ARLINN
The elf hit her head as she collapsed and now she lay there, barely breathing. The scent of blood was strong. It made Arlinn's mouth water. The beast within wanted to come forth to feast upon fresh meat. She had to push back the urge. This was not a stag lying on the ground before her—it was a person. It was her friend.
Arlinn was still in shock when Liliana jumped into action, tearing off Nissa's blood-soaked tunic and examining the injuries. She then pulled off her own clean linen cloak and tore pieces from it to staunch the blood that was pooling around the fallen elf. Dark red blood. It seemed to be coming from everywhere, all at once. Why was there so much blood?
"Avacyn's mercy," Arlinn whispered, bringing her hand to her lips. The only time she had ever seen that much blood appearing in that little time was…
She shook her head. No, this isn't right. Nissa can't die.
Suddenly, she heard Liliana shouting, "Arlinn! The wine! Bring it to me—now!"
Arlinn snapped out of it and ran back to grab the wine off the table. She was still too much in shock to even think to ask why Liliana was asking for wine at a time like this, when Nissa was dying before their eyes. Was it really that hopeless?
She watched as the necromancer took the wine and, after desperately trying to open it, used just enough magic to choke the life from part of a nearby tree. Then she snapped off the still living end of a small branch, which she used to shove the cork into the bottle. Then, hands trembling, she carefully poured some of the wine onto Nissa's wounds.
The elf shrieked as the alcohol touched her raw, open flesh.
Liliana set the bottle on the ground and pressed the clean linen to the wounds on both sides. Then she beckoned to Arlinn with a nod. "Come hold these in place."
Arlinn did as she said, as Liliana calmly instructed, "Press on them. Hold them tight against the injury."
Her hands were trembling, and her cheeks stung with tears. When had she started crying? Her voice quivered, "It goes all the way through… Sh-she's bleeding from both sides."
Liliana's jaw tensed, but she answered with a nod as she continued tearing more strips from her cloak. Then she knelt beside Arlinn, and spoke in a soothing voice, "Now, I need you to lift her into a sitting position and continue to hold the bandage on her back in place. Don't worry about the front. I'll take care of it."
Once Nissa was in position, Liliana pressed a thick pad of fresh linen to the wound on the front and began wrapping the strips carefully yet tightly around the elf's abdomen. She kept winding around to hold the other pieces in place, until there was nothing left, and then she fastened the linen bandage near Nissa's shoulder with a jeweled brooch that had once fastened the front of Liliana's now shredded cloak.
"We need to get her inside so we can better tend to her wounds," Liliana said, meeting Arlinn's gaze. "Are you okay to do this?"
"Yes," Arlinn replied firmly. She was still somewhat in shock but was starting to come out of it.
Together, they lifted Nissa—Liliana taking her by the shoulders and Arlinn carrying her by the knees. Then they made their way carefully into the house. Going down the stairs was difficult and Nissa was heavier than either of them had expected. They both grunted and breathed heavily with the effort. Arlinn felt beads of sweat running down her forehead and glanced at Liliana, surprised to see merely a glistening sheen on her forehead.
Of course, she sweats elegantly, too, Arlinn thought as she heaved a sigh from the exertion. Figures.
As they rounded a corner coming into the hallway that led to most of everyone else's main living quarters, Liliana nearly lost her grip. Nissa cried out when they accidentally jostled her.
"Hush," Liliana hissed. "Don't make this more difficult!"
"She's in pain," Arlinn protested, thinking the necromancer was being too harsh.
"I know she's in pain," Liliana insisted. "That doesn't mean she needs to be a baby about it. We're doing the best we can, and it's one hell of a lot easier if she's not whining."
"You need to learn to be more sensitive to others' pain," Arlinn observed.
Liliana said nothing. She merely grunted with the effort of carrying the elf, who groaned and mumbled something that was impossible to make out.
"She's too…heavy," Liliana grumbled, adjusting her grip. "I thought elves were lighter than this."
