Removes enchantment access

Jodah grinned grimly as the realization dawned on him what exactly he was fighting. The armor was not armor covering a living creature but the outer skin of some man—made construct. A device, like they spoke of in the old books, before the Devastation. One of Urza’s or Mishra’s creations. The metallic man-insect chopped again. and Jodah partied and danced back. He knew what he fought, now.

The only question was how to buy himself the time he needed to defeat it.

You may need this, Barl had said when he gave him the sword.

But not as a weapon, answered Jodah. With the next chop, Jodah flipped his arm upward as he parried the blow, letting it be carried by the axe. The crystalline blade of his metallic opponent brought the blade back up toward its own face. It stepped backward for a moment, released one hand from the axe, and brushed the spinning sword aside, sending it clattering against the far wall.

It had taken long enough for Jodah to regain both his wind and his concentration. As the creature raised the blade over its head to bring down one more blow, Jodah raised a hand, pulled the memories forward, and placed his palm against the beast’s metallic chest. The plates of its chest felt warm as Jodah sent his power through the creature’s limbs and joints.

The creature halted in the middle of its upswing. Then, overbalanced, it slowly tipped backward and thundered onto the soft dark earth of the arena floor.

Jodah dropped to one knee, almost immediately afterward, breathing hard.

He looked up at the stands. The resplendent woman was still sleeping, and the drunk had slipped into a coma. The old man with the book had returned to his text.

Jodah thought someone had entered during the fight, someone who had talked to Barl, but now the short, stocky man was alone at his seat. He clapped softly.

“You removed its enchantment,” said Barl.

“I . . . removed . . . its access . . . to that enchantment,” said Jodah breathing hard. “Slightly . . . different spell. I thought . . . you might want . . . to use . . . the machine again . . . later.”

***

The Gathering Dark, Chapter 9