Disclaimer: I do not own Magic: The Gathering, only my own characters.
CHAPTER 48-The Viashino Attack
The lizard-men breached the surface of the sand, surrounding the summoners. They did not attack, but only stood their ground, as if waiting for something.
The summoners were caught completely unaware. Charles and Erik were frozen in their battle poses, mana still at the ready. However, the energy could not go unused forever and both summoners yelped in pain as they got mana burned while the mana left their bodies.
Furiously waving his burnt hand, Erik called a Healing Salve into existence. A small white flask appeared and Erik uncorked it, pouring the contents out onto his injured hand. After rubbing the ointment onto his burn, he felt the pain diminish as the salve healed his hand.
"Hey, how about one over here?" asked Charles.
"No," said Erik "You'll just have to suffer."
"Why you…" growled Charles.
"Hey!" said Khell "Knock it off. Am I going to have to separate you like two fighting kids?"
"Look!" said Eva, pointing to a dune "Someone is coming."
Effectively, a lone figure was visible in the distance. As it got closer, they could see it was a viashino. He was dressed in a sleeveless shirt and short pants. He bore himself with an air of importance, almost royalty. On his belt was hung a black scabbard decorated with a small ruby.
The circle of viashino split to allow him entrance as he approached.
"Who's that?" whispered Eva.
"Must be the bey," said Khell "The tribe's leader."
The Bey strode up to the summoners, looking them each over in turn.
"Humans," he finally said "You have trespassed onto our territory."
"We are very sorry," said Khell "We mean your tribe no harm and were unaware of our transgression. We are merely travelers in these parts and only wish to cross the desert to reach the mountain range on the other side."
"Ignorance of the law is no excuse," said the Bey "It is our way. You must pay for your offence. Give us all your possessions and we will allow you to leave unscathed."
"By 'all your possessions,' you mean?" asked Khell.
"Everything you have: clothes, food, water, money, and so on," said the Bey.
"No way in Hell am I giving you my clothes!" said Eva.
"And we will require our provisions to continue our journey," said Khell "If it's gold you want, I can give you what little we have."
"No," said the Bey "Everything. It is our law for trespassers."
"Look," said Erik "So we stepped on your property. It wasn't our fault. Our guide led us out here and then vanished."
"There was another?" asked the Bey.
"Our guide," said Khell "One of your kin named Shal'Narth."
The viashino around them hissed in anger upon hearing the name.
"Shal'Narth," spat the Bey, his voice full of hatred "He is a exile. He was banished long ago and forbidden from coming back here." The Bey said a few words in Sandspeak to two of the Sandswimmers who immediately dove into the dunes and vanished. "The price for his trespass will be death," said the Bey "Now, will you comply and hand over your possessions?"
"I am sorry, but what you ask is impossible," said Khell.
"If you will not give us what is due," said the Bey "Then we will have no choice but to take it by force!"
He let out a growl and the Sandswimmers charged, moving effortlessly through the dunes as if they were liquid. They were at least a dozen of them, dressed in simple cloth shorts with short daggers clenched between their teeth. They ran at the summoners, snarling. Now and then, one of them would burrow under, only to pop back up after a few seconds.
The summoners were caught completely by surprise. The viashino moved so quickly across the sand separating them from the summoners that none of them had time to gather the necessary mana to summon a creature.
As the nearest Sandswimmer reached the group, it leapt into the air, talons ready for the kill. Time seemed to slow down as the summoners helplessly watched the deadly claws approaching. Charles was vaguely aware of Erik mumbling something.
The attacking lizard was suddenly blown back by an invisible force. It flew backwards, crashing into the sand. The other viashino let out cries of pain as they collided with an invisible barrier.
The summoners looked about in astonishment. Surrounding them was a luminous white ring, with runes around the perimeter. Whenever a viashino approached the ring, they were thrown backwards by the invisible force.