"Have you ever carried an elf before?"
"No," came the terse reply.
Suddenly, a door opened. This was followed by a voice, "What's going on out here?"
It was Teferi, followed by the golem, Karn. As soon as they realized the two women were carrying Nissa, they moved quickly to help. Karn alone was able to take Nissa in his arms and carry her, as Liliana explained to Teferi what had happened. The women led the way to Nissa's room, where Karn laid her carefully on the bed.
Then Teferi said, "I'm going to Lorwyn, before the aether trail is gone."
"I don't think that's a good idea," said Arlinn, trying to remain calm. "We need to find out what happened before we do anything rash."
"I think it's pretty obvious what happened," Teferi argued. "We don't need to wait around when Ajani and Chandra are back on Lorwyn. You guys can either come now or catch up later, but I'm going now, before it's too late."
"No!" shouted Arlinn.
"What do you mean 'no'?"
"We can't be split up or we'll never stand a chance!"
"We've already been split up!" Teferi insisted. "They need help NOW!"
"Teferi's right," said Karn, remaining calm. "We'll go find Ajani and Chandra, while the rest of you tend to Nissa and then rally the others."
Much to everyone's surprise, Teferi said, "Karn, I want you to stay here."
"I should be with you!" Karn protested.
"No, old friend. I want you to stay and help in any way you can."
"You don't know what you're 'walking into!" Karn exclaimed. "You'll likely need as many able-bodied fighters as you can get, so why would you leave me behind?"
"I can slow time until the rest of you are able to come," Teferi explained, "but for now I want you to help them here because we don't stand a chance if all of us go in without knowing what we're up against. Slowing time will give me time to assess the situation, in the meantime."
Karn seemed hesitant, but then he nodded and stepped back to stand against the wall. Then Teferi said, "Liliana, I leave it to you to take care of Nissa and tell Jace where we've gone."
She gave a nod, but remained vigilant by Nissa's side, a constant source of comfort holding her hand and gently dabbing sweat from her forehead. Like Karn, Arlinn felt the urge to join Teferi, but she felt that for now her place was there, so she remained unmoving.
Just as Teferi disappeared in a whirlwind of blue energy, Kaya and Tyvar came through the doorway. Concern turned to shock when they saw Nissa's state.
"Gods and monsters!" Kaya exclaimed. "What the hell happened?"
Ignoring the newcomers, Liliana said, "Arlinn, go back up to the roof and fetch the wine. I'll need it to clean the wounds before I put on fresh bandages."
Arlinn was amazed. Here was this infamously selfish death mage, using her priceless and rare wine in the effort to save a life. And not just any life—the life of an elf with whom she had a tense relationship, at best. From what Arlinn had observed on one or two occasions in the short time she had been with them, she could almost call it hostile. For the first time since she had met Liliana Vess face-to-face, Arlinn was beginning to see what her friends had been insisting all along. Was she not still so worried about Nissa, she might have shared her thoughts just then; she realized it was best to keep them to herself, anyway.
KAYA
Even though the necromancer was doling out commands with all the finesse of an ancient noblewoman, she was sitting by Nissa's side and holding her hand, gently brushing hair from the elf's sweat-covered forehead. She whispered soothing words to Nissa, between giving orders, and were Kaya not still somewhat in shock by what she was seeing, she might have been impressed. She was still just trying to figure out what in the Nine Hells had happened, though, and so far nobody had given her the time of day.
Thankfully, on her way out, Arlinn stopped to explain, "She just appeared on the rooftop. I don't know how she 'walked like this."
"Arlinn!" Liliana barked, just as Jaya appeared. "The wine!"
"I'm on it," said Arlinn, hurrying from the room.
