ACROSS THE WORLDS

By Ulquiorra9000

Chapter 29: Break-in

"But the dragons... they're extinct on Tarkir!" Zoira sputtered, still plastered defensively against a pine tree's trunk. Her breath steamed in the battle-churned air.

"Unless some new planeswalker came along and summoned it?" Mizuki suggested. She shielded her eyes from the cold, glaring Tarkir sun as she watched the hatchling dragon swoop over the Mardu horde. "There's 'walkers strong enough for that."

"N-no." Zoira swallowed and shook her head. "That one's clearly an Atarka-brood dragon. The Temur have shown me drawings, told stories... they're a distinct breed, found nowhere else. How can it be alive? Not even a powerful necromancer could... could..."

The elf shared horrified glances with her teenage companions. The alarm was clear in her eyes.

"Unless a shard of the Sphaera Vitae is animating it," Morrel finished, hardly daring to believe the words even as he spoke them. "It's consistent with what Kaida told us of how it works. Channeling the life force of the Multiverse, bringing back the dead... Azrael wants to use it to revive his people, so why couldn't it apply to a dragon?"

"It's gotta be someone else using it," Mizuki said shakily as the hatchling roared. "Azrael and his minions would just run off with the shard. They don't have any business on Tarkir itself, right? Not after they get the shard."

Morrel glanced back at the Atarka dragon. "I bet Rohkan and his blond friend have figured this out, too. They wouldn't be happy that a third party has Tarkir's Sphaera Vitae shard."

"Wait." Zoira took a few steps forward, her long elf ears twitching. She pointed. "The Temur are rallying!"

Indeed, the Temur warriors, and even the bears, threw up their hands in glee, shouting something as the Atarka hatchling raged over the battlefield. Carefully, Morrel and the others approached the battlefield, keeping clear of the hatchling. Then, Morrel heard what the Temur warriors were saying: "Our Khan! Our Khan! Praise to our Khan!"

Mizuki turned on Zoira. "Their Khan?"

"The leader of the Temur," Zoira said, going even more pale. "Every clan has its leading Khan. A man known as Surrak Dragonclaw is the Temur Khan. Tough bastard. I've heard that he's been stressed about Mardu and Sultai incursions..." She glanced over her shoulder at the forboding Qal Sisma Mountains. "The strange auroras came from there... Surrak's main camp is around there!"

"Do you suppose this Khan Surrak found the Sphaera Vitae and used it to revive an Atarka-brood dragon to drive out the invading clans?" Morrel ventured. "Would he go that far?"

"To protect his people, he'd do any damn thing," Zoira said in awe. Her honey-brown eyes watched the looming dragon snap its hungry jaws at stray Mardu orcs and horses. "This makes things... difficult."

"Yeah. How do we kill that thing?" Mizuki asked bitterly. "A whopping dragon... and yours crapped out, Zoira. What does that leave us?"

"The Temur are bound to route the Mardu warriors and Azrael's followers," Zoira said slowly. "After that... we'll have to track the Temur and find Surrak. Negotiate something. Maybe build up enough favors..."

Mizuki stamped an impatient foot. "To hell with that. We can sneak on it and force out the shard. If we're quick enough -"

"You want to assassinate a dragon?" Morrel asked, eyes wide.

"Well... kind of?" Mizuki faltered. "It would be tough, but..."

"Surrak has to protect his people, and we need that shard," Zoira summarized tensely. "There must be a middle ground. The Planeswalker Code isn't about taking advantage of others."

"But..." Mizuki sputtered. "This is crazy, Zoira. You wanna play nice with the Temur? We came here for one damned thing!"

"I know," Zoira snapped, "but I've seen too much suffering to, in good conscience, betray -"

"You've got to be kidding."

"Mizuki -!"

"Uh... girls?" Morrel waved his hands to get their attention and pointed. "Something's going on..."

The Atarka dragon made another pass at the Mardu, but this time, four fireballs arced through the air and blasted the beast's scaly underbelly. The hatchling screeched in irritation and responded with a thick jet of green flame. The Temur cheered.

