The Sparks of War

[Hiver]

"Oh god, god no why!?" Alexis protested and pushed my snout away after I gave her a big lick straight across her face.

"Because you lived," I said and sat down, shifting my wings slightly.

She ran her hand down her face and then gave me a disgusted look, before she sighed and reached to scratch by my nosehorn, "I'm glad to see you too, Gecko. Everything go okay on your side of things?"

I nodded, "All went more or less according to plan," I said, "My part of it was fairly simple. You?"

Alexis shook her head and lowered her hand before brushing some stray hairs away from her face which instantly fell back. She frowned and then started redoing her braid, "Well, Vess is still alive," she started, "I'm not sure what happened, I couldn't see it very well but I think Bolas might have saved her from the attacks. The portal closed, but the Eternals are all streaming into the place from across the District.Beleren called the retreat before we could get surrounded."

"...Good call it sounds like," I admitted and sighed as I settled down fully on the stone of the square, "We're going back in then?"

"Think so," Alexis agreed and tied her braid off with a piece of leather, "I know they are having some sort of meeting about it now."

"We could just leave, you know," I said softly, "I think some already have."

"They have," Alexis agreed and smiled sadly at me, "And both of us know we can't."

I growled at her, "...We don't owe these people anything. We have already helped where we could."

Alexis didn't say anything, just raised an eyebrow at me until I sighed and nodded,

"I know, I know," I admitted, "It's not who either of us are."

She nodded and rested her hand on my snout as she sighed, "Yeah," she agreed, "but we'll get this done and then go home."

"Home?"

"...Home," Alexis admitted, "Not sure when that big monstrosity of a structure you lizards call a tower became home, but I guess it has been for a bit at least. At least for now."

"You're planning on staying then?"

Alexis frowned, "I... I don't know," she admitted, "I think I'd prefer a little more civilization if you know what I mean. But until I do, I'll stick around if you guys will have me."

"You are a friend of all the Flights, Lexi," I said and bumped my head against her hand, "Stay as long as you like. At least Wrathion will be happy."

She smiled slightly and shook her head before she tapped her hand on my nose, "Now turn back and we'll head inside. I want to hear what's going on and I'm not going anywhere near That Fucker without you watching my back."

Fair enough. I nodded and got up before turning to mortal form with a cloud of spellsmoke, "Did you spot him during the assault?"

Alexis crossed her arms with a frown, "No. I stayed away from the area he was moving to," she admitted, "Whether it was because I might kill him if, or to keep him from attacking me, I'm not sure."

"How did the blaster work?" I asked as we moved towards the entrance of the building.

"Fairly well," she admitted and pulled it to look at it, "Haven't even run out charges yet. Did you improve the capacitor last time you looked at it?"

"Yep," I agreed, "Should have sixty or so full power blasts without reload and recharge is faster."

She nodded and then looked at me, "So... why do you carry six of them?"

"Because you only carry one," I explained, "I put in more expansive energy storage and turned the power down. Will still hurt most things. But mine are full power, giving me maybe half as many shots on each and at the expense of recharge rate. More power, but it means that just carrying one won't work."

Alexis frowned and holstered her magiblaster again, "...You know, you could just make them reloadable."

"And carry around unprotected and fully charged mana storage crystals?" I asked with a grin, "I can think of less painful ways to die."

"Wait, is this thing explosive!?"

"Eh, kinda? Half of it is to contain the powersource and keep it protected," I said and shrugged, "magic or not, the power has to come from somewhere."

Alexis pinched the bridge of her nose, "You could have told me."

"I thought you would realize that on your own. I mean, power is power, it's never safe to handle. Especially when it's made to fire bolts of magic that can blast a fist sized hole through somebody."

"Damn it, Atreus, not all of us are-"

I tuned her out as we walked into the main room again and I spotted somebody across the room and through the crowd. I recognized her. I knew her.

Tall. Long dark flowing hair, dark tattoos down her temples and cheeks, and wearing a flowing white dress. With pointy ears.

Elf bitch.

I pulled my weapon and started to channel my mana.







AN// Posted early because early morning tomorrow.

 

[Hiver]

Alexis stepped forward and into my way, grabbing my hand and pushing it down as she looked up at me, "What the fuck!?" she hissed.

I growled, "It's her!"

"Her?"

"The elf bitch."

Alexis glanced over her shoulder before she turned back to me, "And what did you say to me?"

I closed my eyes for a moment before I sighed and slid my dagger back into its sheath, "This is not the time."

"It's not," Alexis said, and glanced around the room before she looked to me again, "Are we good?"

"...We're good," I said, and glanced towards the elf before I flexed my hand and looked at Alexis, "But no promises if she spots me. Sakila is absolutely one hundred percent nuts."

Alexis nodded, "We'll deal with that if that happens. Either of them."

"Just be ready," I said and then followed her to the opposite side of the room from the crazies. Like this wasn't dangerous enough as it was, now the god-princess of all crazies were here too.

Who knew why she was still here, maybe she wanted to eat Bolas or something.

Or she wanted to kill everybody here for knowing that she existed. With her, who the fuck knew.

Then again, there was crazy, and then there was crazy enough to attack somebody while in the same room as this many Planeswalkers. I'm fairly sure that if she tried anything in here, somebody like Ajani would slap her down so hard that her ancestors would feel it.

Which is another good reason not to start anything here. Ajani might be friendly, and I was a close friend of his apprentice, but if I started a fight here, he's put me down too.

I had no illusion about being able to take the catman in a fight, nor did I want to fight him.

And that was just Ajani. Plenty of people in the room that could put an end to that fight and I doubt some would be as gentle about it.

Crossing my arms, I leaned back against the white marble wall.

I still didn't like it, however, fighting with her here would be like… like fighting with another enemy with a dagger to your back. Or with a venomous snake down your trousers.

It wouldn't go well for anybody involved and likely be quite painful.

"Watch my back, okay?" Alexis said, looking up at me, "I'm going to go talk to Master Goldmane."

"Want me to come with?"

"No, just keep an eye out," she said and then smiled slightly, "No starting fights."

"Yes mother."

She grinned briefly and then headed towards where the large catman was towering over the group. I looked after her and then looked around, seeking out the guy that tried to kill her, only to find him approaching me from across the room.

"Careful with that one," he said as he got close, stopping a meter or so away. He was wearing armour, almost a set of full plate without a helmet, a circle of silver around his head instead holding his hair back. A book hung on a chain by his waist and his hand was resting on the back of the locked book.

"Oh?" I asked him without moving.

"She put her nose where it doesn't belong and is more stubborn than is good for her."

