Ravnica At War

by BeautifulDuwang

A retelling of the War of the Spark novel, with the tone, events, and writing quality that the story deserves. Planeswalkers are being drawn to the plane of Ravnica by a mysterious Beacon, including a fractured Gatewatch. Once there, the twisted machinations of Nicol Bolas become realized, and they must do everything they can to stop his plans from coming to fruition.

46. Chapter 46: Demonic Collusion

Chapter 46: Demonic Collusion

"…and just up ahead, we're about to pass under the infamous Gore-House performing troupe practicing their daring chainwalking set. It's always a crowd pleaser. You should consider yourself lucky, you'd normally have to pay quite the pretty penny to see a show like this up close. Though I will advise that you watch your step. If the pig's blood hits you, you're next on the chain. One bloodstain can be removed well enough from the fabric, but you can rest assured that such an act never ends with just the one. That's the Rakdos guarantee! O ho ho ho ho!"

It took every ounce of Kaya's remaining willpower to not bring her fingers up to massage her aching temples. No matter how bad her vision blurred or her shoulders wanted to fold into her stomach like a wilting orchid, she knew she had to maintain her composure. After all, she was not wandering through the debaucherous depths of Rix Maadi as some unnamed thrill seeker or masked pervert. As she had to keep reminding herself, she was here as the acting figurehead of the Orzhov on a mission of cooperation.

Thus, she could not let slip any amount of her exceeding exhaustion. Despite her title, she had never actually met the demon Rakdos, who always sent envoys to the guild summits. What she learned from across her interactions with Rakdos cultists was that this guild, comprised of ostentatious masochists and gibbering harbingers of chaos, loved nothing more than to seize on weakness. No matter how surrounded they were by blood and carnage in every waking hour, they could instantly smell the faintest drop of misgiving or anxiety amidst a sea of emotions, then pounce faster than any shark. If Kaya wanted to negotiate with Rakdos for his aid in defeating Bolas, she could give him nothing to dig his claws into.

This meant enduring the sensorial overload from her surroundings both near and far. At large, their trip through Rix Maadi had been little more than a waking nightmare. The constant clang of chains and scream of anguish, always punctuated by a hideous cackle. The choking metallic scent of blood, stale and fresh, that clogged her nostrils to the point where she could taste it around every inch of her mouth. The horrific sights that were so vivid she could practically feel the rusted blades scrape against her arms or the spikes of wayward devils brush past her ankles. At this point, however, Kaya was both too jaded and too tired for such a nightmare to affect her past the mounting headache, which was only made worse by the unceasing chatter from their appointed guide.

Judith, the Revue's marquee headliner, ambled a few steps before Kaya. She appeared like a pierced carotid as her tattered fur cape and flowing crimson dress sashayed to and fro. She kept her arms spread wide to all the wondrous sights Rakdos had to offer and allowed her spotlight-cooked vocals to inform them of it all. Since meeting them near the entrance and insisting on helping them with their mission, she had acted more like a bombastic tour guide through this hellscape than an escort. This irked Kaya to no end, but getting through the Rakdos guild hall was far easier with someone who knew it well, and she could not risk any appearances that could jeopardize their mission. Though she had to bear it, however, it did not mean she had to grin while doing so.

"Oh! My my, you all truly are in for a treat, aren't you?" Judith dramatically brought her hand over her eyes and peered down to their right. They were passing over a sunken colosseum, and Judith's piercing black eyes were trained on a pair of combatants at its center. "It looks like one of our carnage gladiators is gearing up for his next bout against… ah yes, it is a mayhem spawn. I can't believe I forgot about such a thrilling booking. If there's an act where even I couldn't upstage the finale, you know it must be seen to be believed!"

Kaya's eyes listlessly followed Judith's line of sight. She grimaced as she saw an abomination of bone and iron clash with a muscular, scarred demon whose mouth flayed open like a vertical zipper down its face. Each creature had a hand replaced with a spiked metal ball, and the glancing blows from the spherical weapons sent sparks into the empty stands. In her mind, Kaya could imagine the screaming fans witnessing the spectacle, and it sent an involuntary shiver up her spine. She was far from faint of heart, and had seen her share of horrors, but there was something about the glee of the Rakdos that made her shudder.

While she was content to ignore Judith's grandiose presentations, it was not a unanimous sentiment amongst the members of her party.

"Quite the interesting arrangement," said Davriel. From the very back of their procession, Kaya could hear his musing hums emanating from beneath his mask. "I see that demon isn't chained down or restrained in any way. How do you keep it from flying up and out of an open-air arena instead of fighting?"

Judith's eyes lit up, happy to answer yet another question from the only person who seemed interested in her tour guide schtick. "Our demons are summoned and maintained through ancient Ravnican bloodwitch magic. It amplifies any thoughts they may have pertaining to combat and destruction, while precluding anything else, unless otherwise activated by an additional blood rite."

"So, less of an agreement and more of a lobotomy, then?"

"I've never heard it put quite like that, but yes, and I absolutely love it, dear!"

"A bit rudimentary for my tastes, but it does seem rather effective for demons with no exploitable magical aptitude. I would be interested to see how such limited consciousness affects their fighting ability."

"You'll simply have to come back and see the fight." Judith turned her attention to Kaya, grinning maniacally through ruby-red lips. "The premier is three nights from now, I believe. If you like, I'm sure I can set you up with the finest seats in the house." She winked a heavily painted eyelid. Kaya did not react, keeping her face stone-still.

"If your guild doesn't help us stop Bolas, there won't be a plane to perform on in three days, let alone a stage."

"Trust me, darling, there's always a stage worth strutting." Judith pulled herself from the overhang, now walking backwards as she spoke. Her spiked stiletto heels clicked like blades glancing off bone, allowing each puncturing step to punctuate her words. "If there's one thing Rakdos performers excel at, it's improvisation!"

Unprompted, Judith arched her back and stuck her hands over her head, leaning fully into a back flip. Her sharpened heels swung up unexpectedly fast, passing within a hair's width of Kaya's nose as they sliced through the air surrounded by the eruption of red and black fabric. The surprise caught Kaya's haggard breath in her throat, though she managed to force it back out before Judith righted herself with a sultry pose. As her lidded eyes fell on Kaya again, the ghost assassin felt that, despite her best efforts, the scourge diva had noticed the slight hitch in her steps she had caused.

Luckily, Kaya was composed enough to readily respond to the grand dame. "Yeah, that's… great. Real great. Now if your performers could channel that into current events, we'd be in business."

Judith stuck her bottom lip out in a diabolic pout. "You know, you could really stand to loosen up a bit, Guild Mistress. If you ever want to let me know about your… personal proclivities, I'm sure I can produce the perfect performance just for you. The world won't end just from having a bit of fun, darling."

"It is that precise occurrence that we are trying to prevent," Lavinia suddenly interjected, her stern voice cutting through the ambient sounds of torturous exhilaration. "I know there is nothing sacred to you Rakdos, but our mission is not some trifle. It is one of utmost importance if Ravnica is to survive, and it will be treated as such. In addition, as a high-ranking member of your guild, you will give the visiting guildmaster the respect she is due."

Kaya had to stop herself from smirking. While she kept her face impassibly neutral, she could still feel Lavinia's deeply etched scowl boring through her afro on its way to Judith. As soon as she spoke, Kaya could see their guide's performative façade give in to the devil residing just underneath.

"Feel free to save your lectures on proper guild proceedings for later. May I suggest waiting until I'm out of earshot, hmm?"

"Don't play your games with me, witch. You are fortunate that I am not here as an arrester, or I would gladly bind you up and bring you in."

"Ooh, you promise? I didn't take you for the type." Judith winked to Lavinia and threw her a painted kiss. Kaya could hear the growl the disgust that rose in Lavinia's throat. Though Judith could not have heard it over the din of the Revue, she still giggled heartily before continuing. "Trust me, were there not these… extenuating circumstances happening elsewhere in the city, I would have wrapped my chain around that slender neck of yours the moment you stepped foot in my audience." She gyrated her hips, causing the heavy, spiked chain coiled at her side to rattle menacingly. "After you had the gall to try and arrest Massacre Girl, and on the eve of her biggest performance yet. Why, you're lucky the entire circus hasn't descended to string you up. You're welcome."

"The Massacre Girl is an unhinged, murderous terrorist, and I will not hesitate to see her brought to justice once this day has passed."

"Though it won't be you doing the arresting, correct? The rumors around the ring are that you're a bit of an apostate to the Senate. From what I've heard, there may be a hellpit performer in you yet."

Judith grinned cheekily, and Lavinia fumed. "Don't you ever compare what I have done for this plane to anything that you and your profane miscreants have…"

"Alright, I think that's enough of that for now," Kaya interjected, placing her weight firmly between the two bickerers. She knew maintaining a semblance of peace with Judith was important for their goals, but her foremost thought in diffusing the situation was the migraine swelling behind her eyes. "We have a guild truce, right? Let's try our best to keep it up, everyone."

Judith shrugged. "Yes, yes, you should certainly avoid all of that. Look, Lavinia, I think you've frightened your little companion with all your shouting. Poor thing is pale as a sheet." She let out a tittering cackle before pirouetting around on a spike heel to orient herself forward once again.

Kaya glanced over her shoulder, instantly homing into where Teyo followed close behind. Judith's description was not wholly inaccurate, even with her facetious claim of its origin. His already reserved posture had grown only more extreme as he tried to shrink away from the terrors that loomed in every direction besides just beneath his feet. Kaya could tell, though, that he was making every effort to stand as straight as he could.

To keep his mind focused away from the outward stressors, Teyo had taken to chanting beneath his breath. It was an odd geometric mantra, one that Kaya could not comprehend, but so long as it helped Teyo remain centered, its meaning hardly mattered. It seemed that, since she had checked on him last, the chanting had grown to include the hand movements and mana channeling to summon his lightshields. Currently, he held one hand straight over his head, which supported a glowing dome made of interlocked triangles that ended below his elbow, appearing like an inverted bellflower. It cast a ghastly paleness onto Teyo's face, further enhancing the stricken look already in place as he looked up through the lighted dome to the unexpectedly large splattering of blood that it had just blocked from somewhere in the rafters.

Kaya leaned a bit closer to Teyo. "Hey, everything good?"

His eyes ripped away from the gruesomeness hanging just above his head, as if pulled from a dream. "Hmm? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm, uh… I think I'm fine. I'm just, you know, trying to think of the best way I could dispel this shield without having any of the… that stuff getting all over me."

Kaya felt a pang of sympathy. Kid's putting on a brave face, I'll give him that. He's already seen so much shit today, but this was always gonna be another level. Here's hoping we can get in and out as quick as possible.

She wanted to offer some words of comfort or consolation to Teyo, but after seeing the strain on his face as he maintained his composure, she thought against it. If he really needed her help, she thought, she would know. For now, it was better to let him push through what he could.

"Maybe try turning the lips of the whole thing up?" she suggested. "That way, it'll be like a bowl, so it'll collect at the bottom and you can dump it out somewhere else."

She saw a spark of light behind Teyo's eyes cut through the fog. "Yeah, that might be worth a shot. Abbot Barrez always said I needed more practice with isomorphic curvature inversions."

"If that's what that means, then go for it, kid. Just try not to spill it on me either, if you can help it."

Teyo nodded, and a moment later, his face sunk into a deep concentration. His hands began to dart methodically about, tracing sharp patterns in the air as he worked. Kaya watched for a second, and though she could see the slight tremors in his movements whenever a particularly loud scream or demonic howl pierced the air, she was impressed by the young man's abilities.

Though she was just to their side, Lavinia appeared too consumed by her distaste to hear any of this. Her shrouded face seemed frozen in perpetual consternation as she continued to argue with their traipsing guide.

"It is you who should watch your tongue, not I," Lavinia huffed to the back of Judith's head. "As I've said already, Teyo is none of your concern."

