CHANDRA

Carefully, she pulled the door closed. Nissa was sleeping peacefully, and the last thing Chandra wanted to do was to wake her as she left. She glanced out a window as she moved down the hallway. The sky was dark behind the pointed rooftops and jagged spires of the Ravnican skyline. It sent a chill down Chandra's spine. Something about the way the shadows were cast over the gothic architecture reminded her of Innistrad's endless night, after the ritual failed during the Harvesttide Festival. She had never thought Ravnica resembled Innistrad in any way until now and it was, thankfully, fleeting.

Jogging down the stairs, Chandra made her way to Jace's sanctum. He was seated at his desk, hunched over a bunch of papers. He looked exhausted.

"You look like you need coffee," Chandra observed, when he looked up from his work.

He yawned and then smiled faintly. "You're right about that."

"I'm surprised Lavinia hasn't already brought you a cup by now. She's usually pretty good at that."

Jace cleared his throat and looked away. "Yeah, well…I think I scared her away earlier, so I doubt I'll be seeing her again today."

"Um, okay," said Chandra with a shrug. Whatever that means…

Then she plopped down in the chair opposite his desk, and asked, "Where's Liliana? Did you scare her away, too?"

He chuckled, but it seemed strained. "No, I think this pile of folios scared her away. Lavinia dropped them off this afternoon and I haven't seen her since."

Chandra raised a brow and wrinkled her mouth. "Don't you usually have supper together? Did you even eat?"

"I…guess not. I've just been so busy I didn't really think about it. What about you?"

"Oh," she said, as an afterthought, "me and Nissa went out for supper and now she's asleep. You should be going to sleep, too. You work too much."

The corners of his lips almost turned up in a smile but didn't quite make it. "Liliana always says the same."

"Well then, she's right."

Jace sighed heavily. "I just need another hour or so. I've only gotten through half these reports." He lifted a stack of them and then let them fall back on the pile. "There are so many these days."

Chandra wrinkled her lips. "Good luck with that."

After a pause, she asked, "Do you think Liliana's still up?"

"Most likely," he answered with a shrug. "Actually, I'm surprised she didn't come get me for supper. She's usually good at reminding me, when I get caught up in my work. Would you mind checking on her?"

"Sure. I was looking for her anyway."

"Thanks, Chandra. And…if she seems upset because I didn't come up sooner, would you…tell her I'm sorry I've been so wrapped up but that I'll be there soon?"

"Okay. No problem." She shrugged, feeling like she didn't really want to get caught up in the middle of their sometimes stormy relationship, and then got up. "Don't work too hard. You make me feel exhausted."

He snorted. "I'll try not to wear you out."

She forced a laugh as she walked out, but as she pulled the door closed behind her, she let out a sigh. Why did her stomach ache? She felt like she could hurl any moment. Was going to talk to Liliana about Nissa really all that bad? I mean, sure the two of them hated each other with the passion of all Nine Hells, but…that was really only because they weren't as different as they'd like to think themselves.

Chandra almost chuckled as she started up the stairs. Actually, they had a lot more in common than they would ever dare to admit. Like two sides of the same coin, really. Weird that she never noticed before—or at least, she never thought about it.

Stopping outside Jace and Liliana's door, she straightened her back—Liliana would like that, always concerned about proper posture and all that lady stuff—then she cleared her throat and lifted her fist to rap on the door. She listened. She waited. She rapped again, this time more firmly. It was quiet, but she could hear the rustling of bed linens, followed by a faint groan.

Oh hells… She had been sleeping.

Before Chandra could high-tail it out of there, the doorknob jangled and then the door swung open. Liliana the Necromancer loomed in the doorway, simultaneously beautiful and sinister. She did not look happy to see the pyromancer. Chandra shrunk under her fearsome gaze.

"What?" she demanded, her voice low and impatient.

"Um…h-hey, Liliana. I'm…sorry to wake you…"

Liliana sighed heavily and leaned on the door. "I wasn't sleeping."

"Oh. Okay, then…um…maybe I caught you at a bad time? I can always come back later…"

"You're here now," she answered shortly, pulling herself erect and just slightly opening the door, almost as if to welcome her but not quite. "Tell me what you need. Make it brief."

The sudden urge to blow up was quelled only when Chandra met Liliana's gaze and caught a glimpse of pain behind her fury. Then she looked at the necromancer more closely. "Wait…are you…? Have you been crying?"

