Chapter 4
Watch the Shadows
Ral Zarek stood with the dragon Niv-Mizzet at the very pinnacle of the tower known as Nivix. Today was the day; today they would announce everything they had struggled to learn to the entire city. Today they would finally be able to unlock the secrets that Azor I had hidden. Ral Zarek had tried to solve the Maze alone, only to find that he couldn't. They needed the help of all ten guilds in order to make it to the end. Now that Niv-Mizzet had finished his vast experiment and had figured out how to solve the Maze, he would have Ral Zarek summon a vast storm elemental, which would project his voice across Ravnica. Then the guilds would understand what needed to be done. He had heard that the Azorius and Dimir had already chosen champions; soon the other guilds would as well.
Champions…
Ral Zarek tried to hide his anger from the dragon. Instead of choosing the one who had helped uncover the secrets of the Maze, Niv-Mizzet chose a weird! Something that was little more than an animal. Well, Ral Zarek didn't care for the dragon any longer. After he summoned the elemental, he would run the Maze for himself, and he would triumph. No other planeswalkers were running the Maze.
And yet… something was wrong. He had thought about what had been happening more and more frequently these days. Something foreboding…
As he had been sneaking through the undercity of Ravnica, preparing everything for the announcement, he had noticed something rather odd. As he walked, the buildings cast shadows. They had shadows of people running across the rooftops, but there was no one there. And the buildings' shadows had begun to ripple themselves, as if something had just entered them, like the shadows were pools of water.
Something was going on. Something that he could not comprehend…
He would have to watch the shadows in the future.
Jace gasped and wheezed. He had just defeated the ogre Ruric Thar in single combat, something he never thought he could have done. The Gruul warriors stood in awe, staring at their leader. They began whispering, chanting something. The chanting became a crescendo, but Jace still couldn't understand what they were saying.
"Silence!" Ruric bellowed, "He has proven himself. Come, mind mage, and find what you are looking for." Jace was happy that it was over. Searching in Ruric Thar's mind, he found a bit of what he had forgotten.
Watch the shadows… What? What was that?
He pulled out of Ruric's mind and stared uncomprehendingly at the ogre. "What did you say?"
"Something that you must remember. It has been happening everywhere, and you must be careful. You have no memory of it, but it remembers you. And it is close. Be wary-"
One of the warriors shrieked and fell. Everyone crowded around the fallen warrior and saw what had killed him. It was a small spike attached to a chain. There were strips of cloth tied around the chain, painted a checkerboard of red, black, and white.
Oh no…
Dozens of little Rakdos devils swarmed into the clearing, and at the head was the blood-witch Exava. Cackling with glee, the devils began throwing their spikes and smashing their maces against every Gruul warrior they could see. Ruric Thar began smashing every devil in sight, the devils not even trying to defend themselves. Exava slashed with her cutlass and stabbed with the spike-sword she carried. The Gruul warriors were rapidly dying, and there weren't many left between Jace and Exava. He needed to do something quick.
He thought of a plan. It was crazy, but it just might work.
Mirko flew covertly through the dark undercity, stalking the informant who had summoned him. The Dimir agent was obviously a novice; he was barely able to conceal himself from the stragglers and beggars around him, let alone Mirko Vosk, Dimir Champion. He flew down and apprehended the agent for his near-failure, showing him a series of images designed to scare him beyond anything he had ever seen.
The figure stood, head bowed, and managed to stammer, "I-I-I apologize, Lord Vosk. I did n-n-not know that I came so close to observation. But I have not lied! I hold valuable information involving the choosing of the other champions."
Mirko's eyes narrowed. "Come with me," he said, "We're going to Duskmantle to see Lord Lazav."
They arrived at Duskmantle late in the evening, as the sun was barely above the horizon. The vampire guards dropped down and immediately let Mirko through after he planted the password in their minds. He quickly led the informant into Duskmantle, passing the Umbreomancer's Sanctum on the way up to Lazav's chambers. Strange, he hadn't seen Buras at all the past few weeks, and there had not been any activity observed inside the Sanctum, save it be the coming and going of Julna's shades. He wondered how Buras was taking the news that Mirko had won the designation of Dimir Champion. Probably moping in the Sanctum as he collected information for Mirko or searching for rogue shades that littered the various guildgates.
