The Darksteel Eye

The Darksteel Eye
Publishing Information
Author(s)	Jess Lebow
First printing	December 2003
ISBN-13	978-0786931408
Mirrodin Cycle
Publication chronology

The Darksteel Eye is the second novel of the Mirrodin Cycle. It was written by Jess Lebow and published in December 2003.

The story of Mirrodin started in The Moons of Mirrodin and continues in The Fifth Dawn.

Blurb

A Prize Beyond Understanding

A goblin tinkerer with a strangely heroic spirit.

An iron golem searching for his lost memories.

An elf who carries knowledge that could shake the world.

Together, they must flee across the harsh metal world of Mirrodin, running from an enemy who seems all-knowing and anticipates their every move. Amid savage battles and breathtaking escapes, they are ever aware of a power that stands at the very center of their world. For within the deepest reaches of Mirrodin, the Darksteel Eye watches. And waits.

Overview

Main article: Mirrodin Cycle

Title	Author	Publishing date	Set	Setting (plane)	Featuring
The Darksteel Eye	Jess Lebow	December 2003	Darksteel	Mirrodin	Memnarch, Malil, Glissa, Slobad, Bosh, Bruenna, Pontifex, Marek, Drooge, Tyrell, Sodador, Orland, Al-Hayat, Geth, Yert (mentioned), Kaldra

Storyline

Memnarch

Memnarch, Guardian of Mirrodin, straps himself into his serum tank, hoping for a vision of his creator, Karn. Memnarch's mind is breaking down, while his metal body is turning to flesh from a Mycosynth infection. He thinks Karn is speaking to him and argues with himself. Malil, a golem servant, appears with news of a development at the blue lacuna. The vedalken are chasing someone, and through his scrying devices, he learns it’s the elf he’s after, Glissa, accompanied by a a goblin, a wizard, and a golem. He sends Malil, who has been made in Memnarch’s original image, to retrieve her.

In the Core

Malil descends from the tower, stepping out into the harsh glare of the mana core and the shadows of the Mycosynth columns growing toward it. At the base, he prepares an army of sawtooth threshers and levelers for battle. Glissa, Slobad, Bruenna, and Bosh have little time to take in the core’s scenery as the vedalken close in from behind and Malil approaches with his threshers. Bosh points at another tunnel, one that branches off from the blue lacunae. But the levelers are too fast, and the group must turn to fight or be cut down from behind. The fight goes well at first, Bruenna blasting them from the air, Bosh smashing any that get close, Slobad leaping on the backs and getting them to destroy one another. But the battle turns, and only Glissa is left in fighting shape. In a rage at what appears to be the end, Glissa channels her green fire again into an explosive burst that disables all their pursuers.

Pontifex

Malil rendezvous with Pontifex, and after quick words, they send their forces to split up and cut off Glissa and her friends. Pontifex and Malil are summoned to an audience with Memnarch, who berates them for their failure to apprehend Glissa. Memnarch needs her “piece of divinity” before the mana core ejects again. Pontifex doesn’t understand this and offers himself to become part of Memnarch, but he is rebuffed. He interprets this as Glissa being responsible for his god abandoning him, and starts going insane.

The vedalken, led by guard Marek, succeed in cutting off Glissa’s group. To get past, Bosh rolls into a ball and barrels through the attackers. They're saved by Bruenna’s fellow villagers who emerge from the Knowledge Pool on the way out. Once they're safely hidden at a Neurok village on the coast, they realize Bosh is bleeding, and that the Mycosynth has begun infecting him as well. Back at Menarch’s fortress, the Panopticon, Memnarch raves at Malil. He talks of an infection grown beyond his control, and gives Malil a dose of serum. The golem almost immediately becomes addicted to the substance’s mind-expanding effects. Pontifex returns to Lumengrid and arrives at the wreckage of Glissa’s escape. Realizing he needs to secure his power with the Synod before resuming the chase. With Janus dead, Pontifex has ascended to the leadership of the Synod. His rivals plot to install the younger vedalken Orland in Pontifex’s old seat. The council has only four members, and the positions are lifetime appointments with full control over the Vedalken Empire. Orland is a young liberal who wants to reform the Empire from what it has become.

The secret of the Kaldra Guardian

Bruenna bids her new friends farewell, and they return to the Tangle, where they're greeted by the new Troll Leader, Drooge. He assures her the trolls are on her side, and gifts her the helm to go with the sword she had taken earlier. He reveals they are two pieces necessary to summon a powerful avatar called the the Kaldra Guardian, but that the final piece resides in the Mephidross at the Vault of Whispers. They're interrupted by a fresh attack on the Tree of Tales.

Meeting Al-Hayat

In the core, Memnarch tends to the soul traps, the artifacts that he used to draw all the living beings to Mirrodin. He muses about fighting the Mycosynth as he observes one of his constructs accidentally getting killed. When he returns to the Panopticon, Pontifex is there. He asks why Malil was sent after the fugitive Glissa, worried that his god has lost faith. Memnarch states simply that two forces are better than one. He says he needs Glissa before the green sun dawns to incorporate her into his being. Pontifex misunderstands, offering himself instead. Memnarch declines, slightly mocking that vedalken knows much, but also very little. Pontifex leaves and Memnarch uses his Darksteel Eye, forged with six scrying mirrors - one for each of his eyes. He turns his device to observe the Tangle.

