Part 2: Innistrad
Chapter 6
Light, Water, and Shadow
In one of the many townships of Innistrad, the day started out like any other. The workers swept away the zombie remains that littered the ground from last night's repelled attack, the many werewolves woke up, naked, in secluded places, and the spirits retreated into their hideaways, away from the painful sunlight. Civilians streamed into the cathedral to pray to Avacyn, renewing the protections around their home against the demons that were released from the Helvault. Many of them, however, prayed more fervently than ever before. The Shade's Plague was ravaging their lands, leaving many of their dearest friends soulless and worse than dead. Avacyn needed to send them protection soon, or else their warriors would be taken and they would be left defenseless against the monsters of the night.
It was a good thing that they were focused on other matters, for if they had seen Julna Buras flash into existence with the King of Shades beside him, things wouldn't have gone well. Falderin immediately disguised himself as Julna's shadow in order to avoid attention. Julna looked down at himself and decided that, although his Ravnican clothing was unconventional, it would pass on Innistrad. He looked around and scowled. This wasn't the right town. Sorin had told him to go to Thraben and try to make his way to Nephalia. That was where he had placed the shades and most likely where the Old One was hidden.
He abhorred taking orders from Sorin, but the vampire was right. Nephalia was where this all started, and Julna needed to finish it there. His creations were wreaking havoc on Innistrad, which had not been his intention, and he hated it when his plans went awry.
So now he was following the orders of the vampire who had tried to kill him. Talk about irony.
He transported himself to Thraben, not entirely sure why the cloak had malfunctioned, and set off into the forest. It wasn't immediately apparent that there was a dangerous threat lurking in this forest. Falderin floated beside Julna as he walked, keeping vigil for any signs of enemy shades. Julna could tell they were getting closer as they walked deeper into the trees. The temperature dropped as the light was snuffed out. A dozen shades emerged and created a circle around Julna.
"Shades, I have returned," Julna began, "I wish you to take me to the Old One who has assumed control."
The shades laughed at once. "He wishes to see the Seneschal? Preposterous!" One called.
"The Disgraced has returned to him like a sniveling dog!" Another laughed.
Julna could not believe it. His own creations had turned on him. "SILENCE!" he shouted with all his might, using a small amount of black mana to make his words more forceful to their minds, "I will not have you speak of your king in this manner. I am the Seneschal, not this Old One. You will take me to him or you will suffer the consequences."
The shades hesitated, but then another voice came, echoing from the direction Julna had been traveling. Nephalia.
"Listen not to this imposter," it said in a deep, old voice, "He speaks false. You will have my power to help you. Sieze him!"
The shades shot forward. Falderin rose to intercept them as Julna called up the uncorrupted shades he had created on Ravnica. A black stream of energy shot out of the trees and engulfed the enemy shades. Julna cursed, knowing what he had to do. Speaking the divine language of Theros, he disappeared as his power and being transferred into Falderin, covering the shade in the stars of Nyx. The shade reared up and squeezed the life out of three of the shades. They shriveled until a small pinch of dust, much like the pebble left by the giant shade Julna had created on Ravnica. He hoped they would get out of this alive when the voice sounded in Julna's mind, saying, "You shall not. Creator and creation cannot bond." He felt an immense pushing sensation and found himself back in the forest as Falderin faltered against the attackers.
Panicked, Julna called a shade back and told it to find Sorin. Never mind pride, Julna needed help.
Julna also knew that he had not mastered umbreomancy enough to stop this onslaught. He knew no spells that could kill a shade without the help of another shade, and Falderin could not kill so many without Julna's help. The Old One had stopped Julna from calling on Nyx. How did it know what he could do if Julna had never met it?
Falderin and the other uncorrupted shades fought for ten minutes before Julna knew they were going to lose. He left the rest of the shades to defend him as he took Falderin and fled. He could hear the other shades coming after him as he desperately ran. Shadow travel was no use; they could follow him easily.
Something struck his mind and he collapsed. He felt something clamping down, destroying his consciousness.
The last thing he saw was an angel dropping down out of the sky and dissolving the shades in white energy before he blacked out.
Julna woke up in a cottage back in Thraben. Someone had removed his cloak and placed it on a small desk beside the small bed he was sleeping in. He sat up and looked around. There was nothing on the walls to decorate the house except for a shining sword suspended above the bed. Julna took the cloak, fastened it around his neck, and left the room. He saw Thalia sitting on a chair, polishing her sword. She stood up when she saw him and said, "Good, you're awake. Lord Sorin wishes to speak with you."
Julna blinked. "Since when did you address vampires as Lords?" he asked.