"Circle of Protection: Red," grunted Erik "That oughta hold the bastards for a while."
"Quick thinking," said Charles "And how nice of you to include us in the protection radius as well."
"You're not good to me dead," said Erik.
"How long can you hold it?" asked Khell.
"Not too long," said Erik, grunting in effort as the viashino battered against the Circle of Protection. "These bastards are wearing out my mana pretty quickly."
"Can you manage a Wrath of God?"
"Are you kidding?" asked Erik "As soon as I drop the Circle, they'll be all over us. I'll never have time to gather the mana, let alone cast the spell!"
"OK, we'll get some defense ready," said Khell "Charles, you get some Boomerangs ready or something. Anything that can bounce creatures."
"Right," said Charles.
"Eva, you get some creatures with Haste and have some burn spells ready," said Khell "Eva?"
"She's not here!" said Charles.
"Out there," said Khell, pointing outside the Circle of Protection where two Sandswimmers had just burst into flames after being pierced by a Magma Jet.
Eva was standing outside the circle, a bit away from the Keepers, with a few summoned creatures at her side. The Sandswimmers quickly noticed the new prey and a few started charging her.
"Why is she outside the Circle?" asked Charles.
"Protection against red," said Khell, summoning a Kashi-Tribe Reaver. A long-haired female Orochi appeared on the field, clad in leather armor and wielding two swords in two of its four arms and two scythes in its other two. "She's a red summoner so the enchantment must have pushed her aside."
"I thought it only protected from damage!" said Charles.
"Not helping, Wainscot!" said Erik "Don't know how much longer it can hold the Circle. My mana's pretty low."
"You idiot! Eva's out there because of the Circle!" yelled Charles.
"She seems to be doing OK," commented Erik.
Effectively, Eva's creatures had dispatched of the viashino attacking her, leaving her only with a small gash above her left eye where a Sandswimmer had grazed her before being incinerated by an exploding Seal of Fire.
"You guys ready?" asked Erik "I'm dropping the Circle!"
"We're good," said Khell, who had summoned Sosuke. The son of Seshiro the Anointed unsheathed his swords, ready for combat.
"You cover me and I'll try to summon something as soon as my mana regenerates," said Erik.
"Can you get us a Dawn Elemental?" asked Charles.
"I'll try," promised Erik "Ready? Circle of Protection is gone!"
The enchantment disappeared, leaving the Keepers exposed to the viashino attack.
Khell sent out his Reaver to attack the nearest viashino. The orochi and the lizard met in a tangle of scales and claws, tearing at each other's hides. The viashino managed to overpower the Reaver, biting into its neck and tearing out its jugular. The snake collapsed in a lifeless heap, but Khell simply channeled more mana into the corpse to regenerate it. The Reaver got up and slew the viashino with a clean stab through the creature's heart.
Meanwhile, Charles had Boomeranged two Sandswimmers, the creatures vanishing in a blue flash, and had three Cloud of Faeries bussing about, attacking the Sandswimmers. They were more of an annoyance to the viashino than a threat, but they provided the necessary distraction for Khell's creatures to sneak around for the killing blow.
Sosuke was calmly slaying Sandswimmers left and right with the skill of an experienced warrior. His four swords wreaked havoc among the viashino. Several Sandswimmers had tried to mob him all at once, but Khell had simply filled Sosuke with the might of Kodama, enabling him to drive off the viashino.
Eva wasn't about to miss out on the action. Her Blistering Firecat took out a fair share of viashino before a lucky stab from a Sandswimmer killed it.
Seeing his warriors getting killed, their numbers rapidly dwindling, the Bey let out a snarl. This must have been the signal for retreat because the remaining Sandswimmers broke away from combat and disappeared into the sand. Giving the summoners a hateful look, the Bey turned and walked off into the desert.
"That was easy," said Charles.
"They were raiders," said Khell, dispelling his creatures in a flash of green mana "Not warrior experienced in combat. Plus, they weren't expecting summoners. The Bey realized they were no match for us."
