Magic: the Gathering
Chronicles, Volume 24
A/N: Sorry if my updates are few and far between, but I'm also working on a Mechwarrior/Battletech fic and it eats up most of the time I set aside for writing. I do, however, assure you that this story will be completed. Sooner or later. On to the chapter…
"This battle is not meant to be fun, Delta," Upsilon said, knocking Elvish Warrior's sword out of its hands and disemboweling it. He gave his broadsword a twirl in his hands, turning and pointing it at his larger peer with a glare. "Do not mock the importance of this engagement. These children die, right now. Use the full extent of your powers; I know that your Ascendant State gives you nightmarish power, even greater than mine. Time to cast aside your sloth and start killing."
"Fine, fine, let's do it," Delta agreed, in a don't-bite-my-head-off tone, tossing his skull staff from one paw-hand to the other, huffing in irritation. "Between you and Theta and Omega, I've lost track how many times I've been yelled at. At least I didn't turn traitor like Upsilon."
"Yes, Theta and Omega were informed of Upsilon's betrayal by their master Alpha, and their memories speak to me even now," Upsilon said. "And I know that Kappa was badly damaged on Jund, forced to retreat to Mirrodin to recover while Beta was killed altogether. Are you ready to avenge our losses, Delta?"
"Yee-ow! More than ready!" Delta said in a wolfish yip of excitement, and Viktor realized that Upsilon had goaded the wolf shaman into fighting even harder, offering him the chance to make a positive difference by avenging his comrades' earlier losses. Great.
Delta swept his staff, launching the familiar swarm of fire tendrils like the tentacles of some raging sea monster. Getting used to this tactic, Viktor and the others bunched up for safety, allowing a Withstand-enhanced Vine Trellis to act as a shield long enough for defensive creatures to be cast.
"Hello there!" Delta grinned, and Viktor recoiled, realizing that the wolf shaman was right in front of him, ignoring the fire raging all around. Viktor swore and dodged to the side just in time to dodge a thrust of the skull staff, a scythe-sized iron blade sticking out of it.
"I guess that staff is good as a melee weapon too! Hidden blades?" Devin exclaimed, prancing around to avoid the fire tendrils that got past the tattered Vine Trellis.
"Not surprising. Close-combat often a weakness of summon-type mages," Tohru observed wisely while dodging the fire with speed and grace far greater than his age would normally permit. He stopped to block a pair of tendrils with his gold magic. "Makes sense that wild-type such as Delta would overcome weakness… with crude melee weapons. Expect more."
"More?" Devin repeated, his Giant Ambush Beetle raging forth to block a swing from Delta's staff. The massive insect raised its front limbs to block the staff's iron blade with its tough carapace, but Delta howled with glee and summoned a few more wolves from the staff even as it struggled against the Beetle's block.
"Too bad, buddy," Makoto retorted, his Silverstorm Samurai flashing into existence in an instant, the kitsune warriors impaling the crazed green wolves. The samurai were protected by a Safe Passage from the wolves' subsequent explosions upon death.
"Okay, we need to try something with long reach, maybe a creature with a pike to counter Delta's staff –" Viktor started to tell the others, before Upsilon appeared right before him, through the haze of the wolves' dying explosions.
"Watch it!" Kelly cried, forcing Viktor down to the floor just in time to avoid a thrust from Upsilon's broadsword, Soul Drive. Not yet done, Upsilon drew his broadsword back and thrust it at Viktor again, as a new wave of Delta wolves tied up Devin and Makoto's defenses. Viktor summoned a second Vine Trellis, backed up by a Wall of Bones from Kelly, the two walls pressing close to make a barrier of leafy vine and hard bone. Then, Ashley's Wall of Denial took place behind the Trellis, making a three-fold wall.
Upsilon's broadsword thrust glided right through the combined wall, nearly stabbing Viktor's shoulder off.
