The Sparks of War
- Thread starter Hiver
- Start date
Hestia&theCourt
Turns out we're plural too.
- Location
- In transition
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Ah, right. Fair enough.
37
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.
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.
- Location
- Oblivion
Shouldn't those have exploded when Bolas was desparked? 😟
Hestia&theCourt
Turns out we're plural too.
- Location
- In transition
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Well, since you pointed out to me that Liliana has a soul stone, perhaps she's maintaining them in Bolas's absence?
- Location
- Seattle, Washington
She didn't die in canon either though. The eternals still existing could just be a mistake on Hiver's part.
According to the book which I read for this, they just stopped moving, not went poof.
- Location
- Seattle, Washington
Ok, I haven't read the book so I wouldn't know
It's not that great to be honest.
Hestia&theCourt
Turns out we're plural too.
- Location
- In transition
- Pronouns
- She/Her
38
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.
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.
- Location
- MI
No barrel rolls, but she is fine with aileron rolls? How brave.
- Location
- Oblivion
Surprised Gideon didn't stop her, or did they run off together? 🚢
Also Bolas shouldn't have been killed by that... Wonder why they are lying to Arty... 🤔
What's this? He finally realizes how much thousand year old Planeswalkers outclass him?
Hestia&theCourt
Turns out we're plural too.
- Location
- In transition
- Pronouns
- She/Her
If I remember the story correctly, everybody did think Bolas was dead. Ugin trapping him in the Spirit Realm or whatever the fuck it's called didn't seem like something the Gatewatch and associates had any idea was happening.
Avalon Aurora
Eldritch Horror
- Location
- Unspecified Quantum Location
In canon, Ugin snuck in and made Jace make a big illusion that made everyone think Bolas was killed and disintegrated, and swore him to secrecy, because he knew Bolas had revival methods waiting, so it was better to trap him permanently than kill him, then dragged him off to the Meditation Realm, which apparantly was originally Ugin's, and mystically removed Bolas' name from him as part of the trap to prevent his followers from being able to summon him if they figured out he wasn't actually dead, trapped him in a magic circle thing, then set himself to guarding him for eternity. So Bolas was thought disintegrated and dead, made nameless, and imprisoned mystically on a poorly known plane Ugin has mastery over.
It looked like Jace somehow eventually convinced all the locals and planeswalkers somehow, or that any who weren't fooled by the illusion got a secret telepathic talking to by Ugin and saw his reasoning.
Jace, of course, feels all the guilt for lying to everyone, regardless of this likely being the best way to deal with Bolas.
The next two stories are now finished(yes, I said two).
You guys get to vote on which one you want to read after this one is done.
Broken Bow is the story of a ship lost during the Berserker Wars that now had her AI salvaged. It is the continuation of the Not Quite Shodan series of AI starships in Star Trek.
Breaking the Links is the story of trying to recover from the Sith apprenticeship the main character escaped from. It is the continuation of the Chains series.
The one not picked will be the one following the next one.
You guys get to vote on which one you want to read after this one is done.
Broken Bow is the story of a ship lost during the Berserker Wars that now had her AI salvaged. It is the continuation of the Not Quite Shodan series of AI starships in Star Trek.
Breaking the Links is the story of trying to recover from the Sith apprenticeship the main character escaped from. It is the continuation of the Chains series.
The one not picked will be the one following the next one.
Last edited:
And of course it's (The?) Two that I didn't take a liking to and thus don't read....
39
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.
"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.
40
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.
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.
- Location
- Oblivion
His basics really are so bad...
41
I looked over the city below, relaxing on a stone ledge as I watched people move around below, cleaning up debris from the damage to the building.
I left my head half hang across the edge, giving me a good field of view. The sun was setting in the distance. The plan was to leave tomorrow, and Alexis had more or less ordered me to get something to eat and then rest up.
What is it with women ordering me around, I'm not even sleeping with this one.
Not that she was wrong, really, but still.
