March of the Machines: Full Story Summary - Part Two

March of the Machine is now exactly one week away from its worldwide release. What better time than now to conclude the summary of the storyline that drives the mechanics and art of the cards? When we left off Chandra and the compleated Nissa were plummeting toward the ground in New Phyrexia - While Wrenn tried to merge with Elesh Norn's relambreaker. If you haven't read part one, check it out here.

Chapter 1

A Choice Must Be Made

A woman awakens to the snarling of a beast. The smell of the thing, almost like oil, is offensive and burns her nostrils. As she becomes more conscious, several things come into her vision at once. She begins to see whatever it is that she's smelling. It's crawling forward like some terrible dog barring row upon row of metallic teeth. And they're covered with blood.

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Next, she sees the remains of an older woman and it's obvious where the blood has come from. There's a large opening where the woman's throat should have been. Yes, she remembers this now - She'd be standing between the little girl and the beast.

The girl cowered below her as the jaws opened and made a break for her, the same way they had her mother. She didn't know how she knew the two were mother and daughter but she did. As the jaws opened, she thrust her sword into its mouth. What spilled from the wound was black and thick.

Now, to have a closer look at the child. She takes the face within her hands and lifts it upwards. As she brings the girl's finer features into view, she hears someone coming down the hallway. She remembered that just before she heard the footfalls. It was starting to come back now.

The little girl had brown locks, and cheeks that she remembered her mother pinching. Yes, she's beginning to understand.

"Elspeth, it's time to wake up."

And with that, things falter and shift. Her surroundings disappear and she's now amongst the stars. She sees the girl's face - her face but younger, and the same voice tells her she has a choice to make. "Do you remember what you're becoming?", it asks.

With this question comes more changing scenery. And she focuses on her own hands instead of the broken images flying around her. Her hands are shimmering and feathers float weightlessly amongst her. The voice of her mother tells her how well she's doing but she knows the final step has yet to be taken.

"You rewrote fate and we are just ahead of its author, waiting for your chance to join the tale," she says.

Phyrexia. Yes, this was about Phyrexia. And with this thought, the facade around her disintegrates and she is plunged into a war-torn version of what was once New Capenna. The plane was dying but was not yet dead.

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The streets of New Cappena run with blood and the shriveled husks of the city's occupants litter the ground. Dominating this horrible scene is a morbid angel by the name of Atraxa and the sight of her fills Elspeth with disgust.

"You must choose where to help." the voice tells her. She begins to survey her surroundings a little closer than before. There are Riviteers amongst the buildings with tools in their hands. They were fighting against the invaders that threatened their homes.

They aren't all together winning, she thinks, as Atraxa's scythe cleaves an entire group of them. However, they are holding their own in places. One group of crafty engineers were held up inside a building and using scalding steam to melt whatever part of a machine tried to make its way inside.

New Capenna was once her home but this was not the plane that needed her. Once again, her vision changed and she finds herself above a new plane with a new voice in her ear and the smell of salt in her nose. The voice belongs to Daxos, which meant she was now on Theros.

As she came to this realization, many things came into focus. Yes, this was Theros. More specifically, the temple of Heliod. What she saw next, she could hardly comprehend. It was a corrupted, horrible version of her mentor Ajani. And he was currently breaking the bones of a young man.

Perhaps, Theros was the plane she was meant to help. Maybe there is still hope that she could save Ajani from the oil he'd consumed. Maybe she could undo whatever it was that he'd done to the gods of the plane.

There's the female voice again, causing her to doubt herself. Would killing Ajani end the Phyrexian invasion? "You only get one chance at this," it repeats in that sweet, familiar voice.

They were right. Killing Ajani wouldn't be enough to stop the Phyrexians. And even if she could save him, one ally would not win the war either. So, as much as it pained her to turn her back on Ajani, Daxos, and the innocent people in the temple, and on Theros itself, this was not the right place.

Again, she leaves the plane in a whirl. The stone of the temple and the smell of the sea fall away from her as she is beckoned elsewhere. Where she lands this time, is a place that Elspeth had hoped to never see again. She hovers over the plane of New Phyrexia.

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There was Elesh Norn surrounded by a choir of grotesque machines that sing the glory of New Phyrexia in cacophonous shrieks. Making the sounds even worse, were the added screams of Urabrask. He was being tortured for his role in the rebellion. Thankfully, Elspeth came in toward the end of the abuse and when Norn had had her fun, his limbs were removed and he was carted away to the bowels of the fortress.

Then, with a snap of her fingers, Elesh Norn set several things into motion at once. The planeswalker Karn is carried in and placed before the throne. He's alive but he has much more fear than life in him it seems. More prisoners are led in by a woman in green. Among them are a badly beaten Koth, the dryad Wrenn, and Chandra Nalaar. She'd thought Karn looked bad until she saw the others - Wrenn had been removed from her tree and Chandra was incapable of standing.

Elspeth can't help but hover her hand about the hilt of her blade. Elesh Norn must die. That would end the invasions once and for all. Before she can strike a blow, the Mother of Machines speaks to the woman escorting them before her throne. "We applaud your work in apprehending them, Nissa." That was Nissa Revane!? It was... But at the same time, it wasn't. At least not the same Nissa that she'd once met.

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Norn was droning on about how well Nissa had done in quelling the rebellion of her former friends. About how Phyrexia was merciful and would even embrace creatures such as these - How no one, imperfect as they may be would be turned away from the ranks of New Phyrexia. Elspeth couldn't stomach any more and her thoughts went back to the hilt. "Choose falsely and everything ends here.", says the voice. Perhaps Norn only believes she is at the heart of phyrexia's invasion. She needed to think.

Having finished addressing her legions and their captives, the army parted to make way for the one that would bring the prisoners to completion. Jin-Gitaxius slithered from between the ranks and up to Norn. Only one shot - If not Norn, then who? As Jin-Gitaxius slinks himself from the foot of Norn's throne toward the kneeling captives. Elspeth was running out of time.

Then, Jin-Gitaxius stops. The chanting stops. Everything had stopped. As she moved from one frozen face to the next she comes to a realization - Not only is everything stopped but everyone within the throne room is fading away into a ghost-like wisp of their physical form. Everyone except Wrenn and Nissa. "Why them?" Her eyes dart between the two of them. "What was Wrenn looking at?" The tree. It must be why Wrenn had come here in the first place.

But, why Nissa? What role did she play? It didn't matter... The tree and Wrenn she was certain of. If she could capture Nissa's attention long enough, Wrenn would know what to do.

