Magic the Gathering: Not Just a Game

Chapter 3:

A distance away from Kirten in a dark room, a small group of people dressed in dark robes met. The room seemed ancient in appearance, as if it were from the medieval ages. The only source of light was a series of candles around the room, casting an eerie glow on all those present. One was on his knees in pain, for he was the target of a dark spell that the leader had used. The cloaked man was gasping for air, trying to recover from the effects of the spell. "Explain to me how the hell you FAILED to eliminate the wizard of red mana!" the leader demanded, a single eye visible from under his robes glowing red.

"You said not to use one of my creatures, for they would attract attention and I would be traced," the man replied painfully. "I encountered him battling another wizard, one that controlled all the mana types in existence, in the simple card version. During their battle, the opponent let his rage get the better of him and caused a rouge summoning. The area was crowded with people, so they wouldn't have summoned anything to eliminate the goblin without attracting attention."

The leader grunted. "I figured as much, and it did seem a good plan," he agreed, "but that still doesn't explain why he is still alive!"

"…I gave it a silent suggestion, then let the goblin raise hell, knowing that controlling it would draw attention to me." He sneered. "That damned fool of a goblin got interested in attacking a girl that locked eyes with it instead of trying to go after the two wizards. The next thing I know, an aven warrior appears out of nowhere and slays the goblin."

The leader eyeballed him. "You are as proficient with tracking mana as any other wizard. Did you sense where the mana controlling that aven came from?" he said threateningly.

The man shook. "I did sense it, but it disappeared as quickly." He fumbled with his thoughts. "I think the girl may have summoned it, but I sensed no mana control from her, let alone any source of it from her."

The leader glared at him. "Let me get this straight," he sneered. "You believe that an ordinary girl summoned that creature?"

"Yes, and it seemed that it wasn't just a regular aven," the man replied, still shaking. "The creature that defeated the goblin was Major Teroh of the Aven Order."

The leader frowned. It was making very little sense. No normal human could ever hope to summon any spell or creature at all. Even more, Major Teroh is a legend of his race, and all legendary creatures and artifacts require a great deal of experience and control to command. "Now tell me, even when the goblin failed, why didn't you act?" he asked in a threatening voice.

The man gulped. "The ruckus was enough to attract security to the scene, only to encounter Kamahl with his Mirari sword. The warrior guarded the wizards as they escaped. I did nothing to avoid exposing myself."

"I want you to go back and deal with the wizard of red mana. Hunt him down. Eliminate him," he snarled. "If anyone gets in your way, eliminate them as well. Use any means necessary. We can't afford him showing up and interfering with out plans. Don't even think of returning without his carcass in tow, or you will end up as the wizard should be. NOW GO!" The man shakily got up and walked away at a fast pace, leaving the room within thirty seconds.

He looked at the circle of loyal subjects still in the room. All of them are adept wizards, and each one of them have control of mana in varying forms. He then looked at another one of the wizards in the room, locking his red eyes with the wizard's yellow ones. "I want you to follow him, make sure he does his job. Report to me when he is done or is killed." the figure nodded and walked away. He then looked at the remaining wizards in the room. "Now that that's out of the way, lets get back to the plans."

Diron and Nick were sitting not too far away from where Kari was. She was sitting cross-legged and had her green eyes closed, and all she was working on was focusing on her control of mana. Both wizards were impressed as to how quickly she had caught onto focus, for a small aura of mana surrounded her. However, it flickered a lot, for she couldn't keep control of it very much.

"Don't you find it strange," Diron said to Nick in a low voice.

"Find what strange?"

"This girl," he replied. "Even though it isn't much, she seems to have some limited control over her mana flow, and has maintained that little control for almost a half hour. Even more, she managed it within the first ten minutes of meditating."

"So," Nick said. "We both agreed she has quite a bit of potential on her. Maybe she's a fast learner and good listener."

Diron nodded with a grim look on his face. "True, but we honestly shouldn't be training her now. She's supposedly quite old to be learning how to use mana. The fact she has this much potential without prior training may point out that she is…." he paused and thought. "…I don't really know what. She currently shows almost as much potential as any child of six, yet she's three times that age."

"What are you saying?" Nick asked questionably. "That her current potential could have been three times greater at six than now?"

"Exactly," Diron said. "That is far too much mana potential for a six year old, and that is only a rating that an experienced mana user could achieve, such as me."

"You're saying it as if it were a bad thing," Nick said back. "This isn't like Jedi training. She can't necessarily turn evil because of her age." Diron shot him a look for even using Star Wars as reference, shook his head, then looked back at the girl. Her aura seemed to have gotten a little brighter as they had spoken. "Besides, something's been bothering me as well."

"What would that be?"

"The goblin," Nick replied. "It was mine, yet it acted differently from others that I have…accidentally…summoned as rogues. They would normally go after anything until it leaves their sight, then go after another." He looked at Kari. "That one locked eyes with her and chased her, even when she got out of his sight and ran through the crowd. I think something was controlling it."

Diron frowned. "Couldn't be. I sensed only our auras in the mall."

