For ease of reference, I have decided to post a brief timeline here.
Day One – Chapter 1 to the beginning of 7.
Day Two – Latter half of Chapter 7.
Day Three – Chapter 8 onwards.
Sorin strolled casually through the streets of Sarashak, a banal magic trick concealing his glittering fangs and making him appear to the citizens as a simple traveller, instead of an immensely powerful planeswalker. To that end he also wore a drab brown robe that hid his armour and the blade at his waist.
He had found the tomb of Ugin, and what he had discovered had not surprised him, but left Sorin feeling slightly hollow. The spirit dragon was dead, and with the whereabouts of the Lithomancer unknown the vampire would be the only one of the three to face the Eldrazi again. However, there were other forces at work on Tarkir, other planeswalkers that had visited the plane. This would normally not concern the Lord of Innistrad, but the dark oracle that had told him the location of Ugin also warned that changes were soon to happen to the plane, changes that could alter the destiny of Tarkir and maybe the entire Multiverse.
The vampire had decided to stay on Tarkir so that he could observe these events – maybe they could change the fate of Ugin, or maybe offer something else to help in the fight against the Eldrazi, something to remove the feeling of crushing despair he felt. To that end, Sorin had travelled to Sarashak, sensing a dark and familiar presence hanging over the city. When he arrived, the force of the power had died down, but it was still there. Obviously the citizens had not yet realised this, as they were still celebrating.
Deciding to extract information, he had asked a few people about the events of the day – Sorin had learnt that apparently the Sultai, the clan of Tarkir primarily associated with Black man, had tried to take over the city, but their leader, a type of demon, had been slain by a group of three heroic children.
Sorin took a turn to the right and stepped into a large square that was curiously empty, surrounded on all sides by imposing walls of stone, banners placed on the top fluttering in the slight breeze. He turned around and cast his gaze in the direction of the human following him, who was now hiding out of sight behind the wall at the corner into the plaza. The vampire had sensed his pursuer twice over – first detecting their magical essence, then their scent. He could hear the beating of a small heart, pumping blood at a heightened rate through the human's body.
"How long were you intending to follow me before you said anything?" he asked, and heard the heartbeat quicken. Sorin unintentionally bared his fangs – he hadn't drunk in a long while, and this child would be easy prey – and quickly suppressed the feeling of hunger, annoyed that he had let it rise because of his frustration at finding Ugin dead and gone. The planeswalker heard the child take a deep breath and step into plain sight.
The vampire's golden eyes lit up in amused recognition when he saw the slight albino boy that had entered his meditations. He gave a small smile as he noticed the Avacyn's Collar pendant hanging around the child's pale throat, who look at him inquisitively, his red eyes showing fear and curiosity in equal measures.
"So, the pendant served you well?" Sorin asked, and the boy quickly removed the fear in his eyes, becoming guarded and alert and tricolour mana building up inside of him.
"How were you in my dreams, vampire?" he questioned, and the planeswalker tutted, humans were always so direct, impatient to the point of ridiculousness. However, Sorin couldn't blame them, he supposed that you had to do everything quickly when your time in the world was so short.
"Well?" the adolescent demanded, annoyed at the vampire ignoring him. Sorin shook his head and broke free of his silent contemplation, noticing how the shadows from the walls were thickening, and how the wind had stopped. He stepped forwards, suddenly appearing beside the boy, his right arm wrapped around his thin shoulders while the other pushed his chin upwards.
The child instinctively jumped back, but was held in place by the significantly stronger vampire who looked down into his frightened red eyes. The mana charge building up inside of him faded away, the boy clearly realising that trying to use a spell in his current situation would be too slow.
"What is your name, child?" Sorin inquired, keeping his voice level and calm instead of threatening. However, he now had complete control of the encounter, and would proceed at his own pace.
"K-Kaldros," he stuttered, fear and adrenaline making the blood course through his veins even faster. Sorin nodded, and let go of the shaking albino, who scampered away and flipped to his feet, magic once again spreading across his limbs and the terror in his eyes replaced with defiance.
"Well, young Kaldros, it seems we will soon have a visitor," Sorin declared, watching as a dome of gloomy Blue and Black mana trapped them in the square and stopped the flow of time outside of it. Kaldros watched with anticipation and the vampire observed with disdain as the darkness of the shadows coalesced into a figure in the middle of the plaza.
