ACROSS THE WORLDS
By Ulquiorra9000
Chapter 25: March of the Nomads
In the sunny but chilly morning, the Temur clansmen didn't just move out to begin their counter-raid against the Mardu intruders; they folded up all their tents and huts and brought them along, too.
"I've seen bands of nomads back home on Bant," Morrel commented to Mizuki as they hiked with the Temur down the snowy mountain road, shivering in his borrowed bear-skin coat. "But they weren't nealy as... nearly as -"
"Badass?"
Morrel laughed. "Impressed?"
Mizuki smiled back. "I like anyone who can fend for him or herself. These Temur know what they're doin'. I mean, look at where they live! I'd never go to a place like this."
She had a point, Morrel thought. Up here, in the clear morning light, he saw just how wounded the plane of Tarkir actually was. Massive bones, mainly skulls, ribs, and arms, poked out of the snow and lay in the pine forests, along with tattered remains from earlier battles. Huge chunks of the rugged terrain had been blasted away or torn up as though by a god's hand. And the wind carried a constant scent of dried blood and sweat.
How long had these five clans been feuding?
Morrel nearly slipped on a patch of ice hidden under the snow, and he waved his arms to balance. A nearby Temur man chuckled. "Watch it, boy," he commented. "D'you realize how long a fall it is?"
"Yes, thank you." Morrel glared back at the man, who chuckled again and looked away.
It was definitely going to be a long hike, Morrel thought. At least he didn't have to do any heavy lifting; the bears and ice elementals took care of that. Several brown-furred grizzlies lumbered along, huge piles of supplies roped onto their backs. Even more fascinating were the elementals: ice-skinned beasts with round bodies and stumpy, clawed legs and long arms. They had no faces, but instead, plants that grew from the tops of their heads, the little trees and flowers sustained from inner red-green mana encased in their frozen bodies. The brutes easily carried folded-up huts and large weapons on their backs.
"So, Zoira," Morrel asked the elf quietly. "Do you have any leads on a possible Sphaera shard, or Azrael's team's movements?"
"I'm playing it by ear," Zoira explained. "Let's get down to the mountain base before we -"
"You totally don't have a plan, do you?" Mizuki teased Zoira.
The elf made an indignant noise. "Just so you know, the Temur are deeply connected to the wilderness, and can even sense the past and future. We'll make good use of their skills."
Morrel's eyes widened. "The past and future... they're sighted seers?"
"What?"
"That's, well... what they're called on Bant. Blindfolded monks who see into the future with the angels' guidance -"
"Lame," Mizuki cut in.
Morrel made the same indignant noise as Zoira.
"See them?" Zoira asked, pointing to a small group of people in long, heavy brown robes. They wore wide, stiff hoods over their heads, their faces covered with animal claws dangling from the hoods' edges.
"Those're the seers?" Mizuki asked.
"Whisperers, in fact," Zoira said. "They tap into the whispers of the frozen past, and use red mana to melt it into the currents of the present and future. It works even better when they're in dragon skulls."
Morrel glanced down at the blasted terrain again. "Dragons... those are all dragon bones in particular?"
"Yeah," Zoira said, nodding. "They were all hunted down and killed generations ago, by what the shamans have told me. The dragons around here were part of a fire-breathing brood, led by the brood-mother Atarka. All gone now, though. Atarka is said to have fallen last, cornered in a cave."
"What, they were all killed?" Mizuki asked, her eyes also wide. "I've seen dragons before, Zoira... pretty tough bastards."
Zoira shrugged under her borrowed coat. "The fine details were lost over time. All I know is that it happened, and the clans have feuded ever since. And now, a Sphaera shard may have been thrown into the mix. Never a dull moment, huh?"
Mizuki grinned. "Bring it on."
The party advanced steadily down the mountain slope, a chilly wind picking up as ragged white clouds drifted across the sky, skirting around the harsh, cold sun. Morrel kept hearing distant wails and roars of beasts throughout the mountains (Qal Sisma mountains, according to Zoira), probably bears, elementals, and apparently, "yeti" creatures as well. Plus the cries of other fauna like elk, reindeer and goats.
