This is an ongoing project of mine on Fanfiction. It's an action-adventure piece set on Theros. Dig in!
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PATH OF ASCENSION
by Ulquiorra9000
Chapter 1
"Jaina, you're next!"
Twenty-year-old Jaina, a warrior-in-training, grinned as she tossed her hair and strode toward her burly combat instructor. Well, one of several. Different teachers here instructed students on swordplay, archery, and combat-oriented magic. Jaina wasn't really the mage type, though. She preferred to get in the thick of things and let the fur fly. Some admired her for it, and others merely shook their heads.
This instructor, Mr. Loxan, had already bested several of his senior students here in the academy's courtyard. The wide, square courtyard was perfect for dueling and drilling, and Jaina felt alive as the warm Theros sun beat down on her. She smelled a cool ocean breeze wash over her; living in the coastal city Meletis meant that everything smelled vaguely like saltwater.
The previous student, covered in bruises and shallow cuts, staggered to his feet, picked up his scimitar in dejection, and slouched off. "Get him for me, will you?" he muttered to Jaina as the two trainees passed each other.
"Easy," Jaina said confidently.
"So, I hope at least you'll impress me, Jaina," taunted Mr. Loxan as he expertly twirled his scimitar, a well-crafted weapon imported from the distant city of Akros. He often did this, using psychological warfare to both intimidate his students and drive them to excel.
Jaina heard her fellow students chanting her name, eager to see her best the notoriously tough Mr. Loxan. The girl felt her grin broaden as she took up her position fifteen feet in front of Mr. Loxan, then she made a respectful bow. Today's the day I beat him and become a certified warrior of the Reverent Army!
At least Jaina looked capable of beating Mr. Loxan. Unlike the pampered daughters of rich philosophers and merchants, her body had little body fat, but enough well-toned muscle to see her through any battle. Her lightly tanned skin matched her wavy brown hair and her green eyes had a mischievous gleam. Of course, she wasn't a total amazon; Jaina liked to think that she still had a womanly figure, enough to attract a suitor or two.
Still, she wasn't here to seduce her teacher. She was here to crush him!
"May Heliod's strength be with you," Mr. Loxan intoned, raising his chin.
"You, too," Jaina ground out as she settled into battle mode. The sun god, Heliod, was everything here in Meletis... and Jaina was determined to finally gain his favor.
Mr. Loxan snapped his scimitar into the ready position, his body tensed like an alert snake. "Begin!"
At once, without any hesitation, Jaina unsheathed her two steel short swords and leaped into action. With a cry, she spun like a dervish and filled the air with blinding steel. Although Jaina let loose with a war cry, Mr. Loxan was silent as he parried Jaina's blows, using only minimal movements.
"Fierce, but predictable," the instructor admonished his student. He ducked Jaina's next few blows and rammed the hilt into Jaina's side, forcing her to stagger back and wince at the pain.
For a split second, Jaina reassessed her foe. Then she tried another angle and occupied Mr. Loxan's attention with a short thrust aimed at his head. Just as quickly, Jaina followed up with a slash aimed at Mr. Loxan's hip.
"Better!" Mr. Loxan cried. He twisted away from Jaina's blow like a dancer, forcing his younger opponent to overextend. His scimitar swatted Jaina's other blade aside and with a mighty kick of his sandaled foot, he sent her sprawling onto her back.
Although Jaina kept a tight grip on her weapons, she could do little else as she crashed onto the grass. Dull but heavy pain throbbed in her chest where Mr. Loxan had kicked her and she dimly heard the students shouting at her to get up.
Jaina didn't waste any more time. She saw Mr. Loxan approaching her and knew that he'd show her no mercy if she failed to defend herself. So, she rolled away and swept a leg out to destabilize her opponent. It half-worked; Jaina's foot solidly connected with Mr. Loxan's right knee and forced him back, but it wasn't enough to stop him from hurling his scimitar at her.
Instead of getting to her feet, Jaina rolled again and let the thrown sword sink five inches into the soft, grassy dirt. Already, she saw Mr. Loxan approaching her and she bolted to her feet, swords slashing through the air.
"Oooooh!" The students cried out as Jaina's right sword sliced into Mr. Loxan's bulging bicep. Blood oozed from the wound and the instructor stumbled back a step, shocked.
Jaina's grin returned as she kept up the pressure. She filled the air with her dual blades as Mr. Loxan ducked, bobbed, and weaved to evade her blows. Again, however, Jaina's steel found its mark: her left sword grazed Mr. Loxan's right hip and cut through fabric and skin alike. Jaina felt her muscles burn and her heart hammered in her chest, but she didn't let that slow her down. At least, not yet.
