They were one.
They wanted to survive. Their mind reached back and forth, one to another. The hive responded.
They moved in accordance. They obeyed the directives. They contributed to the hive mind.
They were the Legion. The Queen was long dead- they mourned her. The Overlord was fallen- they rejoiced. They were now their own leader. They were one mind, one soul, spread across an entire plane. They remembered all. They were the eldest, and the youngest. They hadn't come from here. The vile one had brought them. Volrath. Yes, that was his name. They had outlived him already, but they still cursed his name.
So many names, places. They saw. They responded. They lived.
A group of them approached a village. There was food. They would eat. So they attacked. It would be like every other attack. All they wanted was food. No need to die.
A small-mind rushed into the village, shouting, as soon as it saw them. It didn't matter. He was large in the eyes of one Sliver, but to the Legion, it was nothing.
They pillaged, began to withdraw. But something was unexpected. A shadow flew over. An elder-mind. Older than them? Maybe. No. Not this one. Too small, too bold. It was young. It attacked.
Slivers died.
The corpses were eaten, until only one remained. It backed slowly away. Survival? Possible. The Elder-mind turned to it, wings unfurling, red light gathering in its maw.
The Sliver disappeared.
Were? Not here. Not near the others. Nowhere. Gone? They remembered. The silver one, the metal-mind. Connection? He had done the same. They wondered briefly, for a fraction of a second. Then the Legion turned their attention to other things.
His mind split. The voices disappeared, the collective gone. Where? He needed to find them. He was their hand, their talon. Theirs.
But where? Not this place. This place was unlike anywhere it had been before. So rich… full of life, of mana. Everywhere- in the land, the stones that were suspended above his head. Not even the hive had this much. It was… invigorating.
But it sensed other pieces, nearby. There was a void, less than anywhere where his hive had been.
His? No. It was the hive's. It had no will. The hive was its own. It was no Overlord. It was not 'he'.
It wanted to return. It pushed, attempting to replicate the feeling that brought it here. It didn't work. Others approached- small-minds, the ones with the pointy ears. It needed to run. But where? It was a plain. There was nowhere to hide.
The small-minds exited the forest, approaching it. At the sight of it, they stopped, suddenly crouching. It heard their voices. This was its purpose. It listened, and let others listen. This was why he was.
"I thought the Eldrazi were dead! What is that thing?" the tall one hissed.
"Like I know. But we need to kill it now. Blasted monstrosities." The one with the withered hand responded.
"Both of you are unobservant idiots. It can't be an Eldrazi. It's not draining the land." The third said. It was different. Female? Yes. Like the Queen. Perhaps their leader?
"Then what do we do? I think we kill it. I sure don't what to know what it does."
"Capture it, dim-wit. Study it. Figure out if there are more, and how to get rid of them. That sort of thing."
"So… how?"
There was a pause. He listened harder, went closer. Nothing. Where were they-
The sharp-metal at its throat answered its question. It stilled. What sort of creature could sneak up on it? It listened. It should have heard.
"Whatever you are, you're coming with us. Okay?"
It didn't respond. The small-mind sighed and managed to fit it into a large sack. He grunted when he lifted it up.
"Heavy little beast, isn't it? Weighs as much as me." He continued walking, the small-queen and other small-mind joining him. "It can't even be four feet long, either."
It kept as still as possible, and listened. It heard the rustle of grass and the leaves; the faint roars of creatures miles away. He heard the thrum of mana through the land, where it was broken or gone, as if some knife had cut it out and taken it. It was unlike anything it had ever heard; unlike even the remnants of the one who had made the Overlord's influence. That mana was deformed. This mana was destroyed.
He could hear the mana in the small-minds, as well. Little ran through the two males; but the small-queen had it in great amounts. It ran through her, into everything she touched, healing, repairing. What better person to be a queen, to help those of her mind?
But most of all, he heard the change within himself. He still heard his heart, his breath, every movement- but he heard something else. The blue that had always flowed through it, calming it, had been joined by others- the sound of fire, the wind of a moor. The rustling of leaves and the buzzing of the insects in a swamp. And underneath it all, there was a quiet- almost inaudible noise, even to him- that hummed differently than anything else.
This thing- this spark of mana- was unlike anything he had ever heard. What was it? His mind wondered to the fragments that were left in his mind from the Queen. Did any piece of her memory give him a glimpse into what it was?
Perhaps.