"Are you sure?" comes the voice.

"Yes, I'm sure."

"While I cannot fight alongside you I can make you what you've always been," says Serra.

With that Elspeth's entire body feels as if it has been set on fire; Even her veins are burning. And her body's changing but it feels right. The wings on her back are immense but she's used to their weight. It's as if they've always been then there and were only just now choosing to make themselves known.

Elspeth is in motion now and so is everyone else too. Jin-Gitaxius draws near the kneeling rebellion and his claws slash up and then down. Instead of making contact with the flesh of Koth, they're met with the steel of Elspeth's blade.

Chapter 2

 Karn's Lament And A Hope Of Peace

Karn has an immaculate view of the end of the multiverse from the slab where he lies. Most of him that is. Jin-Gitaxias and Vorinclex have been slowly removing pieces of his silver body and repurposing them. Perhaps the greatest thing they'd taken from him was his hope. After all, this was all his fault.

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Mirrodin had fallen because of Karn as well. He'd been ignorant in his arrogance and tracked phyrexian oil throughout the plane. Then, he left his own creation, Memnarch, to rule the plane in his stead, not realizing the creature's corruption. Yes, it had all been because of him and he'd tried to go and fix his mistakes. "Don't follow me," he'd said to them. These were his wrongs to right.

Of course, they'd done it anyways. Koth, Elspeth, Venser, and Melira had traveled to the bowels of phyrexia to find him. Melira had given Venser some immunity to the corruption while Koth and Elspeth fought off the legions long enough for him to make his way to Karn, where Venser paid the ultimate price. He'd seen something so great, so important, within Karn that he gave him his spark, and ended his own life in the process.

Karn swore that he would make Vensers death mean something. So, as he once again lay dying in the clutches of phyrexia, he was dealing with the pain of letting Venser down as well as his great physical pain. Karn had once asked Urza why he made him able to feel pain. "People are less likely to hurt things that scream", he'd said. Too bad the phyrexian praetors were not people. His screams had done nothing to lessen the hurt that they inflicted upon him during his dissection.

Norn in fact, relished his screams and the thought sickened him. She had asked him something a moment ago but he didn't care to reply. He had better things to do with what little strength he had left. Yes, he was going to lie and remember his friends and how lucky he was to have had them.

He looks down at Koth. Even on his knees, with Jin-Gitaxias approaching him, he looks brave and composed. And he met Karn's gaze. That's just who Koth was. Melira on the other hand, did not look up at him and he didn't blame her. After all, they'd sacrificed, to end up here, he understood how she must feel. There was at least some comfort for him knowing that this was the end. Even if Elesh Norn drug his demise out, soon he would be at peace. "Will it hurt to die?" he wonders.

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"Phyrexia asked you a question!" came Norn's voice and one of her minions took his head in her hands and forced him to look at the Mother of the Machines. He looked at her needle-like grin and notices something peculiar... Norn was emanating a glowing light. "No not Norn, where is that coming from?" he thinks to himself.

"You will not strike this man down!" a female voice booms; With the voice comes a great commotion. The sanctum shakes and is filled with a brilliant, blinding light. Karn however, sees everything that happens next incredibly clearly. And that voice... "Do I know that voice?"

Elesh Norn certainly did. "You!?" she screeches. As the light clears a crater becomes visible and standing within it is Elspeth, like Karn has never seen her. She has golden wings on her back and the scars of her past seem to have been washed away from her. Her blade has come to meet the claws of Jin-Gitaxias. She's a beautiful sight amid a scene of utter carnage. Much of the choir filling the throne room was thrown into the abyss by her arrival.

Jin-Gitaxias recoils and slithers between his followers, making an escape toward Norn and Elspeth makes no move to stop him. Instead, she was embracing the rebellion. She heals Koth and is now holding Chandra's swollen face, mending the split flesh. All Koth had needed was a chance. He screams "Mirrodin! With me!" and slams his fist into the ground. The impact sends a trail of lava in the direction of the invasion tree.

At this point, the phyrexians are afraid. Most of the ranks are recoiling from Elspeth the way a wild animal flees from a fire. Elesh Norn, however, is not afraid as she springs from her throne. She does this with such force that her throne topples, crushing many of her followers beneath it. A severed head, pieces of her throne, broken stone, whatever she can get her clawed hands on, she is hurling at Elspeth.

Elspeth meets every blow. The head she dodges, the chunk of thone lands against her wing and crumbles, a glancing blow at best; the slab of earth she blocks. Not only is Norn in a frenzy but she seems to be losing control of her ranks as well. Jin-Gitaxias is at her side and advising her to retreat...

" My legions can handle them, and Vorinclex will eat whatever we leave behind. It would be wiser for you to retreat and leave the matter—"

"No. She is the most pressing concern" Norn snarls.

Jin-Gitaxias cannot believe what he is hearing. "She is but one..." he starts.

"Dissent is blasphemy, praetor," she says with her hand around his throat.

Karn knows Elesh Norn is struggling to keep control because amid her argument she doesn't even notice Melira making her way to him. "You're going to be okay," Melira says. This was unbelievable. Last time he'd been all but dead here in the heart of phyrexia it was Melira, Koth, Venser, and Elspeth who came to his aid. And here were the three of them again now. With that thought, he feels Venser's spark kick to life inside of him. "The four of them," he thinks. He will honor Venser's sacrifice. He was not ready to give up yet.

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Wrenn hasn't given up either. And Elspeth's arrival confirms what she had hoped... That there was still hope. To think otherwise would mean having to accept her death. The death of every human here and of the multiverse as a whole and that couldn't happen. Wrenn still has a fight in her, but that's about all she has. Being separated from Seven left her not much more than a torso.

She looks around to see Chandra's burning eyes as bewildered as everyone else's. "Chandra, I need your help. I can't walk." The pyromancer doesn't hear her words and Wrenn has to reach out and touch her to bring her back to the present. "We have to make it to the tree! I need you to carry me," she says. This is all Chandra needs to hear to scoop the dryad up and begin heading to the invasion tree.

The Mirrodins are with them. Everyone is taking frequent looks over their shoulder at the chaos behind them. Elspeth is battling Norn and more of the phyrexian troops are starting to come out of the daze that they were in. Some are making a break for their masters while others are giving chase to them.

"Karn! We must save Karn too," says Melira.

"On it."

The platform binding Karn is stone and therefore is easily manipulated by Koth. In an instant, he's moving Karn and the platform along behind them. While Wrenn shudders at the idea of using Karn as a shield, she's glad the platform is there to absorb the spears and arrows coming toward them now.