"That doesn't matter. He asked me to care for you, and I have followed. Now please, get out of my house." She turned back to her polishing.
Julna left, bewildered at the situation. Sorin had ordered that Julna was to be taken care of? That was unlike him.
What troubled Julna more was the power of the Old One. It was the most powerful being Julna had ever seen. Nothing, not even Thassa herself, was able to keep Julna from tapping Nyx. True, he had only ever done it thrice, but he was sure that nothing could stop someone from drawing upon a mana source.
Julna walked to the Avacynian cathedral in the center of town. Each and every cathedral on Innistrad contained a sacred vault used only for Avacyn to hold private audiences. Back when Julna was a lithomancer and friend of Sorin's, they had agreed that the nearest one would always be their meeting place. The priests protested when he walked in without giving any worship to the large statue of Avacyn in the center of the grand hall, and especially when he opened the door to the vault. Julna silenced them with a few simple words and a shade. Pathetic, weak-minded fools.
Avacyn and Sorin raised their heads from their whispered conversation and saw Julna standing in the doorway. Avacyn looked past Julna to the frozen priests and her eyes narrowed. "I'm not entirely sure why I have allowed you into such a sacred place, umbreomancer. You use unholy magic at your smallest whim to silence my followers."
Sorin raised his hand, clearly asking for silence. "Let us focus on the matter at hand, Avacyn," he said, "Buras, we have brought you here so you may suffer the consequences of your actions."
"MY actions?"
"You inadvertently placed an incredibly dangerous threat on Innistrad. You led me to believe that you could stop it, but judging from your last encounter, you cannot. Avacyn and I cannot stop it, so the only solace we can take is that you will be punished."
"You can't!" Julna protested, "Why would you kill a fellow planeswalker?"
"Nicol Bolas had not trouble getting rid of Ugin. Why should I worry about becoming the only member of the trio left alive?"
"That won't happen, Sorin," Julna said through gritted teeth, "You sought out me to fix it, and you think that simply because of one encounter, I am no longer competent? I have the power of GODS on my side!"
"Which evidently does not seem to be enough! What happened when you tried to use your 'god-powers'? NOTHING HAPPENED. This Old One is more powerful than you, and I cannot waste my time with dead-ends. You will be punished and I will search out a new plane to transport my people to using your cloak!"
"Not so fast, Sorin. I haven't exhausted all assets yet. I can call the Theros Gods and petition them for more secrets. Thassa had no spells that can help me, but perhaps Erebos or Heliod do."
Sorin's eyes narrowed. "You are simply trying to stall your fate."
"But I'm not! What do you know of Theros, anyway? You've never been there, you don't know what the gods are capable of!"
"Enough of this," Avacyn said, silencing them both, "You two are acting like spoiled children. Maybe you, Sorin, called him here to punish him, but I wished him to be here for one purpose only. I have heard these prophecies of the Seneschal, and I believe this umbreomancer is such a one, but there is still one thing missing. You, Buras, created the King of Shades, who is second to you. Your cloak created the King, signifying the Object that was described. But there is one discrepancy. It is said that you will have the darkness and the light join the water in your body. You have the darkness, but where is the light?"
Julna paled. He had been dreading this moment ever since he had heard the prophecies from the Obzedat. "I don't know what you're getting at."
Avacyn laughed. "That is fine, Buras, because you don't have to. All you have to do," she said, stepping closer, "Is stand still." Before Julna could react, she reached out and placed a hand on Julna's head.
Julna collapsed as his entire being was blinded by something foreign. But wait. He had felt this sensation before. Only once before. When that tentacle had done almost the exact same thing.
Not again, he thought as he blacked out.
Sorin stood back, watching Buras fall unconscious. When he looked at Avacyn, he gasped.
"Your wings!" he said, "They're gone!"
Avacyn stood there, looking like a beautiful but normal human being. "They will regrow, Sorin," she assured him, "Besides, I feel that this one needed their power more than I."
Sorin looked over Buras' comatose body. "What did you do to him?"
"I balanced him," she said, "He cannot make the right decisions because his body's energy was unbalanced. My power has infused him, and he can now do what is needed."
Sorin laughed. "You made him an Esper mage?"
Avacyn frowned. "What is that?"
"Never mind. We'd better get him back to Thalia. I'll have to reward her greatly for putting up with us."
Julna woke up, and he felt different. Something had definitely changed, and he knew what. Avacyn had infused him with white magic, much the same way that the Eldrazi tentacle had infused him with black. He had been expecting it, of course. There was no other explanation for the wording of "Light, Water, and Shadow". Water was blue mana, shadow was black, and light was white. It was a no-brainer.
