Chapter 11: Allied Strategies

The walls of the dank alleyway were wet from the morning rain, and as Chandra leaned her head against them to catch her breath, a sizzling cloud of steam rose. She had receded her powers during the long run from the plaza, but her hair was still hot to the touch.

As she leaned against the unfamiliar building, Chandra's eyes scanned the new denizens of the shadowy passage. Teferi seemed to be recovering from his injury with the help of Ajani's magic, and he could now stand on his own, though he needed his staff to prop him up. Karn was beside him, his immovable facial features somehow conveying a deep sense of worry for his friend. Jaya was beside Chandra, panting heavily from the physical exertion. Though she had the supernatural stamina of a planeswalker, it could only do so much against the tide of aging. And lastly, her eyes fell on the statuesque planeswalker that had come to their rescue.

She watched as the woman, whose name she did not know, kept a hard eye to the end of the alley. Chandra had watched her for the length of their run through the Ravnica streets. She had followed close behind the woman and watched as her bow fired arrow after arrow, each one bursting with an Eternal-ending beast. There was something about her power, combined with her cool, take-charge attitude that entranced the young pyromancer.

"Alright," the woman in green stated, "we should be out of sight for the time being. I'd say we bought ourselves a few minutes before we need to keep moving." Her attention turned to Teferi, her hard features softening slightly at the wounded man. "Are you ok to keep moving?"

"Yes," he grunted, standing up straight in a show of his condition, "I can still move fine. Luckily, I can still cast spells with one hand. Thank you for the assistance, miss…" His voice trailed off, and the woman smirked.

"Reid. Vivien Reid."

"Yeah, thanks so much!" Chandra interjected. Heads turned to her, and she worried if her nervous outburst had been misconstrued as sarcastic. It seemed that Vivien was unphased, and she curtly nodded to Chandra.

"No problem. So, which one of you is Jace Beleren?"

Karn was the first to answer. "None of us are Jace."

A cloud of unease fell over the incomplete group, and Viven's brow furrowed. "Shit, did anyone see where he went?"

"Right here!" came an unfamiliar voice from the end of the alley. The Gatewatch instinctively grabbed their weapons and readied their magic for whatever horror was about to befall them. Instead, they saw Jace being led, rather roughly by the looks of it, down the alleyway by a pale-faced woman clad in worked leather.

Vivien's scowl disappeared, and a flash of relief came to her face. "Great job, Nahiri. Where are the others?"

"Right behind us, I think the angry guy wanted to melt a few more before the planning session."

"He's strong, I'll give him that, but if I didn't know any better, I'd say he'd gone mad." Her attention turned to Jace, who was busy straightening his robes after being dragged for the past few blocks. "Jace?"

"Yeah, that's me." His voice seemed irked. Chandra wasn't quite sure why, though she suspected it had to do with Jace's inability to act during their encounter with the Dreadhorde. "Thanks for the save, and I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but why risk your life for us?"

"Because you mentioned that you need help defeating Nicol Bolas."

The Gatewatch was slightly taken aback by Vivien's statement, though Chandra saw Jace's face refuse to show any surprise.

Leave it to Jace to keep sulking throughout the apocalypse, thought Chandra without a hint of irony at her own self-imposed distraction from her failure in that fight.

"Do you know about Bolas?" Jace asked.

Vivien's face grew harsh, and her eyes distant. "Aye, I know about that dragon all too well. My home is the plane of Skalla."

"Never heard of it," Jace scoffed.

"That's because Nicol Bolas destroyed it, along with everyone I ever held dear. All that exists of Skalla now is me and my Arkbow."

The alleyway fell dead silent, and Chandra watched as Jace's face went from pouty to embarrassed, and then settled on condolent. "I'm sorry," he offered, "I had no idea."

"Worry not, this isn't the time to let our personal feelings cloud our behavior. We are all here on the same side, against Bolas."

Jace met her gaze and nodded in agreement. Chandra's face remained stoic, but inside she was relieved that Jace seemed to be breaking out of his funk.

Vivien continued: "I was hunting down a lead to Bolas on Shandalar when I was brought here by some otherworldly force."

"Yeah," said Jace, "the same thing happened to us. We're not entirely sure what did it, but I have no doubt that it's Bolas' doing."

"I had assumed as much. I was only here for a few moments before I met with Nahiri and…"

Vivien's words were cut off by a growing sound from the mouth of the alleyway. Once again, the Gatewatch upped their guard, while Vivien and Nahiri remained without a defensive position. Drawing closer, the sound of rushing footsteps, two pairs, was barely audible over the blare of incoherent yelling and a sound Chandra recognized as fire shooting from a source.