She's so tired of this. So tired of the fighting. If she can make it to the tree perhaps they'd have an actual shot at peace. But she couldn't get their own. Koth was shielding them, Elspeth was buying them time, and Chandra was carrying her toward the tree.

"Drop the dryad and there is still hope for you Chandra" comes the voice of Nissa from behind. Wrenn turns to look and regrets it. Nissa is moving rapidly toward them with bad intentions. There is absolutely no compassion in her eyes as she places one foot in front of the other and hurls the corpses of the slain at them.

Deep down, Wrenn knows that Chandra won't hurt Nissa. And at the moment, everyone else is more than occupied. Just make it to the tree, she thinks. Somehow she knows that they'll get there. It's just that the how remains to be seen. When she reached the tree, she just hoped Teferi would be somewhere she could reach him.

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Elspeth has never felt more at peace amongst war before. Every blow that comes her way, she deflects; unbothered. Once upon a time, Elesh Norn frightened her - Her mouth full of needle-like porcelain teeth, her shrill horrible voice, the terrible way the meaty flesh pulsed beneath her hard exterior... It had haunted Elspeth's dreams. Now, Elesh Norn seemed no more than a glorified doll before her.

She is unbothered because she has seen the truth. Elesh Norn and phyrexia were not to be victorious this day. The knowledge guides her blade and steeled her heart. As she deflects Norn's strikes, Koth, Melira, Chandra, Wrenn, and even Karn were making their way to the tree. Stopping the tree was the key to ending the war and Wrenn must make it.

The only real threats standing between them and the tree were Nissa and of course, the Mother of Machines herself who wasn't going to let her run off after the others. She lunges upward, grabs Elspeth's leg like a vise, and drags her down to the ground.

"You shall not ruin our victory! Bringing the multiverse together in perfection is my righteous calling. How dare you try to stand against it!?"

"I have my own calling. And you shall not keep me from it."

Norn laughs at this. "Your calling is false," she starts. As she speaks she sends the corpses around them into a swirling vortex and pulls resources from them - Pieces of steel, bone, teeth, and mechanical bits fly from them and envelope Norn like grotesque armor. Elspeth looks over her shoulder as Elesh Norn prattles on about how phyrexia will not be defeated. Nissa is closing in on the others. I don't have time for this, she thinks. I must help Wrenn to the tree.

Turning back to Norn, she focuses on her blade and it starts to build a radiant light - The longer she concentrates her will, the more brilliant and powerful it becomes. She points it at Norn and the purifying rays burn a smoldering hole into the praetors' shoulder. Norn's reaction is to retaliate with a vicious slash. Luckily, she's able to just deflect the blow with her blade.

Now is my chance. She bursts into the air and away from the lifeless husks that are attempting to bear down upon her. She turns 180 degrees and makes a mad break for where the surviving rebellion is headed. Before she makes too much of an advance, seemingly endless porcelain walls appear before her and block her path. They seem to reach the unfathomable heights of the sanctum itself. Her only way to circumvent the obstacle is going to be to go straight through it.

She slashes at her own reflection with her sword but a few meager sparks are all she gets for her efforts. "Ok, new plan," she says out loud to herself. If she can't escape Norn, she'll just have to defeat her. And do it quickly. So be it. Norn flings barbs from her hands that tightly clasp Elspeth, doing their best to drag her to the ground.

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She resists with everything in her as Jin-Gitaxias is sending his forces after Chandra and Wrenn. She slices at the barbs and severs them. Then charges Norn, who blocks her advance. "Why do you resist me, so?" Norn asks. "What does this flesh give you that I cannot? A home, a purpose, to be close to those whom you love for all eternity... Completion is what you seek. Name one single difference between what I offer and what you want!" she finishes.

Elesh Norn does not look anything like what she wants to call home. And yet, she still finds herself thinking that Norn isn't entirely wrong. "I..." she stammers. Ajani, Nissa, Jace, none of them looked the slightest bit unhappy; Quite the contrary actually. They looked happy, and they did have a grand purpose, and they were all together. Would it really be so bad to join Ajani on Theros and bring the gods under their banner? They could even be reunited with Daxos then.

"We've spent more than enough time talking! Let's finish this and move on" calls the voice of Jin-Gitaxias from behind Norn.

"Silence!" Norn's visage is filled with newfound rage at the interruption and in a flash she grabs her fellow praetor by the arm and rips it cleanly from his body. Now is the chance. She takes a powerful thrust at the only thing within striking distance and drives her sword through Norn's wounded shoulder. Finally, Norn releases her grip and Elspeth is free. However, there are immediately blade-like porcelain slivers coming after her. Norn was a formidable opponent.

She'll only get one shot at this... If I can time it just right. She hurtles toward the wall with Elesh Norn's blades close behind. She'll be at the wall in mere seconds. Hold. Hold. At the moment before contact, she closes her eyes and breaks to the right and the movement takes her stomach. The blades that follow her cannot match her maneuver and slam into the wall.

When Elspeth opens her eyes she is already halfway down the bridge to the tree. "Come back here! I wasn't finished with you!" Norn screams from behind. Melira and Koth are down but Chandra and Wrenn aren't and they're close to the tree. She just had to make sure they made it. That above all else, she would do.

Chapter 3

A Dryad's Song

Wrenn can think of no place worse than New Phyrexia. Dryads could find a home almost anywhere they went within the multiverse because their homes were the trees. Or nature in general. New Phyrexia has no sign of natural life whatsoever and it was Wrenn's worst nightmare. To her senses, the plane was entirely silent but at the same time filled with the endless hum and skittering of the machines.

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"I hate it here. This place shouldn't exist," she says.

"Tell me about it," Chandra replies through her ragged breathing.

Wrenn isn't even sure how Chandra is managing to run with her after the fall that they'd sustained. Granted, Nissa's copper-like vines had broken the worst of it but human bodies were fragile things and she could only imagine the pain Chandra must be in.

Metal barbs the size of a person struck down all around them and took out several of their comrades. While this should have terrified her, Wrenn isn't at all afraid. Not of the spears and the barbs, and the machines at least. She is terrified of failing though. She had so little strength left in her now and realmbreaker was a behemoth of a tree. She would be worried about her ability to meld with him under the best of circumstances, much less the dire ones she now faces.

The entire multiverse rests upon her shoulders and yet she is not much more than her shoulders at this point. Her head, upper torso, the roots of her abdomen, and the fire burning quietly within her are all that remained now. I hope I will be enough. Then she is ripped from her thoughts by a scream. A massive weaponized barb had come just over Chandra's head and landed in front of them.

