Chapter 5

Dark Labyrinth

The nameless shade slithered through the many shadows of the forest known as Kessig. He had finally completed his quota for the day and would receive his first reward in months. He did not move as quickly as he had traveling to the nearby town called Thraben, but this was expected; he was weighed down by half a dozen shadows. The Great One would be happy to have so much sustenance from one of such low level. It had been an enormous stroke of luck when the shade had found an entire family cowering in their homes, covered completely in light to hide them. If it hadn't been for the rebellious youth sticking a foot in the shadows, the shade could never have gotten to them. The others had foolishly decided that it must have been a mouse or something when they sensed a life in that house, but the shade had stopped to investigate and discovered what was truly there. The family had nothing to defend themselves against a creature of pure shadow, so their shadows were quickly taken from them. Nothing would happen to them as long as their shadows remained intact, but when the Seneschal consumed them, the rest of their soul would leak out through the hole left by the missing piece. But this was no matter, as long as the shadows served their purpose.

The Seneschal was rather fond of them, after all. ************************************************** ***********

"Friends, Ravnicans, and guildsmen," Niv-Mizzet's voice boomed from the vast storm elemental overhead, "I wish to make an announcement. This will concern all ten guilds, and many of you have heard some of what I wish to tell you today.

Most of you may have noticed the investigations and peculiar activity of the Izzet League, and possibly began investigations of your own. For the oblivious or near-sighted ones, I tell you to be calm. I shall tell all of you what you need to know.

Our investigations have all been centered on the strange blue markings that appeared a few months ago in the Tenth District. We have a theory as to where they came from: something or someone placed a powerful talisman in the ground right on top of these leylines, which activated them."

Julna was surprised. Not that someone had activated them; he had done that himself, but that the Izzet had figured that out simply by examining the site. The shard of etherium that had started it now resided in Julna's ribs, safe from any examination.

"These leylines are not natural. They were placed there by the parun of the Azorius Senate, Azor I. They form a sort of maze that spans all ten districts. We do not know who activated them; most likely a high-ranking Azorius official sent by Isperia herself. We also do not know what awaits at the end of the maze, but I believe it to be a prize to the guild who can follow it to the end.

You cannot just follow the leylines straight to the end; Azor did not design it this way. He believed, foolhardly, in my opinion, that the guilds of Ravnica could work together and cooperate to make Ravnica better. Needless to say, the maze must be followed through all ten guildgates before you may proceed to the Maze's End.

I therefore declare that the competition shall begin in three days. The start of the Maze seems to be at the Transguild Promenade. Each guild must choose a champion, though many already have. If you have not, choose one. It does not matter who, as long as they can run the Maze the fastest.

Good luck, and may the best guild win. If mine wins, as it most likely will, do not feel discouraged." With one last crash of thunder, the storm elemental dissolved into mist.

Julna walked away, pondering this new information. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone walk away from the edge of a roof off to his right.

Julna flinched. It was a vampire, and for a second Julna thought it was Mirko Vosk. Or worse, Sorin Markov.

He shrugged off the strange sight, believing it to be just another Dimir agent.

Falderin fled through the forest, trying to escape from his pursuers. They moved quickly, filled with purpose given to them by the Seneschal. Over the past few months, Falderin's title had slowly been taken until he was no longer designated as the King of Shades. They had their Seneschal, and no other ruler could be allowed to usurp his authority.

There was no hope of getting help from any of the humans of Thraben. They were afraid of the shades that came to steal their shadows and wouldn't take kindly to Falderin, even if he wasn't with the rest of them. They had even starting sending out geist-catchers to defeat the shades. This was utter foolishness; shades and spirits were two vastly different things.

He passed out of the forest into an open plain that dropped down a sheer cliff into the ocean. The shades were catching up to him. Falderin could jump over the cliff, but that wouldn't stop ethereal beings; they would just follow him.

A pulsing magical aura slammed into Falderin. Something powerful was nearby. Something that Falderin could possibly use.

Jutting out on a little overhang was an immense, jagged monolith. It looked a little like a capsule atop a pillar, and crows were flying around, both attracted and repelled by it.