"Enough!" Mr. Loxan thrust out his arms and a blinding flare of white mana forced Jaina to shut her eyes. Jaina knew what was going on: Mr. Loxan was calling upon his battle magic, gifted to him by Heliod himself. Few men in Meletis had mastered battle magic to the same extent as him, and if he was using it like this, Jaina's chances of winning were shrinking fast.
She had to end this now.
Jaina circled Mr. Loxan like a predator cornering its prey and she kept up her assault. This time, her blades never found their mark. Mr. Loxan's white mana repelled them like a rubbery shield, then a pulse of divine mana swept Jaina away like a blast of wind.
Already, Jaina was scrambling to her feet, but in that short time, Mr. Loxan had recovered his scimitar and took his turn to attack. Jaina clenched her teeth but didn't make a sound as Mr. Loxan's blades scored repeated blows.
Some argued that the best defense was a good offense, and Jaina was always willing to try that. She narrowly slipped past another of Mr. Loxan's blows and lunged at his neck with both blades. He'd certainly have to call off his assault to block that!
No luck. Mr. Loxan's scimitar, quick as lightning, tangled itself in Jaina's swords and wrenched them out of her grip. Then, just as quickly, Mr. Loxan positioned his blade edge right on Jaina's throat. The message was clear: you die.
"Risky. Far too risky." Mr. Loxan shook his head as he held his scimitar's cutting edge against Jaina's exposed neck. "I thought you had gotten over this habit, Jaina."
Jaina swallowed tightly and could have sworn that she felt the scimitar cut, ever so slightly, into her neck. "Against most opponents, I would have forced them back on the defensive. Then I could strike a sudden blow and end it."
"But I'm no ordinary opponent," Mr. Loxan reminded her as he finally lowered his scimitar, his eyes hard. "You always have to assume that your opponent is more powerful than you'd like. If you don't respect you opponent, you will never defeat him. Am I clear?"
"Yes," Jaina said grudgingly. The battle was over, but her heart was still pounding in her chest and she was sweating all over. She'd definitely visit the baths after this lesson.
"We will see," Mr. Loxan said. Then he raised his voice and called out, "Who is next?"
*o*o*o*o*
After a much-desired bath later that afternoon, Jaina set out to visit her favorite haunt: the Meletis agora, or town square. She had grown up in a forest village before moving here at age sixteen, and as a result, city life never failed to amaze her. She wondered what her faraway parents would think of all this.
Towering buildings of white stone rose like blocky trees, supported by soaring arches and sturdy columns. Temples to the gods (mostly Heliod and Thassa) were found in every street, with many worshipers climbing the wide stairways to enter the divine chambers within. Human, triton, and centaur merchants peddled their goods at the bazaar, from jewelry to fresh produce to exotic trade goods. City guards patrolled the wide streets in twos and threes, imposing in their gold armor and their crested helmets.
Not surprisingly, there was another lively public debate raging and Jaina happily wandered over to listen. She rarely understood half of what the philosophers debated, but their rhetoric sounded very pretty to her ears. Often, the verbal sparring felt familiar to her; combat with words and ideas rather than swords and bows.
"But we are not alone!" announced a slender woman, gesticulating wildly behind her podium while the multi-species audience listened on. She was a fashionable woman, wearing a blue and white toga with gold hoop earrings and fancy leather sandals. "Otherworldly beings already walk among us, strangers in a strange land!"
"Clearly, the will of the gods, beings created in our own world," the other rhetor, a broad-chested man, retorted. "They test us with peculiar beings to challenge our beliefs, for us to either reaffirm our ways or be open to new possibilities. Would the gods desire stagnation and decay of the mind?" Many members of the audience murmured assent.
The woman frowned for a second, then regained her composure. "The gods allow us internal change, the rise and fall of governments and ever-shifting politics and military boundaries. But the beings that you suggest would produce an artificial humanity! Would we truly be us, or just sculptures that the gods whimsically create? You think they would meddle with us so?"
Some of the audience members looked convinced as the debate continued in the warm, sunlit agora. Jaina was soon lost by the man's and woman's refined arguments, but she got the gist of it and she was intrigued. She had never actually met any person or creature more exotic than centaur traders, but she'd heard stories of wild things out there... menacing cyclopes, ocean-dominating krakens with armored hides, and merciless minotaur gangs. Why wouldn't there be a stranger from another world? It wasn't impossible...was it?