It pierced Melira through the midsection. "You should have taken my offer," comes the voice of Nissa as she sends a massive vine their way. Chandra sends a fireball toward her but it's a halfhearted attempt that fizzles about before it reaches the target. Koth's blow is much better. He sends a massive chunk of earth at Nissa and she splits it in two with a razor-sharp tendril. Then, sends both halves back at him. He brings the ground up in a swell to block them.

"Koth, we need a barricade!" yells Melira. Blood spills into her hands.

"On it. Chandra, you're going to have to make a break for it."

Chandra gathers herself for the coming effort. "Got it," she says.

Koth drives his fist into the porcelain platform before them and brings up a wall of molten metal and stone between them and the advancing army. Up, up, and further still... He erects a truly formidable obstacle for Nissa. Chandra runs and does not look back. Wrenn and Koth are the ones who see Nissa lift herself high above the wall on a tangled mess of mechanical vines. She's sending deadly barbs indiscriminately at everything in her path. And already she's gaining on them again.

The phyrexian army that had been at Nissa's heels was not able to so easily get past Koth's blockade. While that was better than nothing, Nissa was the main threat and Chandra knew she would not be so easily thwarted. "You don't want to hurt her do you?" Wrenn asks Chandra.

Chandra doesn't open her mouth to answer but she has a curious look on her face at the question. Perhaps that's not it at all, she thinks. If Chandra had meant to answer the question, she never got the chance. Wrenn goes flying from Chandra's arms as she falls and lands upon the inhuman coldness of the bridge with a thud. Chandra is being suspended upside down by her ankle from one of Nissa's vines.

Wrenn finds herself in the arms of someone else, someone she has never met and is once again moving toward the tree. "Get her there!" yells Koth, who has also joined the fight against Nissa. This brave Mirrian only managed to get a few steps with her before he too was pierced through. There is another to take his place and she is now in a woman's arms. So many of them are giving their life for her... She can't help but feel guilty but there's nothing more she can do.

She's pulled from these thoughts and back into reality when the legs of the beautiful woman carrying her explode into a red mist. She's on the ground again but not for long. By the time Melira picks her up, they're actually close to realmbreaker. She's going to make it but she's afraid that she can't do it without Chanda's help.

She will need to control the flame within her while she attempts to join the invasion tree and she was counting on having Chandra there to help her. However, it didn't look like that was going to happen. Chandra is currently a hundred feet above the bridge struggling to breathe through Nissa's corded vines around her neck.

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Finally, they're at the platform where the enormous tree is rooted.

"What do I do now?" Melira asks.

"Just leave me by it, but I need help with the fire..."

"I'm sorry, I can't. But... There may something I can do," she says as she sets Wrenn down at the base of the tree.

Before Wrenn has time to ask her what she is doing Melria conjures magic about her hands and is pouring it into Wrenn. The sensation was strange but glorious. The best way she could describe it was that she felt what the forest feels when it rains. It's time. She closes her eyes as her roots begin to meld with realmbreaker.

The tree (once called something other than "the invasion tree" or "realmbreaker") fights against her presence right away. She won't be so easily turned away; Not after everything they'd been through. She pushes through to the other side and opens her eyes.

The roots of the world tree are engulfed in a lake of bubbling, pitch-black, oil. She feels the fire within her flare at the site. It's burning both her and realmbreaker alike, without discrimination. After all, to a flame, the bark is the same no matter to whom it belongs. Perhaps if Chandra was here she could at least lessen it.

She takes a deep breath and does the only thing she knows to do - She sings. The song of the dryads. The songs of the Earth. With the voice of nature itself, she sings of the oaks within the ancient Nameton and of the tall pines of Zendikar... And all the while, the steady chant of realmbreakers 1000 voices tells her she does not belong there.

The fire is burning hotter and more furious now. Just keep singing. "Something within the tree remembers what it once was. Just keep singing... Appeal to its true nature and you will find it", she tells herself. Deeper within the oily marsh of the roots she travels. "You can burn everything but me," she tries telling the flame. Her eyes are on fire now. She opens them, hoping for some relief.

There's Nissa... And what is that behind her? A streak of gold flashes across her vision, brighter and brighter. And Nissa is at the center of the inferno. The light explodes from her between her eyes and her mouth, until finally there's nothing left of her. The angel. As the roots that have been holding Chandra are no longer attached to anything, she begins to plummet to the earth.

Elspeth is there to catch her and in a fell swoop, has placed her on the platform. "Wrenn, I'm here! You're doing great," she says with a rasp. I am? Wrenn thinks. Too bad it doesn't feel like it. Parts of her physical form are wilting and turning to ash now. "Do you remember what we talked about on Dominaria?" Chandra asks.

It's like... Breathing, she remembers. Yes. Things are starting to change here within the tree. Some colors are emerging and the agony of the fire is somewhat less now. Red, orange, and even some green start to become visible. This should feel like Spring but somehow it feels more like Autumn instead. The colors are at constant war with the churning oil and the oil seems to be winning.

Then, hiding amid the tangled roots is the visage of a boy. He looks terrified. Wrenn opens her mouth and begins to sing her invitation - Flames pour from her mouth as she sings in a trembling voice. Outside, she can hear the battle rage on. The crunch of Mirran bone, the sound of shredding phyrexian metal.

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Oil and brambles cover the face she saw just a moment before. I mustn't lose that trace green. She sings with everything she has as Chandra words support... Her voice sounds very far away now but it's still comforting. Finally, deep within the perpetual sea of blackness, there's something. A sapling - Small, and fresh; Its tiny leaves wilting from the death all around it.

Wrenn tries to control the fire once again and has more success. With the brave little sliver of what remains of the original tree clinging so hard to life courage wells up inside of her. She pushes and creates a burning path of fire across the lake of oil which lights her path to the small plant. Her path is clear but realmbreaker is doing everything in its power to obstruct it. Great waves of oil now crash all around them and the darkness calls to her "Join us. Abandon this folly. Join us. Come to the darkness" the voices say in an overlapping cacophonous chorus.

The sapling is terrified when she reaches it. The oil is inching ever closer with every landing wave. "What would Koth do," she thinks. He'd create a shield. With that, pillars of fire manifest and become the bark of great trees around them. The branches and vines intertwine and form a barrier between them and the pitch. In the recesses of their enclosure, they're safe for the moment but only the fire sustains their life here - Otherwise, it's cold, dark, and dead. Wrenn isn't certain whether the tiny thing will be able to grow here. Being around his own kind, he feels stronger at least. There's nothing left to do but try. Hopefully, he'll understand.