Rohkan, Morrel thought. What's he planning?
When the green flames cleared, there was only empty, scorched ground. Then, Morrel saw two distinct figures race across the war-churned ground, right below the dragon. From here, Morrel squinted in the sudden glow as Rohkan coalesced his four swords into a single, gold-bladed sword. The same one that had driven him and the others from that mountain road battle.

Angels protect us!

Rohkan struck again. This time, long, red-green ribbons of razor-edged mana snaked through the cold air. The Atarka hatchling roared as the ribbons lashed through its scaly hide, gallons of steaming red blood seeping across the white snow.

The hatchling sagged in the air, straining to stay aloft. It didn't get a chance to recover; Rohkan's ribbons arced through the air and tore apart its right wing's membranes, and with another pain yowl, the hatchling thudded onto the ground. It groaned and scrabbled its huge claws at the ground.

Zoira clapped her hands over her mouth. "Oh no..."

Morrel tensed his mana aura, but he was too far from the battle to do much good. And what if the Mardu moved in to block him?

The hatchling swiped its claws desperately, but it was no good. Rohkan's ribbons smacked its nose, and the beast cowered in terror. This gave the blond man a chance to leap over its head and walk down its neck, moving to confront the rider - Khan Surrak.

Morrel stared numbly as Surrak rose to defend himself, raising an enchanted battle-ax to cleave the blond man's head in half. He was far too slow; the blond man concentrated his horrible white-black mana aura and shot out a bare hand.

The blond man's hand punched all the way through Surrak's body, his bloody fingers poking out the back.

Surrak crumpled.

The blond man tore at the Atarka dragon's back as Rohkan's gold blade carved its chest. Together, they dug deeper into its flesh.

"Damn it!" Zoira waved her arms around her, and through a flaming mana gate emerged her phoenix. She pointed, and it raced after the two men.

"Let's go!" Morrel led the charge. At this rate, Azrael would get the shard in his hands. He saw clusters of Mardu warriors converge to block his party, as he expected, but he didn't care. He charged green-white mana into his fists, ready to knock them away.

The Mardu cavalrymen, orc berserkers, and goblins formed a wall of shields, spears, and drawn bows, sneering as Morrel's party advanced. But they didn't yet strike.

Five-colored mana radiated from the Atarka dragon's chest as the blond man stood triumphantly, holding something in his hand: the Sphaera shard!

Morrel and the others skidded to a halt, horrified. "No!" Morrel blurted.

The Mardu parted to admit Rohkan and the blond man, who marched smugly toward Morrel's party. The blond man held the Sphaera shard in both hands.

"I've heard all about you fellows from Azrael," the blond man commented. "My name's Nihil. You see, I grew up poor on the streets of Ravnica until I learned to make something of myself, and then my Spark ignited. This shard..." He motioned with it. "... this will unlock so much potential! Azrael is a visionary artificer, and I sympathize with him for the loss of his people, including his poor sister."

"What's your point, Mr. Nihil?" Mizuki snarled.

"Aren't you a lively one," Nihil commented. He scanned the party of three. "Hmmmmm. Young lady, you're probably from Kamigawa, right? And you, elf lady... Zendikar? And the boy... perhaps Theros, or Bant."

Morrel stiffened. "Bant. What do you care?"

"Look at us all: united from across different worlds by our potential!" Nihil said broadly. "There's nothing else like it in all of creation! I'm appalled that you three, and this Veldor fellow, oppose Azrael. There's no need. There's no good or evil, only power. No more fighting is needed. Come with me, and I can prove that the best is yet to be."

Morrel didn't dare lower his mana aura, even if it did pale next to Nihil's intense one. "Azrael made an offer like that on Kamigawa," he said warily, "after Mizuki and I found the first Sphaera shard in a demoness' castle. I didn't trust him, and when Zoira found us, she showed us the real story."

"Which is?" Nihil asked.

"That Azrael's artifact won't work! It'll destabilize the AEther and destroy even more than he lost!" Morrel barked. He clenched his fists. "Azrael's gone crazy from grief and guilt. His sister's memory capsule... there's no denying Kaida's message. I heard the conviction in her voice."

A few seconds' silence fell. A horse snorted somewhere.