At that moment, Judith had been distracted by a particularly gruesome sight playing out just off their path overhead. A hanging wrought-iron cage shook furiously as a collection of imps and devils fought desperately within. Their squeaks and squeals mingled with the creak of the chains, tearing of flesh, and snapping of bone. Kaya was grateful that the discarded remains that trickled or tumbled, depending on the size, from the cage's bottom were not within their range. Judith seemed to watch the creatures' desperate scrabble with the hard-nosed interest of a director scrutinizing an audition, but Lavinia's words caused her sanguine lips to crack in a wide smile.

"You can't just bring me such a tasty morsel as him and not expect me to get excited. Young, tan, guildless, mmm!" She ran an onyx fingernail, sharpened to a razor's edge, down the side of her face and neck, drawing a thin rivulet of blood that only stopped as it pooled against her exposed clavicle. "That one's got all the makings of a headliner. I'm sure every seat at the Revue would fill up just to see what secrets his otherworldly anatomy might hold."

Feeling the residual heat boiling off Lavinia's incensed features, Kaya felt duty-bound as the greatest source of authority to intervene. "Okay, can we just take it down a bit here. You're not laying a hand on any of us, and we're gonna do the same, so let's just stop with the whole routine for now. I get enough of it from my own guild members, I don't need it from the rest of you."

She tried to keep her language as couched in neutrality as possible, but she made sure to keep the edge in her voice keenly pointed in Judith's direction. The grand dame seemed to take notice, throwing her hands into the air.

"Of course, Guild Mistress, of course," said Judith with a lilting sigh. "Simply a bit of fun. You know how it is. The stage lights turn off from without, but never within, as they say. I would never dream of plucking your young ward away from you and strapping him to an operation table on the stage. Or maybe an upright wheel for proper carving…"

"Stay your tongue before I stay it myself," glowered Lavinia.

"Not just yet," Davriel said, "I'm curious which exact tools would be best suited for such an alien dissection as this."

Kaya's shoulders heaved as she let out an aggravated groan. "Alright, enough, from everyone. Let's just get to Rakdos as quickly as possible. How about that, hmm?"

From behind, she could hear Lavinia shuffle slightly closer to Teyo, along with the slight hum of Azorius law-rune magic springing up beneath her shawl. She heard no break in Teyo's chanting, and she was thankful that Judith's comments went unnoticed. Davriel let out a dismissive sigh, his attention likely already turned back to the demonic spectacles.

Judith, however, seemed particularly offended by Kaya's suggestion. Her eyes narrowed and her lips upturned into an appalled scowl. "As you wish, Guild Mistress Kaya. Of course, it's always about Rakdos, isn't it? Not me, the lowly headliner who does shows eight nights a week. Never mind that decrepit old pit demon hasn't done a proper performance in almost a millennium. He doesn't sing, doesn't prepare monologues or jokes or acrobatics of any kind. We do all the work, and yet whose name do they cheer by the end of it all? In whose name must we send delegates for guild business? Whose name is plastered over all the wanted posters?"

She grew increasingly agitated as she spoke, her words blending together in their angry haste and her hands clenching hard enough for blood to peek between the fingers. Kaya had not expected to strike such a nerve. She had assumed everyone held an unshakable deference for the eponymous demon who led both the ring and the cult. It was by his will that they could indulge in the myriad depravities of Ravnica's underworld. For some of his patrons, it seemed, such allowance was not enough.

Kaya felt the immediate urge to needle Judith further, but checked her antagonistic instincts against her diplomatic duties. "Sorry about that, Judith. I didn't mean to upset you, I just didn't think that'd set you off like that."

Judith's head snapped around to eye Kaya, her neck turning far further than should be possible. Her jet eyes were wide and glinting, and her mouth had now curled into a tight grin that threatened to consume her face. Kaya likely would have stumbled at the sight were her senses not so dulled.

"Oh no, no, no. Someone of your station, Guild Mistress, should never need to apologize to one such as myself. That's how it is when it comes to these guild politics, isn't that right? There's no need for a guild leader to worry about the state of affairs for their underlings. That's part of the privilege of the position! So you needn't worry about me, darling. Everything is right as rain!"

"Um, okay then."

"And let me just take the opportunity to say, Guild Mistress, that I find the story of your ascent within the Orzhov to be quite the… inspiration."

Judith lingered on this last word, exhaling it as breathily as if it had been forced through her loins on the way to her mouth. Kaya did not quite understand what she meant by this, but she felt an involuntary chill trace the hunched arc of her spine regardless. Before she could respond, Judith's neck swung violently back around, joints cracking like a series of fireworks.

"Now then," she said, voice returning to its showmanlike cadence, "we'll be at the Master's chambers soon enough. But I assure you all that there are still quite the magnificent sights to see on our way through the Juri Revue! You certainly won't want to miss any of it, especially if you cherish your appendages. Ah, and as luck would have it, here's one coming up on our left now…"

All traces of Judith's odd mood disappeared as she launched into another performative diatribe, this time about a troupe of jugglers who trained exclusively with knives and razor rings that were constantly on fire. Kaya listened with one ear open, enough to keep her alert for when a flaming dagger went sailing right past the nape of her neck, but she found her focus far too dulled to hear anything else.

---

Their party continued through Rix Maadi, jumping from exhibition to exhibition, each more unsettling than the last. Half-flayed skeletons rattled with laughter as they tore the leftover flesh from their bones. Nude spellcrafters bathed in pools of glowing blood, serene looks on their faces even as the baths were picked up by massive, chained demons and tipped into their gullet. Marionettes wielding sharpened blades turned on their masters, stabbing into their guts and spilling their entrails until the hands could no longer manipulate the strings. Kaya could not decide whether the events transpiring on the surface were more reprehensible than these. She did not give it much thought, though. She let it all wash over her as best she could, allowing her hazy mind to take whatever reprieve it could manage.

This proved difficult, as each step brought with it echoes of her weighted exhaustion. She could feel the spirits swirl around her even down here, their chains clattering, plaintive calls fading away unheard, and their missing debts jangling in taunting futility.

Yeah, yeah, I still here you. Every one of you. It's bad enough with all the blood and demons reminding me of the recently dead. But keep it up. It's only a matter of time now before I can foist you all back on Teysa and leave this hellhole of a plane behind. Once this invasion is dealt with, I can finally go back to living my life, my way. On my own. Again.

Despite the debts of her ghostly accomplices remaining stagnant as ever, Kaya felt her shoulders suddenly sag. A weight, previously unfelt, pressed down on them, threatening to send her to the filthy floor. She felt herself begin to stumble, but she quickly found the strength to stand before anyone else noticed. It took her a moment to straighten herself fully, after which her footsteps fell into pace with those of her team.

They made quick time through the plunging caverns of the Festival Grounds, strung along by Judith's persistent narrations. Even as the crowds and performers thinned out, giving way to ancient stone causeways carved by long-decayed wurms and unnaturally red floes of lava that raced like veins, Judith remained a font of informative noise. Kaya could feel sweat pooling beneath her coat as they walked along perilous corridors flanked by magma. The caverns seemed built to generate convection currents strong enough to blow trespassers into the volcanic depths, though that did not stop a network of trapeze and tightrope artists from performing on a latticework of fraying cables overhead. If anything, it seemed to fuel their squeals of delight that resonated with each snap of the wires.

These primordial passages, fraught with only the most perverse and unholy creatures in Rix Maadi, eventually opened to a massive cavern nestled at the caldera's center. It was an impressive feat of dungeoneering, enough for even Teyo to cease his centering chant to look on in wonder. The domed formation that almost spanned past Kaya's vision was pockmarked with similar tunnels to the one they had taken. Screams funneled through them all into the open space. They were each borne from some combination of pleasure and pain, but within the demonic chorus they created, they were impossible to differentiate. These shrouded pathways all ended in craggy steps which led to the cavern's center. There, a ring of elevated stone stages, each equipped with all manner of tools both performative and tortuous, surrounded a massive pit. Within the pit, past its black entrance that seemed to swallow all light, a pool of red lava churned and bubbled.

It was only once they passed through the threshold that Judith fell silent. She beckoned them forward, guiding them carefully down the unguarded stairwell that led to the stage. It quickly became apparent that the countless tunnels provided no air circulation, making Kaya feel as though they had been forced into a kiln. Glancing over her shoulder, she could see that even Teyo was beginning to perspire, though she had no idea if it came from the heat or the tenebrous atmosphere. She checked in with him, and he gave her a firm, if not slightly hesitant, nod. Though she could feel the sweat dripping from her brow into her eyes, she made sure her nod back was firm.

As they crossed to the stage, Kaya was struck by the desolate state of the cavern. Glancing around, she saw neither performers nor cultists taking up any space. The only signs of life came from the constant scurrying of rats and a sparse pack of ragemutts chasing them as they barked brimstone. To see any area normally occupied by the rambunctious Rakdos so deserted made Kaya a touch concerned. She hastened her steps until she sidled just behind Judith.

"Is this place supposed to be so… dead?"

"Oh no, not at all, Guild Mistress. Normally, it would be positively teeming with performers and cultists alike, all vying for an audience. Today, well, Rakdos has already made his declaration. There's no sense hanging around here when there's so much mayhem to be sown above ground, or if you have rehearsals to run like some of us."

"Maybe this'll be easier if he isn't distracted by anything else."

Judith flashed Kaya a maniacal grin. "We'll just see about that. I can't remember the last time someone held his undivided attention and made it out of here to tell the tale. But I wish you all the luck in the world, darling."

She blew Kaya a quick kiss before bounding into a series of cartwheels. Kaya and her party paused as they watched Judith flip end over end until she stuck a perfectly poised landing at the very edge of the pit. She stood perfectly still at the precipice, hands held high above her head in exultation and corseted chest heaving. Small sluices of blood began to drip down Judith's arms, and it took Kaya a moment to notice that her hands were now embedded with chunks of obsidian. Then, a resounding roar rose from the depths, cleaving through the screaming wind like a halberd.

"Scourge Diva, your presence is unexpected. What offering have you brought me today?"

The voice paused, but Judith made no move to respond. She remained like a statue, the blood now dribbling past her elbows onto the rough stone. Kaya, standing among the racks of Rakdos implements, wondered why their loquacious guide had suddenly gone mute. She moved as if to address Judith, but the demonic voice from the pit soon reemerged.

"Those accompanying you… the smell of their blood is foreign. They walk as neither troupe nor captive. Is this pitiful party to be your audience?"

At this, Judith finally let her hands fall. The embedded rocks slipped from her flesh and clattered to the ground, bringing with them a gushing pour of blood. Though Kaya could sense some in her group recoil at this, Judith did not so much as flinch.

"They are no audience of mine, Great Defiler, and I bring you no offering besides that which I spill to you now. I have merely acted as their guide. It is Kaya, the Guild Mistress of the Orzhov, who seeks your audience, along with her… otherworldly associates. Apparently, they bring news from the surface directly to your ears."

Kaya did not like the way Judith said that last sentence, her tone pitched up and down as if in doubt of their credibility. Whether it was an intentional slight or simply what she thought was most entertaining, Kaya knew she should bide her time for now.

The pit fell silent, save for the bursting of turbulent bubbles of lava. Then, after a few doubtful seconds, the frequency of the popping began to pick up. As it did, so did the crosswinds, howling as if provoked by a stormfront. They steadily ratcheted up, and soon the entire chamber shook violently. Over the lip of the pit, the auburn glow of the magma began to reach for the surface. Kaya had to steady herself against a bloodstained bench to keep her exhausted frame upright. The instruments of torture around them rattled angrily as the other planeswalkers braced themselves as well. The only one who kept their poise was Judith. She calmly wiped their palms around the back of her neck to the front, painting it a dull crimson. After checking that her hands were sufficiently clean, she leaned back into a backwards cartwheel. This quickly transitioned into a series of flips and somersaults that carried her away from the pit, across the stage, and back towards the tunnel entrance. As she bounded past, she grinned to Kaya.