What the hell could be making that commotion? thought Chandra. Could the Eternals be that wild? Maybe they have an Eternalized dragon from Amonkhet…

Just then, they saw a tall figure rush past the alley entrance. The person skidded to a stop just before passing the alley, nearly slipping on their own feet. Once they stopped, the Gatewatch got a good look at them. They could see now that it was a merwoman, with slick blue skin and frills surrounding her head like a halo. She wore a pink corset that looked to be forged from an oversized seashell, and in her hands was a pink bident swirling with aquatic magic.

Chandra, Jace, and Ajani immediately recognized Kiora, and she seemed to recognize them as well. She waved to them, then turned behind her.

"Hey," she called to the street, "they're over here! Hurry up with that and come on, and for gods' sake, Vol, put those things away!"

Chandra blinked. Wait, did she just say…

Kiora took a few steps into the alley, and the sound and fury coming from the street seemed to grow louder. It was only when it reached its fever pitch of pandemonium was its source revealed. A long-haired man stepped in front of the alley, screaming furiously as he shot fire from his hands at the enemies before him. Well, shooting from where his hands would be, as his magic had transformed both hands into the heads of dragons constantly belching twin cones of flames. Sarkhan Vol continued to slowly walk backwards, gradually inching his way into the alley.

Chandra watched as an Eternal walked into their field of view, ready to barrel down the alley and slaughter the gathered planeswalkers. It was met, however, with a blast from Sarkhan's dual dragon hands. The Eternal was trying its best to push against the wall of dragon breath, but it was soon reduced to no more than a puddle of melted flesh and lazotep by the planeswalker's feet.

"Aha, taste it!" he yelled, his voice barely audible over the roaring fires. Chandra couldn't help but gape at what his fire could do.

"Alright Vol, that's enough," Kiora said, her voice carrying a tone of irritation at the need to repeat herself. "Turn the dragons off and get over here!"

"I don't take orders from you," he growled before dispelling his magic. "You cannot quell the dragon's spirit just by saying so. It must live free."

"Yeah, yeah, and I bet that's the same reason you don't wear a shirt. C'mon."

The pair approached the group, and Kiora gave a small nod to Vivien and Nahiri. Vivien turned to Jace. "Is it possible for you to cloak our presence, just for the moment? Sarkhan may have cleared any of those things that were nearby, but they'll be past here soon."

"Sure thing," Jace agreed, and he summoned forth a shimmering blue light along his arms. He turned both his wrists, and the light expanded in a hemisphere over their meeting area before fading into transparency. "There, we should be undetectable to the Eternals. It's probably still a good idea to be ready in case they try to run down here. They may not see or hear us, but they'll still feel us."

"Good instincts," Vivien said, and she drew her bow in front of her. No arrow sat in it, but they could sense that Vivien would be ready if needed. "Now that we're all here, we can start to come up with a plan."

"Um, we're not all here," Chandra spoke up. Vivien looked to her inquisitively, and Chandra was suddenly overcome with nervousness. "W-we're missing one of the Gatewatch members. His name is Gideon."

"And where is he right now?" Vivien asked.

Jace stepped in to answer the question. "I can still feel the influence of his sword. He's moving away from us. Looks like he's heading toward Sunhome. We could probably catch up to him if we leave soon."

"We can't afford to do that now," Vivien said coldly. "Individual lives are important, but what's more important is figuring out a plan to bring down Bolas and executing it as soon as we can."

Sarkhan pointed a finger to the horizon, in the direction of the massive citadel. "Why don't we just fly over to that black eyesore and kill the bastard right now? We're ten strong, and we could probably pick up even more people on the way."

Jace had to resist rolling his eyes at the predictably hot-headed dracomancer. "We can't do that because Bolas is an Elder Dragon. He's far too powerful for us to just take down without a more detailed plan of attack. Besides, he'd perceive our presence before we'd even get within spitting distance, and he'd snuff us out with a single breath."

"I see you're still the coward you've always been, Beleren."

"Not a coward, Sarkhan, just someone who's able to think further ahead than 'kill dragon with fire hand.'"

Sarkhan took an aggressive step towards Jace. "Mock my dragons again, mind-mage, and we will see how well your brain functions when it's dripping from your ears."

"Alright boys, let's calm it the fuck down!" Nahiri stepped between the two, cutting off Sarkhan's posturing approach. They could both see the igneous flash in her eyes, but Sarkhan did not seem to mind it.

"Step aside, lithomancer, this does not concern you."

"Yes, it does," Nahiri shot back, "it concerns all of us here. We don't have time for this petty bullshit you two are getting up to. Fighting amongst ourselves is only putting us further from our goal. So, if you have a problem, keep it inside until we're done!"

Sarkhan's eyes met Nahiri's, the fire of his gaze clashing with the steel of hers. There was a moment of tension, but Sarkhan backed down. He leaned his back against the opposite wall. "We should start acting now," he grumbled impatiently, "lest we give Bolas too much time to prepare. If he's responsible for whatever brought us here, then he knows we'll either die at the hands of those… things, or we'll come knocking on his doorstep."