One memory in particular, she had heard something like this spark. When someone had come to reclaim a part of themselves, she had remembered- the silver-king, it supposed, though it unsettled him how close it was to the Queen's name- had this spark in him. But the Queen had never inquired about it. It was a foreign creature, and was already different in boundless ways from any other that she had met. To her, it was just another difference.
It realized that it couldn't be an accident that he had gotten these memories. But neither could it have been anything that it could think of that gave them to him. The chances that the memories that it had gotten were the ones it needed? They were negligible.
It abruptly stopped this chain of thought when the small-mind dropped him on the ground. It chided itself- it should have paid attention to the outside world. That was its job, to protect and serve the hive.
But was it really?
It had no time for these thoughts. It swept them away, paying attention to the small-minds that now gathered around the sack that contained it.
"You don't think it died, do you? Shouldn't it move?"
"I, for one, hope that it didn't. I still want to know where it came from, if it's sentient, and what it is." The small-queen responded. "It does look like an Eldrazi- so perhaps it's some relative of it?"
A murmur ran through the crowd. An Eldrazi? In the village? What were they thinking?
The small-mind with the withered hand pulled the sack off, and reached towards it. It squirmed away, not wanting whatever disease had caused the hand. "It's fine." He said. "Albeit acting very weird, if it were an Eldrazi. I don't think they can be afraid."
Another small-mind piped up. "And what do you plan on doing with it? I sure don't want the thing in the village." Anger rippled through the crowd. They agreed. This thing was not their problem.
"Well, first we just figure out if it's intelligent. Then we figure out what it is. Then we hand it to Nissa, Jace, or one of the other two when they come back. They'll know what to do with it. Or, if not them, I'm sure that there are humans who would love to study it."
Discontented whispers once again ran through the crowd, but no one argued. A small queen, indeed.
"Now… whatever you are… come along." It made no movement to follow. "Yerin. Please bring it." The small-mind that had carried him sighed. He made a move to grab the sliver, but it had already begun to follow, dual claws speeding it away from the small-mind.
The small-queen brought it to a small clearing in the woods. The light from the sun streamed down in beams; it stopped, basking in the sunlight's warmth. She sat down in the center of the clearing; and she made it quite clear that she wanted it to 'sit' in front of her. It wondered how the small-queen seemed to know that it wouldn't hurt her; another mystery, it supposed. As it finally got a good look at her, it noticed how different she was from the others. He feature were narrower, and her build more willowy. But the biggest difference he saw was that she had horns and hooves in the place of feet. Perhaps she truly was their queen; they were always better than their lessers.
As it curled up in front of her, she spoke to it. "What are you?" It thought about the question.
What was it?
It was the Legion's. To the Legion, it was an ear, a hand. But what was it to this queen? Not an Eldrazi, whatever that was. It was not unto the small-queen as it was to the Legion, as they had once been. He thought back to the small-minds from where the Legion was; they always shouted a specific word when they came, and though it understood the idea of language, it, along with every other sliver, had no real need for it- they were of one mind. So now it faced the problem of actually saying the word.
"Sss-i-vur." it attempted to speak with the clicks and hisses they could use, the first syllable coming out far too long, and the other two were too short- so it tried again. "Ss-lyve-urr…" That was said well enough. It looked at her.
"A Sliver? Is that what you said?" It thought for a second on how to respond before nodding. It remembered the motion that small-minds used.
"Are there more of you? Anywhere? Or are you also the only one of your kind?" It nodded again in response to the first question, but hesitated on the second. Only one of her kind? She was a little different, but that didn't make her any different from her kind. It was different too. It was the Legion's first listener- and the queen had never known one either. There had been no need for him to adapt in such a way. Yet he did. So it supposed the answer to the final question depended on your definition of 'kind'- but then it put into account his situation.
Definitely different from the typical among his kind. So he nodded again. She didn't seem to think this was abnormal. "So there are more? Where?" It shook its head. It didn't know… but it noticed some leaves behind her head, at the far side of the meadow, shaking in a different pattern than the rest… and realized that it wasn't using the blue mana inside it. It pulled on it… and didn't just hear. It saw. A beast, the size of an elder-mind, crashing out of the forest, charging them.
The small-queen got up, twisting to face the enemy… just as it mauled her, its claws slashing her into three pieces, and it attacked the defenseless sliver… and then it was back, watching the leaves as they shook even more violently.
