To have a little fun, I'm writing speculative fiction on events that would connect Anguished Unmaking to the start of Eldritch Moon. This is not supposed to be predictive (and I included something to make sure that was deliberate), but it'd be awesome if I was
I originally meant to post this yesterday, but my internet crashed for April Fool's, and I spent the surprise time editing.
Enjoy.
******
Sorin never looked back to even see if his Avacyn had been been hit; he did not want to see her death. His head tried turned to glance, but Sorin jerked it back and took long drawn breaths, his mouth agape. He tried to force his focus on the need to make Nahiri suffer instead of the sizzling coming from behind him. He would break her for what she did to his Avacyn, his family, to his Innis—
There was a thud behind Sorin. He dropped his sword and stared at his left hand, realizing it was shaking. His breath shortened as he stared at his hand and pulled his other hand beside his left, but he dropped to his knees. To him, this felt like there would be no end to this moment.
“Sorin.” He heard Tamiyo call to him, but he stared at his hand. “You saved us. Thanks.”
“I saved my home,” Sorin mumbled, took a deep breath and repeated, “I saved my home; I am saving my home.”
Sorin stood up and looked to Jace and Tamiyo. Tamiyo still carried Jace on her shoulder as Jace struggled to keep himself on his feet after the blow from Avacyn’s fire had knocked them into this tunnel below the church. Sorin looked up to the top of the rising moon through the hole in the floor and the broken window that Avacyn made when she attacked above ground. Sorin walked away from where he stood and towards Tamiyo and Jace. He could tell they did not want to say much when they stepped back as Sorin walked towards them. The scene was out of sight when he came to a stop.
“Sorin,” Jace spoke as he looked around the room, “Is this tunnel supposed to be here?”
Sorin looked from the darkness on one end to the other end in darkness. As his eyes adjusted he noticed why Jace brought up the subject. The walls had traces running along them, like the cryptoglyphs Nahiri had left in Markov Manor. And all along the way pointing from Markov Manor to this church.
“No,” Sorin responded walking to the way and touching the cold, smooth stone, “Nahiri’s work is more extensive than I thought.”
Jace pulled Tamiyo’s journal from his coat but fumbled it from his hand. Tamiyo rushed her free hand and grabbed it before it hit the ground, but Jace groaned as she jerked him and almost dropped him trying to save her book.
“Nephalia,” Jace said as Tamiyo’s gaze shot from Jace to her journal. She flipped through the pages until she held up an open spread towards the middle.
Tamiyo explained, “Near Derleth Lagoon. There’s been an anomaly there like I haven’t seen anywhere else on Innistrad.” She stopped flipping through pages and held the book out so that Sorin could see.
“The tides around Innistrad have been rising, except here. They’re receding.” Tamiyo showed a sketch that covered both pages of the journal. The picture depicted a lagoon with a ring of rocks and a ship with the front half submerged behind the ring of rocks. What Sorin noticed as he looked closer is the lines that Tamiyo had drawn, which she had added to emphasize that the water level rose the further from the stone ring it went.
“When I first observed this place, this was entirely underwater with the water line here,” Tamiyo said pointing to the top of the cliff. Then as she eased Jace to a sitting position on the ground. She walked a few steps so Jace could see as well.
“You’ve been there?” Jace asked.
Tamiyo flipped the pages back towards the front of the book. She showed a picture of the lagoon, no valley, and there was one noticeable difference about the focus: it was the moon.
“When I discovered the Helvault was a shard of the moon, I set out to find as much as I could about the power it holds. And to do that, I mapped its trajectory and cycles. Once a month, this spot is as close as the moon comes to the surface of Innistrad than any other place or time. When I started following cryptolyths and followed them to this draining lagoon, I realized that there had to be something beyond Innistrad’s growing madness because it started corresponding with gravity events. Much like the ones at Markov Manor where I sent Derkin to find you…”
Sorin stared at the picture as Tamiyo’s trailing voice led her to looking at the ground. Sorin almost called for Avacyn to fly him there. Instead he clenched his fist. Jace spoke, “When was the last time you were there.”
“It’s been months. The angels started chasing me when I went out there last to follow up on the anomaly again. I haven’t been back since. ”
“We’re going there,” Sorin spoke as he stood, “Now…”
He paused, then added, “In a minute. I’ll catch up after I… finish here.”
Not waiting for a response, Sorin took a deep breath and turned so that he could collect her body. But Avacyn’s body wasn’t there.
“Did I vaporize her?” Sorin let slip. Before Jace or Tamiyo could respond around the corner, someone else made a comment.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if you had. You never bothered much with caution.” The voice belonged to Nahiri.
Sorin looked up and saw three women stared at them through the hole. Two were angels, and the center woman was Nahiri. They stood with there arms crossed as Sorin stepped forward. When Sorin and Nahiri’s eyes met, Sorin ran towards them, swept up his sword from the ground along the way, and leapt towards the hole. Nahiri raised her left hand and tightened her fingers. Sorin’s armor crushed in his body. He yelled as his body contorted to restrain his hands behind his back and legs bent so his feet were held behind his back.
“So after you found that I had decimated your family through lithomancy, your first thought was, ‘I will need more armor to fight the lithomancer’?” Nahiri spoke, tilting her head, as she held Sorin midair in front of her by his armor.
“What did you do to Avacyn?” Sorin seethed the question through his teeth. He was trying to concentrate on her blood, but Nahiri had not underestimated him. She was keeping him in enough pain so that he couldn’t concentrate onto her blood.
“I let your influence in her bloom,” Nahiri shrugged as the angels drew their weapons, “You always try to hide your hatred. Not to anyone’s surprise, that hatred transferred deep into Avacyn. And she spread it to most the other angels. Your spiteful seed sprouted on Zendikar… they’re paying the price as we speak. So when I came here, it was easy to find your reckless and sloppy handling all over Avacyn. Your hatred would have sprouted in her mind sooner or later. You would have eventually undone Innistrad; I just decided Innistrad shouldn’t continue to be dragged along an agonizingly slow pace. When that Zendikar finally reached the end of that road… Innistrad doesn’t deserve the same excruciating life span. But that’s just the bonus to you realizing your home was never capable of your protection.”
Sorin growled at Nahiri and tried to lunge forward before the armor snagged him in place. The angels pointed their weapons at Sorin. Nahiri waved her right hand, which the angels lowered their weapons. She then grasped her sword with her right hand and drew it without lowering her concentration on Sorin. Nahiri pointed the tip to Sorin’s nose and remarked, “Bruna, Gisela. There’s no need for that. I rather enjoy watching Sorin squirm as the hateful little leech. It’s nice to see him realizing just how useless he has been and continues to be.”
“Give me Avacyn’s body back!” Sorin sneered.
Below around the corner, Tamiyo held Jace’s mouth shut after jerking him out of sight when Sorin screamed. She had pulled him behind the corner and had not been spotted. Jace had helped with that. Tamiyo with her free hand wrote on in an empty space of the drawing “Plan?”
Jace shook his head. The crypoglyths blocked his ability to establish a connection with Innistrad’s angels. But Nahiri wasn’t an angel. So with a deep breath, he pulled Tamiyo’s hand off his mouth and started to concentrate on attempting to infiltrate Nahiri. But there was a problem, he couldn’t sense her. Even those angels he could sense despite not being able to enter their minds. How could she be invisible? But then he overheard Nahiri talking about Zendikar. He tried instead focusing on any stray thought of Zendikar. It was on Sorin’s mind, and… he found something. But it wasn’t a thought, it was a flood of anger and the word vengeance. It felt like it was spreading in the air like humidity. And now that Jace could sense it, his hairs stood as it felt like it could see him back. Jace scooted back, pressing into Tamiyo, whispering, “We need a plan, fast.”