Amazing though, after sleeping for days, I still felt tired. Walking that often really was extraordinarily tiring… and that's not even taking everything after into account.
A pegasus flew past across the square. I followed it with my eyes, raising my head. Wonder what pegasi taste like?
Horse or chicken?
Eh, somebody likely owned it. Besides, after what a dragon did to this city, I don't think grabbing a pegasus and eating it on somebody's roof would be very appreciated.
I put my head back down with a snort. I'll find something to eat wherever we land next.
I heard an opening door behind me, and I turned my head to look back to see Gideon Jura walking outside into diminishing sunlight.
He looked at me for a second before walking over to me, "I hope I'm not disturbing you, Atregos," he said, stopping a couple of meters away.
I raised my head to look at him, "You are not."
Juras sighed softly and then nodded, "I came to apologize and to thank you."
I blinked at him, "What for?"
"First I would like to apologize for not coming to your assistance when you asked us," he said and shook his head, "I was wrong to vote against it. Chandra and… Lilliana told me about what had happened, what you were up against. That portal… with time it might have even been multiversal."
"Why didn't you?"
Juras frowned, "I have… experience with dragons. I didn't trust you."
I snorted at him, "If you only had had a mind reader."
"Indeed," he admitted, "And I thought you were exaggerating. I was wrong and I apologize. You deserved our assistance and most of us failed you, failed what we had already taken oaths to do."
I regarded him for a long moment, shifting to turn fully towards him and letting my tail hang over the open space behind me before I moved closer and bumped my snout against his shoulder, "You are forgiven."
He reached up and patted the side of my muzzle with one hand, "Thank you," he said before he nodded, "And I would like to thank you. You distracted Bolas at the perfect time for my attack."
"I heard your attack failed," I said and pulled my head back to look at him, "I'm not sure we made a difference at all.".
Juras smiled slightly and nodded, "It did," he agreed, "Not sure if you heard the details, but the sword had been a Bolas plot years in the making. The one weapon he was completely sure could not hurt him anymore, of course he would make sure that he got attacked with exactly that. We're lucky Lilliana turned on him."
I regarded him for a long moment, "That seems like a good plan," I admitted, "If it worked. What if you had used a different weapon or if somebody had changed the sword, improved it?"
"A problem with all plans," Juras agreed with a nod, "Things sometimes fail. As Bolas just experienced."
"If you're looking for a new weapon," I said, "I'm sure we'll be able to make some sort of trade."
He grinned briefly and nodded, "You know what? I might take you up on that at some point. I heard from your friend that you're leaving tomorrow."
I nodded, "We are. There is little more we can do here at the moment."
Juras smiled and nodded, "Understandable," he agreed and raised one hand. I shifted and bumped my snout against it.
"One more thing," He then said, dropping his hand and crossing his arms, "...The way Lilliana returned to life from the bind Bolas had on her. You taught her that."
"I did," I agreed, "As a thanks for when she helped save my world."
He nodded and frowned, "Could she have taught it to Bolas?"
I considered that for a long moment before I shifted my wings and shook my head, "No. Well, yes, but I do not think she did. If she used it to get out of her deal with him, then it was her ace in the hole. She would not have shown him how to do it. And if she had, he would have popped right back out again after he went down. Nobody found a little purple sphere, did they?"
"Not to my knowledge, no."
"Then no," I said and nodded, "I doubt she taught him how to do it. There are limits to it, the sphere can't be more than some twenty meters away, and you will reform next to it. It's not something that can be relied on for this kind of thing."
Juras slowly nodded in agreement, "Thank you, that makes sense."
"Your sword," I finally asked, "Did anything survive?"
He frowned and then shook his head, "It shattered into little fragments. I don't know if any of it would be useful to you at all, but they should be on the side of the Ziggurat still. Be careful if you look at it, that sword… it was evil. It wanted to be fed. I don't know if anything like that remains in the shards."
I looked towards the large ziggurat before I turned away again.
Fuck it, I just can't be bothered dealing with evil sword shards right now.
