A Dragon of a Different Color

by Rachel Aaron

  “What?” Marci asked breathlessly.

  Raven opened his beak to answer, but Amelia beat him to it.

  “A Nameless End.”

  Marci whirled to face the little dragon. “You knew about this?”

  “’Course I knew,” Amelia said with a shrug. “Raven and I have been in cahoots for a long time. Plus, I’m the Planeswalker. This is kind of my area.”

  “How so?” Marci asked. “Are Nameless Ends something from the planes? What are they?”

  “Good questions,” Amelia said. “I have answers for both, but to understand them, we need to do a little Planeswalking 101.” The small dragon sat back on her haunches, making herself comfortable on the spellworked seal like she was about to tell a story.

  “There are uncountable millions of planes in our collective multiverse,” she began. “Some are enormous, like this one. Others are much, much smaller, but they’re all self-contained with their own magic, physics, and rules. Most of the time, these rules overlap with only a few minor differences. The rules of physics in particular appear to be universal. Alike or unalike, though, every plane is its own specific thing. A little universe all its own separated from everything else by a planar barrier, which is what I, as a Planeswalker, have to cut through whenever I want to walk between them.”

  “I know that much,” Marci said impatiently. “You’re describing the principle behind all portal magic. Even we’ve figured that out.”

  “Ah,” Amelia said, lifting her talon. “But what you modern mages haven’t rediscovered yet is that you can’t just cut the hole anywhere, because not all planes touch in all places. Imagine the multiverse as a room full of balloons. There are places where the balloons touch and places where the curves form gaps. Obviously, it’s not quite that simple since we’re working in multiple dimensions, but the basic idea of all Planeswalking is that you want to make your portal where you know your plane is touching the one you want to travel to. That’s why artifacts like the Kosmolabe are so incredibly cool. They show you where planes touch.”

  “And where to cut through,” Marci said, nodding. “But what does this have to do with Nameless Ends?”

  “I’m getting to that,” the dragon said. “Go back to that room full of balloons. Just as there are places where the surfaces touch, there are places where they don’t. Those bits of emptiness, the spaces between the curves of the planar barriers, are where the Nameless Ends reside. They’re what we in the business call ‘extraplanar beings,’ entities bigger and broader than anything we can imagine. They’re so huge and old and alien, no one I’ve spoken to on any plane knows where they came from, but they do all seem to be unique. They’ve all got their own goals and ways of doing things. Despite their diversity, though, all Nameless Ends perform the same function within the planar ecosystem: decomposition.”

  “Decomposition,” Marci repeated slowly. “You mean they eat dead planes?”

  “Dead, collapsing, on the brink.” Amelia shrugged. “You name it, they take care of it in their own way, and there are a lot. I’ve never heard an exact number I believed, but the common saying is that there are as many Nameless Ends as there are ways for things to end. Each one’s got its own flavor: violent explosions, infinite expansion to point of collapse, the heat death of the universe, classic annihilation—you get the idea. But even though they can be wildly different, every Nameless End is called such because it represents a way the world can, and will, end, which is why it’s cause for alarm that Algonquin has one.”

  Marci clapped a hand over her mouth. “The Leviathan,” she said. “That’s why no one knew where it came from, because it’s not from our world at all. It’s a Nameless End!” When Raven nodded, she leaned forward eagerly. “Do you know what kind of end it is?”

  “Nope,” he said. “And seeing how there’s no way to know until it starts actually ending things, I don’t want to. I just want it gone.”

  Marci was about to ask how to do that when Myron spoke over her.

  “If the Leviathan is what you claim, why aren’t we already dead?” he asked. “That monster’s been at her side since the night magic returned. Possibly earlier, if your story about Algonquin calling for help is true. That’s a long time for something called a ‘Nameless End’ to hang around and not end things, especially given the way Algonquin treats it. She acts like it’s her pet, which is not how I’d expect a spirit to treat a supposed end of everything. For that matter, why would she call out to a monster like that in the first place? Whatever she’s guilty of, no one can doubt Algonquin’s dedication to her lakes. Presumably, a Nameless End would destroy those as well. Why would she risk that?”

