Chapter 5

Damion pov

"Damion!" I grab my head in pain as the voice pierces my mind causing unimaginable pain, "Damion!"

"Get out of my head!" I shout as I push my forehead against the floor of the Cathedral.

"Return to me!"

"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" My mind felt like it was about to shatter, it hurt to think, it hurt to move, it hurt to exist! I take in a deep breath before the pain disappears and fall to my side gasping for breath, I can see Tamiyo and Jace looking down at me in concern, both of their magics was covering me and protecting my mind from the voice. "I don't...want to go to her...don't make me." I say between gasps before I feel my mind clear, Tamiyo was reading that story from before that helped Jace. Once my mind clears I sit up, "Thanks."

"What happened?" Jace asked.

"A voice, it knew who I was and told me to return to her, I've heard this voice before when we were at Lilianas place, I thought I just imagined it." I was silent for a few moments, "I know the voice, but I can't remember who it is." A jolt of pain shoots through my head again but if fades, my mind once again clearing. I use my own magic to block out the voice and the pain before I stood up, the mental link was back. A moment later the three of us can sense a pressure on our minds, to the others it was a foreign feeling but I knew first hand, this was the pressure I felt when my home was attacked, only I felt no hatred towards it, it felt comforting. I shook my head as I get the thought out of my mind. This belonged to only one creature I've ever met before, the Titan from Korit, Emrakul.

Immediately after I think the name my mind is flooded with images before they disappear, worlds I had never seen before flashed in my mind, they were beautiful. "My memories, their back!" I say excitedly but I couldn't access them for some reason, like they were still blocked, I knew they were there but I couldn't access them.

"Really? What do you remember?" Jace asked.

"I can't access them, but I know they're there. Can you unlock them?" I look at Jace and Tamiyo pleadingly till Jace lets out a sigh and agrees, Tamiyo agreeing as well to learn more about me. The world around me fades as my memories flood my mind.

No pov

The Planeswalkers watch the young half Demon, a few minutes later the two of them started to get concerned. Not a second later tears poured down Damions face, he looked at Jace with regret, "I'm sorry." Before Jace could ask what he meant his eyes widen as Damions body was covered in bone like armor, his face covered in a bone mask, tentacles appeared out of his upper arms, his hands became three large claws as his Elrazi form was revealed to them.

Tamiyo was surprised while Jace was awe struck, he recognized Damion as the Eldrazi from Zendikar, the one that had allowed Ulamog to speak to them.

"I am Damion, Envoy of the end, Herald of the three Titan Eldrazi." His Eldrazi form fades as returns to his human form, his gaze was locked on the ground, as tears poured from them. Jace took the opportunity to listen in on Damions thoughts. Damion was more concerned he had shattered any chance of keeping the friendship they had formed since they first met, but he hadn't changed much. He had his memories yes, but to him it was like watching a completely different person to him, he had accepted who and what he was. As well as what he has done, he showed remorse for what he had done but he knew there was no undoing what had happened, Damion didn't know what he should do.

The silence was endless for Damion even though it had only been a minute before Jace let out a sigh, "Nissa won't be happy about this."

"What?" Damion asked surprised.

"She's not gonna be too happy an Eldrazi is joined the Gatewatch." Jace said with a smirk as he watched Damion realize Jace had accepted him as what he was, once again. "Now come on, we need to get going." Damion nodded as he followed Jace and Tamiyo up the stairs. Happy his friends still accepted him.

We are Emrakul. All are Emrak— "Gah! No." Jace pushed the swirling words from his mind with a stern swipe. "And stay out."

Tamiyo and Damion had taught him how to combat Emrakul's maddening touch, but maintaining the mental bulwark was more challenging than the Moonfolk and Half-Demon made it seem. That was a problem. A big problem for his plan. Every time he focused for too long on something other than the Eldrazi, Her tainted voice would creep back into his head, corrupting his defenses and burrowing into the deepest recesses of his mind.

