Trials of a Planeswalker Ch. 01: Rising

"Hello there!" James called across the field, waving to Varia.

He was leading a pair of yolked oxen that were dragging a tree by a number of ropes around it. They were moving slow and steady, dragging the entire tree towards the barn.

"Isn't that a little heavy on them? Back home we always chopped it into lengths and put it on a sled. Even then, we still used like four oxen." Varia said, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

"No, these are good strong oxen. They are powerful enough to pull the tree back back alone." James said, "I don't know where you get such weak animals, because all the oxen born around here could drag mountains."

"I live quite far away from here in a dark and dangerous land." Varia smiled, "So I don't suppose I could remain another night? Maybe take another bath."

"I wouldn't mind, your company is nice. I just wonder about your friend." James said.

"Blayne is a stubborn ass. He'll be fine." Varia huffed, "I can't let such hospitality go unrewarded. I might as well get started on this tree as well."

"You are a hard worker, aren't you? Well don't go too crazy, I don't want you hurting yourself." James smiled.

"It's okay. I'll be fine. I'm glad to do it." Varia said, helping unchain the tree.

*******

CHAPTER 15 - AZEROTH

Blayne danced across the wall, sparring wildly with Nishok. The stars glimmered high above them as they fought back and forth. The moon had set and the world was only lit by the bright stars.

"Good Blayne! Very good! You have become quite skilled!" Nishok called out.

Blayne danced his feet about on the round rocks, lunging in and striking for his gut. Nishok barely managed to block and he returned with a masterful kick. It struck Blayne painfully in the side and he barely caught himself from falling. He rose and lashed out. As the fight carried on, he realized he wasn't tiring. He was, in fact, starting to move faster and more powerfully.

Nishok, much to his surprise, had to start reaching into his reserves of energy. He had to start skillfully guiding his Chakras and focusing his energies into enhancing his own physical prowess. Blayne was fighting with quite impressive skill and forcefulness. He was quite the challenge to Nishok.

It grew ever more heated and Nishok started to notice fire flickering around Blayne. His power was still growing and sweat dripped off his chin. They were both panting and Blayne lunged forward, his fist emblazoned in lightning.

"Blayne! Hold!" Nishok yelled.

"What?!" Blayne breathed heavily.

"Your energy has returned to you." Nishok said, staring into Blayne's eyes.

Blayne raised his hand and was surprised to see lightning coursing around it. He shook it off and held up his other hand, a ball of fire appearing there.

"You have achieved what you strived for." Nishok said, bowing his head to Blayne.

"Whoa... who would've thought. I didn't think just fighting would return my magic to me." Blayne said.

"You were not just fighting. You have been toning your mind and body relentlessly since you appeared here a week ago. You have had the will of a lion, fighting and training with the persistence of the immovable object." Nishok said, "We have trained all night tonight. Look, the sun rises."

Bright beams of golden-red light shot over the horizon and Blayne spotted a figure walking towards them. He would notice that body shape and the fluttering look of that dress anywhere.

"Varia!!" Blayne screamed, his eyes brightening widely when he saw her.

He leapt off the wall with a great burst if telekinetic energy. He launched over a quarter mile through the air and landed feet from Varia. He lunged forward and threw his arms around her neck. He pulled he tight to him and felt tears of joy burning in his eyes.

"You're okay! You're okay! Thank god." Blayne choked, squeezing his eyes tight and just taking in the wonderful moments of being with her again.

"I was worried about you too, you jerk." Varia mumbled as she pressed her face to his shoulder.

He could feel her body shuddering as she started to sob against him. They just stood together as the sun rose in the distance, completely contented with just the presence of one another. When they finally broke apart, Varia was rapidly trying to wipe her face dry.

"Hey, forget it. You can't hide it." Blayne chuckled, putting his hands in her face.

She stared up at him through watery eyes and he smiled. Without saying a word, he leaned forward.

Their lips pressed together and he cradled her chin, kissing passionately. The warmth of the morning sun shone on them as they kissed. He could feel Varia's arms wrapping around his neck and they broke apart slowly.

"I love you Varia." Blayne whispered, pressing his forehead to hers.

"I love you too Blayne." Varia finally admitted.

Blayne looked into her eyes for a moment before he broke into a wide smile.

"Stop... stop looking at me like that." Varia mumbled, looking away.

"You are adorable." Blayne laughed, grabbing her chin.