"It's still not working!" Viktor cursed, tumbling away to avoid getting amputated. He scrambled to his feet, casting a Llanowar Behemoth and Assault Zeppelid to keep Upsilon back for a second. Ashley's Sky Hussar glided into battle, helping Viktor's creatures as a few wolves exploded in the near distance, heating up the air. "Why can't we block his sword? There's no way it could go through our combined defenses that easily. It would take him at least some effort to get through, but…"
"But a trick of blue-black," Kelly nodded, watching Upsilon dodge a Behemoth attack and swing his sword, only to have it blocked by the Sky Hussar's pike, metal clanging on metal. Then, Upsilon moved and stabbed the Hussar Knight through the gut, taking advantage of an opening in the knight's defenses.
"Wait a second…" Viktor said, staying back and watching Upsilon fighting. He watched the movements of the new Hunter's broadsword, noting the fast-moving swings and twirls, but the slow and straightforward stabs that always resulted in a dead creature. "I think his strategy…"
"Is to block with the side of his sword, then create an opening with a swing and stab the creature to kill it," Kelly finished for him as Ashley looked on.
"So the point of the sword is the main offensive part?" Ashley concluded.
"Got to be," Viktor said, right before a tattered Raging Goblin was sent flying his way from the other battle and had to dodge it. Delta was fighting with all he had, using fire streamers up close and swinging with his blade staff. "I'd like to try something."
"Just don't get yourself hurt, all right?" Kelly made him promise, and Viktor nodded and got to work. He summoned Thon Elemental, determined to get the attention of the combatants further away.
"Ah-woooooo! Big guy!" Delta exclaimed, jumping to avoid a hailstorm of wood needles from the Elemental. Taking advantage of that opening, Devin and Makoto were able to re-unite with Viktor and the others, hurrying before Upsilon could finish off the creatures that were distracting him.
"We've figured out that Upsilon relies on the point of his sword to kill things," Viktor explained in a hurry as Delta tromped after them, after their blood. "He only uses the sides to block attacks and create openings for thrusts. So, we must not give him those openings or he'll stab again. Attack him from the side, and he can block. Attack directly, and he can stab through your creature and hit you. However, if he's overwhelmed, then we can force openings on him, and land blows."
"The same strategy as for Beta. It worked on him. Let's try it on this guy!" Devin agreed.
"He may have other magic to defend himself, though," Makoto pointed out, casting a Battle-Mad Ronin to hold Delta off. "Theta and Omega could teleport and turn themselves invisible."
"I can handle that," Viktor assured him, gripping a Voidslime tight in his hand – "Counter target spell, activated Ability, or Triggered Ability." Perfect.
"Then let's go! We'll handle Delta as he comes," Devin said, holding up a card. "I have something that'll also sting them for using their powers."
"What is it?" Kelly asked, before Burning-Tree Shaman erupted to life, the Gruul centaur snorting as he brandished his own tree-like staff.
"Hahahaha! Die, centaur boy!" Delta howled, thrusting his staff to summon a trio of green wolves to kill it. To the Hunter's surprise, however, the Burning-Tree Shaman muttered a word and tapped his staff, and Delta recoiled from a trio of fire bursts that scorched his chest.
Viktor realized what was going on as a Skeletal Vampire gave its life to kill the wolves and take the brunt of their death-explosion. That Shaman dealt 1 damage to the owner of a creature who used its activated ability, and Delta's wolf summons must have qualified for that. If so, then Delta and Upsilon would pay dearly to use their powers.
"We'll take him! Get Upsilon!" Ashley told Viktor as she and Makoto went after the disgruntled Delta, leaving Kelly, Viktor, Devin, and Tohru to go after Upsilon.
"I will not fall for your tricks, children," Upsilon growled, killing off the last creature that was sent to slow him down. He leaped after them, spinning in circles with his broadsword to cover a wide area.
Fighting Drake and Sengir Vampire were there to engage Upsilon at close range, while a Predator Dragon slipped around and breathed fire on Upsilon from behind.