Well, I couldn't exactly argue with that character assessment.

"My apologies," he then said and gave a tiny bow, "I am Tusa Geraka. May I inquire as to your name, sir?"

"I am Atregos," I said as I studied him, "I am aware of what happened when you met. I have nothing to say to you but to advise you to stay away from both of us."

"Ah, that," he said and drummed his fingers on the back of the book, "An unfortunate event. I had simply been hired to do a job. Nothing more."

"As I heard it, you burned an entire town and slaughtered the inhabitants."

He shrugged, "That was hardly the plan to begin with. But I had orders to put down any resistance, hard, and make an example of those that did. The King that hired me gave me strict orders to that effect. It was nothing personal. I could have killed your woman, but when she ran, there was no longer any need for hostilities."

"And if you keep your distance, there won't be again," I told him, "And if I ever see you somewhere away from this kind of truce, I will eat you."

That actually seemed to disturb him slightly, "I… see," he answered and then nodded, "very well. I was going to offer to pay a wergild for the injuries your woman sustained to normalize relationships, but I suspect that it would not be received well."

I growled at him, "You suspect correctly. Now, leave us, mortal."

"Very well."

He turned away and I then frowned at his back before I spoke up again, "Wait."

Tusa Geraka paused and looked back at me silently.

"You're a mercenary," I said as I regarded him, "What payment do you take?"

He turned back to me again, "Depends on the client. Usually gold."

I slowly nodded, "I see. And you are free now?" I asked and at his nod, I continued, "In which case… I have a contract for you."

That got a reaction from him, "All that and you wish to hire me?"

"Yes," I said and bared my teeth slightly at him, "I hate your guts. But I don't need to like you to hire you. Simple assassination job, minimal casualties. Interested?"

He was silent for several long seconds before he nodded, "Details? Payment?"

"Your choice in method, minimal third party casualties is a requirement. As for payment… five pounds of gold or a pair of these," I said and pulled a pair of my blasters, holding them so he could see them clearly, "Auto recharging magical blasters. Can put a hole through a man at thirty meters no problem."

"And the target?"

I slowly grinned at him.

 

[Hiver]

Alexis gaped at me as we walked through the hallway, "What the fuck is wrong with you!?"

"Nothing is wro-"

"Bullshit! I can't beli-"

I pushed a door open to a side office and finding it empty, I grabbed Alexis by the arm and pulled her inside, closing the door behind me before I set up a sound silencing field around the room, "Could we perhaps not let the entire Multiverse know about it?"

Alexis took a deep breath before she looked at me again. She was absolutely one hundred percent pissed.

"Explain."

I nodded and walked over to the desk, sitting on the edge as I crossed my arms, "Solving two problems with one stone. If he kills the elf bitch and survives, I pay him and then we try for him later. If both die, even better. If the elf bitch kills him, then we can take her afterwards. Worst case, they both survive and we have to fight them, which we would have needed to anyway."

Shaking her head, Alexis walked over to me, "He can't be trusted. He's a monster."

"He is a monster," I agreed, "And he can't be trusted. But he is a greedy monster that I just dangled rewards in front of for something he might consider an easy job."

"This is going to blow up in our faces, I just know it," Alexis said as she stopped before me, "What if they team up?"

"Ah," I said and nodded, "You never met the Elf Bitch. She's a hundred percent natural order, everybody that can be a threat to me must die, level of loco. I'm a bit surprised she hasn't attempted to kill everything in sight yet, but I suppose even she would have some level of self preservation."

Alexis was quiet for a long moment before she shook her head, "I don't like it, Atregos. I don't like it even a little bit."

"I know," I admitted, "And if there had been time, I would have asked you first, but an opportunity presented itself. I had to give it a shot."

She frowned downwards for a moment before she moved around and jumped up to sit next to me on the desk, "I just... the idea that he's walking free after what he did..."

"Not for much longer."

Alexis looked at me, "Why?"

"Because as payment for the job, he will receive a pair of my blasters," I said and then held my hand up, "And before you ask, no, I am not planning on rigging them to blow. I made a deal with him, so assuming he does the job he gets paid."

"Why is that a good thing?" She asked, "Giving that monster more weapons."

I grinned slightly, "Because I made them. And everything I make I can track down. I have all intentions of honoring our deal, it's just good business. The day after however? Hmm, now that's a different story altogether."

Alexis stared at me for a long moment before she spoke up, "You..." she said, "Are a big, devious, gecko."

"Thank you," I agreed with a nod, "I don't like the idea of him walking around freely either, but right now there is little we can do about it so we might as well make use of it."

She nodded, "I guess you're righ- wait!"

"Yeah?"

Alexis looked down at her sword, "Does that mean you can track my sword?"

"My sword you mean. And the gauntlet and the necklace. How do you think we found you after you arrived on the Plane when you were hurt?" I asked, "I tracked the necklace, but it could just as easily have been the sword if you had still had it."

Alexis crossed her arms, "That's getting a bit stalkerish, lizard, I'd think the necklace tracker is plenty," she said, not sounding very impressed.

I rolled my eyes, "Miss Castle," I said, "It is for your safety, nothing else. Besides, you have a tendency to lose my swords."

"I do not!"

"The first sword?"

Alexis made a sound of protest, "That... That wasn't my fault! I was kidnapped by vampires!"

"And the second?"

"...Lost in a time trap."

"Third?"

"Okay, okay!"

"Forth?"

"I said okay!" Alexis exclaimed before she sighed, "I get your point. So..."

"So," I said, "once everything is done, as soon as we are on the same Plane as him, we can track him down. Assuming he carries them at least. We'll get him."

She nodded and then glanced at me, "...Thanks."

"You'd do the same for me," I said and then pushed away from the desk, "So... you joining me in the sky for this or you're going with the ground forces again?"

"Air," Alexis said and jumped off the desk, "Beleren said they wanted anyone that could fly or have a flying mount in the air. Speaking of blasters?"

I nodded and pulled a pair from my armour and handed them over, Alexis stuck them in her belt, "Thanks. I think I'll need them if I'm to join you in the air again. But I still think I'll be more useful there than on the ground."

"And it has nothing to do with the fact that it'll bring you close enough to ogle Gideon?" I asked with a small smile.

Alexis stuck her tongue out at me and then headed for the door, "Don't be mean, I know my type."

"Ah, yes. Muscled pretty boys. How original of you."

"Quiet lizard, what do you know anyhow?!"

"I have three wives, I must be doing something right," I pointed out as I let the silence bubble collapse as we reached the door.

