She leaned forward and urged the pteron after the others. The formation drew out into a long column as the pteron riders broke through the corroded tree line and entered the Mephidross.
Glissa had flown over the Dross before, but that had been one of Bruenna’s spells. Navigating a silver reptilian with a ten-foot wingspan through the thick, decaying vegetation and around the blackened chimney towers that belched necrogen gas was something else entirely. Fortunately, the pteron had a mind of its own and dodged the spiky foliage. Mostly.
After half an hour, the group broke into a small clearing in the swamp where the muck was deep enough to prevent even the hardy trees and plants of the Mephidross from gaining a grip. Ellasha wheeled and circled, then floated gently to a landing on a wide, dead copper log half eaten away by the corrosive swamp. The log tipped precariously, but the pteron kept its footing by stepping from side to side. Soon they had all landed in a loose circle on other chunks of solid detritus that broke the surface of the deep pools of brackish oil.
Ellasha signaled three of the skyhunters to take up perimeter positions. The warriors bounded off their mounts into the trees, forming a protective triangle around the group.
The two other leonin had been introduced as Ellasha’s direct subordinates. Darlosh was the one with the black tips on her ears, while Tahk was recognizeable by silver streaks in her golden fur.
“Something isn’t right,” Ellasha whispered.
“Where are the nim?” Glissa asked.
“That’s what I mean,” the skyhunter replied. “They should be all over this place, if their numbers are as great as we think they are. Someone should have seen us by now.”
“Lieutenant, I did spot something on the way in,” Tahk said. “I had thought they were just creatures of the Dross, but now I am not so sure. They looked too … new. Too silver.”
“You should have brought this to my attention immediately,” Ellasha snapped.
“Easy,” Glissa said. She turned to the chastised warrior. “Where did you see them?”
“About half a mile behind us, clinging to one of those necrogen smokestacks,” Tahk said, momentarily relieved. “Two of them, like four-legged spiders, but together they would have outweighed a djeeruk.”
“Flare!” Glissa said. “No need to go back and check-I saw them too. Or felt them then saw them. They-they were watching me. Ever seen anything like them in the Dross?” Tahk shook her head.
“They do not sound like nim,” Ellasha said.
Glissa grimaced. “I agree. They must be Memnarch’s spies.”
She didn’t want to risk alienating the leonin with information that made her certain. The feeling she’d had when she sensed the small constructs was the same tingle that alerted her whenever the levelers had drawn near.
“Do you believe Memnarch will attack us here?” Ellasha asked.
“Maybe,” Glissa said. “I don’t know. But I’m pretty sure between the seven of us we can handle a couple of metal bugs. I’ve taken on bigger ones, and I’m still here.”
“Agreed,” said Ellasha. “Right now we should focus on the immediate task of finding the human.”
“Her name is Bruenna,” Glissa said. “And she’s a friend of mine. We’re not just going to find her. We’re getting her out of here.”
“Of course,” Ellasha agreed. “But first things first.”
Glissa nodded apologetically. “Sorry. Just anxious to get this done. I’ve got another friend in trouble, too.”
“Mid mit meverm moccurm moo mamy mum moo matt moo mould mask meem?” Geth’s head shouted from inside the leather pack. Ellasha’s hand shot to her long knife, but Glissa raised a finger to stop her from doing anything rash. She slung the pack around and flipped the top open.
“Ask you? You expect me to believe you would guide us? I think your head’s been off your shoulders too long,” Glissa said.
“Don’t underestimate the power of hate,” Geth’s head said matter-of-factly. “You think I hate you? Well, yes, I do. Of course I do. Before you came along, everything was perfect. And you really, really messed up my vampire. But there are degrees of hate. And as much as I’d like to flay you all alive with your own long knives, that’s nothing compared to what I want to see happen to that usurper.”
“‘Usurper?’” Glissa asked. “You told me Yert was in charge now. You seemed happy about that. And you still haven’t told me how any of that happened.”
“I’ll get to it,” the head snapped. “I don’t like to talk about it. I told you the facts as they are now. Come on, I need some secrets. You don’t get over being the supreme power of darkness overnight, you know.”
“You mean we can trust you because we have a mutual enemy,” Ellasha interrupted in an attempt to cut through Geth’s convoluted explanation. She turned to Glissa. “Is a mutual enemy enough when it admits it isn’t telling us the whole truth?”
The elf girl cast her eyes around the misty darkness that loomed in every direction, here and there interrupted by a flash of moving shadow or the splash of something vile slipping into the muck. She flipped the bag shut again and leaned in close to the leonin, speaking in a whisper. “It might have to be enough. I thought once I got in here, something might look familiar. But I’ve never approached this place from here. I think,” she sighed, “we’re lost.”
Ellasha flashed teeth and growled softly, “I was lost the minute we entered. I was trusting my mount.”
“Great. Some rescue team we are.” Glissa grinned. She opened the bag and addressed Geth’s head. “Okay, you and I are going to take point. If you try anything-lead us into an ambush, shout out at the wrong time, or bite my neck-and you’re just another dead head sinking into the swamp. Understand?”
“Crystal clear,” Geth said. “But something’s gotta be in it for me, eh? How about when this is all over you help me find my body. Make a man of me again.”
“What?” Glissa said with an involuntary shudder. “Not a chance. You’ll guide us to the Vault, or you’re dead. It’s that simple.”
“Wrong, elf girl,” Geth’s head replied. “I’m dead already. Well preserved, yes, but dead. So that’s no threat, and we all walk out of the Vault together, or no one does.”
“How do I know you won’t just take control of the nim yourself?” Glissa asked. “Continue the war?”
“You don’t,” the head said, “And that’s a pretty good guess. If the world saving doesn’t work out, I think you’ve got a future in prophesying. But yeah, that’s the deal. You’re one of those honorable types whether you want to be or not, so I’m willing to take your sworn oath as a guarantee. You’re not going to get a better deal than that. But I want a body after I help you. Scrap’s sake, it doesn’t even have to be mine. I’d even take a leonin if you happened upon one later. And then, when I’ve got my body and you’ve got your future, I never want to see you again.”
“Likewise,” Glissa agreed. She turned to Ellasha. “Call the sentries back in. We’re heading out.”
“I cannot agree to this,” Ellasha snarled. “He as much as admitted he will attack us at the first opportunity!”
“She’s got you there,” Geth’s head agreed.
“Shut up, Geth,” Glissa said. “Ellasha, we’ll deal with that when the time comes. Until then, we don’t have a choice.”
“She’s got a point,” Geth’s head added, prompting a slap from Glissa.
“Very well,” Ellasha agreed. “But as soon as that thing puts us in danger, I’m putting it down. Permanently.”
“Way ahead of you, lieutenant,” Glissa said, and made a grimace of distaste as she pulled Geth’s head clear of the pack and rested the morbid thing on the pommel of her saddle, where it balanced without much help from her.
“Lead on, Geth,” Glissa said.
The trip through the Dross to the site of the Vault of Whispers had taken an uneventful half hour when Glissa spotted the first sign of trouble. Her pteron actually gave her the first indication that something was up ahead, and she squinted into the greenish mist to see what had caused the reptile to buck suddenly.