They arrived at Lazav's chambers and were ushered in immediately. Lazav sat in his chair, disguised as Buras in order to aggravate Mirko, making him prone to reveal more than he wanted to.
"Well, Mirko, what do you have for me today?" Lazav asked, looking at the cringing informant hiding behind Mirko.
"He says he has information involving the rest of the guild champions."
The informant walked forward and began talking, "I have found information not only on the choices, but their strengths and weaknesses. You know the identities of three of the guild Champions, being Lavinia of the Azorius, Teysa Karlov of the Orzhov, and, of course, Mirko Vosk from the Dimir. I have found information on four others. The demon Rakdos has chosen his favorite bloodwitch Exava as his champion. Though she is a very skilled fighter, she is reckless and has no sense of loss, fighting to the last man. The Golgari have chosen the troll warrior Varolz. He commands many zombies and plants, but he is weighed down by fungus and by the painful scars that stripe his back. Trostani has chosen Emmara Tandris, the elf woman. Though she commands the Selesnya, like all Conclave members, she places too much stake in honor and integrity. Finally, the Izzet have NOT chosen Ral Zarek the storm mage as their champion; they have created one. His name is Melek, and he is a weird designed to be the guild Champion. He will do whatever Niv-Mizzet tells him. That is all that I know."
Lazav glared at Mirko, saying, "The weird I did not know, but the rest I did. Why must you bring me informants who bring me small bits of knowledge I can learn myself? Take him out of my sight and do what you will with him."
"Wait!" the agent yelled in fear, "There is something else. Not information, more like a rumor. I was able to search the minds of Exava and Emmara, as well as many members of the Boros and Gruul. Their thoughts are nothing alike, except on one point. Everywhere I see, there is one thing they agree on. It's far too widespread to be a coincedence. One thing is congruent in the thoughts of the entire population.
Watch the shadows."
Julna hid, as always, in the shadows. He watched Jace take down Ruric Thar using the combined thoughts of the crowd around him. He watched silently as the Rakdos devils invaded the clearing, killing everything in sight. He fingered the faintly glowing pendant around his neck, a gift from Jace Beleren. As long as he kept mana inside it, no one would be able to telepathically assault him. Combine that with his shades' ability to keep him inconspicuous to the world around him, no one would notice him. He had been dogging Jace for the past week, making sure that he never remembered Julna and learning all the information Jace found out in his re-investigation. Not to mention the fact the Falderin had "just" remembered that something couldn't be erased from Jace's mind. Now Jace had been spreading the phrase "watch the shadows" all over Ravnica, causing a considerable hurdle once Mirko and Lazav put two and two together.
Still, Julna needed Jace alive. There was no one else that Julna felt comfortable following when he needed information.
A huge roar throbbed in Julna's mind, but he could tell that this wasn't a real thing. Looking toward the clearing, he saw Rakdos in the clearing, commanding the devils to stop. Julna was amazed that Jace could conjure up a thing so big so quickly. Still, the devils didn't seem sure that they were really seeing Rakdos; they seemed to be on the verge of attacking again. They needed a little extra push. Speaking seven words in the divine language, he summoned twenty-four middle level shades to expand the devils' fear and awe. Hopefully it would even work on Exava.
The devils shrieked in fear, cowering before the illusion with the emotional influence of Julna's shades. Exava momentarily showed fear of her master, but the shades could not influence her mind as easily as the brainwashed cultists. She still seemed afraid of Jace's power, and Julna's shades informed him that she understood that someone else was helping Jace.
Julna felt something. Not the weight of someone attacking his mind, but someone could see him. Turning towards Jace, he made eye contact with the mind mage. There was no flicker of recognition in Jace's eyes, but he could clearly see and feel Julna's mind, as well as his own magic protecting Julna.