"Okay, I think we're getting close," Zoira told Morrel and Mizuki, coming back from a quick chat with the tribal chief. "We're gonna set up camp at a good spot an hour's walk from here, then scout the place and prepare to drive out the Mardu raid parties."
"How long's that gonna take?" Mizuki demanded, shivering harder than ever. "We'd better find a Sphaera shard..."
"The Temur have a strategy: wait and see, then pounce with the ferocity of a bear," Zoira said patiently. "It works, you know. I've seen them at it. There's even a folk tale of a man and woman who got lost one winter night, and they even challenged a bear in its cave den. Instead of backing off, the bear actually let them in and fed them!"
"Did that really happen?" Morrel asked curiously.
"Who knows?" Zoira shrugged. "Still a nice story, though."
The Temur all halted, tensed.
A bear sniffed the air and growled deeply. "Easy, girl," a Temur man said, patting the bear's head. "You smell fresh meat?"
"This can't be good. Give me a sec..." Mizuki produced her gold capsule, tapped the passcode into its runes, and summoned her Esperite homunculus, Sora. The blue-skinned, dark-eyed child tilted his head back, his blue-white-black mana radiating from his body in waves.
"What the hell's that thing?" a Temur warrior asked, wrinkling his nose at the homunculus.
"This is Sora," Mizuki said. She manifested her left arm's curse. "Shut up, okay? Something's goin' on..."
"Danger, mistress," Sora said, giving off more waves. "Incoming hostiles detected. There... and there... and there..." He started pointing in different spots around the mountainous terrain.
Zoira fired up her red mana aura. "Get ready!" she shouted.
Not two seconds later, the loud whinnying of horses, the thunder of hooves, and the collected roar of fury echoed across the land. From further down the slope and around a corner, countless Mardu cavalrymen raced up to meet the Temur, red and yellow lightning streaking from their horses' insane speed.
Arrows rained down from a root-choked ridge, and bears and men alike shouted as the arrowheads pierced them. Bears and frost elementals roared in defiance and the Temur prepared their javelins and mana for defense, clustering around the attack points Sora had indicated.
Morrel was sure that only Sora's early warning saved the Temur from total slaughter. The warriors barely reached the Mardu clansmen's attack points in time, evading the worst of the Mardu attacks. Spears, javelins, maces, and arm-mounted bone claws tore into the Mardu raiders, human, orc, and goblin alike. But just as many Temur succumbed, their bodies diced by Mardu scimitars, pierced by arrows, or roasted by red-black lightning.
"Large mana aura detected," Sora said, pointing at another ridge. "Significant risk."
Morrel turned, his mana aura already flared up, and beheld Rohkan.
The four-armed, blue-skinned vedalken landed with an earth-shuddering thud, bracing himself as he caved in the mountain path. His four swords were drawn, and he flourished them as he stood. "You're so easy to find," he commented over the din of inter-clan battle. "Zoira, you have no subtlety, do you? Ganbaatar's men were more than ready."
Zoira answered by conjuring her phoenix and sending it racing right at Rohkan's smug face.
Rohkan rolled out of the phoenix's way and allowed the firebird to crash into the mountainside in a blast of flame. The vedalken pointed his four swords at Morrel and Mizuki, red mana flowing down his blades and to the tips.
Not this again! Morrel tensed himself, then sprang to the side as Rohkan released four huge fireballs.
Morrel's vision was swallowed up in fire as the projectiles blasted all across the narrow battlefield, throwing a few stray Temur aside in the process. Morrel sprang on Rohkan's flank, his blue-white-green mana charging along his left fist, cold air whipping at his face. I've got this one chance!
Just as Rohkan turned to see Morrel flanking him, Morrel pounded the ground with his fist. His mana raced along the rocky road and up Rohkan's left leg, solidifying into oversized crystals that enveloped his body. The crystals surged up his torso and onto his left arms, locking them into place.
"Not expecting that, were you?" Morrel taunted breathlessly.
Before Rohkan could respond, Mizuki emerged from the residual flames and slashed her claws down his chest, tearing his flesh wide open. Red blood blasted everywhere.
