Disclaimer: I do not own Magic: The Gathering, only me OCs.

Chapter 16-Alaysia

"Alaysia! Alaysia! Where has she gotten to now?" Argoth mumbled as he shambled over a fallen tree. The Tangle was no place for a young female to be on her own, but try as he might, Argoth couldn't dissuade his sister from venturing into the forest.

Argoth was a brown Leonin who lived in a settlement on the Razor Fields near the outskirts of the Tangle. He had a gentle face whose beauty was marred by a large scar that ran over his left eye down to his jawbone, the result of an encounter with a Plated Slagwurm when he was only a few seasons old. The accident had also left him with a pronounced limp, which had caused him to be refused admission to the Leonin army. Disappointed but undaunted, he had become a competent warrior through sheer force of will and rigorous training.

His twin sister, Alaysia had no intent on becoming a warrior. Indeed, she was far too gentle and kind-natured to ever harm another being. However, their father, Rashnak had decreed his children would become warriors. With Argoth's military career shot by his accident, Alaysia was Rashnak's last hope. In the Leonin society, males traditionally joined the ranks of the military while female became clerics or skyhunters. Rashnak has no desire for his daughter to aid the wounded; he wanted her to go into battle and achieve glory. Ever since Argoth's accident, he had doted on Alaysia, preparing her for her induction into the ranks of the skyhunters, to the point of ignoring his son, whom he considered a lost cause. Argoth was jealous of the attention heaped upon his sister, but he didn't hold it against her. Rashnak had been a war hero, so he understood his father wished for his daughter to achieve the same status. The twin's mother had died during a Nim raid on their village many seasons ago, leaving their father to raise the cubs on his own.

Upon having entered adulthood, Alaysia was primed to become a skyhunter, but much to her father's dismay and anger, she frequently disregarded her training, preferring to wander into the Tangle, despite her father's many warnings about the dangers of the forest. It was Argoth's unofficial duty to fetch her on such occasions.

As he advanced through the metallic underbrush of the Tangle, Argot picked up a strange scent on the air. It was a faint, putrid smell and it was growing closer. Hiding behind a tall tree that spread its metallic branches far overhead, Argot waited on bated breath to see what it was. The stench soon overpowered Argoth's olfactory senses, causing him to gag.

Peering around the tree, Argoth suppressed a cry of horror at what he saw: a Nim was shambling through the forest. Its long, gangly arms which ended in disproportionately large, claw-like hands, the flesh of which was black and putrefied, brushed against the forest ground. Its pale blue skin contrasted sharply in its sickly appearance with the abundance of life around it. The light of Mirrodin's five suns filtering through the trees glinted dully off its cranial plating and a train of green necrogen mist followed it is wake.

Argoth felt his hackles rise as a low growl emanated from his throat. The Leonin and the Nim were mortal enemies and the two races frequently clashed on the Razor Fields. To think that one of them would dare desecrate the Tangle with its putrid presence positively piqued the proud puss' pugnacity. He presently picked to punish the perished prowler posthaste. He prudently produced his polished point and purposely padded from his position to put down the pallid plague.

He savagely swung his scimitar at the Nim, hoping to take its head off, but the zombie managed to evade the attack with a surprisingly quick jump. It slashed at the Leonin with its claws and Argoth screamed in pain as he felt the putrid fingers lacerating his flank. Ignoring the lancing pain in his side, he charged again, scimitar held high. The zombie moved surprisingly fast for its size and for being an undead. It sidestepped the Leonin's blow and rammed its shoulder into Argoth's chest. The Leonin was pushed back, the wind knocked out of him.

As he struggled to recover his breath, Argoth backed away from the advancing Nim, pointing his scimitar at the zombie in a feeble attempt to intimidate it. The Nim was unimpressed by the Leonin's weapon and charged him, its mouth open in a gurgling cry as it went in for the coup de grace. The Nim raised its clawed arm high above the Leonin's head, preparing to bring it down to finish off his opponent.

Argoth couldn't believe it. He couldn't die; not now! He was still young and was looking forward to many more years of his life. He wanted to find a mate and raise cubs with her then die in battle, not at the hands of this fowl creature. With a cry of despair, he lurched up, determined not to go down without a fight.

The zombie didn't expect the Leonin's sudden attack and was knocked onto its back by the fury of the blow. The two combatants struggled on the ground, a whirlwind of teeth and claws, locked in a duel to the death.

Argoth sank his fangs into the Nim's shoulder, ignoring the execrable taste of rotten flesh that invaded his mouth. The zombie roared in pain and smashed his fist into Argoth's head. The Leonin saw stars and released the Nim's shoulder. The zombie threw him off, Argoth slamming into a tree trunk and sliding heavily to the ground.

He shook his head, trying to clear the buzzing sensation in his ears. As his blurred vision came back into focus, he saw the Nim leaping at him, jaws open wide. Panicked, Argoth instinctively brought his arms up to protect himself. The Nim crashed into him and he was pinned to the ground by the zombie's weight.

As he lay under the zombie, its weight crushing him, he thought of Alaysia. He only wished he could have seen her one last time before dying. He hoped the Nim didn't leave his body lying out in the open to be found by his tribe. He would hate for Alaysia to remember him as a mutilated corpse. Closing his eyes, he awaited death's sweet embrace.

However, the seconds elapsed on and Argoth's heart continued beating in his chest. The zombie's harsh breathing on the other hand had stopped. Puzzled, Argoth braced his back against the ground and managed to roll the zombie off him; it was dead. Argoth's metallic hand had pierced the Nim's tough skin and punched a hole in its chest. With a shudder of disgust, he pulled his hand free with a sickening squelch. Wiping the gore off his arm, he couldn't help but wonder how this creature had gotten so far from the Mephidross. The Nim did not just wander off alone.