Back in the Tangle, Glissa and crew barely escape the Tree of Tales. Slobad is snagged by a leveler, and they give chase. Deep in the Tangle, Glissa begins to lose track of her quarry and her friends in the dense ‘woods’. She meets one of the Tangle’s sapient wolves, named Al-Hayat. After a wary initial confrontation, he tells her Slobad has briefly been nearby. Al-Hayat explains that the wolves’ numbers have dwindled over the years, so they stay separate now. He agrees to join the group, and together they rescue Slobad. The wolf even uses healing magic to heal the goblin’s wounds.

Attacks on the band

The group sets off for the Mephidross, but in the Razorgrass Fields they're spotted by vedalken gliders. Pontifex has brought Marek and his rival Orland with a squad of elite soldiers to capture Glissa. Pontifex attempts to kill Orland, and when he orders Glissa’s death, Marek’s loyalty is tested. Glissa’s group is outmatched despite some impressive fighting, until Bruenna arrives with some of the Neurok’s most powerful wizards.

Back in the Panopticon, Memnarch infuses himself with more serum and has a delusional conversation with Karn. He tells Karn about his loneliness, how he brought the races of Mirrodin here to be companions, but they're just animals. He begs Karn to return, but his hallucination says nothing. Instead, Memnarch lashes out in a rage, destroying the infusion machine. At the edge of the Mephidross, Glissa’s group stops for the night. She talks to Bosh about having to be careful now that he's flesh, and they all go to sleep. They're awoken in the night by hundreds of nim gathered at the shores of the Mephidross. They fight off wave after wave, but the horde is too overwhelming. Then they spot levelers in the distance.

Malil charges toward Glissa and her companions. After he had interrogated the trolls, he had headed straight for the dross, but Glissa and her companions had come out the other side of the Tangle and ended up on the other side of the dross. It took him a bit to catch up. Just as all hope seems lost, the nim also begin attacking the levelers; much to Malil’s chagrin. This slows their advance enough that Glissa’s group can slip through and escape. Unfortunately, their escape leads them to a dross-covered slope, and they realize too late that they can't slow their descent into the thick swamp waters below.

Memnarch's plan revealed

Meanwhile, Memnarch contemplates his plan in the Panopticon. It is revealed that Mirrodin is an unstable artificial plane. It's slowly coming undone without Karn, and the ejections of the ‘suns’ from the mana core are part of that. Each ejection brings chaos for a time. Memnrach is unsure where the blinkmoths go, but they are disappearing. The mycosynth spores worry him, believing they've been there since Karn left, slowly turning metal to flesh and flesh to metal. The infection is fed by the mana core somehow, and all the chrome mycosynth towers grow as if to grab it. He recounts Karn’s ascension (fusing with Urza’s powerstone eyes in the last of the Legacy Weapon) and plans to do something similar with Glissa (who has an unflared spark). He has built the Panopticon on the exact spot the green sun will emerge from to use its power, and turn himself into a planeswalker.

The Vault of Whispers

Glissa and team are sucked through an underground river, and would have drowned if Bosh didn't break through to a cavern. As they're spit out, a massive creature attacks them, and they barely escape down a side tunnel. Unknown to them, they're being followed by a myr, a myr whose eyes Memnarch is watching through in the Darksteel Eye. At the end of the tunnel, Glissa realizes she’s led them to the Vault of Whispers, specifically Geth’s throne room. They've entered through what must have been his escape tunnel. Once inside, Geth enters and welcomes them menacingly. He reveals Yert died in an ‘accident’ when his new reaper killed him. Glissa pulls her sword and threatens him, demanding the last piece of the Kaldra guardian. He whistles, and a trap springs as he slips away. The walls of his throne room collapse to reveal Vedalken soldiers shrouded in mist.

The group is split up almost immediately, and a dense fog hangs in the room, obscuring everything from view. Marek takes the fight to Glissa directly and, with a feint, stabs her leg. She ducks into the thick fog to heal, but Marek captures her. All but one of Bruenna’s wizards are killed. Glissa is taken captive by Marek, but Malil suddenly arrives with levelers in tow. This causes a standoff between Pontifex, who wants to kill Glissa, and Malil, who wants to bring her back to Mennarch. The distraction allows Glissa to escape, but she falls into a hole beneath Geth’s throne. It turns out to be his secret treasure room, and when Slobad falls in behind her, they discover the shield they'd been looking for. Glissa hands the Kaldra artifacts over to Slobad and sets about looking for a weapon of her own.

