She stood up and stamped her feet. Then she took a couple of steps and heard a particular sound over the breeze. It sounded like a gargling gag combined with a sort of growl. The sound raised the hairs on the back of her arms. She saw a form in the shadows hunched over another form. She heard slurping.
As quietly as she could she turned and padded back to the circle. Her stomach, as empty as it was, fluttered, and for a moment she thought she might be sick. It was not the sound that had caused her such nausea, it was the smell. Blood had its own sweet smell, and arterial blood was the sweetest of all. She knelt on the ground and wrapped her cloak around herself and, surprisingly, she slept.
When she woke, the sun was just rising in the gray sky. She could see her breath in the cold air. The tooth s glow was gone. As Nissa suspected, one of Smara s goblins was gone as well. She looked again. Two of the goblins were gone. Anowon was staring at her from across the circle with his knees drawn up to his chin. Sorin was asleep next to him with his long head laid sideways on his own knees.
Nissa knew a vampire had to feed. She understood the natural order of that, mostly. Still, to see the feeding happening Nissa glanced at the sleeping Smara and then back to Anowon. Who is she? Nissa said.
Anowon lifted his head. I do not know.
What is that crystal she has?
He looked at the kor. It has power, he said.
Can you feel it?
Nissa nodded. She had felt its power the first time Smara and the goblins had rounded the corner in the canyon. But many objects radiated raw energy on Zendikar it was not uncommon. Even the seed pods of the turntimber trees could make a goblin s pathway stone twist and jerk, which was why outsiders had such trouble navigating the turntimber forest.
But Smara s crystal radiated a different kind of energy. There was something about the crystal and the way the kor coveted it that Nissa did not like. As she watched, its surface seemed to ripple and swell darkly in the early morning light.
I have been listening, Anowon said, shifting his eyes from the disturbing crystal to Nissa. To her. When she thinks she is alone.
Nissa leaned in to hear what he would say next. Anowon s eyes were as large as saucers as he spoke.
It is a strange mix she speaks to that crystal.
Of what? Is it what Sorin said? Nissa said.
Yes and no. Sometimes it is kor. Sometimes Eldrazi or vampire.
Yes?
The vampire hesitated before speaking again. Sometimes it is other languages that I have never heard spoken on Zendikar.
Nissa looked at him.
And I believe I have heard or seen written every tongue, he said, looking again at Smara sleeping in the middle of the goblins. It is good we have forgotten some tongues. Certain cultures should never have been.
Like vampire cultures, Nissa thought. But instead she said,
Well, maybe the Eldrazi had different languages. They did build amazing structures for a long time.
On the backs of my people, Anowon hissed.
Lubricated with our blood. His lips pulled back suddenly into a fierce snarl.
Nissa found her hand reaching for her staff. By the time she had it up, Anowon had a faint smile on his lips. You Joraga, he said, making a flourish with his hand. Always ready.
Nissa lowered her staff, slightly.
Anyway, Anowon said. I have been listening to the kor, as I said. She talks to the crystal. She talks, and he put his hand to his ear, imitating himself listening I think it replies.
What?
Do you know what a witch vessel is?
Nissa shook her head.
It is a being who is possessed by a ghost, Anowon said.
A ghost, Nissa said, looking at Smara asleep on her back. As Nissa watched, the kor s eyes snapped opened and she spoke a word.
Blood, Anowon translated. She said the word blood in middle Vampire.
Suddenly, Nissa could feel her own blood beating at her temples. The kor closed her eyes again, and Nissa turned to Anowon. Are you saying she is possessed by an Eldrazi ghost? Nissa asked. If you are then we should put her in the earth.
For the good of Zendikar?
The brood must be stopped. Otherwise they will do what they did at MossCrack. They must be put back in their crypt in the Teeth of Akoum.
Oh, I agree they must be stopped, Anowon said.
They must be stopped by casting them off Zendikar.
Nissa felt her pulse skip What do you mean? she said. Is he going to talk about other planes? she wondered. How can he know about planeswalking?
The vampire looked up at the sky. From my reading, I know they are not from this place, he said. Which means they must have come from somewhere else, and they should go back to that place. I have read accounts of beings that claimed to have traveled from other places they said, not on Zendikar. There have been writings.
And you believe them?
Anowon shrugged.
Sorin stirred. After a moment he lifted his head and regarded them through slit eyes. What are you discussing? he asked, pushing his white hair out of his eyes.
What indeed? Anowon replied. What indeed.
Robert B. Wintermute
Zendikar: In the Teeth of Akoum
The day progressed. Nissa knew they were in the mountains proper when she felt the ground under her feet shake. Most of the mountain tops in the range had had their tops sheared off and put back by with some magical process that allowed the tops to rise and fall, which they did without pattern. Every time the mountain crashed down upon itself, the rock dust and pebbles were rearranged, hiding the path further. It made keeping to the trail almost impossible.
They walked on, following the creases in the mountain upward until they were at the very top of the crest. The cap was up when they arrived, leaving a space between it and the mountain just large enough for any of them to pass through. Nissa bent down. The seam of light on the other side was not too far away, no further than a bow could shoot its arrow.
We could skirt this, Sorin said, looking uneasily at the seam of light on the other side. And not risk it.
Nissa had already consulted the map. It is a low mountain, but very long, she said as she looked over her shoulder. Going around would mean two extra days of travel at least. And they would surely fall on us in the meantime.
Why are you whispering? Sorin said.
Nissa did not know she had been whispering. But all day as they walked she d been thinking of the huge knuckle prints in the mud in the foothills. Where would such a large creature hide? she thought. No rocks were large enough to hide behind.
Whatever had separated the top from the base of the mountain had not done it cleanly. Both the top and bottom lips of rock had long jags hanging down. The effect was that the gap appeared to have fangs and a dark maw. She peered deeper.
I see metal hooks and swords smashed flat, she said, her voice echoing in the darkness.
They all knew what that meant, and nobody said anything until Sorin spoke. Well, if we leave our steel out here it will not be crushed flat, he said.
Nissa turned and looked blankly at him. We wait until it falls again and rises, and then we run through.
The goblins looked at each other.
Nissa waited, but not even Sorin had anything to say. So they waited all the rest of the day. Night fell, and they kept waiting. They spent the night huddled against rocks waiting for the mountaintop to fall. As the sun rose, Nissa was already at the cut, peering in.