We kept the banter up as we walked. But it was all distraction to deflect from the calm before the storm that this was.

Soon the dying would start again.

 

[Hiver]

Returning to my real form, I stretched as my armour deployed across my body, but I left my head free for now. All around people were getting ready. People with pegasi, people with different flying mounts, even a few that were getting thopters ready to fly like motorcycles. Everybody gave me a wide berth which was perfectly alright with me.

"Would you look at that," Alexis commented as she stepped up next to my head to point.

I turned my head to look as a massive floating fortress moved through the air towards the light shining into the dark sky in the distance. It wasn't fast, but it'd be there in time for the assault. Those colours and emblems...

"That's the Boros Legion fortress Beleren mentioned," I said and folded my wings as I looked towards it, "Wonder what makes it fly?"

"I'm sure if you ask nicely you can get a tour," Alexis said and stroked the bridge of my snout behind my nosehorn, "How's your mana?"

"Almost full," I said, "And I have tuned my armour a bit to optimise against what we have encountered so far... and I have a couple of more tricks I haven't shown them yet. You?"

"I'm good," Alexis said and looked towards the floating fortress before she lowered her voice so nobody else could hear, "Atregos... there is a good chance..."

"I know," I answered just as quietly, "But we're not dying here."

Alexis nodded, "I know. But... you know..."

"I'd tell your father," I said quietly.

"I'd talk to your Consorts," Alexis agreed and then shook her head, "But you're right, that's not happening here. We're going to go there and kick that overgrown geckos tail in."

Both of us shuddered as a feeling flashed through us. Like a heavy blanket settling across the core of our souls. Chandra had reactivated the Immortal Sun. No Planeswalking out of here... for us or for Bolas.

Alexis smiled slightly, "A bit moot now, no going back."

"Indeed," I agreed softly and bumped my nose tip against her shoulder. She hugged my head for a second before she let go and rolled her shoulders and reached to do an extra knot on the small leather strap keeping her braid closed before she rolled it up and pinned it in place.

"You could at least use a helmet," I said softly.

Alexis hesitated and then she nodded, "...I guess you're right," she admitted, "I'll check with the quartermaster, I think I saw somebody like that over with the Azorius troops. I'll be back in a minute."

"Don't have to fit perfectly, just get something and I'll adjust it," I said. She waved to show that she heard me.

The sound of metal against stone drew my attention and I turned my head to look at the metal golem walking past. I had seen it a couple of times during the meeting. Was in an actual metal creature or some sort of enchanted armour? Had to be.

I wonder if I could ask for a look afterwards, I didn't see any joints in the armour so it was fairly advanced. But Alexis was right, now was seriously not the time to get into enchanting theorizing.

Instead I summoned Witcher, Rogue and Paladin, giving each summon a set of illusionary armour to cover them over their normal set. Weightless, massless and as hard than adamantium... as long as magic didn't target them, then it just dissolved away into nothing. But better than nothing.

I shifted a wing and at my mental command they moved to join the ground troops.

Seriously, I need more flying summons. Maybe a couple of the Angels I had seen would agree? Maybe I could bribe them with something shiny, girls like shiny things.

"Couldn't I have one of those?" Alexis asked as she returned, carrying a helmet and a piece of chainmail.

"Sure, unless you don't mind it going pop when targeted by magic," I said and turned to look at her as I settled down on the ground, "They don't handle that well. Did you get the equipment?"

Alexis nodded and held the full faced helmet and a chainmail up, "They are a bit big, but not a problem?"

"Not a problem," I confirmed, "Just put them on and come here."

She nodded struggled as she put on the chainmail, it hung almost to the ground, then she picked up the helmet and put it on as well.

"...Not a word," she said and walked up to me, "They only had it in 'men, large'.

"Not saying anything," I chuckled, "Now, T-pose and stand still, or something might get pinched."

Alexis quickly spread her arms and didn't move.

Moving up, I started to channel some mana into the metal, half closing my eyes I focused on shifting the metal around her, weaving enchantment into and through it. The chainmail shifted and melted into plates of armour across her body, thin but flexible like scales, magically strengthened and enchanted to enhance her strength and dexterity. The metal shifted across her, down and around her legs, covering her from neck down over her clothes. The helmet shifted too from a full face helmet with the Azorius sigil to one that covered her nose but left most of her face free. Too much cover there would distract her as she wasn't used to it. I couldn't help adding a bit of a draconic design to that one too, giving it small sweeping scales as well as a pair of slight horn bumps on the sides.

Finally I stepped back to look her over, "There, better," I said with a nod as I shifted my wings, "It's only steel, not the best material, but I put what I could into it."

Alexis looked herself over, "...Let me guess, dragon motif."

"Well, you didn't want the traditional style so I compromised."

"...Thanks," she said dryly and took off the helmet to look at it before she frowned, "It fits well," she admitted and tried a couple of movements, "And not as heavy as I thought it would be. How do I take it off?"

I blinked at her before moving closer again, "...I'm just going to make a couple of small adjustments now that I see you moving in it, hold still please."

Alexis laughed and kept still, "You forgot to add that, didn't you?"

"No!"

Maybe.

"Everybody get ready!" Gideon yelled as he rode around the gathering spot on his pegasus, "We move in five minutes!"

I stepped back from Alexis and twitched my head, making my armour deploy across my head as well, "Ready?" I asked the human.

Alexis nodded and walked around to pull herself up into my saddle, "Ready," she confirmed as the saddle automatically strapped her into place, "Let's go."

 

[Hiver]

I climbed higher into the air, scanning the horizon as I reached the top of the pack of flyers approaching the ziggurat in the distance. I could see them from here, Eternals. Grounded and flying. We had waited for long enough for the ground forces to get into position before we took to the sky and started our approach.

Apparently the Eternals could see our Sparks, so illusions wouldn't be very useful, at least my kind. Jace apparently could pull it off, but the mindmage was just bullshit in general.

I looked towards the fliers below. But not all of them are Planeswalkers, not even a lot.

Reaching a decision, I started casting spells, starting with summoning a pair of Proto-drakes. Alexis quickly followed suit with summoning her angel as I started on my second spell and I dug into my mana, channeling it and casting a wide area Blur spell on everybody here. That many people and it wouldn't last long, but it would last long enough to get close enough for it not to matter. It would at least hide our numbers.

On the other hand... every Planeswalker here just became even more of a target. Not ideal, but we already were the targets, so hiding the rest could be more valuable.

"Atregos, is it me or does there seem to be more of them?" Alexis called over the sound of the wind.

