She trudged up the lane in ill-fitting shoes.
If I get a blister, someone’s going to die for it.
There was the sign, hanging from the roof. The Fiddler’s Inn. No actual words, of course. Just a crude wooden carving of a goblin child playing a violin.
Underwhelming.
She went up to the gate and took a deep breath before entering. Then she unlatched it and proceeded across a small courtyard, containing a few empty wooden tables and benches and a bit of broken glass. At the inn’s front door, she took another deep breath, turned the knob and proceeded inside. The door slapped across a dented bell hung from the doorpost by a thin strip of iron. Its off-pitch ding summoned an old goblin from the back room. He honked his large nose into a handkerchief—and by this time, the woman felt mildly blessed the goblin used one at all.
Still, try not to touch anything.
Without a word, he climbed up onto a stool behind the front desk and handed her the registry to sign. She noticed that most of the other signatures were simply “X.”
Obviously, it’s a high-class joint with a high-class clientele.
Of course, given how she was currently dressed—like a Caligo peasant—she probably fit right in. With some reluctance, she picked up the frayed quill, dipped it in the leaky inkwell and signed the registry, “Ana Iora.”
Ana Iora?
The goblin stuffed the soiled handkerchief behind his large pointed ear, stuck two ink-stained fingers in his mouth and whistled. Minutes later Ana was being escorted up the stairs to her room by a small yellowish-green goblin. She had no luggage.
Not a Spirit-Gem or a Chain Veil to my name.
She did have a minuscule diamond, allowing her to tip the young goblin well…but not so well as to attract any undue attention. The door soon shut, leaving Ana alone with her thoughts, which weren’t exactly fantastic company at the moment. She wondered why she’d picked that name. Ana, of course, was the given name of her former mentor, back when Liliana was a child on a path to becoming a healer. But she had no idea where Iora had come from; it had just popped into her head. In any case, “Liliana Vess” was dead and must remain so. And Ana Iora was as good a name as any.
So Ana Iora looked around her new room and was not impressed. But she needed to lay low for now, which meant lowering her expectations.
Besides, this particular inn wasn’t exactly my choice…
She remembered the ravens gathering on the roof of the House of Vess, making her anxious. She waited for the proverbial other shoe to drop. For the Raven Man to make his unwanted appearance. Meanwhile, Liliana had again lost sight of the strange young girl known as Rat.
Where had she gone?
Liliana quickly realized Rat hadn’t gone anywhere. As the boy had warned, when Liliana’s thoughts had wandered (to the Raven Man), she’d lost focus on the girl, causing her to fade from consciousness. Liliana concentrated again on where she knew the girl should be, and Rat came back into focus. Liliana had a flash of recognition then, realizing that she had actually—in those few short seconds—forgotten what Rat had looked like. Even the sound of Rat’s voice was tinged with a sense of recovering something Liliana had misplaced within her mind. The girl was saying she was positive that Liliana belonged with their small group. She had convinced Teyo—not a difficult task, as he gazed at Rat the way Jace once gazed at Liliana. But Rat had even convinced the older, worldlier Kaya.
Nine Hells, she’s even halfway to convincing me.
Liliana felt a strange connection to Rat for some reason. Perhaps it was merely that the girl had tossed her the Spirit-Gem that had connected her to the Spirit Dragon. Or maybe it was that Rat believed in Liliana with such preposterous certainty.
But maybe there’s more to it…
Liliana had to admit—to herself, at least—that she’d held the Spirit-Gem before, and it hadn’t sent or linked Ugin to her until after she had received it from Rat.
Had the girl activated it, somehow? What did Ugin say—that the child sacrificed something?
Kaya intruded on Liliana’s thoughts then, saying, “We need to think this through. I was contracted by the guilds to kill Liliana Vess, and—”
Rat piped in: “Well, you already killed a Liliana Vess.”
Kaya and Liliana both rolled their eyes at that—then noticed their similar reactions. They perhaps had more in common than either would prefer to admit.
And neither of us knows quite what to do with that knowledge.