"You poor boy," Nihil said with a barking laugh. "I do sympathize for Kaida's untimely demise, but she, too, stands to recover from the Sphaera Vitae! Why don't you try telling Azrael that he doesn't deserve the chance to see her again? Or the rest of his nation's people? And the Sphaera contains many other arcane secrets. It would be a tragic waste to lose them if the device were not reconstructed."

"I saw what you did to Surrak," Zoira growled. "You're no creator or noble. Just a monster! I've seen men and women like you before, thinking that their power makes them right..."

"He was in the way," Nihil explained. "Elf lady, these primitive Temur wouldn't understand what's really going on here! Look past them. There is so much more to see and learn."

Morrel shook his head. "We won't. Not like that."

Rohkan glanced at Nihil. "I told you, Nihil. These buffoons are too wrapped up in their 'noble' cause. They've already stolen a shard on Innistrad! They captured Maretta! Obviously, they're not going to cooperate."

Nihil sighed. "You're sure, Rohkan? They won't see my reasoning?"

"Not at all. I've fought them on two separate occasions. Here, and all the way on Lorwyn. They're completely determined to get in the way."

"Fine." Nihil secured the Sphaera Vitae shard into his pants locket and buttoned it shut. He held out his right hand, palm out. His voice took on a horrible, cold, soulless edge. "I was afraid it would come to this. If you three want to die in vain, I'll arrange that."

White-black mana flowed down Nihil's arm, and purple flames gathered on his palm, seething as though desperate to escape.

He fired.

Morrel leaped out of the way just in time; heatless purple flames roared past him in a wide cone, and he tumbled to the snowy ground, muscles humming with his mana. He scrambled over to Mizuki and Zoira as the din of the flames filled his ears. "We must flee!" he cried. "Now!"

Meanwhile, Nihil turned his hand to redirect the flames at his opponents. This time, Zoira's phoenix gathered Zoira, Morrel, and Mizuki in its claws and hastily took to the air, straining at the load. The purple flames rushed beneath, narrowly missing their targets.

Zoira and Mizuki gathered their mana around them into mid-air planeswalking gates just as Nihil pointed his palm upwards. Morrel's vision was filled by furious purple flames rushing in to obliterate him -

All went black as Mizuki took him far away.

*o*o*o*o*

"Ooooof!"

Morrel and the others appeared in mid-air in Cae'Xan University's main hall, crumpling awkwardly to the smooth, metal floor. The phoenix cawed and glided in circles around Zoira until the elf dispelled it. Nearby, human and vedalken students gave the three visitors a wide berth, muttering to themselves and clutching their books and scrolls tightly to their chests.

"Damn it! That asshole!" Mizuki got to her feet, her face red with fury. "Nihil, was he? Talkin' like we were stupid! He's the jackass killing everyone for Azrael!"

"I know." Zoira winced and got to her feet, too. "This is bad. Nihil got what he wanted, and he knows that we've got our own Sphaera Vitae shard. He's bound to come after us now."

"Does he know about this university?" Morrel asked as Mizuki helped him up. "We should warn Veldor, just to be sure."

"Definitely. The dean should know where he is," Zoira said shakily. She nervously fiddled with one of her braided ponytails. "Follow me."

The dean, an older sphinx with gold, sapphire-studded rings on its paws, directed them to a private study in the north wing. They passed several platinum humanoids along the way, their swords held at the ready. Ignoring them, Zoira tentatively creaked open the door.

Books, chairs, and metal scrolls lay scattered everywhere as though blown by a strong wind. Veldor sat on the desk, face in his hands, his body lit by the cold Esper sun shining through the tall windows.

"V... Veldor?" Zoira crept toward him. "What happened? Look, we've got news. This new planeswalker, Nihil, he -"

"Someone was here." Veldor's voice was muffled behind his metal hands until he lifted his head. Something horrible glinted in his eyes. "Zoira, the university was robbed. Security golems are sweeping the place."

Zoira faltered. "Y... yeah, we saw a few on the way here."

"Did you lose your stuff?" Mizuki asked.

"We lost something," Veldor croaked. "Zoira, Morrel, Mizuki... I failed. The university's intruder alarms went off and I went to go check on it. I thought it was another Grixis raiding party. I was wrong." He swallowed. "Our Sphaera Vitae shard is gone."

