for a precious pair of seconds, then continued on course. She glanced down to check on the levelers.
The constructs had completely stopped. Glissa was alarmed to see that many of them seemed to be watching a tiny, flying speck of goblin soar overhead. Once Slobad had passed the chittering levelers, something even stranger happened.
Half of the levelers followed Slobad. The other half continued to chase Glissa.
“Flare,” Glissa swore as she headed back after Slobad, half-expecting to drop out of the sky at any second. “What do you want with him?” Her voice raised to a shout as she closed in on the goblin. “Slobad! Wait! Come back!”
Slobad came to an immediate halt, turned, and headed back toward her.
“Hey, what they want with Slobad?” he asked when he got within earshot.
“That’s what I want to know. But we don’t have time to find out,” Glissa said. “You’re just going to have to come with me. You were right. I’m going back inside.”
“Slobad knew it!” the goblin barked.
“But first, we’re going to get that to help us,” she said, pointing at a large shape that had burst through the treetops just ahead.
WURM’S TURN
“A slagwurm!” Slobad shouted at Glissa as the wind whistled past the elf’s pointed ears. “How you gonna talk to a slagwurm, huh? They’re monsters.”
“I know,” Glissa said, getting a good look at the thick, legless reptilian wurm as it whipped its toothy maw in the air, letting loose a keening screech that rang inside her head even at this distance. “But this one’s hungry. Hear that? It’s calling for its kin.”
“That’s how it says ‘soup’s on,’ huh?” Slobad asked, natural curiosity overcoming fear. Glissa knew that Slobad was fascinated with big things, though usually he reserved his adoration for large machinery. Like golems.
“Yes,” Glissa said and pointed at the swarm of levelers tracking them on the ground. “But it’s not getting another wurm for dinner this time. Look past the wurm,” Glissa said. “What do you see?”
“Trees, sky, a big … round … clearing. The lacuna!” Slobad exclaimed. “Wait, that full of monsters too, huh? Giant rats? Big bugs? Ring a bell?”
“You’re the one who said I was crazy,” Glissa said. “Now stay with me—we’re going to get close.” She explained what she had in mind then peeled off toward the writhing slagwurm.
Slagwurms were probably the largest creatures on Mirrodin, by simple virtue of the fact that they never stopped growing.Glissa had learned about their life cycle as a youth. They were not truly reptiles, despite their thick scales and plates of metallic armor. Slagwurms actually began life as foot-long grubs that hatched from egg clusters laid by the hermaphrodite parent.
They were also cannibals. The strongest, or sometimes simply the first, slaggrub would wait for the others to hatch then consume its kin ruthlessly as their writhing mouths broke through the rubbery shells. Each egg cluster generally produced a single wurm that reached maturity in under a week, though fortunately slagwurms laid them only once a year.
Slagwurms never lost the taste for the flesh of their sibling, and that was the only reason their populations hadn’t taken over all of Mirrodin. For the most part, the only thing that could kill a slagwurm was a bigger slagwurm.
This one had the rusty coloring of a mountain variety. It must have burrowed into the ground under the Tangle, and surfaced only recently. Glissa was sure she would have noticed the monster’s path on their recent walk from the lacuna to Viridia. As they drew closer, she could make out the patterns that covered the wurm’s armor plates, and smell the sulphurous odor of the enormous annelid.
“You remember what to do?” Glissa asked.
“Yep!” Slobad nodded.
“Go!” Glissa shouted, and the pair dived straight for the writhing torso of the towering slagwurm. Please, Glissa thought, stay in the air. Keep
The constructs had completely stopped. Glissa was alarmed to see that many of them seemed to be watching a tiny, flying speck of goblin soar overhead. Once Slobad had passed the chittering levelers, something even stranger happened.
Half of the levelers followed Slobad. The other half continued to chase Glissa.
“Flare,” Glissa swore as she headed back after Slobad, half-expecting to drop out of the sky at any second. “What do you want with him?” Her voice raised to a shout as she closed in on the goblin. “Slobad! Wait! Come back!”
Slobad came to an immediate halt, turned, and headed back toward her.
“Hey, what they want with Slobad?” he asked when he got within earshot.
“That’s what I want to know. But we don’t have time to find out,” Glissa said. “You’re just going to have to come with me. You were right. I’m going back inside.”
“Slobad knew it!” the goblin barked.
“But first, we’re going to get that to help us,” she said, pointing at a large shape that had burst through the treetops just ahead.
WURM’S TURN
“A slagwurm!” Slobad shouted at Glissa as the wind whistled past the elf’s pointed ears. “How you gonna talk to a slagwurm, huh? They’re monsters.”
“I know,” Glissa said, getting a good look at the thick, legless reptilian wurm as it whipped its toothy maw in the air, letting loose a keening screech that rang inside her head even at this distance. “But this one’s hungry. Hear that? It’s calling for its kin.”
“That’s how it says ‘soup’s on,’ huh?” Slobad asked, natural curiosity overcoming fear. Glissa knew that Slobad was fascinated with big things, though usually he reserved his adoration for large machinery. Like golems.
“Yes,” Glissa said and pointed at the swarm of levelers tracking them on the ground. “But it’s not getting another wurm for dinner this time. Look past the wurm,” Glissa said. “What do you see?”
“Trees, sky, a big … round … clearing. The lacuna!” Slobad exclaimed. “Wait, that full of monsters too, huh? Giant rats? Big bugs? Ring a bell?”
“You’re the one who said I was crazy,” Glissa said. “Now stay with me—we’re going to get close.” She explained what she had in mind then peeled off toward the writhing slagwurm.
Slagwurms were probably the largest creatures on Mirrodin, by simple virtue of the fact that they never stopped growing.Glissa had learned about their life cycle as a youth. They were not truly reptiles, despite their thick scales and plates of metallic armor. Slagwurms actually began life as foot-long grubs that hatched from egg clusters laid by the hermaphrodite parent.
They were also cannibals. The strongest, or sometimes simply the first, slaggrub would wait for the others to hatch then consume its kin ruthlessly as their writhing mouths broke through the rubbery shells. Each egg cluster generally produced a single wurm that reached maturity in under a week, though fortunately slagwurms laid them only once a year.
Slagwurms never lost the taste for the flesh of their sibling, and that was the only reason their populations hadn’t taken over all of Mirrodin. For the most part, the only thing that could kill a slagwurm was a bigger slagwurm.
This one had the rusty coloring of a mountain variety. It must have burrowed into the ground under the Tangle, and surfaced only recently. Glissa was sure she would have noticed the monster’s path on their recent walk from the lacuna to Viridia. As they drew closer, she could make out the patterns that covered the wurm’s armor plates, and smell the sulphurous odor of the enormous annelid.
“You remember what to do?” Glissa asked.
“Yep!” Slobad nodded.
“Go!” Glissa shouted, and the pair dived straight for the writhing torso of the towering slagwurm. Please, Glissa thought, stay in the air. Keep
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