Liliana's brows raised and her eyes widened, all at once. Her lips parted as she inhaled and Chandra thought she noticed a slight quiver of her bottom lip. Her eyes glistened and her pale cheeks took on a pinkish hue. Then she furrowed her brows and her nostrils flared as she glared at Chandra.

"Just tell me what you want!" she hissed through gritted teeth. "Spit it out or go away! I don't have time for this."

Any sympathy Chandra had melted away in an instant and she met Liliana's glare with a fierce gaze. "Okay, fine. I want to know what you did—what you said to Nissa the other night. She's confused and upset. She doesn't understand."

Liliana rolled her eyes and shook her head in obvious annoyance. "If Nissa wants something, she can come ask for it herself."

"I don't think—."

Before Chandra could finish her sentence, the door was closed in her face. She heard the metal click of the locking mechanism. Furious at Liliana's attitude, Chandra let out a frustrated cry and slammed her hands on the door. "Why can't you ever just be nice?!"

Then she stormed off and shut herself in her bedroom, where she threw herself on the bed and screamed into her pillow. Afterward, she caught the faint scent of burnt cloth and looked to see the sides of her pillow were singed from where she'd gripped it. Oops.

She heaved herself up to sit, her feet dangling over the edge of the bed. Ravnican beds were high and she wasn't quite tall enough for her feet to touch the floor. She might have cried, were she not so hot that any chance of tears forming before evaporating was unlikely.

Why is Liliana being such a…?

Chandra got up and started pacing, speaking to herself aloud, "Why did Jace even bring her back here? She's never played well with others! He knows that! I have half a mind to march over to Niv-Mizzet and…!" She stopped and heaved a sigh. "Whatever. I'm done trying to be friends with her. I don't care if she's here, but I'm NOT going out of my way to be nice, if she can't even extend the SLIGHTEST COURTESY!"

Her voice continued to rise along with her fury, as she paced about her room. "She hasn't changed—she STILL doesn't care about anyone but herself. She'll hurt ANYone, for ANY reason, just because she FEELS like it! EVEN BETTER IF SHE CAN GET SOMETHING OUT OF IT!"

She stopped, realizing how loud she had been. Half the house probably heard her yelling.

Good, she thought with some satisfaction. Maybe Liliana will hear me and get a clue! Even though she and Jace had a nice cozy section of the house that was somewhat removed from everyone else's quarters.

Then she thought of Nissa and hoped she didn't wake her in the process.

Nissa was right. I should have listened to her.

She stopped and listened when a faint knocking seemed to come from her door. She heard it again and knew for sure this time it was, indeed, her door at which someone was knocking. With a heavy sigh, she stalked over to pull it open, hoping for just one moment it was Liliana so she could give her a piece of her mind. Instead, she saw Nissa and groaned.

"Damn it. I'm sorry. Didn't mean to wake you."

"What's going on?" Nissa asked, looking around. "I thought you were fighting with someone."

"No, just myself," Chandra grumbled. She crossed her arms over her chest and waited as Nissa came in and closed the door.

Without a word, Nissa pulled her into an embrace. Chandra's tension slowly began to ease, until she put her arms around Nissa's waist and slumped on her shoulder, almost in a heap.

"Oh, Nissa," Chandra murmured, "you were right. I should have listened to you. Liliana hasn't changed. She still only cares about herself more than anyone else."

Nissa raised a brow and tilted her head. "What happened?"

Chandra paced furiously and told her everything that had transpired. Nissa listened patiently. When Chandra stopped pacing and turned, she was surprised to see Nissa watching her with a smile and a twinkle in her eye.

"What?"

"Chandra," said Nissa, taking her time, "you know I do not trust or like Liliana. She is rude and selfish."

"That's for sure."

"But…I think you are coming to this conclusion too…suddenly."

"Wut?"

Nissa stroked her cheek and met her gaze. "Let me talk to her again. If she wants me to ask and not have you ask for me…"

"Okay, but you'll probably get the same reception she gave me, because she's REALLY crabby right now. Like, I think it might be her time of the month, if you know what I mean."

Nissa covered her mouth with her hand as she giggled. Then she said, "I will wait until tomorrow to talk to her."

"That's a good idea—don't wanna incur her wrath, because geesh!"

Now, Nissa laughed and Chandra felt instantly better. She took Nissa by the hand, and said, "Come on. Let's put the bad-tempered necromancer out of our heads and just enjoy being together."

"I think that is a good idea," Nissa agreed. "Besides, I want to take you somewhere."