"Melodramatic as always, Sorin," the sinister silhouette purred, and the vampire scowled. His eyes opened wide as Kaldros opened his arms wide, a pillar of White surrounded by contrails of incandescent Red and midnight Black slammed from the heavens and into the figure, shocking the vampire with the amount of magic released and the speed of the reaction.
Kaldros panted with the effects of the spell as the pillar faded away, leaving a huge crater in the ground that burned with the after-effects of the mana.
"And dear Kaldros, how unexpected," it said in a sing-song voice, appearing behind the albino and tenderly stroking his soft white hair, " It has been so long. Lovely to see you again,"
The Mardu quickly pulled away, jumping backwards, and glared at the re-forming shape – golden armour, pale fur, and large, blade-like fangs.
"Khemet. It has been two hours," Kaldros snarled, unusual anger infusing his tone. The rakshasa pouted, mockingly saying: "What, no proper greeting? I am offended,"
The boy sensed the demon, but this time he felt different, more powerful and infinitely more terrifying. He stood next to Sorin, the lesser of two evils at the current moment, whose ancient power also started to rise to a vast level that made Kaldros's mind ache with its proximity. The vampire looked dismissively down at him, and snorted.
"Khemet? Is that the name you have invented for yourself in Tarkir, Bolas?"
The demon grinned and looked at Kaldros, who became rooted to the spot in fear, his eyes locked with those of the rakshasa.
"I have to admit, I have been lying to you. Khemet, as the vampire pointed out, is not my real name, just an identity I had stolen many years ago to advance my plans. I would like to properly introduce myself," the demon rose to his full height, and Kaldros saw that a change was occurring. Khemet's entire essence seemed to be shedding away, like an unwanted skin. Kaldros could feel an immense pain building up in his head, and fell to the ground, whimpering in agony. Suddenly, the form snapped back on, the torment relenting, and Khemet laughed malevolently – however his colours of mana swirling inside of the demon had changed – Black and Blue remained, while Green was replaced with Red. Kaldros held his hands to his head, trying not to seem pathetic and weak, and slowly got back to his feet
"But not yet. Not here. However, dear Kaldros, my true name is Nicol Bolas. And also, I am a dragon"
"Why are you here?" Sorin asked coolly, interrupting the planeswalker's dramatic speech, unimpressed by his display of power.
"Do you honestly expect me to reveal my plans to you? Changes will happen to Tarkir, as I'm sure you are already aware."
"I thought as much," Sorin smiled, and Nicol Bolas glared back.
"Enough pleasantries. Give me the boy. Now."
"And why would I do that?" the vampire replied, moving protectively in front of Kaldros. He hadn't yet assessed the boy's worth, but he must have been quite valuable if the Elder Dragon wanted him that badly.
"If you wish to share the same fate as Ugin, then please, continue getting in my way," Bolas growled, and Sorin registered with a start that the other planeswalker wasn't on Tarkir. That explained his reluctance to transform, and his uncharacteristic usage of simple threats. Had the dragon been here, he would have had no qualms about attempting to annihilate Sorin and forcefully taking Kaldros.
"The more you threaten me, the less inclined I am to let you have Kaldros," Sorin quipped, enjoying the look of absolute frustration on Bolas's artificial face. He continued, grabbing the shaking Kaldros around the back of his throat and dragging him closer, "In fact, I am quite tempted to drain him dry here, just to put a stop to your plans,"
Nicol Bolas's fake identity sneered disdainfully, but Sorin smiled charmingly back as the dragon snickered: "You don't have the stomach to murder children,"
Kaldros tried to speak, but with the vampire's hand clamped around his windpipe, the words wouldn't come out. His lungs were burning and his vision blurred as the air couldn't get in. Pulling desperately on Sorin's hand wasn't achieving anything, so the boy summoned a small flame of White and Red mana and raked it across the planeswalker's fingers.
Grunting in irritation, Sorin reflexively tightened his grip, making Kaldros thrash, and the vampire glared at him.
"Do not speak," Sorin whispered in a commanding voice, placing controlling power into the words to reinforce his point, loosening his hand and dropping the gasping albino who gulped air back into his lungs. Bolas watched, his stolen eyes lit with amusement as Kaldros breathed heavily and got to his feet, blue bruises appearing on his neck.
"I knew you didn't have it in you," the dragon in the body of the rakshasa scornfully dismissed the vampire, who glowered back, his golden eyes like burning stars.
"Anyway, Sorin, why do you resist? The boy means nothing to you, and you know full well that getting in my way has dire consequences. I thought you were a sensible planeswalker, part of the older generation like me, and currently I feel no apathy towards you. Give me no reason to revise my opinion, and hand Kaldros over."