She nearly bumped into Jaya on her way out, but the old pyromancer was quick on her feet and managed to step out of the way just in time. Then she narrowed her eyes at the sight before her. A moment of alarm was soon replaced by stoic poise. Tyvar remained at Kaya's side, looking at the necromancer warily, while Kaya stepped forward and whispered to Jaya what Arlinn had told her before she left. Jaya inhaled deeply and closed her eyes, her jaw set firmly.
Suddenly, Kaya remembered that Nissa had not gone to Lorwyn alone this time. "What about Chandra? And Ajani?"
Liliana shook her head, "No sign of them, I'm afraid. Teferi's gone after them."
Nissa suddenly arced her back and gritted her teeth, groaning in what appeared to be a spasm. Liliana squeezed her hand more tightly and moved to comfort her. Then her eyes settled on a planter in the opposite corner. A darkness settled over her gaze, as it fixed upon the small tree growing from it. Although she doubted Liliana was capable of doing it, Kaya knew what she was thinking. She wasn't surprised when the death mage's eyes began to glow an unnatural dark purple hue. Then she watched black tendrils come from Liliana's outstretched hand, cross the room toward the tree, wrap around its trunk and lower branches, and begin to choke the life from it. The tree began wilting before everyone's eyes.
"What is she doing!" protested Tyvar, stepping forward.
Kaya brought her arm out to stop him, and whispered, "Just watch."
Liliana's other hand, now placed strategically over Nissa's abdomen, began to glow with a golden aura. Kaya's lips parted. It was white mana. Liliana, the death mage, was using white mana. But it wasn't long before both the tree and Liliana were spent. She exhaled deeply and hunched over from exhaustion. Having come at some point in time during the past few minutes, Rowan seemed to appear out of nowhere and went to Liliana's side, obviously concerned but saying nothing.
"You used white mana," said Kaya, shaking her head in disbelief. "I didn't know you could do that."
Liliana lifted her head and then looked at her hands. "Neither did I."
"Did it work?" Kaya asked hopefully.
Liliana looked down at Nissa. She was sleeping now, but her face still showed pain. "A little, I think. But it wasn't enough. The tree…" She shook her head. "Its lifeforce was too little for a wound this deep. To heal completely, I would need something bigger. A cat or a small dog; even a large rat might do."
Standing still and unmoving near the doorway, Karn spoke for the first time. "That is cruel."
"Is it?" Liliana asked pointedly. "If it came to your life or the dog's, you might not think so."
"She has a point, Karn," said Jaya.
Tyvar shifted uncomfortably. Then he whispered in Kaya's ear, "I could summon something…but I'm not sure I like the idea of healing someone by taking the life of another."
"Just do it," Kaya whispered through clenched teeth. She didn't like the idea any more than anyone else, but this was Nissa's life hanging by a thread.
Tyvar sighed heavily and summoned a small spotted cat. At its summoner's silent command, the feline unknowingly approached Liliana and jumped onto the bed beside her and Nissa. As Liliana extended a hand toward the cat, Tyvar averted his gaze. He missed the moment Liliana looked at it sadly and gently stroked its fur. She whispered something to the cat and scratched under its chin. It began to purr and rubbed up against her hand. Finally, Kaya couldn't stand to watch. Knowing what was going to happen next, she turned away.
JACE
Moments of leisure seemed like a waste of time when there was so much to be done, but the kid was eager to bond and in need of a mentor. For whatever reason, out of all the people in the Multiverse who could be better equipped to take on that responsibility, it had fallen on Jace. Yet, who better to mentor Will Kenrith than he? It was a strange twist of fate that had brought these twins, first to Liliana and now to him. Was it coincidence, or was there some kind of higher order working behind everything?
All this ran through his head, as he sat in his sanctum with Will, playing chess. Between his inner musings, and Will's, conversation was had and Jace found himself enjoying the kid's company. Will was his own person, to be sure, but in many ways, he reminded Jace of a younger, more innocent version of himself.
"Ro was instantly drawn to Prismari when we arrived, so I just followed her lead," Will was saying, as he contemplated his next move.