  He had a point there. “How did she even get a Nameless End?” Marci asked. “If he’s an extraplanar being, wouldn’t him being here inside our plane end the world?”

  “It would,” Amelia said. “If he were really inside. Thankfully, he’s not. At least not yet.” She pointed down at the shadow of the Leviathan staining the scrying circle. “I’m sure you’ve noticed how he always seems to be made of shadows. That’s because what we know as the Leviathan in this world is just a projection. A broadcast of a bit of his magic into our plane from the outside. If he were actually here, our world would already be toast, and we wouldn’t be having this conversation. But the trick with Nameless Ends is that they only ‘clean up’ planes that are already breaking apart. Before that point, the planar barrier keeps them out, like how a healthy cell wall keeps out viruses. This is a strong, stable plane. Normally, a Nameless End wouldn’t be able to slide so much as a tentacle through our barrier. With enough force, though, anything’s possible, and I’m afraid we had a breach.”

  She tapped her claws on the crack in the stone seal, and Marci cursed. “The meteor. That’s what was inside it, the alien magic Shiro was talking about. It was the Leviathan.”

  “It was,” Raven confirmed. “Algonquin called out to it when the magic vanished. What she promised, I don’t know, but a thousand years later, the Leviathan came to collect, striking our planet hard enough to crack the Merlins’ seal and wake the spirits again.”

  “That must be why none of the space agencies saw the meteor coming,” Marci said. “It didn’t come from space. It came from outside our plane.”

  “It also explains the mystery of how a physical space rock was capable of cracking the Merlins’ spell,” Myron admitted, despite clearly not wanting to. “It wasn’t a rock at all.”

  “It was a piece of a Nameless End,” Raven finished. “Called here by Algonquin, and now we’re all in hot water.”

  “But why now?” Myron pressed. “If it was in the meteor—”

  “It was,” Raven said.

  “Then why didn’t it kill us all sixty years ago?” the mage finished. “And why did it only send a piece? If this thing’s so huge, why didn’t it blast its way in?”

  “Because it can’t,” Amelia said. “I just told you, Nameless Ends only devour collapsed planes, and our plane isn’t in collapse. The only reason it was able to get anything through the planar barrier at all was because someone let it in. Probably Algonquin, given the whole ‘crying out in desperation’ story. Or maybe it just waited until it found a gap. Those do occur naturally sometimes. Either way, this plane is healthy enough that it was only able to get a tiny sliver of itself inside. If it wants to bring in the rest, someone on the inside has to help. Someone powerful, with enough magical weight to drag the rest of that thing’s body through the planar wall. Someone like Algonquin.”

  “That’s why it woke her up,” Raven said, “and why it’s served her ever since. The Leviathan needs Algonquin to pull it the rest of the way inside so it can destroy our world.”

  “But why would she do that?” Marci asked. “Destroying the world would mean destroying her lakes as well. Even Algonquin’s not that crazy.”

  “Not yet,” Raven said. “But that’s only because she still hopes to turn things around. So long as there’s no Merlin to break this seal, she st
ill has a chance of clamping the magical flow down to a level that stops the rise of the Mortal Spirits while leaving the rest of us intact. That’s her entire end goal. In her mind, the full return of magic is the end of the world. If that happens, she will be that crazy, and we’ll all be toast.”

  Marci blew out a long breath. “I see what you mean. But if our survival depends on keeping Algonquin’s hopes up, we’ve got a problem, because she’s already lost. I’m the Merlin, not Myron.”

  “You could repair the seal,” Myron suggested. “That would stop her.”

  “I’m not going to screw over all of humanity, the Mortal Spirits, and Amelia’s shot at integrating dragons into our plane because Algonquin’s holding a gun to our heads,” Marci said angrily. “That’s extortion. We’ll just have to find another way to beat it.”

  “I don’t think you can beat a Nameless End,” Raven said. “But that’s fine, because if we play our cards right, we won’t have to.”