"No idea, you were in the main fight before. But they have been consolidating their forces," I answered as I scanned the swarm of angels and other beings, including two that looked like dragons, in the sky above the ziggurat. Swarm of angels? Flock? What do you call a group of angels again?

Well, in this case murder seems to be the right one in any case.

"Here they come!" somebody shouted down and to my left, and I activated my manalasers. Freshly tuned and adjusted, all three started to fire. Bolts of blue mana shot through the air and struck their targets, and then the two groups clashed and people screamed as spells, weapons and claws ripped and tore across the sky.

I twisted and turned, avoiding a lunging angel and its spear strike only to grab a blue and gold roc by the wings and rip it in half. Alexis was once more wielding her sword in one hand and firing with her blaster with her other at anything that came too close. My manalasers kept blasting away, blue blasts stitching across the dark sky as I twisted and turned. One of my proto-drakes collided with a larger-than-average roc and they went down towards the city below, scratching and biting.

Everybody was fighting and people were dying. We were over the ground forces by now and spells and weapon fire flashed across the darkened streets below. Flashes of summons, the screams of wounded or dying.

Sparks arcing through the air.

"Atry!" Alexis yelled loudly and I twisted at the warning, meeting the diving blue pegasi and its rider with the armored front of my wing instead of allowing its spear to hit me in the chest. I felt the impact, but the mount and its rider shattered in fragments at the collision, raining down towards the city below.

"Atry?" I asked as I leveled out for a second, "What the fuck?"

"You called me Lexi," Alexis said and carefully aimed before blasting a roc from the skies with her blaster, "And I needed something short."

"I don't-" I started and then beat my wings hard, twisting around to snag an angel by his wings as he tried to take the head of a pegasus rider. Before he was able to grapple me instead, I ripped his wings off like he was an insect, "-like it."

"Well, too bad," Alexis said and started to channel her mana, glowing white with red flowing into her for a second, then she put her hands against my back, letting the spell flow into me through my armour. Suddenly it was like somebody had turned on slow motion. Everything slowed down by at least three quarters but I moved at regular speed.

Oh this would be fun.

I grabbed an angel and threw it at a pegasi before I twisted around, beat my wings twice and landed on the back of a blue and golden drake-like wyvern as two of them dove towards a trio of thopter riders below. Grabbing its wings, I broke them with loud snaps and then I twisted around in a kind of throw to smash the undead Eternal into the equally undead drake that was flying next to it.

Time seemed to speed up again and I spread my wings and beat them hard as I pulled up from the dive.

"Was that fucking dragon judo!?" Alexis yelled over the airstream as I pulled up, climbing back up through the air.

"Kinda," I admitted, "Ren tau-" I started before I let loose a blast with my breath towards another pegasi and its rider, both of the Eternals freezing solid and falling towards the ground, "-taught me. Not often I need something like that though."

"Can you do it again?"

I scanned for targets as my manalasers kept firing. Admittedly even in this kind of furball they missed more than they hit, but they had likely downed dozens already.

"I should," I agreed, "Can you enhance me like that again?" I asked before I looked towards the Ziggurat and Bolas on his throne. He wasn't even looking in our direction.

Maybe...

"Alexis," I said, "You know the plan, right? We could possibly do a rather big distraction when he goes for the big guy. You in?"

I felt her shift as she looked forward towards the would-be god-emperor of the entire fucking multi-verse. Considering what he had done so far and how unconcerned he seemed to be with us being here... I wasn't convinced he wasn't as powerful as he thought he was. If we attacked directly...

"Fuck it," Alexis finally said, "After everything he's done here, after everybody he has killed. I want a piece of him. Do you see Gideon?"

I scanned the sky and easily spotted Mister Muscles towards the west with a squadron of pegasus riders covering him. I did some quick calculations, "About four minutes until contact," I said and shifted course to bring us around to what would turn into a pincer movement, "I'll use what spells I can to get bigger and tougher, put anything you can into it."

"Got it," Alexis agreed and holstered her sword as she started to prepare. I cast an illusion of myself. Two dozen illusions of myself actually flying in close formation. With some hope, it would confuse the Eternals at least a little.

The first angel in our path showed that it didn't work at all so I just let them go as I froze the angel solid. So lucky these things weren't stronger or at least smarter. At least not without Vess directing them directly and I bet she was multitasking like a bitch right now. Likely focusing on the...

Where are the God-Eternals... there. Still moving towards the ground fight. The buildings were slowing them down.

I shifted course to avoid them and put a Blur spell around us again just in case. Maybe it made the Planeswalkerness a bit harder to see at range, I didn't want to risk either of them having a ranged attack. Snakeface hadn't, but who's to say that these two didn't.

"Go!" Alexis yelled and pointed towards the pegasi riders. They were moving faster and towards Bolas as his attention seemed fixed on the approaching floating fortress.

I went. Shifting course, I beat my wings harder and faster as I started to channel my magic. White mana. I felt stronger. Blue mana. Stronger. A second layer of armour covered both of us as illusionary enchantments layered on top of us, layer after layer as I cast enchantment illusion after enchantment illusion over myself. Stronger. Faster. Tougher.

Alexis cast her spells and suddenly I felt like I could do anything. I could take this ugly flat snouted snake! If I had all this when I faced Sargeras, I would not have needed the portal bomb!

My final spell flashed and I put every point of magic I had left into boosting the green mana as I grew larger than any Flightleader, I would have towered over them all and I beat my wings hard before going into a pounce.

Bolas turned in my direction and in my enhanced vision surprise flashed across his face for a split second before he raised one hand.

There was a feeling of movement, pain, and a rushing sound followed by a massive crashing, crumpling sound and screaming.

Then darkness.



AN/// Posted early because early morning tomorrow.

 

[Hiver]

Silent darkness. No dreams. No pain. Just calm darkness.

Peace.

"-ak-"

Almost silent darkness. There was some sort of banging sound far in the distance. Something was... what was that?

"-izar-!"

A voice. I didn't know what it was saying, I didn't want to know. I just wanted to rest. Sleep. It was so rare that I could sleep in, I usually woke up when Sheila got up.

Sheila. Maybe it was Sheila?

"Wak- ou-"

Didn't sound like Sheila. Then I didn't care. I could sleep a little longer. Something somewhere twinged slightly. Was that... pain?

"-ake up! Y-"

That was Alexis. Why was Alexis in my sleeping spot, she didn't belong there. Why did my teeth hurt? I can't feel my wings.

Slow, ever so slowly my brain started to move. Gears slowly started to move as the hamsters got to running, cobwebs slowly falling off and slowly shaking the dust off.