He turned her face back to his own and he kissed her again. She relinquished herself and made out with him again.

"Come on, I have a friend for you to meet." Blayne said, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder.

"So is this where you have been?" Varia asked, slyly grasping his hand as they started to walk.

"The monks here call it the Garden of Idena. It's a fairly simple monestary. I fell in their pond while this monk Nishok was meditating. You know that asshole Lucius fucked up my magic some how? All that jabbing in my chest made my magic stop working. Luckily enough this monk here helped me out." Blayne said, "I only got my magic back in the last few hours."

"I lost my sword." Varia grumbled, looking down.

"We'll find you a new one." Blayne smiled, squeezing her hand, "So what about you? Where is Lucius."

"Dead. I killed him." Varia said without remorse.

"He was a danger. I hope that other world is better off without him." Blayne said.

"Anyway, I've been walking for days. I spent two days at this little house with an old man. He fed me, gave me a bed and I chopped a bunch of wood for him. I've been walking for two days since then to make it here. I didn't even know where I've been going, I've just been trying to cover as much ground as possible." Varia explained.

"Sorry." Blayne sighed, "I suppose it's kinda my fault."

"How?" Varia asked, "You didn't choose to get in a fight with that ass."

"If I hadn't made you run off, we probably wouldn't have gone through that whole thing." Blayne sighed.

"Or he would have us both trapped and dead." Varia said.

"Good point. Hey Nishok! This is Varia!" Blayne yelled, pointing at her.

"Greetings friend!" Nishok yelled back, "I'll get the gate!"

"No need." Blayne called, putting an arm around Varia.

"Hey! Blayne!" Varia cried as he lifted her off the ground in his arms.

He made an impressive magical leap across the field and over the wall, landing smoothly on the grass. Nishok slipped off the wall and walked over as Blayne set down Varia, disheveled and annoyed.

"Who said you could just leap off with me like that?!" Varia cried.

"Afraid of heights?" Blayne asked.

Varia's face went beet red and she jerked back in surprise. He hit the nail on the head and gave a wide grin.

"I've heard so much about you. I am Nishok, a monk of the Garden of Idena. Blayne has been training with me for a week to try and correct his Chakras." Nishok bowed to Varia.

"Chakras. Blayne, what's he talking about?" Varia asked.

"It's a philosophy they have here. I'll tell you about it later." Blayne said.

"Blayne, it's more than philosophy." Nishok said.

"Can we just go? I'm tired." Varia sighed, shaking her head.

"Go to the room and get some sleep Blayne." Nishok suggested, "You've been up all night, get some rest before you two set off. Your journey will be quite arduous and you will need it. I will prepare some supplies for your departure."

"We don't need any." Varia said.

"Thank you Nishok, but don't you need sleep too?" Blayne asked.

"I will rest elsewhere. Lovers deserve a room to themselves." Nishok said calmly.

"Lovers?! We're not lovers!" Varia exclaimed.

Nishok just smiled and stood quietly. Varia grew more flustered and she snapped around, stomping up the hill.

"Thanks, but really, nothing was going to happen. She just finally admitted it when we reunited. I don't plan to push her too hard. I think she's finally the girl for me." Blayne said to Nishok.

"Happiness and love be with you two forevermore." Nishok said, nodding.

"Hey Blayne! Where am I going?!" Varia yelled from the doors of the Monastery.

Blayne sighed and ran up the hill, leading her inside and to his room.

"Separate beds." Varia muttered when she saw the two singles, "G... Good! I wouldn't want you getting any ideas!"

Blayne just chuckled and closed the door behind them.

"Naturally, because after I kissed you out there, who knows what I could do now. I'm uncontrollable." Blayne teased as he walked over to Nishok's bed and sat down.

"You forced yourself on me! I didn't... I didn't enjoy it!" Varia cried stubbornly.

"And you told me you loved me." Blayne said.

"You tricked me!" Varia squealed, flopping down on the bed he had been sleeping in.

She fell over tiredly and pulled the blanket up over herself. When she smelled the pillow, smelled Blayne, she gave a soft sigh.

"And you sigh happily when you smell my bed." Blayne chuckled, still watching her.

"What?! Are you crazy?!" Varia cried, "I did no such thing! You tricked me by giving me this bed!"

"Admit it. Give up this act. You love me." Blayne laughed as he fell back in the bed.