Exava was enraged. She saw where Jace's eyes pointed and identified Julna as Jace's accomplice. Screaming in rage, she ran towards Julna, pointing both swords at Julna. Lazily speaking a few words, Julna sank into the shadowy wall behind him, leaving Exava staring in disbelief at the shadow of the man running into the distance. Livid, Exava turned back to see Jace running away as well. She chased after him.
Panting, Julna emerged in an alley near Vizkopa. Shadow travel was extremely exhausting when traveling long distance, though it guaranteed no pursuit except by powerful umbreomancers or shades. Falderin floated beside him, easing Julna's mental discomfort. After weeks of no mental contact, finally being glimpsed put his brain into shock. Falderin couldn't take away Julna's exhaustion, but he could ease the shock.
Someone came walking down the alleyway, and Julna heard the distinct tapping of a metal-plated cane.
Before he could conceal himself, Teysa Karlov and half a dozen thrull servants came strolling up the alleyway. She stopped, stared at Julna. He was too exhausted to shadow travel again, so he just stared at Teysa.
"From your clothing I can see that you're a Dimir agent," she said matter-of-factly, "That's not allowed. You must make your payment before coming into Orzhov territory, whether or not I knew you were here. Seize him." The thrulls all jumped forward, but Falderin rose to protect Julna by standing in front of him. Which made Julna completely vulnerable to the sizeable pontiff standing behind him with the sizeable club.
Groaning, Julna rubbed the knot on the back of his head as he slowly sat up. He was in an underground mausoleum, filled with coffins, all emblazoned with the Orzhov symbol.
Chuckling, Julna began chanting. The Orzhov's stupidity couldn't hold him. It was only after he felt behind that he noticed that his cloak was missing.
Maybe they weren't so stupid after all.
Cursing, Julna realized he was trapped. He hadn't actually planeswalked through the Blind Eternities in so long that he doubted he could find a good place to go; he'd probably end up in Shadowmoor or New Phyrexia. Looking around, he tried to find a door. The only one was on the far corner of the room, and it was open.
Throwing caution to the wind, Julna ran towards the door. As he got close, five ghosts sprang up and surrouned him. Five rich, well dressed ghosts.
Looking around wildly, Julna noticed that there were only five coffins in the crypt, all of which were gilded and decorated to the point of excess.
He paled, realizing that even Falderin could not hold up to the Obzedat. He was trapped.
The Obzedat stared at Julna, and he felt a pressure on his mind. Scrabbling around his collar, he noticed that his telepathy-blocker was gone too.
We must have knowledge from you, the fat one said, How did you travel here? We received no knowledge of your approach until our ghasts reported you emerging from the shadow. Are you the one that was spoken of?
"I don't know what you mean," Julna said out loud, "Who has been speaking of me?"
We have heard reports to watch the shadows, and our ghasts have frequent dealings with the shades before they were restricted of their freedom. They speak of the Shadow's Seneschal, who shall come to bring them to greatness, and shall have an Object, which shall create their king, but the king shall be second to the Seneschal, because the Seneschal serves the substance from whence the king is made. And he shall become more than he was twice, gaining the darkness, followed by the light to join the water in his body-
"Stop!" Julna interrupted, "I do not want to hear of my future. I admit that that sounds like me, but if it is, I do not wish to know what I will be. It changes the future and causes an immense headache when I inevitably try to find out what would have happened if I had never heard of it. But why do you want to know?"
You have many talents that will be of use to us. Join us, or else you shall be sacrificed to the Deathpact to bring our champion back from the grave.
That might pose a problem. Julna was considering stepping into the Blind Eternities just to get away from the Obzedat when Teysa burst in, out of breath. "Oh Deathless, I must speak to you. The dragon Niv-Mizzet has sent an enormous storm elemental that is speaking of the Maze!"
The Obzedat all looked at Julna. We will speak of this further, they said in unison, Teysa, stay here to guard him.
"But-"
Stay here, Karlov. Or do you wish to return to your previous life?
Evidently angered at their orders, Teysa gritted her teeth and said, "Yes, Great Ones."