This time it had been the sight of the warped angel in the sky overhead that had distracted Jace. He had done well at keeping his eyes on Tamiyo's back, keeping his focus on their trek across the rocks; he was following her toward what she called the nexus point. But the presence of the angel had been too much to ignore. So impossibly alien was its shape that Jace's curiosity had gotten the better of him. He'd glanced up and been drawn in instantly, having to work to parse what he was witnessing. At first he'd thought it a demon, but it was far worse than that. By the time he had resolved the multiple wings, the lattice-like connective tissue between the dual heads, the melding echoing voice, he had lost himself.

"My mother has begun attacking the Plane." Damion states looking up at the former Angels that had melded into one being. Damions statement only made Jace think harder on the Titans presence.

That was unacceptable. He needed to be able to trust his mind for what he was about to do. Was he really about to do it? Could he actually justify bringing the rest of them here, to be set upon by this madness? The question dropped to the pit of his stomach and swelled up into a wave of nausea. He had thought it was the right thing. Hadn't he? Yes, he had come to it as the only solution. He was certain—almost certain. Close to certain. "Gah!" Jace threw up his arms.

"Shh!" Tamiyo shot a scolding glance over her shoulder.

"Sorry." Jace held up his hands defensively.

Tamiyo glowered but turned back to the path, to her magical lantern and her soft footfalls. He should tell her. Tell her to wait here and he would bring help. This was bigger than something the three of them could handle alone. In truth, it always had been, even when Jace thought it was just the mad angel, Avacyn. If it hadn't been for Sorin back at the cathedral—Sorin. Jace cursed the ancient vampire who had brought Innistrad to the brink of destruction and then just merely drifted away, leaving the mess for Jace to clean up.

But an Eldrazi titan wasn't something he could clean up alone. It was never meant to be something he had to do alone, or with the help of Her son apparently, Jace was still coming to terms with Damions status to the Eldrazi. Gideon himself had told Jace to come back to Zendikar if he heard news of the titan. Well, Jace had done better than that, he had found Her and her son. Gideon should be quite pleased.

Ahead, Tamiyo paused at the shore and held her lantern aloft. Jace followed the tendrils of magically enhanced light, lifting his eyes to the sky. As soon as he did, he wished he hadn't.

It was the first time he had actually seen Her: the titan, Emrakul.

Jace was transfixed.

Emrakul was bigger, he could swear, than either of the others. And, in her way, far, far more powerful. She had only been on this world for a short time, and already so much of it seemed to belong to her. All of Innistrad had uprooted itself to follow her. Cultists, warped into her likeness, dragged themselves over the rocks, abandoning all that they had been in their former lives. Animals and monsters alike, on the land, in the sky, and in the sea flocked behind her as she went. The trees, mosses, and brambles, even the algae trailed itself from the water to be closer to her warping presence.

Jace, too, felt the urge to go to Her. I'amrakul.

No.

He wanted to shake himself. He had to clear his mind. He had to think. He couldn't let Her have what She wanted. He once again mimicked what Tamiyo and Damion had taught him, clenching his hands into fists with the effort. The process of ensuring that there was no residue of delirium was not unlike clearing away cobwebs from inside one's head. Thick, poisonous-like cobwebs exuded by a towering Eldrazi monstrosity hell-bent on consuming the mind of every living thing on this world. Jace shuddered.

This is what he would have to be able to do for them, for Gideon and Chandra and Nissa. He'd have to protect their minds along with his own. He couldn't bring them here and then leave them to be consumed by Her. He wouldn't. So then the question was: Could he do it? He had asked himself this very thing what felt like a hundred times, and yet he didn't have the answer.

"You say they call Her Emrakul?" Tamiyo's curious voice drew Jace out of his thoughts. He glanced at her; her face was a study in serenity, as though holding her mind against the madness was no more difficult than breathing.

"Yes," Jace said. "That's one of the things they call Her."

"It's the most common name she goes by, most other versions are alternate versions of Emrakul. She does reply to mom though." Damion says with a smirk.

"Fascinating that such a thing should have a name." Tamiyo lifted her telescope from her belt and placed it to her eye. "I wonder if that is what She calls Herself."

Jace had never paused to ask that question. He would have never thought it something worth asking; the moonfolk saw things much differently than he did. He stared ahead at Emrakul's massive form, trying to see Her the way Tamiyo did. He looked into Her enormous magenta eye. It was warm and welcoming. He wondered what he would find if he went inside. He held himself back, just on the precipice. "What is your name?" he asked "What do you call yourself?"