"I do not!" Varia blushed brightly.

"You're blushing." Blayne said without looking.

"I'm not!" Varia squealed.

"You blush whenever I say anything about you liking me. Imagine what happen if I were to tell you that I want to have sex with you." Blayne chuckled, turning towards her.

Her eyes grew wide and she gave a cute little squeak. Her eyes glanced at him and she stared back at the ceiling before flipping over to face the wall.

"Pervert!" She cried, her chest heaving and her heart beating wildly.

Her mine spun madly with the possibilities and ideas. She couldn't believe he had just said that he wanted to have sex with her. He had to have meant it as a joke. There's no way he would have sex with her. She might be deluded in her love of him, but he definitely didn't love her. She kept trying to lie to herself and calm herself down right until she fell asleep.

*******

Blayne stepped out of the AEthers and bright light assaulted his eyes. He stumbled and fell to his knees. He heard a whooshing sound behind him and a dull thump. Varia stepped up next to him and put her hand heavily on his shoulder, keeping herself upright. She was still not yet used to Planeswalking.

"Alright. So where are we?" Varia huffed, "And when can I get a drink?"

"I don't know... son of a bitch it's bright here." Blayne groaned.

He looked around. The trees were gorgeous oranges and reds, vaulting high above him. The grass was a deep green, flowing and swaying as one. They had landed near a stamped dirt path and a small length of wooden fence.

"It is beautiful though. Much more colorful than anything on Innistrad or that other plane we were on." Varia said, referencing Quilija.

"Yea, let's try and find someone. I could use a night sleep." Blayne sighed.

"Hey Blayne, the mana is wonderful on this plane. Feel for it. All five colors are rich here. I feel such a wonderful source of black just over that ridge. As if the world has been rend asunder and only the dead remain there." Varia said, pointing at a grassy hill.

"Let's go looks at that then." Blayne said, his body feeling a bit better as warm red mana from the sky above, rich green mana from the trees around him and cool blue mana from a nearby body of water flowed into him.

They slowly climbed the hill and stood atop it. Blayne gave a small whistle.

"Damn." Varia breathed, "Whatever did this... this is beyond any magic I know."

Before them was an immense trench in the ground that extended further than they could make out. It was coal black and some kind of strange force seemed to emanate from it. Dead humans of some kind shuffled and stumbled about the trench. It went as far as they could see into the woods on their left and through the great wall of a city on their right.

"Whatever it is, it's like a magnet to death. I'm feeling such power coming from this thing..." Varia said, her eyes glowing slightly as she absorbed mana from it.

"I think we ought to get out of here." Blayne said.

"Alright, one minute. It's been a while since I've felt this kind of source of black." Varia said, "I need to recharge."

Her eyes started to glow purple as she held out a hand. A soft black cloud started to drift up from the ground before her. It crawled and rolled along the ground, moving towards her. Blayne took a step back as it swirled about her feet and disappeared. She breathed deep and sighed, the glow slowly leaving her eyes.

"Ohhh yes. That's it..." Varia sighed, looking as if she just had a very pleasant orgasm.

Someone behind them yelled in some strange language. Blayne and Varia snapped around, looking down the hill.

Four strange men in vibrant red and gold armor were walking up towards them. They carried large shields and odd swords. A green glow came from their eyes and they spoke again.

"I'm sorry, we don't speak your language." Blayne said, holding his hands up.

The front soldier spoke again.

"Blayne, let's just kill them." Varia hissed, putting a hand on her saber.

"No, we don't know anything about them. They could just be asking us if we need help or something." Blayne said to her.

The soldier yelled loudly and held up his sword towards them. They jogged forward and formed a half circle around Blayne and Varia.

"Or not, Varia put up your hands. Come on, do it. You know we can just walk away at any time as long as we're still alive. Just submit." Blayne said quietly.

She reluctantly raised her hands. One of the soldiers put his weapon in his other hand and pointed at Varia's empty sheath.

"Look, it's just an empty sheath." Varia said.

The man barked and waved again.

"Fine! Fine, damn it all." Varia groaned, pulling the sheath from her belt.

The soldier stepped forward warily as she held it towards him. He took it and examined it before sliding it into his own belt. He nodded and pointed down the hill at a large gate in the front of the city wall. Blayne nodded, continuing to hold his hands up. They each took a side around the two Planeswalkers and marched them down the hill.