"Oh? And where would that be?"

Nissa smiled mischievously. "Follow me and you'll find out."

Then she disappeared in a green flash and Chandra summoned enough mana to follow.

NISSA

Paradise. That's what the few humans who visited Lorwyn called it. For Nissa, it was an idyllic safe-haven where no humans naturally occurred, and that made it superior to many other planes. Only Zendikar meant more to her, and that was because it was her home plane and the plane for which she was a guardian. She had not been to Lorwyn in a very long time but she had thought of it often and wanted to share it with Chandra.

In a flaming vortex, Chandra appeared standing behind her and immediately took in her surroundings. "What is this place?" There was awe and wonder in her voice.

Nissa smiled. "Lorwyn."

Lorwyn in springtime was more beautiful than any other plane, at least in Nissa's mind. The native flora grew lush and green, and the flowers cast out an aroma that rivaled the finest and most expensive perfumes—fragrant enough to be enjoyed for miles away from its source, yet subtle enough not to overwhelm the senses. Nissa had never encountered such plant life anywhere in the Multiverse except on Lorwyn.

They had appeared in a meadow at the edge of a forest, not far from a slow-running stream. There were no lakes, no large bodies of water on Lorwyn, but there were rivers and streams in plenty. Everything there was peaceful, soothing. Paradise.

"I feel this plane," she said, stepping forward and looking out at the forest. "Like I feel Zendikar."

"Why have you never talked about it before?"

Nissa shook her head. "There is a darkness here. Hidden beneath its perfect beauty."

"Kinda like you," said Chandra, turning to her with a smile and taking her hand.

Pulling away, Nissa said, "There is no darkness in me."

"Okay, sorry," said Chandra with a shrug. "I didn't mean it that way."

Nissa's face grew warm and she looked down at her feet. "I'm…sorry. I didn't mean to…snap."

"It's okay," said Chandra, reaching for her hand once again. "I know you haven't been feeling well. Kinda like Liliana, I guess."

"Can we…not talk about her? Please? I brought us here to get away from all that. This is a place of peace. Sanctuary."

"Yeah, sure," Chandra agreed with a nod. "Of course. So…what do we do here?"

Nissa stared at her, perplexed. She sometimes forgot humans needed to be constantly entertained. Sometimes, they could be so helpless. Thankfully, Nissa had a lot of patience.

Holding Chandra's hand, she began leading her toward the stream. "Just listen. Feel. Do not think. Do not talk. Just be."

"Oh, like in meditation?"

"Shh."

"Oh," Chandra whispered, "right!" Then she fell silent as they came to the edge of the stream and sat down together.

Nissa settled in and began to commune with the plane. Something seemed off about it. That darkness that had always been a part of Lorwyn seemed…stronger. More present. Threatening. She gasped and opened her eyes. "Something is wrong here."

"What do you mean?"

"Shh," Nissa cautioned, urgently. "Listen."

Her ears twitched, catching an unnatural hum from within the forest—a sound that did not come from anything in nature.

"Artifice," she whispered.

Chandra looked around and shook her head. "What do you mean?"

"Lorwyn is a nature plane. There are no humans on Lorwyn, unless they have planeswalked here, like you. No machines. No artifice. Only the natural world and its natural beauty. Something is wrong."

She grabbed Chandra's hand and pulled her to stand, then dashed off into the forest. She moved swiftly, deftly, making little sound. She stopped only when she heard Chandra clomping through the brush behind her. Then she returned to her, and whispered firmly, "Silent! We must move in silence. We don't know what is here."

"Oh," whispered Chandra. "Okay."

Before moving on, Nissa put a finger to her lips as a reminder. Then she moved more slowly through the trees, so Chandra could keep up without making a bunch of noise. As they approached the source of that machine-like sound, Nissa became aware that it was some kind of language, but it was unlike any language she had ever heard before. How to describe it? It was as unnatural as the creatures using it.

Nissa crouched low and peered through the giant ferns that obscured her presence. Her ears twitched as Chandra came through the brush toward her. She held her arm back with a finger raised in warning, so Chandra would not come any closer. She didn't want the creatures to become aware of their presence. She was certain they would not ask questions before they attacked.

There were five of them: horrifying masses of distorted flesh and machine combined. She thought of Tezzeret and his mechanical arm.