I slowly forced an eye open, my other didn't seem to be responding. Everything seemed blurry and the lenses in my armour seemed to be cracked or shattered. That's odd, that's almost impossible, they were enchanted.

A clang ran through my head as Alexis hit my helmet with something before yelling, "Wake up you stupid dragon! Wake up! Atregos, you have to trigger your soulstone! Use your soulstone! Do you understand me, I can't kill you through your armor! Use your soulstone! Wake up!! I don't know how much time we got!"

Another impact on my helmet, hard enough to rock my head slightly this time. Alexis sounded upset. I didn't like that, she was one of my best friends. Why can't I feel my tail? Or my legs? Any of them?

"Use your soulstone you stupid dragon!" Alexis yelled and clobbered me again, the sound ringing across my helmet "For fuck sake, Atregos! Wake up!"

She wanted me to do something. I tried to ask her but nothing wanted to move right.

Clang!

I triggered my soulstone and suddenly found myself in the calm and silent darkness of my soulstone and everything was clear.

Shit! I had been completely ready and behind the strongest defenses I could possibly prepare and Bolas... shit. He didn't kill me, but it must have been a very close thing if I had been that badly injured.

Triggering the Soulstone, I reformed in fire and smoke and I struggled not to roar as the pain burned through me and I spread my wings for balance and I almost stumbled.

Then I did collapse onto the ground, breathing hard. That... that never got any easier. How my Consorts could do that everytime we traveled...

...They were all a lot tougher than I was. There has to be a better way.

"Atregos!" Alexis exclaimed and dropped down next to me, "You're okay!"

"I... I think so," I said and blinked quickly, looking around the room. We were in what seemed to have been some sort of meeting hall of temple or something. Half the roof had caved in, likely when we hit it and every window in the place seemed to have shattered, "What happened? He hit us with something."

"He smashed us from the sky like it was nothing," Alexis answered and hugged my neck firmly for a second, "I think I lost you for a moment there. Damn it, don't do that to me, I have no idea how I would be able to face Sheila and the others if you..."

I leaned against her touch for a moment before I nodded, "I'm sorry," I said before I looked at her, blinking in surprise, "...What in the world are you wearing?"

She had some sort of blue and white fabric wrapped around herself like a dress, but it didn't look anything like one, "Is that an Azorious flag?" I then asked.

Alexis glanced down at herself and nodded, "I woke up in my soulstone," she said and then motioned towards the other side of me, "And I had to wear something. Your fat ass was laying on my pack!"

I blinked and looked where she pointed. My armour lay on the ground and it looked like I had gone through two pillars on the way down and crushed about half the furniture. The armour was twisted and heavily dented in multiple places. I couldn't see any actual holes, but...

"What the hell did he hit us with?" I asked softly before I glanced at Alexis, "How long has it been?"

She shook her head, "I don't know, maybe five or ten minutes. It took a while to get you to trigger your stone."

Nodding, I slowly got up and carefully moved past her to check on my armour, "Well... that's a week of work wasted, this is all kinds of fucked, at least it mostly did its job," I said and looked across my armour before I blinked and looked up towards the sky, "The sky is dark," I said quietly, "The attack..."

"It failed," Alexis agreed quietly as she walked up next to me, putting her hand against my neck before she swallowed and nodded firmly, "But there isn't time for this. Lift your armor so I can get my stuff. We need to get out of here."

Nodding, I quickly rolled it over, allowing her to pull her things out, looking them over.

"Damn," she said and looked at her sword hilt, "It's crushed," she asked and turned to me, "Can you fix it?"

"Of course," I said and focused my magic to turn to mortal form and take it from her.

"Good, I'll need it," she said and started to unpack a change of clothes before dropping the flag.

She didn't bother being shy about it but I turned my back anyway, knowing it would matter for her later when things weren't as dangerous. I focused on the metal in her sword hilt, shifting and moving it around. I reformed it, shifting the metal around and reforming the enchantments and wiping the broken ones.

"Good things soulstones don't reset your other form," Alexis said as she stepped up next to me after finishing getting dressed in some spare clothes, taking one of my blasters from my armour and sliding it into her belt.

"Mhmm," I agreed and finished the sword before handing it back to her, "Yeah. We should redo our soulstones. How long does it take you?"

"Fifteen minutes or so," Alexis said and frowned up at me, "I don't think we have time for that. We need to move."

I turned to her, "We're taking that time," I told her seriously, "If we hadn't had those, we would be dead now."

Alexis swallowed and then nodded, "Okay," she said and put her sword in her belt, "You're right," she admitted and moved to sink down to sit on one of the remaining benches. She looked exhausted.

I gave her shoulder a squeeze before sinking down to sit next to her and starting to focus on casting my own spell to make a new soulstone. Sheila was way faster than me at this normally, back when she could use the Fel. I timed her at less than a minute.

Me it took a full ten minutes of focused casting; it wasn't an easy spell to do and I closed my eyes in focus.

Black mana almost made me feel odd to use, there was... kind of an oily feeling to it. But it was the only kind I was able to use to make a soulstone.

"Atregos! Look!"

I looked up just in time to see the dark of the sky fade to a smooth natural blue.

 

[Hiver]

Alexis stabbed upwards with her sword, the manablade cutting through the stone and she moved it in a slow circle above me.

She stopped for a moment, "You got it?"

"Just finish."

Alexis nodded and kept cutting, finishing the circle.

I reached up and growled as the plug of stone suddenly broke free, and I slowly lowered the stone down before tossing it to the side with a massive crash.

Alexis stepped forward and peered up through the hole towards the sky before nodding and looking at me as she put her sword away, "Give me a boost?"

Nodding, I let her step into my cupped hands before I pushed her upwards, hard. Alexis grabbed the edge of the hole and pulled herself up before she scooted around and reached down.

Reaching up I grabbed her hand and her eyes flashed white before she hauled me upwards until I could grab the edge and pull myself up.

"God damn it, what do you eat, lizard!?"

"Mostly deer," I said and stood up, looking around. The sky was mostly clear other than the smoke from burning buildings, the sun shining brightly close to the horizon through a few small clouds. Almost sunset.

Had it really only been a single day?

"See anything?" Alexis asked as she stepped up next to me, "your eyes are better than mine."

"No, some arsehole built a tower in the way of the ziggurat. Hold one," I said and started to channel some blue mana into a scrying spell, sending it upwards as I formed a viewing spell before us, bringing the viewpoint up and around to get a view.

Alexis frowned, "I don't see the dragon."

"Neither do I," I said with a frown, "But the Eternals are still there. But they are just… standing around. Did they get Vess?"