"We could just kill them and leave." Varia growled.

"Varia, please tell me if they have anti magic armor or some counter spells prepared. Because I don't know anything about them and obviously you do." Blayne hissed.

"Okay, okay. I get it. You don't need to get sarcastic!" Varia snapped.

The guard behind them yelled something and they quieted. The guards marched them across the bridge, through the great gate of the city and down the street. It took them a length of time and two more gates before they walked past a large fountain and before a great tower. It was as beautiful as the rest of the city, grand and shining like the morning sun. The entire city seemed to be colored like the forest, bright reds and golds and whites. It was as if everything were created to worship the sun.

They walked through the front of the spire and through a side door. They brought the two of them down inti a dungeon and out them in a cell.

"Good job Blayne. We're in a cell now. Happy?" Varia asked.

"Yes, because now we can Planeswalk at any time." Blayne pointed out.

"Shut up." Varia groaned.

Blayne smiled and sat down in the back of the cell.

"Come here. Let's get some rest." Blayne said, "We're both a little tired.

"Only you would try and sleep after you just became a prisoner. What the hell happened to you with those monks?" Varia asked.

"I learned that you need to move steady and slow, take each challenge as it occurs and..." Blayne smiled, holding his arm out, "Take every chance to have a nap."

Varia groaned and took off her glasses, rubbing her face. But in the end she gave a small smile and sat down next to Blayne. She curled up next to him as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. The floor was covered in clean straw and a soft flowery breeze blew through the cells from somewhere above. The two of them fell asleep, cuddled quietly together on the cell floor. Varia's last thought before she nodded off was, 'How the hell did I fall in love with this fool?'

They slept soundly for quiet a few hours, the only thing working it's way into their dreams being the sound of the guard patrolling the dungeon. The weather was nice outside and their bodies were warm enough together to fend of the chill of the basement.

"Humans. Wake up." A voice roused Blayne from his light sleep.

"Varia, Varia get up." Blayne hissed, shaking her shoulder.

"Shuddup Blayne, I wanna cuddle a little longer..." Varia mumbled quietly, nuzzling his shoulder, "Blayne? Blayne!"

She jerked upright and scooted away from him, as if just remembering her 'hatred' for him. She threw him a half-hearted glare as he gave a sigh.

"Oh don't start that crap right now." Blayne Grumbled under his breath.

"Humans, what were you doing in the Eversong Woods?" The man in the red robes outside their cell asked him.

As Blayne stepped forward, he realized that these men were not normal men. They had extremely long ears, along with their glowing green eyes, and their skin seemed abnormally smooth. They were obviously not human.

"You have invaded Blood Elf territory. If you had done so in any other of the Horde's lands, you would be dead right now." The elf said, "So tell me what you were doing there."

"We are simple nomads, just here to walk this world. We didn't know where we were. We sort of just wandered in." Blayne explained.

"You were found within sight of Silvermoon. You would've had to sneak past dozens of patrols as well as make it through our guarded borders. You didn't just walk there." The elf said flatly, "Stop lying to me."

"Look, some magic went wrong and we got teleported there. If you will let us, we will leave your territory in peace." Blayne said.

"We haven't hurt anyone! Just let us go!" Varia yelled.

"You can't just teleport into Quel'Thalas. Powerful magic protects this land from magical invasions." The elf said, "You have one last try to tell me the truth before I have you executed."

"We are telling you the truth!" Varia yelled.

"Humans. You're just like every other race in this world. All seek to destroy us." The elf snorted, turning on his heel.

"Let us out! We just want to leave!" Blayne yelled.

"You will be executed at dawn." The elf growled, slamming the door to the cells.

"Come on Blayne, let's just Planeswalk out of here." Varia huffed.

"Yea, I was hoping to explore and see more of this world, but maybe it's for the best." Blayne huffed, sitting down on the floor.

Varia sat down across from him and they both closed their eyes. The cells were quiet and all he could hear was her breathing. Mana seemed sparse here in the city. Something seemed to be in a constant battle to absorb it all. It didn't matter though, they already had enough power to Planeswalk. Blayne began to will himself into the Blind Eternities when he realized.

Something was holding him here. There was some sort of power surrounding them that was keeping their bodies in the physical world. It wouldn't let them Planeswalk.

"Blayne?" Varia said slowly.

"I feel it too. This is bad." Blayne nodded.