The Kaldra avatar emerges

Above, Pontifex and Malil fight until Memnarch’s voice shakes the vault, demanding the elf. They ally again… temporarily. Bosh, Bruenna, and Al-Hayat all fight valiantly, but as they lose sight of each other, they begin to lose the fight. That is, until Glissa emerges from under Geth’s Throne in the arm of the Kaldra Champion, glowing blue and radiating power. It slaughters many of the Vedalken, and those left beat a hasty retreat. Glissa spots her friends - all injured, Al-Hayat dying, and lets loose with her power again in rage and hate. Every leveler and Vedalken weapon is destroyed. Pontifex, Marek, and Malil barely escape with their lives. The rest of the group gathers to mourn Al-Hayat. Unsure of how to get to Memnarch now that they have the Kaldra Champion, Bosh mentions the black lacuna, which Geth knows the location of. Glissa uses the Champion to intimidate him into revealing it, and they all head down.

Pontifex versus the Synod

Malil, Pontifex, and Marek rest, exhausted, having fled to the border of the Mephidross. Their forces were ruined by the Kaldra Champion and Glissa’s outburst, with only a quarter remaining. Marek secretly hopes they won’t spot Glissa again, as they don’t have the strength to fight them. When they realize Glissa and her followers aren’t coming out, Malil announces that Memnarch has spotted them entering the core. Knowing that the Mycosynth will delay their passage underground, they head to the blue lacunae to cut them off.

When they arrive, however, Pontifex is surprised that the Vedalken shy away from him. Malil suggests that it’s the remaining levelers accompanying them, but Pontifex isn’t sure. He seizes a citizen, who reveals that there’s an assembly. Pontifex arrives and learns Orland has orchestrated a vote to return the Vedalken Empire to a Republic. Pontifex is no longer a lord or has any power at all. They place him under arrest for his crimes, but he casts a spell to launch the guards at his former Synod council members. Orland dodges, but the other two are killed. Pontifex leaves, swearing vengeance.

Glissa versus Pontifex

Deep underground, Glissa and crew discover the small constructs turned to flesh, tending to odd devices buried under the Mycosynth moss. They discover one has died, and that they've become fully flesh, and were once entirely mechanical. They learn Bosh’s face has turned to flesh and realize its proximity to the mycosynth that is causing the mutations. They move faster, not wanting Bosh’s changes to accelerate or worsen. They're attacked by Threshers, and Bruenna’s artifact-freezing magic fails on them. They realize the threshers have turned partly to flesh, and the threshers are too fast for the Kaldra Champion to take down. Bruenna is swallowed whole by one, and Glissa loses her darksteel sword, taken from Geth’s vault, to another. Glissa channels her magic again, only to find that nothing happens. The threshers aren't true artifacts and are no longer affected by her shattering spell. While she recovers from the casting, another thresher devours her whole.

Malil and Memnarch use the Darksteel Eye to find Glissa. All the screens show Glissa being brought in by a thresher, but then Malil spots a vedalken glider zooming in. The figure leaps atop the Thresher, and suddenly, Glissa sees a sword emerge inside the Thresher. She kicks her way through the flesh and grows to enormous size to burst free. Outside, she finds the rogue vedalken is Pontifex, set on destroying her. They battle through the Mycosynth growths, but Glissa is exhausted and no match for the mage. She’s saved at the last minute by Marek, who was disgusted by Pontifex’s behavior and doesn’t want him ruining the fledgling Vedalken Republic. Pontifex and Marek end up killing one another, leaving Glissa free.

Final confrontation

Glissa reunites with her friends and they head for the Panopticon. A final wave of levelers tries to stop them, but Kaldra makes short work of them. As they near the Memnarch’s Fortress, both the Guardian and Malil exit to confront them. Glissa charges in, finally confronted with the being who has caused all her misery, and she manages to take out one of his legs. They order Kaldra to attack, but Memnarch casts his trademark spell and assumes control over the avatar. Bosh steps in front of his friends to defend them, but is dispatched in seconds. Slobad and Glissa flee, unable to stand against what was supposed to be their trump card, when Bruenna arrives, having extricated herself from the thresher’s maw.

Bruenna freezes Kaldra and encompasses Glissa and Slobad in a flight spell to escape. They emerge from the blue lacunae, where Bruenna must return to her people once more. The flight spell carries Glissa and Slobad to the edge of the Tangle, where the trolls have gathered to honor their word. They leave the trolls to hold off Kaldra, who follows them on land not far behind. Drooge tells Glissa to head for the Radix. There, Glissa’s magic surges unexpectedly, and she uses it to entrap Kaldra in the copper trees. Kaldra breaks free and slaps Slobad away with ferocity. Glissa, unable to stand that her friends keep dying on her, reaches deep into her power and traps Kaldra on the Radix itself. It’s still not enough, and Kaldra begins to break free when it’s engulfed in a massive green light - the fifth sun is dawning. The massive ball of mana bursts through Mirrodin’s mantle, evaporating the Avatar and devastating the Tangle for miles in every direction.

Aftermath

Glissa awakens after the blast, with partially melted copper trees pinning her. Slobad hobbles up to her, scorched and bruised but otherwise intact. She’s ecstatic that her friend is still alive. Deep below in the core, Memnarch is likewise battered but alive and stumbles from the wreckage of the Darksteel Eye, where Malil has also survived.