Upsilon reached behind his back to fire a wavering cloud of dark blue mana to nullify the fire, while his other hand manipulated the broadsword by itself. However, Burning-Tree Shaman's fire struck him upon using a power, and Upsilon was momentarily distracted. Taking advantage of its foe's weakness, Predator Dragon bashed Upsilon with its hard, scaled snout, sending the blue-black Hunter tumbling across the floor before the Fighting Drake plunged its claws into his chest, piercing his armor.
"Foul… thing!" Upsilon wheezed past his teeth, swinging his broadsword up to cleave off the Drake's head. Not giving him any quarter, Viktor's Oakenform covered the Drake's skin, making the broadsword clang uselessly off the wooden surface.
"Hey! Upsilon! I thought you were tough," Delta called over, bashing a Boggart Ram-Gang with his staff and kicking it away, destroying it. His wolf ears were perked up in alarm. "Come on, hang in there!"
"Don't get distracted!" Makoto retorted, his Nagao, Bound by Honor taking up Delta's attention again. Meanwhile, Upsilon was at it again: he tumbled backward, ignoring the bleeding wound on his chest. He snapped to a kneeling position, raising his broadsword to thrust at the Drake. Sengir Vampire and Predator Dragon were on the scene, quickly surrounding Upsilon with superior numbers, and all had Oakenform cast on them.
"Hmmmmmmm. Tricky," Upsilon commented to himself, flicking his eyes around at the threesome surrounding him.
"Get him!" Viktor ordered, and the creatures descended. Upsilon burst into action, leaping and spinning about and swinging his broadsword to knock away the claws and teeth headed his way. Upsilon was able to, with effort, create openings in the creatures' defenses, but their Oakenform armor stymied his retaliatory sword attacks, being unable to cut them.
"Then we shall do this the hard way," Upsilon muttered, charging at Predator Dragon. The Dragon swung a claw as Sengir Vampire attacked, and Upsilon could not dodge both; the Dragon's heavy paw slammed into him, its claws cutting his armor as he was sent tumbling. Not yet defeated, Upsilon leaped back to his feet and teleported out of sight, reappearing on top of the Predator Dragon's head.
"There. I was hoping I wouldn't need to teleport and use up energy, but apparently I must," Upsilon said with finality before he slid his broadsword downward and into the Predator Dragon's head, right through its Oakenform armor.
The Dragon screeched as its brain was punctured, Upsilon leaping off its lifeless head to slip his blade into Sengir Vampire's chest and kill it. Only a Revive the Fallen by Kelly got Predator Dragon back on its feet and drive away Upsilon before the Fighting Drake was killed, too.
"Give up. Soul Drive cannot be halted," Upsilon declared, a short distance away from the creature trio. In the near distance, another wolf exploded, along with a yelp of pain from Devin and a quick heal spell from Ashley. Upsilon leaped toward Viktor, with nothing standing between them. "I will impale your heart, child, so it may stop beating and you will cease to resist me."
"Whoa!" Viktor yelped, getting his Twiddle card out to slow Upsilon down, and give Kelly time to use a Drag Down on him, leaving Upsilon almost paralyzed as Fighting Drake swooped in to finish the job. As the Drake got close, Upsilon stabbed his sword backwards, the tip piercing the Drake's hand armor and sliced the tendons of one of its fingers, driving it back howling in agony.
"Try as you might, I fight on!" Upsilon said, deliberately taking damage from Burning-Tree Shaman to use a mana-draining spell on the Drag Down, dissolving the swamp tendrils and muck that held him down. Viktor felt helpless as Upsilon closed in for the final blow, but then an idea came to him.
"Makoto! Use Indomitable Will!" Viktor shouted, casting Oakenform on himself.
Makoto was quick to help, but his spell did not render the service Viktor wished for. Treating him like a creature, Indomitable Will gave him +1/+2, but the armor boost promised nothing against Soul Drive's penetrative power. Once again, Viktor could do nothing but dodge the attack by his own reflexes, something he couldn't depend on for too long. Upsilon's sword tip grazed Viktor's side, and Viktor gasped from the sharp pain as his flesh was cut.
