“Where is he?” she said, nervously scanning the water.
Bosh clomped up behind her. “I do not see him.”
A chunk of something surfaced near the impact point.
“There,” pointed Glissa. “Is that him? We’ve got to get him out.”
Bosh leaned over, trying to get a closer look. “I do not think so. It’s too small.”
“Too small? He’s a goblin.”
Bosh shrugged. “If that is him, it is only his head.”
Glissa scowled at the golem, but he paid her no mind.
Near the center of the lake, bubbles started to rise and breach the surface. They were small at first, but they grew in size and frequency. Pretty soon the lake seemed as if it were going to boil, starting with the very middle and moving out slowly to the edges.
Glissa took a step back from the lake. “I don’t think that’s Slobad.”
“Nor I,” replied Bosh.
Both the elf and the golem flattened themselves against the wall. Then Glissa spotted something at the far end.
“Look,” she shouted.
“That is him,” confirmed Bosh.
The two took off at a run.
Slobad had surfaced on the other side of the rising storm of bubbles and was swimming toward the farthest edge of the lake, on the opposite side. His little arms didn’t carry him very fast, and the burbling dome threatened to overtake him in only a few strokes.
Glissa bunched her fists as she ran. Whipping around the end of the lake, she and Bosh closed in on their friend. Slobad reached the edge, and grabbed hold of the walkway. Behind him, the bubbles peaked then stopped altogether as swamp water shot into the air.
A column of tarnished metal rose from the lake. Putrid, black water streamed from its sides, clinging to every crease and seam, uselessly trying to pull back into the depths something that could not be contained.
The metal monstrosity climbed into the air, nearly four times the height of Bosh. It looked like the trunk of a tree or the mycosynth on the interior of Mirrodin-only this thing was pitch black, and completely cylindrical. Then it opened up in front, seeming to uncross hundreds of folded arms-each one a razor-sharp blade.
“A giant centipede.” Glissa whispered out the words, fearing that saying them any louder would make the creature more menacingly real than it already was.
As it unfolded, the creature’s face and head came into view. On top, long, thick antennae sprouted, twitching this way and that. Under those, two beady, pulsing red eyes scanned the room. It had no nose or mouth to speak of, at least not on its face.
With the grinding sound of metal on metal, the centipede scissored its arms closed then back open, like a zipper. Undulating from the top to the bottom, a wave raced down the creature’s body. With each passing curve, hundreds of blades slid closed then open again, ready to cut to shreds anything that came close.
The creature swung its head around, two beady little eyes scanning the chamber. When they crossed over Slobad, Bosh, and Glissa, the centipede reeled back. Then it came flying forward, its scissor arms moving at double speed.
“Grab Slobad,” shouted Glissa, bolting for the goblin.
Bosh beat her to him. At a full run, the golem reached his huge hand down into the muck. Scooping a handful of water from the lake, he ran on at top speed. Black swamp muck drained from his palm, leaving Slobad in a heap against the golem’s closed fingers.
Seeing that Bosh had the goblin, Glissa skidded to a halt. The centipede’s head was high in the air, but it came down on the trio in a blink. Backpedaling, the elf fell away, letting Bosh and Slobad go off in one direction while she turned and ran in the other.
The centipede’s head whipped down, slamming into the edge of the lake-right where Slobad had been only moments before. The impact shook the chamber, and Glissa was thrown to the ground. Looking back, she could see the centipede’s head buried deep in the dented walkway. On the other side were Bosh and Slobad. They had escaped, but they were separated from her by the monstrous bug.
That would be a fitting way to die for a goblin, thought Glissa as she scrambled to get away from the centipede.
Once again on her feet, she shouted over her shoulder. “Run to the passage. I’ll meet you there.”
If there was a reply, she didn’t hear it, because the centipede pulled its head out, bending the complaining metal of the walkway as it did. The motion filled the entire chamber with a wretched squealing that vibrated down Glissa’s spine and rattled the metal on her legs and forearms.
Freed from the dented walkway, the centipede reeled back again, shaking its head side to side. It looked at Glissa then at Bosh and finally turned its attentions back on the elf.
Glissa’s lungs were starting to hurt again. She could feel the water she’d inhaled on the way down the tube. With every breath it felt as if someone were stabbing a sharp fingernail into her chest. Worse, she could feel a bit of liquid floating around in there, bubbling away with each inhale.
With a quick flick of its long body, part of which was still concealed under the black water, the centipede closed in on Glissa. Tilting its head, it coiled the top of its chest, like a snake about to strike.
Glissa watched it do this, and her heart skipped a beat. It was so big. She didn’t see how it could miss her.
Watching the monster instead of the walkway, Glissa tripped and went sprawling onto her face. The room got darker as the monster’s shadow grew around her. Rolling over onto her back, the elf looked up at the scissoring blades as they came crashing down on top of her.
CHAPTER 17
The centipede was huge and so very fast. The creature’s razor sharp arms opened wide, and Glissa closed her eyes, not wanting to watch them as they tore into her flesh. Metal screeched. A whoosh of air rushed through the elf’s hair, followed by a shower of foul smelling swamp water that stung her face.
Glissa opened her eyes. She was still alive. The centipede’s opened arms had crashed into the walkway, burying themselves up to the elbow. The floor had kept the blades from scissoring closed around her, but now the bulk of the creature’s body was on top of her, squeezing her life away.
The centipede’s great bulk threatened to pop Glissa like a grape. Her chest was restricted, and her arms were pinned to the ground. She couldn’t breathe, except in quick short breaths, and she could feel all the blood in her body being pressed into her head.
The giant bug twisted and pulled, shaking the platform as it did. Metal complained, and its arms lifted a few centimeters. Relief flooded through the elf’s body. She took in a deeper breath, and the pressure in her head subsided. Then that relief gave way to the reality of her situation. The centipede was struggling. It was only a matter of time before the blades were free, and then they would close-catching her in between.
Taking stock, she looked for a way out. To her left, a hundred killing blades waited for her, barring her escape. To her right, more of the same. She tried to lift her sword, but it was too long, and she couldn’t get it into a useful position, and even if she could, what good would it do against such a creature?
The floor heaved again, and the centipede lifted another six inches, releasing her enough to pull her arms to her chest. Still, she was trapped. One more good heave by the centipede and its scissoring arms would be free of the platform, ready to cut her into little bite-sized chunks.
A rhythmic tinkling sound, like a set of wind chimes, rang through the confined space between the centipede’s chest and the floor. Shards of metal cascaded over Glissa, and a huge hand reached in and grabbed her by the shoulder.
“Time to go,” said Bosh.
Though part of him was becoming fleshy, his feet were still metal, and he’d kicked through two dozen of the centipede’s razor-sharp arms.
“I couldn’t agree more,” replied Glissa. With Bosh’s help she pushed the ground, sliding out from under the big bug.