Anyway, to business, Jaina reminded herself as she tore herself away from the debate. She climbed the wide stone steps into the nearest temple and felt herself relax as she entered the shady, torch-lit interior. This wasn't her first time in a temple; as a trainee warrior of the Reverent Army, her every move was watched by Heliod, the great God of the Sun. She was only one of thousands whom Heliod observed, but she wanted to give him every reason to take interest in her.
Jaina had the temple to herself, so she knelt before a torch that gave off pure white flames. She closed her eyes, dipped her head, and clasped her knees to steady herself for what was to come. "Heliod, great master of the sun and justice, speak to me."
The effect was immediate; Jaina felt like she had become a mere ghost, floating out of her kneeling body and drifting to Nyx itself. She was a mere leaf in the wind as the multi-colored, star-strewn sky of Nyx surrounded her like an ocean. Great and fearsome beings and animals rose like titans around her, locked in frozen battles with snarls on their faces.
"Jaina." Heliod's booming but kind voice shuddered the very air and Jaina's spirit trembled with the force of it. "It has not been long since our last conversation, has it?"
Jaina found her voice. "No, it hasn't. But I just had to see you."
Of course, Jaina wasn't truly having a one-on-one conversation with Heliod himself; gods like him could split their consciousness across hundreds of locations at once, allowing them to talk with multiple followers. Heliod was the only god whom Jaina ever spoke to; she had no interest in Thassa's cryptic ocean talk, and Purphoros' fierce temper frightened her. And she knew better than to even think about reaching out to Erebos, the bitter god of death and shadows.
Heliod chuckled, a sound like an avalanche. "The persistence of mortals frustrates some of my kin, but I will listen. What troubles you, child?"
Jaina was sure that Heliod already knew, but he'd want to hear it from her. So she took a deep breath of Nyx air and confessed. "I took another sparring test today, but I failed, as did my classmates. Why can't I succeed, great one? Why has my strength failed me?"
Slowly, imperceptibly, Heliod's visage crept into Jaina's vision from the infinite darkness of Nyx. His bearded face, complete with his antlers and bright eyes, loomed over Jaina like a wall before an ant. "You are still young, Jaina. Time will reveal your inner strength."
"But I have tried!" Jaina cried desperately. "So many times, but I still failed! Heroes younger than me have accomplished more. I beseech you, great one, for your favor, to help me find my destiny. I am your devoted servant."
Heliod's great visage showed no expression but Jaina could somehow sense his displeasure. "We have had this discussion before," he boomed. "Jaina, I cannot grant you my favor out of your desperation and impatience. My answer has not changed."
"Great one, I -" Jaina started.
"Be at ease," Heliod assured her, more patient now. "I do not grant favor to those who cannot help themselves. I cannot find your strength for you; that's a path that only you walk. The path to ascension is traveled by your own two feet only."
Jaina opened her mouth to argue but she knew that it was a lost cause. She had hoped that this time, maybe, Heliod would decide to help her along her journey as a divine warrior. But it seemed not. "I can't convince you otherwise, can I?" she said dejectedly.
Heliod chuckled again. "You have a great gift of heart, Jaina, and should you nurture it, you will go far. Trust yourself. That is the first favor that you can gain: the one that you realize for yourself."
This wasn't entirely what Jaina wanted to hear, but darn it, Heliod had a point. Fine. So be it. "I understand, great one, and depart enlightened," she said, speaking the traditional farewell.
"And so you return to the sun's light," Heliod responded with the usual good-bye, and Jaina felt herself become solid, kneeling in the cool, torch-lit temple.
Jaina pounded the stone floor with a fist, teeth clenched. She had hit a wall; she trained hard every day and tried to be patient, but for what? She had made little progress in the last few months and she seemed no closer to any real adventure. Theros was a world for heroes and adventurers, and unless Jaina found a way to get herself there quickly...
Something came to mind. Jaina's old grin returned as she rose and walked out of the temple and back to the sunlit agora. Tomorrow, she'd ask the academy headmaster for a special mission, and one way or another, she'd get it.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
EDH/Commander
UBR Sedris RG Omnath, Locus of Rage UB The Scarab God RUG Maelstrom Wanderer WU Dragonlord Ojutai
While I don't know enough Theros fluff to make a 100% accurate critique, I will say that it was a surprisenly good read. It's something that tells some good bits of Theros that make sense even if the reader didn't have prior knowledge of it.