"Why am I sensing a 'but'?" Jace inquired with a half-smile.
Will made his move—knight takes bishop. Dang it, thought Jace. Why didn't I see that coming? The kid had never played before he came to Ravnica, but he had a good mind and was a quick study.
"Well," the kid sat back, crossed his arms, and shrugged as Jace moved a pawn as a diversion. "When we work together, we definitely belong with Prismari. I mean—she's red, I'm blue, and those are the two mana types, the college specializes in, so it seemed a natural choice for us. But if I were to go it alone, instead of us always doing everything together, I'd kind of rather go with Quandrix instead."
"Ah, yes, Quandrix. I've heard of it."
The kid didn't fall for his diversion. Ignoring the pawn, he moved his knight in the opposite direction. Jace held back the urge to sigh aloud. He had to admit, the kid was good.
"So, why didn't you go with Quandrix?"
Will shrugged. "I guess I never really felt like I'd fit in there. They're all so good at all the metaphysics and mathematics stuff. Their motto is literally 'Math is magic'." He snickered. "Come to think of it, you'd be a great Quandrix."
"Liliana's always saying the same thing," Jace replied. Then he moved his Queen out of harm's way, well aware that Will was closing in on her with his knight.
"Well, now that you're married and since she teaches at Strixhaven, do you think you'll teach there, too? When all this is over, I mean, with the Phyrexians."
Jace watched Will slide his knight closer to the Queen once again. This game was not going well. He was too distracted by the conversation and his own anxieties. Not to mention his own anxieties about the direction said conversation was taking.
Leaning his chin on his hand, he reached out to move the Queen away from the knight. That damned knight.
"I don't know if this'll ever really be over with the Phyrexians," he sighed. "But I guess, maybe. I haven't really thought about it. I guess I just assumed we'd stay here…but that seems ridiculous when I really think of it, since she can't really expect to have much of a life here. And she's already got a life on Strixhaven, so it wouldn't really be fair for me to expect her to leave it all behind—unless she wanted to, of course."
"You might want to talk about that with her," Will observed, changing tactics by moving one of his bishops. "I believe you're in check."
Damn. The bishop. Jace hadn't been paying attention to the bishop.
"Yep," Jace confirmed, sullenly. "I'm in check."
He wasn't used to losing.
Will sat back with a grin. "Your move."
"Remind me never to teach you anything again," Jace teased. Then he said, "You sure you wouldn't make a good Quandrix?"
The boy smiled and watched carefully as Jace hesitated with his next move. Everyone was always telling him he takes too long to make decisions, but this is what happens when he doesn't take his time—he was losing to a kid! He was not about to take his next move lightly.
Before he could ultimately decide what to do, he became aware of some thumping noises on the floor above. Heavy footfalls. Hurried. With a mere shift of his awareness, Jace realized there was a change in the energy field around them. He sat up and his jaw tensed.
"Something's wrong."
"What…?"
"Nissa." He sensed her—but not the others. "We have to go."
"Go where?"
"Lorwyn. The invasion has begun."
LILIANA
It was never easy. Taking a life. Contrary to what many people might think of her, Liliana never found the process of taking an innocent life anything she enjoyed. It was simply necessary. She knew the others didn't approve, but they seemed to understand the necessity. She made sure it was done as gently and peacefully as possible, coaxing the cat to lie down beside Nissa before doing what had to be done. She took no pleasure from it, but she was pleased that she had been successful with the tree and was eager to try it again.
The elf better thank me when this is over, she grumbled in her mind. She liked that cat. It would have made for a nice companion. But she couldn't very well choose a cat over the elf, even if the cat was friendlier. And as for Nissa, letting her die wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing—after all, she would make a nice zombie. Liliana did, only for a moment, seriously consider the possibilities of having a planeswalking zombie elementalist under her control. But…in the end, she did what she had to do.