I left my head half hang across the edge, giving me a good field of view. The sun was setting in the distance. The plan was to leave tomorrow, and Alexis had more or less ordered me to get something to eat and then rest up.
What is it with women ordering me around, I'm not even sleeping with this one.
Not that she was wrong, really, but still.
Amazing though, after sleeping for days, I still felt tired. Walking that often really was extraordinarily tiring… and that's not even taking everything after into account.
A pegasus flew past across the square. I followed it with my eyes, raising my head. Wonder what pegasi taste like?
Horse or chicken?
Eh, somebody likely owned it. Besides, after what a dragon did to this city, I don't think grabbing a pegasus and eating it on somebody's roof would be very appreciated.
I put my head back down with a snort. I'll find something to eat wherever we land next.
I heard an opening door behind me, and I turned my head to look back to see Gideon Jura walking outside into diminishing sunlight.
He looked at me for a second before walking over to me, "I hope I'm not disturbing you, Atregos," he said, stopping a couple of meters away.
I raised my head to look at him, "You are not."
Juras sighed softly and then nodded, "I came to apologize and to thank you."
I blinked at him, "What for?"
"First I would like to apologize for not coming to your assistance when you asked us," he said and shook his head, "I was wrong to vote against it. Chandra and… Lilliana told me about what had happened, what you were up against. That portal… with time it might have even been multiversal."
"Why didn't you?"
Juras frowned, "I have… experience with dragons. I didn't trust you."
I snorted at him, "If you only had had a mind reader."
"Indeed," he admitted, "And I thought you were exaggerating. I was wrong and I apologize. You deserved our assistance and most of us failed you, failed what we had already taken oaths to do."
I regarded him for a long moment, shifting to turn fully towards him and letting my tail hang over the open space behind me before I moved closer and bumped my snout against his shoulder, "You are forgiven."
He reached up and patted the side of my muzzle with one hand, "Thank you," he said before he nodded, "And I would like to thank you. You distracted Bolas at the perfect time for my attack."
"I heard your attack failed," I said and pulled my head back to look at him, "I'm not sure we made a difference at all.".
Juras smiled slightly and nodded, "It did," he agreed, "Not sure if you heard the details, but the sword had been a Bolas plot years in the making. The one weapon he was completely sure could not hurt him anymore, of course he would make sure that he got attacked with exactly that. We're lucky Lilliana turned on him."
I regarded him for a long moment, "That seems like a good plan," I admitted, "If it worked. What if you had used a different weapon or if somebody had changed the sword, improved it?"
"A problem with all plans," Juras agreed with a nod, "Things sometimes fail. As Bolas just experienced."
"If you're looking for a new weapon," I said, "I'm sure we'll be able to make some sort of trade."
He grinned briefly and nodded, "You know what? I might take you up on that at some point. I heard from your friend that you're leaving tomorrow."
I nodded, "We are. There is little more we can do here at the moment."
Juras smiled and nodded, "Understandable," he agreed and raised one hand. I shifted and bumped my snout against it.
"One more thing," He then said, dropping his hand and crossing his arms, "...The way Lilliana returned to life from the bind Bolas had on her. You taught her that."
"I did," I agreed, "As a thanks for when she helped save my world."
He nodded and frowned, "Could she have taught it to Bolas?"
I considered that for a long moment before I shifted my wings and shook my head, "No. Well, yes, but I do not think she did. If she used it to get out of her deal with him, then it was her ace in the hole. She would not have shown him how to do it. And if she had, he would have popped right back out again after he went down. Nobody found a little purple sphere, did they?"
"Not to my knowledge, no."
"Then no," I said and nodded, "I doubt she taught him how to do it. There are limits to it, the sphere can't be more than some twenty meters away, and you will reform next to it. It's not something that can be relied on for this kind of thing."
Juras slowly nodded in agreement, "Thank you, that makes sense."
"Your sword," I finally asked, "Did anything survive?"
