Trials of a Planeswalker Ch. 01: Rising

"Get off!" Blayne grumbled, pulling his hand away from Tazzex.

He wrapped his arms awkwardly above his head, grabbing Lizzex's waist. Pulling hard, he got her off him and pushed her back in the water across on him. She gave a moan and a sigh, sinking up to her neck in the hot water.

"Good grief." Blayne laughed.

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CHAPTER 8 - CONFLICT

Blayne tested the sleeves of his new shirt and he tugged at the collar lightly. The girls had been eager to get him new clothes after they awoke that morning. They gave him a pair of black slacks, similarly colored heavy leather boots and a heavy blue tunic that split at the waist and was sewn with deep red cloth.

Both of the girls were wearing their matching outfites of red trimmed in deep blue. They each had on heavy brass boots and large leather belts. A new item that Blayne had not yet seen, however, were their leather corsets. Finely tooled with beautiful craftmanship and large brass buckles holding them across the front, they accenuated the twins' large bosoms and lithe waists. Tazzex was already wearing her backpack and large gauntlet.

"So how do I look?" Blayne asked, turning to the twins.

"Very handsome." Tazzex smiled.

"Can you imagine if we can get him in some Izzet gear? How hot would he look then?" Lizzex giggled eagerly.

"Oh my god, that would be so awesome!" Tazzex squealed in agreement.

"Hey, hey. I can barely use my magic as it is. How could I use that stuff?" He gestured at the brass gauntlet and pack on the other side of the room.

"Oh trust me. Just put it on and let's go down to the experiment room." Lizzex smiled.

"Wait a second, I didn't think of this last night. What happened to your arm Blayne? I burned it and it's fine now. You were only gone for a short while, it couldn't have healed. Did you find a healer?" Tazzex asked, putting her bare hand on his arm where she had burned him.

"No, I healed it myself. I told you I was getting good with my magic." Blayne smiled, "Not really sure how I did it, just kind of immersed myself in white mana."

"Wait, you can control white mana too?" Lizzex said.

"My arm is healed isn't it?" Blayne smirked, holding up his arm.

"My god you're amazing. I mean, most mages are only able to contrl one color of mana, maybe two. There are so few mages that know how to control more than that." Lizzex exclaimed, bouncing up and down with excitement.

"Let's go, let's go!" Tazzex said, bouncing towards the door.

"Not excited at all, is she?" Blayne smirked.

A quick walk through the facility brought them back to the large equipment room where the Orb of The Firemind sat swirling innocuously.

"Oh and Sis, I'm going to try out my new weather gauntlet." Lizzex said, rubbing her hands together.

"Weather gauntlet? Why does that sound back." Blayne snorted.

"Well it's more like a tornado gauntlet, but you get the idea. It makes a lot of really cool wind. It should be able to blow away enemies and bad storm clouds alike." Lizzex smiled, leading them to a greasy, messy work station.

Blayne watched in surprise as she did what could only be described as 'suiting up'. She first blased heavy leather pauldrons over her shoulders that clipped together with a buckle above her cleavage. She hefted up a large brass machine and had Tazzex hold it to her left shoulder and arm while she clipped and strapped it on. It looked like a very dangerous device and Blayne could only describe it as a turbine. Numerous angled blue gears could be seen through slits in the side of the device and she cinched it down tightly with leather straps. Following that was a large brass piece over her forearm that was covered in deep, twisting grooves. It was attached to the large device on her shoulder by a number of tubes and she rolled her shoulder around lightly.

"Yea, this isn't bad. Could be better, but for now this'll work." Lizzex said, lifting her arm up and down, "The leather pauldrons kind of disperse the weight across my shoulders and make it a bit easier to carry."

"That thing looks dangerous." Blayne said flatly.

"Of course. Wouldn't be good technology if it were safe, now would it?" Lizzex smiled, "Tazz, can you get him set up with a basic kit?"

As Lizzex seemed to be tweaking and fine tuning whatever her equipment would do, Tazzex walked him over to a large set of shelves that was covered in assortments of gear. She pulled down a large brass gauntlet. It's metal was light and flexible around his hand. It grew large and obtrusive around his wrist and up to his forearm. He slipped it on and tried his fingers, it was surprisingly comfortable.

"Alright, now hang this over your shoulder. This is a mana manipulator. Once I connect it to the gauntlet here, you'll find that it will increase your mana control." Tazzex explained, showing him a strange device.