He was back in Thalia's house, and once again, she was not in the room. Julna jumped out of the bed and ran outside. Thalia was in the kitchen, cooking something over the fire. She turned around, saw him, and said, "You really need to stop falling unconscious. I might start to like you." Julna laughed, then ran over to her and embraced her, even swinging her off the ground for a moment. She had a horrified look on her face.
Julna blushed. "Forgive me," he said awkwardly, "I don't know why I did that."
She chuckled sympathetically. "You certainly look different. You don't seem so melancholy anymore. Perhaps you are simply a more happy person now."
"That would certainly explain it," Julna responded. Gods of Theros, why does she seem so beautiful right now? He thought. This was no time for that, especially with Thalia.
"Well, Lord Markov has requested your presence, again," she said, turning back to the fire, "Once you awakened, of course." She was clearly dismissing him.
Julna walked outside to see Sorin there. The vampire smiled icily and said, "You seem to be making a habit of this."
"So it seems," Julna responded, "What happened?"
"Avacyn sacrificed her wings temporarily to 'balance' you, as she said. But that still won't help fight the Old One. I understand white magic as well, and it won't allow an umbreomancer to fight off shadows without a shade of his own; which, I may remind you, didn't work."
Julna nodded. "And I may remind you, Sorin, that I had a plan. Did I ever tell you where I learned a spell to make this body? Long ago, when I sought to learn the Divine Language of Theros, I stole the sea goddess Thassa's Spell Compendium. It contained an entire lexicon of the language, but also a number of spells that she had learnt or instinctively knew. One that all the gods knew was the creation of a homunculus. However, each Compendium is different. I suspect that either Erebos or Heliod's Compendiums hold the answer to fighting them."
Sorin's eyes narrowed. "How do I know that you're not just thinking of a way to escape to Theros, where you know I have never been?"
"You'll just have to trust me, and, seeing that I'm one-third white mage, it would probably be easier to."
Sorin sighed. "Fine then, just go. But HURRY. More villages are being ravaged every day."
Before, this wouldn't have bothered Julna at all. But now, the white mana was filling him with its ideals. He knew that this needed to be stopped. He raised his cloak and began to chant. He vanished a moment later.
Meletis hadn't changed in the months Julna had been away. The polis was still bustling with activity and mana as the thaumaturges and their students practiced in the courtyards. He had appeared on the main promenade, but teleportations were such a common sight that no one paid him any heed. Good. He needed to leave before the Academy trustees found him.
Julna made his way through the streets, ducking into alleyways when senior thaumaturges passed by. He remembered that event, so long ago, that had caused him to become a pariah.
Julna had been exploring more remote parts of Esper to see if there was a stone equivalent of etherium. He had moderate experience as an artificer, but it was not enough like stone for his liking. He had been combing a large wasteland expanse when the planeswalker Ashiok attacked him. Julna had been able to fight it off, and was able to glean the reason for Ashiok's attack. Meletis was under siege by Agnomakhos, the old tyrant of the region. Julna immediately planeswalked to Theros. It had taken a full year of strategic planning, but thanks to him, Agnomakhos had been defeated. The people had cheered and thanked him, but not with what was expected to be given to a great hero. For some reason, they had not given Julna a great gift from the Dekatia (another name for the Academy) vault of treasures. Enraged, Julna had set off in search of something that would repay him. It took him years, but he had eventually learned of the gods' divine language and scroll of spells. He had been extremely delighted to learn of this; however, when he brought his plan to the Dekatia trustees, they banished him, deeming him too presumptuous. The gods' magic was not for humans.
Julna disagreed. The divine language and Thassa's spell scroll had given him an enormous advantage. The scroll was currently hidden with Sharruum the Hegemon on Esper; he trusted her, and she knew not to meddle in his affairs.
Julna wished he could use his cloak to simply transport to his destination, but he couldn't. Such a thing would enrage the gods, and that wasn't the emotional state he wanted them to be in. He swept through the winding streets until he had arrived at the city gates. He called Falderin and told him to influence the gatekeeper's mind to open the gate. Falderin had only been gone a few minutes when the wooden gate rumbled open. Smiling, Julna ran through and out into the forest surrounding the side of Meletis facing the land.
He traversed the several miles between him and his destination over the next two hours. It would have taken longer, but his etherium body was able to exert itself more heavily than a normal human body. He had Thassa to thank for that handy spell.