Just wish I had more to say really.
Btw, would you mind reading my bit of story when you can?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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by Ulquiorra9000
Chapter 1
"Jaina, you're next!"
Twenty-year-old Jaina, a warrior-in-training, grinned as she tossed her hair and strode toward her burly combat instructor. Well, one of several. Different teachers here instructed students on swordplay, archery, and combat-oriented magic. Jaina wasn't really the mage type, though. She preferred to get in the thick of things and let the fur fly. Some admired her for it, and others merely shook their heads.
This instructor, Mr. Loxan, had already bested several of his senior students here in the academy's courtyard. The wide, square courtyard was perfect for dueling and drilling, and Jaina felt alive as the warm Theros sun beat down on her. She smelled a cool ocean breeze wash over her; living in the coastal city Meletis meant that everything smelled vaguely like saltwater.
The previous student, covered in bruises and shallow cuts, staggered to his feet, picked up his scimitar in dejection, and slouched off. "Get him for me, will you?" he muttered to Jaina as the two trainees passed each other.
"Easy," Jaina said confidently.
"So, I hope at least you'll impress me, Jaina," taunted Mr. Loxan as he expertly twirled his scimitar, a well-crafted weapon imported from the distant city of Akros. He often did this, using psychological warfare to both intimidate his students and drive them to excel.
Jaina heard her fellow students chanting her name, eager to see her best the notoriously tough Mr. Loxan. The girl felt her grin broaden as she took up her position fifteen feet in front of Mr. Loxan, then she made a respectful bow. Today's the day I beat him and become a certified warrior of the Reverent Army!
At least Jaina looked capable of beating Mr. Loxan. Unlike the pampered daughters of rich philosophers and merchants, her body had little body fat, but enough well-toned muscle to see her through any battle. Her lightly tanned skin matched her wavy brown hair and her green eyes had a mischievous gleam. Of course, she wasn't a total amazon; Jaina liked to think that she still had a womanly figure, enough to attract a suitor or two.
Still, she wasn't here to seduce her teacher. She was here to crush him!
"May Heliod's strength be with you," Mr. Loxan intoned, raising his chin.
"You, too," Jaina ground out as she settled into battle mode. The sun god, Heliod, was everything here in Meletis... and Jaina was determined to finally gain his favor.
Mr. Loxan snapped his scimitar into the ready position, his body tensed like an alert snake. "Begin!"
At once, without any hesitation, Jaina unsheathed her two steel short swords and leaped into action. With a cry, she spun like a dervish and filled the air with blinding steel. Although Jaina let loose with a war cry, Mr. Loxan was silent as he parried Jaina's blows, using only minimal movements.
"Fierce, but predictable," the instructor admonished his student. He ducked Jaina's next few blows and rammed the hilt into Jaina's side, forcing her to stagger back and wince at the pain.
For a split second, Jaina reassessed her foe. Then she tried another angle and occupied Mr. Loxan's attention with a short thrust aimed at his head. Just as quickly, Jaina followed up with a slash aimed at Mr. Loxan's hip.
"Better!" Mr. Loxan cried. He twisted away from Jaina's blow like a dancer, forcing his younger opponent to overextend. His scimitar swatted Jaina's other blade aside and with a mighty kick of his sandaled foot, he sent her sprawling onto her back.
Although Jaina kept a tight grip on her weapons, she could do little else as she crashed onto the grass. Dull but heavy pain throbbed in her chest where Mr. Loxan had kicked her and she dimly heard the students shouting at her to get up.
Jaina didn't waste any more time. She saw Mr. Loxan approaching her and knew that he'd show her no mercy if she failed to defend herself. So, she rolled away and swept a leg out to destabilize her opponent. It half-worked; Jaina's foot solidly connected with Mr. Loxan's right knee and forced him back, but it wasn't enough to stop him from hurling his scimitar at her.
Instead of getting to her feet, Jaina rolled again and let the thrown sword sink five inches into the soft, grassy dirt. Already, she saw Mr. Loxan approaching her and she bolted to her feet, swords slashing through the air.
"Oooooh!" The students cried out as Jaina's right sword sliced into Mr. Loxan's bulging bicep. Blood oozed from the wound and the instructor stumbled back a step, shocked.
Jaina's grin returned as she kept up the pressure. She filled the air with her dual blades as Mr. Loxan ducked, bobbed, and weaved to evade her blows. Again, however, Jaina's steel found its mark: her left sword grazed Mr. Loxan's right hip and cut through fabric and skin alike. Jaina felt her muscles burn and her heart hammered in her chest, but she didn't let that slow her down. At least, not yet.