Falderin had heard of this thing. He had spied on angels trying to defend the humans from the shades. They had said something about trying to place the shades in the "Helvault". Well, maybe Falderin would do just that. He glided all the way up to the Helvault and suddenly felt an immense pull from the monolith. He fought with all his might to keep from being sucked in through the small crack he could now see in tits wall.

The shades approached the struggling King and laughed. "To think we had such a sniveling wretch as our king!" they said to each other. One moved forward, larger than the others. "Seize him!" he said, and the shades cackled, flying forward. At the last moment, Falderin used the rest of his power to push himself out of the way. The shades cried out as they were pulled into the Helvault.

Working quickly, Falderin flew to a graveyard he had seen in the forest, absorbing all the black mana from the rotting bodies below. Holding it, but not absorbing it, he made his way back to the Helvault, hoping that the shades had not escaped. Relieved at the sight of them struggling against the pull, he released the black mana that he had absorbed and made a dark barrier to keep the shades from getting out.

His work done, he fled from the scene, trying to find a way to contact his master.

Jace Beleren was troubled as he waited at the promenade. His instincts told him that a dangerous enemy was nearby, but it was not Ral Zarek, and that was the only enemy that Jace could see. He wondered if this unknown enemy was responsible for the gap in his memories and the vague impression of the danger of shadows that remained. Over the past few days, he had been trying to regrow some of his memories, with little success. He remembered giving a telepathy pendant to somebody, most likely the planeswalker he had seen much earlier when the Rakdos had attacked, but that was all. Hopefully his mind treatment would yield more memories of this mysterious planeswalker.

He made sure to stay away from the Guild Champions, using his mind to keep himself hidden from them; Niv-Mizzet would not be happy if his carefully created contest was disrupted by an unkown variable. Not to mention the fact that Exava would not be happy to see him again. Ruric Thar, with both of his heads, did not make eye contact with anyone. Lavinia eyed them all, obviously wondering whom she should arrest first once the race began. The only one even speaking was Teysa, giving terse intstructions to the group of thrull servants that milled around her. A soft pulsing sound emanated from Mizzet's weird Champion, Melek. The two elements used to create him seemed to be electricity and water, the active and the passive.

The one person he didn't want to see was Gideon Jura, the planeswalker. He had come to Ravnica in order to try and enlist other planeswalkers to fight some sort of battle on Zendikar; Jace didn't really care. Ravnica was his home, and he needed to help it survive. Besides, Zendikar was doomed; the Eldrazi would destroy the plane before he could do anything about it.

What was that?

He had seen someone lurking in the shadows of the promenade arches. He had caught a glimpse of a blue cloak, but that was all. Almost like someone was wearing a telepathic blocker…

Well, well. The mysterious planeswalker. This race was going to be interesting.

Julna fingered the telepathic blocker he had recovered from Duskmantle, not entirely sure that it was worth the effort. Fighting the memory wards around the Guildhall, especially without Falderin, had been one of the most difficult things he had done since creating the hedrons that trapped the Eldrazi. Then he had had to sneak past all the telepaths in Duskmantle without being glimpsed by any of them. Urza's Cloak had helped him get past locked doors, but he had to be very careful to make sure that no one was on the other side. Creating some shades, which was now absurdly easy, helped keep him innocuous in Duskmantle.

Now he could be protected from Jace Beleren and Mirko Vosk. Being in such close proximity to the Mind Drinker, even though neither could see the other, made Julna jumpy. Mirko, as far as Julna could tell, was lurking around the promenade. He could sense where Mirko was, but was unable to see him. Must be some sort of blanket mind-wipe effect.

Niv-Mizzet's voice boomed from a cloud overhead. "Welcome, Champions!" it roared, "Today is when we shall finally uncover the secret of the maze. Beginning at this promenade, you must follow the leylines through all ten guildgates before arriving at the Forum of Azor. Everyone, prepare to start."

This was it. Julna summoned the shades he had created and hid, near the end of the promenade. The other champions edged towards the exit as well. Julna thought he saw a glimpse of Mirko Vosk as the vampire flew from one dark ledge to another. Niv-Mizzet spoke again, "Prepare for the maze, my fellow Ravnicans! BEGIN!"