The Obzedat vanished. Teysa turned to Julna and actually smiled. "Well, that went better than I thought it would They didn't even search my mind."
Julna's eyes widened. "Lazav!?" he said incredulously, "How did you…?"
"I impersonated Teysa to rescue you. Mirko and I need to ask you some things. Here are your valuables," he said, giving Julna his cloak and Jace's telepathy pendant, "Meet us back at Duskmantle."
"So were you being truthful when you told the Obzedat that Niv-Mizzet was making a district wide announcement?" Julna asked once they were safely out of Orzhov territory.
"I will be," Lazav replied slyly, "I have discovered that Niv-Mizzet plans to do just that in the next few hours."
They met Mirko in the Tenth District, who smirked at Julna as Julna silently glared at him, filled with resentment. Mirko had tampered with Julna's shades in order to discredit Julna! Lazav would not be convinced of this, as there was no more evidence; that shade no longer remembered what had happened. All Julna could do was wait and plan his revenge against the treacherous vampire.
The three Dimir members worked their way back to Duskmantle, Lazav changing his form to a nondescript vampire as they went. Once they were safely enclosed in Lazav's private chambers, he turned around and demanded, "Where have you been, Julna!? You were supposed to investigate the leylines! Now Niv-Mizzet is about to make an announcement about the Maze, and I DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING HE'S GOING TO SAY."
Julna did not flinch at the shape-shifter's tirade. "I did not wish to," he said haughtily, "And I saw no reason why I should continue obeying you."
Lazav sat down in surprise. "Are you telling me you aren't following me anymore? Is this because of something as petty as you not being chosen? An initiate being chosen? I laugh at the very thought! And now you tell me that you hold a grudge against me for it!?" He calmed himself. "Unfortunately for you, Buras, anyone who no longer wishes to work with this organization cannot be allowed to remember it. You will be turned over to Mirko, who will painfully remove all memory of your powers and association with us from your mind." He nodded at Mirko, who smiled at stared at Julna, concentrating.
And Julna felt an immense pressure on his mind, building painfully. He quickly looked in his collar for Jace's pendant.
Lazav laughed. "You think I can't recognize a telepathy blocker when I see one? I gave you a fake to give you false confidence."
Julna tried to speak, but the pressure was building to near-insane levels. He concentrated with all his might, speaking the five command words slowly, so slowly. But he said them, and Falderin appeared, blocking Mirko's attack. With this bit of breathing room, Julna spoke twenty words in the divine language of Theros. With each word, the strictures and magical rules he had placed on his shades faded, until they were left with only one command.
Attack the Mind Drinker.
The last word broke the door of the prison in the Umbreomancer's Sanctum, letting every shade free to make their way to the top floor. Without the door even moving, a cloud of shadows suddenly engulfed Julna. Several dark tendrils snaked out and wrapped themselves around Mirko's head. Mirko began to scream in pain.
Chanting, peppering his phrases with divine words, Julna raised his cloak. With a flash, he and every shade were gone, leaving Lazav staring in shock and Mirko moaning on the ground.
Thalia was traveling through Kessig, all weapons out and ready for werewolves, when a sudden flash a few feet away caught her by surprise. There weren't any mages out here, there were only wolves.
So what was it?
She inched closer, sword and knife pointed forward, when utter blackness surrounded her. It felt like a real thing, like a real wall that kept her from moving. She heard voices, too, all kinds of voices, shouting at once, numbing her mind and sending her unconscious. She tried to scream, but something grabbed hold of her brain and forced her into silence.
And then it was gone. The wall lifted, and she saw a handsome young man standing in the forest. He raised his hand, and without even moving towards her, he somehow took her weapons and threw them off into the distance. Now defenseless, she couldn't do anything except stare at him as he strolled over to her, as if Kessig was nothing more than a normal forest where air-headed youths would sneak away for private meetings. "Tell me, pretty one," he said casually, coming closer, "Where am I?"
"Can you not tell?" she asked haughtily, "Or have you been born under a rock to not recognize the Kessig Run when you see it?"