"Enough!" Mr. Loxan thrust out his arms and a blinding flare of white mana forced Jaina to shut her eyes. Jaina knew what was going on: Mr. Loxan was calling upon his battle magic, gifted to him by Heliod himself. Few men in Meletis had mastered battle magic to the same extent as him, and if he was using it like this, Jaina's chances of winning were shrinking fast.
She had to end this now.
Jaina circled Mr. Loxan like a predator cornering its prey and she kept up her assault. This time, her blades never found their mark. Mr. Loxan's white mana repelled them like a rubbery shield, then a pulse of divine mana swept Jaina away like a blast of wind.
Already, Jaina was scrambling to her feet, but in that short time, Mr. Loxan had recovered his scimitar and took his turn to attack. Jaina clenched her teeth but didn't make a sound as Mr. Loxan's blades scored repeated blows.
Some argued that the best defense was a good offense, and Jaina was always willing to try that. She narrowly slipped past another of Mr. Loxan's blows and lunged at his neck with both blades. He'd certainly have to call off his assault to block that!
No luck. Mr. Loxan's scimitar, quick as lightning, tangled itself in Jaina's swords and wrenched them out of her grip. Then, just as quickly, Mr. Loxan positioned his blade edge right on Jaina's throat. The message was clear: you die.
"Risky. Far too risky." Mr. Loxan shook his head as he held his scimitar's cutting edge against Jaina's exposed neck. "I thought you had gotten over this habit, Jaina."
Jaina swallowed tightly and could have sworn that she felt the scimitar cut, ever so slightly, into her neck. "Against most opponents, I would have forced them back on the defensive. Then I could strike a sudden blow and end it."
"But I'm no ordinary opponent," Mr. Loxan reminded her as he finally lowered his scimitar, his eyes hard. "You always have to assume that your opponent is more powerful than you'd like. If you don't respect you opponent, you will never defeat him. Am I clear?"
"Yes," Jaina said grudgingly. The battle was over, but her heart was still pounding in her chest and she was sweating all over. She'd definitely visit the baths after this lesson.
"We will see," Mr. Loxan said. Then he raised his voice and called out, "Who is next?"
*o*o*o*o*
After a much-desired bath later that afternoon, Jaina set out to visit her favorite haunt: the Meletis agora, or town square. She had grown up in a forest village before moving here at age sixteen, and as a result, city life never failed to amaze her. She wondered what her faraway parents would think of all this.
Towering buildings of white stone rose like blocky trees, supported by soaring arches and sturdy columns. Temples to the gods (mostly Heliod and Thassa) were found in every street, with many worshipers climbing the wide stairways to enter the divine chambers within. Human, triton, and centaur merchants peddled their goods at the bazaar, from jewelry to fresh produce to exotic trade goods. City guards patrolled the wide streets in twos and threes, imposing in their gold armor and their crested helmets.
Not surprisingly, there was another lively public debate raging and Jaina happily wandered over to listen. She rarely understood half of what the philosophers debated, but their rhetoric sounded very pretty to her ears. Often, the verbal sparring felt familiar to her; combat with words and ideas rather than swords and bows.
"But we are not alone!" announced a slender woman, gesticulating wildly behind her podium while the multi-species audience listened on. She was a fashionable woman, wearing a blue and white toga with gold hoop earrings and fancy leather sandals. "Otherworldly beings already walk among us, strangers in a strange land!"
"Clearly, the will of the gods, beings created in our own world," the other rhetor, a broad-chested man, retorted. "They test us with peculiar beings to challenge our beliefs, for us to either reaffirm our ways or be open to new possibilities. Would the gods desire stagnation and decay of the mind?" Many members of the audience murmured assent.
The woman frowned for a second, then regained her composure. "The gods allow us internal change, the rise and fall of governments and ever-shifting politics and military boundaries. But the beings that you suggest would produce an artificial humanity! Would we truly be us, or just sculptures that the gods whimsically create? You think they would meddle with us so?"
Some of the audience members looked convinced as the debate continued in the warm, sunlit agora. Jaina was soon lost by the man's and woman's refined arguments, but she got the gist of it and she was intrigued. She had never actually met any person or creature more exotic than centaur traders, but she'd heard stories of wild things out there... menacing cyclopes, ocean-dominating krakens with armored hides, and merciless minotaur gangs. Why wouldn't there be a stranger from another world? It wasn't impossible...was it?