"Damn it…" Viktor muttered, his own Regenerate card dealing with the injury.
"It didn't work?" Makoto frowned, as Kelly helped back up Devin in fighting Delta.
"It doesn't work to just give +1/+2 to the creatures or me," Viktor gritted as Upsilon defended himself from Sengir Vampire and stabbed off one of its arms, right through the wood armor the vampire wore. "I think I know how Soul Drive works! You have to use the alternate effect on Indomitable Will… oh, yeah. You weren't here when we learned about that."
"About what?" Makoto asked curiously. Ashley hurried to explain that cards could be used for alternate effects, based on the implications of the card name. Guttural Response could be a heal spell, with the defiant roar of red-green fighting against death and so on.
"Oh, okay. Indomitable Will… how should I use it on you, Viktor?" Makoto asked in a hurry as Upsilon killed the Sengir Vampire and dodged a Predator Dragon attack to get back at Viktor.
"Strengthen the will of the defending creature instead," Viktor said, getting a new Vine Trellis out to block Upsilon's attack. Once again, Upsilon thrust his sword, Soul Drive, straight at the Vine Trellis, and Makoto was just in time to cast Indomitable Will on the Trellis, Viktor hoping against hope that his theory was correct.
"It will be the same no matter how many times you defy me," Upsilon boasted, but at last he was the one to be trumped. Vine Trellis was infused with gold and white sparks from the Indomitable Will; it didn't get +1/+2, but its atoms' willpower was boosted to far greater heights, and Viktor cast a Battlegrowth on the Trellis to make its body more durable. The result was that Soul Drive stabbed halfway through the Trellis before it got stuck, freezing in place in the wood and vine body.
"Im… impossible!" Upsilon muttered, pushing harder on Soul Drive's handle to get it through the Vine Trellis. It was no good; Soul Drive's trick was exposed, and now it was no different than any other sword; with the sword stuck in place, Upsilon was defenseless as Predator Dragon lurched forward and swept its paw at Upsilon, sending him flying away and tumbling across the wooden floor, his armor even more damaged now.
"Yeah! It worked!" Makoto cheered, and Viktor felt similarly encouraged as he got a Llanowar Behemoth out to back up Predator Dragon, along with a Ronin Houndmaster from Makoto. Learning quickly, Makoto put Indomitable Will on all three of those creatures, in case Upsilon had more tricks to offer.
"Just how did that work?" Ashley wondered. "What alternate effect did Makoto use?"
"Blue and black inspire despair and insanity on opponents," Viktor explained as the battle resumed. "I figured that Soul Drive got that name because it can drive right through the willpower, the soul, of its opponent without any resistance. After considering that and what I've seen of it at work, Soul Drive's tip can re-arrange the atoms of the defender to allow Soul Drive's atoms to pass through without impairment. Basically, that sword breaks down the defending substance's will to fight back, making the defender useless no matter how strong it is. It doesn't want to resist Soul Drive! Unless… it has Indomitable Will."
"Genius! I thought this card was okay, but now it's a life-saver," Makoto praised his card, holding it with both hands. "Whatever helps me get back at Delta and Upsilon makes me happy. Let's finish them."
A pair of mossy green wolves broke from the other battle, threatening the kids who had no creatures nearby. A quick Into the Roil from Ashley created a typhoon to sweep the animals away, slamming them into the opposite wall where they exploded without harming anyone. Meanwhile, Upsilon got back to the Vine Trellis and allowed himself to get hurt from Burning-Tree Shaman to dispel the Vine Trellis and work loose Soul Drive. Even with his trick exposed, Upsilon could still use Soul Drive with deadly speed and grace.
"Up… Upsilon!" Delta wheezed, crawling away from his battle on his hand and knees, his ears drooping rather dog-like as his summoned wolves held off Devin and Kelly's creatures. He was rather beaten up, and apparently eager to end the battle.