It was foot-wide cylinder of brass that was over two feet long. The bottom end had a large glass orb set in it and the top had a number of antannae sticking out of it. She slipped it's single strap over his head and it sat sideways across his back.

Pulling more stuff off the shelf, she started to connect a half-dozen brass tubes and wires to the mana manipulator.

"Alright, be careful. These are a little dangerous when you don't know how to use them." Tazzex said, holding up the bundle of wires and tubes.

"Gotcha." Blayne nodded and she started to connect them.

She worked each of the three tubes and four wired connections into the gauntlet. Down to the last one, she carefully pushed the wire into the top of the gauntlet and a loud crackle of electricity filled the room. Tazzex was thrown back ten feet and she collapsed in a pile of boxes, throwing their metallic contents all over the floor with a loud clatter.

"Tazz!" Blayne called, hurrying over to her.

"Whoa! Damn man! I said control it!" Tazzex laughed, running a hand through her hair as she sat back against the boxes, "What a buzz!"

"Sorry, I didn't try to do anything." Blayne said, looking down at the gauntlet.

His hand was crackling with blue electricity and it was flickering across the surface of the gauntlet.

"I...I've barely..." Blayne said, drawing the mana back into the core of his being, "You weren't kidding. These things make everything so much more...well...touchy. Come on, we're even now for my arm."

"Haha! That we are!" Tazzex laughed as he offered her his other hand to get up, "Let's go!"

"Hold it. Wherever you're planning to go, cancel those plans." Crixzix said from the doorway.

"How's the drilling going?" Blayne teased with a chuckle.

"Shut it Blayne. We've got a lead on The Dimir and I want you two with the team when they go searching. You're some of the best field mages I have and I want the best on this." Crixzix said to Tazz and Lizz.

"Alright, well it's a good thing the three of us were getting the gear anyway. Nothing better to test my new equipment than a live test." Lizzex smiled.

"Blayne's not going. I don't want some newbie screwing this up." Crixzix said sharply, "You're going into the undergrounds of Ravnica, in the civilian areas between here and Azorius."

"Screw this up?" Blayne snapped, quite offended, "I'm the reason we're not in a full-blown war here. I can hold my own just as well as the girls here, I've learned a lot recently."

"I don't give a damn if The Firemind himself imparted his full knowledge to you, you're not going." Crixzix said sharply, jabbing a long goblin finger in his chest.

"Who are you to stop me? I can go wherever I want on Ravnica." Blayne argued, getting louder.

"You go with them out that door and you're not coming back here. I'll have the entire guild turned against you." Crixzix hissed cruelly.

"Oh yes, I'm sure Niv-Mizzet will be so pleased to know that you are now trying to kill the one he wanted found." Blayne pointed out.

"He'll understand, you've become a danger to The Izzet League's goals by not following orders." She bellowed wildly.

"Hey! Cool it. What are we supposed to be doing underground in that area? Looking for the Dimir guildhall?" Tazzex asked, pushing Blayne back a step.

"Exactly. Get down in the sewers and just keep heading downward. Our intel is suggesting that they originate from some base of operations there. Their guildhall or, at the very least, an important station we can search." Crixzix said to Tazzex.

"And about Blayne..." Lizzex started.

"The answer is no. If he goes out those doors, he won't be let back in the guild. He either learns to follow orders or he doesn't belong with the Izzet." Crixzix said sternly.

"Stop talking like I'm not here you pipsqueak bitch." Blayen snapped at her.

"How dare you insult me like that!" Crixzix turned on him.

Before he realized what was happening, she had him in a telekinetic grip and he was being picked up off the ground. She held out her other hand and a ball of fire sparked into life there.

"You are a wreckless and self-serving danger to this guild and I really don't care what Niv-Mizzet wants at this point. Now I'm going to give you one more chance to follow my orders or I will incinerate you." Crixzix growled, the fire swirling dangerously in her hand.

"Fuck you!" Blayne yelled, blasting outward with his mana.

He broke the magic holding him and he immediately raised his gauntlet fist in a defensive motion, creating a shield in front of him. He was right in doing so because Crixzix loosed a tumbling surge of flames that splashed around him and across the floor. He leapt forward at her, angry red mana boiling up within him. He held the gauntlet forward and pushed all the power he could into it. The glass orb on his back glowed brightly and lightning crackled between the thin antannae. He let the power free and it sparked a massive eruption of fiery and electrical death. The volatile spell struck Crixzix full force and blasted her back through the open doorway. She hit the back wall and Blayne could tell the spell was moving around a barrier of her own.