"We can't act against Bolas right away," Jace said coolly, "at least not directly. There's too many other things to take care of before that. If we just go for Bolas, even in the miniscule chance that we succeed, the rest of the city will still fall."

"Then what do you propose?" asked Vivien.

Jace paused, and Chandra saw a familiar expression on Jace's face. It was that glazed-over, vacant look that usually annoyed her to know end, but now it was a comfort to see him in the deep stages of planning.

It was only a few seconds before Jace's eyes began to move once more, and he returned his attention to Vivien. "From what I can tell, there are six things we need to do before we can take on Bolas. First, we need to shut down that Planar Bridge."

"How would we do that?" Kiora inquired, leaning on her bident.

"I'm not sure," Jace confessed, "it doesn't seem to have any controls on Ravnica. My guess is that Tezzeret brought the device to Amonkhet and is operating it from there."

Sarkhan sneered at the mention of his former ally. "Tezzeret. That chrome-plated bootlicker is still working for Bolas. I should have known; he couldn't rebel if the command was uploaded directly into his ass."

Vivien shot him a look, which he ignored. She then addressed Jace again. "So, we need to get to Amonkhet then?"

"Yeah, but it's easier said than done. Organic matter can't travel through the Planar Bridge, and none of us can planeswalk right now because of the Immortal Sun."

Vivien's head cocked in confusion. "The what?"

"An old artifact made by a bastard of a sphinx. It shuts down the ability to planeswalk."

"So that's what this is," Vivien stated angrily as her eyes flashed with pulsating green energy. She took a step forward, and as the jade light in her irises died, the golden symbol of the Azorius appeared on her forehead. Everyone looked in grim recognition at the sign they had all seen by now above their own head, a symbol of their planewide imprisonment.

Jace nodded solemnly. "Yup, that's it. So long as the Sun's up and running, there's no escape for anyone. So that's number two: shutting down the Immortal Sun. That also leads into the third thing, which is stopping whatever keeps pulling planeswalkers to Ravnica. I assume it's some kind of device, but that's all I got at the moment."

Nahiri took a step forward. "Do we know where the Sun might be? If it's an old hunk of rock or metal like you said, I could probably smelt it down pretty easy. Maybe make a few new swords out of the scrap."

"I don't know where it is exactly, but it shouldn't be too difficult to track its magical signature to the source. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if it's made its way back to the Azorius Senate somehow."

"Some of us can go check that out," Vivien offered.

"Sure," said Jace, "but I will definitely be going there. I need to track down an old friend of mine from the Senate and see what she knows. That's the fourth thing, we need to talk to the guild leaders. Right now, the Guildpact that binds this city is defunct and the guilds are either turtling up in their bases or getting needlessly slaughtered. We need to talk to the heads of the guilds and convince them to join together to fight Bolas."

"Will they talk to you, then?" Sarkhan glowered at him.

"They will, trust me. I have a pretty long history with Ravnica, so my word should carry some weight."

Vivien nodded along to Jace's words, seemingly happy with his explanation. "What else do we need to do?"

"The normal citizens, they need to be evacuated. Anyone who's caught on the street is probably dead already." Jace paused, the harsh reality of his words catching in his throat. He had seen the death, first-hand and up close, but speaking about it seemed to legitimize it. "It's only a matter of time before the people who are in their homes are also attacked. We need to help get them out of the way of the Dreadhorde."

"Where could we put them all?" Jaya asked, her usual undercurrent of snark set aside for the moment. "We can't take them to another plane, and the Eternals are going to be all over the city."

"We need to get them out of the city. The outskirts of Ravnica are all flatlands, not a building in sight. That way, they can see the Eternals coming in advance."

"Good, that way they can see their murderers for a good few minutes beforehand," Sarkhan added glibly. Jace glared at him, but he was not paying attention. Sarkhan idly brushed a strand of blue hair from his face, tucking it behind his ear with the rest of his flowing black locks. "Flat land away from the city won't do any good if they aren't defended."

Jace shrunk back slightly, rethinking his plan, when Karn stepped forward. "I can assist with that. If there's enough space out there, I can raise a shelter for them. It may take a little bit, but a silver barrier should do well to keep the citizens safe."

"Are you sure?" Chandra asked him. "We could certainly use your strength in fighting the Eternals that're in the city."

"No, this is what I want to do. Long ago, I took up pacifism. I was never created to harm others, only to protect. I did learn that violence is sometimes necessary, but I would still prefer to not kill any more. If I can save this plane without killing, then I will do whatever it takes."

Ajani put a paw on the golem's shoulder. "You're a better man than most who are born to it. I'll be happy to assist you in the evacuations."