Stilling her mind, she began the process of transforming the death of one creature into the life-saving power that would heal the injuries of another. She could sense Nissa's injury healing from the inside out—could even 'see' the inflammation dissipate as tissue recombined and reconnected to form a working whole. Throughout, she continued stroking the cat's fur, even after it became still and cold. Then, once her work on Nissa was finished, the she looked at the cat, and thought, It can still make a nice pet.
Raising the dead was a more comfortable, familiar, and even easy form of magic to her. She did it with little thought, and as the dead cat opened its eyes to meet her gaze and began purring again, a faint smile came to the necromancer's lips.
"What the…?" Tyvar began, looking at the undead feline with a grimace and his head tilted to the side.
Liliana stroked its fur, and said, "I've always wanted a cat. I had one when I was a girl, but that was so very long ago."
"Ha!" Jaya exclaimed with a grin.
Kaya smirked and nudged Tyvar with her elbow. "You gotta admit, it's still cute."
Tyvar shuddered.
It was then that Arlinn returned, carrying the wine. She stopped in the doorway. "Where'd the cat come from?"
Then Nissa began to stir, and the zombie cat hopped down, going to hide beneath Liliana's skirts. Everyone braced themselves and watched as Nissa opened her eyes and looked around at them in a moment of confusion. "Why is everyone looking at me?"
"Do you remember what happened, dear?" asked Jaya, stepping forward.
Nissa shook her head, but then she held it as if the act of moving it too quickly hurt. "We were…on a…stage?"
Rowan leaned over, and whispered, "I don't think they have stages on Lorwyn."
Liliana raised a hand to silence the girl and shook her head. Then she leaned in, and said, "Nissa, who else was there with you? On the stage?"
The elf turned to Liliana with a hateful look. "It was you—you…tried to kill me!"
"Actually, she healed you!" Rowan jumped into her defense.
"Rowan," Liliana said sharply. Then, taking a deep breath, she said, "Nissa, I need to know who was on the stage with you, and what happened on that stage?"
"Stage?" Nissa took on a puzzled look. "What stage?"
Now Liliana sat back with a sigh. "This is agonizing. We're not getting anything from her."
"I thought the injury was in her stomach…?" Kaya observed.
Then Arlinn stepped forward. "No, wait—she hit her head. When she collapsed on the roof. I remember the sound of it hitting the tile."
"Well, that explains it!" said Liliana, raising her hands and rolling her eyes. Then, reaching out her hand, she said, "Arlinn, where's the wine?"
The she-wolf wrinkled her brow in confusion. "Didn't you heal her?"
"I need a drink," came the firm reply. Then she took a drink straight from the bottle when she felt its neck in her hand. After taking a swig, she paused and looked at the bottle. "Oh, that is good."
It was then that Jace came bursting through the door, followed by Will. Rowan immediately ran to her brother, and they started talking while Jace came to Liliana's side and looked at Nissa. The elf still sat there in a state of confusion, but at least she wasn't dying.
"What happened?"
Liliana took another swig of wine and shrugged. Jace let out a sigh and snatched the bottle from her.
"Hey!" she protested, as he shoved the bottle into Arlinn's hands.
"Now is not the time to be drinking!" Jace chastised. Then, "Nissa, are you okay? Why is she bandaged? Nissa, what happened?"
"You won't get anything from her," said Liliana, with a smirk.
"She hit her head," Arlinn explained. Liliana tried to snatch the bottle from her again, but Arlinn moved away. "Why didn't you heal her head injury when you healed everything else?"
"Because I didn't know about the head injury. So, unless you want me to sacrifice another innocent creature…"
"Sacrifice?" asked Jace.
"We'll explain later," said Jaya.
"Wait," Jace shook his head, "you healed Nissa?"
Liliana smiled and folded her arms over her chest as she sat back in the chair. "That's right, Cloak Boy. So, I think I deserve another drink to celebrate my accomplishment. She was dying. Now, she's just stupid."