“I didn’t take Avacyn, but even if I did, ” Nahiri responded, gesturing Sorin’s entanglement closer to her, “The answer would be no. I want my pain to be the las…”
Nahiri paused, she tilted her head back as though receiving a whisper, then she turned to Gisela, “Enough chatting. There’s others down there. Burn out the tunnel. Carefully. I still need the structure intact.”
Nahiri then flexed her fingers, which ripped a hole in the armor near front of Sorin’s heart. Nahiri thrust her sword into his chest. There was a screech as the sword hitting the side of the armor. Sorin gasped as Nahiri then with a downward swipe of her left hand sent Sorin slamming into the tunnel floor. He yelled and spat blood.
“Jace, now!” Tamiyo shouted as she hauled him as fast as she could towards Sorin. Gisela raised them above her head as they started glowing hot orange. Bruna eyed Tamiyo and Jace making their way towards Sorin and drew her own staff which started glowing white at the end.
Nahiri shouted over the charging spells, “A part of me wishes you could see what we’re going to do to Innistrad tonight, but I’m not stupid enough, so just use your imagination these last few seconds.”
Bruna shot a lightning ball at Tamiyo and Jace. Tamiyo swiped her free hand, and the lightning ball exploded before it could reach them. In the smoke, Jace and Tamiyo moved to Sorin lying in his blood and the tangle of his armor.
“Jace, have you ever been to Kamigawa!” Tamiyo shouted, and when Jace shook his head, she added, “Read my mind, make sure Sorin can see the place as well.”
Tamiyo then looked down to Sorin, “We can’t save Innistrad in this tunnel. Concentrate on the place Jace is showing and we’ll come back.”
Sorin moaned, but Gisela slashed her swords down, unleashing a stream of fire too big for either Tamiyo or Jace to redirect. Sorin stared at the ceiling. A thought slipped through that for the moment he needed to survive to save what was left.
“Now! Tamiyo shouted.
The heat flooded the tunnel followed by the bright light of the fire dimmed into a sun in a bright blue sky. Humidity replaced the fading the heat from Gisela’s spell. Sorin looked around and saw that they were on a castle floating over a waterfall.
“Innistrad,” Sorin whispered as Jace leaned away from him.
“We need healers!” Tamiyo shouted, standing leaving Jace next to Sorin, “Help! I need healers, now!”
Sorin bared his teeth. The shock was wearing off, the pain settled, and the hunger rose, like his chest was going to boil. And the loss that much blood… Sorin could smell Jace. Sorin wanted to drain Jace. But Sorin heard a little voice in his head say in response to the growing thirst pains, You need to rest while you’re treated.
“Why would you do such a thing?” Sorin thought to himself. He was huddled in the darkness, head tucked into his knees.
“You know why,” Sorin recognized the voice. It was Ugin. A blue light appeared in front of him. “I believe what haunts you is why is Nahiri growing to be quite like you.”
“That’s a lie!” Sorin responded. He tried to shoot to his feet but instead stumbled and landed on his hands a knees, “I tried to save Zendikar!”
“In your mind,” Ugin’s voice responded, “If you’re so helpful, then Nahiri wouldn’t be doing this, and Nissa would’ve listened to you rather than trigger this mess. Neither of them have any reason to listen to a thing you say.”
“That wasn’t my fault!” Sorin snapped.
“It never is.”
“Look dragon, I don’t have time for this. Either help me or leave my head.”
“Dragon?” Ugin’s voice twisted as the light dimmed, revealing a silhouette of a man. The man walked towards Sorin as he stood on his feet. Sorin then took a step back. The man’s voice changed to Sorin’s and as this Sorin looked into his eyes.
“Are you afraid of reaping what you planted in Nahiri?”
Sorin’s eyes opened and shot upright in his bed.
“You’re awake.” It was Tamiyo as she sat in a chair near his bed writing in a book that was not her journal. Sorin examined the white room. There was low breeze coming through an entrance way that led to a balcony, which brushed the curtain. Then Sorin’s eyes locked onto a large jar near his bed. It was full of blood. The rustic smell hooked him, and he snatched it with both hands and began guzzling the jar. When it started dripping down his chest and to the floor, Tamiyo commented, “You need to be careful. I was only able to get so much from volunteers.”
Sorin for the most part ignored her, but he did lower the jug slightly so it wouldn’t pour as fast. When he finished he took a deep breath as he dropped the jug, letting the metal clang on the ground. The hunger had subsided for the moment.
“Where’s Jace?” Sorin asked when he after draining the jar. His senses started returning to him, “Because I swear if he was messing with my head I’ll kill him.”
“Jace saved you with his ability to bend light,” Tamiyo responded, closing the book and setting it aside, “And he’s out looking for his Gatewatch right now to save Innistrad. You need at least a little while longer to recover.”
Sorin realized that he had been pulled from his armor and now was shirtless. There was a closed wound off center on the left of his chest. He ran his right hand down the divot, curious whether it would scar. Sorin then flexed his arms. His shoulders and legs were sore from being contorted in his armor. He sighed and said, “Nahiri did not have that sort of power when I knew her best. And she was more… reasonable.”
Tamiyo tilted her head. Sorin turned and walked out on the balcony. He looked out over the waterfall that went for miles around the castle that was suspended in midair. He took a deep breath of moist air as Tamiyo followed and asked, “Is there something you wish to share?”
Sorin wanted to for a brief moment talk about their history, but as he looked out to the darkening blue sky, he noticed a white sliver rising off in the horizon: this Kamigawa’s moon.
“No,” Sorin responded, “How long have I been out?”
“Just about an hour or so,” Tamiyo responded, and when her eyes meet, she added, “You need more time to heal. Let Jace handle it.”
Sorin walked past Tamiyo and grabbed his coat.
“They can meet us there,” Sorin spotted his coat on a table slid and grabbed it as he looked around the room and added, “Where’s my sword?”
“Probably still under that church, but you’re not in condition to leave.” Tamiyo followed him as Sorin put on his coat and walked out the door.
“Then help me find me a new one,” Sorin turned as he barked the order, but winced as his chest hurt.
“You haven’t healed yet, and I need you to stay here,” Tamiyo responded as Sorin walked through the empty hallway.
“I’m not going to trust the future of my Innistrad to some amateur squad!” Sorin then paused to stare at Tamiyo, then kept walking as he kept looking along the hallway walls.
“Jace is capable; he helped kill those monstrosities on Zendikar,” Tamiyo responded.
Sorin held up his hand and made a face. After shaking his head he said, “Here’s my counter offer. Help me find a decent sword, come with me back to Innistrad, and if we live, I won’t hold your lack of faith in my vampire healing abilities against you.”
Tamiyo stopped, staring at Sorin for a second, then she blinked and started walking after Sorin again, faster this time.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Tamiyo responded with a crack in her voice, “I am a researcher, not a warrior! And Jace will make sure that you get plenty of reinforcements. Even if I can’t stop you, what good would I be going with you?”
“I need a researcher,” Sorin responded as he noticed a pair of katanas mounted on the wall. He pulled them off and examined them as he explained, “You’ve studied Innistrad with a fascination that even I find bizarre, so if there’s anyone besides myself that could be decent at repairing the havoc wreaked by Nahiri on a level that requires skills outside of combat, it’s you. Any combat experience may still come in handy.”
Sorin tossed one of the swords to Tamiyo. Tamiyo sidestepped the sword as the blade hit the ground. Sorin rolled his eyes as he examined the blade he kept. After a few practice swings, he commented, “It’s lighter than my normal sword, but it will due. Let’s go. You said the Derleth Lagoon, right?”
Tamiyo stood with her mouth agape, still debating whether or not to pick up the sword Sorin had tossed when Sorin grabbed Tamiyo by her waist and pulled her to his side.