Anyway, to business, Jaina reminded herself as she tore herself away from the debate. She climbed the wide stone steps into the nearest temple and felt herself relax as she entered the shady, torch-lit interior. This wasn't her first time in a temple; as a trainee warrior of the Reverent Army, her every move was watched by Heliod, the great God of the Sun. She was only one of thousands whom Heliod observed, but she wanted to give him every reason to take interest in her.
Jaina had the temple to herself, so she knelt before a torch that gave off pure white flames. She closed her eyes, dipped her head, and clasped her knees to steady herself for what was to come. "Heliod, great master of the sun and justice, speak to me."
The effect was immediate; Jaina felt like she had become a mere ghost, floating out of her kneeling body and drifting to Nyx itself. She was a mere leaf in the wind as the multi-colored, star-strewn sky of Nyx surrounded her like an ocean. Great and fearsome beings and animals rose like titans around her, locked in frozen battles with snarls on their faces.
"Jaina." Heliod's booming but kind voice shuddered the very air and Jaina's spirit trembled with the force of it. "It has not been long since our last conversation, has it?"
Jaina found her voice. "No, it hasn't. But I just had to see you."
Of course, Jaina wasn't truly having a one-on-one conversation with Heliod himself; gods like him could split their consciousness across hundreds of locations at once, allowing them to talk with multiple followers. Heliod was the only god whom Jaina ever spoke to; she had no interest in Thassa's cryptic ocean talk, and Purphoros' fierce temper frightened her. And she knew better than to even think about reaching out to Erebos, the bitter god of death and shadows.
Heliod chuckled, a sound like an avalanche. "The persistence of mortals frustrates some of my kin, but I will listen. What troubles you, child?"
Jaina was sure that Heliod already knew, but he'd want to hear it from her. So she took a deep breath of Nyx air and confessed. "I took another sparring test today, but I failed, as did my classmates. Why can't I succeed, great one? Why has my strength failed me?"
Slowly, imperceptibly, Heliod's visage crept into Jaina's vision from the infinite darkness of Nyx. His bearded face, complete with his antlers and bright eyes, loomed over Jaina like a wall before an ant. "You are still young, Jaina. Time will reveal your inner strength."
"But I have tried!" Jaina cried desperately. "So many times, but I still failed! Heroes younger than me have accomplished more. I beseech you, great one, for your favor, to help me find my destiny. I am your devoted servant."
Heliod's great visage showed no expression but Jaina could somehow sense his displeasure. "We have had this discussion before," he boomed. "Jaina, I cannot grant you my favor out of your desperation and impatience. My answer has not changed."
"Great one, I -" Jaina started.
"Be at ease," Heliod assured her, more patient now. "I do not grant favor to those who cannot help themselves. I cannot find your strength for you; that's a path that only you walk. The path to ascension is traveled by your own two feet only."
Jaina opened her mouth to argue but she knew that it was a lost cause. She had hoped that this time, maybe, Heliod would decide to help her along her journey as a divine warrior. But it seemed not. "I can't convince you otherwise, can I?" she said dejectedly.
Heliod chuckled again. "You have a great gift of heart, Jaina, and should you nurture it, you will go far. Trust yourself. That is the first favor that you can gain: the one that you realize for yourself."
This wasn't entirely what Jaina wanted to hear, but darn it, Heliod had a point. Fine. So be it. "I understand, great one, and depart enlightened," she said, speaking the traditional farewell.
"And so you return to the sun's light," Heliod responded with the usual good-bye, and Jaina felt herself become solid, kneeling in the cool, torch-lit temple.
Jaina pounded the stone floor with a fist, teeth clenched. She had hit a wall; she trained hard every day and tried to be patient, but for what? She had made little progress in the last few months and she seemed no closer to any real adventure. Theros was a world for heroes and adventurers, and unless Jaina found a way to get herself there quickly...
Something came to mind. Jaina's old grin returned as she rose and walked out of the temple and back to the sunlit agora. Tomorrow, she'd ask the academy headmaster for a special mission, and one way or another, she'd get it.
UBR Sedris
RG Omnath, Locus of Rage
UB The Scarab God
RUG Maelstrom Wanderer
WU Dragonlord Ojutai
While I don't know enough Theros fluff to make a 100% accurate critique, I will say that it was a surprisenly good read. It's something that tells some good bits of Theros that make sense even if the reader didn't have prior knowledge of it.
Just wish I had more to say really.
Btw, would you mind reading my bit of story when you can?