"No idea," Alexis said thoughtfully, "But if the spell is down, I think they might have gotten Bolas."

I nodded and then frowned, "Think we can risk flying over there? I should be able to repurpose parts of my armour and craft a saddle easily enough."

Alexis shook her head, "...Better not," she finally said and crossed her arms, "If he's still alive, he would be able to easily blast us from the sky again," she said and then looked at me, "Because the spell could have ended for another reason."

Everybody else is dead.

"Yeah," I agreed, "Good point. Okay, let's get down from here and get some summons up and ready," I said, and jumped back down the hole into the main room of the meeting hall/temple or whatever it was.

Summoning Rogue, Paladin and Witcher, I walked over to my fallen armour. It sucks just to leave it here, but I didn't have time to fix it. Maybe I could return for the materials later at least, but for now…

Kneeling down, I put my hand on the side of the broken armour, destroying the enchantments through the materials. Last thing I needed was some bastard to try to steal my enchantment designs. Once they had broken down, I slowly pulled my hand back, slowly shifting the metal as I did to form a long and thick club. It must have weighed a couple of hundred kilos in total.

Putting a couple of enchantments on it such as increased strength for the wearer and giving it an aura of frost around it, I then turned and summoned my frost troll.

The large creature grunted and looked around before it snorted and moved to pick the big club up at my mental command.

Alexis meanwhile has summoned up a squad of soldiers in plate armour, a pair of pirates, and an angel.

"Ready?" I asked, looking at her.

She nodded, "Ready. Let's go."

With that, we followed the frost troll out through the door onto the streets. The streets were empty outside the hall, nobody in sight, and I pulled a blaster as well as my dagger as we turned left, following the troll with the other summons around us, the angel walking next to Alexis.

"I need more flying summons," I said with a frown.

"They are useful," Alexis said with a smile towards her angel. The angel smiled back and gave a small bow before continuing to walk.

A door ahead opened and a local poked his head out, furtively glancing around before he looked at us, "Is...is it over?"

"We don't know," Alexis told him, "please go back inside."

He quickly retreated inside, closing the door, and I heard several locks clicking behind him.

I cast another scrying spell as we walked, sending the viewpoint ahead and forward, moving along and above the streets, scanning for Eternals or other enemies.

"Anything?" Alexis asked as she glanced at me, carrying her sword in one hand but keeping it turned off for now.

"Nothing," I said, "but honestly, not surprised. All the Eternals seemed to have been pulled back to the Ziggurat. We're closer now though, give me a second," I then sent the scrying spell straight up and forward again.

Being closer, I could get closer and get a better angle, and I recreated the viewing spell to allow her to see as well, "Look at this."

Alexis looked into the illusion, "No dragon. The eternals are just standing there too. Wait, is that…"

"I think that's the ground forces. The silvery one there is Karn I think, that golem is kind of distinct."

"Do you see Ajani?" she asked worriedly.

I studied the view and finally nodded, "There," I said and pointed, "The blue spot next to him might be Beleren too."

"You know what this means, right?" Alexis asked me with a grin.

I nodded and dropped the spells, "We won," I agreed before I grinned, "We won!" before I gathered her into a quick hug.

Alexis laughed and hugged back before letting go with a smile, "Come on. Let's head over there. People might still need our help."

I nodded. She was right. We were alive, but it was a bit too early to celebrate.

 

[Hiver]

We dismissed our summons at the edge of the large square, and I followed Alexis out into the bright sunlight. Wouldn't stay like that for long though, the sun was close to the buildings in the distance.

People were talking, the place was almost filled with the soldiers and Planeswalkers that had been fighting. The general feeling of the place wasn't one of triumph. But it wasn't one of defeat either. We lost a lot of people... but did we win?

Alexis led the way through the groups towards the towering white lion-man that was easily visible across the entire square. Ajani Goldmane does many things well, but blend in is not one of them.

"Master Goldmane!" Alexis called out as we got close.

He turned away from the large golem he had been talking with and he smiled and crossed over to her, "Alexis," he said and put his plate sized hand on her shoulder, "You are safe."

She grinned and stepped closer, pulling her teacher into a tight hug. He chuckled and hugged back, his massive arms almost hiding her from view, "Worried, were you?"

"...Only a little," she admitted and let go to look up at him, "We won? Did we get him?"

"We won. The dragon is defeated," Ajani agreed with a nod, "At a heavy price. but we won," he said before he looked at me, giving me a small nod, "It is good to see that you made it, Atregos."

"You as well, Master Goldmane," I agreed with a smile and a small bow before looking over to the seemingly frozen Eternals, "Vess?"

Ajani snorted softly and then shook his head, "She... left. She turned on Bolas; as best we can figure, he had a hold on her, because when she did, she started to burn from the inside. She burned alive. I thought she was lost, but then she returned to life and the Eternals stole the dragon's Spark. The spell killed him. Before anybody could get close, she left the Plane."

The Soulstone. She had picked the secret of the Soulstones for when she helped save Azeroth. That's how she did it.

But if she could defeat the spell Bolas had on her, why did she wa...

...Ah. She wasn't sure it would work against the hold he had on her. She only tried it when she was desperate.

"Damn," Alexis said quietly, "Anybody going looking?"

Ajani shrugged, "Somebody likely is. We are not. There are plenty of other tasks that need to be done."

I nodded. Somebody needed to take her down for what she did here, but I had more than enough on my plate already without adding bounty hunting a scarily dangerous necromancer to the list. Nope, fuck that.

"So what about those things?" I asked and nodded towards the Eternals, "We're not just going to let them stand around, right?"

"There is somebody from their home Plane that wishes to deal with them according to their rites," Ajani said and sighed softly.

Alexis nodded and looked around, "What can we do for help? There is still smoke in the distance, I saw several fires from when we were up on the roof."

"I can deal with that," I said and rubbed the back of my neck, "It's going to be like another week before I can Walk away, even if the Immortal Sun is turned off at this moment, so I'm sticking around for a bit. I'll fly over the district, my breath is fairly good at handling fires."

She frowned at me, "You're really up for flying around doing that right now? No offense Atregos, but you started the day tired and we'd been through two battles since then."

I hesitated, "...Honestly, I just want to lay down and sleep until it's time to leave," I admitted and crossed my arms, "But i doubt that's going to happen."

"And while the buildings might be a lost cause, the fires might spread," Alexis continued for me, "And most that would regularly fight the fires are here," she said and looked to Ajani.

He simply nodded.

"Okay," Alexis agreed and turned to me, "But I'm coming along, I know some water magic. How quickly can you fix up a saddle?"