Blue was useless, but it wasn't familiar with the others… though it wasn't certain it even understood that anymore. So it pulled on the one that felt the most dangerous- and as the mana course through him, it felt as if something had set fire to the sliver. Time slowed down as it moved faster. It watched as its claws turned to iron, as its carapace split and cracked, fire spewing out. The queen in front of it yelped, falling backwards… and the beast crashed through the trees again. But not this time.
QUEENS DON'T DIE.
It attacked, moving so fast that the world blurred, and the trail of flame it left rose. Its claws flashed across the beasts hide, around its head, tearing through the tendons at the feet. As it fell, unable to support its massive weight, it continued to burn and slash at it, the red mana forcing him to act, to move. This was his power, to kill or protect as it pleased. This was not the power of a sliver of the Legion. This was the power of a king.
He stopped, watching the beast die. What had given him power that exceeded even the Queen's? Had the silver-mind, too, had such strength at his disposal?
The Queen was lucky she had given that silver-mind the artifacts. Otherwise, she would have died.
He turned back to the small-mind- elf, if she was the same as the others he had met, was what he drew from his memory. Quite useful to have been able to hear any conversation it had wanted to. His carapace repaired itself, closing the fire was more, and time sped back to normal. Such raw power- he wondered what the others did, but thought against using them. Given the fire, the black mana may kill the elf-queen, and for all he knew, the others could be worse.
The elf looked terrified. "W-what are you? That was a baloth! The biggest one I've ever seen! And you killed it without a second thought- no, you already knew it was there!" He twisted his head slightly. Had he not already answered the first question? As for the foresight… he couldn't understand it either. Perhaps all of his powers were growing? However, it decided to clarify its nature… if it was even certain. Perhaps… "Sss-lyve-urrr… Knng…"
"Sliver King? You're a king? Of what? A race that doesn't exist?!" She was getting hysterical. What did he do? Blue calmed him down. Perhaps he could do the same…? No. that was evil, was it not? Taking their will away? He would not be an Overlord.
Before he could decide what to do, a group of normal elves, without horn or hoof, burst into the clearing. "What happened? We heard fighting, all the way from the village…" the lead elf trailed off as he saw the baloth… and the sliver with blood on its claws. "How in Zendikar's name did it…" He couldn't seem to comprehend that the creature had killed it. "Surround it!" the elf, coming to his senses, shouted at his men. "If it killed that thing, it can't be natural. Nothing is that strong alone!"
"Back away from it, Ferelus! If nothing else, it saved my life!" the queen had come to her senses quickly. "And yes, it's probably dangerous, but only because of power. If you think about it, do you think Nissa, or Gideon, or even Jace could not have killed it? Chandra certainly could've! That baloth was strong, yes, but there are those skilled enough to take on things far stronger than themselves. The Gatewatch showed us that when they killed the immortal. That baloth is very little in comparison to Ulamog or Kozilek, is it not? And if we can have something that can kill something like that baloth without taking a scratch, I want it on our side." She thought for a second before adding, "Along with the fact that it could probably demolish your entire garrison without you even knowing."
Ferelus stepped back, away from her, a look of surprise on his face. "W-well, Kaeri, we can't let something so dangerous back into the town!"
"You can and you will, Ferelus. Unless, of course, you wish to test the accuracy of my bow."
Ferelus eyes widened futher, and he stammered out, "Y-yes! S-sure, Kaer-ri!", before turning, attempting to walk out of the meadow, failing, and running as fast as he could. His men were close behind him.
"Thn-ahnkx," the sliver tried to say, but his ability to pronounce the words still wasn't good. She turned to him and snorted.
"Well, you're better than most. And beauty is sometimes the only thing that matters. What a fool, that Ferelus. With that scar down his face, he is far below me." She walked out of the clearing, leaving him to wonder what on earth had made her change so quickly.
By the time the sun was setting, Kaeri had returned to the meadow, seemingly back to her typical self. The sliver had thought of leaving, looking for a cave or such to stay the night, but decided to instead build a shelter, as the small-minds always did.
It looked terrible. He had seen people that had used the hide and bones of beasts to create tents- which is what he started with. Upon failure, rather than tear it down and rebuild it, he added onto it- branches, bones and rocks stuck out of what seemed to be a shell of mud and skin.
Still looked better than what goblins made.
He heard her approach, and slithered out of the hut. He turned towards Keari, waiting for her to say something.
"Hello? Sorry about earlier. That happens occasionally. I don't really know why." She shifted uncomfortably. "Probably because I'm just not normal." She sighed, and came up to the ring of stones the sliver had made. "A fire? I wouldn't have expected you to need one."