The crystals shattered as Rohkan was sent reeling, and before he could recover, Zoira's phoenix circled back around and swept its wings. With a gale of scorching air, the bird sent Rohkan crashing into the mountainside. He vanished in a pile of snow.
"Good work, guys," Zoira panted, catching up to them. She exended an arm and her phoenix landed on it. "Let's finish him before -"
Four cavalrymen came thundering down on the party of three, their enchanted hooves smashing into the ground. Morrel crouched and threw up a blue-white barrrier, but it was no good; one cavalryman's horse trampled his barrier apart, and the leftover energy flattened Morrel onto his back, stunning him. He instinctively shielded his face with his hands as the horse reared up, hooves poised to crush him -
Zoira's phoenix drilled its beak right into the horse's haunch and sent it flying, rider and all.
That was close! Morrel scrambled to his feet and leaped, his green-white mana charging his left arm's muscles. A terrific punch knocked aside a second raider, freeing up Mizuki as the last two raiders squared off with them.
Then everyone was sent flying as another quartet of fireballs tore up the battlefield, and Morrel shouted as he felt the fierce red mana charring his torso, vaporizing his own mana inch by inch. His head ached as he was sent tumbling across the rocky road, his skull throbbing as it hit the ground.
Those raiders... they covered for Rohkan! Morrel groaned and dragged himself to his hands and knees, his ears ringing as he looked up. He saw Rohkan striding over, his green mana finishing healing his wounds. Another fireball threw Mizuki aside like a doll, and Morrelt a thrill of fury as he saw her tumble helplessly away, her body mangled.
"You have no business on this plane!" Rohkan shouted over the battle, advancing on Zoira. "Azrael will get what he wants. You're only going to get yourself killed here."
Zoira prepared to launch her phoenix -
Another fireball knocked her onto her back, and in a flash, Rohkan leaped on her, slashing his swords down to slice her apart.
Zoira scrambled out of the way, and her phoenix let out a flame jet to push Rohkan away for one precious second. This bought Mizuki enough time to blast him away with a jet of black mana from her fingertip.
"Fine. We'll do this the hard way," Rohkan snapped, getting to his feet a short distance away. He ran red-green mana down his swords and bundled them together in a ray of mana.
What the... Morrel got to his feet and stumbled over to Mizuki, his remaininbg mana humming around him.
Rohkan's four swords fused together, and he held the new sword in his upper left arm with grim resolve. Its blade was solid gold, red-green mana buzzing along its edges.
"This is a weapon unlike any other on my home plane of Mirrodin," Rohkan boasted. "Watch."
He swung it.
Huge ribbons of red-green mana snaked across the battlefield, thrashing around like whips. The ribbons arced viciously around the battlefield, sending up blasts of mana everywhere they hit, and whole chunks of the mountain road collapsed down to the valley far below.
Mizuki fired another mana blast, only for Rohkan's ribbons to converge on it and neutralize it with a detonation of red-green-black mana.
Rohkan emerged from the blast with his gold sword poised over his head. "Should have run when you had the chance," he told them. "Too bad."
No! We're already too tired to fight him like this... Morrel summoned his mana for a blue-white barrier just as Rohklan slashed his gold sword down.
The whole mountain ridge shuddered as the red-green mana ribbons thundered down on it. Morrel felt a thrill of vertigo as the ground beneath him crumbled and collapsed, and he felt himself fall with the chunks of stone.
Mizuki desperately fired another mana jet and Zoira's phoenix added its fire, but the best they could do was push Rohkan back. Then, a mana ribbon shot through the air and pierced the phoenix.
The bird screeched in pain and drew back, bleeding liquid flames. It swooped down and seized Morrel, Mizuki and Zoira in its claws, pumping its wings wearily as more rocks and snow tumbled around it.
Slowly, painfully, the phoenix lowered its three passengers down through the valley, toward the protective shelter of the pine trees.
"Wait! Rohkan..." Morrel blurted.
"We've gotta run," Zoira said grimly as the battlefield became far above them. "You saw what he did. We'll have to rethink things..."
Morrel didn't see the point in arguing. We're totally outclassed, aren't we...