Out, Anowon yelled above the roar.
They ran. Twice Nissa almost slid off the causeway, catching herself at the last moment. Of Mudheel, there was no sign.
They crisscrossed over the causeways with rocks falling all around until they saw the light of the cave entrance ahead. The cavern shuttered again and Nissa turned back for a final look at the Eye or Ugin. Something was rising out of the depression under the causeway. Shapes danced in the darkness. The shadow of a tentacle larger than any she d ever seen flopped on the causeway behind, shattering it to pieces. She felt the stone around groan and buckle as it came undone and fell to bits.
The drakes were still perched atop the crystals when Anowon and Nissa burst out of the cave mouth. The small dragons surveyed them standing in the billows of dust issuing from the cave s mouth. Then they took off and flew away.
The ground began to shake more violently. The roar behind suddenly swelled to a deafening bellow and Anowon and Nissa leaped back against the rock next to the cave mouth.
And just in time. Moments later enormous tentacles snaked out of the cave mouth, followed by jagged, bony arms. The very mountain began to come down around the tentacles. What could only have been an Eldrazi titan glided out of the hole, its tentacles slathered in mucus.
Nissa began to run. The others followed. Whatever was coming out of the cave mouth was huge. The ground was fracturing under it. Nissa glanced back as she ran the red tooth, the spire at the top of the mountain, cracked and tumbled down over the creature s bony neck. Nissa and Anowan ran as hard as they could until the ground was not shaking as much. Nissa stopped and turned.
As Nissa watched, the creature nuzzled its bulbous bone face into fine scree and rubble which was all that was left of the mountain. In appearance the beast looked much as a brood lineage, but larger by far. As tall as a turntimber tree. And the smell! The smell made her want to die. Rotting meat and mushrooms and sulfur from the very bowels of the rock.
But there were differences, aside from its immensity. The small plants eking out an existence in the scree withered to black smudges on the stones as the titan neared. A stone pig fled its burrow in terror, but fell to sludge as it passed near the titan s tentacles. Nissa felt the terrible power as well. She felt the force within her body pulling toward the tentacled menace, as iron to a magnet. It was hard for her to work her lungs at pulling air. Next to her, Anowon shuddered and slipped down the rock they were huddled against.
The next titan to emerge from the ruined mountain was nothing more than a mass of tentacles. The porous latticework structure floating above it scraped the top of the cave mouth as it was born from the cave mouth. Nissa blinked and found herself crumpled next to Anowon on the ground, she did not know she was holding her breath until she exhaled.
The last titan used its split arms to drag itself out of the mouth of the cave. It was a long creature, longer than the other titans and more terrible somehow. Once it had pulled its rear tentacles out of the cave, this titan straightened itself. Its chitinous exoskeleton crackled as it stood taller than anything she d ever seen. Nissa found herself cringing.
All standing together, the titans moved down the canyon. The very light around them bent as a desert mirage might, and the rock they moved over cracked to dust. As they neared the edges of the canyon, great chunks or red rock broke off and desiccated to dust filtering down to the canyon floor.
The last titan slithered to the middle of the canyon, and even its sound did not adhere to the normal rules of nature. Instead of the crushing sound that should have been heard as it made the rocks flat, Nissa heard a high-pitched squeak and low, moaning roll as the sound in the canyon bent and reverberated in the titan s dominion.
The terrible creatures moved close and as their tentacles wound together they began to make a sound that Nissa could not have imagined in her worst nightmare. At once it was the shriek of wounded warthogs mixed with the sharp cut of a gale wind. The titans raised their clinging arms and began to bellow at the sky.
Nissa glanced at Anowon, expecting to see the fear that she herself felt at seeing these massive creatures screaming at the sky. But the vampire would not meet her eyes, and when he did it was not fear of the Eldrazi that she saw. It was hunger. He s hungry, she thought with a dull dread.
Mudheel was gone. That left Nissa, alone with a vampire who had not eaten in days. Had not Sorin told her that Anowon was always trying to drain her? And that he, Sorin, kept this from happening? She did not doubt it seeing the hungry look in Anowon s eyes just now.
But by this time the titan s vocalizing had become deafening. Some of the canyon walls singed to vapor and the rest compressed to powder and blew away in the hot wind. Nissa watched as the creatures, their tentacles intertwined, moved down the canyon, knocking down walls. When they came to the mountain, they did not stop. The rock simply fell to pieces at their touch. And they stopped for a moment to nuzzle the rubble until it, too, was nothing more than powder sucked dry of any mana.
Nissa lay on the ground, exhausted. When she looked up Anowon was watching her, his chin resting on arms crossed over his knees. The pupils in his strange dark eyes were narrowed to points as he stared.
Rocks clattered and a form lurched out of the dust, dragging one leg. Nissa hopped to her feet and felt for the stem sword. But the figure turned to her and chuckled.
Oh, this is rich, Sorin said. You managed to break what could not be broken, and you almost did me to death in the process. Now you are responsible for what happens to your precious Zendikar.
Nissa s mouth must have gaped. I did not know the seeding would undo such a desperate enchantment, she stammered.
Sorin took a deep breath and released it. What is done is done.