A deluge of words echoed from all corners of his mind:

"The enteral infinity—this world is mine.

The absolute—I shall have all.

The beginning—I shall be all.

The being—all are'mrakul.

The end.

The end.

The end."

Jace pulled back, gasping for breath. This was not the end. This would not be the end. Not for him, and not for Innistrad. He had to stop doubting, stop procrastinating; he had to trust his mind. He glanced again at the serene Tamiyo; if she could do it, he could do it, he could do it for them. Yes. It was time to bring the Gatewatch to Innistrad. He cleared his throat. "Tamiyo, I have to go."

"What?" Tamiyo turned, her lavender eyes wide.

"There are three others. Planeswalkers. They're powerful, they're the best there are, and they can help. I have to go get them. On another world, we killed two more like that." He nodded at Emrakul without actually looking at Her.

Tamiyo appeared reluctant to believe him. "Two?"

"It took all of us, but yes."

Tamiyo cocked her head and squinted into his eyes. Jace had the urge to look away—he felt guilty under her scrutiny, though he wasn't sure why. And then suddenly she smiled. "You did. Yes, you really and truly did. My, now that's a story I'll have to hear." She sighed. "But another time. If this world's story hopes for an ending other than darkness, we must each do our part."

"Will you two come with me?"

"No, Jace. That's not my path." Tamiyo stated.

"I'll go but I'm pretty sure they aren't going to like me." Damion added.

"Don't worry, just let me do all the talking." He looks back at Tamiyo, "Will you be here when we come back?"

"We will all be where we must be." Tamiyo replied.

Jace turned to Tamiyo and opened his mouth to argue that she should stay and help, but then he felt a calming touch on his mind and Damions. Tamiyo. Jace no longer had to fight to hold onto his sanity; he hadn't even realized that he had been straining so hard. It was like a terrible headache had finally broken. Relief. He relaxed into it.

"I will protect your minds so you can planeswalk," Tamiyo said. "Go."

In that moment, there was nothing Jace wanted more than to do as she said. He wanted to go, to leave this world, leave the titan. Return to the world they had already saved: Zendikar. Damion was focusing on Zendikar as well, in an instant they vanished.

Jace and Damion appeared on Zendikar and was immediately spotted by a certain flame wielding Planeswalker.

"Well, look who decided to show up. Hey, Gideon, over here!" Chandra called out.

"About time!" The tromping of boots materialized in Jace's ears, and the afterimage of Emrakul looming above gave way to the smiling face of his friend. Then Gideon took notice of the young boy with Jace. "Who's your friend?" Gideon knew he was a Planeswalker but was surprised by the boys age.

"Well, you see..." Jace said before he started to explain what had happened.

One explanation later

The Members of the Gate Watch were all looking at Damion in shock as the boy was examining flowers with wonder in his eyes, as if he's never seen them before.

Jace was worried how his friends would react to the revelations about Damion.

Nissa looked like she was on the verge of screaming, but was holding it in since Jace had explained what happened to Damion. She was furious with the Eldrazi especially for what they did to Zedikar, the only reason she even considered it was because he could possibly help stop Emrakul.

Chandra looked like she couldn't believe this little kid was that powerful, she was also considering fighting him for fun. She sympathized with him a bit for being seen different than others like her growing up.

Gideon had an emotionless expression on his face, when he looked at the boy he didn't see an Eldrazi bent on destroying everything in its path, instead he saw someone who wanted to help. He walked towards the half Demon still not showing any emotions. Jace informed Damion that Gideon was walking towards him making the half Demon look back at the man approaching him, Damion stood up and looked up at the man. Gideon looked down at the boy, "What do you want?"

"What?"

"Why did you accept joining? What's your reason?"

"Well, Jace accepted me for who I was, both times, and I wanted to help. I told Jace I would help and I intend to keep my promise." He said with no hesitation and Gideon could tell he meant every word.

"If you're joining you need to say an oath, if you don't then you can't join." He said with a small smile.

Damion smiled, "How do I do it?"

"Raise your hand like this and say what you believe is right, and then say you will keep watch."