"Plan of action now?" asked Erik, handing Eva a Healing Salve. Eva accepted it, surprised.
"I guess we have no choice," said Khell "Summoning fliers to get us to the mountains is probably our only option now."
"Except I have no fliers," said Eva.
"I'll take care of that," said Erik. Gathering his mana, he summoned four Leonin Skyhunters. The cat-like creatures appeared, each riding a pteron, the pterodactyl-like mounts of the Skyhunters.
"One for each of us," said Erik, gesturing to the creatures. The others were astonished. Had Erik Morlock just performed a selfless act of generosity?
"Come on," said Erik, getting onto one of the pterons behind the Skyhunter.
Eva stepped forwards. Choosing the pteron to the far right, she walked up to it.
"Is it all right if I ride with you?" she asked the Skyhunter.
The Leonin, a female with bright green eyes nodded and grinned, flashing white canines. With the Leonin's help, Eva managed to get onto the pteron's back. Settling herself, she nervously hung onto the Skyhunter's waist, bracing herself for takeoff.
Once each of the summoners had found a mount, Erik gave the signal for departure and one by one the pterons spread their great leathery wings, taking off into the sky.
They flew swiftly under the morning sun, heading straight for the mountains. To occupy herself, Eva watched the landscape underneath them as it passed by at a tremendous speed. As Shal'Narth had told them, the sand dunes soon turned into dry, crackled dirt and rocks. As they flew on, the sun kept rising into the sky and as it did, the temperature increased. Even with the pteron's wings providing some wind, the sun still beat mercilessly down on the summoners as they flew ever closer to the mountains.
Eva was finding it hard to stay awake. She hadn't slept in almost a day, coupled with a long night of walking, leaving her exhausted, but she didn't dare fall asleep for fear of falling off the flying mount.
"Rest, my lady," said the Skyhunter, as if she had read Eva's thoughts "I will make sure you do not fall."
"Thanks," said Eva, resting her head on the Leonin's furry back and quickly drifting off to sleep.
Erik watched impatiently as the mountains grew closer. They had been flying for a few hours now, and their mounts were beginning to tire. However, they were now very close. The mountains loomed ahead of them, huge and foreboding.
"There," said Erik to his Skyhunter, indicating a relatively flat plot of ground near the base of the mountain. The pterons banked left, diving in a spiral as the descended. The summoners were violently jolted as the pterons touched down.
As the Keepers got off their mounts, thanking the Leonin, Erik dispelled the creatures. However, it seemed Eva had remained asleep though the landing and no amount of coaxing would get her awake. Finally, Charles simply picked her up off the pteron's back and carried her away from the creature, which Erik dispelled. Laying Eva down on the ground, Charles couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked as she slept.
;She seems at peace; as if nothing was bothering her;
;Get a grip, Cannon; It's Eva. You know she likes Arrathir;
;Doesn't mean I can't still like her;
;Don't you be getting any ideas, you hear me? I don't want you taking advantage of her state of mourning to get closer to her;
;What are you saying?;
;I'm saying you can't replace Arrathir. I know you've come to like Eva, but you can't use Arrathir's death as a way to gain Eva's affection. It would be an insult to Arrathir's memory;
"So, now what?" asked Erik, interrupting Charles' thoughts.
"We are all pretty tired so we should get some rest," said Khell "I'll take first watch."
Charles dug out the blankets from their packs and covered Eva with one. Taking his own, he found a relatively comfortable piece of ground and lay down, gazing at Eva until he fell asleep.
To be continued…
Author's Note: So, Charles is falling for Eva and they have finally arrived at the mountains where they suppose the KoRM will be found. Meanwhile, how is Arrathir's progress going towards recovering his life essence?
Happy Valentine's Day to all of you out there. That special day to remind all of us who are alone…that we are still alone.
Until next time, Auf Wiedersehn.