of Slobad and Bosh waiting for her somewhere far below. She had started this journey alone, driven by her fear of the unknown. She had lost family and friends searching for her destiny but had gained a new family in her new friends. She depended on them and trusted them far more than she had ever thought possible before. But now it was time to continue her journey alone-for their sake.

She pulled the sword away and climbed off Pontifex. “I so pledge,” said Glissa. “I will go with you, but only after all of my friends are safe and far from here. Until then, I think I’ll keep my sword.” Glissa dragged Pontifex to his feet, then pushed him down next to Bruenna. “Now help me pull this harpoon out.”

“There is no need for such barbaric measures,” said Pontifex, “when all one needs is a simple application of magic.” Pontifex grasped the harpoon. He concentrated for a moment, and Glissa could see the mana build up around his fingers. She held her sword ready, should the researcher try to harm her friend. But Pontifex simply said a single word and the harpoon vanished.

Blood began pouring from Bruenna’s leg. Glissa slammed her palm down on the wound and grabbed the protruding bone gingerly with her other hand. She summoned as much mana as she could. The Tangle was far away, past the goblins’ mountains, but she could still feel its power. Green tendrils of energy danced around her fingers. She willed them into the wound as she pushed the bone back through the skin. She willed the wounds to close and tried her best to mend the broken bone inside.

After a time, the blood stopped flowing. Glissa untied the leather strips from around Bruenna’s thigh and tossed them aside. She checked the wound. It had closed completely. The skin was red and cracked, but it would hold. The bone would need time and more healing magic to mend properly, but at least her friend would not die. She turned toward Pontifex.

“Thank you,” she said. “Why didn’t you do that when you were struck in the hall?”

“I did,” said Pontifex. “Eventually.” He opened his own robe. The harpoon that had impaled the researcher through the shoulder was gone.

“Why?”

“I wanted you to feel in control,” he said. “You never would have trusted me unless you thought you had complete control over me.”

“So you orchestrated all of this?” she asked, waving her hands at the carnage in the room. “Why?”

“I merely took advantage of an opportunity,” said Pontifex. “I’ve suspected Janus for a long time, but he was too powerful to confront. I needed proof.… I needed to get into the Pool-just as badly as you did-and your attack provided me with that chance.”

“How do you know I won’t kill you now?” asked Glissa. She pointed her sword at the vedalken.

“Because you still need answers,” said Pontifex. “You want to know why you are so important-what is so special about you. You want to know the secrets of this world, and you can only get those answers from Memnarch. Besides, you gave me your pledge, and I suspect that means more to you than even your own life.”

Glissa held the sword steady, ready to plunge it through the vedalken’s faceplate. “The only thing that I value more than my own life is the lives of my friends,” she said. “You will keep your word-you will free Bruenna and let my friends leave here alive-or I don’t get my answers and you don’t get your prize.”

Pontifex nodded.

“How do I know I can trust you?”

“You have no other choice,” said Pontifex. “Any second now, fifty guards will come through those doors, and they can either capture you and kill your friend, or escort her and the others home. Which will it be?”

“How about choice number three, huh?”

* * * * *

Glissa and Pontifex looked up at the same time. Bosh stood at the edge of the Pool. Glistening liquid dripped off his iron frame and pooled at his feet. The golem’s chest stood open. Slobad climbed from a chamber within the iron man’s chest and slammed the chest panel shut.

“Grab him, Bosh,” said the goblin.

Pontifex stood and turned. Glissa saw a ball of mana building in his palm.

“Watch out, Bosh!” she warned.

Pontifex raised his hand to cast a spell, but the golem was already on top of him. Bosh grabbed the vedalken’s wrist and lifted him off the ground by his arm. Pontifex screamed. Glissa heard a pop as the researcher’s shoulder broke. Blood stained his robes from the spot where the harpoon had speared him. The mana in Pontifex’s hand dissipated as he lost concentration on the spell.

“Kill him, huh?” said Slobad. “Then we go.”

“No,” said Glissa. She stood and faced Bosh. “No more killing. No more death today. He saved my life … and Bruenna’s. Let him live.”

Bosh tossed Pontifex into the wall. The vedalken slammed against the side of the chamber and slumped to the floor. Glissa ran over to check on him. His eyes were closed, but she saw no signs of cracks in his dome. She turned back to Bosh and Slobad.

“How did you get here?” she asked.

“Long story, huh?” said Slobad. “After we leave you, we look for vedalken power source. Bosh and I wander-”

“There’s no time now,” interrupted Glissa. “Can we get out through the Pool?”

“Yes,” said Bosh.

“You won’t believe what we found, huh?” said Slobad. “Amazing. Under the Pool-”

“Later,” said Glissa. “Bosh, grab Bruenna. We’re leaving.”

“Back into Pool?” asked Slobad.

“Yes,” said Glissa. “Guards are coming. Lots of guards.”

Slobad nodded. He opened the chamber in the golem’s chest and climbed in again. Bosh picked up Bruenna and turned toward the Pool.

“Hold your hand over her mouth and nose,” said Glissa. “I’ll follow you.”

Bosh wrapped his massive palm over the unconscious mage’s face and walked to the edge of the Pool. He stepped over the side and dropped into the swirling liquid. The doors opened on either side of Glissa. She glanced up and saw a horde of guards outside the chamber. She ran for the edge of the Pool and dived toward the liquid. She heard the loud snap of harpoons launching, but the next moment she was in the Pool. Harpoons splashed into the Pool all around her as she swam toward the bottom.

* * * * *

Glissa could see Bosh. He was walking along the bottom of the Pool toward a doorway in the side. But then another image replaced the scene in Glissa’s vision. She saw the golem striding across the grounds of a palace. There were no moons in the sky, but the light from millions of stars bathed the landscape in a pale glow. It was Mirrodin. Somehow Glissa just knew. But it was a different Mirrodin than she had seen these past few weeks. It was perfect. It was beautiful.