"Return to Ravnica Shorts: Solstoy the Transporter"

"Return to Ravnica Shorts: Solstoy the Transporter"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. 

     The dragon was ill at ease with its new surroundings. Its tail was thrashing about but the cage that contained it held in place , the cage was made of pure Mizzium after all. Though it might have contained the mighty beast physically it allowed the Dragons fire it was currently spewing at its handlers through without hesitation.  The handlers were trained and suited for the task but it seemed like Dragon fire was nothing that you could prepare for. The Izzet provided these new fireproof suits and approved it with the Seal of the Firemind , the suits were indeed fireproof but several of the handlers had already died within them. It seemed like the Goblin Wizard who concocted them still had that races flair for mischief. The suits were fireproof but they didn't control the temperature when dragon fire  engulfed it. The result is several boiled handlers and a profit margin that was dwindling by the minute for the caravans master , The Goblin called Solstoy. The halt in the caravans progress will be costly because there was more that they need to deliver than this one Dragon.

     The Dimir Necrosage (or at least thats how he appeared , you never can tell in Ravnica)  who requested this species has set a specific price and they will not be inclined to renegotiate in behalf of the dead handlers that now littered the surrounding areas of the dragon cage.  Solstoy cursed the goblin inventor furiously  , seeing coin melt away into a puddle of nothingness along with his reputation in acquiring hard to find items and delivering them swiftly. He was sure that he would lose contracts to the Orzhov and even to those upstarts that believe that he was losing his touch. He believed that the dragon Niv Mizzet was mad at him for trading in his primitive brethren , The Firemind was capricious but he never showed enough interest in his own kind in Ravnica. Then again it wasn't the first time that the elder dragon acted out of character and who knows if he has had it in for Solstoy this time around.

     Solstoy removed the thought of this from his mind for now to focus on the task of transporting the dragon. His second in command informed him that the other handlers were growing hesistant over the fact that they didnt really want to die for nothing. He was sure that he could give them a good reason to comply but it seemed like it was only his magic that would save the day for now. Like all employers in any plane of existence he believed that if you want something done properly then you have to do it yourself. The dragon was still breathing fire when he arrived , its skin rippling between blue and red hues. A couple of his men were cowering under a piece of rock. The cage still held though and that was one thing that he was thankful for. He walked to the upward thrust stone where the men were hiding. He wouldn't really call them men with the way they were acting right now but it was a term that was probably used as a general term for people who was under his employ.

     Upon his appearance the others quickly decided to find another place to hide. Like so many insects that scatter when found under a rock they went into so many direction away from their employer. Solstoy was a 6 foot goblin after all and his muscles rippled among the thin robes that he wore. The trace of a life spent in various fighting pits operated by the Orzhov until he was rich enough to buy his way out of that kind of life. It was not his size or apparrent strength that the others feared , it was the magic that he was known to conjure , most of the time his spells required a sacrifice and he wasn't really all that picky about who he would use. Anyone at all would do. The unlucky one who was to suffer this at the moment was a young goblin who was too slow to react and had chosen to run smack into the giant goblins waiting arms.

    Solstoy grabbed the slow goblin by the scruff of his neck with his huge left hand and with his right hand motioned the correct seals for this particular spell , the young one shriveled as to be expected when your life force is drained but instead of turning to dust as most of Solstoys sacrifices this one merely turned bronze and returned to its normal greenish skin coloration after a few seconds. The giant goblin noticed that immediately and saw the potential in this one. Regardless of the results the young one collapsed , the Goblin Wizard had all the life mana he needed to cast a massive Sleep spell. Dragons were mostly immune to magic but this one spell was so effective that this dragons massive scale eye lids closed and it dropped like a child after a particular naughty romping about.  

   " Now you worthless cowards , get back to work and get this caravan moving. I will not lose profit over the likes of you." Solstoy bellowed. With the casting of magic done , the workers slowly came back. He pointed to the young goblin who was slowly waking up from his sleep. "This one comes with me. Make sure that he is taken cared of and send him with guard to the back of the caravan." Solstoy thought of how he could take advantage of this easily regenerating Life mana source. A few ideas already seemed profitable to him. He would have to think about it further as they traveled. 

     In a matter of minutes  , the massive trading caravan was on the move once more. In this area near the Rubble Belt the Gruul has seen the massive line with what undoubtedly was very precious cargo but it bore the sigil of Solstoy on each of its massive carriages. Not even the hungriest of the clans dared to assault it. It just wasn't worth it with Solstoy guarding it with his magic.