The Moons of Mirrodin by Will McDermott Read Free Book Online Page A

turn away before the hunt was concluded.
    The elf tried to fling another tendril of energy from the tip of the still-glowing sword, but the energy would not obey her command. The glow began to fade as she waved the sword back and forth in front of her.
    “No,” she cried.
    The green energy was gone. She tried to summon it again as the levelers inched closer, but it was no use. Whatever force had brought the energy from her twice this day was not under her control. She glared at her blade and tried to will the energy to reappear.
    She was aware of something strange happening in front of her. Glissa watched in amazement as the levelers stopped, then turned in unison and headed for the door.
    She couldn’t believe her luck. What had happened? Why were they retreating? Were they afraid of the sword or the green energy? She didn’t think so. They had continued to press the attack even after she had blinded one leveler with her blade and destroyed a second with that strange energy. Was something controlling them? And, if so, what or who was it?
    All of these questions flashed through her mind, but Glissa decided she didn’t need answers. She needed vengeance. With their backs turned, the levelers were vulnerable. The elf hacked at the retreating beasts with her sword, cutting off legs, pincers, claws, anything she could reach.
    She pursued them all the way to the door, but none ever turned to meet her attacks. The carcasses of several levelers lay in pieces around her, but most of the silver creatures escaped down the tree. Breathing hard, sweat streaming down her face and mixing with the tears, Glissa thought about climbing down after them. The thought of her mother and sister stopped her at the doorway. One at least might have survived. She had only seen one body. She had to go back and check.
    She turned back to the main room and heard movement. The blinded leveler bore down on her. She had no time to run or jump. The metal beast slammed into her, sending Glissa sprawling onto its back. Her ankle caught in the leveler’s broken blades. She tried to pull her foot free, but the blade dug into her tendon. She screamed in pain as the blades cut through her metal skin.
    The beast lunged over the lip outside the door and headed down the tree. Glissa grabbed onto the back of the leveler as she began to slide down toward the broken blades. There was nothing to do now but hold on until the creature reached the ground, when she could kill it and extract her foot.
    The leveler reached the forest floor. The pain in Glissa’s leg made her wince, but she got onto one knee, brought her sword up over her head, and struck down through the back of the creature. It didn’t seem to notice. Glissa struck again with as much power as she could muster.
    A movement in the Tangle beside her caught Glissa’s attention. Perhaps Kane had come to help. Maybe Chunth had left his seclusion to watch the destined one die. From the corner of her eye she saw someone … or something … she’d never seen before. It was about the size of a troll but stood erect, covered in dark robes. The gelfruit light glinted off the stranger’s head in a way that suggested it was neither metal nor flesh. She could have sworn she saw four arms.
    It was gone. Glissa stared into the Tangle, looking for the figure, but saw nothing but trees, now whipping by at an incredible speed as the leveler ran. She looked down at the beast and watched as its feet swung back and forth so fast they turned into a blur. Glissa reached down to pull the sword out, intending to strike the beast again.
    Something struck her head and knocked her down onto the beast’s back. Everything darknened around her. Turning her aching head to look behind, the last thing Glissa saw before she blacked out was a low-lying spire swaying back and forth from a sharp impact.

SLOBAD
    Glissa moaned and rolled over in her sleep. It felt as if her foot was caught in the leather blanket on her bed, so she