Letting the spell die, he launched himself forward with the help of a burst of telekinesis. He wrapped his fist in a cocoon of power and slammed into the surprised Crixzix with the full force he could muster. The wall shook and exploded outward, blowing a hole into the next room.

Blood pounding in his ears and the fiery heat of the red mana surging in his veins, Blayne stood strong before the hole he had made in the wall. Crixzix was lying on her back on a broken table she had crashed through.

Holding his hand out again, he lit a great conflagration that filled the room with such heat that devices and machines all around the room started to explode and shatter. He stared with a voracious glee as he watched the entire room burn. Behind him, Tazzex's voice finally broke through his rage.

"Blayne! Stop it!" Tazzex screamed at him.

The fire started to die as he stopped feeding it. Sweat dripped from his forehead and he turned to them, his breathing heavy.

"That'll show the bitch." Blayne breathed out, a look of victory on his face.

"What'll show me?" Crixzix said from behind him, "You've got power, I'll give you that. You've got what it takes to be a very powerful mage, but for what you've done, I'll have to put you down."

He turned around quickly to see Crixzix standing in the middle of the scorched room. She was a little singed around her clothing and her hair was melting. Patches of her green skin were crispy and blackened, but he could see an excitement in her eyes. She broke into a smile and magic erupted from her hands.

Blayne stood his ground and crossed his arms before him, a barrier of mana spreading forth as a powerful lightning storm exploded from the small goblin. She laughed loudly as the lightning crackled wildly around him. He gritted his teeth and took a step forward, his barrier wavering about under the force of this power.

Yelling loudly, he loosed a great storm of red and blue mana. It burst outward from him in the form of crackling electricity, aiming not for Crixzix, but for all the metal and broken machinery around the room. The metal started to lift from the ground and it all surged inward, gathing in front of Blayne. Crixzix's lightning was cut off by the storm of metal.

The brass machinery and metal crackled loudly and it took the shape of a man, held together by twisting ropes of electricity. The construct seemed to give a roar as it came to life. Tazzex and Lizzex watched in awe as the great artifact stepped forward and smashed Crixzix across the face. It screeched and jingled with every move of it's magical and metal limbs. Blayne directed it through imagination and it moved forwarrd. Crixzix stood up on the other side of the room and smacked her hands together. A massive, crushing blow of telekinetic force smashed the construct into a million pieces that exploded around the room.

Both combatants shieled themselves from the deadly shrapnel and Blayne stared intently at the bloodied and battered Crixzix, unsure what she would next do. When she didn't make a move, he opted to.

With another burst of magic, he exploded forward and slammed Crixzix with the last of the power in his body. The next wall gave way as she was hurled backward through it and into the next room over. He huffed with the exertion as the fleeting edge of the spell seemed to flutter away. His breath was short and ragged, his feet carrying him slowly forward.

Crixzix was lying on her face on the floor of the next room. She made a weak move to try and get up, but collapsed again when her arms couldn't take the strain.

Seeing her defeated, Blayne fell to one knee and took a deep breath.

Others were gathering around at this point, looking through the doorways and broken walls around them. Lizzex ran up behind him quickly, grabbing him under the arm.

"Come on, let's go." Lizzex hissed, pulling him to his feet.

"D...Damn it..." Blayne huffed as Tazzex grabbed him under his other arm to help him walk.

"Blayne, let's go. You don't want to be here in a few minutes when things go down." Tazzex hissed at him.

They quickly walked him back through the halls of the Izzet Facility and into their room. The twins deposited him in a chair and he groaned loudly.

"We've got to prepare a teleport spell and get him out of here." Lizzex suggested.

"What?" Blayne said, looking up at them.

"Look, there's no time. They will have seen us carry you out. Lizz?" Tazzex asked, holding her hand out.

Lizzex took it and Tazzex held her hand forward to Blayne. A swirling ball of blue and red mana appeared. It seemed to grow and grow until it had enveloped him and the outside world became a little dulled.

"Blayne, we'll try to contact you, but please understand if we can't." Lizzex said.

"Wait, where are you sending me!" Blayne asked, trying to get to his feet.