"Good luck, Guild Mistress! I'll keep a front-row seat to my next show reserved just for you. Or your corpse, depending on how this turns out. Break a leg, darlings!"

With a mirthful cackle, Judith vaulted herself up the steps and disappeared down the shrouded corridor. With the diva's ominous words worming into her head, Kaya turned her attention to the pit. The lava was starting to peek over its edge, spilling its scalding content onto the perimeter of prosceniums. It continued to rise like a molten tower, haphazardly spewing magma across the vicinity. When it nearly reached the apex of the cavern's vaulted ceiling, the veil of lava finally broke. It fell away, retreating back into the pit as if pulled by the patrons of hell itself and revealing the soaring, demonic form of Rakdos the Defiler.

The parun's presence drew gasps from both Teyo and Davriel, though each carried a far different connotation. Kaya had heard plenty of references to Rakdos' appearance before, and she had seen several illustrations in the old Orzhov manuscripts, but even these were not enough to fully prepare her. The ancient demon towered over them not unlike the spires on the surface. His skin was mostly the color of baked clay, though it was seemingly unaffected by the lava's heat. Kaya's eyes gradually followed up his massive frame, from the digitigrade hooves that perched on the magma's surface, to the black loincloth affixed by swinging chains and forged skulls, to the arms like tree trunks that gripped an oversized glowing scythe, to the batlike wings folded against his sides, and finally to the graven image of his twisted face, framed by a beard of serrated bone spurs and a set of four curling horns.

Rakdos stood for a moment, muscles twitching as they adjusted to the cooler air of the chamber. His face turned to the party's stage, and his deep-set, yellow eyes locked immediately onto Kaya. A reflexive gulp leapt into her throat, and it took a considerable effort to push it back down without it being seen.

"So," he bellowed, his voice deep enough that every other syllable sent a tremor through the cavern's floor, "you are the one who killed the Obzedat and supplanted that deceitful hag Teysa. The one who came from across the stars to call Ravnica her home."

Hearing this description of herself was enough to temporarily embolden Kaya. She rose from amidst the benches and took a few tentative steps forward into the center of the stage.

"Yes. I am Kaya of Tovolar, guildmaster for the Church of Orzhov. I have brought with me Teyo Verada of Gobakhan, and Davriel Cane of…"

Kaya paused, suddenly realizing she did not know where the diabolist was from. She glanced to him, but he merely shrugged with cloaked shoulders.

"It hardly matters."

"Right, sure." She cleared her throat before continuing up to Rakdos. "And also with us is…"

"Lavinia," Rakdos cut her off. "Of course. I would recognize an Azorius anywhere. You all smell the same. Like a vortex, siphoning as much entertainment out of the world as you can, and leaving nothing but suffocating sterility in your wake."

Rakdos let out a plume of smoke from his nostrils, as black and acrid as volcanic ash. "Kaya. Lavinia. It is good that I may finally put faces to the names of the person who recruited my emissary to their cause only to get them killed, and the one who dealt the finishing blow."

Kaya's stomach sank. Shit. It hasn't even been a day. How the hell did Hekara's death reach him so fast? She inconspicuously looked to Lavinia. The former lawmage stood uncomfortably rigid, likely suppressing every instinct in her body for the sake of decorum. Kaya caught her eye, and Lavinia pursed her lips as if to say, "There's no sense dwelling on it while we have other business to attend to."

"I am sorry that I could not have been the first to inform you of Hekara's passing," said Kaya, steadying her voice with formality. "She was a great asset to our operation, and we all miss her greatly."

"And yet Ral Zarek could not join you on your mission. Was he too afraid to face his due consequences?"

Rakdos emphasized this last word, belting it out loud and clear enough to dislodge a few stalactites from around the cavern and send them crashing to the ground. Kaya felt adrenaline spike down her back. Surprisingly, this was the boost she needed to keep herself composed before the demon's glowering visage.

"No, and I'm sure that if Guildmaster Zarek could be here, he would. Unfortunately, he is otherwise occupied with a mission of his own, one piece of our plan to stop the destruction of Ravnica and all its inhabitants. Ever since the dragon planeswalkers Nicol Bolas arrived on Ravnica, he's been…"

Once again, Rakdos cut her off, this time signaling it with a burst of flame appearing on the crown of his horns. "I do not require your middling details. I know what is happening in the city above. My servants have kept me abreast of every act that dragon has performed. If that is all you have come to tell me, then I will see fit that your deaths entertain me enough to compensate for squandering my attention."

Behind her, Kaya heard Teyo take a shuffling step back, whispering heavily under his breath, "By the Twin Suns…" He was the only among them to react to Rakdos' words, despite being the least informed as to the true severity of such threats. Kaya knew the demon would not hesitate to strike them all down as soon as he grew too bored or irritated by them, and that they were starting out on thinner ice than she had hoped. Still, she also knew that this piece of the mission could not fail, that it would spell an end to them, Ravnica, and all its citizens. She pushed this thought to the front of her mind, using it as a bulwark against the intimidating monster to keep her head held high in purposeful defiance.

"Informing you of the happenings in the city was not our only reason for requesting this audience, Rakdos. I am here as no mere courier. I am here as a fellow guildmaster, one charged with the care of as many damned souls as you, to ask for the assistance of you and your guild in defeating Bolas and saving Ravnica."

The demon's heavy brow cracked as he arched an eyebrow in surprise. His rictus grin spread further up the sides of his face, somehow revealing more rows of jagged fangs than Kaya thought could reasonably fit inside his mouth.

"My assistance?" Rakdos asked incredulously. "That is why you have traveled all this way, to seek my assistance in this plan of yours?" Suddenly, he unfurled his wings, sending a gust of wing across the cavern. Metal crashes rang out as the torture instruments fell in the face of the gale. Kaya had to drop her knees and bring her arm before her face to keep from being swept away. "I have already given my assistance in your plans once before, Kaya. My emissary paid this cost with her life, and in the end, your efforts did not even succeed. They failed, utterly and completely. You shall receive no further help from me or my people in your fool's errand."

Picking herself up, Kaya's face twisted into a mask of grim seriousness. She took another few steps forward, planting herself now in center stage. "You're wrong, Rakdos. Not about our previous mission. I fully admit to the failure of our first attempts to keep Bolas from arriving, though that had more to do with us not being fully ready for how powerful Bolas' influence could be. Now we know, and we have a new plan to take him down. One designed by Niv-Mizzet and Jace Beleren."

"An arrogant dragon whose only worthwhile act was being burned to cinders, and a boring child who thinks himself infallible in all things no matter how many times the contrary comes to scratch him across the face. You've all but guaranteed a plan deficient of both destruction and entertainment."

"I can't say I disagree with that. But what they lack in… artistry, they more than make up for in intellect. Even you have to admit that."

Rakdos snorted in opposition. "To dedicate one's talents to such limp and artless pursuits as theirs casts much doubt on their supposed genius."

"So you say, but they are undoubtedly the most qualified people on this plane to make a plan like this work. As a guild leader and a planeswalker, I trust them both. We all came here because we trust them, and we ask that you trust them too, at least a little bit. For their plan to succeed, they've made it clear that it will take the cooperation of all ten guilds. The troops we've already deployed are fighting back against the Eternals as best they can, but those zombies are tough. Maybe tougher than anything else on this plane. We need reinforcements who have an… affinity for tearing anything apart, no matter how indestructible it claims to be.

"And we don't just need your guild member's assistance, though. We also need yours. Part of their plan, which I guess should not come as a surprise given who designed it, is to reignite the Living Guildpact. Bolas has been absorbing the power of every planeswalker that comes within reach and adding it all to his own. At this point, it would take all Ravnica's magic to stop him, which, from my understanding, only the Living Guildpact can levy. It's our only true shot, but completing the ritual requires a representative of each guild to wield the influence of their piece of the Guildpact. Whether it be you or some other high-ranking member, the ritual cannot be completed without the Rakdos. So, Rakdos, that is why we've come to you today."

Kaya paused, both to let her proposition sink into the demon's thick skull and to surreptitiously catch her own breath. While she pushed and pulled air through her nostrils, she glanced to her compatriots. Lavinia's stony face was fixed expectantly on Rakdos', Teyo gave her a nervous yet encouraging smile, and Davriel made no attempt to acknowledge any of them. She figured that she had some time to consider her next moves while Rakdos mulled it over. Unfortunately, his answer came as swift and cruel as any knife his cultists could throw.

"You came all this way, only to offer nothing but incongruous requests. In such a case, the answer is simple. The Rakdos shall take no part in your plan. You will have no reinforcements, and you shall have no representative. If this is all you have brought to me, then you will leave empty-handed."

Kaya felt her stomach drop to her boots. A wave of dizziness washed over her, threatening to unseat her tentative posture. Luckily, it passed quickly, and was followed by a bracing wave of anger. With her hands balling tightly into fists, Kaya forced herself to unblinkingly hold Rakdos' cruel gaze.

"As a fellow guildmaster, I am telling you that you cannot simply refuse this call. Doing so would mean the destruction of this plane, your home, and all your people. Not even the Rakdos will be spared Bolas' wrath, I assure you. He will rain torrents of hellfire on all of you, until this whole complex and everyone inside is nothing but ash."

"And allow me to assure you, Kaya, that neither myself nor my cultists are interested in such flimsy self-preservation," Rakdos huffed. "So what if Ravnica burns? The Rakdos shall gladly dance among the embers, as we have always done. They will dance until the cinders stifle the breath in their lungs and the sun saps the last essence of life from their bodies, and all that will be left is a smile of ecstasy upon their face."

At this, Rakdos' own face curled into a mask of frightening mirth, and he let loose a howling laugh. It dwarfed all the flowing screams that broke over his gnarled skin. Kaya could sense how the horrid sound had unseated Teyo and Lavinia, each standing on edge. For herself, however, she had to fight to keep a look of relief from springing to her face.

If Rakdos is laughing, that means we are at least somewhat entertaining him. He hasn't agreed yet, but this means he hasn't written us off yet either. There's still a chance to get this ugly son of a bitch on our side.

Kaya took a deep breath, then hardened her gaze up to the chortling demon. "But you won't even live long enough to see such embers. You don't know Bolas' power. He won't just destroy the city, he'll destroy the entire plane of existence. Even you can't survive what he has planned."

The flame on Rakdos' brow suddenly flared bright red, and his teeth clenched in a twisted grin. "You dare to underestimate my powers, usurper? Your boldness is admirable, but naïve. Know that I cannot be goaded with such petty words. Know also that I have no qualms with flaying your bones, peeling away the skin and muscle and even your very spirit, until you are nothing but a useless skeleton. You will provoke nothing from me but a long and painful death."

Though she could feel the sweat dripping down her back, Kaya refused to show fear. "It is a fact, Rakdos. If Bolas is allowed to absorb the sparks of every planeswalker trapped here today, no one will have enough power to even face him, let alone stop him. He'll wipe you all out, I can guarantee it."

"Then it will be as glorious a spectacle to witness as any. If my performers can add to Bolas' symphony of anguish, then it will be all the better. They will gladly give themselves to have their voices join that crescendo. What they will not do is fight against it. I will not strip away their creative freedoms by commanding them to the front lines, where they will fight alongside your artless ranks to uphold your values of safe, soulless mediocrity. I will not give away my sacred piece of the Guildpact so readily, not to fulfill Niv-Mizzet's latest bid for uninspired control. Mine is the last of the original covenant, and I will not throw it away as that dragon did for so doomed a cause. If that means watching as Ravnica burns around us, the Rakdos will gladly stare into the flame until our very eyes melt from their sockets."