  Amelia chuckled. “The trickster at work.”

  “I have a reputation to live up to,” Raven said, winking at her before turning back to Marci and, surprisingly, Myron. “Here’s my plan. As of right now, Algonquin has no idea what’s happened in the Heart of the World. She still thinks that you’re dead”—he nodded at Marci—“and that you screwed up.” He nodded at Myron. “She doesn’t know yet that anyone’s become a Merlin, and so long as she stays ignorant, we have a shot at fixing this.”

  “How is she not going to know?” Marci asked, pointing at the empty city on the other side of the scrying circle. “She’s about to be in an all-out war with the spirit of the DFZ. I don’t care what evacuation orders she gave—you can’t empty a city of nine million in a few hours. There are still people down there, and I’m the Merlin. Dealing with rampaging spirits is my job. I have to do something. What, exactly, I have no idea, but the moment I do it, I’m pretty sure Algonquin’s going to know I’m not dead.”

  “Not if she doesn’t see you,” Raven said. “It’s a big city, and she’s a huge spirit, but you’re human sized. If we sneak you in, you can deal with the DFZ. Bind her, drain her, knock her out, whatever. Just get her back under control. Once she’s locked down, Myron can come in and claim the credit.”

  “Excuse me?” Myron said.

  “Why him?” Marci said at the same time.

  “Because he’s the one Algonquin sent,” Raven explained patiently. “Remember, Algonquin’s a spirit of the land. She’s heard stories and seen the pillar, but she’s never actually been inside the Heart of the World. If the DFZ goes quiet and then Myron walks out cocky as ever with a good story about how he temporarily lost control of his spirit, but everything’s good now, Algonquin has no reason not to believe him. That’s a totally plausible story to her, and even better, it’s the one she wants to hear. She wants to believe that she’s won, that she’s successfully hacked the system. Once we’ve got her buying that, all Myron has to do is promise to knock the magic levels back down as ordered, but only if she boots the Leviathan first.”

  Myron looked horrified. “You want me to scam Algonquin?”

  “You already scammed her,” Raven said. “You can’t fool me. I’ve worked with you for decades. I know you came in here intending to shut the magic off completely, and I’m equally certain you didn’t tell Algonquin that while you were ripping Emily to pieces. You’ve already played her. Now we’re just taking things a step further.”

  “Misleading Algonquin about my true intentions is a far cry from pretending to be Merlin to her face,” Myron said, his eyes wide and fearful. “How am I supposed to explain my knowledge of the Leviathan?”

  Raven shrugged. “Just say I told you. She already thinks the worst of me. What’s a bit more?”

  “Especially since it’s the truth,” Marci said. “But there’s a critical flaw in your plan. If we’re going to have any chance of making Algonquin believe Myron’s her Merlin, he’s going to have to show up with his Mortal Spirit, and I just don’t see that happening right now.”

  Myron whirled on her. “You just told me not ten minutes ago that you wanted me to rebind the DFZ legitimately!” he cried. “That was your entire requirement for building a failsafe into the seal. Now you’re saying I can’t do it? Make up your mind!”

  “It is made up!” Marci yelled back. “You can do it, just not like this.”

  She threw out her hands at the scrying circle, where the city was groaning like a chained animal. “When I was talking before, I assumed we’d be waiting until she calmed down and then go in slowly, building trust back from the ground up, but this situation is lunacy. She’s beating against Algonquin with everything she has. If you go down there now, assuming we can even find a way to get you down there, seeing how we’re both ghosts, I’m pretty sure she’s going to eat you.”

  “Then you’d better figure out a way to change her mind,” Raven said. “Because Algonquin’s already losing her control over the situation. Even with the Leviathan helping pump in water to hold her down, it’s only a matter of time before the DFZ breaks free. When that happens, it’ll be all-out war between Algonquin and the world’s only full Mortal Spirit, and considering the size difference, I think we all know how that’s going to end.”