Stepping forward, the Leonin winced at the pain in his side. Examining the three diagonal gashes the zombie had given him, he decided they weren't life-threatening, but he still resolved to have them looked at when he returned to the village. Since the Nim lived in the swamps, they were probably crawling with disease.

Leaving the Nim's corpse to be consumed by scavengers and sheathing his scimitar, Argoth ventured further into the tangle, trying to pick up Alaysia's scent. The wound in his side pained him at every step and more than once, he had to stop and catch his breath. It was during one of these breaks that he perceived an overwhelming odor. There was an old Leonin in his village that had been to Mephidross during one of the many wars against the Nim. He had painted a vivid description of the swamps. He described them as a desolate place where all the joy seemed to be sucked out of you. What had engraved itself in Argoth's memory was the description of the stench. The elder had said, "When you approach the swamps, you can smell it: the putrid stench of death. The mere smell caused many soldiers to lose their nerve and flee, but the rest of us pressed on, trying to stomach the stink. When you got to the swamps, that's when it really hit you. The stench is so thick, you can almost see it. You fear every breath you take will be your last, so toxic is the air you inhale."

Now Argoth understood the full horror of what the elder had described. The stench overwhelmed him, his stomach heaved and he fell on all fours, regurgitating the contents of his stomach. As he looked up, wiping his lips and tasting bile in his mouth, he froze in terror at what he saw through the trees. An army of Nim was making its way through the forest, headed directly for his village. They were at least three hundred strong. Argoth's village only possessed a garrison of one hundred soldiers and a handful of skyhunters. They had no chance against the enemy.

He immediately resolved to run back to his village and warn his people. If they acted fast, they could evacuate most of the village before the Nim reached the outskirts of the forest. He turned and hobbled as quickly as he could toward his village. As he did so, a thought struck him: Alaysia was still in the Tangle and with the Nim she was now in more danger than ever. This was quite the dilemma. He began pacing, torn between his loyalty to the village and his love for his sister.

The metallic blades of grass grew to stillness in the wake of Argoth's pace coming to a halt. It was not a look of horror, but more of despair that crept across his face. His mind was torn asunder, both hemispheres ushering a different path. It was not a question of love or care, his home and his family was but one and the same to him. Dare he risk his sister's life to do his duty and alert the village?

Shaking his head in a growl, caught in a spiraling dilemma with time weighing heavier on his shoulders, he made his decision. The deontologist within him forced him into duty, a tear of pain and hope running down his cheek as he sprinted towards the village.

His leg pained him terribly, but he pressed on, the scent of the Nim following him through the forest. As he ran under some low branches, he found himself face to face with a female Leonin. She wore a leather brassiere and loincloth. Around one of her thighs was a golden metal bracelet, sign of her status as a skyhunter-in training. Her eyes lit up when she saw Argoth. "Brother!" she exclaimed, embracing him.

"Alaysia, we must flee this place!" said Argoth, relieved at seeing his sister safe and sound. He seized her hand and continued heading for the village, pulling her along.

"What is the matter?" asked Alaysia, sensing the urgency in her brother's voice.

"The Nim are preparing to attack our village. We must warn them!"

"Brother, look!" shrieked Alaysia, staring behind them. Argoth turned and froze in horror. The Nim army was behind them and rapidly advancing. The two Leonin sped up, trying to keep ahead of the Nim horde. It was evident the Nim had spotted them. Their cries filled the air and they seemed driven by new vigor.

Argoth was severely hampered by his leg. With every step, excruciating pain shot through his body. Finally, his leg gave out and he fell to the ground with a cry.

"Brother!" exclaimed Alaysia, rushing to his side and helping him up.

"Alaysia. Run. Get to the village," said Argoth "You must warn them before it is too late."

"I cannot leave you!"

"You must! My life is nothing compared to out entire village!" said Argoth firmly, eyeing the Nim who were getting closer.

"I am staying!"

"This is an order! GO!"

"You're not father!" said Alaysia. She stood and placed herself before her brother, trembling but ready to give her life to protect his as she faced down the Nim. Clasping her hands together, she focused, calling upon the strange powers she had come to be aware of during the past months. She didn't quite know how they worked, but it was the only thing she could think of to save her brother.

Her hands burst into flames, but she wasn't alarmed. The first time it had happened, she had panicked and gotten severely burned. She had soon learned to relax and let the flames act on their own. The fire collected on the ground in front of her in an oval shape about the size of her two paws clasped together. The flames died down, leaving a brown egg on the ground. In the center of the front of the egg was a white oval with several white streaks radiating from it. The oval began to glow white and the glow spread to the streaks. With a resounding bang, the egg erupted, throwing Alaysia to the ground. Looking up, she saw a monstrous creature standing where the egg had once been.

It stood on multiple spindly legs that defied the laws of physics by supporting the monstrosity above them. Exhaust pipes stuck it from its backside, spewing black smoke into the air. Its arms ended in two large pincers and rows of sharp, circular blades were mounted on its chest. Its entire head was a dome with jagged metallic teeth around the underside of the front half. It gave a threatening roar and scuttled off towards the Nim, cutting through them like a hot knife through butter.

The Nim were in disarray. They swarmed the creature, trying to take it down. Many met their end by the creature's claws or were crushed by its massive weight. In the commotion, Alaysia managed to get Argoth on his feet. He draped an arm around her shoulder for support and the two Leonin made their escape.

"Alaysia, how did you do that?" asked Argoth when the cries of the Nim had faded in the distance.

"I-I don't know," said Alaysia "Argoth, I don't know what's happening to me."

To be continued…