Kaya's brow furrowed. "You would rather see your home plane burn to the ground than make any active effort to assist? You can't be serious."

Suddenly, Rakdos' mouth violently snapped downward. In an instant, his disquieting grin was replaced by an etching of grave irritation.

"Do I look as though I am not being serious?" The crown flame roared up once again, high enough to leave a scorch mark on the cavern's ceiling. "I have seen the hopelessness of causes run by you and your compatriots, as I have seen the countless times Niv-Mizzet and Jace Beleren have failed this city. I see no incentive to go against the core tenants of my guild simply to suit your needs. The Rakdos have never needed Ravnica, so why should we care when Ravnica suddenly needs the Rakdos?"

"Because it's what you need to do!" Whether by his obstinate words or the petrifying glare that she continued to meet, Kaya felt her own annoyance mounting. "If Bolas isn't stopped here, it won't just be Ravnica that's destroyed. He won't stop until every plane in the Multiverse is wiped from existence. That's uncountable lives at stake!"

"Why should I care about lives whose ends I will never even have the opportunity to cause? I have but one home, Guildmaster, and its citizens are little more than playthings."

"But you could be a hero to them. Even putting aside the good it would do, your guild has never had a bigger stage or a bigger audience than they could have up there. Everyone would know the guild responsible, all eyes would be on them, and once the day is saved, it will be your name they'll be cheering."

Rakdos paused for a moment. Work, gods-be-damned, work! Kaya yelled to herself, straining to force the thought into the demon's head. I'm appealing to your vanity here. Just give in to that overblown ego of yours and fucking agree already! She waited, watching his face intently, but her heart skipped a beat when he opened his mouth to speak once more, his stoic expression unchanged.

"Is this truly all you have to offer me? For betraying my guild's values and once again putting my trust in one who has so efficiently lost it once before, you offer me nothing but hollow applause and adulation? I have no use for such empty displays, and thus, I have no use for your cause."

NO! Kaya felt her fingernails cut into her palm as her fists clenched in impotent rage. Gods-be-damned! That should have worked. At the very least, it should have brought back that awful fucking smile. We need more time, but he won't hear anything! She could feel her shoulders and knees dipping from the heavy frustration, too angry to fully care about keeping up her appearances in front of this unreasonably stubborn demon. Still, she never broke eye contact with Rakdos, letting him know just how detestable she found him. It can't stop here. I won't let it stop here. We need that representative. There must be a way…

Kaya's already overclocked mind tried to go back over what she knew of the Rakdos and of Niv-Mizzet's plan, seeing if there was some way around the inert guildmaster. She did not know how much fruitless time passed, but she was soon interrupted by a miasmic sensation in her head vying for her attention.

Oh, Kaya. It seems you're in need of some assistance of your own. Davriel's voice scratched at the inside of her skull like a perching falcon scraping its talons on the stone. Would you mind terribly if I step in?

She winced, just as much at the proposition as the mephitic sensation it spawned. Not sure if it's the best time for that. He's in a foul enough mood as it is, even for a demon. We still need to stall for time, so we don't exactly need any snide commentary giving him more reason to get rid of us.

Davriel heaved a showy sigh. Oh, Kaya, are you underestimating my skillset?

No, I'm just estimating what of it I've seen so far.

I do take pride in my humility, after all. Let me remind you, I was put on this mission for a reason. I think you could greatly benefit from my expertise. Unless, of course, you have a better course of action ready.

Kaya's face scrunched into a countenance of idle frustration. She had yet to find a new tactic that could swing the negotiation into their favor, and she knew that Davriel knew it. To her chagrin, she found herself without a better option.

Alright, she psychically glowered back to Davriel, you give it a shot. But I reserve the right to cut you off as soon as I think you're going to get us all killed.

Across their telepathic connection, Kaya could feel Davriel flash a cruel smile beneath his grinning mask. As tempting a prospect as that may be, that feels like far more effort than simply saving your skin. Now, if you don't mind, I'll take that spotlight.

Davriel's psychic spell ended with a hiss. As Kaya's senses returned to the cavern, she heard the soft tapping of Davriel's approaching footsteps.

"If I may, Guildmaster Kaya, I believe I have something I would like to say to our esteemed host."

She could feel her joints wanting to lock in place, her instincts fighting against the idea of turning over her diplomatic position to this reprobate. Her sense of obligation, however, won out.

"Of course," she muttered.

She broke away from Rakdos' gaze and receded from center stage. Davriel nodded to her as he passed, and she could not help but reciprocate the gesture. As he took up her former position, she glanced to Teyo and Lavinia, who both looked at her with disparate levels of incredulity. All she could offer them was a pursing of her lips and a look from her eyes that conveyed the thinnest benefit of the doubt she could muster.

Rakdos' luminous eyes narrowed on Davriel. "And who are you, alien, who deems themselves worthy of speaking to me?"

From beneath his cloak, Davriel's unnaturally pale arms rose out to his sides. Kaya could see swirls of black smoke building in his upturned palms. Her hand hovered over her holster, ready to intervene against whatever the shadowmage was planning. It then came as a great surprise when Davriel, with hands outstretched, bent down on one knee and bowed his head to Rakdos.

"Rakdos, the Defiler, I beseech unto you. As Guildmaster Kaya mentioned earlier, my name is Davriel Cane. I come from across the stars, versed in the arcane ways of the underworld that even the most masterful diabolists on this plane could not hope to imagine. I wield these esoteric skills to you now, the only being on this plane privileged to witness such a sight. I offer this modest spectacle in exchange for your continued attention to our proposal."

The wisps of darkness in Davriel's hands churned and wove into themselves, briefly forming into demonic and devilish shapes from across the Multiverse, some of which even Kaya could not properly identify. Some silhouettes danced together in macabre fashion, while others fought, scratching and biting in sensational scenes of bloodshed. After a particularly grisly bout that resulted in one beast cleaving fully through another, the miasma evaporated in a plume of smoke. Relative silence fell over the stage, leaving Davriel in his deferential position. It was a few more moments before Rakdos' growling voice reemerged.

"I find this display acceptable in its novelty." Peering up, Kaya could see the faintest upturning of Rakdos' craggy lips. "Rise, Davriel Cane, and speak."

Davriel lifted himself from his knee and tucked his hands neatly beneath his cloak once more, though not before making an obvious show of wiping the dirt from his trousers. Standing much like the shadowy figures he had summoned a moment before, he addressed his words directly to Rakdos' face.

"Thank you for the opportunity, Rakdos. I will be sure not to take much more of your time."

Oh, damn it, no! Kaya yelled internally to Davriel, regret immediately flooding her system. Take up his time. We need that time. If you'd ever listened to me, you'd know that.

"Thus far today," Davriel continued, unimpeded by Kaya's silent implorations, "you have been privy to everything that has occurred because of Bolas' all-too-inconvenient invasion. I cannot claim to be an expert on the history of Ravnica, especially compared to someone as storied as yourself, but I must assume a disruption of this scale is somewhat unprecedented."

He paused, giving Rakdos a chance to answer. The demon made no move to respond, and Davriel continued without missing another beat.

"You, more than anyone else, except perhaps that disembodied dragon, understand the implications of Bolas' plans. The undead army, the raised structures, the broken leylines, and even the primordial magic that you can still smell all the way down here, if you have a nose for it. If you did not know what it meant, then there would necessarily be no one on this plane who could. You could have intervened at any point, even without disrupting the sanctity of your oath to those in your employ. I know better than any that devils and lesser demons are meant to be controlled, and I've seen more than enough evidence of it around your festival grounds. But you did not, because you are not so impulsive a demon as that. You're no mere improvisor, you're a performer, and from what I've heard, an excellent one at that. You know that your minions are hungry for a true spectacle, so much so that some have started to doubt your abilities. You also know well enough that Bolas acts in opposition to everything that you profess your guild to stand for. His actions are meant to entertain none but himself. He sows chaos, not to thrill, but to breed subservience and fear. In killing, he cares only of efficiency in pain. Were Bolas an established part of the guilds, you would have seen fit to string him up long ago, since you are far too bold to be afraid. By all means, you have every reason to join the fight against him. And yet, even after Kaya laid it all out, you refused, though not from any objections so deeply rooted that they could not be pried free. Were that such a case, you would have already removed us from your sight by one means or another and returned to your pit to plan out your own performance that you know may well be your last. No, you refused Kaya's plea because of your uncompromising beliefs. You said as much yourself that upholding the tenants of the guild means more than even its survival. And while this is mere speculation on my part as a humble visitor to your plane, it seems that you are never one to freely give away anything, no matter how direly it is needed. Your subjects come to you upon these stages to perform, to offer their talents as tribute, and only those whose offerings are worthy may gain your favors. You've alluded to as much, even if some were deaf to it. You know how much we need your assistance, but we do not yet know what cost you have seen fit to attach to it. So, Rakdos the Defiler, I ask you simply this: what do you want?"

As Davriel neared his conclusion, his hand reappeared from under his cloak. It swept in a wide arc to the surrounding tunnels of Rix Maadi before ending with a dramatic gesture aimed directly at Rakdos himself.

In the ensuing silence, Kaya found her mouth had fallen agape. She would never admit it to Davriel's covered face, but she was impressed. She had mostly written him off as an apathetic narcissist. Now, she realized that, this whole time, he had been listening intently, gathering whatever information might come in handy. Not only that, but he had presented his evidence and argument with more deftness than she had seen from any Azorius lawmage or Orzhov magister. When she glanced over to Lavinia, she could see the same begrudging amazement etched into her scowl.

Huh, I guess all that talk of living off making deals with demons wasn't just self-serving bullshit. I never would've thought of any of that, which I guess reflects a bit better on me as a person. But he is good. Shame he has to be such a dick about it. As Kaya looked back to Davriel, who had struck a pose of confident assertion, she recognized a surprising familiarity. By the gods, he's just like Teysa. What a match they would make. She chuckled to herself at the ridiculous thought. Gradually, her eyes lifted from Davriel and focused back on Rakdos. The real test isn't what I think, though.

The pause following Davriel's speech lasted only a few seconds, broken by a torrential plume of smoke exhaling from Rakdos' snubbed nose. "You, alien. Your brashness in speaking to me betrays your ignorance of this city and its ways." The demon's yellow eyes blazed, aimed intently at Davriel as if smiting fire would shoot from them at any moment. "And yet, you show an understanding of them that far exceeds even those who have implanted themselves in our world for some time."

His eyes suddenly snapped to Kaya, fast enough that she felt herself wince. They fell upon her like twin spotlights, forcing her knees to brace against the malicious weight. She refused to show any of it. She held her ground and met his gaze. This seemed to be what Rakdos wanted, as his grin once again extended to reveal the shelf of ivory daggers hidden within. After a fleeting, yet tense, staredown, the demon returned his attention to Davriel.

"Your performance has pleased me, Davriel Cane. Yours is a cruel eloquence that I have not seen from my monologists in centuries. I believe many of my cultists could learn much from you."

"You flatter me unduly," said Davriel, giving a dismissive wave of his hand before it retreated from sight.

The flame on Rakdos' head flared. "Even so, do not mistake my favor for my fealty. I will excuse your momentary lack of reverence from the throes of passion, but you will not live to see such a sentence completed a second time."

"Of course, Great Defiler. It won't happen again." Davriel gave another quick, conciliatory bow. Though he showed the appropriate reverence to continue their dealings, Kaya could not help imagining smirking lips and rolling eyes hidden behind his mask.

Rakdos flexed his wings in affirmation, kicking up a biting wind that sent impassioned screams flying into Kaya's ears. "Now, I shall answer your question. What I want, in exchange for incurring the favor of the Rakdos, is what I have always wanted. It is nothing less than absolute freedom of expression. It is what this guild is built upon, and what all its members hold in equal esteem. If the Rakdos ranks are to uncover themselves from the safe haven of Rix Maadi and spread past our districts to tear down these walking blue corpses, then there can be nothing to stifle their creativity. It matters not how gruesome or profane the rest of the guilds find the displays, unless they can perform how they see fit, without laws or restrictions, you will never have their aid."