Nissa looked to the path of destruction left by the titans.
With his most arrogant smile Sorin turned his eyes on the other vampire. Anowon, come here.
Anowon did not move, did not even meet the vampire s eyes.
I do not serve you, Mortifier, Anowon said. You should be dead now.
I should, Sorin agreed. But now that the elf has released the scourge, I will be needed elsewhere.
First you will come with me to Guul Draz and answer for your crimes to the Septumvirate in Ib Nimana, Anowon said.
Thank you for the invitation, but I will have to decline, Sorin hobbled over to a rock and sat down. His great sword clattered on the talus as he bent and sat down.
Nissa took a deep breath.
You know what direction they are moving, don t you? Sorin said.
Nissa imagined the titan s path and closed her eyes.
Yes, you see, Sorin said. Toward your jungles.
He looked from Nissa to Anowon, then back again. What do you think will happen now? he said. Does your plane feel different now that the ancient enemy is released?
I will not even ask the Ghet, Sorin said.
I can tell the answer from his face.
Nissa glanced at Anowon. He was staring at Sorin with extreme distaste.
Sorin swept one arm out. Zendikar is the same place as it always was. The brood still run rough-shod over your lands. The Roil will perservere And elves will still bless the rest of us with their stunning opinions. But I, Sorin leaned foreword and stood. I will have to let you see how this all turns out.
You are not leaving, Anowon said. You are coming with me to Guul Draz.
Oh, Sorin said. You were serious before about visiting the Septumvirate? Again, I am sorry.
Anowon stood.
Sorin was easily a head taller than the other vampire, and far more formidable, Nissa knew. He looked at Nissa. Do not let him slake his disappointment-thirst on you, he said.
There was a sudden crash and one of the mountains in the direction that the titans had traveled began to teeter and crumble. Anowan turned to watch as the high mountain rocked far to the right and began to very slowly topple.
Sorin closed his eyes and sucked in a breath. Nissa stepped back involuntarily whe
n the vampire s body tensed and began to shake. A deep growl emanated from his throat. Nissa could clearly see the veins standing out in Sorin s neck. Is the planeswalking? After a short time the growl became a whine and then Sorin s skin began to glow very slightly. He opened both eyes and winked one of them at Nissa. Then Sorin was gone, and the air which had surrounded his body rushed with a sudden pop.
Nissa s first inclination was to follow the vampire, to plead with him to come back to Zendikar and set things right re-imprison the menace she had just released. But the moment passed and Nissa did not concentrate on moving through the Eternities.
Anowan had missed the whole event, but she felt he was meant to. He stood rapt, his eyes fixed on the crumbling mountain. Nissa did not want to explain what had just happened. It would be difficult to do so clearly, anyway. And there was something more important she had to make painfuly clear to the hungry vampire standing opposite her.
Nissa reached down and drew a long dirk from her boot and snapped it out so that the tip rested on the back of Anowon s neck. Sensing the danger, he turned and lunged. Nissa stepped to the side, caught the back of his neck with her left hand, and with the force of her backwards step, whipped him to the ground face first. Then she drew a length of rope from the pack and bound Anowon s hands behind his back.
Nissa yanked the vampire to his feet. You will walk bound until Affa where we will part ways and I will travel to Bala Ged. My time trusting vampires has long since past, Nissa said, as she pushed Anowon before her along the trail. I am going home.
Robert B. Wintermute
Zendikar: In the Teeth of Akoum
Nissa Revine walked toe-to-heel along the rope that lead to the Joraga council sling. The other rope, the only other way to get to the council sling, the main meeting place of her tribe where the young elves were born and raised, was full of other Joraga walking easily to the meeting. Even though it took a bit more time to navigate the many trapeze ropes that joined her tribe s meeting slings and sleeping pods, Nissa knew that the advantages outweighed their inconveniences. They could be cut easily in a siege. And vampires, despite their stealthy quickness, had trouble with prolonged balance. Such knowledge, discovered by her Joraga forbearers, and paid for in blood, had saved her tribe more than once. So Nissa was glad to slow down and walk carefully along the rope to the meeting sling.
Of course, the trapeze lines would not hinder brood lineage or the Eldrazi titans in the least, Nissa thought as she watched the few remaining Joraga make their way to the meeting.
When she got to the sling, she followed the other Joraga inside and strode to the front bench. Unlike a Tajuru council meeting, the assembled Joraga did not speak. Outside council they were loud and vulgar, unless hunting. Strangely, she found herself missing the Tajuru prattle the inane jokes and hushed giggles.
Nissa raised her hands and all eyes were on her. There were not that many eyes Nissa noticed with a sudden pang in her stomach. Most of the seats stood empty. Was this really it, all the Joraga left? They did not even fill half of the sling.
It falls to me, Nissa said. To tell you we have word of the scourge, at the Slim Blade.
Nissa imagined the Slim Blade, that tongue of land where two famous rivers met a place at the western edge of Joraga territory. She listened for the response to this news. As usual there were no significant sounds. But that did not mean there was joy in the crowd. She heard a very slight intake of breath from two elves in the front row. That could only mean exasperation and fear two emotions that were expressly forbidden in the sling or anywhere else in the Joraga rule.
