Something inside Glissa snapped, and she leaped forward, covering the distance between her and Memnarch in two great bounds. With a howl, she hurled her blade at the crablike creature, driven by more than strength or speed, but by the hatred she had harbored for this man since her parents’ death.
Her steel blade whistled, and Malil lunged forward, trying to get between her and Memnarch, but he was too late. The elf’s fury was swift, and the sword connected with one of the Guardian’s legs.
With a great creak and a loud pop, Glissa’s weapon clove through the joint, and the six-eyed creature listed to his left.
Time stopped. A cathartic release rushed through Glissa’s whole body, grabbing her by the spine and shaking every part of her, from top to bottom. This was the moment she’d been living for. This was her revenge, and she’d struck the first blow. Happiness and grief warred with each other, and tears formed in her eyes. Justice was near.
There was a spine-tingling screech, and Memnarch pulled back, waving his hands in the air.
Glissa was lifted from the ground by an invisible force and thrown back. The world blurred. Wind rushed in her ears, and the elf crashed into the ground a hundred paces away from where she had been standing.
Memnarch lifted himself up, rising to the full height of his long, spindly legs. “How dare you?” he shouted. Raising his hand again, he lifted Glissa from the ground with an invisible, magical force, letting her dangle in midair. “I am your god. You should worship me.”
“There is no god in Mirrodin.” Glissa kicked and struggled, but it was no use, she was held fast.
“Facts are fact, no matter if you believe them or not.” Sidling over on his three good limbs, Memnarch looked her straight in the eyes. “That is inconsequential. You have something I want.”
Glissa glared at him. “You took everything I had when you killed my family.”
Memnarch titled his head. “Not everything.” He grabbed the floating elf’s chin, examining her face. “I do not know where the planeswalker spark resides, but it is enough that I have you.” Turning around he found Malil. “Take her to the containment cell.” He looked back at the goblin and the golem. “Kill the others.”
Slobad started jumping up and down. “Smash him!” he shouted.
In a flash the Kaldra Champion swooped in. Malil jumped in front of Memnarch, putting himself between the Guardian and the Champion.
Raising his greatsword, Malil charged the construct. His blade connected then bounced away, having done no damage to the magical avatar.
With a swipe of its hand, the Kaldra Champion knocked Malil back against the wall of Panopticon. His body made a clang as it impacted, then he slid to the ground, disappearing from view behind a pile of ruined levelers.
The avatar moved in on Memnarch, raising his fists, ready to smash the Guardian.
Memnarch placed his hands to his forehead. A beam of brilliant blue mana shot from his eyes. The magical energy swirled around and around the towering Champion. With each revolution, the light spread out, like thread unwinding from a spool, and it surrounded the Champion in a giant sapphire egg.
The mana solidified, and the Kaldra Champion disappeared, swallowed whole by a throbbing blue sphere.
Glissa dropped slowly to the ground, her hopes of bringing justice to her parents’ killer fading.
The giant egg cracked, and the hardened shell dropped away, cascading to the ground in a shower of tiny blue bits. Inside, the Kaldra Champion still stood, seemingly unharmed.
“You claim there is no god here, Glissa,” said Memnarch. “Perhaps this will change your mind.” He looked up at the immobile Champion. “Seize her.”
The Kaldra Champion turned on Glissa. With its magical palms outstretched, it lurched forward, grasping at the elf. Its hand slapped the ground just as Glissa leaped away, just barely missing being smashed.
“Careful,” shouted Memnarch. “We need her alive.”
Glissa scampered behind a broken leveler. The Champion knocked it aside-sending it spinning through the air and floated forward, looming over the elf.
Glissa looked up at the magical construct she had placed so much hope in. It floated there, ready to snatch her up. Nothing in this world turned out as it should. Nothing she had been told since her childhood had been true. She had placed her trust in something that had been untested, and now she was paying the price.
There was nothing that could be counted on, nothing worth trusting. If she lived through this, she promised herself, she would trust no one but herself-ever again.
The Kaldra Champion reached again for the elf. Glissa backpedaled, but her heel caught on something. It was Pontifex’s hoverer, and she tripped over it. The Champion’s hand closed down around her. Closing her eyes, she prepared to be squashed-or worse.
A long second passed. Nothing happened.
Opening her eyes, Glissa saw the Kaldra Champion being dragged backward away from her. Standing at the base of the Champion’s lower body, straining with all of his might, Bosh had both of his arms wrapped around the magical creature, and he pulled it away from her.
Though Bosh was only a third of the Kaldra Champion’s size, he still had the strength to be a formidable opponent. The golem yanked hard, twisting the Champion’s body and hurling it toward Panopticon. The magical construct flew through the air, landing on the ground several meters shy of the tower’s wall.
Bosh turned to Glissa. “Run,” he shouted.
Glissa stood stunned for a moment. She couldn’t leave him.
“Run,” he yelled again, his eyes growing big in his head, his face creased with concern.
Slobad shot up beside her on Pontifex’s hoverer. “Come on.”
The Kaldra Champion righted itself and grabbed Bosh in one of its huge hands. The iron golem was lifted high into the air. He seemed resigned to his fate, not looking at the Champion but keeping his eyes focused on Glissa.
“Go,” he said, his lips forming the words, but no sound emerging. Then he smiled.
The Kaldra Champion squeezed Bosh, and the golem’s face wrinkled with pain. The sound of metal cracking filled her ears, and Glissa turned away. She couldn’t watch.
Stepping on behind Slobad, she whispered, “Go.”
At full speed, Glissa and Slobad flew away from Panopticon.
* * * * *
“After them,” shouted Memnarch.
The Kaldra Champion opened its fist and let its contents fall to the ground.
“I want the elf alive,” ordered the Guardian. “Alive!”
Silently, the Champion floated off in pursuit of the elf and the goblin.
Memnarch turned and headed back to Panopticon. Near the open doors he found Malil climbing to his feet behind a pile of broken levelers.
“Come, Malil,” said Memnarch. “We will watch from the Eye.”
* * * * *
When they had covered several hundred yards, Glissa looked back over her shoulder. As she did, the Kaldra Champion dropped Bosh’s smashed body to the ground.
“I was wrong,” said Glissa.
“ ’Bout what?”
The elf shook her head, fighting back her tears. “I had thought there was nothing worth trusting in this world.” She turned away from the pursuing Champion to put her hands on Slobad’s shoulders. “But there was … there is.”
“He good golem, huh?” said Slobad. “Slobad miss him.”
“Me too,” said the elf. “Me too.” Wiping her eyes she added, “Just do me a favor.”
The goblin nodded. “What you want, crazy elf?”
“Don’t get killed.”
Slobad nodded. “Slobad try, huh?” He glanced at the Champion behind them. “Not so easy.”
Glissa turned her attention back to their pursuer. Slobad was right, the Kaldra Champion was coming on fast.
“How far to the blue lacuna?”
“Close, huh?” replied Slobad.