“You will really stay?”
“Yes,” Koth said. “I have been somewhat welcomed again. I will seize the opportunity.”
“Your reunion may be short lived,” Venser said. “They are making quick work of your insurgency.”
Koth said nothing.
“Ahhh, look what we have here.”
They turned to see Ezuri with a small band of rebels.
“Here he is now,” Ezuri said. “The one that led the meat puppets to us.”
Koth turned to look at Venser. “He did nothing of the sort,” Koth said. “His loyalty to Mirrodin …”
“Silence, traitor,” Ezuri hissed. “I speak of you. You, who led the Phyrexians to us.”
“What?” Koth said.
“You are a traitor and a coward,” Ezuri said.
Koth turned redder than he was already. “You can call me a traitor, elf. You can call me a killer of innocent men and women. But you may never call me a coward!” Koth leaped at Ezuri, who stepped to the side and hit Koth squarely in the side of the head with the shaft of his bow as he passed. The blow was meant to sting and Koth was up in a moment.
“See,” Ezuri said. “He aims to kill me even now.”
The other Mirrans in Ezuri’s group glared at Koth.
“You are banished from us,” Ezuri said. “Let none acknowledge you, for we have a war to fight and no time for those such as you.”
The squad of Mirrans turned their backs on Koth. Ezuri sneered before turning his back.
“Come, Koth,” Venser said. “Let us be off while the Phyrexians are busy.”
Koth looked from the rebels to Venser. His face was a clash of emotions. Venser felt quite bad for him.
“Now is the time,” Elspeth said, her eyes on the Phyrexians who were starting to look around from the dead Mirrans they were hunched over.
Koth nodded dumbly.
They walked along the wall until the last sounds of the battle dimmed behind them. Koth said nothing. The fleshling was able to walk by herself with the aid of a staff. Elspeth led. Suddenly she drew her sword and held it forward. A shape stepped out of the pipes along the shadowy wall-a humanoid with a hood over his head and face.
“I will guide you,” the shape said. “You said you wanted a guide.”
“Your people have all been slaughtered,” Elspeth stammered. “Why do you offer this?” It was a good question, Venser thought.
“You will need a guide if you venture to those depths. That is Glissa’s domain, and Geth descends from his perch at the Vault very commonly. The creatures there are very fell indeed.”
Venser was not familiar with the names, but the form in the shadow spoke with force and honesty. Venser trusted his voice.
“Who are those names?”
“Glissa was an elf. Geth is undead but not a vampire. Now they are leaders of this invasion and exist below the surface. They are holding your golem.”
“How do you know all of this?” Venser said. “How do you know of Karn, the silver golem?”
“I was scouting the deepest areas even before the surface invasion.”
“Yet the invasion took you all by surprise. Didn’t you tell anybody about what you saw?”
“I did.”
The implication of that shocked even Venser. “And still your leaders did not act?”
The figure in the shadows said nothing for a moment. “This invasion has given opportunities to certain people. Old leaders died in the onslaught. Certain other leaders who had formerly been commanders of squads gained position by simply being alive.”
“And now where are they?” Elspeth said.
“Leading, of course. Preserving their skin.”
“I think we understand each other,” Venser said.
“You seem to know much,” Elspeth said.
Indeed, Venser thought. He knows more than any they have encountered so far. He knows more than he should. The others could have been lying, of course. It is possible that many others know of this Glissa and Geth holding Karn. Have those others remained mute for reasons of their own? On the other hand, a guide suddenly appears offering to take them to exactly where they want to go. He gives them information they have never heard before, and asks them to follow him into the deepest regions of Mirrodin. Everything about this being standing in the shadows set the hairs on Venser’s arm standing.
“Danger,” Elspeth was saying, “does not scare us.”
Koth, standing back a bit, adjusted his stance.
Venser cut in, “How do you feel about Phyrexia?” It was a strange question, Venser knew. And the shadow sensed the trap immediately. Venser could tell by the care he took in choosing his words.
“I will die stopping this infestation.”
“That’s not exactly an answer to the question,” Venser said. “More a statement of fact.” Venser knew he was being nitpicky and small, but he wanted to be certain that they were not being led by a Phyrexian agent or, worse, by one of Ezuri’s people.
“Why are you in the dark like that?” Koth said.
The figure stepped forward. Venser could easily see where the blotches had covered his body, and where his skin had been peeling away in the most advanced stage of phyresis he had seen in the settlement so far. But he had obviously received the cure from the fleshling, for the blotches were no longer black, but pinkish. The places where his skin had been peeling had shiny pink scars. Still, he was disturbing to see.
“I will not lie to you,” the figure said. “I know what I know because I had an arrangement with Glissa in the depths.”
“That was before you were healed by the fleshling?” Venser said.
“Yes,” the human said.
“And you know our plan, I am sure?” Venser said. It was a test. If he acted ignorant, then that would tell Venser certain things.
“If I were you I would take Melira to Karn and try to heal him, if he is infected.”
“Why would you take us back down if you are now healed?” Elspeth said. “You are free now.”
“I have my own debts to repay,” the human said.
Venser had already decided to go with the man, but he wanted to know where the human’s allegiances lay. It was acceptable if he was a spy for the Phyrexians or Ezuri, as long as Venser knew it. A spy could be very useful, if properly utilized. But the uneasy feeling in Venser’s stomach did not leave when the man had stepped out of the shadows. It did not leave even when the man bowed and stepped away to let Elspeth, Koth, and Venser talk.
“He is a spy,” Koth said. “I am sure.”
“How are you so sure?” Elspeth said. She has no trust in him anymore, Venser thought.
“It is too good,” Koth said. “He gives us everything we want.”
“I do not think so,” Elspeth said.
“You trust him?” Koth said.
“Yes.”
“But you are a fool,” Koth said. “You trust too easily and see everything as good and bad.”
True again, Venser thought.
“But why would he be the spy you say he is?” Elspeth said.
“It is hard to understand another’s motivation,” Venser said. “They may have his wife or child. They may have promised him certain things as reward for his efforts.”
“Or they may have killed his parents,” Koth said grimly.
“The point is, we do not know,” Venser said.
“But we travel with him anyway? A potential enemy?” Elspeth said.
“He is only an enemy if he thinks we know he is an enemy,” Venser said. “If he thinks he has fooled us, then he will inadvertently tell us everything we need to know.”
“Assuming he is actually an agent of Phyrexia,” Elspeth said.
“True.”
“If he is not an agent, then your thinking will lead us to confusion and delay.”
“I suppose that is true.”
“Really,” Koth interjected. “What other choices do we have?”