Cory Herndon - The Fifth Dawn

“Taint?” Glissa said. “He’s making himself sane?”

“It’s a contaminant,” Bruenna said. “He was being consumed by flesh. He’s using half the serum the vedalken can produce to rid himself of it. Memnarch is converting himself back into pure metal.”

“Why?”

“He believes it will allow him to ascend,” Breunna said. “But he made a mistake.”

“If he’s metal, I might be able to hurt him,” Glissa said. “Maybe-maybe kill him.”

“Exactly,” Bruenna said. “But there is a catch.”

“Of course there is,” Glissa said.

“I retrieved you from the interior early,” Bruenna said. “There are five days until Memnarch will emerge.”

“Perfect,” Glissa said. “I can take him out while he sleeps.”

“Glissa, you cannot touch him until the cleansing process is complete,” Bruenna said. “Like you, he is outside of time in the Panopticon. Inside some kind of machine. But when he emerges, he will be a different being. One you can destroy. On the fifth day, the suns will rise as one, and you have to be in the Panopticon.”

“You will take an honor guard of my finest troops,” Yshkar said.

“No. No commandos, no skyhunters, no honor guard,” Glissa said. “I’ve got four days. When I do this, I do it alone, with no one to slow me down. Give me supplies, and I’ll take a pteron if you’ve got one to spare. If not, Bruenna, I’ll need transportation.”

“Are you sure?” Lyese asked. “We just found you, Glissa.”

“And when this is all over, I’ll find you again,” Glissa said. “First, I have to find Yert, and quickly. Bruenna, maybe teleportation magic-”

A huge rumbling suddenly shook the cave and sent goblets tumbling and chairs toppling. A breathless leonin guard bolted into the dining room and momentarily grabbed the table to keep his balance, something the elf girl had never seen a leonin do before. Glissa struggled to keep her own footing, scooped up Geth’s head and slung it over her shoulder, then drew her sword. A weapon might not stop this sudden a quake, but it made her feel more secure.

The harried leonin soldier headed straight for Yshkar and shouted over the thunderous din. “My Kha! The nim have breached the southeast perimeter! They’ve brought-my Kha, the nim have vampires among them!”

“To arms!” Yshkar bellowed, clutching a small amulet that was apparently enchanted to send his voice rumbling through the tunnels and over the roar of the ongoing quake. “The enemy has entered Krark-Home!”

“Sounds like Yert’s coming to you!” Geth’s head shouted, only audible to Glissa because of his proximity to her ears. She suspected the head was right.

Not one of them noticed the myr creature clinging to the high ceiling, concealed by shadows and its own chameleonic metal skin. As the elf girl continued to speak animatedly to the mage, the myr’s master decided he had learned enough. The small, agile creature scuttled into a ventilation shaft and disappeared.

Glissa was amazed at the coordination and cooperation on display between leonin and goblin soldiers as they scrambled this way and that, setting up defensive positions. The rumbling had subsided, through she suspected it might start up again at any minute. Yshkar barked orders, keeping a level head amidst the organized chaos. Lyese, Glissa observed, was strapping on a sword belt.

The elf girl examined her own ancient sword in the orange firelight. There still wasn’t a nick or scratch anywhere on it. Elven weapons were made to last.

“Bruenna,” Glissa said, “None of this is going to work if I don’t get to Yert.”

“And the guard said ‘vampires,’ I know,” Bruenna replied, fumbling with one of the pouches on her belt. “He’s here. I can sense him.”

Glissa closed her eyes, attempting to reach out to the energies of the Tangle. “I can too,” the elf girl said with surprise. “He’s like a void. And something else. Constructs. They’re making my spine tingle.”

Bruenna nodded in agreement. “Focus on Yert. The Miracore should lead you right to him.” The Neurok mage produced chain strung with a trio of different colored gemstones, and placed it in the elf girl’s hand. The mage explained that each one was infused with a specific magic and keyed to Glissa’s voice-Bruenna had prepared them that morning. The green one would transport her instantly to any location she named three times while holding the stone to her lips. Using the same method, the red one would return Glissa to Krark-Home, and the blue one would give her the ability to fly for a short time. Alone among the three stones, the blue flight gem could be used as often as Glissa wished, Bruenna explained with a hint of pride. Glissa thanked her, wrapped the chain around her forearm like a bracelet, and tucked the valuable stones up the long sleeve of her silver leonin tunic.

“I need to stay and defend Krark-Home, or this may all be over before it begins,” Bruenna added. “And you must leave for the interior as soon as you retrieve the Miracore. You must retrieve the Miracore. I shall help you with Yert as much as I can, but then you must go. Use the stones.”

“Oh, I’ll get the Miracore,” Glissa said, still gazing at her sword. “If I have to take Yert’s head off to do it.” She placed a hand on Bruenna’s shoulder and looked over at Lyese, who was still preoccupied with weapons and armor. “Afterward … tell her I’ll be back soon. No time for a long good-bye.” Glissa didn’t add that she wouldn’t be able to make herself leave, despite the dire circumstances, if her sister was fighting for her life at the same time. Yshkar had already joined the battle, and Lyese would not be able to avoid it.

“I shall. But now, we go,” Bruenna said quietly. “Remember, Yert is the goal. Until you have the Miracore, only fight whatever’s blocking your way.” Bruenna turned and headed out one of the dining room’s many exits. Sparing one last glance at her sister, so changed in such a short period of time, Glissa followed without a word.

Lyese looked up with her one good eye just in time to see the older elf girl’s booted foot disappear around a bend in the passage, and she set off after them.

The goblin tunnels that honeycombed the Oxidda Mountains were a complicated network of twists, turns, intersections, and more than one path to nowhere. Cavernous ventilation chimneys appeared at odd intervals, and a few deep pits opened here and there along the way. Unlike the chasm Glissa had crossed while hunting Yert five years before, these pits ended in bubbling orange smelting pools, part of the ongoing volcanic process that continually reshaped the Oxidda range. The goblins had learned to harness that power. But held deep respect for it. The tunnels led to several secret entrances and exits-which were not always the same thing, Glissa had learned-and the main entrance was moved by magic every few days just to be safe.

The nim seemed be in every tunnel at once.

It didn’t take long for Glissa and Bruenna to meet the first wave of invaders. The elf girl had hoped they might catch up with Yshkar, but the Kha and his men had apparently taken another tunnel. Glissa felt the empty void of Yert’s presence, and the tingling hum of what could only be the Miracore, was in this direction.

The hulking, black shapes of nim warriors filled the tunnel ahead of them. “I’d say they’re blocking our way,” Glissa said.

“Indeed,” Bruenna agreed. The mage closed her eyes momentarily, and moved her hands in a simple pattern. A wall of quicksilver materialized before the pair, blocking the nim-and the rest of the tunnel-from view.

“How are we supposed to-” Glissa began.