“I appreciate your help,” Sorin said to cut off any mental debate in Tamiyo’s head, and then the halls disappeared. The warm moist breeze became a cold, wet wind that howled along the cliff edges. Sorin looked out and noticed that the lagoon almost matched Tamiyo’s picture. The only change was the ring of rocks now had cyptoglyphs built on top of them, all pointing toward the center.
The full moon by this point had almost reached the center of the sky.
“Are we too late?” Sorin asked.
Tamiyo looked up at the moon, then shook her head, “No. The moon hasn’t reached the closest point, which judging from the star alignments, we have minutes before it lines up with her… thing.”
Sorin then looked around and seethed, “Where’s Jace?”
Tamiyo shrugged. Sorin growled and then as he looked out, he pulled Tamiyo to the ground. An angel passed over head. It was flying to the other side of the lagoon. The angels were swarming the stretch of cliffs.
“Glad they could distract her reinforcements.”
Sorin and Tamiyo crawled closer to their cliff face and pointed to the exposed ship wreckage. There were lights coming from below the deck, “And that’s the most likely place to strike.”
Sorin focused but noticed that there two people fighting about a half the angels on the other side. His eyesight helped him to make out that the brown coat man was Jace. But there was a woman with him using black magic.
“Liliana’s helping?” Sorin pondered, but shrugged it off Jace must have offered her something, or maybe Jace just dropped Sorin’s name. Sorin grinned for a second hoping it was the second option. The grin faded a stray thought wondered if Jace would have threatened her by mentioning Avacyn’s death at his hand. Sorin shook his head.
“Then the angels don’t know that we’re here,” Tamiyo commented as she drew in her notebook. Sorin peeked and noticed she was drawing the cryptoglyphs into the sketch she had shown earlier in the tunnel.
“What’re you thinking?”
“I’m starting understand Nahiri’s thoughts behind the cryptoglyph network,” Tamiyo responded, “The network is rerouting mana to this one point. But from what I’m seeing here, it looks like a launch point.”
Tamiyo held her quill vertical and then sat up cross-legged, “I don’t know why she would need to wait for the Moon to make its closest pass to leech mana, much less how the mana would actually make it through the Blind Eternities without just dispersing. It’s honestly just my most generous interpretation.”
Tamiyo stared out at the scene and then the book, then her eyes went wide. She held up the pen and asked, “She’s going to launch the mana to the moon.”
“What?”
“Moons everywhere exert forces on their corresponding planes. If she warped or destroyed the moon, the devastation could even devastate Innistrad.”
When Tamiyo’s voice trail, Sorin responded, “I’m going to that ship. Tamiyo, you are too. And you better have an idea of how to disrupt this ring.”
“I’m not sure how much I can accomplish with…” Tamiyo paused as she looked up at the moon, seeing where it lined with the stars, “I’ll try what I can. Your priority should be to find Nahiri. I’m not sure how much her network can do much without her helming it.”
Before she could add anything, Sorin stared at her and said, “Let’s go.”
Tamiyo gulped, closed her journal, and rose to her feet. Sorin jumped to his feet and took Tamiyo’s hand and then pulled her close to him. He rolled his eyes at her trembling, crouched, and leapt into the air. Sorin could feel the panic growing through her tense grip on his body, but she did not scream and did not let go. He was a little impressed that she appeared to be keeping calm.
As the shipwreck came closer, Sorin could see Nahiri’s craftsmanship a little closer on the ship. It mostly looked to be rocks meant to level the ship’s deck at the angle it was propped on the rock. They landed on the center of the ship, where Tamiyo let go of Sorin. Sorin spotted Nahiri standing at the end of the ship’s stern. As he and Tamiyo closed space, Nahiri jerked her head to face the sound of Sorin’s landing, wide-eyed. She drew her sword.
“Nahiri!” Sorin shouted to Tamiyo though the wind as he repositioned Tamiyo and pulled the katana.
Nahiri narrowed her eyes. But she swung her sword and pointed the sword to the ring and struck the rail at the end of ship’s stern. On contact, the spark shot a yellow bolt that struck one of the cryptoglyths. The bolt leapt from cryptoglyph to cryptoglyph until a ring of orange lightning formed.
“Do something about that,” Sorin commanded Tamiyo. She nodded and started running towards main mast. Nahiri stomped on the rock and the path to below deck sealed itself.
“You’re too late!” Nahiri shouted as she ran towards Sorin. Sorin furrowed his because he was trying to grasp at her blood, but there was an enchantment or some other form of magic protecting him from taking full control of her blood. So Sorin swung underhanded as Nahiri closed the last of the distance, which Nahiri blocked, and then she head-butted Sorin. Then she stomped the ground, which sent a ripple in the rock she had added, which wrapped around Sorin’s feet. She noticed the ripple traveling down the ship’s deck and ran for the main mast, where she jumped to a low hanging tattered sail and then started climbing.
Sorin wiped the blood from his upper lip as he blocked Nahiri swing for his torso. Nahiri then drew a second sword, and even after millennia, Sorin recognized the sword Nahiri had given a young girl for false hope about her chances of surviving the Eldrazi. Nahiri swung that shorter sword for Sorin’s neck. Sorin forced Nahiri’s sword to the ground and blocked the blade to his neck by grabbing her right wrist with his left hand.. He tried to step back, but with his feet caught, so instead he forced himself forward, knocking Nahiri off balance, but not before the longer blade struck his left side. The diminished force and his coat softened the blow as he grabbed Nahiri’s right wrist.
Sorin noticed Nahiri jerk her head up to Tamiyo in the crows nest; she then pulled back to free herself from Sorin. The pain of his feet catching in the stone caused him to yell. Nahiri then glanced up, pulled away from Sorin, and ran for the masts of the ship.
Sorin looked up the mast and saw Tamiyo standing in the crow’s nest. There was a pale blue light forming over her head. Sorin looked down and cast a disenchantment to pull his feet out of his boots and ran after her.
Nahiri jumped onto the main mast, sticking both her blades into the pole. She pulled one blade out and raced up the main mast using her swords.
“Tamiyo!” Sorin shouted as he jumped for Nahiri
.
Tamiyo looked down, and seeing Nahiri get closer, pulled her journal and slammed the forming spell into the pages. She looked over the edges of the crow’s nest, and then took a deep breath before jumping out of the crow’s nest. Tamiyo heard a crunch when her foot planted into Nahiri’s face. Nahiri’s grip slipped on her right blade as Tamiyo slid past Nahiri and towards the deck of the ship. Nahiri swung out of the way as Sorin closed in and thrust his blade into the mast, clipping a few strands on Nahiri’s hair.
Nahiri tried to grab Tamiyo, but when Nahiri missed, she instead shouted and held her palm out. Tamiyo noticed the glow of the deck, and grabbed onto the mastsail, keeping her off the ground. Sorin delivered a left hook into Nahiri’s side about the same time she returned her attention to him and swung into a kick.
Nahiri pulled the shorter blade from the main mast and swung it at Sorin, who had grabbed onto the sail support just below. Sorin blocked, but the block left him open to Nahiri kneeing him in the stomach near where she had cut him. Sorin let out a cough as he lost momentum and his blade dislodged from the main mast. Sorin grabbed the sail and then the wooden pole, but with his free hand he swung at Nahiri again. Nahiri instead pulled her blade from the pole fell onto the wooden pole and started running after Tamiyo again.
“Tamiyo!” Sorin shouted as his grip slipped.
Tamiyo turned back and slammed the book on the spell again. Nahiri lunged for Tamiyo, swinging her longer blade. Tamiyo blocked the blow with her journal, which absorbed Nahiri’s blow without taking a scratch and deflected the blade away from Tamiyo’s grip. Nahiri huffed, baring her teeth as she charged again, swinging her blades to scissor cut Tamiyo, but Tamiyo back stepped, re-angled her book, and both blades struck the ends of the book, blocking them.