Silently, she turned to Chandra and pointed back in the direction they came. With a nod, Chandra started back toward the stream and Nissa paused to watch the creatures a moment longer. What were they doing there? What were they saying? Language was usually not an issue for a 'walker, but this language was completely foreign to her and she was unable to adjust to its strange, unnatural tone.

She watched them only long enough to get an accurate impression of their appearance and behavior. Then she followed Chandra back to the stream and found her waiting anxiously.

"What's going on?" asked Chandra. "I couldn't see anything, but those…things sounded weird!"

"We have to return to Ravnica. Phyrexia has come to Lorwyn."

JACE

"Wait, wait, hold on," said Jace, holding out his hand and shaking his head. "Slow down. One at a time—what did you see?"

He was standing outside his bedroom door, having just pulled it closed, gently so as not to wake Liliana. He had just finished getting her to sleep when he heard something outside and went to investigate. That's when he came across Nissa and Chandra coming up the stairs with a look of urgency. They had both fallen into a frenzied report, something about Phyrexians and a forest. After the night he'd had, he was struggling to follow. He had a headache that could put out a heard of wild beasts.

The two exchanged glances, and then Nissa stepped forward. "We saw Phyrexians. On Lorwyn."

"Lorwyn?"

"It's a plane. I haven't been there for a long time," Nissa explained. "I took Chandra there. I felt the darkness, the change in the land. Then we came across these…creatures of flesh and artifice. Like Tezzeret, only more horrifying. I remembered what you showed me of Phyrexia."

"You're sure?"

"Yes!" Nissa hissed. "Look for yourself. You will see what I saw and know it is true!"

Jace sighed. He was tapped out after using all his energy to soothe Liliana and help her to sleep. With a pause, he gathered what little mana he could and made a brief connection with Nissa's most recent memory. When he saw the creatures she had seen and heard what they were saying, he was jolted out of her mind with a start.

"You see? They have infected the plane," said Nissa.

"Yes, I see," he confirmed, shaking the image from his mind.

"What are they doing there?" Chandra blurted, before Jace could say more.

Jace drew in a deep breath. "They were just scouting, but that's not all they plan to do there. Because it hasn't been touched by human greed, the plane is rich in natural resources—in particular, ores and power stones. From what I could make of their talk, they are planning a large-scale invasion."

"They will destroy the land!" said Nissa, with furrowed brow. "We have to stop them!"

He nodded slowly. "We will, but we can't move just yet. I have Ajani out searching for Karn. He will prove vital to this mission. We cannot make a move without him—without both of them. Chandra, can I put you in charge of going to Innistrad to seek Arlinn's help? Sorin, too."

"Uh, I don't think that's a good idea."

"We need everybody on board with this, Chandra. If he won't come, fine. But we have to at least try to get him involved."

"Sorin only cares about himself," Nissa growled. "He's worse than Liliana."

Jace winced at the comment. "Can we…not insult my wife? Please? She's…not as bad as you think."

Nissa rolled her eyes and looked away, her nose reddening a bit.

Chandra crossed her arms, and said, "Yeah, well, maybe if you saw the way she treated me earlier when I came to her with a question, you might not think so highly of her."

With a heavy sigh, Jace ran his fingers through his hair. "There's…a lot you don't know, okay? Just…let's maintain our focus. If we're going to stop the Phyrexians from invading Lorwyn, we need to work past our differences. Let me deal with Lili. Chandra, will you please go to Innistrad and try to get Sorin and Arlinn involved?"

"Yeah, sure," she answered.

"Thank you. Wait 'til morning. We can't do anything immediately, and the invasion is not happening right away, so we have time to plan. Nissa, I'll need you to stay here. I need to gather everyone for an emergency meeting first thing in the morning."

"Aw, do I have to miss the meeting?" Chandra whined in obvious sarcasm.

"Yes, poor you," said Jace. Then he sighed, and said, "Now, we all need to try to get some sleep before tomorrow. This…has been a long day."

"And it just got longer," Chandra grumbled.

"All the more reason for us to try to get some rest."

As soon as the two of them had wandered off, back toward the stairs, Jace heaved a sigh and stood with his eyes closed for a moment, shaking his head. There was so much on his mind now, he knew he was never going to sleep. He locked the door behind him and slipped into bed beside Liliana, thankful to find her still asleep. She needed it most, he thought, as he slid his arms around her and pressed a kiss to her cheek. She stirred slightly and placed a hand over his, as he rested his chin on her shoulder and breathed in her scent. For now, there was only her. Tomorrow, everything would change.