The birds stopped chirping as he approached the end of his journey. The forest cleared as he approached Nykthos, the shrine to the gods and Nyx itself. The sky always appeared to be dark here, because Nyx's influence was so very strong. Julna walked up the stone steps and approached the flaming hearth in the center. It was always burning; it was a spell of perpetual fire given by Purphoros. Julna absorbed black, blue, and, though it still felt odd, white mana. He felt the energy coursing within him and unleashed it entirely at the hearth, attempting to summon the three gods who connected with his magic types.
An impossibly deep rumbling thundered across the landscape, and Thassa, Erebos, and Heliod appeared. Heliod stood to the north, right in the center of Julna's line of sight. He held his sunspear aloft and did not look pleased. Thassa was to the east, and held her bident, though not pointed at Julna. Erebos was to the west, and his whip cracked incessantly back and forth.
"WHY HAVE YOU CALLED US?" Heliod asked forcefully, the sound causing Julna's head to throb.
"Because I need your help, Great One," Julna said, trying to sound as humble and helpless as possible. Now was not the time for arrogance.
"YOU DARE REQUEST ASSISTANCE FROM US, AFTER WHAT YOU HAVE DONE?" Heliod asked, not lowering is spear, "YOU STOLE THASSA'S BOOK OF SPELLS, LEARNED OUR FORBIDDEN LANGUAGE, AND BROKE OUR BARGAIN. WE HAVE NO OBLIGATION TO HELP YOU."
Julna winced. When they had offered him immortality in exchange for not revealing the spells in the book or leaving Theros. But when the Eldrazi threaten to break out, you don't really have a choice.
"I had a reason, mighty Heliod," Julna responded, "If I had not left, this entire world would have been consumed."
Heliod's piercing brown eyes narrowed. "What reason would spur you to disobey gods?"
"Beings who have as much power as you do. I trapped these entities, called the Eldrazi, on a far-off world. I left because someone was trying to free them. If they succeeded, the Eldrazi would have no restraints against consuming every world. Theros would have fallen had I not acted!"
Heliod's spear finally lowered. "And yet you have come back," he said, somewhat quieter, "For what purpose? You have the spellbook and the knowledge of our language of power. What more could you want?"
"I need a way to defeat shadows, such as this," Julna said, summoning Falderin. The gods, who had been quiet except for Heliod, leaned forward. Falderin seemed so small compared to them. "This is my trusted servant and the most powerful shade I know of, but his underlings have all betrayed us. There is something stopping me from tapping into Nyx and assisting him in killing the shades. And without a shade, I cannot kill a shade."
Thassa frowned. "This is not something that I know. Why have you asked me?"
"Because, Eternal Thassa, you are my patron god. You promoted me to be a thaumaturge and activated my planeswalker spark. I hoped that you might convince these two."
Erebos spoke up. "Perhaps we do not need convincing. I, for one, forgive this upstart. I sense that he has changed, and not just in appearance. He is a mage of many magics. I sense that he is now somewhat attuned to my magic, as well as yours, Heliod. What say you?"
Heliod scowled. "I think that he must leave. But I believe he will not without our help." He turned his piercing eyes back to Julna. "Very well, lithomancer. We shall give you what you want."
Julna flinched. "Please do not address me that way, lord Heliod. I am no longer a mage of stone."
Heliod frowned. "He's right," Erebos said, somewhat intrigued, "He is a mage of shadow now."
Heliod nodded. "Very well then, umbreomancer. There is something we can give you, but it is an even more important secret than that of our language. You cannot teach its principles to anyone else."
Julna nodded. "Anything that will help me stop the shades."
Erebos' whip cracked again as he spoke. "There is a special kind of magic that will kill ethereal beings. It is not connected to the land, and therefore has not been discovered by normal mages yet."
Julna stared. "A sixth mana type? What is it?"
"It can only be gained from that which has had its shadow taken. When you take a shadow from something, this magic leaks out. You have torn that which should not be torn, and therefore a different kind of energy must replace it. Umbreomancers are able to draw upon this energy from anything that they have personally detached a shadow from. You, however, though I can see that your own shadow became that being, do not leak it. When you tap on this power source, you do not need to funnel it into a chant or spell. You can simply cause it to coalesce in your hand. These balls of energy are deadly to ethereal beings, such as shades or spirits. They will literally blow holes through the bodies of the shades, and if the energy is too much, it will dissolve them. Let me allow you to try it." Erebos' whip cracked right next to Julna, and an insubstantial spirit formed there. Julna sent his mind out to Ravnica, looking for the various things that he had taken shadows from in order to make his shades. Sure enough, when he found Duskmantle, the shadow had been replaced by this mana. It wasn't a specific color, so Julna called it Aether mana. He willed it to become a ball in his hand. A sharp crackling noise began, and a small ball of shadowy energy formed in his hand. "You do not have to throw it," Erebos said, "But simply command it where to go." Julna nodded, concentrating on the ball. He willed it to shoot towards the spirit, and it did. The spirit howled as the ball sank into its chest, and it dissolved into small wisps of smoke.