"I would like to see you try and take him from me," Sorin taunted, drawing the Parasite Blade, the moonlight reflected by his armour finding no purchase on the dark steel. If Kaldros was so important to the elder dragon, then he must have already had contingency plans in place to secure the boy.
"I would have done already, if not for the child's obstinacy and the fact that he didn't just defeat or kill my physical form, he utterly obliterated it," the rakshasa purred, directing a malicious glance at the panting Kaldros.
Sorin was intrigued, obviously Nicol wanted the albino very much but was unable to claim the child himself – that meant he was on another plane, and would not be visiting Tarkir in some time.
As the millennia-old vampire would easily be able to deal with the dragon's agents, it gave him plenty of time to assess the worth of Kaldros – if he was able to help Sorin, then he would take the boy with him, while if not he would probably end up leaving him, maybe ending his life to prevent the other planeswalker from using him – he had to return to Zendikar soon, as Ugin was dead and the fate of Nahiri was unknown, leaving him to try and protect the Multiverse alone.
Bolas shrieked, the primal and ancient rage causing the ground to crack underneath him. Khemet/Bolas turned away in disgust, and slowly began to fade away, his form breaking apart into the shadows that made it.
"Very well, Sorin Markov, you have decided to cross my path. A very bad choice indeed. Dear Kaldros, I hope to see you again. My agents will come to collect you soon," the dragon hissed, leaving the two alone with those words as the essence of his false presence dissipated back into the formless shadows. The dome of magic disappeared, time resuming its original course and the refreshing wind picking back up.
"That was … Interesting," Kaldros voiced calmly, and Sorin looked down at the boy. The vampire had to admit that he was impressed – the adolescent didn't seem that shaken by the experience, and not many were able to keep sane in the presence of the elder dragon, although it was only a manifestation of his will.
The vampire snapped his head to the side, immediately noticing the existence of other pursuers. He had been distracted, first by the appearance of Kaldros, then by the conversation with Bolas that had frozen time. Now that he was out of the dome, his senses slowly flooded back to him, alerting him to the presence of more intruders.
Figures leapt and somersaulted down from nearby rooftops in an impressive display of athleticism and balance, landing gracefully on the plaza and surrounding the two. There was six of them, each wildly different but all sharing one unifying trait – somewhere on each of them, the Eye of the Dragon was emblazoned.
"Jeskai?" Kaldros exclaimed with a mixture of alarm and surprise, and Sorin stood behind him, swinging the midnight Parasite Blade in a warning arc. The Mardu face three of them, and held his hands in the air so that they wouldn't perceive him as a threat, adrenaline rushing through his veins as the survival instincts in his mind anticipated combat.
"Stay calm, Kaldros. We are not here for you," a deep, wise voice uttered, and the albino turned in shock at the one who had spoken his name. A tall and stocky djinn stared back, mistfire swirling calmly around him as the black but peaceful orbs of his eyes showed his pacifist intent.
"Agreed," a hissing voice spat, and the boy's eyes snapped round to look at a towering and spindly figure wearing a large robe that covered their entire body.
"Although, if you get in our way..." Kaldros gasped as the fabric ignited in a terrifying display of primeval and ancient flames, revealing an efreet that glowed with vivid bloodfire.
"Don't scare the boy, Qualina," a female voice admonished playfully, and he teenager finally examined the last of the Jeskai facing him. A relatively young-looking woman smiled back, and Kaldros was reminded of his meeting with the apparition of the twins' mother. "Oh, Cerelis? Me and her trained together at Sage-Eye stronghold when we were younger," Noticing Kaldros's distressed look, she winked and continued, wincing slightly as she felt barrier-like walls of mana slamming down and blocking her from the albino's mind, "Don't worry, I only read the surface thoughts, you would be able to feel it if I went further into your mind. I'm Orgae. Pleased to meet you,"
"Pffft, you are too soft," the efreet growled, "We didn't come here to make friends with the child,"
"Why did you come here, then?" Sorin snapped, his patience at an end after being forced to wait for the Jeskai to finish talking to Kaldros, who looked down embarrassedly. "Please tell me you three," he motioned with his sword, "Don't have to introduce yourselves as well. I want a good reason for you to be here, I am very hungry tonight. Test my patience and you may have to explain your presence here as a reanimated corpse."