"What is it?!" Upsilon demanded, narrowly blocking an attack from Llanowar Behemoth.
"Let's… go all out and summon some of Elena's reserves. We'll tear down the whole Eiganjo Castle if we need to, in order to capture Konda and kill the children!" Delta demanded.
"Bring them here? I'm sure the Reaper King can arrange that," Upsilon answered shortly, and Viktor remembered seeing the Enslaved Reaper King leading Elena's Enslaved ground army before. The scarecrow king was apparently merely a general in Elena's forces, but thousands of creatures from various planes obeyed its and Elena's will. The five kids and Tohru couldn't hope to defeat that entire army and Delta and Upsilon on top of that! There was no stopping it, however.
"Then I'll give the call," Delta said, then threw back his head and howled an eerie, echoing howl that seemed to permeate the very air. Once finished, Delta rolled to avoid an attack from a Boggart Ram-Gang to fire a mass of fire tendrils, all of them aimed at the walls and ceiling.
"He's trying to take down the whole castle! Stop him!" Tohru shouted, and Viktor and the others leaped to action, re-directing their creatures at Delta. They were stymied, however, by Upsilon getting in the way and holding them off as the fire streamers blasted away the wall, giving a cue to the Enslaved Yosei, the Morning Star. Within seconds, the Enslaved dragon spirit was tearing off chunks of the castle, to prepare the inhabitants to greet the incoming Enslaved army. Too exhausted to take on Yosei on top of the Hunters, Viktor and the others could only watch as circular, black and purple portals flared to life on the open plains outside, and thousands of various creatures poured out.
"Here they are," Devin commented, as the miscellaneous horde charged, with the towering Reaper King in the middle pointing forward as a command to attack. Viktor saw Treefolk, elementals, giants, samurai, Myr, drakes, dragons, scarecrows, human knights, and many other strange things in the horde. On top of that, a few more portals opened up, and creatures even bigger than the Reaper King emerged to join the rest, with green diamonds on their foreheads.
"Hey. Are those Eldrazi?" Viktor asked faintly, not needing an answer. He knew the horrifying shapes of the extra-planer gods from anywhere, and a faceless trio of Ulamog's Crushers joined the rest of the Enslaved army, their purple and gray tentacles working fast to propel them across the Towabara Plain. A pair of Hand of Emrakuls joined them, and an Artisan of Kozilek as well. Eldrazi. Gods of incredible power. In Elena's Enslaved army.
"I think we're dead now," Devin said dryly, and Delta barked his laughter.
"Yeah! Now joined them, and an Artisan of Kozilek as well. Eldrazi. Gods of incredible power. In Elena's Enslaved army.
"I think we're dead now," Devin said dryly, and Delta barked his laughter.
"Yeah! Now you learn the folly of opposing Lady Elena's will!" the wolf-shaman said gleefully. "Time's up, kids. Konda is ours for the taking. Even if you kill me of Upsilon, can you take on a million of Elena's children? No!"
Viktor doubted that there were literally a million Enslaved creatures approaching him, but their numbers were still far too great for the exhausted six-some to fend off. What were they going to do now?
"Hmmmmm," Gerbie mused, poking out of his pocket home as the horde drew closer.
"What is it?" Ashley asked quickly, hoping that the gerbil's quick mind had come up with a solution.
"There was a scene like this in one of those 'movie' things Kelly showed me once," Gerbie explained, and Viktor didn't know whether to laugh or strangle the little animal for getting his hopes up. "It was something like 'Starship T –'"
"Quiet," Kelly insisted, reaching over and pushing Gerbie back into Ashley's pocket.
"Hey, just sayin'!" Gerbie defended himself, but there was still the gravity of the situation. Perhaps Konda could be convinced to help them? He was Makoto's Key Creature, after all, and might be convinced to help defend his castle from Elena's foul legions. Before Viktor could propose any plans, however, there was a disturbance.