Davriel nodded. "Of course, those seem like more than reasonable terms. Fortunately, we have a consignor here who is an expert on the enforcement of laws, or the lack thereof, as applies here." A shadowy wisp emerged from his cloak. It abstractly beckoned for Lavinia before dissipating.

Lavinia heaved a visually disgruntled sigh as she removed her shroud. She addressed Rakdos directly, ignoring Davriel while her icy blue eyes stared daggers at the uncaring demon.

"I want it known, before all witnesses here, that I wholeheartedly disagree with lightening any such sanctions, especially for those so eager to disregard them. With that said, these are extraordinary circumstances which require compromise from all guilds." She leaned pointedly to Rakdos as she said this, but the implication seemed to glance off his tempered skin. "If this is what it will take to have the Rakdos on our side, then so be it. State your demands, Rakdos, so that I know what I must do. My sway within the Azorius is not what it used to be. Our compatriots are attempting to overthrow Dovin as we speak and return Azor's piece of the Guildpact to a worthy host, which would make things all the easier. In the meantime, I will do whatever I can within my power as a lawmage."

Rakdos' teeth parted slightly, and a forked tongue raked itself over them. Kaya could not tell if it was a display of hunger or perversion, but she was disgusted regardless.

"I welcome your pragmatism, Lavinia. It is most amusing to see an Azorius as stalwart as yourself finally giving yourself over to us. I've seen plenty of your officers in my stands before, but to bring you here is a true achievement."

"Any other day, I would gladly round up all your cronies before dragging you from that pit by your neck and throwing you all in the smallest holding cells we could squeeze you into. I stand by our code of law as strong as ever. Remember that, and speak your requests."

"Very well. You will tell your arresters that there shall be no impunities for any displays on the battlefield. No matter how graphic the violence, or indecent the exposure, or friendly the fire, no penalties shall be accrued. Their slates shall remain spotless for as long as Bolas darkens our skies."

Kaya could see the veins pushing against Lavinia's forehead and neck with unnatural tension. Still, she remained professional.

"If these are the necessary terms, then so be it. I shall inform the patrolling mages to cease all noted citations. Though I will also tell them to warn any and all Ravnican fighters to watch themselves with the Rakdos out and about. They won't interfere, but I won't let them blindly become part of your twisted show."

"That is acceptable. A warning will do little if a performer feels a strong enough compulsion, after all. My other demand is a wiping clean of any existing bounties or warrants on all Rakdos performers. None will be better at dismantling Bolas' army, but they will not perform with the looming threat of arrest hanging over them."

Though Rakdos' statement appeared general, both Lavinia and Kaya, so steeped in the goings-on of Ravnica, knew exactly whom this request targeted. Neither of them relished the idea of releasing these most dangerous criminals into a populace already in danger. Unfortunately, neither of them was in a position to refuse.

"It will be done," Lavinia ceded. "I'll address the brokers in charge of the wanted list myself, because they would only believe such a ludicrous request if it came from my own lips. I will choose to see this as a potential path of rehabilitation. If they can see the good in the acts they perform, perhaps they can keep off the list in the future."

Rakdos chuckled, low and deep enough to unsettle Kaya's stomach. "As foolishly idealistic as I would expect from the Azorius. See it is done, and I will sound the clarions for my people. In due time, you will see them emerge to your aid."

"I do so love to see a deal struck," crowed Davriel. His hands reemerged, with his left now clutching a quill made of conjured shadow. With an urgency and precision that outclassed even the most seasoned Orzhov scribes, he dragged the quill's tip over his opposite palm. His writing produced runes of deep purple etched directly into his pallid skin, all in a tongue Kaya could not decipher. "I will keep notes of everything and compile them into a contract to sign once our business has concluded. I know we all trust each other here, but better to have some negative reinforcement, just in case."

"I have made many deals in my time, Davriel Cane, and there have been no contracts whose consequences could ever touch me. Do as you will, but I have little need for such warnings. They are better directed at those in your own company."

Davriel forcefully tapped the quill to his palm. "Noted. Anything else you wish to add to your demands?"

"Indeed," Rakdos snarled. His flame leapt up, and his rictus grin stretched tight across his face, nearly consuming the entire bottom half of his head. "There is still the matter of my recompense for the death of the razorwitch Hekara. Though she died by your hands, Lavinia, I believe the blame falls squarely onto the shoulders of Guildmaster Kaya, as one of the key instigators of this utter failure of a plan."

Kaya took a few steps towards center stage, biting back her annoyance at the demon's jeers. "Of course, Rakdos. Hekara's death weighs heavily on all of us, and I have every intention of making things right."

At this, Rakdos' let out a venting blast of steam and flame between his jagged teeth. "I am glad to hear that you will do what is right, seeing as you have brought me no restitution of your own accord. No offerings, no payments, no performances of loss. You have not even deigned it worthy to return Hekara's body to her home." With each word, Rakdos' voice grew louder, echoing harder off the cavern walls until the whole structure shook. Kaya could also hear his gleefully sadistic tone gradually giving way to a true diabolic anger underneath. "A performer's body is both their most precious canvas and their most sacred tool, and my minions will never allow something like death to put an end to that. A razorwitch's body, in the right hands, would be a first ring attraction no matter the season. Since I am now down a body, it will be upon you, Kaya, to repay this debt."

Suddenly, the demon tightened his grip on the oversized scythe in his hand. The runes carved along its handle and blade ignited with a fierce energy, bathing the stage in a threatening orange heat.

Kaya fell onto her back foot, eyes widening in an instantaneous flash of fear. "Rakdos, I can assure you, that won't be necessary." She took a second to compose herself, allowing her eyes to scan the cavern walls and tunnel entrances as she spoke. "As I said, I will gladly make things right with what happened to Hekara, but not by trading my own life away." She saw nothing, no movement from anywhere else. "I…"

"A life for a life, there can be no fairer payment than that. Do not think your station as a Guildmaster makes your life any more valuable than those of the ones who serve you."

"I never said that. If you would let me explain…"

"If anything, usurper, your life is worth merely a drop compared to Hekara's. Only if all your contractors and pontiffs were drowned in your coffers, and their contents were poured at my feet would you come close to an equitable payment. To ask for only your life, you will get no better deal than that."

"I know my guild hasn't been the most forthcoming with you, Rakdos, but honestly, if I could…"

"No, I have heard enough small words from passionless outsiders. This is a debt for whose payment I have waited too long to collect. You may make note of the transaction how you wish, Davriel Cane. You will have your representative from among my upper ranks, but I will take what I am owed now."

An inferno suddenly engulfed the blade of Rakdos' scythe, extending its reach to nearly eclipse his wingspan. Gripping the weapon in both clawed hands, the demon reared back, readying to strike it down upon Kaya with neither hesitation nor remorse.

Kaya's keen eyes were trained on the blade. Shit, it wasn't supposed to happen like this. We needed a bit more time. I should have known better than to expect this demon to see reason for long. Her hands flew to her sides, fingers tucking beneath the clasps on her dagger holsters, ready to flick them open and retrieve them at a moment's notice. The second he brings that shit down and I phase out of the way, this negotiation is going to get a lot fucking harder.

She adopted a crouching posture, ready to jump to safety. Though Rakdos had yet to even swing his scythe down, her mind had already moved to what she would need to do next. They could not run away without securing the Rakdos' help. Could she stay and fight? Would her blades even work on a demon, let alone one as powerful as Rakdos? If that did not work, then what? If it did work, then what? There seemed to be no path forward, but Kaya couldn't just let Rakdos kill her, could she? She had been working hard both to help the guilds and the planeswalkers, but how far did her commitment truly go? Could she give everything she could to something outside of herself?

Kaya's thoughts were swimming. Her head throbbed, her body ached, and it seemed like even her spark flickered.

I guess if it's really the only way… I tried to get around it, but now… If I want to give everyone a chance to get what they deserve…

Her fingers loosened, falling away from her holsters. Her muscles unfurled as she slowly rose from her bent posture. Her eyes stayed fixed on Rakdos' flaming blade, watching it crackle and burn. She felt like she was in a stupor, her headache having gone completely numb. It was only when she opened her ears that something could pull her from it. Amidst the screaming winds and billowing flames, a voice reached down to, as it had most every time it appeared, agitate her every nerve.

"If you will excuse the interruption," said Davriel, projecting his voice with the aid of his abilities. "Great Defiler, I would implore you to stay your hand. After all, there will be no need to extract payment from us twice over for a singular offense. We apologize for the delay in its arrival, but you know how difficult these things can be to arrange, even excusing the present circumstances."

Before Kaya could parse what she had heard, the flame of Rakdos' blade extinguished. The disorientation threw Kaya out of her own mind. She blinked, shaking off the grogginess. When her senses returned, she looked over to Davriel, whose words still echoed, slowly and incoherently, in her head. He pointed with his quill to a spot just past Rakdos' shoulder. Blearily, Kaya followed the direction, and what she saw was enough to resharpened even her dullest senses.

From a cave entrance high on the cavern wall, a flying shape burst into the chamber. It sliced through the howling turbulence, moving too quickly at first for Kaya to fully identify. Once it came closer, the streaking grays, whites, reds, and blacks were unmistakable. The wings, which effortlessly traversed the cavern's chaotic crosswinds, belonged to a familiar gargoyle. Its chassis was severely cracked and caked in soot, but it still carried its passengers with statuesque purpose. Standing up on the creature's back, in flagrant disregard for safety, was a Rakdos cultist pointing the way. From her tight leather bodice, spiked belts, and four-pronged demon mask, Kaya recognized her as Exava, a bloodwitch whose ranking within the Rakdos was beaten only by the demon himself. Seated before her, stooped down low enough that he could steer his gargoyle mount properly, was Tomik Vrona.

As soon as she saw Tomik's face, relief flushed through Kaya's system, strong enough that she had to forcibly catch herself from letting even a drop escape through her eyes. Well, you sure as hell took your time getting here, Tomik. Knew I could count on you. Compartmentalizing her feelings as swift as she could, Kaya waved up to the gargoyle, signaling them to land.

All eyes watched as Tomik guided himself and Exava around Rakdos' pit, through the treacherous airspace, and towards the stage. With a scraping shriek, the gargoyle sunk its talons into the proscenium floor, carving a set of grooves into the stone before bringing itself to a stop. Once it settled onto the ground to rest, Tomik and Exava dismounted, with the former rushing to greet Kaya and the latter performing a series of intricate splits on her way to Rakdos.

"Tomik!" called out Kaya as he approached. She saw that his usually immaculate robes were splotchy with mottled grays and reds. The same went for his face, though there was at least some evidence of an attempt to clean himself up. Unsurprisingly, his various satchels, scroll cases, and equipment bags remained expertly put together. The mark of a true advokist, she knew he would say. "Are you alright? You look a bit… worse for wear."

Tomik held up a hand in deflection. "Yes, yes, Mistress Kaya, I'm perfectly fine. As good as anyone can be on a day like today, in a place like this. No need for any extra worry." His voice carried a slight rasp, but otherwise he showed no signs to disprove his state.

"Good. That's good to hear. I was worried something might've happened. But you got it?"

He nodded. "Yes, I have it right over th-"

Tomik's words were swallowed up as Rakdos stirred. "Who has dared to interrupt me?" The flame on the demon's brow burned hot enough for a core of white to appear amidst the umber. His yellow eyes peered to the stage's lip, where Exava stood expectantly. Unlike Judith and Davriel, she made no attempt to prostrate herself before the demon, going so far as to tap the sharpened tip of her thigh-high boot to show her impatience. "Exava. You disturb my sanctum unannounced, and you have brought along yet another outsider. I shall see fit to strike you down for such insolence."