The man's eyebrows climbed higher. He muttered something to himself, but Thalia's sharp hearing could barely make out what he said, "Innistrad… Wasn't what I had in mind, but now that I think about it, it's perfect." He turned back to her. "What is your name?"
"Thalia. I am the patron of Thraben, and I protect the human population there."
"Very nice to meet you, Thalia. One last question: where can I find someplace dark, damp, and unimportant?"
She led Julna to a place that he hardly recognized. She called it "Nephalia" and said that only the corpses came here now. No one would bother him. He thanked her, and she left, seemingly glad to get away from him. That was fine with Julna; he wanted no witnesses.
Since the Umbreomancer's Sanctum on Ravnica was no longer an option, and with House Dimir spreading rumors about Julna, no place on Ravnica was safe for Julna to keep his shades. He had realized this after fending off Mirko Vosk, and had immediately left in search of a suitable replacement. Innistrad fit perfectly; it was dark, creepy, and was already crawling with monsters, one more couldn't hurt. He found an abandoned ship in a dried-up lake, surrouned by swampy water. Feeling this reservoir of power, Julna was happy. The black and blue manas would speed the regeneration process, allowing Julna to call upon his shades more often.
He called Falderin and showed him the place he had selected. Falderin looked around, staring at the landscape without a single emotion.
"It is satisfactory. The black-blue energies will feed us, and the shadow will repair our substance when we have need of it. Thank you, master, for choosing such an appropriate home."
They spent a week finding all the rogue shades that had escaped and binding them with new spells, as well as creating new shades to grow the population. In a ceremony held in the captain's quarters of the ship, Julna proclaimed Falderin the King of Shades, placing a crown of shadow on his head.
Julna couldn't help thinking of the prophecy the Obzedat had told him. He had just crowned his chief creation the King. Did that mean he was the Seneschal? The one who was to be filled with "the darkness first, then the light, which shall join the water"? He didn't know, but if he was, he had a sinking feeling as to what they meant by "The darkness, the light, and the water". And it filled him with dread to think about it.
He told Falderin to stay behind in order to build the shades into a true society. They had grown into more than just Julna's servants; Julna wanted them to have a true life. They were still completely loyal, but if zombies and werewolves had any sort of structure, then the shades should too.
Falderin objected of course. "I must stay with you, master," he said, surprisingly sorrowful, "I cannot think of what to do when I am not by your side."
"You'll manage," Julna responded, "You have an entire civilization to build. Once it's been set up, you can come back to me. I was never planning on leaving my best supporter forever." It was surprising how close he felt to the shade. He had created Falderin, and, like a mother and her newborn child, there was a bond that he could never break, even with a thousand betrayals.
He even had tears growing in his eyes as he walked into the forest and used Urza's cloak to travel back to Ravnica.
He reappeared in the Tenth District of Ravnica, making sure not to be seen by Dimir agents. He may not have had his shades, but he could still control shadows. He marveled at the incongruence of the passage of time. He had spent a week on Innistrad, but only an hour had passed on Ravnica. He made his way to the central promenade. That was where it would be easiest to hear Niv-Mizzet's message.
As he heard Niv-Mizzet's voice explaining the inner workings of the Maze, he was not aware of the extraordinarily rare occurrence happening. Julna did not know he was being watched. The vampire stood, like Julna had done so many times, in the shadow of a balcony on a nearby rooftop, staring down at the figure below. He had heard rumors that Buras had a new body, but he could recognize that cloak anywhere. He wanted to bring Buras in, but he didn't. There was something about him, a magic that was not his own. He had the stink of a telepath about him, and not just any telepath, a planeswalker. Jace Beleren.
The vampire hissed to himself, struggling to stay calm. He did not want to go into another rage like the time he had cursed Julna on Zendikar. He needed to see how many accomplices Buras had gathered, and what his plan was.
Sorin Markov made his way down the building to the street below, making sure to exit out to an alleyway that Julna would not see him in. He needed to check with Avacyn on the spread of the shades. They needed to be stopped before all of Innistrad was engulfed.
They needed to watch the shadows closely in the future.