“Sorin will abandon you all the same!” Nahiri shouted as she pulled her blades back.
Nahiri was about to thrust her blades to stab Tamiyo, but then caught a glimpse of Sorin out of her eye, sheathed her normal sword, and sidestepped off the pole and dodged Sorin’s hammer swing. She grabbed the tattered sail and swinging back up to their feet, but Tamiyo jumped and landed on flat end of the blade, which in the surprise almost caused Nahiri to lose her grip. Nahiri jerked the blade, which toppled Tamiyo over the edge of the pole as Nahiri had to let go.
Tamiyo saw the next side wooden pole and with a deep breath grabbed it with both arms. She screamed as the wood hit her forearms, but she managed to pull herself onto the platform. Nahiri had landed on her feet and yelped as well, but she had regained her balance before Tamiyo and was already wielding both blades again to block Sorin. Tamiyo looked at the scene and then at her book, and with a brief shaking of her head charged at Nahiri. She turned and blocked Tamiyo’s book with her shorter blade while swing at Sorin.
Nahiri then started pressing for Tamiyo, focusing her swings at her while only defending the swings at Sorin. Tamiyo impressed Sorin because for a research her balance and parrying abilities were adept. Sorin then swung high, which Nahiri blocked, but since her right hand was busy blocking a low swing from Tamiyo, Sorin gut-punched Nahiri. Nahiri’s eyes went wide, but her reaction was cut short by Tamiyo taking advantage, pushing the smaller blade out of the way and swung the book into Nahiri’s face. The book connected with a thud.
Nahiri dropped both swords as she stumbled off the edge of the wooden pole and fell back first back toward the deck. As Nahiri approached, the red veins in the deck’s stones turned green, right before Nahiri hit the deck with a thud. Sorin grabbed Tamiyo and jumped down to the deck near Nahiri.
Nahiri laid on the deck, gasping for breathing and spat blood in a cough. Tamiyo took a deep breath while Sorin knelt down over Nahiri, who gasped as Sorin reached for her. As his hand wrapped around her neck, he paused as he noticed a tear rolling down the edge of her eye. His gaze softened as he brushed the tear aside with his other hand. Nahiri coughed and spewed a few drops of blood. Her eyes looked up and then came back and connected with Sorin. He sighed, and mumbled, “I do have my regrets, even regarding you.”
Nahiri grinned with the corner of her right lips trembling, “I do too.”
Sorin tightened his grip then jerked his hand. He was tempted to look away, but he stopped himself. He thought she deserved to see the look in his eyes. For a second, Nahiri’s eyes widened ever so slightly to express what Sorin interpreted as shock; then Sorin snapped her neck. Her mouth stopped trembling as her head leaned back and her breathing stopped. Sorin stood up and stared at Nahiri for a moment as her eyes widened and muscles in her pupils opened wide, then Sorin looked up to the moon.
“Are we too late? Is the spell done?” he asked turning to Tamiyo.
Tamiyo was walking fast from Nahiri’s body, picked up her longer sword and examined it. Then she looked up to the moon while Sorin had walked back and picked up the shorter sword, tucking it into the sheath.
“This might make it easier.”
Tamiyo opened her journal and as the blue spell rose out of it, Tamiyo took the longer sword and dipped the tip of the blade into the spell. The spell dissolved into the blade, creating blue lines along the blade.
Sorin commented, “Is it r—”
There was a loud crack off the stern of the ship. The yellow bolts in the ring flickered and then there was a bright flash. When it cleared, the wind stopped and the cold dissipated. Then there was a second creak. The boat shook as Sorin and Tamiyo grabbed the rail, and then it lifted out of the rocks and into the air. But it wasn’t just the boat. Water in droplets were floating into the air. So were rocks. Sorin looked to the center of the center of the cyptoglyph ring. A figure was rising out of it. As the figure did, the landscape turned different shades of gray as it froze. Sorin looked around as even Tamiyo froze with time around her. The figure glowed as Sorin squinted to get a closer look. A woman. An angel. Then Sorin clenched the rail so tight his hand should have splintered. Avacyn.
Avacyn’s body was a little larger now. And she was wearing a pale pink dress with a purple cape that frayed below the waist. Her wing feathers were also a pale blue now, and under the purplish hood, her eyes glowed a metallic pink. Outside of the angel, the yellow light, and Sorin himself, nothing moved.
“What did Nahiri do?” Sorin commented, following the statement with the thought, Did she do this?
As the woman came to a resting stop she floated forward so that she came eye level with the floating ship. She examined her hand, then said to Sorin, “This is a first for me. Not sure how I… react.”
“Let Avacyn rest in peace,” Sorin told the angel.
Avacyn’s glowing eyes focused down on the ship. “I wanted to know. It is inhibitive. I wanted to know if they would feel different should I choose to process them through… choice.”
“I said leave Avacyn out of this!” Sorin shouted.
“By comparison, to choose to comprehend feels less stressful than my prison where I was forced, when you planted me on Zendikar,” the angel continued, hovering behind the ship to where she was eye level with Sorin.
Sorin stopped, shaking his head.
“Emrakul!” He shouted.
Emrakul now glared at Sorin. Her eyes glowed a darker purple as she nodded
“The stillness was not the worst for us. The worst was we were awake Sorin Markov of Innistrad. We saw everything. We learned everything. But every moment the hunger grew. The hunger consumed us. I learned to hope for an end. The prison would not deliver us from the hunger. It did not let us fade. It agonized us! Even as I forced myself to learn, to seek an escape, the hunger drove. It always drives my action. Even these thoughts inhibit sated the hunger. But when the hunger can only grow. I made Nahiri understand what you had done to me when I was free. Her forgiveness has been useful. It taught me something beyond hunger. To channel the hunger into something else.”
Sorin clenched the blade that he had taken from Nahiri, but instead picked up the katana and speared it at Emrakul’s angelic body, but the katana crumbled itself into oblivion. Emrakul grinned, shaking Avacyn’s head.
“What’s your point then!” Sorin took a step forward, standing on the stern’s rails.
Emrakul turned her head slightly and responded, “The alignment has not been perfect. After being hungry so long, a new desire blossomed within that prison that was not just the hunger. Desire. And for you to know I learned that you taught me to make my hunger personal. To channel it to reap…”
The ring of Cryptoglyph yellow beam struck the moon. Sorin shielded his eyes as the Moon glowed and the sky changed to white. Sorin watched then as Avacyn’s body began unraveling like threads on a cloth. The threads flowed into the yellow beam. Sorin shouted, “Avacyn!” but before the last of Avacyn’s body disappeared, Emrakul smiled, and the smile was sinister as her head unthreaded. Emrakul echoed the word, “Vengeance!” from Avacyn’s voice as the last of her essence unraveled.
The beam changed from yellow to purple, and as it dissipated, the moon glowed purple. With that the color returned to Innistrad, including Tamiyo as she stumbled forward. Tamiyo gasped as she stared at the blade and then at Sorin.
“Can this…” Tamiyo asked, pointing the sword at the light, but the light faded before she could cast anything using it.
Then a network of tendrils wrapped around the moon. Sorin watched mouth agape as Emrakul’s real body formed, encasing the moon. A screech rang throughout the sky as the night darkened. The web of tendrils bound around the moon, then the tendrils started organizing into a lattice pink network with the purple tentacles forming out of the bottom. Emrakul’s body was much larger than he had seen in any previous encounter.
Sorin watched as Emrakul’s body took shape. And in that brief moment, the worst possibility crept from the back of his mind: his home was going to die. He turned back to Tamiyo, but he was looking back at Nahiri sprawled on the ship deck. A little nagging voice planted deep in himself was whispering that this was all his doing.