Damion was silent for a few moments as the others watch him, he raised his hand and spoke. "If I can help my friends, keep the Multiverse safe, and be with those who accept me for who I am, I will keep watch." A grey and purple flame appeared around his hand as a small swirl of wind pushed the dirt away from him as his clothes moved in an invisible wind. He looked at the others, Gideon smiled and held out his hand.

"Welcome to the Gatewatch." Damion smiled and shook his hand in response, "Now, let us go stop Emrakul."

A crack appeared out of thin air before Damion walked out and opened his eyes as he appeared on Innistrad, the familiar sense of his mother calmed his mind but he had to resist opening it to her. The sound of boots landing on the ground caught his attention, looked over at where Jace landed.

Jace shuddered involuntarily as he opened his eyes on Innistrad. The air was quite a bit colder here. It had a different smell, too, a different feel. The scent was strange, almost metallic, and when he exhaled his last breath of Zendikar's air and breathed in Innistrad, he felt it. There was a thickness to the air here. That first breath hurt, just a little.

The sky was tearing itself apart. Storm clouds swirled, as if there was a gale in every direction, and no sunlight escaped the horizon. The plane's eternal dusk had given way to a purplish glow. His eyes didn't want to adjust to the dark; they fought him every moment of the way. He squinted toward the horizon, toward the hole in reality, and tried to focus. Focus. Focus. His mind felt heavy, here. Like a sack of wet rice on top of his neck. Sloshing, grinding, sliding away...

There was a chime in Jaces mind. Or the memory of a chime. A reminder of himself, and his eyes cleared.

They stood atop a hill, looking down on the rolling fields that surrounded Thraben. They could see the city now, and half of it was on fire. There were battles raging in the streets. Torches. Shouting. Screaming. Jace wasn't sure whether he was hearing the screams from this distance, or feeling them. And above it all, up in the sky...he couldn't bring himself to focus there. Not yet.

A second set of sounds brought Jace's focus to a more clear and present issue. Growling. Snarling. Eyes glowing a sickly green in the dark.

"Werewolves again," Jace muttered. He reached out into the darkness and lightly touched the minds that he found there. Six of them, ravaged by madness and changed into something he could barely recognize. As they crept out of the shadows, he saw the werewolves clearly. Their fur was patchy, their skin infused with the same latticework pattern that he had seen all over the organic matter of Innistrad.

Damion narrowed his eyes as the purple and grey fire appeared around his hands, he charged towards three of them and summoned a sword only this time it didn't turn black and start disappearing. In his hand was what appeared to be an Eldrazi in the shape of a sword, the handle itself was a purple color while the blade was made of the bone fragments with more fragments floating near the edge of the blade. Several tentacles attached to the handle reached over and wrapped around his wrist. The sword cut through the werewolves like nothing, he summoned a second one before killing the second werewolf. The third one however seemed to hesitate attacking Damion before it was covered in a grey fire, turning it to ash.

Jace made a call. There wasn't enough left of the minds of the three remaining werewolves to be saved. There was no subtlety in his mental assault; he grabbed ahold of their senses and overloaded each one—blinding light, deafening sound, smells so intense they choked on them. It wasn't pretty, but he needed to establish a foothold here for when the others arrived.

Two of the werewolves whimpered and fell; they twitched, and then went still. The last of the three...laughed? He could feel its mind changing, adapting, growing in response to the assault. The mental connection broke, and he watched as the creature's skin rippled, its limbs lengthened, its claws elongated, and its skin oozed. Jace stumbled backward. Whatever he had done had triggered some sort of reflexive mutation. Now, he wasn't even sure what he was looking at.

With a quick gesture, he split into a dozen reflections, and the monster spent a moment sniffing the air before focusing in on his real body, the illusions ignored. Jace looked around for an escape route and found none. Options raced through his mind, and were discarded one by one. Jace's illusions, semi-substantial, tried to crowd the beast, buying him more time, until a flash of light, the sound of a whipping blade and tearing flesh. The horror dropped into a mangled, whimpering pile. Gideon had arrived.

"It's fine, Jace. I've got your back."

Jace straightened his coat and Damion made his sword disappear. "Did you get lost on the way? Make a stopover in Ravnica for snacks?"

"I should visit Ravnica, I hear it's a nice place." Damion added.