Morrel stumbled back. "How... who even knew it was here?" His brain reeled.

"Oh, shit," Mizuki breathed.

"What she means is," Zoira put in, "is that we, too, failed. Rohkan, and that man Nihil, they found the fourth Sphaera Vitae shard on Tarkir and took it. It's probably already in Azrael's hands."

"In that case," Veldor said grimly, "we may already be too late. The security gargoyles found no intruders from Grixis or the other shard-worlds. But they did find strange probe creatures, definitely foreign. They left the plane shortly after the security teams completed their initial sweep. The current search is still underway, but may not turn anything up."

Morrel didn't know what to say. Veldor was clearly so distressed, he wasn't even using his obnoxious, clipped tone of superiority. Just a horrified man aghast at what had happened.

Veldor slid off the desk and approached his fellows. "But there is one more lead. I did find Azrael's base of operations on Dominaria. An abandoned temple. Intact. Probably has intruder alarm enchantments, but little actual security. Clearly, Azrael relies on secrecy and his own prowess. Not unexpected."

The familiar gleam of intellectual bravado crept back into Veldor's eyes. "Found door in temple that may lead to basement storage. Sphaera Vitae shards likely in there. Therefore, priority now is to storm the temple and assess progress of Azrael's plans. Either one of his followers stole the shard here on Esper, or it was a third party whom Azrael will soon track down and rob. Same outcome. Sphaera Vitae will be fully assembled soon. Cannot allow that."

Zoira stepped closer to Veldor and put her hands on his Etherium shoulders. "I know, Veldor. We'll get it done. Just give us a few hours to rest up, and we'll follow your lead."

"Last chance to enforce planeswalker code," Veldor added. "Delicate procedure. We stand much to lose. Dual setback to our cause significant."

"Veldor. Come on." Zoira leaned closer and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Don't lose hope. I haven't. You gonna make a bad impression on Morrel and Mizuki?"

There was a second of silence. Then, Mizuki clapped her hands together and beamed in spite of everything. "Finally!" she said. "Zoira, I knew you had feelings for V -"

"That's enough. Focus!" Zoira snapped, going pink as she drew away from Veldor. "A lot is at stake. You both know that. Nihil is probably even more powerful than Rohkan or Maretta. We'll need a counter-strategy to that purple flame."

Veldor tilted his head. "Elaborate."

"I'll give you a tactical summary, as you call it," Zoira said with a sigh, "after we get some time alone. So...?" She glanced at Morrel and Mizuki.

"Yeah, sure." Mizuki grinned and took Morrel's hand, guiding him out of the study and down the hall.

Morrel glanced back at the study door as Zoira shut it. "You seem to be feeling better." He squeezed Mizuki's hand, reassured by her soft, warm skin. I don't want to let her go.

"Don't get me wrong. I'm gonna kick Nihil's and Rohkan's sorry asses across the Multiverse," Mizuki said firmly, her gait turning more into a stomp. "But if Veldor really did find Azrael's base, that's our ticket to revenge. It's something."

"Careful, Mizuki." Morrel winced. "Revenge? We're not doing this for ourselves. We can't lose ourselves to anger or wrath."

Mizuki sighed wearily. "Yeah. I guess you have a point. But still... it would feel good to get back at Azrael, wouldn't it?"

"It... would definitely set me at ease once he's taken care of, one way or another," Morrel admitted. "I'm eager to settle this. By the planeswalker code, I can't let Azrael or Rohkan or Nihil run free."

Mizuki smiled. "There's that attitude I like in you. Keep it up."

"What, you don't think Bantians can be tough?"

"I've been around Bant. You guys meditate in pretty gardens and read musty old philosophy all day."

"You've never been in a sparring ring on the castle grounds."

"Sounds like I missed the good part."

"I miss a lot of things about Bant." Morrel smiled back.

"Then I'll put it back on my must-see list," Mizuki promised. "Now, come on."

"Where are we going, anyway?"

"Dining hall. I could use a bite. You?"

Morrel nodded. "Lead on."

He wondered, though, if any food would stay in his churning, tense stomach.