INVASION

A Phyrexian foot soldier climbed the crab's back to hew Eladamri's head from his shoulders.

Sudden fire blazed from the sky. The foot soldier was gone, dismantled by a ray ca

Behind that beam came a welcome sight, the roaring hull of Weatherlight. Another ray ca

Dropping from the dead claw of his captor, Eladamri lifted his sword high and let out a Skyshroud battle cry.

In elf and Metathran throats, the shout echoed across the bloody field.

Gerrard heard the battle cry go up, and it hardened his angry heart.

The gun before him was already blisteringly hot. He loosed another round. A ray roared from the smoking muzzle. It soared, a great fist, and slammed into a Phyrexian ca

Gerrard watched them writhe. He spat through gritted teeth. His spittle sizzled off the ca

The scar. A huge black crater, with gray tendrils radiating out across once-healthy flesh…

He poured fire down on the roaches. He ripped their black shells and watched the white meat ooze from beneath. He tore out their nests and stomped on the vile maggots. They were vermin. Worse, they were living rot, they were hunks of walking plague.

Gerrard's ca

Weatherlight pulled up sharply. It had been their plan-Gerrard's plan-to cut Eladamri an avenue of destruction through the Phyrexian forces. Eladamri would drive across the smoldering ground and straight for the caves, cutting one edge off the Phyrexian defense. Then the ship would fly to Agnate's contingent and cut a similar swath for them.

Weatherlight rose at the end of her run. She thundered into the heavens.

Gerrard distractedly clutched the gu

"Prepare for second strafing run!" Sisay shouted through the tube.

Weatherlight topped out her ascent, slipping sideways to bring herself about. Ahead lay Koilos. Air spilled past the hull. The world soared suddenly up beneath her. The line of battle was there, just ahead. Agnate and his troops fought.

Weatherlight nosed down toward the bloody front. Gerrard swung his gun down. The machine shuddered as a charge built within. He spotted a line of trench worms. The ca

… When he had been a child, Gerrard and Vuel had skewered caterpillars with twigs and watched them struggle to walk…

Another flare spilled from his gun, rolling over the Phyrexian hordes and baking them in their shells.

… He and Vuel used to pour lamp oil down an anthill and light it on fire…

The third shot struck ground just in front of a ca

… Wasps emitted an acrid wisp of smoke just before the magnifying glass made their abdomens crack…

Agnate would be able to drive forward over this swath. Weatherlight and the rest of the armada had paved a road in bodies. Sure, plenty of Phyrexian ca

… It had taken all day and two gallons of lamp oil to dig up the anthill, but when they found the queen, all the bites were worth it. They cut open her abdomen and pulled out the white eggs and crushed them and watched all the workers try to carry them away. They laughed with that last fire, the queen dragging herself through it all, picking at the dead eggs while her torn-open abdomen curled up and crisped…

Tsabo Tavoc. She had done this. She had brought these bugs, these maggots here. She had brought rot and plague. Gerrard would find her and cut her open as she had cut open Ha

A hulking presence loomed up behind him. Tahngarth. The sky raced past. The minotaur's eyes were grave. Gerrard saw his reflection, small and hunched, in those eyes.

Tahngarth said, "The strike team is ready."

Gerrard nodded, pulling himself from the gu

"We're coming up on the drop site," Tahngarth urged. "You need to pull on your hauberk and arm yourself." Tahngarth pounded the hilt of his sword against the Hurloon battle armor he wore.

Nodding numbly, Gerrard lifted a breast-and-backplate and slid them on.

"Are you sure you're up to this? Ha

Gerrard's eyes flared. "Yes. That's it, isn't it? Ha

Turning, he stalked to the prow. He shoved his way through the Benalish strike team. Gerrard peered over the ship's rail, seeing that Sisay edged Weatherlight up just above the caves. Phyrexian ca

From the prow speaking tube, Sisay's voice shrilled, "Can't hold her here for long."

Without answering, Gerrard flipped the capstan lock. As chain rattled out, Gerrard vaulted over the rail. He landed with his feet on the arms of the anchor and rode its plunging weight downward. The prison brigade gave a cheer to see their leader's bold advance. They too flung themselves overboard, gripping the chain. It dropped before the yawning mouth of the Caves of Koilos.

Out of that debouchment lumbered a huge figure-a Phyrexian digger.

The anchor crashed down atop it. The vast head of the monster staved beneath the anchor's crown. The beast collapsed, and Gerrard rode it to ground. He leaped free of anchor and digger both, cleaving the head of the beast's handler. Turning, he hacked through a Phyrexian foot soldier that rushed him. Tahngarth landed beside him, bringing his sword to bear. The two friends pushed back the monsters, widening the circle.

One by one, Gerrard's small army landed. Two hundred Benalish fighters dropped down atop the dead hulk. Gerrard led them. He and his comrades moved out, killing as they went. They were like a plague, spreading from a single point out to infect an entire organism.