"It's not easy following you to a place I've never been. Hmm." Gideon stared down the hill toward Thraben. If he was having a hard time with his senses, he wasn't showing it. "Bigger than the other two. And it's got quite the force between us and it. What's the plan?"

"Um." Damion tried getting their attention but was cut off when a heat shimmer appeared in the air, and a woman stepped out of it.

Chandra rubbed her hands together. "Same plan as last time, right? Fire? I guess that wasn't the plan at the time, but it did the trick. Usually does." She put her hands on her hips as she looked down at the chaotic scene below.

"Hey!" Damion tried again but was cut off again.

The hill rumbled slightly, the only herald of Nissa's arrival. She frowned as she knelt down, placing her palm against the ground. "The mana here is dark. Twisted. It's in the soil, the trees...Emrakul did some of this, but..."

"This is your first time to Innistrad, right? 'Dark and twisted' is kind of a regular feature." Jace replied.

"Pretty sure they might be another cause of that." Damion stated pointing towards where the previous portal had been, heading towards where Emrakul is was the previous two Titans, "They're weaker than before but they are getting their powers back slowly.

Jace nodded before he continued, "So, we've basically got the same scenario as last time, with a couple minor wrinkles. Emrakul is moving on Thraben, and will get there before the other two, so we need to get there first. Damion will distract Emrakul. Nissa will use her planar glyph to tap into the leyline network. Gideon will clear us a path to get close. We channel the plane's energy through Chandra, and she does her thing."

Nissa shook her head. "It's not going to work. The leylines have already been redirected. Into that."

Jace tried to force a grin. "Well, yes. The cryptolith network. They're focusing all the leylines toward Thraben now. That, plus the fact that Thraben is the densest population of life on Innistrad, will mean that Emrakul will almost certainly be drawn there. That center point should amplify the glyph's effects. Quite similar to the hedron network, actually."

"If we can get close enough to it. But if we get that close, Emrakul will destroy us." Nissa's voice was quiet, but firm. "And if we don't get that close, I'll be able to tap into one or two leylines from any other vantage point. Three at most. It won't be enough, even for one Titan."

Chandra put her hand on Nissa's shoulder. "Hey. One leyline or twenty, you tap me in, and we'll make it enough."

Gideon sighed. "Nissa, do you believe you can do this? We're not going to try a plan that we're not all committed to."

Nissa picked up a handful of dirt and sifted it between her fingers. She glanced up to the faces of her companions. Gideon, concerned. Jace, impassive. Chandra, excited. Damion nervous. She closed her eyes and listened for several long seconds. To her heartbeat, to the blighted soil beneath her, to her memories.

"Yes."

Chandra was screaming. The others couldn't tell whether they were screams of pain or joy or rage, they just heard the screams and felt the overwhelming heat. She was incandescent, an inferno that walked, and she projected fire in every direction, scorching her friends but charring wave after wave of the mutated remains of what had been the people of Thraben, just days ago.

The screaming stopped, and the fires went out. Chandra dropped to her hands and knees, and Gideon leapt forward to cover her. They were trapped in what had been a market square, two of the four entrances blocked by rubble and fallen buildings. A dilapidated, lattice-scarred tower leaned tenuously over the cobblestone road that led farther into the heart of the city—but both it and the road they had entered on were blocked by rank after rank of Emrakul's legion.

Some of them were still recognizably human. Their voices were a screeching whirl of screams and gibberish. Some of them were what remained of beasts, of angels, of things unrecognizable. Some moved with purpose, others merely lumbered and moaned, their limbs limp and their flesh melting like candle wax.

And behind them loomed the storm.

The body of the titan was still mostly hidden from view, but its presence was everywhere. Emrakul. The storm raged, and impossible forking lightning thrashed and slashed the city below. Tentacles would emerge from the black clouds, scraping low along the ground, rumbling as city blocks were reduced to ash and stone.

"Options. I need options." Gideon surveyed the square, sural unfurled. "Nissa. Elementals?"

The elf shook her head. "I could call, but we wouldn't like what would answer."

Gideon grunted his frustration. "Chandra? Damion? You ready to go another round?"

