I do not know how to sail this, Nissa said as she looked over her shoulder at the dark.
Can we create wind? Anowon said.
But how do we get the sail up?
Nissa heard running from behind. Sorin and Smara appeared on the dock. The goblins arrived seconds later.
What is this? Sorin said.
A boat, Nissa said. And we do not know how it works.
We have little time, Sorin said. Can we push it or pull it? He looked genuinely harried.
Then Nissa had an idea.
Find rope, she said.
Nissa sat down on the deck and took a deep breath. The plains that stretched around were foreign to her and held little power she could use. But Nissa recounted the route they d taken to get here. In her mind s eye she followed their trail backward, over the grassland, down the trench and up onto the mesa to Turntimber Forest.
Soon the power from the turntimber trees was flowing into her. She collected it in herself until she felt so full of the energy that she could burst. Then she imagined the largest creature in the forest. A creature of the deep forest a ziru behemoth. Ten humans standing head on foot would just reach its burly shoulder, and the Behemoth had plates of horn extending from the tip of its nose all the way over its shoulder in a loose row. The underside of its jaw had plates as well. Its legs were long and muscular, and its feet were splayed and slightly webbed, which was why she summoned it.
Nissa began drawing the image into herself, and when she opened her eyes the huge creature was standing on the beach, its feet sunk into the wet sand. It snorted its pug nose into the gusting wind and stamped a foot.
Now that is exactly the creature I would have expected you to summon, Sorin said. He threw up his arms. One with neither fin nor wing. Why not something with wings?
Nissa and Anowon used every coil of rope they found on the dock to fashion a harness of sorts. While Sorin kept lookout, they looped the rope into a huge circle and put it around the behemoth s neck. To that circle of rope they tied other long pieces of rope. Nissa asked the creature to enter the water, and when it had, they tied the loose ends of the rope to the masthead of the small ship. The rope was not long enough at first, so they tied more on, and soon it was long enough.
Robert B. Wintermute
Zendikar: In the Teeth of Akoum
The ship responded surprisingly well to being dragged behind the behemoth. The creature swam with its head low in the water, so only its eyes, nose, and the top of the head jutted above the low waves.
By sunrise, the continent of Ondu was only a line of land topped with a fringe of round mountains behind them.
By midday there was no land to be seen in any direction. Nissa used Kahlled s pathway stone to point the way, and they followed it. If the behemoth veered, Nissa crawled over the rope and whispered in its ear.
Soon the azure water changed to dark blue, and its surface became choppy. All the rest of the day Nissa watched a line of clouds at the horizon grow larger, until finally they were overhead.
The map showed the blue ocean gap between the continents of Ondu and Akoum to be only the length from the tip of her middle finger to its first digit not a long trip. But Nissa had no way to tell how fast they were traveling. So, by measuring with her finger how long it took them to travel from the Turntimber Forest in the center of Ondu to the coast, she guessed they would be traveling on the boat for two days.
Still, the behemoth never seemed to tire so it would perhaps be faster. The creature paddled its feet in the manner of an Onduan hound and moved along fast enough to create a small wake. Before night fell Nissa thought she d seen a landmass on the horizon.
The behemoth would not sleep. Nissa shimmied across the wrist-sized rope to tell it to stop, and either the creature did not hear her or it did not understand. If the behemoth did not sleep, neither could Nissa. She leaned against the mast with her cloak pulled tightly around her, holding up the pathway stone as often as she could to check their direction.
Their dry tack was long gone. For water they had the little still residing in their canteens that they had filled before going to bed at the inn. If the trip lasted no longer than another day, they would survive. Nissa knew the Joraga fasting mantras, and she could last without food for another week.
There was no sign of any landmass when the sun rose the next morning. Had they missed it in the darkness? Doubtful, Nissa thought. More likely she had mistaken a cloudbank on the horizon for a landmass. The light had been fading after all.
They sailed the rest of the day with no sight of land. When the sun was five hands high above the ocean, a flock of something appeared at the horizon. Nissa had a bad feeling about the creatures immediately. Her apprehension rose as they beat closer showing no visible wings, and for the first time she wished she could jump away, as she had when she d first learned to planeswalk. But Nissa knew that she had to see the trip to the Eye through. Where had running away ever got her? No, she would continue on her path.
Soon the creatures were close enough that Nissa could see tentacles. She narrowed in on the creatures. Flying brood, she announced.
The brood flapped closer. When they were close enough that Nissa could hear the wind rushing through their tentacles, the brood lineage turned and circled over the boat. She watched their tentacles squirm as they circled. Nissa looked to Sorin. There were large dark circles under his eyes. He appeared as though he had not slept in days. Did he have the stamina to fight off the brood circling the ship? His was the only ranged weapon they possessed.
The behemoth s eyes showed their whites as it struggled to raise its head enough to watch the brood.
If they glided down slowly in just the right formation she could perhaps use the stem in its whip form and dispose of two in quick order. Conceivably, Anowon could use one of his teeth.
Nissa was just preparing to pull her stem from its staff when the brood lineage moved out of their circling motion and moved away, flying west. Soon they were specks on the horizon again. The wind gusted, and the behemoth s breath puffed. Sorin s left hand was on top of his head holding his hair out of his eyes as he watched the brood disappear. Why had they gone?
The others slept that night on the deck of the ship. Nissa was not looking forward to another night of managing the behemoth, but she sat at the front of the ship trying not to fall asleep, holding the pathway stone Khalled had given her, and watching the immense creature she d summoned churn the brine water to foam.
The stars were bright enough to cast pale shadow on the deck. Anowon was at the other side of the ship with a nub of a candle burning as he read one of his cylinders. Nissa could hear Smara muttering somewhere below decks where the jars of turntimber bark were lashed packed in Zulaport for the markets of Guul Draz.
Nissa checked the pathway stone again. Sorin was standing across from her when she looked up.
Why did the brood leave us alone? Nissa said.
Sorin s face showed the annoyance the question caused him.
How do you suppose I would know that?
Nissa looked back at the stone hanging from the cord in her hand. A gust of wind blew it sideways, and she put it in the pocket of her cloak.
I know what you are, Sorin said, suddenly.
What did you say? A knot immediately formed in Nissa s throat. He knows.
I know what you are able to do, Sorin continued.
That you posses the ability to walk to other planes.
Nissa set her eyes on Sorin, and gave him what she hoped came off as a steady, level stare. I am not oddity. Why would you suppose I was?
We are not oddities.
Nissa felt as though she might swallow her tongue. Her heart hopped. She found herself making a conscious effort to control her breathing. She took a deep breath and released it. When she opened her eyes she had her center once again.
Why do you tell me that you know this about me? Who are you?
I am like you, Sorin replied.
You are not like me. I do not slay juveniles. Not even brood lineage juveniles.
You would if you had seen their parents.