To have a little fun, I'm writing speculative fiction on events that would connect Anguished Unmaking to the start of Eldritch Moon. This is not supposed to be predictive (and I included something to make sure that was deliberate), but it'd be awesome if I was
I originally meant to post this yesterday, but my internet crashed for April Fool's, and I spent the surprise time editing.
Enjoy.
******
Sorin never looked back to even see if his Avacyn had been been hit; he did not want to see her death. His head tried turned to glance, but Sorin jerked it back and took long drawn breaths, his mouth agape. He tried to force his focus on the need to make Nahiri suffer instead of the sizzling coming from behind him. He would break her for what she did to his Avacyn, his family, to his Innis—
There was a thud behind Sorin. He dropped his sword and stared at his left hand, realizing it was shaking. His breath shortened as he stared at his hand and pulled his other hand beside his left, but he dropped to his knees. To him, this felt like there would be no end to this moment.
“Sorin.” He heard Tamiyo call to him, but he stared at his hand. “You saved us. Thanks.”
“I saved my home,” Sorin mumbled, took a deep breath and repeated, “I saved my home; I am saving my home.”
Sorin stood up and looked to Jace and Tamiyo. Tamiyo still carried Jace on her shoulder as Jace struggled to keep himself on his feet after the blow from Avacyn’s fire had knocked them into this tunnel below the church. Sorin looked up to the top of the rising moon through the hole in the floor and the broken window that Avacyn made when she attacked above ground. Sorin walked away from where he stood and towards Tamiyo and Jace. He could tell they did not want to say much when they stepped back as Sorin walked towards them. The scene was out of sight when he came to a stop.
“Sorin,” Jace spoke as he looked around the room, “Is this tunnel supposed to be here?”
Sorin looked from the darkness on one end to the other end in darkness. As his eyes adjusted he noticed why Jace brought up the subject. The walls had traces running along them, like the cryptoglyphs Nahiri had left in Markov Manor. And all along the way pointing from Markov Manor to this church.
“No,” Sorin responded walking to the way and touching the cold, smooth stone, “Nahiri’s work is more extensive than I thought.”
Jace pulled Tamiyo’s journal from his coat but fumbled it from his hand. Tamiyo rushed her free hand and grabbed it before it hit the ground, but Jace groaned as she jerked him and almost dropped him trying to save her book.
“Nephalia,” Jace said as Tamiyo’s gaze shot from Jace to her journal. She flipped through the pages until she held up an open spread towards the middle.
Tamiyo explained, “Near Derleth Lagoon. There’s been an anomaly there like I haven’t seen anywhere else on Innistrad.” She stopped flipping through pages and held the book out so that Sorin could see.
“The tides around Innistrad have been rising, except here. They’re receding.” Tamiyo showed a sketch that covered both pages of the journal. The picture depicted a lagoon with a ring of rocks and a ship with the front half submerged behind the ring of rocks. What Sorin noticed as he looked closer is the lines that Tamiyo had drawn, which she had added to emphasize that the water level rose the further from the stone ring it went.
“When I first observed this place, this was entirely underwater with the water line here,” Tamiyo said pointing to the top of the cliff. Then as she eased Jace to a sitting position on the ground. She walked a few steps so Jace could see as well.
“You’ve been there?” Jace asked.
Tamiyo flipped the pages back towards the front of the book. She showed a picture of the lagoon, no valley, and there was one noticeable difference about the focus: it was the moon.
“When I discovered the Helvault was a shard of the moon, I set out to find as much as I could about the power it holds. And to do that, I mapped its trajectory and cycles. Once a month, this spot is as close as the moon comes to the surface of Innistrad than any other place or time. When I started following cryptolyths and followed them to this draining lagoon, I realized that there had to be something beyond Innistrad’s growing madness because it started corresponding with gravity events. Much like the ones at Markov Manor where I sent Derkin to find you…”
Sorin stared at the picture as Tamiyo’s trailing voice led her to looking at the ground. Sorin almost called for Avacyn to fly him there. Instead he clenched his fist. Jace spoke, “When was the last time you were there.”
“It’s been months. The angels started chasing me when I went out there last to follow up on the anomaly again. I haven’t been back since. ”
“We’re going there,” Sorin spoke as he stood, “Now…”
He paused, then added, “In a minute. I’ll catch up after I… finish here.”
Not waiting for a response, Sorin took a deep breath and turned so that he could collect her body. But Avacyn’s body wasn’t there.
“Did I vaporize her?” Sorin let slip. Before Jace or Tamiyo could respond around the corner, someone else made a comment.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if you had. You never bothered much with caution.” The voice belonged to Nahiri.
Sorin looked up and saw three women stared at them through the hole. Two were angels, and the center woman was Nahiri. They stood with there arms crossed as Sorin stepped forward. When Sorin and Nahiri’s eyes met, Sorin ran towards them, swept up his sword from the ground along the way, and leapt towards the hole. Nahiri raised her left hand and tightened her fingers. Sorin’s armor crushed in his body. He yelled as his body contorted to restrain his hands behind his back and legs bent so his feet were held behind his back.
“So after you found that I had decimated your family through lithomancy, your first thought was, ‘I will need more armor to fight the lithomancer’?” Nahiri spoke, tilting her head, as she held Sorin midair in front of her by his armor.
“What did you do to Avacyn?” Sorin seethed the question through his teeth. He was trying to concentrate on her blood, but Nahiri had not underestimated him. She was keeping him in enough pain so that he couldn’t concentrate onto her blood.
“I let your influence in her bloom,” Nahiri shrugged as the angels drew their weapons, “You always try to hide your hatred. Not to anyone’s surprise, that hatred transferred deep into Avacyn. And she spread it to most the other angels. Your spiteful seed sprouted on Zendikar… they’re paying the price as we speak. So when I came here, it was easy to find your reckless and sloppy handling all over Avacyn. Your hatred would have sprouted in her mind sooner or later. You would have eventually undone Innistrad; I just decided Innistrad shouldn’t continue to be dragged along an agonizingly slow pace. When that Zendikar finally reached the end of that road… Innistrad doesn’t deserve the same excruciating life span. But that’s just the bonus to you realizing your home was never capable of your protection.”
Sorin growled at Nahiri and tried to lunge forward before the armor snagged him in place. The angels pointed their weapons at Sorin. Nahiri waved her right hand, which the angels lowered their weapons. She then grasped her sword with her right hand and drew it without lowering her concentration on Sorin. Nahiri pointed the tip to Sorin’s nose and remarked, “Bruna, Gisela. There’s no need for that. I rather enjoy watching Sorin squirm as the hateful little leech. It’s nice to see him realizing just how useless he has been and continues to be.”
“Give me Avacyn’s body back!” Sorin sneered.
Below around the corner, Tamiyo held Jace’s mouth shut after jerking him out of sight when Sorin screamed. She had pulled him behind the corner and had not been spotted. Jace had helped with that. Tamiyo with her free hand wrote on in an empty space of the drawing “Plan?”
Jace shook his head. The crypoglyths blocked his ability to establish a connection with Innistrad’s angels. But Nahiri wasn’t an angel. So with a deep breath, he pulled Tamiyo’s hand off his mouth and started to concentrate on attempting to infiltrate Nahiri. But there was a problem, he couldn’t sense her. Even those angels he could sense despite not being able to enter their minds. How could she be invisible? But then he overheard Nahiri talking about Zendikar. He tried instead focusing on any stray thought of Zendikar. It was on Sorin’s mind, and… he found something. But it wasn’t a thought, it was a flood of anger and the word vengeance. It felt like it was spreading in the air like humidity. And now that Jace could sense it, his hairs stood as it felt like it could see him back. Jace scooted back, pressing into Tamiyo, whispering, “We need a plan, fast.”