"L-look. New portals!" Ashley exclaimed, pointing. Everyone, including Delta and Upsilon, turned to see a number of new portals opening on the Towabara Plain, except that they were blue and white in color, and the new portals flanked the oncoming Enslaved army. Then, to Viktor's amazement, a flood of silver and blue poured out from these new portals, both on the ground and in the air. Viktor didn't believe it at first, but he recognized Azorius griffin-mounted knights and sphinxes swooping down over the Enslaved army, not to mention countless Azorius knights, pikers, and battle-mages on the ground. Without any hesitation, the newcomers dug deep into the unsuspecting Enslaved army.
Delta howled his dismay. "Ah-woooooooooo! Who are they?!" he barked.
"How could they open inter-planar portals like that?" Upsilon gritted. "Only Lady Elena's power can permit such creations, unless…"
"Someone with a portion of her power is doing it," Delta said with dawning realization. His eyes bugged out. "Epsilon!"
"We must move, Delta," Upsilon told him, scurrying toward the opening in the wall. "If Epsilon is here and brought an army with him, then we can ill afford to merely watch."
"Right behind you!" Delta agreed, pouncing toward the wall's hole.
"Hey! What about our fight?" Devin hollered back.
"If you wanna fight, get out here!" Delta called back. "The fighting is on Konda's front lawn now, not in his parlor. The battle's drawing closer."
The others looked to Viktor as Delta and Upsilon departed, and he nodded. "Then we're going to find Konda and capture him, now that the Hunters aren't here. Apparently they value Elena's existing forces over a potential ally. Come on."
Before they could go back to where Konda had retreated, however, a new figure appeared, and Viktor recognized the man with green and gold armor standing before him.
"Don't make a move, children," Epsilon warned them, breathing hard with his ivory sword drawn. "I will destroy the Hunters and Enslaved army here, then we can negotiate the Key Creature here. I can use detachments of my forces to keep Konda out of this for now."
"Epsilon! How'd you get here?" Viktor demanded, gripping his Thorn Elemental card tight. The green-white Hunter looked at him.
"I have harnessed Elena's power to open inter-planar portals," he explained shortly. "That army out there is mine. I am the Grand Arbiter of the Azorius Guild in Ravnica, remember? I operate on my own now – my allegiance to Elena has been severed. Alpha inadvertently helped convince me to leave her."
"We have no reason to believe you," Makoto shot back. "Not after all the torment and trickery I've seen that you Hunters and Elena are capable of!"
Epsilon tapped the cracked emerald on his forehead. "This is one bit of proof of my claim," he said. "And that army outside intends to destroy Elena's ability to wage war. That's my army, the Azorius guild's fighting force. With any luck, Elena's ground forces will be destroyed and Delta and Epsilon, too."
Epsilon turned his back to Viktor and the others kids to rejoin the fierce battle raging outside the Castle. "I will assist my forces. Those Enslaved Eldrazi are not something my griffins or pike men could handle."
Impossible, Viktor thought in shock as Epsilon leaped into battle, confronting an Ulamog's Crusher. How could one of the Hunters be on our side? Epsilon says that he's fighting against Elena now? He's one of her servants! But then again… his forehead emerald was cracked. Maybe that broke her mental power on him? Either way, he's got a whole army behind him. I… I don't think we could stop him if he ends up turning on us too.
"Viktor?" Kelly asked out of concern, tapping his shoulder. He twitched and turned to face her, feeling jumpy. "You're pale and trembling."
"I… I'm okay," Viktor assured her nervously, wiping the cold sweat off his brow. "It's just that… things are moving on so fast, and there's so many great powers around us. What are we to do?"
"For now, just wait and see how the battle turns out. Then, we'll be able to figure out the best course of action. Right?" Kelly asked bracingly. "We've made it this far, right?"