He frowned and then shook his head, "It shattered into little fragments. I don't know if any of it would be useful to you at all, but they should be on the side of the Ziggurat still. Be careful if you look at it, that sword… it was evil. It wanted to be fed. I don't know if anything like that remains in the shards."
I looked towards the large ziggurat before I turned away again.
Fuck it, I just can't be bothered dealing with evil sword shards right now.
- Location
- Oblivion
Here he suggests someone might have been able to improve the sword.
Here he assumes it's impossible for anyone to have improved the soul stone spell.
Never change Arty... Never change...
- Location
- Seattle, Washington
To be fair, the sort of improvements that would be easiest to do (increasing how far away the stone could be, or making it so you can choose not to reform immediately) wouldn't really affect things for three reasons:Here he suggests someone might have been able to improve the sword.
Here he assumes it's impossible for anyone to have improved the soul stone spell.
Never change Arty... Never change...
1. The soul stones don't work against attacks that target the soul, which is exactly what the Elderspell does (since Sparks are connected to the soul), and Bolas was hit by one of the God-Eternals using the Elderspell on him.
2. Even if Bolas had respawned further away, people probably would have seen him. He's pretty big. And he wouldn't have been able to Walk out of the plane due to the Immortal Sun.
3. Bolas wasn't killed by the Elderspell anyway, what happened was Jace used an illusion to hide the fact that Ugin took Bolas to seal him away so any contingencies Bolas had for his death wouldn't trigger. If Jace and Ugin hadn't been able to find Bolas and trap him, they probably would have alerted everyone that Bolas could still be alive.
Also, Atregos is an artificer, of course he focuses on what is related to his specialty.
it may be possible to modify the Soulstone spell, but Vess' specialty is necromancy and the undead, not spell research. And as Atregos said, it's very unlikely Vess would have told Bolas about it if she was keeping it as a last ditch escape route from his kill-spell. That would just give him the opprotunity to close her potential (she wasn't sure it would work, which was why she held off using it for so long) escape route.
42
Alexis' ritual to Walk was usually to run until she got lost. Which wasn't the most practical way of doing it, but luckily she had found a workaround that worked for her.
"Really?" I asked and crossed my arms.
"Yes," Alexis said, "That's how we have to do it."
"...That's just undignified."
"People that eat live food aren't allowed to complain about that, and if they do, they can Walk on their own," Alexis said with a grin, "Come on, Lizard, let's get going."
Being the adult here, I stuck my tongue out at her before holding my hands out for her.
She took them and then nodded, "Ready?"
"Ready," I agreed, and sighed before we started to spin in a circle. Alexis leaned back and I held on tight as we spun arouńd, closing her eyes.
I'm so glad the other Planeswalkers couldn't see us right now.
We moved faster, spinning around in a circle and light started to… bend around it weaving together and then got fuzzer and more diffuse until our surroundings blurred together into a mass of colours and lights and suddenly we were in the howling uncreation of the Blind Eternities.
Alexis' floating golden whining form moved next to me towards and away from one of the infinitely tiny little spots that were too large to even fit in a single universe.
Reaching out to touch it, reality exploded around us and we stumbled out onto a new world. Wind howling, around us, whipping snow and ice through the air.
I raised one arm against the wind and looked around. I felt… fine. Walking was always tiring, even a short little hop like this, but I didn't feel like laying down for a nap, which was nice.
I could get used for this.
A sound drifted through the howling wind and I looked over to a cursing Alexis as she struggled up from a snowdrift. I grinned and walked over to pull her back onto her feet, "Dizzy?"
"Shut up and get a shield or something up! I'm freezing to death!"
"It's not that cold," I protested but did as she said, "It's what… thirty below freezing?"
The glare Alexis shot me should have warmed the general area up nicely on i's own, and she scrambled through her bag, pulling out winter clothing and putting them over her usual ones, following it with a thick hat and a heavy, thick cloak.
As she got busy getting warm, I looked around. We were in a forest deep with snow, and while the weather sky was clear, the sun was setting in the distance and the wind was howling through the pine trees.
