Zendikar Rises

Chapter 2

The soft sound of light rain filled Nissa's ears. She breathed deeply, filling her nostrils with the smell of home. She sat cross-legged in a small grove of trees she had planted and nurtured.

She could see the towers of Seagate, the last remaining city of people left on Zendikar through the trees. After the Eldrazi fell, she had taken seeds from her homeland and planted them here.

They were the last remnants of Bala Ged. Her home. It had once been the greenest continent in Zendikar. Thanks to the Eldrazi and their ravenous hordes, it was now nothing but dust.

But the memories of Bala Ged lived on in her, and the Joraga people that remained. Nissa remembered the thick and lush jungles of Bala Ged. The endless canopies and deep roots.  She remembered her people.

The quiet mornings spent learning the names of flowers, and the evenings watching the stars. She furrowed her brow. It did little to dwell on matters long gone. What mattered now was what remained of her home plane.

She didn't even flinch when a moss elemental formed in front of her. It's sinews of wavy vines were soon covered by thick bark. It was a creature of the Roil, created to further the will of Zendikar.

The creature chittered with resonant tones to Nissa. She couldn't understand what he said exactly, but she got the gist. The Roil believed a new threat was emerging.

"Show me," Nissa commanded the creature. The stocky elemental reached out a hand and placed it on her forehead. Nissa closed her eyes, enjoying the caress of the leaves that covered his hand.

Instantly in her mind's eye, she was teleported to a far-away continent. She saw a Kor, full of fire and wrath slash an elemental to nothingness.

She couldn't understand what the Roil meant exactly but she could feel its anger. Something about this Kor threatened the Roil itself.

Nissa bristled at the thought. The Roil was a manifestation of Zendikar itself. Who would dare threaten her home?

She telepathically asked the Elemental where this Kor was. In response, the leafy creature showed her a skyclave covered in the ruins of an ancient Kor fortress.

"I will protect you," Nissa promised. The elemental shuddered and lowered its hand. Nissa opened her emerald green eyes, and a fierce determination filled them. Nissa stepped past the elemental and gazed at the sparkling towers of Seagate.

She could hear the waves gently lapping against the rough-cut stone. The bustling of city folk could be heard for miles.To her it was a poor substitute for the canopy-homes of her Joraga people. But she could see the appeal for the regular folk that lived there.

She marched towards the city, determined to find the Adventurer's Guild.

Nahiri felt the sliding saliva down her neck before the Felidar lunged. It was a feline, with powerful paws and a crown of bone on its head. Unlike the common housecat on so many planes however, this beast was around 7-feet long, and it could lunge farther than that.

The aged Kor held up a hand to stop Akiri from moving. Akiri glanced at her quizzically, but a nod of Nahiri's head showed her why. The Felidar was sleeping, in a massive stone tree above them. Its branches curled and curved like regular wood, but it was crafted with delicate hands.

Nahiri smiled as her gaze roved over the tree. Once she had crafted these with her brothers and sisters. Perhaps she could do so again someday.

"What do we do?" Akiri whispered.

Nahiri placed a finger to her lips, and tiptoed out of the stone-cold courtyard. Akiri followed suit, her eyes never leaving the massive feline.

Once they were out of earshot of the beast, Nahiri grinned, despite herself. It was so thrilling to be out of the Helvault where Sorin had trapped her for centuries. To be doing something to solve the crisis left after those monstrous Eldrazi.

"You seem a lot happier than when we first met." Akiri noted dryly.

"I am home." She said simply. Akiri followed her gaze over the crumbling towers and gargantuan statues of Kor.

"Not that I'm not enjoying the creepy ruins filled with Kor-eating monsters but where to next?"

Nahiri shot her a look. Such petulance. She placed her hand on the stone beneath her, and closed her eyes. Her thoughts raced through the stone, quicker than water, and she used them like tentacles to probe sections of the fortress, searching for it.

What IT was, she wasn't sure, but the old scrolls she had dug through for months were clear. There was an ancient Kor machine that could create and destroy. Unfortunately they didn't mention where it was located. Just that the Kor hid it away, thousands of years ago when the Years of Sorrow began.

One of her mind-tendrils felt something. A foreign object, not built with the same Kor strength and lithomancy the Skyclave had been constructed with. This had to be it. She pulled back her mind, her thoughts trickling through the stone as quickly as they had come.

Nahiri opened her eyes to see Akiri tossing one of her hooks over an ancient Kor statue and climbing it. As she watched, the base of the ancient stone began to crack.

"What are you doing?" Nahiri hissed.

Akiri, startled by Nahiri's sudden return to reality, slipped and tumbled to the ground. Nahiri watched Akiri dust herself off.

"A little warning before you go so creepy on me again?" She huffed. Nahiri ignored her.

"This way." Nahiri pointed. In the distance, they could see the crumbling ruins of a keep. "Keep up." She snidely remarked.

Akiri grumbled under her breath but she hustled after the nimble Nahiri.

The bustle of sounds and mercantilism hit Nissa like a foul stench. She physically staggered back as she entered the markets. To have spent so long in solitude, with only conversations if the mind and bubbling brooks, she wondered if her head would explode.

A few merchants gave her a sideways glance, but ignored her soon after. Nissa ducked into a corner, and huddled down. She needed a breather.

"Nissa." The voice was flat but warm. The green-eyed elf looked up to see General Tazri. An old friend and legendary defender of this city.

Tazri extended a hand, and pulled Nissa to her feet.

"What brings you to Seagate?"