Karn nodded, and Chandra couldn't help but smile at the display. Even though Ajani and Karn were two of the most imposing-looking individuals she knew, seeing their sensitive side in this dire time brought a slight warmth to her heart.

"I'll help too," Kiora joined in, her bident now firmly in both hands. "I'm not the most helpful outside the water, but evacuating people shouldn't be an issue."

Jace signaled his approval of Karn's proposition. "Great, so Karn, Ajani, and Kiora can start on evacuations. While you're around, try and find as many planeswalkers as you can to help. Gods only know how many more 'walkers are trapped here like us."

"Will do," Ajani nodded, gripping his oversized axe. "I still need to see what has become of Tamiyo. She said she would join us when we moved on Bolas, so I think we can count on her."

"Good luck with that," Jace said with a raised eyebrow. "She's never been one to enter a conflict of her own volition."

"Then we'll just have to convince her." Ajani gave a devious grin, showing the glint of his white fangs. Jace knew the leonin was only joking, but he still felt a twinge of unease.

"Right. Ok, so that's one step taken care of. Teferi, are you still good for some major casting?"

Teferi rapped the end of his staff against the cobbled alley street. "I'm still in far better shape than you, Jace. Anything you need, I can handle it."

"Good, because until we can figure out a way to turn off the Bridge, we need a way to slow down the incoming forces. Can you use your magic to turn down the invasion speed enough to buy us some time?"

"Consider it done. I can't just stop them, but a web of chronomancy just outside the portal should suffice. What about once they get through that? I can't stop them forever."

"I'll handle that," came Sarkhan's trademark growl. He stood up, his bare chest stuck out with an out-of-place bravado. "If you line them up, I'll smelt them down. I don't know exactly what those things are covered in, but a good dose of dragonfire will do the trick. Between the two of us, we should be able to stop the spread, for a time anyway."

Teferi nodded his approval to the dracomancer.

"Aright," Jace continued, "that should cover the Bridge for now. In that case, the rest of us are on pretty much the same mission. Since we don't know where the Immortal Sun or the source of the pull are coming from, we should work on talking to the guild leaders. The more of us there are, the better our case looks. So, that'll be me, Chandra, Jaya, Vivien, and Nahiri."

"Hold on one second," Nahiri piped up. "You said there were six things, but you only gave us five. What's the sixth?"

For the first time in this planning phase, Jace's eyes fell to the ground. Silence hung around the group as they waited for Nahiri's question to be answered. But nothing came, no answer from the strategist that they had been rallying behind a moment before. No one knew what the sixth problem would be, except for Chandra.

She took a few steps forward and placed a gentle hand on Jace's back. She could feel his heavy breathing under her palm. She could practically feel the sense of woe overtaking Jace, and she knew exactly why Jace had suddenly gone silent.

"The sixth problem," she answered, "is Liliana Vess."

"Who's that?" Vivien inquired.

"She's a necromancer," Jace said, clearing his voice with a forced cough. "She's the one commanding all the Eternals in the city. If we want to truly save Ravnica, then she needs to die."

I can't imagine how hard that was to say, Chandra thought to her friend. She didn't know if his mind was open to hear her, but she wanted to offer her sympathy regardless. You knew better than anyone what Liliana was capable of, but you always held out hope. Until now, I guess…

Jace's outer voice cut off Chandra's inner thoughts. "Regardless, we can't go for Liliana just yet. She's probably in close proximity to Bolas, most likely under a huge amount of protection near that citadel. We should gather our forces first, then attack."

"I agree," said Vivien, "but I want to make one thing very clear to you." Her eyes were suddenly burning with a newfound ferocity.

"What?"

"Bolas took everything from me, and I plan to do the same to him. I will not let Skalla's fate befall Ravnica. We will all work together for that goal, but know this: no matter what happens, it will be my arrow that kills the Elder Dragon."

Beneath his hood, Jace cracked a smile. "Well, how can I say no to that?"

She nodded curtly, then turned to the group. "Alright, let's head out. Ravnica shall not fall today!"

Ajani roared in approval, his claws lifted emphatically to the heavens. Sarkhan joined him, letting loose a draconic bellow. Teferi soon added his own yell to the mix. Jaya and Karn followed close behind, then Nahiri and Kiora, and finally Chandra. Jace and Vivien did not join in the cheer, but they still raised a fist to the air to show their strong, albeit silent, support. Once the noise died down, the new coalition of planeswalkers walked to the end of the alley before splitting into the three groups.

As Chandra ran alongside her allies, she could not take her eyes off Vivien Reid. Something about her had been nagging at Chandra's brain throughout the meeting, something that had captivated her attention. It wasn't just her strength, or her magic, or even her attractive features that held Chandra's attention. It wasn't until she heard Vivien's declaration that she would be the one to kill Bolas that it finally clicked.

She's just like Gideon.