  “Don’t write Algonquin off so easily,” Ghost warned. “She may be much smaller, but she’s experienced, determined, and desperate. The DFZ is maddened, young, and lacking a human anchor. If she throws her power around without thought or a mage to feed power into her, she will very quickly run out, and then Algonquin will have the upper hand.”

  “You can’t kill a Mortal Spirit,” Marci reminded him.

  “But you can destroy her domain,” Ghost replied, looking down at the familiar buildings. “The DFZ is the soul of a city. Algonquin can’t remove that from people’s minds, but she can easily destroy Detroit again. It won’t kill the DFZ’s spirit, but a setback like that will probably keep her from rising again for decades.”

  “And meanwhile, the entire city will be destroyed,” Marci said grimly. “Again.”

  She scowled down at the scrying circle for a long moment, and then her head shot up. “Is there a reason we couldn’t just fake the whole thing? What if Ghost pretended to be Myron’s Mortal Spirit. Would that work?”

  The blast of cold in her mind made the Empty Wind’s opinion of that plan very clear, but Raven’s answer was the one that made her slump.

  “No,” he said. “Even if the Empty Wind could pull off his part, Algonquin would never believe it, because Myron doesn’t look like a Merlin.”

  “Merlins look different?” she asked, staring down at her body, which, other than the ghostly transparency, looked normal enough to her. “How?”

  “Lots of ways,” Raven assured her. “Humans generally can’t tell because you don’t see things like we do, but there’s not a spirit born who can’t tell a Merlin on sight. No. If we’re going to sell Myron as Merlin, then he’s going to have to actually be a Merlin, and since the DFZ is one of only two Mortal Spirits in existence right now, he’d better brush up on his groveling.”

  Marci didn’t think any amount of groveling would make up for what Myron had done, but the other thing Raven said gave her an idea. “What about you?” she asked, looking the bird up and down. “You said you’re half Mortal Spirit.”

  “And the last one in the world Algonquin would trust,” Raven said, shaking his head. “If Myron showed up with me as his Mortal Spirit, Algonquin wouldn’t believe a word he said, which defeats the entire purpose. We need her to believe she’s won. It’s the only way she’ll feel confident enough to give up her trump card.”

  “Assuming she hasn’t decided to destroy everything already,” Myron said bitterly. “She has a very low opinion of the world.”

  “I don’t think that’s it,” Marci said thoughtfully. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m sure Algonquin hates all of our guts individually and by name, but no one who’s fought as hard, long, and creatively as she has is going to gi
ve up before the bitter end. So long as there’s even the faintest hope of turning this around, I don’t think she’ll sell out to the Leviathan. That buys us time.”

  “Let’s just hope it’s enough,” Raven said, folding his wings tight against his body. “Right, let’s do this. First things first, we need to get the two of you back to the physical side of things. Myron will be easy. We just have to find where Algonquin’s stashed his carcass and take it back. Your return, Marci, will be slightly more involved, but I’m pretty sure I’ve covered all the angles, so if you’re ready…”

  He trailed off, but Marci was just staring at him, too afraid to speak. “I—” She stopped, swallowing against the terrible tightness in her chest. “You’re saying you can take me back? As in bring me back to life?”

  “Absolutely,” he said, giving her a wink. “Why do you think Amelia begged for my help? Ravens are famous for bringing back the souls of the dead.”

  After having her hopes dashed so hard, Marci couldn’t bring herself to believe it. And yet… “Really?”

  “Really,” he promised. “I actually made up that part of my legend myself. It seemed like it would be useful, and it has been. I’m glad it stuck.”

  “So you can take me back,” Marci said again. “Actually back to life?”

  “Yes,” he said, turning to Amelia. “Is she always this suspicious?”

  “She’s been through a lot recently,” the dragon said. “And you are a trickster.”

  “Not about this sort of thing,” Raven snapped. “I’m not cruel.” He turned back to Marci. “Yes, Miss Novalli, I am sincerely offering to bring you back to the world of the living. That said, since I’m not your bound spirit or even a true Mortal one, I should warn you the journey will be—”