Read Online The Fifth Dawn by Cory Herndon - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Cory Herndon
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screeching. Keep your head up, you big ugly wurm. Don’t drop just yet….
Just before the elf and the goblin would have collided with the wurm’s armored hide, they split, peeling off in opposite directions, missing the wurm by inches. Glissa reached out with one hand and caught the lip of one armored plate, then swung herself around and grabbed hold with the second, which left herhalf-hanging, half-floating two hundred feet in the air. She heard Slobad squeal as he did the same.
“Here they come!” Glissa shouted. “Wait for it!”
The single-minded levelers treated the slagwurm as if it was just another part of the landscape, something to be overcome on the way to their prey. The levelers began to climb the mammoth annelid, jamming their sharp claws into the wurm’s side. So far, the creature was paying the levelers no more heed than it had Glissa and Slobad, but the elf knew it would have to notice the extra weight soon. Just then, the slagwurm screeched and started to wave more vigorously against the sky.
“That’s it, Slobad! It feels them! Let’s get out of here!”
“Don’t need to tell Slobad twice, huh?” the goblin shouted from the other side of the slagwurm. The pair continued on at top speed to the still-smoldering hole in the ground that would lead them to their enemy—and would hopefully lead their enemy’s minions to their doom.
Behind them, the wurm screeched again, a sound now filled with pain. The creature’s death scream was soon followed by a tremendous crash as its massive bulk flopped back to the ground like a heavy chain. Glissa checked back over her shoulder. The wurm was thrashing in the midst of the swarm, tossing silver bits of levelers and a growing spray of its own ochre blood all over the forest. She felt a pang of regret that the majestic wurm was going to die—she had held out a faint hope that the creature might be able to take on all the constructs, at first—but in its death throes the slagwurm had cut the number of levelers by a third.
She silently thanked the wurm and pressed on. Pitting the monster against the levelers had been a trick of opportunity. Her real goal was just ahead.
The lacuna looked even bigger from above. Surrounded bytrees and foliage knocked flat by the shockwave of mana that had launched the new moon into orbit, the hole that led to the center of Mirrodin resemble an enormous pressed bladeflower.
Glissa was gratified to see—and feel—that the residue left by the passing of the moon still pulsed with magic. Giant vorracs snuffled around the lacuna’s edge, baffled at what from their perspective must have been a suddenly shrunken world. Massive porcine djeeruks scampered over the wrecked trees, shattering any semblance of calm with the thunderous crash of cracking metal. Here and there, patches of debris had woven themselves together into shambling parodies of magical walls, covered in thousands of skittering stinger monkeys picking for tasty needlebugs. The average pack of stingers numbered around a dozen.
Slobad pulled up alongside Glissa and looked down. “Huh,” he commented. “Why can’t Slobad see all the way to the center?”
“That little point of light—I think that’s the end,” Glissa said. “We’ll be there soon enough. You ready?”
“Ready,” Slobad replied. Glissa checked on the levelers, which had left the twitching wurm behind, its corpse oozing ichor into the forest floor. But many had been destroyed, and with luck, the lacuna would take care of the rest.
“Okay. Try not to lose sight of me.”
“You sure this work, huh?”
“Of course not. I just couldn’t think of anything else.”
As if on cue, Bruenna’s flight spell finally gave out, and the pair dropped like stones into the lacuna.
“Good plan!” Slobad shouted as they plummeted into the lacuna’s maw.
“In the plan, I was—ow!” Glissa yelped as a wiry, meltedtreeroot hanging from the inside wall of the lacuna smacked her in the
Just before the elf and the goblin would have collided with the wurm’s armored hide, they split, peeling off in opposite directions, missing the wurm by inches. Glissa reached out with one hand and caught the lip of one armored plate, then swung herself around and grabbed hold with the second, which left herhalf-hanging, half-floating two hundred feet in the air. She heard Slobad squeal as he did the same.
“Here they come!” Glissa shouted. “Wait for it!”
The single-minded levelers treated the slagwurm as if it was just another part of the landscape, something to be overcome on the way to their prey. The levelers began to climb the mammoth annelid, jamming their sharp claws into the wurm’s side. So far, the creature was paying the levelers no more heed than it had Glissa and Slobad, but the elf knew it would have to notice the extra weight soon. Just then, the slagwurm screeched and started to wave more vigorously against the sky.
“That’s it, Slobad! It feels them! Let’s get out of here!”
“Don’t need to tell Slobad twice, huh?” the goblin shouted from the other side of the slagwurm. The pair continued on at top speed to the still-smoldering hole in the ground that would lead them to their enemy—and would hopefully lead their enemy’s minions to their doom.
Behind them, the wurm screeched again, a sound now filled with pain. The creature’s death scream was soon followed by a tremendous crash as its massive bulk flopped back to the ground like a heavy chain. Glissa checked back over her shoulder. The wurm was thrashing in the midst of the swarm, tossing silver bits of levelers and a growing spray of its own ochre blood all over the forest. She felt a pang of regret that the majestic wurm was going to die—she had held out a faint hope that the creature might be able to take on all the constructs, at first—but in its death throes the slagwurm had cut the number of levelers by a third.
She silently thanked the wurm and pressed on. Pitting the monster against the levelers had been a trick of opportunity. Her real goal was just ahead.
The lacuna looked even bigger from above. Surrounded bytrees and foliage knocked flat by the shockwave of mana that had launched the new moon into orbit, the hole that led to the center of Mirrodin resemble an enormous pressed bladeflower.
Glissa was gratified to see—and feel—that the residue left by the passing of the moon still pulsed with magic. Giant vorracs snuffled around the lacuna’s edge, baffled at what from their perspective must have been a suddenly shrunken world. Massive porcine djeeruks scampered over the wrecked trees, shattering any semblance of calm with the thunderous crash of cracking metal. Here and there, patches of debris had woven themselves together into shambling parodies of magical walls, covered in thousands of skittering stinger monkeys picking for tasty needlebugs. The average pack of stingers numbered around a dozen.
Slobad pulled up alongside Glissa and looked down. “Huh,” he commented. “Why can’t Slobad see all the way to the center?”
“That little point of light—I think that’s the end,” Glissa said. “We’ll be there soon enough. You ready?”
“Ready,” Slobad replied. Glissa checked on the levelers, which had left the twitching wurm behind, its corpse oozing ichor into the forest floor. But many had been destroyed, and with luck, the lacuna would take care of the rest.
“Okay. Try not to lose sight of me.”
“You sure this work, huh?”
“Of course not. I just couldn’t think of anything else.”
As if on cue, Bruenna’s flight spell finally gave out, and the pair dropped like stones into the lacuna.
“Good plan!” Slobad shouted as they plummeted into the lacuna’s maw.
“In the plan, I was—ow!” Glissa yelped as a wiry, meltedtreeroot hanging from the inside wall of the lacuna smacked her in the
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