All the champions bolted forward, desperately trying to pass each other as they made their way to the nearest gate, Orzhova. Lavinia summoned energy handcuffs that stopped Exava in her tracks, Emmara summoned a wolf that knocked Varolz back, and Ruric Thar opted for the non-magical approach, knocking Tajic of the Boros to the ground. Julna had his shades attack the mind of anyone close has he himself made his way to Duskmantle. All of the other guilds except Dimir would have a hard time finding it, so Julna would be able to make it through unhindered.

Or so he thought. As he turned into an alleyway, something shot out from behind him and entangled his legs, followed by a painful sting. Julna tumbled to the ground.

Grimacing, he looked back and saw three whip-like blades cutting into his flesh. A sural.

Oh dear…

Gideon Jura walked up, his hand held out to keep Julna bound in the blades of his sural. "You have no idea how hard it is to catch you, planeswalker," he said smugly, "You are always cloaked by a powerful shadow, but now it is gone, and I can track you."

Julna struggled under the stinging whip. "What do you want from me, Jura?" he asked bitingly, "What could a mage of white magic possibly want with an umbreomancer?"

"I simply wish to talk," Jura said, "And request your help in a matter that I have been troubled with."

Julna sighed. "Let me out," he said, resigned, "And I'll listen."

Gideon said a few words and flicked his hand back; the sural blades retracted and coiled around his arm. "Now," he began, "I'm sure you know that I am a planeswalker like yourself. I have traveled to my share of planes, but, recently, I came across a plane that is in dire peril. It is called Zendikar, and it is about to be destroyed."

Julna sighed inwardly. And here I thought I was finished with Zendikar. Apparently not, it just keeps coming back to haunt me, he thought.

"Zendikar has been the prison of immensely powerful entities called the Eldrazi," Gideon continued, "And I feel it is my duty to try and stop them from destroying the entire plane. For that, I need planeswalkers; they are by far the most powerful of mages."

All the time that Jura had been talking, Julna had stood up and was slowly inching toward the dark alleyway behind him. He had no interest in being roped into Gideon's plan; he had a maze to solve. Julna dove forward. Even as Gideon saw what he was doing and lashed out with the sural, Julna sank into the shadows and disappeared.

Gideon shook his head. "Now I'll have to begin my search again," he mumbled.

Julna tumbled out outside the Izzet Guildgate. He was about to quickly pass through the gate and flee when a powerful bolt of lightning struck twenty feet away, knocking him to the ground. Looking up, he cursed and quickly hid himself as he watched Ral Zarek and Jace Beleren in an all-out duel. Zarek had called up another storm elemental that Jace was desperately trying to defray by summoning illusions.

Surprisingly, Julna had the desire to help Jace. He didn't need the mind mage anymore, but he still felt that Jace needed help. Something about this planeswalker was going to be important to the future of Ravnica.

Sighing, Julna called up all the shades he had created and sent them at the storm elemental and Zarek. They would implant the image of Jace fleeing in Ral Zarek's mind and the image of a terrifying illusion in the elemental's. Ral Zarek yelled, running towards whom he thought was Jace, but was actually Julna. Jace stared in amazement at Julna. Julna saluted Jace, then sprinted off, leading Ral Zarek in the opposite direction as Jace passed through the guildgate and off in search of the others.

Julna led the Izzet planeswalker a good distance away from Nivix, then called back the shades. Ral Zarek blinked as the image of Jace morphed into an unrecognizable planeswalker. He screamed in frustration and demanded, "Where is that telepath!? WHERE IS HE?"

Julna laughed. "Out of your reach now, Zarek," he replied, "And there is nothing you can do to stop him from reaching the end."

Ral Zarek stood there, dumbfounded. "Then I shall have the satisfaction of ridding the Multiverse of an annoying mage!" He sent the storm elemental at Julna, enormous bolts of lightning shooting from it. Julna sank into the shadows and reappeared behind Zarek. It was a desperate move; Julna couldn't figure out how to get rid of the storm elemental. He couldn't run, either; there wasn't enough time to activate Urza's cloak or sink into the Blind Eternities.