Julna stood there, amazed. He had an answer. He didn't have to rely on Sorin or Avacyn to help him defeat the shades; he could do it himself.
He bowed to the gods. "I thank you, Great Ones. I shall leave you now."
"Wait," Heliod said, raising a hand, "I have one other thing to tell you. We have heard your name being called across the worlds. It comes from a city, a city that is said to cover the globe. Perhaps you can find it and stop its howling."
Julna frowned. Something was calling to him on Ravnica? He couldn't imagine what it was.
"Now, leave us," Heliod said. He raised his spear and vanished in a ray of sunlight. Erebos and Thassa disappeared as well. Julna walked away from Nykthos and raised his cloak. He disappeared back to Ravnica.
As soon as he materialized, he heard it. Something was clearly whispering Julna, across the entire plane. It wasn't Jace's voice, which was confusing; Jace was the only one who had sufficient power to send that kind of telepathic message and knew Julna's name.
Strange, it sounded like it was coming from the Tenth District. Julna raised his cloak and chanted, transporting himself to his old home in the Tenth District.
He materialized in the main room and was shocked at what he saw. The room was in shambles; the furniture and decorations had been broken or knocked over. There was something standing by the door.
It was a whispy thing, looking almost as if it was made out of fog or mist. So, it said in his mind, you have come.
Julna nodded. "I have. But why did you want me? What are you?"
The thing seemed to frown. You do not recognize me? You don't remember who you once were? That is what I am.
Julna backed up in shock. It couldn't be, but he knew that it was speaking the truth.
This was the spirit of his old body; the one that he had originally used before Sorin cursed it. "What happened to you?" he asked, taking a step forward, "Why do you still persist?"
Sorin's curse keeps me from truly resting. I cannot sleep, but neither can I do anything! I am tied to this room, and I know that you can free me.
Julna frowned. "How can I do that?"
I do not know, but I will not let you leave until you do.
Julna laughed. "You can't stop me." He tried to lift his cloak, but he couldn't move.
I understand how you work, Buras. I can keep you from leaving.
Julna growled. "I don't know how! It's not like I can change your nature into something that can-" He stopped. There was a way. He hadn't seen it before, but the spirit's shape looked familiar. It looked exactly like it was made of shadow.
"Let me move and use my cloak," he said urgently, "I know what I can do." He moved forward, raised his cloak, and passed it through the spirit. Urza's cloak absorbed it, much the same way that it absorbed shadows. Julna didn't stop spinning and passing through the spirit until it was all absorbed. He kept spinning and summoned mana. Somehow he knew that black mana wasn't what he needed, so he connected his mind with New Prahv and absorbed all the white and blue mana that he could. The cloak grew brighter and brighter until Julna whipped it forward, expelling the shadow and mana.
A pure white shade formed before his eyes. It looked exactly like Falderin, except it was white. It opened its blue eyes and looked at itself. "There is no restrictions," it said, "I can feel it." It looked at Julna. "What shall I do now?"
Julna frowned in confusion. "You mean you don't know what you're going to do?"
"I am no longer tied to this room, but I am a shade. I cannot rest still, but I am free."
Julna thought for a moment. "You look exactly like Falderin, and I'll bet that you're powerful too. Would you like to come with me? I need as many shades as I can get."
The shade eyes widened. "You would allow that?"
"Of course I would!" Julna looked at the creature. "You need a name, I can tell." Julna thought for a moment, and it seemed to be perfect when he thought of it. It did, after all, seem to be the polar opposite of Falderin. "I think that your name will be Niredlaf." The shade nodded.
"Can you hide as my shadow?" Julna asked, "Falderin does so, for I cannot have shades visibly by me every second." Falderin was currently Julna's shadow, so Julna needed to know if a second shade could hide there. Niredlaf disappeared, and a faint white haze surrounded Julna's shadow, almost as if the black one was superimposed upon a much brighter shadow beneath it.
Well, Julna thought to himself, as he raised his cloak to return to Innistrad, that wasn't what I expected. I have the knowledge on how to defeat shades, and I have a sort of spirit-shade to help me. He finished chanting and disappeared once again from Ravnica, returning to the vampire that was waiting for an answer.
