Magic: the Gathering - The Tale of Reiri

Renewal: Beginnings

I awoke from my slumber with a start, bolting up, to find that we were in clear water, sparkling in a morning sun. The man named Gild was at the head of the large canoe, rowing along with two others. We seemed to be in clear, open water, not in the bay we were in before.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"Almost Seagate, Reiri. Heh, you were out for a while, sleeping through the night." I looked out, and noticed on the horizon there was what seemed to be a massive white wall, lined by black and red dots. There was Seagate, one of the crowns of the allies, one of the only safe spaces there were against the Eldrazi.

We arrived at the gate, and got off our canoe, welcomed by two guards.

"Escapees? From where?" One of them said. I stepped in, saying the name I had come to know so well:

"Bradburry, sir. It was destroyed by the Eldrazi." He frowned, telling to the other guard: "I'll take care of them. Report that to Jace or another strategist. Another one... Ugh." He nodded, then walked off into the city. "Places here are thinning, but we can arrange a room for each of you, as long as you are ok sleeping in a temporary dorm for now."

   "Alright."  We filed into the gate, accompanied by another guard that took us down, though the streets of Seagate. It was a beautiful city, with winding waterways intertwining through streets of shining cobble. Vendors with colorful  canvases shading them yelled for fish, carpets, anything you could think of. Our group passed a Kor forgery, with hooks, swords, and durable strings of sinew, elastic, and metal positioned for showing in the front. I longed to go there, and marked the place in my mind. It seemed even with imminent doom, many still carved out a cheerful living.

We were led to a long, low, wooden and brick building with low windows looking out over the summit. As we entered, we saw a lobby room with a fireplace casting a cozy light across the room. On the left side of the room, there was a counter with a man sitting, looking bored filing through papers.

"Jared!" The guard said. The man looked up, curious.
"New 'uns?"
"Yes. They'll be staying for a night, maybe two."
"Ah. Welp. Let 'em in. I guess we can hold four or five more, but as you know, I want pay for this, later."
"Sure."

We were led down a hallway that looked similar to a inn, with doors on either sides with various sounds coming from within them. Near the end of the hallway, we found five open doors, each leading into a single room. Each of us were to be placed in one. Jared said that past 9 o clock, his doors were locked and closed. Get here by then, or sleep on the streets. Until then, go explore.

Those sounds were music to my ears. I burst out of the building, looking down at the city from this hill we were on. I checked my pockets - a measly amount of coin - but decided to go back to the forgery anyway. It was a low building, made of wood with cobble bases, and there was a rack of hooks out front, gleaming in the morning sun. A young man was out in the front, displaying items to any passersby, and I could hear hissing sounds from within, blades being tempered and treated. I walked up to the rack, looking at all the varieties- angular, smooth, natural, things fit for cliff aces, jungles, all types of utilities were these hooks made for. I asked how much they were to the marketer.

"Two hundred and thirty, for a smaller one. For an ornate, around five hundred." Ah. Welp. That was a surprise.

I walked back to the inn, to plan for the day. I opened the door, and walked down the hallway, when I saw an open door, and heard a voice, one saying "The book... The book...". I peeked inside, curious of what "the book" was. I saw Gild, reading through scrolls scattered on a desk. He was careless to have the door opened, but this was just strange. He rummaged through scrolls, glancing no longer than a second at each.

    "Gild?" I said. He turned in the blink of a eye,  then turned to the window on the far side of the room, running with several scrolls in his clutches, He jumped through the window, luckily open, and fell to the ground, then sprinted away, to the back wall of  the city. I also jumped, and checked my hook  system. It was twined, so I would have to untie it. I started sprinting towards him while untying my rope, jumping through the window with little trouble.

This is where my years exploring would come in handy- I ran through the back of the city, into the shadowed slums, with dark dealers, crushed buildings, and suspicious tunnels. We climbed over walls, through gates, onto ruin, the ruin of years living under the shadows of the greater city. Through all this, I kept on thinking: Where is he going? How does he know where to go? He seemed to be tiring, but his seeming experience in this route made him stay one step ahead of me. It was unnerving.

Finally, we reached the back wall of Seagate. Positioned between two mountains, the wall was fortified and had no gates. Gild jumped up, grabbing onto several footholds on the wall, but I used my hook, throwing it up, hitching onto the top of the wall, and starting to climb up at an accelerated pace. I was much closer to him at the top, but he was always out of reach, and the wind that we created while running would wash away any attempt of reasoning.

As I got to the top, I looked out- a sheer cliff. Gild was waiting, considered, and then jumped. I got up, gritted my teeth, and hooked a mountain, starting to swing. I sliced through the air as I had done a million times before, and let go, falling to the ground right in front of Gild, hook in hand. He stopped, looking at me with loathing.

"Get out of my way." He said, his voice threatening, a tone I had not heard from him yet.

"What are you doing?" The question only made his face stony, his answer was silence. He reached into his jerkin, pulling out a long, hooked machete, a Kor weapon. This was going to be interesting.