"Somewhere people won't try to kill you in your sleep!" Lizzex grinned, "In case we don't get to talk again, it's been fun!"

"Yea, it really has Blayne!" Tazzex said, twisting her hands slightly, "Good luck!"

There was a blinding flash around him and he felt himself hurtling wildly forward through a maddening torrent of magic. He was thrown threw darkness and blinding light, gravity pulling in every different direction. It felt as though he was tumbling head over heels. Bright lights raced around him and suddenly it was all over. He gasped loudly and breathed deep a sweet smell of flowers.

He found himself standing in the middle of a huge green garden, his body suddenly still and upright. All around him, flowering and lively bushes rustled gently in the breeze of his arrival. Above him he saw a great arching marble ceiling that was cut with large openings to let through the midday sun. Trees loomed around him, their thick branches casting shadows across the gardens.

Pushing the plants aside, he started to walk slowly through the garden.

"Where did those girls send me." Blayne mumbled simply, looking around.

"What're you doing in here?! This is the sacred garden, you shouldn't be in here!" A girl's voice cried out

Something about her voice was kind of sing-song and it made him long for nature somehow. It sounded as if it was made from the rustling of leaves and creaking of branches. He looked around, expecting to see the trees themselves talking.

From across the garden he saw a woman walking towards him. Her every movement looked as if it flowed with the leaves around her. Her skin bore a greenish-yellow tint and her lips were a deep jade. Her eyes were sharp and the color of bright emeralds. Her hair was that of soil and it draped down to her knees. She wore only the plants that seemed to grow naturally upon her body. Thin vines grew across her and gorgeous full roses were blooming from them. She was decent, but only just. A beautiful white rose covered her crotch and pink ones fluttered in idle spirals around her breasts and nipples. Her entire length of hair was woven with the finest flowers of colors Blayne didn't even know existed.

She moved seemingly without disturbing a leaf on anything near her. Her stride was elegant and with purpose, carrying her swiftly towards him.

"I'll ask you again, what are you doing in the Selesnyan Sacred Garden?" The dryad asked him.

"I'm not entirely sure how I ended up here. A spell was cast on me to teleport me away and somehow I ended up here. I don't know why." Blayne said, entranced by this woman's beauty.

If the twins could be described as burning fiery desire, this woman could only be described as elegant yet untamed and teeming with passion. He found himself staring longingly into her glittering green eyes and he seemed to lose himself completely in them.

"That is unfortunate, but you must leave. None but those most in tune with nature and Selesnya herself may reside here in the heart of Vitu-Ghazi." The dryad said, pointing a long, slender finger at a doorway on the other side of the room.

"Well then teach me." Blayne said simply.

"What?" The dryad's face showed emotion for the first time since he laid eyes on her.

"Show me how to be in tune with nature. Teach me." Blayne said with a smile, "I've spent what felt like an eternity with the Izzet and these two sweet, and a little crazy, girls. They were good fun, but maybe a change of venue might help me find my way home quicker."

"One cannot just become in tune with Selesnya because you want to. You need to leave, especially if you've been with the Izzet League. Their psychotic, mad dash for power and science is an afront to nature and is dangerous to all inhabitants of Ravnica." The dryad showed anger this time.

"I'm not even from this world. I was only affiliated with the Izzet because their leader Niv-Mizzet took an interest in me." Blayne said, "But this place, and you, are quite beautiful. I'd love to spend more time here."

The dryad's cheeks blushed with a hint of red at his compliment of her beauty. She looked down at the bush next to her and then back up at him.

"Not just anyone can learn to become one with nature. You must have command of green mana. Such wild, untamable power is not for everyone and it skillfully controlled by so few." The dryad said, idly running her fingers over a leaf.

"I can already use red and blue efficiently. I've tried white a little. Who's to say I can't do green?" Blayne asked.

"You are a strange creature. Are you human?" The dryad asked.

"Yea, but I told you, I'm not from this world." Blayne smiled, "You are the first plant-woman I've ever seen."

"I am known as a rose dryad, not a plant-woman." The dryad corrected him, "Come this way."

"Hey, my name is Blayne. Who are you?" He asked, stepping up next to her.

"I don't have a personal defining term as you humans do." The dryad said flatly.

"Well then I'll call you Rose." Blayne grinned, glancing down at her bare ass as she walked.