"Sorin Markov," said one of the Jeskai, who seemed strangely familiar to Kaldros, a shaven haired man wearing a plain blue robe stepped forwards, and the addressed planeswalker turned swiftly towards him, "Your presence on Tarkir confirms our Khan's suspicions of change. She wishes to speak with you,"
"Oh, so is this the Narset girl I have been hearing about?" the vampire replied sardonically, a few of the Jeskai clearly stiffened at the obvious disrespect to their Khan. "And if I refuse?"
"We have been authorised to use deadly force," the djinn rumbled, and Sorin gave a disbelieving smile as Kaldros blinked in surprise.
"Please, you children wouldn't be able to defeat a lesser planeswalker – what makes you think you can take on a millennia old vampire?"
"We hoped that words would suffice, and that force would not be necessary," a shrouded aven interjected, and Sorin laughed, amused. Kaldros watched on, feeling the tension in the plaza rising and hoping that either the Jeskai would leave or that Sorin would accede to their suggestions, as the former watched stoically as the latter's chuckling echoed around the otherwise silent square.
As the vampire's laughter died down, he looked intently at who was presumably the leader of the group, the man who had presented their demands. He shot forwards, placing his blade to the man's neck, who didn't even flinch back from the life-draining metal or react to the threat.
"Very well, I will accept your offer. It will be interesting to know what the famed Narset knows. But know this – it will be on my terms, and if any of you do anything to displease me, then you know what to expect," Satisfied, the vampire swiftly turned about and sheathed his sword, and the Jeskai walked towards the exit.
"We must make haste to Sage-Eye stronghold," the final member of the six spoke, an enigmatic female djinn with large, curling horns. Sorin nodded and made to leave with them, and on a whim he spun around to look at the boy. Kaldros looked slightly dejected, but most of all tired – the vampire supposed that it must have been quite an exhausting day for him, having to fight Bolas's avatar and then meeting the dragon again, only two hours later. In a rare moment of slightly awkward compassion, Sorin placed his gloved hand on the albino's head and ruffled his hair, and Kaldros grinned back.
"I guess I won't be seeing you again for a while," Kaldros muttered, and Sorin snorted, "Unless I appear in your dreams again. This time, you should actually try and to listen to me."
And with that, he left with the Jeskai. Kaldros was tempted to wave goodbye, but none of them were looking back and he thought that it would look childish so refrained from the gesture.
"Kaldros," a voice he had become accustomed to shouted, and Jakhan ran past the Jeskai and next to his twin, staring in bemusement as the departing figures.
"What was that all about?" he questioned, and his brother let out a long sigh. "Kaldros? What happened?" concern crept into Jakhan's tone as he noticed the purple marks on the smaller boy's throat – he thought that they had disappeared, but to be honest Jakhan had been focussing more on battling the Sultai than specific details of Kaldros's physical condition.
"Please, Jakhan, I'll tell you tomorrow," Kaldros pleaded, and his brother pulled him closer, worried by the fact that his fraternal twin was clearly upset and weary.
"Kaldros, I...I have something to ask you," Jakhan stuttered, trying not to frighten his brother as Meja's harsh words revolved around in his mind. Kaldros let out a long exhalation – he had been wondering when this moment would come, and he automatically massaged his bruised neck, which Jakhan took as a sign of hurt.
"Little brother, are you scared of me?" he whispered guiltily, horrified at what the answer may be. Kaldros sighed.
"Oh, of course I am. Not powerful and savage Temur, not malicious and undead Sultai, and certainly not manipulative and terrifying demons, oh no, I'm scared of the big bad Jakhan," he replied sarcastically, and Jakhan grabbed him around the shoulders.
"I want a serious answer,"
"I was attempting to use humour to lighten the situation. Obviously it failed to have the intended effect," Kaldros said in a deadpan voice.
"Answer the question, please," Jakhan begged, and his brother rolled his red eyes.
"I'm terrified, can't you see? I'm so scared right now, petrified of my twin brother."
"Please!" Jakhan shook him desperately, self-condemnation making him shudder as tears appeared at the corner of his brown eyes.
"Don't be ridiculous. Of course I'm not fucking scared of you," Kaldros snapped, pushing away Jakhan's hands and shaking his head at his despairing larger twin, who looked back remorsefully. Kaldros hated to see his brother like this – it was why he hadn't made a big deal out of the incident, he knew it would reduce Jakhan to self-loathing.
"But...But I almost choked you to death," Jakhan said quietly, looking down at his powerful hands. Kaldros punched him in the face, the blow didn't hurt much but the action itself stung.