Jace narrowed his brows in that cute, grumpy way he always did. "Now really isn't the time to be mean-spirited, Lili. I need to know what happened."
"Your guess is as good as mine," she said with a wave of her hand. "Maybe you can pull something from her jumbled memory, but I've got nothing. I've done my part."
"Nobody's part is finished until this whole thing is finished," Jace grumbled. Then he sighed and fell still. He was clearly delving into the elf's mind, so everyone fell silent and waited. Liliana got up and snatched the bottle off the table behind Arlinn, who was too slow to stop her. After sticking out her tongue, she carried it off and slumped in an armchair to enjoy it, while Jace finished up his little memory dive.
Just taking a third sip left her feeling its effects and she smirked. This was the finest wine she had ever tasted.
"Chandra and Ajani were still alive when she left," said Jace, suddenly coming back. "We need to go now. Where's Teferi?"
"Oh, he already left," Liliana remembered.
"To Lorwyn?"
"Um, yeah. I thought that was obvious."
Jace grumbled something and came to snatch the wine from her again. "Now is not the time for this! You need to be coherent!"
Liliana crossed her arms and fell into a pout. He was right, after all. She'd definitely had enough for now, but she wasn't about to admit it.
He looked around at everyone assembled, taking a count of everyone there. Then he sighed. "Okay, that makes nine of us."
"Eight," Liliana corrected. He looked at her questioningly, so she indicated Nissa with a tilt of her head. "She's hardly in the condition for battle, I should think."
Jace sighed, and said, "Okay, eight. We've done fine with less."
"Fewer," Liliana corrected.
"Don't…" Jace began, but then he stopped himself from saying whatever he was going to say. Liliana didn't need to be a mind-reader to know he was furious with her at the moment. He hated being corrected.
Instead of picking a fight, however, he wisely chose to move onto more important battles. "Kaya, I need you to go tell Lavinia to stay with Nissa and send for a healer. Then I need you to go find Vraska and Ral—tell them where we've gone and, if they'll come, that we need them now."
She nodded and started off. Then Liliana protested, "Why don't I just send a shade to fetch them? We need all hands on deck."
Jace pressed his fingers to his forehead, and murmured, "I…really don't need to hear any more from you."
"I'm just saying, why send Kaya when we need her most?"
"Because no one will come at your beck and call!" he shouted, his face red with fury. The whole room fell silent, and everyone stood there uncomfortably. Jace took a deep breath then, and spoke more calmly, "Thank you for your input, Liliana, but I'm afraid you still have too many enemies here and the last thing you need to do is send out one of your minions to risk everything. And besides that, Vraska and Ral are more likely to take Kaya's word over yours."
He gave Kaya a nod and she carried on, as originally intended. Meanwhile, Liliana pursed her lips and looked off to the side. "Very well, Jace. Point taken."
"Now, we need to go," said Jace. "We've already wasted enough time. Follow my lead."
With that, Jace disappeared in a pattern of blue light. Then, one by one, everyone else began to follow. Liliana's eyes burned, but she refused to be brought to tears. Jace's anger always struck, swift and sharp like a dagger. She didn't know why he was so angry. After all, she hadn't meant any harm.
"He's just worried," said Jaya. She hadn't even realized the old pyromancer was still there. "You know how he is."
"I'm worried, too," Liliana admitted.
"I know," Jaya confirmed. "And this is how you cope."
She felt a warm hand on her arm and looked up. "We're all worried. But right now, our friends need us to be strong. And the Liliana Vess I remember wouldn't be defeated by a lover's quarrel."
Liliana nodded and wiped a tear that was about to fall. Then she lifted her head, and said, "You're right. Thank you, Jaya. I need a little reminder every now and then. To Lorwyn, then?"
"To Lorwyn," said Jaya, pulling her pyromancer's goggles over her eyes with a smile that suggested she was ready for battle. Then she disappeared in a blaze and Liliana 'walked through a cloud of black.