"Nay, Demon-God, I have come through no fault of my own." Her tone was as sharp as the spikes that ran along every scant inch of her clothing. "I was conscripted by this messenger to bring him to your presence."

"And you simply obeyed? Has the prized bloodwitch grown soft?"

"Of course not. I would have gladly spilled his entrails from the rafters. It was not until my daggers were at his throat that he revealed his intention. It seems he is working in concert with this party to bring something to you. Something important."

Rakdos' jaw clicked with curiosity. As his beard of bones ground against one another, his gaze shifted to Tomik. "Approach, outsider. Show me what you have brought that could stay even Exava's blades."

Tomik swallowed hard, clearly intimidated by the demon's overwhelming atmosphere. Kaya patted him on the back for assurance, then nudged him forward. He took the hint and stepped towards center stage. Davriel refused to give up the spotlight, so Tomik spoke from his side.

"Thank you, Guildmaster Rakdos, for your continued audience. I apologize for having made you wait for my arrival, even if it was unbeknownst to you until now. My name is Tomik Vrona, chief advokist of the Church of Orzhov and personal assistant to Teysa Karlov. I have come at the behest of my Guildmaster, Mistress Kaya, to return unto you the body of your deceased representative, the razorwitch Hekara."

Rushing back to his gargoyle, now curled into itself in slumber, Tomik reached for an object on its back. It was human-shaped, wrapped in a traditional Orzhov burial shroud and secured with a series of straps and buckles. Tomik quickly dislodged it and took it into his arms. He floundered slightly from the unexpected weight, but he eventually regained his footing enough to bring the offering to rest by Rakdos' cloven hooves. With more care than Kaya was sure the demon would require, Tomik lifted the shroud, revealing Hekara's corpse.

Rakdos' eyes flared at the sight, drawing a smirk to Kaya's lips. "As I said, I had every intention of making things right after what happened. In the chaos of the invasion, getting Hekara's body back to you wasn't easy. That's why I put my best man on it." She winked at Tomik, who kept himself professionally composed, despite the flush of embarrassed pink that ran to his cheeks. "A body is what you wanted, and here's one that I'm sure will serve your needs far better than mine ever would have."

Rakdos glanced briefly to her, then returned his gaze to Hekara's body. Reflexively, Kaya's eyes followed. From what she could tell, the corpse looked about the same as when she woke up. Her skin was still ghostly pale, her patchwork bodysuit crumpled and stained, her limbs immovably stiff by her sides. Now, though, Hekara was on her back. Kaya had only seen her on her front before, but now she could see the milky clouds over her eyes, the makeup cracking against her drying skin, and the gaping wound in her neck that had scabbed severely enough to resemble an overripe pomegranate. Kaya was no stranger to death, but seeing the face of someone she had worked closely with, someone who she had never really liked or appreciated until she was gone, lodged a surprising wad of emotion in her windpipe.

While Rakdos stared silently, Exava cautiously approached the body. She circled it once, eyeing it up and down, prodding it with the tip of her boot, even kicking at the bells that hung from Hekara's short-cropped hair spikes to draw out the pitched tinkling.

"Well, it most certainly is the body of Hekara the razorwitch," Exava blithely declared. "No illusions or deceit from them, as far as I can tell. Pray tell, Demon-God, what will you have me do with it? Shall my devils carry her to the crypt to await processing? Or did you already have someone in mind to perform a proper desecration?"

Rakdos blinked. His nostrils widened, looking like craters on the surface of a far-off planet, and he took in a breath strong enough to suck up all the tortured souls occupying his chamber. It passed as smoke between his grinning teeth.

"No. She will remain where she lay while you, Exava, prepare for her the Sanguine Encore."

Kaya's brow knitted in confusion. She had never heard the term before. Turning to the others, she saw the same lack of understanding among their faces. Only Exava seemed to comprehend Rakdos' words, though only because her face had suddenly creased with unbridled vexation.

"The Sanguine Encore? But Lord Rakdos, Hekara has been dead nearly a day already, and from actions undertaken outside of the Festival Grounds, caused by her willing participation with these outsiders to our guild."

"I know of the circumstances of her death. I can smell it on her, even now. The end she met was no grand finale. I find it unfitting of a cultist of her rank."

"But Rakdos, Great Demon-God, she was only a razorwitch! She has not earned the chance to…"

The great flame on Rakdos' brow exploded in an inferno of light, temporarily blinding the unsuspecting Kaya and succinctly cutting off Exava's complaint.

"Remember your place, Exava. I have given my decree. Prepare the Sanguine Encore, or I shall cast you into the Pit myself."

Likely feeling the intense pressure of Rakdos' headlight stare, Exava relented, her face falling into blank acquiescence. "As you command."

She cast a hateful stare down at the corpse, whose smile seemed to have taken on a mocking aura, before vaulting across the stage as if she were possessed. She barreled heedlessly through the party, causing Kaya and the others to leap out of the way of the chaotic series of somersaults that cleaved her path. Once Kaya checked to ensure she had not been sliced by any of Exava's whirling edges, she watched as the bloodwitch landed among the gathered stage props. Her hands grazed the rack of torture implements with an uncomfortable eroticism, eventually landing on a double-bladed weapon whose ends looked like a cross between a dagger and a corkscrew. She pulled it from the shelf and tossed it over her head with an overdramatic flair, where it promptly disappeared in a burst of flame and red smoke.

Kaya watched in confusion as Exava sashayed next to a massive chest and kicked it open with a striking extension of her heel. She reached in and, in similar fashion to the blade that had yet to reappear, began flinging all manner of odd ingredient over her head. Kaya glimpsed eyeballs from various species, vials of blood in a rainbow of colors, and pieces of flesh that were best left unidentified, all of which quickly disappeared in their own puffs of smoke. Once she seemingly concluded with the chest, Exava waltzed over to a large, unmarked drum. She laid her hands on it, icepick nails clattering on the chipped metal, and the barrel vanished as well. Then, Exava spun on her toes to face the others, raised her hands over her horned helmet, dramatically snapped her fingers, and disappeared in the largest explosion yet.

The group had been watching in a captivated silence, but now they all instinctually turned back to where Hekara's body lay. Kaya spun around just in time to see the bloodwitch emerge from a cloud of red mist in the same pose as a moment before, her face set in severe concentration despite the flashy display. With one hand, Exava hoisted the fallen razorwitch over her shoulder, a show of strength that came as a surprise to the onlookers. She waved her free hand over her head, tracing out several wide circles with her wrist that almost appeared to disjoint. After the first, the barrel reappeared before her, hitting the ground with enough weight, and producing enough sickening sloshing, for Kaya to understand its contents. Her suspicions were confirmed when Exava kicked off its lid and the ferric stench of blood filled the immediate area. The second wave of her hand brought back the collected ingredients, each appearing in midair above the drum and promptly falling into the swirling blood, with complete disregard for the vials or jars in which they were kept.

Once the last piece disappeared beneath the crimson surface, Exava strode up to the barrel, as casual as could be, and flung Hekara's body from over her shoulder into its maw. A splash of blood erupted like a volcano as the body sank, drawing shocked gasps from several of the party members. It took less than a second before Hekara's lithe frame was completely swallowed by the drum's contents, at which point Exava threw her head back and flung her hands out to either side.

"O, great Demon Gods! As a humble servant beneath your strongest champion, whose chaos bathes our lives in purpose, I call upon you. Accept this offering, given with gleeful head and exuberant heart, and return unto us your instrument of most brilliant pandemonium that it may continue its work in your names alone. Drr kt morgus b'nar iz proga d'Rakdos!"

Suddenly, Exava slammed her hands together over the barrel, laying one on top of the other and interweaving her fingers. Then, the weapon she had selected reappeared above her hands, one of its corkscrew tips aimed straight down. It plummeted as if drawn by the blood and pierced clean through Exava's hands. The hilt of the second blade caught against the initial wound before it could fall all the way, resulting in one edge protruding from each hand's back. Exava let out a sound of incomparable enjoyment, a combination of both a hearty laugh and an orgasmic moan. Her whole body shuddered, rattling her chains and jostling her helm. Before her emotions seemed to peak, she slammed her conjoined hands into the barrel, submerged her arms up past her elbows.

She held her arms in the stewing blood for several moments, chanting under her breath in between exhalations of ecstasy. The veins and arteries in her arms began to glow, red and navy magics building in her shoulders and flowing down until they disappeared beneath the liquid's surface. After a few moments, the drum's contents started glowing as well, bright crimson mingling with blue so dark it appeared black. Exava stirred her arms around in the barrel a few times, creating a whirlpool of streaking magic. Then, she abruptly pulled her arms out. The blade that had joined her hands was gone, though the shredded stigmata remained. She flung her arms wide to each side, and were it not for the occasional dripping, Kaya could have easily thought she had simply donned a pair of long, red gloves.

Exava stood in silence behind the barrel, staring out at her meager audience. Kaya and the others mirrored that silence, unsure exactly what had just occurred but unable to take their eyes off the barrel. The swirling, glowing blood eventually stilled, returning almost to its state before the ritual. With the intense focus on Exava's actions, even the constant screaming from deep within Rix Maadi had fallen into the background, making their stage feel almost desolate. Then, the odd tranquility bred within this quiet beat was immediately destroyed as the blood's surface violently broke. Shocked gasps rang out, and even Kaya felt her breath shorten when the spray of blood settled enough for her to see a hand sticking straight up from the barrel.

The hand continued out from the blood, dragging an arm along with it. Once its elbow surfaced, it swung down to grab onto the barrel's lip. Another hand soon followed, following the same trajectory. The arms flexed, and using the drum's edge as a fulcrum, they pulled the rest of the body from the bloody depths. Dredged viscera spilled everywhere as the body arced through the air in a graceful flip. It tumbled head over heels, not letting go of the barrel until its blood-soaked soles had touched the slicked ground. With its footing secured, the drenched body twisted its legs and arms to strike a wild, flamboyant pose. Then, it wiped a hand clear across its face, revealing Hekara's glittering, maniacal grin.

"Ta-da! Sorry for the delay, ladies and gentlemen and everything in between, but you know me, I always like to leave my audience wanting more!"

The difference in Hekara's voice was immediately apparent. It scratched and growled in ways it never had before, as if the words had to claw their way out of her throat. It sounded painfully halting, but it did not stop her from throwing her head back and letting out an earsplitting cackle. It also did not stop Kaya's eyes from rounding as soon as she heard it.

Her mouth hung open, too stunned at first to properly form the words. "H-hekara… is that you? You're alive?"

Hekara's eyes darted to Kaya. She cocked her head in confusion, holding her unsettling smile for a beat. Then she disentangled her limbs, shifting the former intricate pose to one of casual, leaning posture. Breaking her stare with Kaya, her face contorted into a caricature of confusion. She placed two fingers on the side of her neck, then held up her other wrist in a pantomime of checking the time. She held this pose for a moment, then looked back to Kaya with a playful grin.

"As far as I can tell, yeah. Though it looks like I should be doing some more cardio. I can barely hear that thing!" She let out another howling laugh as she planted her fists firmly against her hips.

For reasons she could not rightly explain, Kaya found herself laughing along to Hekara's gallows humor. It was just a giggle at first, but it quickly rose to meet the witch's intensity. As Kaya feigned wiping a finger beneath her eye, she was surprised to feel it come away wet with tears.

Kaya was not the only one to notice this. Though Hekara's laughter died down, her grin only widened as she leaned in Kaya's direction. "Man, if I'd known that this was the kinda act I had to pull to get a reaction like that outta you, I would've slit my own throat days ago!"