"Get a grip!" Kaldros ordered, glowering unsympathetically back at his crying brother, who placed a hand to the red welt on his cheek.
"Jakhan, please, I forgive you, alright? I forgive you for it. It was my fault,"
"But-"
"No, don't think about it. You apologised for it, and I accept your apology. Alright, I admit, I scared me more than I let on at the time, but think about all the times you've saved my life. For heaven's sake, you carried me for almost an entire day straight. Do you know what that shows me? It shows me you love me, and care a whole lot about your twin brother. And I care about you too. I don't like seeing you like this." Kaldros wiped the tears from his brother's cheek, and grinned charmingly at him. Jakhan stepped back and cleared his eyes, and gave a small smile back at the albino.
"See? Much better. Jakhan, I know that you beat yourself up for everything that you think you did wrong, but let me tell you this – I would not trade you for anyone else, you are the best big brother in the entire world," Kaldros smiled, and Jakhan pulled him into a bone-crushing hug, lifting the unhealthily-light boy off his feet and squeezing hard with his muscular arms. The younger twin coughed and thrashed, and Jakhan put him down, beaming at his brother and patting the gasping boy on the back.
"Although, I have to admit, sometimes I'm scared that one day you're going to kill me in one of those hugs" Kaldros joked, and his larger brother laughed happily. They started to walk back to the central avenue, and Jakhan ruffled his twin's soft hair.
"Thanks," he spoke, and Kaldros punched him playfully on the shoulder.
"For what? You'd have done the same for me. Just because I'm not clinging doesn't mean I can't be brotherly too. So, who was it that got you thinking about it?"
"What? N-no-one" Jakhan stammered, surprised as always at how his brother predicted things. Kaldros gave him an incredulous glance and said:
"I know you, brother. Your mind works incredibly slowly. Someone must have prompted you towards saying something,"
"I'm actually quite offended," Jakhan replied, slightly stung at Kaldros's insulting words.
"But I'm right, aren't I?" Kaldros inquired, and grinned triumphantly when Jakhan nodded.
"It was Meja," the larger boy admitted, "He said that he noticed you were scared, especially when he healed your throat. He said that I didn't care about you, and that you were frightened about confronting me over it,"
"The only reason I hid my fear from you is to avoid this," Kaldros sighed, and glanced forwards as he noticed Arethe and Meja running towards them. The former ran at Jakhan, who braced for an attack, and fell to his knees, pressing his face against the stone of the avenue.
"Please, Jakhan, accept my deepest apology!" he declared, and Jakhan lowered his guard, confused, as Kaldros burst out in giggling. Arethe had also calmed down, and stood next to the prostrating Meja.
Jakhan grabbed the slightly smaller boy's shoulders and hoisted him to his feet, looking him straight into his ashamed blue eyes.
"I forgive you, Meja, you were sort-of right anyway," he said, and Meja smiled, "Although I still hate you," Jakhan joked, and Meja pushed him away, his cheeks burning with embarrassment.
"Let's get back to the tavern," Arethe suggested, stepping away from the group and starting to make her way there, "They are having a celebration evening, games and stuff. Should be fun, and it's getting late,"
.*.*.*.
Jakhan and Kaldros sat on one sofa whilst the two Jeskai faced them on another, playing a team-based board game on the table in front of them. They had returned to be greeted by the innkeeper and the customers, who recognised them from the stories circulating around the city. Kaldros had blushed self-consciously when the innkeeper had told him that in exchange for saving the city, he wouldn't charge extra fines for the damaging of property and that repairs had already been completed on the roof.
Jakhan puzzled over what to do on the twin's turn – the game was strategy based, and while his brother obviously had a plan, Kaldros hadn't shared it with his twin, leaving Jakhan to defend against Arethe's relentless assaults alone. The small albino suddenly snuggled up to his twin, and Jakhan accommodated by moving slightly and letting the boy's head rest on his muscled shoulder as he stroked his white hair.
"It's been a long day, hasn't it?" Meja said, and Arethe and Jakhan nodded.
"So, what do we do?" he asked his brother, looking down at him, and laughed when he realised that the drowsy Kaldros was already asleep on his shoulder.
"Aww," Arethe smiled, and Jakhan looked down at his twin, who seemed so peaceful when he was asleep – especially compared to his pained slumbers when he was suffering from Magical Deficiency. He was grateful for Kaldros's reassuring words, and hugged his brother close, waking him up.
"Wha-" Kaldros murmured sleepily, half-awake, Jakhan closed his eyes, making a soothing noise, and began to carry him to their room.