Pine trees. Why do all Planes have pine trees?
Alexis wrapped herself tightly in her thick cloak and shuddered, "Well, we're on the way home for sure," she sighed and looked around, "...Fuck. It'll be a day or two until I can Walk us again safely. We need to find shelter or I'll be an icicle way before then."
"Nah, we'll be fine," I said, "I still carry a cold weather tent in my main bag from when Sheila needed it. And a bunch of heating spheres."
"Ah," Alexis said and nodded, "You mean in the bags that were destroyed when Bolas smashed us from the skies? Those bags?"
"...Those bags," I admitted with a small sigh, "...Damn, you're right. Okay, if we find some stones I can make new heat spheres fairly easily."
"I'm still going to need shelter, even if you can keep that shield up for two days and keep the wind away, I'm not geared for arctic conditions!" Alexis said and shuddered beneath her cloak as she looked around, "Fuck it's cold."
I frowned and looked around. She was right about that, with it thirty below freezing and with this windchill she's actually at serious risk of getting frostbite in hours if not minutes.
The shield helped against the wind but it did nothing to keep the heat in. Besides, it wasn't made to be kept running for days at a time.
"There," i finally said and pointed towards a snow covered cliff, "Do you have a tent?"
Alexis nodded, "Y-yeah. Had a wizard one once, but it didn't react well to being put in something that was bigger on the inside," she said and crossed her arms, putting her hands in her armpits, "I have a normal thick tent. Not an arctic one, though."
I nodded, "Okay, well, it won't hold in this kind of wind. But we'll do this," I said, and removed my vambrace, handing it over to her, "Hold this to keep out of the wind and get over to those cliffs. I'm going to go get some good wooden poles. We'll string the fabric up using those and stones around the face of the cliff and put some heating stones inside. I'll turn back to my real form outside and act as a windbreak. Sounds like a plan?"
"S-sure."
And so we did. It didn't quite go as planned, the wind just tore the fabric away until we tied the entire thing to something more solid, which meant piling up a ton of stones along the edges and slamming thick poles of wood into the frozen ground. Neither of us really knew anything about arctic survival, I didn't need it and Alexis had never run into it like this before.
"This Plane sucks, " Alexis rumbled, sitting with her legs crossed with her hands over a softly glowing stone about the size of her head.
"Eh, it has potential," I said as I looked at her, "I'm going to take a flight tomorrow and see what I can see. It can't be like this all the time or the trees wouldn't be able to grow, and they are still alive."
I was technically still outside the tent, just having my head poking in, weighing the fabric down with a paw on each side to keep the wind from ripping it up.
"Well, I don't care how nice it is in the summer, it sucks now," Alexis groaned, and pulled her cloak a bit tighter around herself.
"I did put some warming enchantments on your clothes."
"...And they help, thank you," She admitted, and reached over to give my nose a quick pat before putting her hands above the warming rock again, "But it's still too cold for humans."
Well, I found it comfortable.
At least while the sun was up.
When the sun set and darkness descended, it actually got a bit chilly outside the tent.
"Really?" I asked and crossed my arms.
"Yes," Alexis said, "That's how we have to do it."
"...That's just undignified."
"People that eat live food aren't allowed to complain about that, and if they do, they can Walk on their own," Alexis said with a grin, "Come on, Lizard, let's get going."
Being the adult here, I stuck my tongue out at her before holding my hands out for her.
She took them and then nodded, "Ready?"
"Ready," I agreed, and sighed before we started to spin in a circle. Alexis leaned back and I held on tight as we spun arouńd, closing her eyes.
I'm so glad the other Planeswalkers couldn't see us right now.
We moved faster, spinning around in a circle and light started to… bend around it weaving together and then got fuzzer and more diffuse until our surroundings blurred together into a mass of colours and lights and suddenly we were in the howling uncreation of the Blind Eternities.
Alexis' floating golden whining form moved next to me towards and away from one of the infinitely tiny little spots that were too large to even fit in a single universe.
