Robert B. Wintermute
Zendikar: In the Teeth of Akoum
A shaft of sunlight broke through the clouds overhead and sparkled on the white sand made of crystals ground to grains. The beach extended to a sheer cliff. Nissa s heart sank as her eyes followed the cliff up. It was a league high if it was an arm s length, rising in one uninterrupted sweep so high that Nissa could see clouds moving at the top. Crystals protruded at irregular intervals from the cliff s sheer face.
Anowon brushed past her to evaluate the cliff, suddenly the guide on the continent she had never visited. The creatures that have adapted to live here are as hard and as spiny as this land, the vampire said. And tougher by far.
We cannot scale this cliff, Nissa said, suddenly understanding the kraken s malicious smile before it submerged.
Anowon looked up from the cliff s base.
For one, Nissa continued. We lack rope enough for even one ascent. Second, none of my pegs will penetrate that crystal.
Anowon turned as though he had not heard Nissa. He walked back to the shore, pushing through the goblins that drew back from him as he passed. Even Smara stopped mumbling to watch what he was doing. When Anowon reached the shoreline he began to dig. He soon unearthed the badly rotted wooden mast of a ship.
I saw another ship broken and scattered in the shallows there, Anowon said, pointing just off shore to a massive crystal as thick as their whole ship. And now this one.
The vampire looked up from the hole he d dug and peered at the top of the cliff, where clouds skittered by. I wonder
Nissa waited for Anowon to explain what he was thinking. He walked a bit up the shore and began to dig again. Sure enough, he uncovered a broken piece of hull.
This place is a graveyard for water vessels, Anowon said.
Nissa waited, but the vampire said nothing more. A moment later he knelt and closed his eyes. He stayed in the position for long enough that Nissa thought he might have fallen asleep, but then she saw his fingers moving like spiders over one of the metal cylinders dangling from his belt.
Ghet, Sorin said. Oh, Ghet.
Anowon opened one of his eyes and curled his lip at Sorin.
Sorin chuckled. You were only just about to explain your hypothesis to us.
We cannot scale that cliff, Anowon said.
The elf said that already.
Anowon opened both of his eyes with a sigh. If ships ruin here commonly, then there must be something taking advantage of it. On Akoum nothing is wasted.
The waves broke on the beach. The wind blew hard across Nissa s ear. So we wait? Nissa said.
Yes, Sorin said. For imminent attack.
They waited the rest of the day and into the night. Brightness, Nissa learned, was never much of an issue on Akoum, where the ever-present crystals magnified even the dimmest light.
So it was easy for Nissa to see almost as clearly as day when figures slowly rappelled down the side of the cliff later that night. They rappelled in a way she had never seen before face forward with their harness at their belly, belaying the rope that way. The figures were short and lightly armed. When ten were on the sand, they branched out and drew small knives.
Nissa waited to give the signal until the men were almost on top of them. Then she whistled, and they jumped up, Nissa with her stem sword drawn and limp next to her. Anowon s eyes glowed pale in the starlight and Sorin s silhouette, as black and as deep as velvet, drew in the surrounding light.
The beach combers looked from Nissa to Sorin to Anowon to Smara and to the two goblins, then to Sorin s parasite sword, which seemed to pulse darker than the night around it. They were clearly weighing their chances. The combers had obviously been counting on surprising them, and with that gone, they wondered if they had the numbers to carry the fight. The decision was made when the lead scavenger dropped his dagger. The others soon followed.
Stop, one said, stepping forward and holding his hand with the palm facing out. We are not your enemy. We have come to help.
That is a relief, Sorin said. Because I thought you wanted to cut our throats in our sleep and then plunder whatever goods we might have.
We saw your ship from above, the head man said. He was a human, without a doubt.
Anowon threw down a tooth, which began to glow. The combers were a mixed group some goblins, some humans, two world-gift kor even an elf a Tajuru-splinter by how he wore his quiver with a dire look in his eye. Nissa put her stem sword back into the staff and stepped forward. Come, she said to the combers, gesturing next to the tooth. Sit here.
When they were seated under the eyes of Anowon and Sorin, Nissa went around and collected the knives. Each knife was different, clearly salvaged. One of them was even made of flint. She took the knives to the water and threw them in.
Those took a long time to collect, the head man said.
They will still be there when you return for them later, Nissa said.
Are we your prisoners now? the human asked.
No, Sorin said. You are now our guides. At least until we get to the top of that cliff. At that point we will decide if you have been helpful. If you have not, we will let our vampire drain your veins. I must say, you do look tasty.
The human looked at the sand between his feet and did not speak again.
As soon as the sun broke on the eastern horizon, they rose, stiff with cold, and proceeded to the cliff.
How long will this take? Sorin said.
All day, the human replied. In the sunlight Nissa could see that he was a short man with every inch of exposed skin covered with puckered white scars. A scraggly beard clung to his chin, as did remnants of armor to his wiry body.
He began strapping his harness to one of the ropes they had descended the night before. Nissa took the rope in her hand, feeling its odd, firm texture.
What is this made of? she asked.
Dulam beast hide, the man replied, taking out a coil of thick rope and deftly looping it to his harness and then to the rope. The crystal has trouble cutting it, he said before pulling himself up, catching each foot in one of the loops he had tied to the harness. He pulled so the loop cinched around each foot, raised one of them, and stepped up. The rope caught and raised him up one step. He repeated the action with his other foot, and soon he was ascending the rope as though it was a ladder.
Stop, Sorin said. Wait there. We would not want you getting up to the top and alerting whatever associates you have up there to our presence.
Three of the combers stayed on the beach while Nissa, Sorin, Anowon, and Smara ascended. The combers strapped them in and tied their foot loop tethers. Smara s goblins, both of them, looked at one another and simply climbed Smara s rope without harness or tether.
Nissa looked down at the beach after she had been climbing for a couple of hours. The three remaining combers were sanding at the base of the cliff, eyeing the ship tipped on its side.
Soon Nissa was too high to look down; the clouds obscured her view, and the wind blew so hard that it caused the rope to bow and snap against the crystals. But the rope did not break, unlike the sleeve of her jerkin, which sliced easily when she grazed a crystal halfway up the cliff.
The crystals were everywhere as they climbed. Sorin managed to cut his hand, and the blood fell in rivulets, only to be blown away in the wind. When the comber climbing near her saw Sorin s blood blowing away he made a certain whistle and pointed to Sorin. The head man stopped and looked down.
You must bind your gash, the man said. Certain animals can smell blood on the wind. He closed his mouth and turned back to climbing. Nissa noticed that all of the combers doubled their pace. Nissa doubled hers also, and soon they were above the misty fog and in the bright sun. The ocean below was a blurry outline.