Half will go, Nissa said, simply. with the bags. As your leader, I will be one of those going. She lowered her arms, turned and walked out of the sling. The rest of the Joraga waited until she had left and then filed out without a sound. On the planks that encircled the sling Nissa broke their number to half and all made their way to the supply sling.
Soon her time as leader would be over, Nissa thought as she waited in line with the other Joraga, and she already knew what she would do.
Nissa took one of the bags from the supply chief. She slung it over her shoulder. It was not a heavy thing after all, and she and the twenty Joraga began their walk to the west. As she walked the contents of the bag shifted and jiggled. She liked that.
The trip took two days. Nissa could not help but notice that such a trip would have taken a Tajuru double the time as they walked along their foolish branches and took needless breaks. None of this was done by the Joraga. They walked on the ground, unafraid. And food was eaten once per day, before their short nap at daybreak.
At the head of her squad, Nissa s job was to notice everything in the jungle. She did this. But as her eyes flitted from movement to movement, she found herself seeing a certain humanoid shape in every shadow. They always dissipated after she blinked her eyes. But it was unmistakably the same form every time. Anowon. She d left the vampire outside of Affa, tied up and buried to his neck in the sandy soil. She d left him with a stern warning: follow and die. A new stem sword was being grown back at the sling, but until then Nissa kept an arrow nocked on her bow string at all times.
She wished she had to worry about Sorin visiting. Once Anowan was dealt with, she tried to follow Sorin, but his trail was too fragmented. She had planeswalked through the Eternities and found his first couple of stops on rocky, seemingly abandoned planes. On another plane where every surface was as the surface of a pristine pond, she found an old human who said he had seen a white-haired stranger. But that was all. The thin, trail left when individuals walked through the ther had dissipated too much to be followed, and Nissa eventually gave up her search.
She would try again.
She would ask Sorin to come back and re-imprison the menace she had unleashed on Zendikar. He had not told her what would happen if they were set free. She had not understood fully. Now Sorin simply had to come back and set things right. The outbreak was simply too large for her to deal with alone.
Suddenly Nissa stopped. A far off movement in the undergrowth made her drop into a crouch. After a second a bird flew out, and she straightened and started walking again.
Then the Joraga were at the site of devastation, which looked very much like all the others. The edge of the destruction started when Nissa began to notice the plants of the jungle looked sick, yellowish. As they walked further the plants withered to a dark brown, and the immense nula trees were seen toppled to the ground. Then it got bad. Nissa and the other Joraga found themselves walking through a land of almost total ruin extending on all sides for as far as they could see. Wide swaths of dirt were trenched and plowed up to reveal dead roots, which appeared to reach for the wrecked and brooding sky.
Nissa never understood how they got at the sky. But every new wasteland had the same orange and gray sky. And always the same plants, stamped to ooze. Only the bare tree trunks, dripping themselves away, stood as stark jags on the dark landscape.
What was left of the elf bodies was worse. Inevitably there were bodies, although they were hard to find. The Joraga who had tried to stop the desecration of the land had paid for their fidelity with their lives. Nissa stopped and looked down at one of the blackened husks that could have been a section of tree trunk. She knew it was the body of one of her kinsmen by the tarnished armband.
Eldrazi scourge, the Joraga next to her hissed. Nissa jerked around and struck the male across the face, snapping his head sideways.
No, she said. Never that word. In the quiet that followed, the waste seemed to echo with the word Eldrazi. Nissa turned her ear up to the wind, hoping not to hear movement. She could detect none, but that did not mean they were not hunching in some hole out there.
She slung the bag from her shoulder. Let us start.
As she slit the threads to open the bag, she felt the total lack of life in the land. The leach. They had come and sucked every bit of mana out of the land, and they would come back. But in the meantime the Joraga could perhaps do something to
heal the damage.
She spread the opening of the bag and felt the mana flood out and break over her face. It was such a welcome feeling in this wasteland. She reached in, took a handful of the seed, all of different sizes, textures, and colors. Enough variety of seed to make again the jungle forests of Bala Ged. In the palm of her hand she saw huge tramba seeds as large as her thumb, and the power-sized seeds of the creeping plants whose name she did not know. There were plenty of seeds she did not know. But she closed her fist around them all and waited.
Nissa knew that she was just the person to do the planting. Unlike the other Joraga, her magic was still strong, despite the Eldrazi. Her strong mana lines stretched to the different planes she d visited, allowed her to grow these plants better than any in her tribe could.
As soon as the other Joraga had a similar handful of seed Nissa began the growth song. It was an old song, and she sang it as she had been singing it her whole life. They may come again, Nissa thought. Or they may flee Zendikar tomorrow, but right now the forest would be made anew.
Nissa drew her fist back.
She would travel the planes until she found Sorin and others who would help bind the Eldrazi once again. She alone among her people could do this, and save Zendikar from the gathering darkness. For the first time her planeswalking skill would help her people.
I am of those that walk the Blind Eternities, Nissa said, throwing out the seed.
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Zendikar: In the Teeth of Akoum (magic:the gathering) Page 25