She reaches out to embrace the fragile thing. She extends and feels happiness and life spring up within her. The song is louder and clearer now and everything is green! "Hello, Eight, she says. Let's go find Teferi.

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The growth of hundreds of years happens all at once. Joined with Eight, she can scale the branches to an unfathomable height, leaving the bubbling pool of oil far below her. She had known that Eight's branches held many planes together but seeing it was different. She felt like a single star in the vastness of the universe. If what she was seeing of the different planes as she barreled past wasn't so terrible, it would be quite beautiful.

Every glimpse that comes before her eyes is the same - Men dying beneath the feet of machines. Human faces contorted with pain and leaking blood as they tried to defend their holmes. In every direction, there is nothing but death and carnage. Plane after plane, wartorn and on the brink of collapse. Everywhere she looks is a hideous theatre of war.

They blink past her as she guides Eight toward their goal. A hidden place that lies outside the devastation. Even though she doesn't know for certain how to get there, it's not hard to direct Eight. Exactly how long she is adrift like this, Wrenn doesn't know. But before long she arrives exactly where she needs to be.

And just as she thought, the plane isn't war-torn and corrupted. Instead, Zhalfir is full of healthy trees and sunlight. Wrenn sees a group of people huddled under a tree. They're listening to a speech being made by a regal-looking woman and at her side is Teferi. Wrenn isn't sure how she's supposed to go about getting his attention without a physical form though. After some thought, she screams, "Teferi!."

Not only does this get his attention but the attention of every warrior and mage present, as well as the queen. Teferi is the only one who isn't shocked. Placing his hand on the queen's shoulder to comfort her, he steps through the crowd. Eight opens a portal and Wrenn can see her own firey reflection in Teferi's eyes.

"Hello, old friend. I'm surprised you found me here. This must me we don't have much time?"

Wrenn's heart was warmed that he'd remembered her voice so easily. "That's right."

"Well, tell me what I can do to help," Teferi says, looking slightly more concerned than before.

"It's New Phyrexia. The battle is raging there and the enemy has us greatly outnumbered. It won't be long before we fall. I need a great hero," she tells him.

"I'm looking at a great hero," he replies. "It took me decades to find this place and it took you such a short time. I'm impressed"

Wrenn can feel herself constantly being pulled back to where she came from. Like she is attached to a tether that is pulled taut. She is managing to fight against it for now but she wouldn't be able to forever. Especially not when she begins to try and move everyone through the portal. What will happen then, she did not know. But the warmth she was feeling from Eight tells her that she would be ok with whatever happened.

In the seemingly short bit of time that Wrenn is pulled away from the conversation, an army has amassed itself behind Teferi. Even with his forces, the phyrexians will still have the numbers but these warriors are armored and brave and there are many mages amongst them as well This will be our greatest chance at victory.

"Teferi, please. There isn't much time."

He nods and makes his way toward the portal.

"Not just you... Bring your friends too."

"Wrenn, the effort it'd take to do that..."

"I know. But I want to do it. Please, bring as many as you can. I'll find some other way to get you through and live."

The warriors seem to answer for him by moving up in ranks their shields overlapping.

Teferi sends out the call and many answered, ready to rush into New Phyrexia. To make it happen she will try to bend the space between Zhalfir and New Phyrexia and move everyone across while the two touch. She has been so disappointed that she's been unable to help in the fight - No matter what happened, she could at least be proud of this.

"It was so nice to see you, Teferi. I hope I will remember it in whatever form I end up," Wrenn says.

Teferi smiles in a way that only makes everything hurt worse. "Whatever remains of me will always remember my friend, Wrenn," he says. "You're a hero whose name precedes her."

Her vision starts to go dark and the cold creeps up on her once again. She didn't know what was about to happen or where she would go but it won't be New Phyrexia. And that makes her happy. She could die happy dying anywhere but there. It's time to go.

4

On New Phyrexia, even Elspeth's holy blade is growing weary. Her attacks are coming with less power and her blocks are becoming less certain. The wall that Koth constructed is nearly in shambles and the mechanical forces bettering it showed no sign of relenting no matter how many stones he hurled at them. He too was beyond tired and he knows the wall will not hold.

In fact, the massive war machine that Elesh Norn has ordered be brought to the front line was scarcely needed, it seems. With every blow the wall received, it crumbles more. Until, for a moment, everything stops. A portal openes before the phyrexian army and what they see freezes them in place. Green grass, bright sunlight, and an army. At its helm is Teferi and he was ready for war.

 Chapter 4

The Angel's Call

This was not the first time the angels of New Capenna have taken up arms against the phyrexians. Centuries ago, they fought against the original invasion and had remained vigilant about the threat ever since. Even still, it isn't just Capenna that is in trouble now, it's the entire multiverse. Luckily, they are here to answer the call.

1

Capenna is in shambles. Blood, broken glass, and corpses litter the streets and clog the gutters. The dead are crushed beneath the massive wheels of the war machines as they carve their path through the city. The angels that protect the plane are not the only angels here - Atraxa, a monstrosity of a creature, cuts people down by the hundreds with her great sickle.

Atraxa's hubris and her inability to see the worth of the small is her undoing - Failing to see the power of those she deems beneath herself. While she has laid waste to the city, the architects whose family had set the very groundwork for Cappena were meticulously undoing it from beneath her. New Cappena is, after all, built on top of what remained of Old Cappena. Bolt by bolt, and screw by screw, those thought too small to be a threat are detaching the city itself from its base.

Atraxa is so deep within the city and so set about her tasks that she doesn't even notice the city collapsing around her until it's too late. Despite the angels and the demons who have for the time being decided to fight alongside them, it was the city itself that kills Atraxa. With a roar like that of a felled god or the explosion of a dying star, the earth opens to swallow the city and the corrupted angel along with it. While it was far from mourning, the angels can tell that phyrexia is well aware of her death.

Phyrexia ripples with the death of a praetor - The sting of failure is not something Elesh Norn enjoys. Even realmbreaker seems to feel the loss and many of the invading limbs lose some of their grip and slink back to where they came from. When they retreat, they also leave the path between New Capenna and New Phyrexia open. This is not an opportunity the angels waste. The youngest amongst them, Giada, isn't physically fighting but she is directing the flow of combat - Telling her winged brothers and sisters where they are needed. It is she who leads them through a portal and onto Theros.