“I didn’t take Avacyn, but even if I did, ” Nahiri responded, gesturing Sorin’s entanglement closer to her, “The answer would be no. I want my pain to be the las…”
Nahiri paused, she tilted her head back as though receiving a whisper, then she turned to Gisela, “Enough chatting. There’s others down there. Burn out the tunnel. Carefully. I still need the structure intact.”
Nahiri then flexed her fingers, which ripped a hole in the armor near front of Sorin’s heart. Nahiri thrust her sword into his chest. There was a screech as the sword hitting the side of the armor. Sorin gasped as Nahiri then with a downward swipe of her left hand sent Sorin slamming into the tunnel floor. He yelled and spat blood.
“Jace, now!” Tamiyo shouted as she hauled him as fast as she could towards Sorin. Gisela raised them above her head as they started glowing hot orange. Bruna eyed Tamiyo and Jace making their way towards Sorin and drew her own staff which started glowing white at the end.
Nahiri shouted over the charging spells, “A part of me wishes you could see what we’re going to do to Innistrad tonight, but I’m not stupid enough, so just use your imagination these last few seconds.”
Bruna shot a lightning ball at Tamiyo and Jace. Tamiyo swiped her free hand, and the lightning ball exploded before it could reach them. In the smoke, Jace and Tamiyo moved to Sorin lying in his blood and the tangle of his armor.
“Jace, have you ever been to Kamigawa!” Tamiyo shouted, and when Jace shook his head, she added, “Read my mind, make sure Sorin can see the place as well.”
Tamiyo then looked down to Sorin, “We can’t save Innistrad in this tunnel. Concentrate on the place Jace is showing and we’ll come back.”
Sorin moaned, but Gisela slashed her swords down, unleashing a stream of fire too big for either Tamiyo or Jace to redirect. Sorin stared at the ceiling. A thought slipped through that for the moment he needed to survive to save what was left.
“Now! Tamiyo shouted.
The heat flooded the tunnel followed by the bright light of the fire dimmed into a sun in a bright blue sky. Humidity replaced the fading the heat from Gisela’s spell. Sorin looked around and saw that they were on a castle floating over a waterfall.
“Innistrad,” Sorin whispered as Jace leaned away from him.
“We need healers!” Tamiyo shouted, standing leaving Jace next to Sorin, “Help! I need healers, now!”
Sorin bared his teeth. The shock was wearing off, the pain settled, and the hunger rose, like his chest was going to boil. And the loss that much blood… Sorin could smell Jace. Sorin wanted to drain Jace. But Sorin heard a little voice in his head say in response to the growing thirst pains, You need to rest while you’re treated.
“Why would you do such a thing?” Sorin thought to himself. He was huddled in the darkness, head tucked into his knees.
“You know why,” Sorin recognized the voice. It was Ugin. A blue light appeared in front of him. “I believe what haunts you is why is Nahiri growing to be quite like you.”
“That’s a lie!” Sorin responded. He tried to shoot to his feet but instead stumbled and landed on his hands a knees, “I tried to save Zendikar!”
“In your mind,” Ugin’s voice responded, “If you’re so helpful, then Nahiri wouldn’t be doing this, and Nissa would’ve listened to you rather than trigger this mess. Neither of them have any reason to listen to a thing you say.”
“That wasn’t my fault!” Sorin snapped.
“It never is.”
“Look dragon, I don’t have time for this. Either help me or leave my head.”
“Dragon?” Ugin’s voice twisted as the light dimmed, revealing a silhouette of a man. The man walked towards Sorin as he stood on his feet. Sorin then took a step back. The man’s voice changed to Sorin’s and as this Sorin looked into his eyes.
“Are you afraid of reaping what you planted in Nahiri?”
Sorin’s eyes opened and shot upright in his bed.
“You’re awake.” It was Tamiyo as she sat in a chair near his bed writing in a book that was not her journal. Sorin examined the white room. There was low breeze coming through an entrance way that led to a balcony, which brushed the curtain. Then Sorin’s eyes locked onto a large jar near his bed. It was full of blood. The rustic smell hooked him, and he snatched it with both hands and began guzzling the jar. When it started dripping down his chest and to the floor, Tamiyo commented, “You need to be careful. I was only able to get so much from volunteers.”
Sorin for the most part ignored her, but he did lower the jug slightly so it wouldn’t pour as fast. When he finished he took a deep breath as he dropped the jug, letting the metal clang on the ground. The hunger had subsided for the moment.
“Where’s Jace?” Sorin asked when he after draining the jar. His senses started returning to him, “Because I swear if he was messing with my head I’ll kill him.”
“Jace saved you with his ability to bend light,” Tamiyo responded, closing the book and setting it aside, “And he’s out looking for his Gatewatch right now to save Innistrad. You need at least a little while longer to recover.”
Sorin realized that he had been pulled from his armor and now was shirtless. There was a closed wound off center on the left of his chest. He ran his right hand down the divot, curious whether it would scar. Sorin then flexed his arms. His shoulders and legs were sore from being contorted in his armor. He sighed and said, “Nahiri did not have that sort of power when I knew her best. And she was more… reasonable.”
Tamiyo tilted her head. Sorin turned and walked out on the balcony. He looked out over the waterfall that went for miles around the castle that was suspended in midair. He took a deep breath of moist air as Tamiyo followed and asked, “Is there something you wish to share?”
Sorin wanted to for a brief moment talk about their history, but as he looked out to the darkening blue sky, he noticed a white sliver rising off in the horizon: this Kamigawa’s moon.
“No,” Sorin responded, “How long have I been out?”
“Just about an hour or so,” Tamiyo responded, and when her eyes meet, she added, “You need more time to heal. Let Jace handle it.”
Sorin walked past Tamiyo and grabbed his coat.
“They can meet us there,” Sorin spotted his coat on a table slid and grabbed it as he looked around the room and added, “Where’s my sword?”
“Probably still under that church, but you’re not in condition to leave.” Tamiyo followed him as Sorin put on his coat and walked out the door.
“Then help me find me a new one,” Sorin turned as he barked the order, but winced as his chest hurt.
“You haven’t healed yet, and I need you to stay here,” Tamiyo responded as Sorin walked through the empty hallway.
“I’m not going to trust the future of my Innistrad to some amateur squad!” Sorin then paused to stare at Tamiyo, then kept walking as he kept looking along the hallway walls.
“Jace is capable; he helped kill those monstrosities on Zendikar,” Tamiyo responded.
Sorin held up his hand and made a face. After shaking his head he said, “Here’s my counter offer. Help me find a decent sword, come with me back to Innistrad, and if we live, I won’t hold your lack of faith in my vampire healing abilities against you.”
Tamiyo stopped, staring at Sorin for a second, then she blinked and started walking after Sorin again, faster this time.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Tamiyo responded with a crack in her voice, “I am a researcher, not a warrior! And Jace will make sure that you get plenty of reinforcements. Even if I can’t stop you, what good would I be going with you?”
“I need a researcher,” Sorin responded as he noticed a pair of katanas mounted on the wall. He pulled them off and examined them as he explained, “You’ve studied Innistrad with a fascination that even I find bizarre, so if there’s anyone besides myself that could be decent at repairing the havoc wreaked by Nahiri on a level that requires skills outside of combat, it’s you. Any combat experience may still come in handy.”
Sorin tossed one of the swords to Tamiyo. Tamiyo sidestepped the sword as the blade hit the ground. Sorin rolled his eyes as he examined the blade he kept. After a few practice swings, he commented, “It’s lighter than my normal sword, but it will due. Let’s go. You said the Derleth Lagoon, right?”
Tamiyo stood with her mouth agape, still debating whether or not to pick up the sword Sorin had tossed when Sorin grabbed Tamiyo by her waist and pulled her to his side.