Julna had an idea when he saw the elemental casting a long shadow across the ground. Pulling with all his might, Julna detached the shadow and quickly infused his cloak with it. Connecting his mind with the many swamps and islands he had visited, Julna called up an immense reservoir of blue and black mana, which he poured into the shadow. Julna ripped out the mixture from his cloak and let it take form in front of him. A shadowy version of the elemental coalesced. Julna immediately gave it commands to defend him against the shade's physical counterpart. The elemental and the shade doppelganger were locked in combat, both so equally matched that neither could get a foothold. What could he do?

An idea came to him, but he immediately dismissed it. It was blasphemy; only the nymphs and chosen of the gods could do that. Julna was a thaumaturge, a graduate mage of the great Meletian Academy, but he would never have been allowed to tap into Nyx. The Academy trustees had thrown him out for daring to learn the God's language; they would sentence him to execution if they knew what he was planning. But there was no other way.

Chanting in the language of the Gods of Theros, Julna projected his mind out through the Blind Eternities, looking for mana. He found numerous swamps and islands, but he was searching for one specific land.

His skin began to glow with stars and points of light as he connected his mind with Nyx, the home of the Gods. He uttered words that would place all his might and strength into the shade. The stars grew brighter as the entire night sky seemed etched into his body.

Julna vanished and a bright trail of energy descended upon the shade.

With a roar, the shadow entity surged forward, its shadowy, ethereal form becoming more solid. Ral Zarek yelled in surprise as the storm elemental began to shrink in size, the lightning flashing inwardly at the heart of the storm. A single, blinding flash lit the alleyway as the storm elemental exploded into rain droplets.

Screaming with rage, Ral Zarek shot a bolt of pure, red energy at the shade above him. The shade groaned and shrank, the solidity leaving it. It shrank until it became a pure black stone the size of a pebble.

The starry stream of energy left the stone and coalesced into Julna, who was breathing heavily. He had never thought that could be so taxing. Ral Zarek was also gasping for breath, having used all his strength to destroy the shade. Curiously, Julna picked up the pebble. He flinched as the thoughts of the shade coursed through his mind. Somehow, even though the shade's body had been destroyed, its mind was still encased inside this stone. And it had power. Julna could feel vitality returning to his body. This shade was lending Julna its strength.

The flow of energy ceased, and the stone crumbled into dust.

Ral Zarek stood up, pointed at Julna, and said, "This isn't over, planeswalker. We will meet again, and I will be ready next time." He faded into the air as the Blind Eternities engulfed him.

Julna turned back at the now-unguarded Izzet Guildgate. He had a maze to complete.

Sorin stared at the creature kneeling before him, if you could call it that. It had no concrete body, because it was a shade. It had a head and arms, with piercing blue eyes, but was simply a wisp from the waist down. It was also the only shade he had ever heard speak.

"Tell me again. Your master is a good man?" Avacyn said, stepping forward from her throne, "Yet he released your kind upon us to steal our souls for his appetites?"

The shade looked up, enraged. "My master is not the one who does these things! That is the Old One, the one who gave my brethren the prophecies that led my master to create me. He crowned me King of the Shades, and told me to create us as a peaceful society. But the Old One rose up from obscurity, and caused my brethren to depose me and brand me a fugitive!"

Sorin stood there, thinking about this information. Buras obviously had not known about this "Old One", or he surely would have done something to stop this. He knew Julna well enough to know that the planeswalker thought through all plans before making a decision.

"So why have you come to us?" he asked, "What could we possibly do to stop this plague?"

"You must find my master. He is on another world, but I need him to correct his servants, or else I and all else will be lost!"

Avacyn frowned. "Other worlds?"

"Do not dwell on it, Avacyn," Sorin said quickly, "I know where he is. Do you have a name, shade?"

"Most do not, but my name is Falderin."

"I do not know if he will listen to me, but I can try and contact him. In return, you will tell us all you know about the Shade's Plague. Understood?"

Falderin nodded. "If you find him, please take me back to him."

Sorin nodded, walked out of the room, and planeswalked away.

The Forum of Azor was in total chaos. The guild champions were fighting one another, and Jace was desperately trying to keep them from it. Julna wasn't sure why he was so desperately trying to fan the flames, but this was not good for the so-called "guild cooperation" that Azor I had wanted. Julna snuck into the proceedings making sure to be inconspicuous to all who saw him.