They emerge high above a blood-red sea that was once blue and green - They feel no fear, no uncertainly, no pause—they simply do as their instincts tell them. What they were made to do; They protect the multiverse. And Theros could desperately use the help. Several of them quickly subdue a massive sea beast while the nearby sailors perform the coup de gras.

If there's one thing the seraphs recognize when they see it, it's a God. And the thing coming before them wielding the furious heat of the sun, is certainly a God. However, corrupted as he is, Heliod is far from his usual self. Much like Atraxa, he is failing to see how dangerous a very small creature could be. He never notices Kaya approaching closer and closer - Until she drives her dagger into his throat, that is. Luckily for her, the vicious spray of black oil from his wound misses her.

Plane after plane, the legions of angels deliver succor to the dying and help stem the tide of the mechanized onslaught. With each realm they pass, moving at the speed of light, they come closer and closer to the heart of the threat. Giada knows that any angels that go to New Phyrexia will not be coming back. And that's a price worth paying.

2

Teferi and the Zhalfirins march upon phyrexia. With spear, and sword, and staff and stead they plunge into the sea of steel and porcelain with glee. The Zhalfirins are not a culture that wants war but when it is upon them and the cause just, they fight it with elation. Fighting against the phyrexian's the warriors and the mages have smiles upon their faces. The charge surges forward, just as Koth's wall falls.

Koth looks out onto the gathered forces. His expression is hard to read - Anger, happiness, and sorrow are all present on his face. "Let's make sure Phyrexia never forgets us. Mirrans, make your marks!" Whatever Mirrans remained heard his call and jump into the melee. Blow after blow, slash after slash, Teferi and his forces backed by Koth and his forces beat against the machines. Many among the ranks chant in unison:

"You cannot break..."

"what has been woven together!"

Teferi leads the assault himself, riding on his stead and waving his staff high in the air. Everything that comes within his path slows as it reaches him - Swears, arrows, chunks of metal, sprays of blood, and oil slow to a creep as they enter the cloud of magic. His fellow soldiers pluck these weapons from the air and hurl them back at those who had cast them.

Even Teferi is not infallible though and his concentration is put to the test when Vorinclex lunges from seemingly nowhere into the forcefield protecting Teferi - He enters the time field with such force that he nearly makes it to the stead. However, even the great Praetor is slowed to crawl. While the sight brings a smirk to the face of Chandra and Koth, the unexpected appearance of Vorinclex is enough to break his focus for a moment. And that single moment is it all takes.

Vorinclex rips the face off of Teferi's stead, sending him tumbling to the ground. Immediately the massive praetor is on top of him and lets out a roar that has proceeded the ending of many lives. "Look behind you," Teferi says calmly. Vorinclex turns his head around slightly as a woman behind him removes it from his shoulders. The woman gives him a hand up and dashes back into a battle with a second.

It's then that he sees Elspeth, hovering nearby. And seeing her in this new state helps to quell the concern that was building within him for a moment.

"You'll have to be more careful," she says flatly.

Despite being in the middle of the battlefield, he greets her with a smile. "I'm happy you're here." While his words are genuine, something about her is different from before, and he doesn't quite know what to make of her. That's ok. She was still a friend and still a great warrior. Instead of awaiting her response, he asks what her battle plans are.

"I'll handle Nissa. I need you to stall Jin-Gitaxias and Elesh Norn. My sisters have given us a gift. The oil cannot infect you so long as they are with us. Make the most of it while we have it."

"Understood."

Wrenn bringing the planes together as she did had major consequences. It seems that Zhalfir was trying to take the place of phyrexia in the multiverse. The top of the inner sanctum is cracking and sends chunks of stone plummeting to the ground below - Anyone or anything unlucky enough to be caught underneath them is reduced to not much more than a stain, be it blood or oil.

Statues crumble, the earth quakes, towers topple and vats containing incubating creations saturated in oil crack and birth their horrors upon the ground. These are the death throes of a dying plane, thinks Teferi. And it's screaming with its dying breath.

To his right, Elesh Norn towers above the soldiers below her. Her armor is chinked, cracked, and downright missing in places. Despite this, and the fact that her slithering, sinewy, flesh is exposed, she throws machines and men alike over the precipices to either side of her.

"What I've built will last forever!" she screams. "Phyrexia will never die. You're only delaying fate. Why can't you understand that? Why won't you accept it?!"

Keeping with the plan laid out by Elspeth, he commands his forces to focus their effort on the Mother of Machines. On his word, weapons of steal and wood and every kind of magic amongst their forces are hurled at her. She staggers and swoons on her feet, shocked at the attack. "Why aren't any of you protecting me!? I am Phyrexia!" she screams at the army about her.

For a moment, they answer the call to arms - That is until Jin-Gitaxias speaks from atop his massive war machine. "Your ego is a tumor and sours whatever talent you have. New Phyrexia has evolved and no longer needs you."

Teferi isn't surprised to see them turn against one another but he is pleased. It will only make our job easier. Then the boom of a planeswalker arriving pulls him from his thoughts. It's Ajani, who's badly wounded and who now stands between Jin-Gitaxias and Elesh Norn.

"Phyrexia must remain united, or it will fall.", he growls.

"You?" Jin-Gitaxias sneers. "Stay out of the way. Behind you is the true enemy of phyrexia."

Without warning Jin-Gitaxias's armies descend upon Norn and Ajani alike. Swarming like insects they claw and hack at what armor she has left. Even overwhelmed as she is, she crushes scores of them with great might. Likewise, Ajani rends them with his axe, his claws, and finally his teeth. Despite his vigor, he is eventually brought down. And without knowing exactly why, Teferi commands his men to intervene and take Ajani captive, alive.

They do as they're bid but their efforts bring them to the attention Jin-Gitaxias, who is less than impressed. "Is this the best you've got?", he says. And with a gesture, he sets all sorts of things in motion on the war machine. Blades emerge and threaten the lives of many of the surrounding soldiers under his command. Teferi makes a break for the machine. The mere moment that he's able to slow time around him is enough - As Jin continues to command in slow motion, several of the soldiers are able to land fatal blows upon the Praetor, ultimately caving in his head.

Jin-Gitaxias being devoured by his own creations is a fitting end but that makes it no less grotesque. He surveys his surroundings and locates the portal through which they had entered. It was smaller now, and the edges were starting to fray. He gives the call for the majority of the forces to retreat while they could. And he himself makes for it as well.

At the ever-shrinking portal, he can see his lush homeland on the other side. Teferi, Chandra, Koth, and what remains of the planeswalking Golem Karn are present at the threshold and are helping to see the last of the forces to safety. He also sees what remains of Wrenn clinging to the tree - At this point, all that is left is little more than a pile of ash. However, upon closer examination, there's something small within the white ash pile. An acorn.