“I appreciate your help,” Sorin said to cut off any mental debate in Tamiyo’s head, and then the halls disappeared. The warm moist breeze became a cold, wet wind that howled along the cliff edges. Sorin looked out and noticed that the lagoon almost matched Tamiyo’s picture. The only change was the ring of rocks now had cyptoglyphs built on top of them, all pointing toward the center.
The full moon by this point had almost reached the center of the sky.
“Are we too late?” Sorin asked.
Tamiyo looked up at the moon, then shook her head, “No. The moon hasn’t reached the closest point, which judging from the star alignments, we have minutes before it lines up with her… thing.”
Sorin then looked around and seethed, “Where’s Jace?”
Tamiyo shrugged. Sorin growled and then as he looked out, he pulled Tamiyo to the ground. An angel passed over head. It was flying to the other side of the lagoon. The angels were swarming the stretch of cliffs.
“Glad they could distract her reinforcements.”
Sorin and Tamiyo crawled closer to their cliff face and pointed to the exposed ship wreckage. There were lights coming from below the deck, “And that’s the most likely place to strike.”
Sorin focused but noticed that there two people fighting about a half the angels on the other side. His eyesight helped him to make out that the brown coat man was Jace. But there was a woman with him using black magic.
“Liliana’s helping?” Sorin pondered, but shrugged it off Jace must have offered her something, or maybe Jace just dropped Sorin’s name. Sorin grinned for a second hoping it was the second option. The grin faded a stray thought wondered if Jace would have threatened her by mentioning Avacyn’s death at his hand. Sorin shook his head.
“Then the angels don’t know that we’re here,” Tamiyo commented as she drew in her notebook. Sorin peeked and noticed she was drawing the cryptoglyphs into the sketch she had shown earlier in the tunnel.
“What’re you thinking?”
“I’m starting understand Nahiri’s thoughts behind the cryptoglyph network,” Tamiyo responded, “The network is rerouting mana to this one point. But from what I’m seeing here, it looks like a launch point.”
Tamiyo held her quill vertical and then sat up cross-legged, “I don’t know why she would need to wait for the Moon to make its closest pass to leech mana, much less how the mana would actually make it through the Blind Eternities without just dispersing. It’s honestly just my most generous interpretation.”
Tamiyo stared out at the scene and then the book, then her eyes went wide. She held up the pen and asked, “She’s going to launch the mana to the moon.”
“What?”
“Moons everywhere exert forces on their corresponding planes. If she warped or destroyed the moon, the devastation could even devastate Innistrad.”
When Tamiyo’s voice trail, Sorin responded, “I’m going to that ship. Tamiyo, you are too. And you better have an idea of how to disrupt this ring.”
“I’m not sure how much I can accomplish with…” Tamiyo paused as she looked up at the moon, seeing where it lined with the stars, “I’ll try what I can. Your priority should be to find Nahiri. I’m not sure how much her network can do much without her helming it.”
Before she could add anything, Sorin stared at her and said, “Let’s go.”
Tamiyo gulped, closed her journal, and rose to her feet. Sorin jumped to his feet and took Tamiyo’s hand and then pulled her close to him. He rolled his eyes at her trembling, crouched, and leapt into the air. Sorin could feel the panic growing through her tense grip on his body, but she did not scream and did not let go. He was a little impressed that she appeared to be keeping calm.
As the shipwreck came closer, Sorin could see Nahiri’s craftsmanship a little closer on the ship. It mostly looked to be rocks meant to level the ship’s deck at the angle it was propped on the rock. They landed on the center of the ship, where Tamiyo let go of Sorin. Sorin spotted Nahiri standing at the end of the ship’s stern. As he and Tamiyo closed space, Nahiri jerked her head to face the sound of Sorin’s landing, wide-eyed. She drew her sword.
“Nahiri!” Sorin shouted to Tamiyo though the wind as he repositioned Tamiyo and pulled the katana.
Nahiri narrowed her eyes. But she swung her sword and pointed the sword to the ring and struck the rail at the end of ship’s stern. On contact, the spark shot a yellow bolt that struck one of the cryptoglyths. The bolt leapt from cryptoglyph to cryptoglyph until a ring of orange lightning formed.
“Do something about that,” Sorin commanded Tamiyo. She nodded and started running towards main mast. Nahiri stomped on the rock and the path to below deck sealed itself.
“You’re too late!” Nahiri shouted as she ran towards Sorin. Sorin furrowed his because he was trying to grasp at her blood, but there was an enchantment or some other form of magic protecting him from taking full control of her blood. So Sorin swung underhanded as Nahiri closed the last of the distance, which Nahiri blocked, and then she head-butted Sorin. Then she stomped the ground, which sent a ripple in the rock she had added, which wrapped around Sorin’s feet. She noticed the ripple traveling down the ship’s deck and ran for the main mast, where she jumped to a low hanging tattered sail and then started climbing.
Sorin wiped the blood from his upper lip as he blocked Nahiri swing for his torso. Nahiri then drew a second sword, and even after millennia, Sorin recognized the sword Nahiri had given a young girl for false hope about her chances of surviving the Eldrazi. Nahiri swung that shorter sword for Sorin’s neck. Sorin forced Nahiri’s sword to the ground and blocked the blade to his neck by grabbing her right wrist with his left hand.. He tried to step back, but with his feet caught, so instead he forced himself forward, knocking Nahiri off balance, but not before the longer blade struck his left side. The diminished force and his coat softened the blow as he grabbed Nahiri’s right wrist.
Sorin noticed Nahiri jerk her head up to Tamiyo in the crows nest; she then pulled back to free herself from Sorin. The pain of his feet catching in the stone caused him to yell. Nahiri then glanced up, pulled away from Sorin, and ran for the masts of the ship.
Sorin looked up the mast and saw Tamiyo standing in the crow’s nest. There was a pale blue light forming over her head. Sorin looked down and cast a disenchantment to pull his feet out of his boots and ran after her.
Nahiri jumped onto the main mast, sticking both her blades into the pole. She pulled one blade out and raced up the main mast using her swords.
“Tamiyo!” Sorin shouted as he jumped for Nahiri
.
Tamiyo looked down, and seeing Nahiri get closer, pulled her journal and slammed the forming spell into the pages. She looked over the edges of the crow’s nest, and then took a deep breath before jumping out of the crow’s nest. Tamiyo heard a crunch when her foot planted into Nahiri’s face. Nahiri’s grip slipped on her right blade as Tamiyo slid past Nahiri and towards the deck of the ship. Nahiri swung out of the way as Sorin closed in and thrust his blade into the mast, clipping a few strands on Nahiri’s hair.
Nahiri tried to grab Tamiyo, but when Nahiri missed, she instead shouted and held her palm out. Tamiyo noticed the glow of the deck, and grabbed onto the mastsail, keeping her off the ground. Sorin delivered a left hook into Nahiri’s side about the same time she returned her attention to him and swung into a kick.
Nahiri pulled the shorter blade from the main mast and swung it at Sorin, who had grabbed onto the sail support just below. Sorin blocked, but the block left him open to Nahiri kneeing him in the stomach near where she had cut him. Sorin let out a cough as he lost momentum and his blade dislodged from the main mast. Sorin grabbed the sail and then the wooden pole, but with his free hand he swung at Nahiri again. Nahiri instead pulled her blade from the pole fell onto the wooden pole and started running after Tamiyo again.
“Tamiyo!” Sorin shouted as his grip slipped.
Tamiyo turned back and slammed the book on the spell again. Nahiri lunged for Tamiyo, swinging her longer blade. Tamiyo blocked the blow with her journal, which absorbed Nahiri’s blow without taking a scratch and deflected the blade away from Tamiyo’s grip. Nahiri huffed, baring her teeth as she charged again, swinging her blades to scissor cut Tamiyo, but Tamiyo back stepped, re-angled her book, and both blades struck the ends of the book, blocking them.
