"Return to Ravnica Short: The Death of traitors"

"Return to Ravnica Short: The Death of traitors"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.

     Elrov had the kind of face that could blend in with any crowd. The kind of face that even though you have seen murdering someone mere moments ago might prove to be something too difficult to describe , let alone accurately pinpoint in any line up. He didnt look like a thug , he didnt look like an innocent either. He didnt look like anyone but he did look like everyone else in the general sense. Trying to describe Elrov after you have seen him is like describing every body else that you have ever met in your life.

    Elrov himself started noticing this when he was a boy. He started stealing bread and no one could pinpoint who he was. It was this talent that the old guild master Szadek was able to observe first hand. The little boy who held the bread in his arms , calmly threw it away and non chalantly walked towards his pursuers. The pursuers did not recognize the boy and by passed him without even a second glance. When they were gone the child went back to where he threw the bread and began to eat with a ferocity that seemed more Gruul than anything else. Szadek found himself amused and believed that he could use someone with this childs talents. He was taken under his wing. This was 20 years ago and today Elrov was still an active part of the Dimir.

     Elrov found himself wide awake in the middle of his room. There was a soft hum in his mind , the gentle probing that meant his handler was about to speak with him. There were no words that could convey this sensation to anyone. It was like having several buzzing bees in your head until the message focused and you could actually understand what was being said.  It was about his latest mission. He was instructed to pick up a device at the Dinrova Headquarters and he was to follow someone who was deemed by the current Guild Master , Lazav to be a traitor. He was to keep his distance at all times and was strictly instructed not to have any contact with the subject he was following. His job was to watch.

     So it was weeks that Elrov found himself watching the traitor from the rooftop. The device that he was asked to pick up was an arm band that had 3 green gems on it. He never questioned its purpose because the Dimir has been known to carry out experiments as well. He hid the device under his tunic and said nothing about it.  His subject was a very careful man , he did not take the same route twice in a day. He seemed to have no obvious pattern of behavior to an untrained observer but  this random pattern was actually a predetermined one that he has set out each day. Elrov was able to decipher it on the 2nd day. He was like clockwork to him now. He knew that as he turned to the alley he would always chat with the flower seller for about 3 minutes. He would go to his door and smoke for another 3 minutes. Reach out for the key above the awning , turn the key 5 times and push the door with his left hand. The Dimir trained their agents rigorously to watch everything , their minds would then be probed to update the guild master at random hours of the day.

     On the 3rd week of his observation the Kill order came. It was the same as a hundred orders before it and Elrov complied by waiting for his subject on the exact corner where he would turn to talk to the Flower girl. The move was a very simple one , something that a Dimir Cutpurse would use to cut a purse string , only this time the motion was to slip a dagger through the ribs and to pull it out with minimum fuss. His subject didn't have enough time to react and he saw the look of death in his eyes. For a moment as he stared at the elderly man he could have sworn that he knew him. Elrov was about to pull the dagger out when he felt the stab of a dagger to his right side and he knew that the motion was a familiar one , a motion that only he could put to good use after weeks and weeks of practice.Sure enough when he turned he saw his own face with a shocked expression and then a pained one as another version of himself plunged a dagger to the one who had stabbed him. Then another and another appeared in succession. Elrov was able to see the last assailant as he fell. It looked liked him as well only it had a scar right across the bridge of the nose where there should have been none. His face was the last Elrov saw as oblivion claimed him.

     When the scarred Elrov retrieved his dagger from the last subject he killed he had wiped it on the white tunic that it was wearing. The movement showed that he was also wearing a similar armband except that the stones in his version were Blue , Red and Black.  All Elrovs . All himself from alternate realities. What has the Dimir gotten into this time? he asked himself and in the shadows the Necrosages emerged. Among them a muscular 6 foot  Goblin and An attractive female elf with the sigils of the Golgari all about her barely there garments. He knew that his task here was done. He was the last one and the guild master did not want to lose him so he was summoned back to the Duskmantle.

     "The death of the multiple copies are producing a sustainable mana charge." The female Elf said looking impressed as the Elrovs coalesced into one shimmering mana mass. "His absence in all the alternate realities will make a tear that each would also try to plug. It is this mana that will allow us to succeed."

     "So how many deaths till we have the amount of mana we need Aridsta?" The muscular Goblin said as he poked the mana mass with his massive hands.

     "Just a couple more would do Solstoy and the Mana Breach that we would create would be enough to usher in our master." The Elf said as her mind made silent calculations in preparation for the breach of realities that would be enough for her master to get a foothold in Ravnica.

The Necrosages nodded silently. The Guildmaster has given his ascent to this plan. This will be done.