This could grow and do very well in Zhalfir. Quietly, he plucks it from the pile and puts it into his pocket.

"I'd consider leaving while you still can", says Koth.

"No. I left a plane with a job half done once before and swore I'd never do it again."

Resigned to staying, he brings his eyes down on Karn; Who is still alive, but has more of him missing than present. He can only imagine how terrible the phyrexian dissection must have been. Teferi lays a hand on Karn's shoulder. "You go on ahead.", he says to Koth.

A spear shoots toward Chandra, and she makes a move to dodge it far too late. If not for Koth creating a shield for her, she'd have been skewered. That's not like her, he thinks. And at the same time, perhaps it's for the better that Koth shows no sign of leaving. If not for him, they'd have lost Chandra just then. If Koth had seen it coming, surely Chandra could have too. And yet, she's done nothing.

"You ruined everything.", booms Nissa from above.

So, that's why she'd been distracted... Because it was Nissa.

"You're not..." Chandra begins.

"We don't have time," Koth says. "Get back through the portal."

"I... Can't. I can't leave with her like this... I know she's still herself in there."

Nissa throws another attack toward them. This time Chandra reacts and meets it with a fireball. "If you must kill me, I'm right here.", she says. "But I know you can't."

Teferi isn't so sure.

"Will you do me a favor, Teferi?" asks Karn.

Before he can answer, Elspeth arrives in a steak of light. Without a word or a moment of hesitation, she drives her sword into the back of Nissa's head, all the way to the pommel. Nissa falls ungracefully to the ground below with a sickening, hollow thud.

Trying to keep his cool, Teferi answers "Of course, old friend," Teferi says. "What can I do to help?"

"What you do best. I just need a little time," Karn says. "I want to walk out of this place under my own power."

Time he could do. He slows things down and watches as Karn forms a new body, building it piece by piece.

In the distance, Elesh Norn crawls toward them. Battered and unarmored, she is no more than slithering. Her own army had nearly killed her but still, she prevailed. But it seems it may have taken everything she had left to give. No longer did she stand tall and proud. Even though her headpiece has been shattered still she will not die. Slowly, she makes her way toward the portal.

"We don't have too much time," Teferi says.

"We don't," agrees Karn as he opens and closes his newly built hand. "You should go ahead and go."

He looks out toward Norn. "There is something that needs to be done and I have to be the one to do it. Tell the others that we won't be long."

3

Karn's new body feels extremely heavy but that's a feeling that he's more than familiar with. He is, a Golem after all. So, being heavy is in his nature. More than that, he also knows the weight of guilt and grief and responsibility. At times, he felt heavy when he thought of his creator Urza. Other times it's the thoughts of Mirrodin that weigh him down - His failures were many.

Many others have found redemption from their pasts today though. Teferi, struggling to keep the portal open for Karn was one. He had stayed; He was seeing this through to the very - Finally making right the things he'd done wrong in his earlier years. The same is true for Elspeth - She and Karn both have been running away from Phyrexia. Until now, they've only been in search of some way to comfortably live with their failures. Today, Elspeth forged a whole new path for herself.

You can't run away from your mistakes. You have to fix them and that starts with confronting them. Elspeth earned her peace, her redemption, the hard way. Karn steps forward. Despite being frail and defeated, the voice of Elesh Norn still carries much power. Her shrieks sound as if they will wake the dead. That said, she's so nearly dead that he could probably walk through the portal and leave her to die on her own.

But he would never be sure if he did that. And if Norn lived, she'd never stop. As much as he hated violence - He couldn't allow that to happen. Years before he made a vow to cause no other living being pain or to take a life. Who was he to take a life when he was artificial? His life was no more than a gift from Urza. Venser giving his life for Karn made him take this vow all the more seriously.

Whenever possible he looked for an alternative to killing. However, where pure evil was concerned, perhaps there is no other option. To save the lives of many, he could justify taking the life of one. But he's not happy about it, still. Karn lays a hand on Norn's head. As his magic starts to work, the flesh, the porcelain, the mechanical parts, and the wires holding everything together all wither and fall away before him.

He could have asked one of the others to do this - Teferi, Chandra, Elspeth, or even Koth would have done the job. But it was his mistake to fix and he was going to do what needed to be done. This is the reason he does not look away from the burning body, even though he wants to.

When he's finished, nothing remains of the once great praetor, the Mother of Machines, Elesh Norn. He should feel great relief but doing this is a burden he'll have to bear as well. But as he looks at the carnage around him and walks toward Teferi, into his future, perhaps his steps feel just a little bit lighter than before.

Chapter 4

Homecomings

On planes all over the multiverse, phyrexian machines fall mid-fight. On Kaldheim, battered ships and their wary captains are bringing the wounded and the bodies of heroes departed toward the shores of home. The majority of the elves are celebrating a hard-fought victory. For Harald Kell though, there is a tinge of sadness as well. Tyvar was not found amongst the corpses nearby but he also hadn't resurfaced where he jumped in. Harald knew because he hadn't taken his eyes off of the area since his brother went beneath the surface.

He was passing the time (and calming his mind) by counting. At 313, Tyvar finally broke the surface of the water just left of where he'd entered it. He's carrying with him the severed head of the giant sea beast. "You will never outdo this brother!", he says with a smile. Despite knowing that the boast was likely true and despite how much he hated losing, he cheers and smiles all the same.

On Kaladesh, Pia Nalaar is guarding the Aetherflux Reservoir. At this point, her back is quite literally against the wall. Armed only with a piece of metal from the wreckage of her plane, her plan is to take as many of the enemy over the edge to her right as she can. She takes a step closer. The Soldiers before her crumble suddenly. She doesn't know exactly how, but it seems as if they've won. Someone, somewhere, did it.

Hopefully, Saheeli can fill her in later. Until then, she takes a deep breath and hopes only that her daughter Chandra is ok. No matter where she was or what had happened to her, it will not have been in vain. Kaladesh and the multiverse as a whole were safe.

 

1

The Zhalfirins commemorate most things with drums. The beats they produce can say many things. When someone passed away, there were drums. When a couple is newly married, there were different drums. Today, the drums of victory are played. Teferi hears the message but he cannot bring himself to smile - Simply put, he is mourning the loss of his friends. At the moment, Wrenn in particular.