I looked at her levely, "Ah yes, I'm tired so the plan is for me to use more magic and then carry you along as well."

Alexis sighed and shook her head, "We both know that you make something like that in your sleep, and I have seen you carry a moose around while flying."

"Fair enough," I admitted, "But I don't have anything to make a saddle from, you'll just have to hang on," I said before I turned to Ajani, "Do you know who here organizes such things normally? Everybody should get moving."

Ajani shook his head, "I'm afraid not, I would assume somebody from the Boros Legion."

"Okay, we're on firefighting duty," Alexis said and looked to me, "You, transform back," she said and then turned to cast her angel summon, "You," she told her, "Find somebody in Boros colors that looks to be in charge, find out anything you can about the firefighting efforts, and then come tell me."

Her angel saluted and took to the air.

I really need to get more flying summons, or at least smart flying summons. I mean, how awesome of a messenger is that?

"Come on," I said and nodded towards the edge of the square, "We should get away from everybody first, last thing I need is for somebody to panic cast spells because 'suddenly, dragon'.

Alexis nodded and looked to Ajani, "We'll be back later."

"Come to the Guildpact building once you return," Ajani said and pointed towards what remained of the headquarters I first met the Gatewatch in, it seemed to have been cut in half by the Planar Bridge, "I will find accommodations for us all for the next few days."

Alexis nodded and then turned to follow me to the edge of the square and I gratefully returned to my real form, stretching my wings wide with a groan before I turned my head to look at her, "You sure about this?"

"Yes, I'm not letting you do this on your own when I can help," she said and rubbed my snout behind my nosehorn, "Besides... did you see either of those two anywhere in that crowd?"

"...No," I admitted, "No I didn't. And I don't like it."

"Neither do I," Alexis admitted and frowned, "Do you think they took each other out? Or got harvested?"

"I'll believe it when I see their dead bodies," I said and snorted, "Neither of us are that lucky. Now climb on, we have fires to put out."

Alexis moved around and frowned before she jumped up and I lowered a wing for her to use as leverage as she climbed onto my back, "This is such a bad idea."

"Eh, you'll be fine. Just hang on to the bone ridges."

"Okay, but if I fall off, you tell my dad," Alexis said and I could feel her feeling for somewhere to dig her fingers in for a hold, "And no barrel rolls!"

Chuckling, I took a couple of running steps and launched us into the air, spreading my wings wide, and climbed upwards. There was something... especially nice to fly like this, without any armour or enchantments assisting or slowing me down. Just me, my wings, and the wind.

I turned and scanned the city below as I circled higher. Smoke rose from the city in hundreds of places, in some spots I could even see flames reaching for the skies.

Alexis patted my back firmly twice and then she pointed and called out, "That one looks the biggest!" over the wind.

I couldn't help but agree so I banked around and headed there first.

The battle might be over, but the work had just begun.

 

[Hiver]

The wind whistled past me as I wobbled through the air, shifting my wings to adjust my angle, beating them twice.

"Uhm, we're coming in a bit fast!" Alexis yelled across the wind.

Grumbling, I beat my wings and fought to stay airborne, starting to drift towards the right, my wings burning from the effort.

The sun was rising far across the city, the light reaching out across the town below as we flashed past above the buildings.

The remains of the Gatewatch headquarters started to come up as I flew past the large ziggurat, drifting further to the left.

I sank lower, resting on my wings as I tried to keep my eyes focused on my landing spot, but it was hard. I was so tired and my mind kept drifting.

Wonder if there is any water? Bit thirsty. Hmm, I wonder if I could have a look at Jura's sword; if they thought it could kill Bolas, it likely was enchanted.

"Wall!!"

Huh!?

I pulled up, beating my wings hard, and my claws just barely cleared the wall to the compound before I sank down again, beating my wings hard as my feet hit the ground.

I gracefully landed, and definitely not did not trip and slide on my stomach for a dozen meters across the stone of the courtyard before coming to a halt on a patch of grass with a jerk.

Alexis squealed as she went tumbling off, sliding along my neck, missing my sharp horns by centimeters at best and fell off by my head, landing hard on her back with a heavy "oof"!

I didn't move, I just stayed there, letting my wings relax down my sides and all the way to the ground, staying where I had fallen.

Neither of us moved for a long time. We just breathed.

Finally Alexis struggled up to sit, scooting over to rest her back against the side of my neck, "You okay?" she asked, sounding as exhausted as I felt.

"Mmm," I answered, "you?"

"Just got the breath knocked out of me," Alexis said and sighed softly, "Should have told me how tired you were."

"'m fine."

"You're not fine and neither am I," Alexis said and struggled up with a groan, "Oh god, I can't feel my ass."

I had so many fun things to say in response, but somehow none of them seemed to materialize and instead my eyes slowly closed on their own and I slipped off to peaceful darkness.

Not even any dreams, just restful sleep for about 0.3 seconds before something pulled at the edge of what little of my consciousness was paying any sort of attention.

What is that?

That smelled like smoke, fat, spices and meat.

Sniff. Sniff.

I forced one eye open to spot Alexis dangling what looked like a grilled sausage just before my nose.

She smiled at me, "Welcome back to the land of the living. Feeling better?"

Something was different about her. It took me several long seconds to get my brain into enough of a gear to figure out what it was. She was clean. And wearing clean clothes. The dirt and ash from the last twenty four hours were missing.

She was still wearing a similar style as before, still leather pants and a blouse, but this time the blouse seemed to be made from thicker white fabric than before.

"...Tired," I admitted and yawned widely.

Alexis bit off one end of the sausage and then tossed the rest on top of my tongue. I blinked a couple of times and then swallowed it whole,

"...Thanks," I admitted and stretched my wings, unable to suppress a sound of pain as every muscle in my body loudly protested moving.

Every single one seemed to write a letter of protest and send it to my brain. They weren't even polite about it.

"How long was I out?" I asked, forcing my wings to fold as I raised my head, looking around as I yawned widely again.

"About thirteen hours," Alexis said and got up, "I woke up five hours ago. I figured you'd gotten enough rest to be cognizant by now."

I blinked blearly at her, "What's wrong?"

Alexis shook her head, "Nothing's wrong," she said and rubbed the tip of my snout, "But I don't like that we haven't heard anything from either of our… problem people, yet. So I want you to go sleep somewhere a bit less in the open. Come on, it's not far, and you don't even need to transform, we're just going inside."

"Mhmmm," I agreed, letting my head drop back down onto the grass, closing my eyes, "Just give me a couple of minutes."

She sighed and got up before walking around and pushing at my side, "Come on, move! We're going!"