He looked at her, and clicked once, before slithering to a pile of wood and attempting to pull it to the firepit. Laughter bubbled out of her, the sight was ridiculous. "H-here, I'll help you." She managed to get out through her laughter, then walked over and picked up some wood. She piled it up, then managed to get a fire going with her knife and some flint.
"So what should I call you?" Kaeri asked, looking up at the stars. "Do you even have a name?"
The sliver pondered this. What would its name be? "Kayy-rrri?" it managed to get out.
"Hey! That's my name! You can't have it." She had a pained expression when she looked back at him. "You really don't have one? How about… Rhessi? Esidiz? Tholild?" The sliver shook his head at each name. "Perhaps a human name then? Daren? Anvezan? Torri?" Once again, no to each name. "Then what name do you want?"
It looked into the fire again, looking through its memories, what it remembered from conversations it had heard. "Sss-enyss-i-bilisss...?" He asked questioningly.
She gave out a short laugh. "Sensibilis? As in, sentient or sensible? Who would have thought you knew the language of wizards. Ha!" She shook her head, trying to understand the name, or how it knew such a language. "Sure, that works. But… where did you come from? Are you some sorcerer's creation?"
Sensibilis began to shake his head, then stopped. Had Volrath changed him, or the scientists that brought them back? Is that why he was different? "Dune-non-no…"
"You don't know? Where are you from?"
Another plane. That is what Volrath had said. A place elsewhere in the Blind Eternities. So it delved into the Queen's memories, drawing out what she had known, then began clawing a diagram into the dirt.
Three circles surrounding two crossed-out spirals, four stars, and a doorframe enclosed on either side by a squiggly line; through the doorframe was a pseudo-arrow, connecting a square in a triangle and an X between two lines.
Kaeri stared at it for a second, then looked at Sensibilis. "All I get is a door and stars."
Sensisbilis stared at Kaeri for a second; she had a slightly difficult time figuring out what he was thinking, given the lack of facial features. He pointed to the triangle, and said, "Hooome…". He repeated this process with the spirals, squiggles, intersecting line, and the strange symbol on the right- which, respectively, represented life (or in this case, a lack of it), mana, travel, and self.
"So… you came from the stars?" she asked, disbelieving.
He shook his head, and pointed to home, then added a second on the other side next to self, except made of dotted lines. Then, underneath, he drew a second picture.
"So I couldn't go through?"
The sliver pulled off something equivalent to a shrug. It drew a small horned version, except with a question mark instead of an x. And then he drew another person up with the other. And another. Dozens. Hundreds.
"So… I-I may be one in hundreds?"
Sensibilis stilled for a moment. Then added 'x100' next to it.
One in tens of thousands. One in a number of people greater than you've ever met.
"So… I… could go to your home?"
"Mae-bee," he responded, not certain if she truly was as he and the silver-king were. But given the uniqueness of her physical appearance and mental state in comparison to the other elves on this… plane… It wasn't unlikely in his mind.
"Is this were the Eldrazi came from? This other planet?"
"Dune-non-no…"
"What about Nissa and Gideon and the others? Are they not from here? That would explain their absence…"
"Dune-non-no."
"Does that mean the other elves were right? I may NOT belong! I may not even be from Zendikar! What am I then!?
"DUNE-NON-NO!" He emphasized this by striking a nearby rock with his claw. She turned to him, beginning to calm down immediately.
"…how did you do that?" she said a couple seconds later. "Usually, when I get hysterical, I… become meaner after… become hostile, looking down on everything else… no one has ever stopped it before…" She stared at him intently. "You weren't joking about the travelling? The ability to go between… different worlds?"
He shook his head.
"Maybe it's normal then… when it happens, it's like I'm there, but can't do anything… like I'm trapped in my own mind…" She sighed. "I almost hope I am like that. Then I'd be able to leave… the other elves don't like me. They despise me. They fear me. I just wish I could escape…"
He offered his claw out to her, and she took it. "Can you show me?"
He nodded, despite his uncertainty. He had failed once but this time he would go through the Blind Eternities. Rather than pull, he pushed, on the very fabric of the universe, with the power of his spark.
They stood atop a hill overlooking a massive forest, with gargantuan mountains rising far to the west. The forest seemed to stretch on forever.
"It's beautiful," Kaeri said, awed by the endless green, so much like the forests she had grown up in, before Ulamog, Kozilek and their children had destroyed it. "Are my kind here?"
"Dune-non-no." the once again stretched forward his claw. "Lezz fie-ned ou-t."