"Well, I think something was controlling it, or else was 'suggested' to attack something." He shook his head. "I'm not too sure why."

Diron shook his head. "Forget about it, the goblin probably wanted her badly for whatever purpose it wanted, and Teroh ended its desire with its life. Its water under the bridge now."

He was about to reply when both he and Diron froze, sensing a mana user nearby. Kari was still meditating in her way before the fence behind her was smashed down. Shocked, she opened her eyes and turned around, only to be met head on by a creature of great strength, which also made her instantly forget everything she was thinking at that moment aside from fear. The Hypnox slammed into her, sending her flying until she crashed painfully on the ground, rolling several times before finally stopping. Diron and Nick weren't able to respond at all before she was hit. "Dammit, a wizard!" Neither wizard was prepared for a battle, so they focused on trying to gather their mana as quickly as possible. They didn't have the time to do so as another creature lashed at them. Two Nezumi Ronins came down on them fast and slammed them hard into a wall. Both wizards spat up blood as they got up. Both of them were ready with at least one creature in mind, but they didn't have the mana stores yet to summon something to stop the Hypnox. They made their quick summon, both of them getting a pair of raging goblins each. It would be enough for the rats, but the hypnox would kill them outright. They saw the ronins coming again to strike, sending their goblins to stop them. Both looked in shock at how the ronins easily parrayed the attacks of the goblins and easily slay them.

Diron frowned. "Shit! Those rats are samurai!" he muttered as he focused on his mana to get another creature out to defend himself.

Nick nodded as he focused on getting grizzly bears out. "Straight from the realms of Kamigawa, eh?" He looked up in time to see Hypnox coming for him. He got slammed hard and started to tumble on the ground as Kari had, yet managed to get back on his feet painfully. "This guy has no honor, striking without warning!" He looked up in time to notice the two samurai coming for him already. His grizzlys got in the way of one of them, biting the samurai's head off just as the weapon went through him with ease. Both creatures collapsed in a pool of their own blood, whilst the second samurai rat swung his blade at Nick. He yelled in pain as the sword pierced his skin, a trail of blood flowing out of him. He collapsed onto his knees from the pain, yet his eyes still held anger.

Because Diron wasn't engaged, he had the time to summon out a creature of his own. A burst of fire erupted where the creature was summoned, then took the form of a flaming cat. The cat roared in challenge and waited for something to respond to that challenge. Unfortunately, the instant he summoned it, it was snuffed out by a death spell. "Shit!" he said as the creatures charged at him, among them was a netzumi cutthroat. The Hypnox slammed into Nick again, weaking the young wizard severely and causing him to lost control of his mana. He collapsed, unable to concentrate enough to summon another while Diron was hit full out by the Netzumi ronin and cutthroat. Blood seeped out of the wounds inflicted upon him as he defiantly looked just past them, spotting the wizard. The man was wearing a black cloak over his entire body with a hood on his head, which revealed only his mouth from the darkness under it. Diron scowled at the necromancer as he summoned again, only to have his warrior stomped out just like his firecat. He realized he was dead before the creatures came for him again, being cut up by the rats again, which were now accompanied by another Nezumi ronin, as well as being hit by the Hypnox. He thudded on the ground roughly and rolled several times before coming to a stop, all signs of life gone from him.

The necromancer laughed as he stepped up to Diron's body. "Well done, my minions," he said to his creatures as he pulled out a knife from his robes. "Now to sever his head and bring it to my lord, and my mission will be complete." He looked at his creatures. "You may eat the body once the head is removed," he continued, getting the attention of his creatures easily with their prize.

In the woods, another Necromancer watched the entire event from the sidelines, following her master's orders. 'Not exactly how I would have done it,' she mused to herself in thought, 'but effective nonetheless. Time to report back and….' she stopped when she saw an odd glow. It was that of a mana aura, yet the necromacer out there didn't see it. She then noticed something, the aura was coming from where that girl was after Hypnox rammed her out of the way. 'What?'

The other necromancer was getting low to cut the head clean off Diron's neck when he suddenly felt a shock from his side, causing him to drop his blade. His eyes whipped in anger at Nick, who had barely managed to gather enough mana for a lightning strike on the necromancer himself. "Still have a little fight left in you," the man said evilly. He then said simply, "Kill him!" He noticed quickly that his creatures didn't respond to his order. "I told you to kill…" his eyes widened when he saw that his creatures were turning to stone. They were struggling to move, the rats screamed profanity in their native tounge, yelled in rage, even attempted to sever the stoned limbs on them, but to no avail. Like a plague, their skin turned to stone until they all were statues. "What the hell?"

