The panel came into view above the opening, and the diver stopped. Bruenna said a few words, and the diver rose up toward the panel. Glissa picked up Slobad and set him on her shoulders. The goblin pulled a tool from his satchel and began working on the panel. After some grunting, Glissa heard metal scrape against metal. Light spilled into the diver through a hole above Slobad.
“Help me out, huh?” called Slobad.
Glissa pushed Slobad through the opening and turned to Bruenna. “You next,” she said.
Bruenna walked over to Glissa. She continued to move her arms through their intricate pattern as Glissa grabbed her around the waist and hoisted her through the opening. Slobad leaned down and grabbed her by the shoulders as Glissa pushed from below. With Bruenna safe above, Glissa grabbed her cloak, which she had dropped before the eel attack, and clambered through. Once above, she tossed the cloak aside, leaned back down, and knocked on the diver again. Bosh pushed it back away from the tube opening, then climbed through the hole.
They were inside Lumengrid.
* * * * *
Glissa looked around, worried someone might have spotted them crawling up through the floor, but they had come into the corner of some sort of storage area. Nobody was around. They were surrounded by silver crates. The crates and the walls were made from the same silver material as the towers. Glissa guessed the vedalken had found some way to turn quicksilver into a more durable material. It was the only metal they seemed to have access to. She opened one of the crates. It was filled with empty serum vials.
Bosh moved a stack of crates out of the way, and Glissa immediately pulled out her sword. Three constructs stood against the wall. They were similar to the ones that had attacked the cultists. Glissa advanced on them, then noticed one of construct was missing an arm, while another was headless. She examined the constructs. All three were covered in dust.
When she turned around, the elf gasped. The rest of the room was enormous, larger than Bruenna’s entire house. Crates littered the floor around her, and a thick coat of dust covered everything. The center of the room was dominated by a large mechanism. Glissa walked over to it. The machine ran almost the entire length of the room and was packed tightly with intricate parts.
“What is this place?”
“It is an old serum processing room,” said Bruenna. She walked over to the machine, reached out her hand toward it, but then pulled away. “Father worked down here in his youth. He kept this processor running.” Bruenna wiped her eyes. “He even made some improvements to the system. That is how he got noticed. Soon after, he began working with the top vedalken researcher.”
Glissa stared at Bruenna. The human mage had been quiet since they entered the room. Now Glissa knew why. The place was full of ghosts for her, full of memories.
Bruenna evidently misinterpreted the elf’s thoughts. “I did not know about the blinkmoths,” she said defensively. “Not before you told me. Father never mentioned where the serum came from.”
“Maybe he ashamed,” said Slobad. “Ashamed of killing for vedalken, huh?”
“Maybe,” said Bruenna. “Just like them to make us do their dirty work. But that has changed. They have not used this facility in twenty cycles. The vedalken do not trust the humans with the serum anymore. Not after my father got as far as the Pool of Knowledge.”
Glissa left Bruenna to deal with her personal demons, opened another crate, and looked through the vials inside. After a time, Bruenna came over. Glissa glanced up. The tears were gone and a steely determination had returned to her eyes.
“Do you think there’s any serum left in any of these vials?” Glissa asked Bruenna. “We’re going to need more before we get to the Pool.”
“What happened to the vial you had?” asked Bruenna.
Glissa looked over at Slobad, who shrugged his shoulders. “Oh,” she said, “I thought Slobad would have told you. I used the serum when I went into the quicksilver to save Bosh.”
Bruenna’s face turned red with rage. “Why in the winds did you do that?” she shouted. “We needed that serum. Without it, I … we’ll never get the information you need!”
“I had no choice,” said Glissa calmly. “If I hadn’t used the serum, we would have lost Bosh.”
“So?” shrieked Bruenna. “Without the serum, all you will get from the Pool is random images. The trip is worthless without the serum. Did you think it would be as easy to replace as finding a stray vial in a crate?”
“No,” said Glissa. “I made a decision to value the life of my friend over the value of the serum.”
Bruenna was hardly even listening anymore. “Getting more serum will be impossible. If I could have found my own serum, I would have come here long ago. I’ve waited thirty cycles-thirty cycles-for this chance! All I lacked was a vial of serum, and you threw it away to save the life of a construct. He’s not even alive, for wind’s sake!”
“Stop this!” Glissa glowered at Bruenna. “I know you see him as just a construct, like these lifeless things here. But he is my friend. And that is more important than serum, or knowledge, or even power. Maybe that’s what the vedalken have forgotten in their rush to rule the world. Maybe that’s why humans are now slaves and not equals to the vedalken.”
Bruenna slammed her hand down on the crate. The vials jumped and clinked together inside. “This was my one chance,” she said weakly. “My last chance to finish what my father started.” She looked over at Bosh. Tears streamed down her face. “I am sorry. Glissa. Slobad. Bosh. I am sorry. This room. The vial. I thought we could really do it this time. I’m sorry. I did not mean what I said. Without Bosh, we would not even be here. I know that, but there is no way to get another vial. I have tried.”
“Yes,” said Glissa, “but you didn’t have a goblin and a golem to distract the vedalken for you.” She put her arm around Bruenna and led her away from the crates toward the door. “We can still do this. You have to believe me. You have to have faith in your friends.”
Bruenna shuddered within Glissa’s embrace, but she didn’t argue. Glissa stopped at the door and turned to Slobad. “You know where you’re going?” she asked.
Slobad nodded his head. “You not be disappointed, huh?”
“I’m sure I won’t,” said Glissa. “I’m sure I won’t.”
Bosh opened the door. Slobad ducked under the metal man’s arm and glanced into the hall. He nodded to Bosh but then hesitated and turned back to Glissa. “Glissa,” he said. “I … how we get off this rock, huh?”
Glissa looked at Bruenna. “There are vedalken transports at the sea level. Meet us there.”
“Good,” said Slobad. He looked at Glissa again, nodded, then slipped through the door.
Glissa grabbed Bosh’s arm. “Don’t wait for us too long,” she said.
“We will not,” said Bosh as he stepped through the door. “If you are delayed, we shall retrieve you.” The door closed before Glissa could argue.
* * * * *
Glissa turned to Bruenna. “Are you ready for this?” she asked.
Bruenna nodded and tossed Glissa her cloak. Glissa donned the cloak and pulled the hood up over her ears. “You know,” she said, “this didn’t work very well the last time I tried it.”
“Don’t worry,” said Bruenna. “As I said, the vedalken do not even notice humans walking around. We are less than beasts to them. In fact, humans probably outnumber vedalken here in Lumengrid.”
“I hope you’re right,” said Glissa. “You were smart enough to see through my disguise.”
“Do not worry,” said Bruenna. “You did not have a friend who knew what to say if challenged. As long as we look like we are supposed to be here, nobody will bother us. Just let me do the talking.”
Lumengrid looked nothing like the deserted tower they had visited the day before. The walls were completely opaque. Glissa could see her own reflection in the silvery surfaces but couldn’t see anything else through them. Perhaps they were thicker, or perhaps there were just more walls between her and the outside world. Glissa didn’t know. The walls glowed, providing ample light. There seemed to be no seams between the walls and the floors. The metal looked fluid-almost alive, like the quicksilver monster that attacked Bosh.