I grumbled at her.

"Come on!" Alexis repeated, "Up, lizard! I'm not carrying you, you're like four thousand pounds too heavy for that!"

Growling softly at her, I struggled onto my feet, my joints creaking as I got up and stretched, slowly spreading my wings wide as I yawned again, "You're looking better," I said, turning my head to look at her.

Patting my side firmly, Alexis walked around and scratched just beneath my eye, "Amazing what difference almost eight hours of sleep, a bath and some food makes," she said with a small smile, "Awake now?"

"Still exhausted," I admitted and bumped my snout against her shoulder.

"Not surprised," she said and frowned and scratched behind my nosehorn, hugging my muzzle to her shoulder, "You were exhausted before we even started the firefighting, weren't you? I saw that you were, but I didn't want to say anything. I should have."

"...My fault," I admitted and sighed, "Been since I arrived on this Plane, I Walked here way too soon after the last one."

Alexis nodded with a small frown, "Come on, let's get you beneath some shelter and then you can get some more sleep."

I really liked the sound of that.

 

[Hiver]

I slowly shifted as I drifted back into reality, slowly blinking awake before raising my head to look around. The sun was shining in through a high window of the large meeting room Alexis had moved me to to let me rest.

It was made from nice stone, and while there was furniture, somebody had pushed it to the side by one wall. By the door there was an angel.

Alexis' summon.

She looked over at me when I moved and then gave me a small bow, "Good morning, Master Atregos."

"Alexis had you keep an eye on me?" I asked, and channeled some mana and turned to mortal form.

"Indeed," she agreed with a smile, "I am to take you to her when you awake. Are you feeling better?"

"Much," I admitted and rubbed the back of my neck, "Thank you. Shall we?"

She bowed slightly and motioned for me to follow, before she pushed the door open and led the way through the building.

This part seemed fairly intact actually, but then again it was a large building and made from thick and heavy stone, so large parts likely survived the portal forming.

We hadn't gone far before the angel opened a door and motioned me past, revealing a study or a small library. Still made from stone, but with large bookshelves filled with books and rolled up scrolls, a map of what looked like district ten of Ravnica was on one wall, and the room was lit by candles and a large window in one wall.

Alexis was sitting at one desk, scribbling something on paper with a quill. She looked up when I walked in before she smiled, "Good morning. Finally decided to return to the land of the living?"

"Yeah," I agreed, and moved to sink down on the chair across from her, "...how long was I out?"

"Like two days," she said and put the quill down, leaning back in her chair, "Got a bit worried for a bit there."

I nodded and rubbed my eyebrows, "Sorry."

"You really were running on empty, at the end," Alexis said and frowned, "You should have said something."

"...Sorry, I wasn't exactly thinking straight."

Shaking her head, she got up and walked over to the window to pick up a bottle before returning. She had gotten changed again, now wearing what she had worn when she had been the captain of that privateer ship with the skirt and blouse.

"Don't see you wearing that very often anymore," I said, and took the bottle when she offered it, and took a drink of the cool water.

Alexis rolled her eyes, "Dude, I live in a large stone tower with a bunch of dragons that think 'room temperature' is something that should be below freezing," she said and rounded the desk to drop back down into her chair, "It's always either cold, windy, or both. Not exactly skirt weather."

I shrugged. Fair enough.

"So what have I missed?" I asked, and sipped the water again.

Alexis leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms with a frown, "It's a bit of a mess," she admitted, "A lot of damage was done and the deaths are in the tens of thousand with hundreds of thousands having lost their homes."

"Well, shit."

"Yeah," she said and frowned, "But the guilds are working together to help. The new living Guildpact-"

"Wait, Beleren lost that?"

"Yeah. It's Niv-Mizzet now," she agreed and shrugged, "Apparently they somehow returned him to life to fight Bolas."

Niv-Mizzet, the dragon guild leader of the Izzet League.

I slowly nodded, "Huh."

"Anyway, he got everybody pulling more or less in the same direction," Alexis continued and looked thoughtful, "And the Eternals have been destroyed."

"Anyone we know that didn't make it?" I asked.

Alexis shook her head, "Everybody I know survived," she said and looked at me, "Not sure if you know anyone else."

A girl, way too young to be where she was. Dead in a downed thopter.

I nodded, "A few I met during the fighting," I said as I nodded before I sighed and sipped my water, "Any sign of either of our enemies?"

Alexis shook her head, "No sign," she said and shook her head, "I don't like it. But maybe they both got killed."

"Neither of us is that lucky," I said, and sipped my water yet again, "So what are you up to?"

"Research," she said, and waved towards a stack of papers on the desk, "If you want research on different Planes, where's a better place to look than the library of a bunch of Planeswalkers."

I raised an eyebrow at her.

"I asked for permission," Alexis said in slight protest, "Gideon said it was okay."

"Gideon, huh?"

"You just be quiet, gecko, I know what I like," Alexis said and shot me a small glare before she tapped her stack of papers, "This is a stack of papers with Planes as well as directions on how to get there."

"...There are directions in the Blind Eternities?"

Alexis frowned at me, "Of course there is, how else do you get back to places you've been before?"

I blinked at her, "Never really thought about it," I admitted, "I just know. Might be something to do with my land bonds?"

Alexis stared at me for a second and then shook her head before she blinked, "Oh, that reminds me," she said and reached for her bag and pulled out a small scroll, tossing it over to me, "This is for you."

I unrolled it and checked, "Oh, it's from Saheeli Rai. It's an invitation back to Kaladesh, she has a project she's working on and she wants me on her team."

"Project, huh?"

"Enchanting," I said and rolled the scroll back up and put it into a pocket, "Maybe I'll go check it out once we're back home. Assuming I survive coming back something like two weeks later than planned, that is."

"There is that," Alexis admitted, "I think I may be able to get us back faster though."

"Really? How?"

"Well, the biggest problem with you Walking is that it's so magically draining it exhausts you, right?" Alexis asked.

I nodded, "Yeah, it's the way I walk that does it. But it's not exactly easy for anyone."

"Yeah, but I can do it again after a day or two, not a week," Alexis said, "And while I can't go anywhere near as far on my own as when you Walk and I just tag along, I can do it more often. My way, we're three or four Walks away from Home. So if I Walk and you go along for the ride, we can be back in six to eight days."

"Instead of two weeks for me," I agreed, slowly nodding, "That sounds like a good idea, if it works."

"Thought so too," she agreed, "Besides… without knowing where those two are, I'd rather get out of this Plane."

I couldn't exactly disagree with that.