Perhaps the brood have gods as well.
Are they real? Nissa said.
Anowon s brow dropped in confusion. What a question.
But he said nothing more, and the wind howled around the stone.
Sorin sniffed.
Nissa glanced over her shoulder into the darkness where she knew the plains stretched thousands of feet below. When she turned back, Anowon was looking across the glowing light at Sorin.
Are they evil? The brood? she asked.
Sorin spoke quickly, which surprised her. They are consumers. Neither good nor evil. They eat.
And why do they put things in those holes?
He shook his head. I am sure I have no idea, he replied. But I do know they devour pure mana. Their methods must have something to do with that.
Nissa nodded. It seemed the wind was blowing harder.
The goblins tightened their circle around Smara, who had been mostly quiet that day. As Nissa looked, the kor rocked back and forth with her crystal held against her small bosom. Her lips were moving, but no sound came out. Nissa watched her rock back and forth, and soon her own eyelids started drooping.
When Nissa opened her eyes, the tooth s glow had dimmed greatly, but she could still see the bare shadows of the others asleep. The wind had lessened a bit, but a deep cold had swept in on the breeze, and Nissa s teeth knocked together as she sat with her knees drawn up to her chest. She chuckled to herself. Imagine perishing up here of cold after traveling through such danger, she thought. But Nissa knew the cold on the mountain was not severe enough to kill her, as long as she stayed out of the wind. The Piston Mountains were a very long but very thin range, and not the tallest mountains on Zendikar those were on Akoum. According to the map, they would crest and be on the other side of the mountains by the morrow. But that realization did not help the fact that for the moment, she was cold.
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.