Chapter 10

Tomus was in a laboratory, one that looked very familiar to him somehow. In a magical sphere, there was a dragon hatchling. It was jet black with smooth scales, not like one of the others he saw in the nest, who had ragged spiky scales. Near the sphere was the Eye of Magnus, glowing faintly and rotating slowly. The dragon was sleeping restlessly, as to be expected of a specimen of its stature. It was a runt, but not in size; it was actually bigger than most hatchlings, it was demented mentally. It was unable to speak, no matter how hard it tried. Tomus had easily lured it out of the nest and captured it to study how it would develop. Tomus touched a crystal on the pedestal and the dragon was shocked by a low level magic shock. The dragon woke immediately and shrank from the source of the pain.

"Can you understand me?" said Tomus to the dragon

The dragon looked at Tomus with hate in its eyes and tried to smash the sphere with its horns. The sphere remained intact, yet the dragon continued to smash it.

"Subject is not responsive, going to try other methods."

Tomus pushed another crystal and the dragon was assaulted with raw, knowledge-infused magic. The Eye of Magnus glowed brighter in response to the magic. The dragon reeled with the pain. Tomus continued the flow, oblivious to the dragon's response. The dragon started to scream, but not in the sense of an animal, it was the scream of an intellectual being tortured. Tomus cut the flow of magic immediately and walked closer to the sphere.

"Can you understand me now?" has asked

The dragon growled and nodded slowly

"Good, understand that I did not want to cause you harm, I was merely trying to help you."

"You- you took me from my family and tortured me. Why should I believe that you don't wish to hurt me?"

"Because I will let you go tomorrow, once I make sure that I didn't do anything wrong. Again, I apologise for any pain I have caused you. Get some rest; we have a long journey tomorrow."

Tomus left the room, and it dissolved around him until he saw the blue sky of Dominaria again, with Ajani looking over him.

"You blacked out for a second, Bolas hasn't moved since. I don't know why, it's like he's in a dream. I dare not attack until we are ready, lest I wrench him from his stupor."

"Good call. I just had a flashback. I- I mean Magnus, captured Bolas as a hatchling and tortured him. Bolas was mentally underdeveloped at birth and Magnus sought to correct it. Bolas never forgot the pain of being torn from his family for so long or the physical pain of the transition. As a result, Bolas hated Magnus for it for ever. What I don't know is how Bolas ended up on another plane."

"That," Bolas began, coming out of his stupor "is because of the Eye of Magnus. It gave me my planeswalking powers and sent me to Dominaria. There, I grew up augmented with Magnus's magic and I sought to become more powerful without having to rely on anyone else. I may have been the last born of Akatosh, but I am still more powerful than any of my kin. And now, you will know what true pain is like." Bolas leaned forward quickly, emitting a pulse of red and black energy from the gem between his horns at Tomus. Time suddenly slowed down for Tomus for some reason. He brought the staff of Magnus around in a wide overhead arc, trailing magical energy. With both hands, he thrust it forward and fired magic at the beam of pain. A massive light blue pulse of magic shot out of the staff and intercepted with Bolas' spell. The two magics sprayed out where they impacted, tearing apart the landscape around them. Bolas pushed, Tomus pushed harder, fuelling his counterspell with a burst of emotion. The crystal on the staff shone with a red light, and his spell changed colour and increased in size.

"Don't talk to me about losing the ones you love! At least you had the chance to be reunited with them, now I will never have that chance! There wasn't even a body for me to bury!" screamed Tomus

Bolas clawed at the ground for traction, the tangible force of the spell pushing him further and further back down the cliff.

"Impossible! The mighty Nicol Bolas defeated by a mere human!" thought Bolas

Ajani simply stood on the sidelines, trying not to get caught in the exchange of furious magical energy. Tomus' spell reached closer and closer to Bolas, clawing at the inferior spell with an unnatural hunger. Bolas resisted with every fibre of his being, willing it not to be so, but in vain. The massive burst of magic released when the spell connected with Bolas' head was enough to send his neck snapping back, the gem slowly fracturing and then breaking in a shower of light.

"Wait, I know you killed my brother, Aldui-" Bolas started, but cut himself short with a guttural cry of pain as he fell to the ground and rolled down the hill.

"Ajani, we must finish the monster, it is not yet over!" cried Tomus

"You are right, but I do not think it is wise to follow our quarry at this point. Destroying that gem did something to him and we don't know what. We should remain cautious."

"Agreed."