“Sorin will abandon you all the same!” Nahiri shouted as she pulled her blades back.
Nahiri was about to thrust her blades to stab Tamiyo, but then caught a glimpse of Sorin out of her eye, sheathed her normal sword, and sidestepped off the pole and dodged Sorin’s hammer swing. She grabbed the tattered sail and swinging back up to their feet, but Tamiyo jumped and landed on flat end of the blade, which in the surprise almost caused Nahiri to lose her grip. Nahiri jerked the blade, which toppled Tamiyo over the edge of the pole as Nahiri had to let go.
Tamiyo saw the next side wooden pole and with a deep breath grabbed it with both arms. She screamed as the wood hit her forearms, but she managed to pull herself onto the platform. Nahiri had landed on her feet and yelped as well, but she had regained her balance before Tamiyo and was already wielding both blades again to block Sorin. Tamiyo looked at the scene and then at her book, and with a brief shaking of her head charged at Nahiri. She turned and blocked Tamiyo’s book with her shorter blade while swing at Sorin.
Nahiri then started pressing for Tamiyo, focusing her swings at her while only defending the swings at Sorin. Tamiyo impressed Sorin because for a research her balance and parrying abilities were adept. Sorin then swung high, which Nahiri blocked, but since her right hand was busy blocking a low swing from Tamiyo, Sorin gut-punched Nahiri. Nahiri’s eyes went wide, but her reaction was cut short by Tamiyo taking advantage, pushing the smaller blade out of the way and swung the book into Nahiri’s face. The book connected with a thud.
Nahiri dropped both swords as she stumbled off the edge of the wooden pole and fell back first back toward the deck. As Nahiri approached, the red veins in the deck’s stones turned green, right before Nahiri hit the deck with a thud. Sorin grabbed Tamiyo and jumped down to the deck near Nahiri.
Nahiri laid on the deck, gasping for breathing and spat blood in a cough. Tamiyo took a deep breath while Sorin knelt down over Nahiri, who gasped as Sorin reached for her. As his hand wrapped around her neck, he paused as he noticed a tear rolling down the edge of her eye. His gaze softened as he brushed the tear aside with his other hand. Nahiri coughed and spewed a few drops of blood. Her eyes looked up and then came back and connected with Sorin. He sighed, and mumbled, “I do have my regrets, even regarding you.”
Nahiri grinned with the corner of her right lips trembling, “I do too.”
Sorin tightened his grip then jerked his hand. He was tempted to look away, but he stopped himself. He thought she deserved to see the look in his eyes. For a second, Nahiri’s eyes widened ever so slightly to express what Sorin interpreted as shock; then Sorin snapped her neck. Her mouth stopped trembling as her head leaned back and her breathing stopped. Sorin stood up and stared at Nahiri for a moment as her eyes widened and muscles in her pupils opened wide, then Sorin looked up to the moon.
“Are we too late? Is the spell done?” he asked turning to Tamiyo.
Tamiyo was walking fast from Nahiri’s body, picked up her longer sword and examined it. Then she looked up to the moon while Sorin had walked back and picked up the shorter sword, tucking it into the sheath.
“This might make it easier.”
Tamiyo opened her journal and as the blue spell rose out of it, Tamiyo took the longer sword and dipped the tip of the blade into the spell. The spell dissolved into the blade, creating blue lines along the blade.
Sorin commented, “Is it r—”
There was a loud crack off the stern of the ship. The yellow bolts in the ring flickered and then there was a bright flash. When it cleared, the wind stopped and the cold dissipated. Then there was a second creak. The boat shook as Sorin and Tamiyo grabbed the rail, and then it lifted out of the rocks and into the air. But it wasn’t just the boat. Water in droplets were floating into the air. So were rocks. Sorin looked to the center of the center of the cyptoglyph ring. A figure was rising out of it. As the figure did, the landscape turned different shades of gray as it froze. Sorin looked around as even Tamiyo froze with time around her. The figure glowed as Sorin squinted to get a closer look. A woman. An angel. Then Sorin clenched the rail so tight his hand should have splintered. Avacyn.
Avacyn’s body was a little larger now. And she was wearing a pale pink dress with a purple cape that frayed below the waist. Her wing feathers were also a pale blue now, and under the purplish hood, her eyes glowed a metallic pink. Outside of the angel, the yellow light, and Sorin himself, nothing moved.
“What did Nahiri do?” Sorin commented, following the statement with the thought, Did she do this?
As the woman came to a resting stop she floated forward so that she came eye level with the floating ship. She examined her hand, then said to Sorin, “This is a first for me. Not sure how I… react.”
“Let Avacyn rest in peace,” Sorin told the angel.
Avacyn’s glowing eyes focused down on the ship. “I wanted to know. It is inhibitive. I wanted to know if they would feel different should I choose to process them through… choice.”
“I said leave Avacyn out of this!” Sorin shouted.
“By comparison, to choose to comprehend feels less stressful than my prison where I was forced, when you planted me on Zendikar,” the angel continued, hovering behind the ship to where she was eye level with Sorin.
Sorin stopped, shaking his head.
“Emrakul!” He shouted.
Emrakul now glared at Sorin. Her eyes glowed a darker purple as she nodded
“The stillness was not the worst for us. The worst was we were awake Sorin Markov of Innistrad. We saw everything. We learned everything. But every moment the hunger grew. The hunger consumed us. I learned to hope for an end. The prison would not deliver us from the hunger. It did not let us fade. It agonized us! Even as I forced myself to learn, to seek an escape, the hunger drove. It always drives my action. Even these thoughts inhibit sated the hunger. But when the hunger can only grow. I made Nahiri understand what you had done to me when I was free. Her forgiveness has been useful. It taught me something beyond hunger. To channel the hunger into something else.”
Sorin clenched the blade that he had taken from Nahiri, but instead picked up the katana and speared it at Emrakul’s angelic body, but the katana crumbled itself into oblivion. Emrakul grinned, shaking Avacyn’s head.
“What’s your point then!” Sorin took a step forward, standing on the stern’s rails.
Emrakul turned her head slightly and responded, “The alignment has not been perfect. After being hungry so long, a new desire blossomed within that prison that was not just the hunger. Desire. And for you to know I learned that you taught me to make my hunger personal. To channel it to reap…”
The ring of Cryptoglyph yellow beam struck the moon. Sorin shielded his eyes as the Moon glowed and the sky changed to white. Sorin watched then as Avacyn’s body began unraveling like threads on a cloth. The threads flowed into the yellow beam. Sorin shouted, “Avacyn!” but before the last of Avacyn’s body disappeared, Emrakul smiled, and the smile was sinister as her head unthreaded. Emrakul echoed the word, “Vengeance!” from Avacyn’s voice as the last of her essence unraveled.
The beam changed from yellow to purple, and as it dissipated, the moon glowed purple. With that the color returned to Innistrad, including Tamiyo as she stumbled forward. Tamiyo gasped as she stared at the blade and then at Sorin.
“Can this…” Tamiyo asked, pointing the sword at the light, but the light faded before she could cast anything using it.
Then a network of tendrils wrapped around the moon. Sorin watched mouth agape as Emrakul’s real body formed, encasing the moon. A screech rang throughout the sky as the night darkened. The web of tendrils bound around the moon, then the tendrils started organizing into a lattice pink network with the purple tentacles forming out of the bottom. Emrakul’s body was much larger than he had seen in any previous encounter.
Sorin watched as Emrakul’s body took shape. And in that brief moment, the worst possibility crept from the back of his mind: his home was going to die. He turned back to Tamiyo, but he was looking back at Nahiri sprawled on the ship deck. A little nagging voice planted deep in himself was whispering that this was all his doing.
candidus inperti; si nil, his utere mecum.
~~~~~