He'd kept the acorn he retrieved from her ashes with him and for the last few days had been trying to decide where to plant it. Where would Wrenn like it? There are numerous trees in his home and he isn't sure which ones she'd prefer the company of. After his fruitless search, he finally finds a suitable spot. It's atop a hill where she would be able to see most things in town and have plenty of trees to choose from if that's how any of this worked. Teferi wasn't sure. However, he is certain that this will be the right spot for her.

From here he can hear the celebrations from town but only faintly. He sits down on the lush grass and takes a moment to reflect on Wrenn's sacrifice. None of this would have been possible if not for her. Switching Zhalfirins place in the multiverse with New Phyrexia was brilliant but it also killed her. Having succeeded means that Zhalfin was accessible by anyone seeking refuge and that whatever remained of phyrexia would be locked in the deepest recesses of the multiverse.

He begins to dig into the soft, moist earth with his hand. Once he's achieved a small hole, he places the acorn within and fills it over. "I think you'd like this music," he says. He knows, eventually that he'll have to go join the celebrations but that could wait a while. Time passes differently for Teferi. What had felt like a short time on Phyrexia to everyone else had passed like 100 years to him.

Perhaps that is why he's having a hard time feeling at home upon his return. After all, it has been a very long time since he's been here, at least to him. A few more minutes away wouldn't hurt.

 

2

Teferi makes his way into the portion of the healer's ward where Kaya, Koth, Chandra, Melira, Karn, Ajani, and Nissa are located. There has still been no word of Jace or Vivian. Ajani and Nissa have not done much more than blink their eyes since being brought in. Melira was conscious but was in very bad shape. He hated to admit it to himself but she wouldn't likely be with them much longer. He knew the distinct smell of a festering wound upon her all too well.

There had been much talk of what to do about Ajani and Nissa - Most of the metal had been removed from their body but they'd still not regained consciousness, and if they did who knows what that would be like. As optimistic as ever, Chandra wouldn't give up hope that there was something that could be done. Koth on the other hand was of the opinion that "You have to stop holding on to a fairy tall." The tension was high and arguments were frequent but often quickly resolved.

He comes first to Melira, who calls him over to her weakly. "Can you do something for me?", she asks.  "I think . . . I think I have an idea for fixing the two of them but I'll need you and Karn."

"They're gone, Melira," says Koth quietly but firmly.

As long as we can cleanse their bodies, they should be okay," she says.

"Let's hear the plan," Teferi says.

Melira takes frequent breaks as they discuss what would need to happen for this to work. By the end of the conversation, Teferi is convinced it may work. But he's certain that Melira and possibly even Karn wouldn't survive.

Slowly and quietly Karm speaks to Melira, "Just to be clear, first, you're going to cleanse their bodies against further infection. Then I'm going to pull their sparks out. And use Venser's spark to... filter them, like Venser talked about. Then I'll bring them back and you'll clean them before I place them back inside."

"That's right," she says weakly. Teferi knew nothing of Venser's theory on filtering sparks but Karn seemed to think it was possible, so he had faith.

"Ok, can we do this outside?... I want to be outside when this happens." Honoring this final request was the least they could do. The night is warm as Teferi, Karn, Koth, Chandra, and Kaya step into it carrying Melira, Ajani, and Nissa. Nissa and Ajani are placed on prepared blankets with Melira between them and Karn kneeling at their heads.

His role in this isn't hard. Actually, he has the easiest job. He'll be creating a time bubble around them so that the time which passes while the walkers are without their sparks is not lethal. "Is everyone ready?"

He takes a deep breath. Everything around him begins to fade away and distort. Time itself is creeping to a near standstill. The entire process happens between two beats of a drum. Karn is first. Thrusting his fingers into the metal portions of the bodies, he pulls something shimmering and bright from within.

A similar light leaks from the plates in his chest. "Together, Venser," he says.

A commotion happens next that almost breaks Teferi's concentration. Almost but not quite. Karn takes the two orbs within him as Melira takes the hands of Ajani and Nissa. She, too, begins to glow and passes whatever that glow is onto the others.

Ajani stirs first as the light pulses through him. Another boom and the two orbs are back in Karn's massive hands - One whole and pristine, one not.

The broken orb is Nissa's and everyone's heart sinks. It's flickering. Actually, pieces of it are flaking off and turning to dust before him in slow motion. To watch the decay happen is painful.

Kaya helps Melira up so that she can reach the orbs. A single touch and a of light moves throughout them. Together with Karn, they manage to wrangle the sparks into their hosts. Teferi lets the spell fall. He's exhausted but that's not important. From his knees, he looks up at the others.

Ajaini gasps and sits straight up despite his injuries. "...Where am I?"

"Zhalfir," says Kaya.

"Zhalfir? That's not possible," he says confused. Before he can argue further, he slumps back over to the ground and is asleep before anyone can say anything. And that's all the better. Teferi is rather speechless as he looks over at Nissa... And Karn. The Golem is slumped forward with a missive hand to his massive chest. The lights within him are dim now compared to before.

"Are you all right?" Teferi calls.

"I feel empty," Karn says. "I will miss Venser, but I'm happy to have helped."

"She's dead," Koth says as he pulls Melira into his lap. Whether he's making no effort to hide his emotions or he simply cannot contain them, Teferi doesn't know. Either way, his tears are plain for all to see. Kaya lays a hand on his shoulder. Teferi has no words that will ease this pain, so he says nothing. Companionship will have to be enough.

Off to the side, Chandra shakes Nissa, with her panic growing by the second. "What happened? Why isn't she awake yet? Her spark... The flashing... And, the ashes..."

"Something went wrong," Teferi says. He means to continue but no more words come.

They had all known that failure was a possibility but perhaps Chandra had not allowed herself to believe it before now. Just because this was the only option they had, doesn't mean it was a good one. Sometimes desire, will, heart and even training were not enough to make the impossible possible. And that was a very bitter pill to swallow.

"Chandra...?"

To see the despair turn to glee on Chandra's face was amazing - The happiness as she clutched Nissa close and to see Nissa embrace her back was even more beautiful. This makes everything worth fighting for. This is what they'd gone to war for, what Verser had given his spark for, and what Melira had given her life for. For moments like this.

"I'm right here," Chandra says. She presses her lips to Nissa's and kisses her "And I'm not going anywhere." That's great as far as Teferi is concerned because he thinks he'll be staying put for a while as well. And he'd love to be among friends.

Conclusion

There you have it my friends, the conclusion to the March of the Machine story summary. I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Now, with the story complete, you can appreciate the art, card names, flavor texts, and mechanics of the set as well as the gameplay when prerelease rolls around.