by Kate Elliott
“They helped me. I will help them.”
He’d learned to be patient. Good hunters had to be. They asked him a few more questions, as cautious parents naturally would. The loremage fussed about possible means to haul in enough lye. The queen blew a horn, and the griffin knights returned and, with genuine joy, greeted their lost and now restored king. While they chattered and celebrated, Garruk walked amid the griffins, admiring their magnificence, ferocity, and intelligence.
Eventually, when it became clear Will and Rowan would return no time soon, the entourage made ready to leave. A few even complimented Garruk on his courageous willingness to quest alone after the reckless twins. These Ardenvale folk talked constantly of groups and togetherness.
Garruk raised a hand in a polite farewell as they flew away, back to their castle and their towns and villages. It always puzzled him when city people spoke of the frightening solitude of uninhabited spaces. They couldn’t see that the forest teems with life. In the wilderness, he was never alone. He’d have been content to explore these Wilds. He could smell a few deadly monsters worth hunting.
But right now he had a debt to repay. He reached out and caught the trail of the twinned spark melded of ice and lightning. A crow cawed in a nearby tree, as if to bid him farewell. He planeswalked away, leaving the world behind.
Other Magic: The Gathering Fiction and Non-Fiction
From Wizards of the Coast:
Children of the Nameless by Brandon Sanderson—
download for free at https://magic.wizards.com/en/story
From Del Rey Books:
War of the Spark: Ravnica by Greg Weisman—Available Now
War of the Spark: Forsaken by Greg Weisman—Coming Fall 2019
From Viz Media:
The Art of Magic: The Gathering series by James Wyatt, including Concepts & Legends—Available Now
From Abrams ComicArts:
Magic: The Gathering: Rise of the Gatewatch: A Visual History with an introduction by Jenna Helland—Available Now
Also by Kate Elliott
From Orbit Books:
Black Wolves—Available Now
Cold Magic—Available Now
From Little, Brown Books for Young Readers:
Court of Fives—Available Now
Photograph by April Quintanilla
Kate Elliott has been writing science fiction and fantasy for 30 years, with 27 books in print. Her particular focus is immersive world building & centering women in epic stories of adventure & transformative cultural change. She is best known for her Crown of Stars epic fantasy series. Her next book, out in July 2020, is genderbent Alexander the Great in space.