"In Otaria, it was said that the Order had posession of the Mirari," a woman's voice said. He turned around and noticed a woman standing not too far away. Her hair was a pale green with white streaks in it, while her eyes were brown. He noticed as well that this girl was wearing the same clothes as the one Hypnox has batted away. "It offered them power, but ended up destroying most of them by calcifying their bodies into stone statues." She focused as she spoke, and creatures popped up from her sides. Both Nick and the Necromancer were shocked, for every creature she was summoning were legends from the Order of Avens and creatures of Krosan Forest. Lieutenant Kirtar, Major Teroh, and Commander Esha appeared at her sides, along with Kamahl as Krosan's champion, Seton, and Thriss. "The spell, Kirtar's Wrath, is what calcifies all creatures summoned by wizards and destroys them. You can do nothing to save then now, and nothing to save yourself from your own death." The necromancer tried to summon anyway, only to notice that she had also casted a cease fire spell, preventing him from summoning a creature at that moment. "You attacked those that weren't prepared to fight in a most dishonorable manner, and your death…." The legendary warriors she summoned then lifted their weapons and charged, "…is by my judgement." Kamahl channeled his energies into his weapon, which then strengthened every warrior in the charge. The necromancer could only look in horror as they all swung their weapons onto him. Once the attack was done, the warriors moved away from the now bloodied and mutilated corpse of the Necromancer.

Her brown eyes surveyed the area, spotting Nick on the ground. He looked at her in awe and fear, for she was rather effective at slaying the enemy. She moved closer to the wounded boy and chanted a spell. A white light surrounded him as his wounds healed up within a moment. Energy surged through his body again as though he weren't even bleeding before, allowing him to get back up. "Thanks for saving me," he said gratefully.

She smiled back at him. "No trouble at all," the girl said, "But healing you only required little of my energy. To do what I must next," she said as she looked at the lifeless body of Diron, "will require a lot more." Nick realized what she was, a mage of life. Excluding Necromancers, only a life giver would be able to revive the dead, but only life givers can restore one to their prior selves, while necromancers would revive something as a zombie. He kept his distance as she moved to Diron and knelt down beside him. She looked at how beaten up the wizard was before she started to mutter another spell. When she finished saying the spell, it seemed that nothing had happened. She looked at the young man again before moving herself closer to him and planting a kiss on his lips, lightly exhaling into him as she did so. She stayed that way as his wounds healed, up until his heart started beating again.

She was just pulling away when Diron suddenly inhaled and opened his eyes. He blinked several times see properly when he saw the green and white haired girl kneeling next to him, who was mildly red in the face. "What happened?" he mumbled, clearly remembering what should have happened.

Nick stood there dumbstruck. "You were dead…." he said before looking at the girl. "What did you do?"

She looked at him. "I administered the spell Breath of Life," she said simply. "Since it normally is used differently to revive dead creatures, I had to administer it differently to bring him back to life."

Diron blinked in understanding. "So I was killed." He looked at the girl oddly, for the small bit of red in her cheeks hadn't left. "What did you do to revive me with it?"

"She snuck a lip-lock on you," Nick said, answering the question for her. That was when he noticed that she was wearing the same clothes as Kari, yet he couldn't find her anywhere. "What the hell? Where's Kari?"

Diron noticed too, but had a feeling he knew where Kari was. "You're Kari," he said, looking at the girl next to him, "aren't you?"

She nodded slightly. "Partially," she replied. Nick looked at her in shock, but thought it best to hear her out. "The one you know as Kari is here, but that is only a part of her. I'm her other part, a former wizard from another dimension."

Both boys looked at her oddly, but it was Diron that spoke again. "That makes some sense," he said.

"Makes sense?" Nick said in shock. "In what way?"

"Her presence here isn't much different from us summoning the creatures here," he replied. "They don't just pop up out of thin air, they are called to us through the Multiverse. She may have been from one of the realms noted in the stories of Magic.". He looked at the girl again. "As to how she's here, it is possible she merged within Kari's body before she was born."

"That is correct," the girl said, "I only just awoke from my slumber within her, yet I cannot maintain prolonged control. I must leave soon." She sat back down. "Whatever you do, don't mention my presence within her. I'd rather confront her myself when I get the chance."

Nick nodded. "Could we at least know your name?"

She looked at them with her brown eyes once more. "As long as you don't say it to Kari, my name's Reika." She smiled slightly before closing her eyes. The creatures she summoned were surrounded by circled of their respective colors and absorbed into the ground as her hair returned to being brown. She slowly opened her eyes, the awoke with a start. Her green eyes were wide in shock as she remembered the Hypnox attacking her before going unconscious. She looked at Nick and Diron. "W-what happened?"

Nick and Diron looked at each other for a moment before Diron responded. "A friend came by and helped fight off another wizard, who was responsible for you being attacked. You ok?" She nodded slightly. "Alright. I think you should be getting home, though. Just relax for now, okay?" She nodded again and said her goodbye for the moment as she went home. Diron just watched as she left, hoping that whoever sent that Necromancer wasn't after her that whole time. He never noticed the other one in the woods as it made a hasty exit to tell the boss.

Okay, I admit that I didn't note any player's decks this time. That's because I'm rethinking about how their decks would appear now that I understand the Kamigawa set. Expect them to get Kamigawa cards of their own soon.

As for reviews………(crickets in background) maybe I should summon a gravedigger to find some, for I didn't see any for chapter two.

Until next time, if there is a next time…..