Chandra was doubled over, hands on her knees, breathing hard. She raised a hand and gave a weak thumbs-up gesture. "Sure thing, boss. Just getting started." She coughed and straightened up—her face was covered in soot and ash, but her smile seemed genuine enough.

Damion had his demon features out as he tore threw another Eldrazi, he took a few breaths before his hands were ablaze with grey fire, "I'm ready when you are!" He said with a smile. The two of them each let out a stream of red and grey fire, the two infernos swirl together as they reduced any Eldrazi horror to ash.

"Jace. What have you got?"

Jace scanned the area again. "We're not going forward. We've got a defensible open space to work with. I say we use the glyph here."

Gideon nodded. "Nissa, can you do it?"

Nissa knelt down, putting both of her palms on the ground. A green glow snaked up from the ground, wrapping her arms in a verdant light. "Two leylines. Three if I push."

"Do it." Gideon's voice held the slightest hesitation. "The rest of us, we need to cover her. The resistance we've faced this far has been incidental. I'm not even sure it's noticed us yet."

Jace gestured toward the tower that overlooked one of the entrances to the square. Two illusionary marks appeared on it. "Chandra, I need you to hit the tower here and here. When the lattice transforms stone, it is quite resistant to damage, but expands when exposed to extreme heat. That should topple the tower and block off the street."

"What?" Chandra glanced back, hands already ablaze.

"I read it in a book. Trust me."

"If it was in that journal I swear to this planes non-existent gods I will slap you." Damion stated.

Chandra thrust her fists toward the tower, and two arcing fireballs struck precisely where Jace had marked. Seconds later, the entire structure collapsed, blocking off most of the street as it crashed into the inn on the other side.

The market square came alive—new growth sprang from the packed dirt and cobblestones, and the air, sour and foul, cleared slightly. Nissa stood motionless in the center of it, as glowing runes appeared on the ground around her, snaking their way from her feet until the complex glyph was complete.

There was a shrieking sound from the hordes around them. As one, they turned and charged toward Nissa—and Gideon charged to intercept them. He hit the line with powerful vertical slashes, and drove his body into their ranks, golden sparks lifting into the night air as blows deflected off his body. He roared a challenge as he slashed in a wide circle, trying to inflict as much damage as possible and draw as much attention to himself as he could.

But the creatures did not fall easily, and those that fell did not stay down. Even fully dismembered creatures stayed still for only a moment; they grew new hideous limbs from each fresh wound, and walked, crawled and skittered past, drawn directly to Nissa and the glyph.

"Nissa, are we ready? Because I really, really think now is a good time." Chandra paced at the edge of the flaring glyph, as Nissa muttered incomprehensible syllables, eyes firmly shut. Chandra gave a yell of warning to Gideon and Damoin before washing the entire street in a wave of flames, Damion wrapped himself in his wings as the fire passed over him. She looked back over her shoulder to see Nissa reaching down into the earth and pulling up what looked to be a spectral thorned vine, wide around as a tree trunk. She strained to pull it up from the earth, and she gasped in shock as those spectral thorns cut into her arms.

Nissa grunted through gritted teeth. "Get...ready. Almost...there." She reached down again, and raised a second vine. This one pulled and buckled, thrashing back and forth in her grasp like a serpent. With a pained effort, she managed to wrap it around her waist as an anchor, and reach down to the ground for a third.

Chandra paced, not sure what to do next. There was nothing she could do for Nissa, and Gideon was doing what he could to stop a flowing mass of creatures moving their way. She glanced up, and immediately regretted it. Limbs, tentacles, and other lattice-wracked extremities were starting to climb up over the buildings and rubble, in every direction. Hundreds of them. She glanced back to Nissa, and watched her fall to her knees.

The third spectral vine was darker than the other two, the barbs more cruel, its motion more sinuous and chaotic. Nissa was trying to get it under control, but it had managed to wrap itself around her neck, and it looked as if it was trying to drag her down into the ground.

"Life cannot stop...even when it knows it must...even when it knows it is wrong! Alone and discordant! Even when it knows!" Nissa's voice echoed, her eyes glowed a sickly purple, and then she dropped limp onto the ground. The vines were gone. The glyph went instantly dark. And the hordes of creatures continued their approach.