This drew another quick snort from Kaya, despite how sensitive a topic she found it. She opened her mouth, ready to tell Hekara about everything she had missed, but before she could get a word out, Hekara's eyes had snapped to the floor. She watched the blood dripping onto the stone stage, then followed it to see every inch of herself coated in the stuff. Her nose wrinkled in faux disgust.

"Ugh, I know red is my color, but even I think it's a little much. I'm used to blood coming out of every orifice, but this…"

Her face broke into a smile, and she sent a wink flying to Kaya. Still bent over, Hekara reached her fingers to her toes. Then, as she straightened herself, she dragged her fingertips up the length of her body in an overtly erotic display. Though it made Kaya a bit uneasy, she could not look away. Hekara swayed and gyrated, caressing every inch of her frame. As her fingers ran through the clinging layer of blood, they miraculously wiped it away without any effort. It peeled up at her nails' behest and began accumulating into small, suspended balls resting in her palms. By the time she finished her burlesque performance, she was cleaner than she had been when Tomik first unwrapped her, and she held a set of three red spheres in each hand.

Hekara held a finishing pose for a few seconds before she noticed the spheres. When she did, her eyes grew wide with gleaming curiosity. She inspected one, then her newly cleaned body, and then back to the sphere. Suddenly, realization hit, and her smile almost consumed her face.

"Wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! That's new. That's new, I couldn't do that before. Summoning razors, that I could do, but this is… AH!" Hekara probed one of the balls with her sharp fingernail. It broke the surface, sending a ripple over it to reveal its suspended liquid state without disturbing the structural integrity. She quickly retrieved her finger, now covered in blood, and licked it. "Ha ha ha, that's amazing!"

Letting out another maniacal cackle, Hekara threw the six blood balls into the air, one after another. They retained their shape perfectly, even as Hekara began to fervently juggle them. Her eyes followed the frantic speed of the balls, wide with exuberance.

"I can't believe it! Look, everyone! Check this out! Do you know what this means? My old act is done! If I'm gonna incorporate this, I need to rethink the whole thing. New acts, new jokes, new assistants, new props. Hell, new marquee name! So long, Hekara the razorwitch. Hello, Hekara the bloodwitch!"

As Hekara rambled on, shouting on at a motormouthed pace that barely eclipsed the increasing speed of her juggling, Kaya simply nodded along, smiling as an odd warmth filled her chest at the unbridled enthusiasm on display. With Hekara's attention span, she likely would have kept going for hours. Fortunately, Exava saw it fit to interrupt.

"Are you quite finished playing around yet, Hekara?" she sneered. "Or would you prefer to waste even more of the Demon-Gods' time?"

Hekara had been so consumed with juggling and talking, her shock at hearing Hekara's voice was obvious to all. She let out a surprised yelp, and the six blood balls simultaneously burst into small clouds of mist, which rained down in all places except where Hekara stood. She spun around on her heel and met the bloodwitch's distasteful gaze.

"Exava!?" she gasped. "No fuckin' way! You're the one who performed my Sanguine Encore? Oh, now that's the kinda irony I can get behind." She laughed, throwing her amusement straight into Exava's face. "Eat your fuckin' heart out, you bitch! Not so high and mighty now, are ya, huh, you big blood-drippin' cunt?"

"You watch yourself in Rakdos' presence, you damn fool!"

The corners of Hekara's ever-expanding smile pushed her eyes nearly closed as she wagged a dismissive finger at Exava. "Nuh uh uh! You don't get to tell me what to do anymore. You don't outrank me! We're the same now, and I didn't have to do all that stupid shit the other bloodwitches did."

"One more word from you," glowered Exava, "and I will return you to the pauper's grave you so richly deserve. You were worthless before, and being a bloodwitch won't change that."

"Whatever. How about you put those lips to some real use and suck whichever part of me you can reach first!"

"You insolent clown, you have no respect for the true art of th-"

"That is quite enough!" Rakdos' voice suddenly rumbled to life, drowning out everything else. His nostrils flared menacingly, and his grip tightened around his scythe. "While this has proven itself as entertaining as I expected, I will not have my time wasted while outsiders continue to linger in my presence."

Exava and Hekara stood down, leveling glares filled with cold menace and fiery sadism, respectively. With the brief respite, Davriel took the opportunity to seize control of the conversation, motioning to Rakdos with his shadowy quill.

"Quite right, Defiler, quite right. And seeing as how precious your time is, we'd love to get out of your hair as quickly as possible. Before we can, though, there is still the matter of you confirming a representative. Without your blessing, or curse as it were, the Guildpact will not transfer. Once we square that away, we can collect everyone's signatures and the deal should be set."

"All those inducted into the bloodwitch order," Rakdos said through plumes of smoke, "carry with them the necessary connection to the Guildpact to act as my emissaries while I slumber. Even without the preceding rituals, Hekara is no exception. She will be an acceptable representative."

Hekara flashed a thumbs-up over her shoulder. "Y'here that? Acceptable! That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me while we both had our clothes on."

Kaya smirked, though she could see Davriel's shoulders sag with irritation. Still, he kept it from creeping into his professional voice. "Good, then that is settled. If we can double-check the terms of our agreement and get everyone's signature, we can be-"

"There will be no signing yet."

"Oh, I didn't realize there was still business to conduct. What more do you have in mind?"

"You have done well to entertain me thus far, but my satisfaction has yet to peak. Before a deal is struck, I require a show."

Davriel waved a dismissive hand in a circle. "A show of loyalty? That is managed easily enough, I assure you. The wording of the contract shall ensure that any breach from any signatories will result in direct, indefinite subservience to the opposed party. You know as well as I how easily that'll keep this lot in line."

Rakdos exhaled, fuming down a thick cloud of gray. "You infer too much, Davriel Cane. I do not mean a show of loyalty. I mean a show. A final performance to secure this deal of yours."

Davriel stood in the smoke, showing no signs that his breathing was disrupted. His idle hand wafted it away as he responded. "I suppose that does seem to be the custom down here. Did you have anything in mind for what you might want to see. I think I speak for the rest of my compatriots when I say our talents lie less on the stage and more… elsewhere."

"I believe I have already wrung what meager entertainment I could from you outsiders. This is best left to the professionals. Exava. Hekara."

The demon did not look away from Davriel as he called the bloowitches' names. While Hekara had become too enraptured with manipulating the blood that trickled from a freshly dug wound in her wrist to respond, Exava stood at attention and bowed deeply to her sovereign.

"We are at your command, Demon-God."

"Indeed you are, but only you shall remain there, Exava. Hekara, as the emissary of these outsiders, now stands with them. From opposing sides, you two will fight until only one remains. If Hekara stands victorious, then you shall have your deal signed. If Exava is to win, however, then you will return to your allies above ground emptyhanded."

Kaya felt her stomach suddenly twist. Her eyes bugged as they bounced from Rakdos' impassible grin to the equally bewildered faces of Lavinia, Teyo, and Tomik to Davriel's unflinching mask. She had been silent for a bit, still reeling from Hekara's resurrection and not wanting to take away from Davriel's negotiating position, but now she could no longer contain herself.

"You can't be fucking serious, can you!? We came all this way. We heard everything you wanted and compromised our mission so that you would agree on it. And now, what? All of that might not even matter? You're just going to throw everything we worked on back in our faces by bringing your decision down to a fucking coin flip!?"

Her chest was heaving by the time she paused long enough to draw a fresh breath. Rakdos turned his eyes to her, and his malicious grin grew past the visible edges of his face.

"To simply give you what you want so badly, I hardly see the fun in that. I require stakes. Suspense." His tongue darted out from between his teeth. "Bloodshed. You can either flip the coin, or you can leave now with nothing. The choice is yours."

"Why you absolute fucking bastard of a guildmaster! People are dying up there! You can't just…"

"Kaya, sweetheart, relax a bit, would ya?"

Hekara's voice pulled Kaya out of her rage-fueled haze. She looked away from Rakdos to see her bloodwitch compatriot doing a series of elaborate stretches that would have landed a normal person in the hospital.

"What?" asked Kaya. "Hekara, no, you shouldn't have to do this. You were dead five minutes ago."

"Yeah, but I ain't anymore. I feel great, like I just woke up from the best nap of my life. Trust me, I got this." Hekara shifted out of her stretching routine into a series of exaggerated flexing poses. Each over-the-top stance was paired with an equally smoldering grimace. It was as if she were a bodybuilder on display at a public beach, despite her less than muscular frame. As a finishing touch, she deepened her voice into a ridiculous baritone. "I can beat Exava, no sweat. And then you know it's right on to Bolas next!" She whooped excitedly, grinning from ear to ear.

"Oh, is that so?" said Exava. She had her arms held out from her sides and was rolling her neck in a slow circle, the horned helmet clicking against her spiked attire. "You, a mere fledgling think you can take on a bloodwitch of my caliber?" She let out a hoarse, throaty chuckle, then violently snapped her head back into position. "I've been waiting for an excuse to feed you to my thralls. I'll kill you, both for my own pleasure and for the glory of Rakdos!"

Exava's eyes suddenly clouded over with bright red light. She crossed her arms, still soaked in ritual blood, across her chest and grabbed an exposed handle from the hip holsters that hung at her sides. In a flash, she pulled free a pair of glinting blades. Her dominant hand held a massive silver sword whose blade branched out at regular intervals which, while visually emulating Rakdos' curved horns, bore a closer resemblance to his countless teeth. Her off hand sported a curved shortsword with a knocked edge like a bone saw. The two weapons were connected at their pommels by a length of blackened chain, which hung now from her shoulders like a venomous snake waiting to pounce.

Exava twirled the blades around, allowing the chain to envelop her forearms in lieu of proper armor, before pointing their tips directly at Hekara. Kaya, who watched intently through nervous eyes, saw the blood that coated Exava's arms begin to glow and, to her dismay, move. It pooled though the chain links and crept up their length to the awaiting blades, where it coagulated along the keened edges. Once her arms were clean, the blood began to whir around the blades' perimeters. It moved faster than the eye could track, with the only hint to the deadly nature of its sharpness being the high-pitched sound it made as it eviscerated the still air.

While her blades primed, Exava bent her knees, adopting the posture of an animal ready to strike. As soon as the wailing gusts overhead were fully drowned out by the sound of her weapon, she pushed off the ground with all her considerable strength towards Hekara.

Hekara saw this and simply cocked her head. "Oh, we're starting already?" She shrugged. "Alright."

Her features suddenly sharpened, and Hekara brought both hands close to her face, crossing at the wrist just below her chin. Her fingers bent oddly, as if she were holding something that was not there. Kaya recognized this stance as the one Hekara used to summon the namesake razors of her former station. Now, however, no razors appeared from thin air to slot into her fingers. Kaya felt a bead of worrisome sweat fall down her face. Did the resurrection mess with Hekara's powers? More importantly, would there be enough time for Hekara to adapt before Exava cut her to ribbons?

Kaya felt her eyes wanting to shut, to not witness what she thought was coming next. She fought against it, however, knowing that a leader would see anything through for their mission or their allies, regardless of the outcome. The timing of this buoying thought proved fortunate, for she forced her eyes open just in time to witness the true spectacle.

Exava was still mid-lunge when her wicked smile suddenly switched off, drowned out by an inexorable look of pain. She let out a howling scream that pierced Kaya's eardrums. Her blades, so precisely honed on Hekara's awaiting flesh, began to fall to the wayside. Beneath the wrapped chains, Exava's arms twitched and pulsed. Her legs did the same, though her boots obscured the true cause of the unexpected spasms. Then, in a violent fury of activity, Exava's arms and legs ripped open.

Like a burst dam, geysers of blood began to flow from massive wounds on each of Exava's forearms and thighs. She screamed in agony as the gashes steadily grew wider and wider, dying the brown stone below a sickly pale red. Before she was even halfway to Hekara, the wounds reached their maximum. At once, all four limbs were severed. As they fell away from Exava's bleeding, furious torso, they revealed an oversized, diamond-shaped, silver razor lodged within each exsanguinating stump. The razors quickly freed themselves, drawing forth even more sickly blood from Exava's rended flesh, and flew into Hekara's awaiting grasp.

