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

tried to kick it off … and screamed. Pain shot up Glissa’s leg from her ankle. Something was cutting into her flesh. She opened her eyes, but it was pitch black, and she had no idea where she was. She pushed herself up and hit her head on the ceiling.
    “What the flare is going on?” muttered the elf. She began to remember: trolls, levelers, her parents, Lyese. It all came rushing back to her like a nightmare. There was no time to dwell on that pain or the one in her ankle. She was caught in the broken blades of a leveler. Where had it taken her? Glissa squinted into the darkness, trying to make out anything around her. As her eyes grew accustomed to the gloom, she could see the curving back of the leveler beneath her. Similar curved shapes surrounded her.
    Where am I? she thought. Am I in their lair? They weren’t moving, and she was afraid to wake them up, much as she wanted to kill them all. If they were asleep, it would be better if she freed herself and found her way out. She wouldn’t stand a chance in the dark with her injured ankle. Glissa inched her way down toward the blades, wincing every time her ankle moved against the blades. More than once she banged her head against the low ceiling.
    Finally she got both hands on her aching foot and tried to ease it from the viselike grip of the broken blades. The leather hadtaken the brunt of the blade, so her ankle wasn’t cut too badly. At least, she couldn’t feel any blood dripping. Perhaps she could pull her foot from the boot. When she tried, Glissa bit her lip to suppress another scream. Even the slightest movement pressed the blade into her flesh. Her ankle must have swelled inside the boot.
    She saw two options. She could yank her boot and leg from the blades and risk cutting her foot off, or she could use the sword. In the dark, a false move with the blade would risk injuring the foot more than it was or, worse, waking up every leveler in the lair. She weighed the options and decided to go for her weapon. At least she would be armed if they woke up.
    Slowly Glissa pushed her way back toward the sword, which she hoped was still sticking from the back of the beast. She found the hilt and pulled it out. The scraping sound of metal against metal echoed around the cavern, making the back of Glissa’s neck tingle, but the beasts didn’t wake.
    Holding the sword straight out in front of her to avoid the low ceiling, Glissa inched her way toward the blades again. She thought she saw movement from the corner of her eye, but when she peered around the cavern, all she could see were dark shapes against a sea of black. She leaned down toward her foot and reached out with her free hand to gauge the distance and angle. She pulled the sword back to strike.
    “You don’t want to do that, huh? You don’t want to do that. You might hit me with that thing, huh?”
    Glissa froze in mid-swing and stared into the darkness. The fast-talking voice definitely came from outside her own mind. She could still hear the last “huh” echoing in the darkness.
    “Who said that?” she asked. “Who’s there?”
    “It’s only me,” came the reply. “Slobad,” the voice added, as if that helped Glissa understand. “You need some help, huh? Slobad will help you if you need some help. Do you want some help, huh?”
    “I can’t see you,” said Glissa, worried about what kind of helpthis Slobad was offering. He spoke so fast, she could hardly follow him. She hoped he couldn’t move that fast.
    “Are your eyes broken, huh? I see you fine. I see girl caught in blades who needs help. So, do you want help, huh?”
    “No,” replied Glissa. “I mean, yes, I need help, but no, my eyes aren’t broken. It’s pitch-black in here. My eyes don’t see well in the dark.”
    There was no reply. Glissa could hear shuffling noises and the muted clink of metal, but she couldn’t tell what the mysterious stranger was doing. She moved her sword to a defensive position.
    “Whoa. I told