"Fall back!" Chandra yelled as she rushed to Nissa's side, scooping up her head as gently as she could. "Come on, come on, you need to wake up!"

"There's nowhere to fall back to, Chandra!" Jace took up position next to the two, and reached down to touch Nissa's forehead. "She's still in there. Just a bit stunned. She'll be fine in a couple minutes."

Gideon came running back to the others, as the crowd of creatures slowly pressed closer. "I'll watch over her until she wakes up. You two planeswalk back to safety."

Chandra stood, hands ablaze. "Not gonna happen. We're all walking out of here together, or..." Her bravado faded with her trailing words.

"Or not at all," Jace supplied. "Together or not at all?"

Damion seemed to be glowing with a grey light but stopped once he heard a strange noise.

Chandra opened her mouth to respond, then cocked her head to the side. "Wait...what is that?"

The Planeswalkers heard them before they saw them—growling, moaning, crunching, and tearing, as ranks of the undead spilled into the square. They moved in tight formations, throwing themselves, biting and clawing into the mutated creatures that surrounded the Planeswalkers, ripping them apart with terrible strength.

Necrotic flesh met mutated limbs in an explosive clash, both sides heedless of pain or losses. But the zombies moved with precision and purpose. When their ranks were shredded, they were immediately replenished. And when they reached the Planeswalkers, they parted, formed a defensive perimeter around them, and started pushing outward.

Then, their leader appeared. Liliana floated forth, arms spread wide, the Chain Veil hovering just beyond her fingertips. Her tattoos blazed with light and dripped with blood. At a casual flick of her wrist, bolts of necromantic energy swept in wide arcs, reducing the corpses of the mutated creatures to ash. All the cancerous growth, all the twisted vibrancy was simply snuffed out. In a field of unending, unnatural life, a sphere of stillness and death arrived, and there it reigned.

Liliana's expression softened from exultant fury to a demure smile in an instant, as she dropped gracefully to the ground. Her tattoos faded, and the Veil seemed to diminish. "Oh, Jace. I got here as soon as I could."

"What are you doing here?" Gideon was still in a combat stance, his sural flowing with imbued power.

"The nice lady with the uncomfortable dress just saved our butts, Gideon. Calm down a second." Chandra turned her back to Liliana and stepped between them.

Nissa stirred and struggled to her feet. "That...thing she carries. It's an abomination." Nissa flinched from the Veil, refusing to look anywhere near it.

Liliana's smile curved its way across her face. "That's a strange way of saying 'thank you, Liliana, you saved my life, and I'll always be in your debt.'"

"Thank you purple lady!" Damion said happily.

"You're welcome child." She said with an almost genuine smile.

Gideon grunted, and his sural retracted.

"Liliana, I'm...I didn't think I'd see you again. But you're here." Jace pulled back his hood, the glow gone from his eyes. The dark circles underneath them were plain to see.

"Eloquent as ever. Yes. You're rescued, you owe me, and now you should really planeswalk somewhere safe."

Jace shook his head. "We can't do that. We need to finish this. We're so close. And with you covering us, I think we can do this. I know we can."

Liliana rubbed her forehead. "This is not the time to be ridiculous, Jace. What we need to do is leave."

"What you need to do is take that cursed thing and go." Nissa stood unsteadily, but her sword was in hand. "I'll not fight alongside it."

Gideon raised a hand in warning. "You fought at Sea Gate alongside vampires, pirates, and worse, Nissa. We take the allies we can get, if they can be trusted."

"Ah, the meat can reason!" Liliana beamed.

"But I don't know if you can be trusted. Nissa's instincts are rarely wrong, and I'm inclined to agree with her. That object is...a problem. But I don't know you. He does." Gideon turned to Jace. "So you'll decide. Tell me, Jace. Can she be trusted?"

Liliana laughed, high and clear, before Jace could answer. "That's a ridiculous question, and you know it. Look around you. I snap my fingers, and you're all overrun. You are trusting me, right now. But if you won't leave, I can't force you. So tell me, brave heroes, what's your plan now?"

She looked to each of their faces. Gideon, exasperated. Chandra, exhausted. Nissa, furious. Damion, excited. And Jace, pained.

"Oh, wonderful." Liliana smiled for lack of a better expression. "I'm sure this will end well."