Reaching out to touch it, reality exploded around us and we stumbled out onto a new world. Wind howling, around us, whipping snow and ice through the air.
I raised one arm against the wind and looked around. I felt… fine. Walking was always tiring, even a short little hop like this, but I didn't feel like laying down for a nap, which was nice.
I could get used for this.
A sound drifted through the howling wind and I looked over to a cursing Alexis as she struggled up from a snowdrift. I grinned and walked over to pull her back onto her feet, "Dizzy?"
"Shut up and get a shield or something up! I'm freezing to death!"
"It's not that cold," I protested but did as she said, "It's what… thirty below freezing?"
The glare Alexis shot me should have warmed the general area up nicely on i's own, and she scrambled through her bag, pulling out winter clothing and putting them over her usual ones, following it with a thick hat and a heavy, thick cloak.
As she got busy getting warm, I looked around. We were in a forest deep with snow, and while the weather sky was clear, the sun was setting in the distance and the wind was howling through the pine trees.
Pine trees. Why do all Planes have pine trees?
Alexis wrapped herself tightly in her thick cloak and shuddered, "Well, we're on the way home for sure," she sighed and looked around, "...Fuck. It'll be a day or two until I can Walk us again safely. We need to find shelter or I'll be an icicle way before then."
"Nah, we'll be fine," I said, "I still carry a cold weather tent in my main bag from when Sheila needed it. And a bunch of heating spheres."
"Ah," Alexis said and nodded, "You mean in the bags that were destroyed when Bolas smashed us from the skies? Those bags?"
"...Those bags," I admitted with a small sigh, "...Damn, you're right. Okay, if we find some stones I can make new heat spheres fairly easily."
"I'm still going to need shelter, even if you can keep that shield up for two days and keep the wind away, I'm not geared for arctic conditions!" Alexis said and shuddered beneath her cloak as she looked around, "Fuck it's cold."
I frowned and looked around. She was right about that, with it thirty below freezing and with this windchill she's actually at serious risk of getting frostbite in hours if not minutes.
The shield helped against the wind but it did nothing to keep the heat in. Besides, it wasn't made to be kept running for days at a time.
"There," i finally said and pointed towards a snow covered cliff, "Do you have a tent?"
Alexis nodded, "Y-yeah. Had a wizard one once, but it didn't react well to being put in something that was bigger on the inside," she said and crossed her arms, putting her hands in her armpits, "I have a normal thick tent. Not an arctic one, though."
I nodded, "Okay, well, it won't hold in this kind of wind. But we'll do this," I said, and removed my vambrace, handing it over to her, "Hold this to keep out of the wind and get over to those cliffs. I'm going to go get some good wooden poles. We'll string the fabric up using those and stones around the face of the cliff and put some heating stones inside. I'll turn back to my real form outside and act as a windbreak. Sounds like a plan?"
"S-sure."
And so we did. It didn't quite go as planned, the wind just tore the fabric away until we tied the entire thing to something more solid, which meant piling up a ton of stones along the edges and slamming thick poles of wood into the frozen ground. Neither of us really knew anything about arctic survival, I didn't need it and Alexis had never run into it like this before.
"This Plane sucks, " Alexis rumbled, sitting with her legs crossed with her hands over a softly glowing stone about the size of her head.
"Eh, it has potential," I said as I looked at her, "I'm going to take a flight tomorrow and see what I can see. It can't be like this all the time or the trees wouldn't be able to grow, and they are still alive."
I was technically still outside the tent, just having my head poking in, weighing the fabric down with a paw on each side to keep the wind from ripping it up.
"Well, I don't care how nice it is in the summer, it sucks now," Alexis groaned, and pulled her cloak a bit tighter around herself.
"I did put some warming enchantments on your clothes."
"...And they help, thank you," She admitted, and reached over to give my nose a quick pat before putting her hands above the warming rock again, "But it's still too cold for humans."
Well, I found it comfortable.
At least while the sun was up.
When the sun set and darkness descended, it actually got a bit chilly outside the tent.