They stuck fast between her fingers, spraying her face in flecks of blood. Hekara held them close to her face, diabolical eyes scanning them intently.

"Huh, you got a lot more iron in your blood than I expected. Good for you!"

Letting out another unhinged cackle, Hekara bounded forward, wielding the razors before her like claws. She moved to intercept Exava, who was starting to shape the outpouring of blood from each severed appendage into a suitable replacement. Before any could solidify, Hekara reached out and plunged the four razors into the bloodwitch's face. Making use of her incredible dexterity, one razor went in each eye and each ear, instantly rendering Exava both blind and deaf. Though not mute, as was made immediately obvious as any cohesive noises coming from her dissolved into a discordant shriek of pain. Hekara beamed at Exava's agonized face, her tongue lapping from the font of anemic blood like a dog. Then, she gave a dramatic twist of the razors, and Exava fell silent.

Hekara held her foe in midair for a tense moment, during which Kaya could hear nothing but her own heartbeat and feel nothing but how slack her open jaw hung. It did not last long, as Hekara pulled the razors from Exava's face, causing her unmoving body to fall. As it slapped wetly against the stage, Hekara turned to Rakdos, fanned her razors, and took a deep bow.

"I'll need to come up with a proper stage name for that move, but for now, I hope you enjoyed the debut of my combined razorwitch-bloodwitch style!"

There was a pause, with all eyes climbing up to watch Rakdos. Though his demonic grin still claimed half his face, it had not shifted at all during the fight that was over in the blink of an eye. Kaya felt her bated breath as she waited for a response, and she could sense the same apprehension from her allies.

Soon enough, Rakdos stirred. "It seems my decision to bless you with these gifts was a fortuitous one. That was quite the spectacular finish."

Hekara stood bolt upright. The razors fell from her grasp as she excitedly pressed her wrists into her cheeks. The blades each hit the ground with a single clang before they degenerated back into a thin pile of scarlet liquid, though the sound was drowned out by Hekara's jubilance.

"Ah! You really liked it?! That means so much coming from you. I know you know that, but still! Are ya sure it was good? I considered dragging the razors back up her arms and legs, then having them converge on her heart. Split her into five pieces, y'know? But then I thought the whole eyes and ears thing would just be a bit more nuanced. Or I could've done it so-"

Rakdos cut her off with a sharp exhalation that set her bells jingling. "You have done well, Hekara, but a true master knows when it is time to bow from the limelight."

"Point taken," she said, grinning sheepishly. She took a step back, her face still red from both Exava's blood and her own exhilaration.

As everyone's hectic pulses gradually wound down, Davriel spoke up. "Well, there you have it. Our champion has come out on top. Per your terms, Great Defiler, does this mean you are prepared to accept our deal?"

"Indeed. Hekara shall accompany you as representative of both myself and the Rakdos."

"I won't let ya down, boss!" Hekara saluted, throwing a fine spray of blood across the stage.

"And so long as you keep your end of our bargain in lifting the city's sanctions, my cultists will know it. In their time, they will join in your fight."

Davriel paused his runic scribbling into his open palm and gestured up at the demon. "And what about those who possess no will of their own? Devils, thralls, and such. Would you be amenable to a conscription order for those type of creatures? Under my supervision as a master diabolist, of course."

Rakdos grumbled low for a second before responding. "Very well. So long as you remember that they are tools of artistic expression, not your conformist soldiers."

"You have my word on that, I assure you." Davriel scratched another quick series of runes into his hand, then dotted it with a flourish of his wrist. "I believe that was everything we discussed. Allow me to put it into proper writing." The runes on his hand began to glow a deep purple. They shifted around on his skin, slowly at first but gradually gaining speed, until they lifted clear off his flesh. Floating above his outstretched palm, the runes coalesced into a thin, curled strip of translucent magic It appeared as a scroll of ethereal parchment outlined and engraved with dark purple lettering, a perfect facsimile of a true contract.

"Now then," Davriel said, holding both the ghostly paper and the shadowy quill to Rakdos, "are you prepared to sign?"

Rakdos stared down at the shadowmage for a moment, then raised his scythe before him. Extending a finger, Rakdos dragged it along the blade's edge. Once a bubbling stream of blood appeared, the demon held the finger out to the stage. Davriel had to sidestep as drops of blood the size of any of them splashed onto the proscenium. Five fell, enough to form a modest puddle in the spotlight, before the demon's wound seared itself shut.

"As my representative, Hekara shall sign your contract on my behalf, in my blood. It is by this covenant that you have my assistance. Now, leave me that I may return to my slumber. My participation in this ordeal is finished."

Rakdos crossed his arms across his chest and folded his wings close to his back. No longer keeping himself aloft, the demon began to sink into his pit. The entire cavern shuddered with his descent, the voices warbling madly and the altars rattling.

As Kaya watched Rakdos recede down, she found herself compelled to call out to him. "Thank you, Rakdos. With your help, we'll beat Bolas. I promise you that."

Once Rakdos' head was level with the stage, he looked at her and said: "Your success means little to me." Before she or anyone could respond, Rakdos disappeared, swallowed up by the darkness below, leaving behind nothing but the faint stink of sulfur.

As a relative calm fell over the expansive cavern, Kaya felt her body slowly begin to unwind. She had not realized just how tense her muscles had been in Rakdos' presence, but now they gratefully unspooled. Breathing a weighty sigh, she looked around to the others. Lavinia, Tomik, and Teyo were all gathering around her, looks of relief playing on their faces. Davriel had moved to meet Hekara by the puddle of Rakdos' blood. He used his quill to sign his own name at the bottom of the magical contract, then offered it to Hekara. She took it with a beaming smile, stooped to drag it through the blood, and signed.

"I gotta say, new guy," said Hekara, "I like your style. Anyone who can get ol' Rakdos to agree to anything is good in my books." As she handed back the quill, she lingered on Davriel's hand, sensually dragging her nails across his ashen skin. "Though I'm sure I could still show ya a thing or two about the guild. And maybe you can show me a thing or two too, once this is all done."

Davriel snatched his hand away and quickly pulled it beneath his cloak. "Perhaps," he sneered, "though I quite doubt there's anything left of the Rakdos to interest me. I got what I came for."

Hekara opened her mouth, an entendre-laden retort ready on her lips, but Kaya quickly spoke up as she walked over to join them. "Yeah, we really couldn't have done it without you, Davriel. I don't mind telling you that you've been a pain in my ass since we headed out, but you proved your worth."

"My worth never needed proving."

"Uh huh. You just keep that contract on hand in case we ne-"

Kaya was soundly interrupted as she stepped within Hekara's range. The returned witch leapt at her and pulled her into a tight embrace. Kaya was too tired to reciprocate it in full, and despite the numerous spikes she could feel digging into her chest, a smile found its way to her lips.

"Alright, Hekara, I missed you too, but I think- I think I'm good."

Kaya patted her on the back, and Hekara took the signal to release her. "Sorry, sorry! I just still can't believe you went through all that trouble for little old me."

"It's the least we could do. Besides, it looks like it turned out for the better in the end."

"You're telling me! Did you see that trick I pulled?" She gestured over her shoulder with her thumb to Exava's dismembered body, which still lay scattered across the stage.

"Yeah," Kaya grimaces, "yeah, I saw it. Sorry you were put on the spot to fight like that, especially after you just came back."

"Pssh, that was my pleasure. Trust me, Exava was a worse pain in my neck that Lavinia's knife, and certainly for a lot longer." She laughed uproariously, even going so far to slap a hand to her knee. Kaya just shook her head.

Once Hekara composed herself, she leaned to look over Kaya's shoulder. "Speaking of which… Lavinia! Glad to see that sour puss of yours. And your face hasn't changed much either."

Lavinia took a second to clear her throat. Kaya saw that, though she maintained her contemptuous demeanor, there was a hint of remorse visible behind her eyes.

"Hekara, I wanted to apologize. Though it was not by my own mind, it was by my hand and my blade that you died. I'm sorry."

The witch waved dismissively at her. "You're always so serious all the time. Lighten up! If I were in your position back then, I would've done the same. Hell, I had half a mind to kill ya before Bolas even showed up. Guess that's egg on my face, huh?"

Another laugh from Hekara, though Lavinia only deepened her reticent scowl. From there, Hekara turned her attention to Tomik.

"Ah, flyboy! Thanks for taking such good care of my body for me while I wasn't using it. I know I ain't exactly your taste, but I hope you got up to some fun with it while you could. Just as long as it wasn't anything I wouldn't do." She exaggeratedly leaned in and dropped to a whisper. "And there isn't anything I wouldn't do."

She winked, and Tomik's cheeks turned beet red at the implication. "No, no, no, Miss Hekara. I can assure you I did nothing of the sort. Mistress Kaya sent the order to collect your body, so I rushed it over here with no delay."

"Kinda figured, you're wound tighter than the rack ropes down here. If we survive this, you gotta come to a show so you can have some real fun."

"I'll be sure to do that," he deferred, "once this is all done."

Hekara nodded, then set her sights past everyone else to Teyo. "Oh my gosh, Ral! You look a lot shorter, younger, and tanner than I remember. Not to mention your fashion sense has gone to shit."

A panic-stricken look filled Teyo's face. He waved his hands frantically before his face, as if trying to blow away Hekara's words.

"Oh no, no, you- you've got it all wrong," he stuttered. "I'm not Mister Zarek. My name's Teyo Verada, and I'm… I'm…"

"Easy, kid. Relax. I know you ain't him. Just having a bit of fun is all. Teyo, was it? I can see how you fit in with this crew, seeing as none of ya know how to have any fun." She pressed her thumbs into her cheeks, dragging the corners of her mouth up to further amplify her manic grin. "I can tell you ain't from around here, but if you've been sticking with Kaya and Lavinia and Ral and Tomik, then you must be a pretty tough little bastard."

"Yeah," said Kaya, "he definitely is."

"I knew it. I'm a great judge of character. Like this one time, I was looking for audience participation, and as soon as I saw thi-"

Suddenly, Hekara found her words cut off. Not just her words, but all the sounds from all the tunnels were pushed to the wayside by an ethereal hum. Following its source, Kaya turned to Lavinia, who was now inexplicably surrounded by a halo of gold. Beams of bright light shot from her eyes and mouth, causing Kaya to squint. She brought an arm up to protect her eyes, but by the time she did, the light disappeared, returning everything as if it had not happened.

Hekara cocked her head back and forth, her bells jingling in confusion. "Um, what the fuck was that? You all saw that too, right?"

"Yeah, I saw that," said Kaya. "Lavinia, are you okay?"

Lavinia stared at her hands, slowly closing and opening her fingers, awestruck. "Yes, I'm fine. That just now… that was the Guildpact transferring to me."

Kaya balked. "Are you sure?"

"I am. For an instant, I saw Azor. He did not say anything, but I felt it. The Azorius' piece of the Guildpact is now mine. Which means that Dovin Baan is dead."

"I guess that makes you the new guildmaster of the Azorius."

"Yes, I suppose it does."

"Man," Hekara pouted, "now I'm the only one of us who isn't a guildmaster. That's no fair, just being a representative. I'll have to talk to Rakdos and see if there's some kinda deal to work out…"

"For now, though," Kaya interjected, "that means our allies are winning. If Dovin is dead, then the Sun shouldn't be too far behind. Since we have three of the guild representatives among us, we should focus on getting back for the Guildpact ritual." She took a few steps towards the stairs leading off the stage, then turned back to her gathered allies. "Come on, everyone. We can't keep wasting our time down here. We have a plane to save."