He pulled Jace away and demanded, "What is going on here? What are you trying to accomplish?"

Jace's eyes widened. "You… Who are you, and why do I feel like I already know."

Julna sighed. "That doesn't matter right now," he replied, "Why is it so important that they not fight?"

"If they don't stop, the Azorius will deliver their supreme verdict, which will destroy everyone. I don't have the power to stop them! I tried once, but the Dimir guildmaster provoked them again."

Julna scowled. "Lazav," he said bitterly, "He is the worst of them all." He thought for a moment. "I have an idea, but it will be taxing on me and a peculiar experience for you. Can you trust me?"

Jace hesitated, then said, "I don't see any other way. Let's do it."

Jace stepped out in front of all the champions. No one noticed him, but that didn't matter. The bailiff came up to him and said, "The verdict is declared. Any one of these can activate it."

Jace stared at him in shock. "Steady," the planeswalker said from behind him, "That just makes our plan that much more important."

Jace nodded to himself. Breathing deeply, he reached out and connected the minds of all ten guild champions.

He was immediately bombarded with ten different voices in his mind, all shouting different things. He couldn't think for himself over this mental overload. His determination floundered, and he momentarily lost his sense of self. He began to see stars, and he took this as a final sign of his failure.

But these stars weren't normal. They weren't the stars you saw after a hit on the head. In fact, he thought he could see the whole night sky in front of him.

"Hold on," the planeswalker's voice told him, "Keep it together."

The voice triggered something in Jace's mind. A barrier broke, and he remembered everything about this planeswalker. His name was Julna Buras, and he was born on the plane of Theros. He had also brutally used Jace to further his own plans.

But now he was helping Jace…

"I feel guilty about what I did to you," Julna explained, "So I wanted to help you. Wait, the bailiff is saying something."

The bailiff declared Jace as the new Guildpact of Ravnica, and Jace released his hold on the champion's minds. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a stream of starry energy coalesce into Julna, who melted into the shadows and ran away.

Goodbye… friend, Jace thought.

Julna materialized outside his old home in the Tenth district. The leylines no longer pulsed through the streets; their purpose had been accomplished. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do now. Maybe he would go back to Theros, explore Setessa or try to find the entrance to the Underworld.

"Well, that was something to see, you dissolving into stars," a voice said from behind him.

Julna whirled around and gasped as he saw Sorin Markov standing in front of him. Julna threw his shades at Sorin, but the vampire waved his hand and suddenly a shade of his own was defending him.

That shade was Falderin.

"Falderin!" Julna said in surprise, running forward. Falderin flew to him, yelling "Master!"

Sorin walked forward, smiling at the quaint reunion of a sort of father and child. "Julna, we need to talk."

Julna looked up in anger. "About what?" he demanded, "About how you cursed me back on Zendikar? How you falsely accused me of convincing Nissa Revane to release the Eldrazi? Why are you here, Sorin? Who told you where I was?"

Sorin held up a hand. "I would not be here if I did not need your help, and I do. Your ignorance released a plague upon Innistrad that even Avacyn and I cannot stop."

Julna was confused. "What plague?"

"The plague of shades that you released in Nephalia! They spend their days raiding the people's shadows and taking it back to their ruler, who feasts on them day and night!"

Julna looked at Falderin accusingly. "It was not my fault, Master!" Falderin said, "Something else took over and deposed me! I ran for my life and found the vampire, who agreed to find you and return me to you. Something far older than me has taken control of the shades. They call it the Old One, and it was the entity that created the prophecies about the Shadows' Seneschal. It enticed the shades to rebellion and set itself up as the Seneschal and ruler of them!"

Julna sighed. He turned to Sorin and said, "Fine. I will go with you to Innistrad. My business on Ravnica is finished, anyway."

Sorin nodded. "Let us go then. We have a plague to eradicate."

Julna didn't move. "But you must remember one thing, Sorin. I am not doing this for you or Innistrad; Falderin and my shades need me. If you keep me from doing anything that I believe will stop this mutiny, you will be sorry. Understand?"

Sorin smiled and faded into the Blind Eternities. Julna lifted his cloak, took a last look at Ravnica, then chanted the words and disappeared to Innistrad.