"Yeah," Viktor agreed, feeling marginally better as he watched Ulamog's Crusher try to squash Epsilon with one of its hairless, purple hands. The green-white Hunter zipped out of the way in a green-white blur, running up the Crusher's arm with his ivory sword brandished. The Crusher raised its other arm to swat Epsilon away, but was halted when Epsilon thrust his sword forth and cried, "Freezing Attack Level 2!"
"Hey. Where have I heard that before?" Devin wondered as the Crusher's hand was trapped in a cocoon of swirling blue mana. "It was from…"
"Shadowmoor. It was one of Gamma's attacks," Viktor realized with wide eyes, as Epsilon closed in on the defenseless Crusher's neck and swept his sword through its tentacle-like neck, right below its faceless bony head. The sword stroke did not kill the Crusher right away, but it made an unearthly, deep bellow of rage as it squirmed it enormous bulk, swinging its remaining hand to bat Epsilon away.
"And now, a former enemy is using a dead enemy's attacks to kill an Eldrazi," Devin commented. "Does anyone else find this weird?"
"I do!" Gerbie volunteered.
"Me too. Far out, man," Ike agreed in his teenager-like drawl.
"Hey. Little animals have no input," Devin insisted, pushing both Gerbie and Ike back into their respective pockets. "I swear, you little guys…"
"Look! Is that the annihilation the Eldrazi do?" Ashley asked, pointing at the injured Crusher. Indeed, a squad of Sky Hussars swooped in to cut off the Crusher's head, but with a swipe of its unfrozen hand, the Crusher used its horrific Eldrazi power to make the Hussars scatter into grayish dust, annihilated without even physical contact. Similarly, the Hand of Emrakuls and Artisan of Kozileks were similarly wiping out squads of Epsilon's Azorius troops with waves of their hands, giving an edge to Elena's horde.
Viktor gritted his teeth as he watched the battle progress. "We have to do something. I don't care what Epsilon told us," he insisted. "He and we have a common enemy here. He can't take on all the Eldrazi and Elena's ground forces. If we pool our efforts, maybe…"
"But we're worn out from battle. What can we do?" Ashley protested.
"The better question is, what can we do?" a sudden silky voice asked, and everyone turned to find an evil-looking male vampire with shoulder-length white hair, gray skin, and black clothing.
"Sorin Markov! What brings you?" Tohru asked, greeting his fellow Planeswalker.
"Oh, it's you, scholar boy," Sorin blinked, seeing Tohru for the first time. "I hope you've put aside your obsessive study of the Kami long enough to focus on the war against the Defiled One?"
"Most certainly! Prioritization important. Would never neglect the bigger picture," Tohru bristled in his rapid, clipped speech. "What about you, Markov? I hope you have set aside your conflict with Nissa, at least for now."
"Don't worry. We have better throats to cut than each other's," a woman's voice said, and a regal elf lady appeared right besides Sorin. Viktor recognized her as Nissa Revane, the Elvish Planeswalker from Zendikar. "Right, Sorin?"
"Yeah. I see some Eldrazi who beg for death. And that's what they'll get," Sorin said hungrily, eying the distant Eldrazi with his fierce orange eyes. He gripped his sharp knife at his side. "Ready, Nissa? Or are we going to wait for Chanda to show up? Last I saw, she was playing tag with a fire-hound elemental in the mountains of Zendikar."
"Did someone say my name?" asked Chandra Nalaar, as the fiery Planeswalker joined the others.
"Yes, I did. Glad you could show," Sorin sighed. "How could you just play around at a time like this?"
Chandra shrugged her flaming shoulders. "I just get distracted. I've got a short attention span, remember? I'm not some weirdo like you, vampire boy!"
"At least I don't have your attitude," Sorin muttered. "There's nothing weird about me." Then he raised his voice. "But no matter! Planeswalkers, we're going to attack. I smell two Hunters here. One red-green in his Ascendant State, the other a blue-black being. Kill them when you get the chance."
"Can we help?" Viktor offered.
Nissa started to object, but Sorin cut her off and turned to face Viktor. "If you can keep up, kid," he grinned fiercely.