Karn stopped and turned. “I will collect Venser’s body later when I have cleaned as much of this vermin as I can find.” Karn sighed.
Elspeth glanced over at the golem and then back to Venser’s body. “Don’t wait too long, it’s warm down here. You will not enjoy your trip with him if you wait too long.”
But Karn had already turned his back. He stepped through the Phyrexian bodies and around some huge juggernauts bunched and smoking on the other side of the door.
“You will never be able to clear Mirrodin of Phyrexians,” Elspeth said.
“I will kill as many as I may,” Karn said as he walked. “But you are right. I will not be able to kill them all, I fear. You must all do your part.”
“I will lead my people against the Phyrexians,” the fleshling said. “There were Mirrans in the settlement we visited, but we should find more hiding.”
Koth was quiet where he had propped himself against the wall.
“We will find all who wish to stand for their homes and fight this enemy,” the fleshling said.
“Good and evil, there is never one without the other,” Karn said. He stopped and gazed around the darkened corridor. “I forged this place when I was young. Bird and beast and flower were worrisome to me then. So I made this place where death was but a coincidence.”
“Now it is a place of death, old machine,” Koth said. He struggled to his feet and spat on the floor. “But the fleshling and I will clear this and all of Mirrodin of the scourge.”
Elspeth could feel the heat radiating off of Koth. As she watched, slits of cherry red split his sides. His eyes began to take on the same rosy hue.
Karn continued speaking. “All has passed like rain on the fields, like wind in the mountain tops. My days seem gone with the sun at its set. But not yet! I have too much to put right.” He walked faster, so the companions had to scramble to keep up.
“Are we ready for battle?” Karn said, striding even faster. “I have slept too long. Mirrodin has carried my pride and also my guilt. You all have fought my battles. Now, friends, we shall show these beasts of meat and metal the true nature of their Father of Machines.”
“We will make this right,” Koth said. He stood next to Venser’s dented helmet. But the others had left, and his words went unheard in the gathering darkness.