Kaya shook off that concern and said, “I don’t care about the money the guilds were paying for the hit.” Then she qualified her statement, “Or I don’t care about it much.”
“We don’t need money. Think of all the diamonds,” Rat said.
“Diamonds?” Liliana asked, feeling a bit at sea.
Kaya waved off the question. “The point is, it’s not about the money. Not killing Liliana could hurt the Orzhov. Besides, if I don’t return with proof of her death, the guilds’ll simply hire another Planeswalker assassin to do the job.”
Liliana admitted, “There are plenty of those…and plenty of other Planeswalkers who’d love to kill me for their own reasons. Even free of charge.”
Teyo hesitantly cleared his throat and suggested, “What if—what if we used the Chain Veil as proof? I couldn’t help noticing that you were much…darker when you put it on. Maybe it isn’t good for your redemption?”
Liliana found herself jumping to deny that: “The Chain Veil is a minor tool for focusing my power. I have no reason to give it up.”
Rat stated simply, “That’s not true.”
Liliana remembered that the girl was psychic—and in a more intuitive, less intrusive way than Jace Beleren.
Which makes her less powerful…and more dangerous.
Rat looked Liliana straight in the eye. “It’s not a mere tool, is it?”
Liliana again found herself struggling with her answer. Finally, she blurted out, “No. It’s cursed and very dangerous. Perhaps keeping the Chain Veil is my penance.”
Rat gave her the stink-eye and said, “Or is that just your excuse to hold on to its power?”
Which, of course, is perfectly true.
Almost inevitably, the Onakke spirits began whispering to her then: Vessel, this is not the time to part with us. Do not surrender the Veil, but rather surrender yourself to the Veil. Surrender yourself to us.
That was bad enough, but then the ravens in the trees cawed, followed by the voice of the Raven Man: Do not be a fool, Liliana Vess. You cannot seriously be considering this.
“Are you all right?” Teyo asked.
She turned to the boy. He was staring at her with what might have been real concern.
Would I know real concern if I saw it?
Kaya also stared at Liliana. Rat, too, once Liliana managed to refocus her back into existence. It seemed clear they couldn’t hear either the Raven Man or the spirits. The former warned, There are dangers ahead, Liliana. I can see them even if you cannot. Without the Veil, you will surely perish.
“With the Veil,” Liliana said out loud to both the Raven Man and her new companions, “I was ready to perish.” With something akin to physical pain, Liliana began to mentally divest herself of the Chain Veil, which suddenly seemed like a clear first step on her path of choosing redemption over power.
They were still staring at her.
She said, “You’re right about one thing. The Veil would make excellent proof of my death: No one would ever believe that Liliana Vess would give up its power except over her dead body.”
“Plus,” Rat pointed out, “if anyone comes to Dominaria to check, they’ll learn Liliana Vess did die here.”
Liliana removed the Chain Veil from the purse at her side. Even now, the temptation to don it was palpable, intense. She croaked out, “I have to admit I’ve never been able to get rid of it before. When I’ve tried, it felt like I was dying.”
Rat said, “I think you have to want to, you know?”
Do I want to?
No, Vessel, drink us in…
Liliana, don’t be a fool…
Yes, damnit, I do want to!
And just then the Spirit-Gem in her other hand began to glow, brighter and brighter and brighter. They all shielded their eyes. In fact, Liliana involuntarily raised the Veil itself to shield her eyes. Then with a last bright FLASH, the Spirit-Gem disappeared from her hand, startling Liliana so much that she actually dropped the Veil onto the patch of dead grass at her feet.
And somehow Liliana knew that she had indeed detached herself from the Veil—but only after she herself made the choice to get rid of it.
And yes, admittedly I had a little help from the Spirit-Gem.
Rat was staring at Liliana’s empty hands.
“I did it,” Liliana said to reassure her. “I’m no longer connected to the Veil. I can feel the difference.”
And thankfully, I can’t hear the Onakke anymore!
Rat said mournfully, “But…where’s Mister Egg?”
“What? Oh. I don’t know. It just…disappeared. Perhaps it returned to Ugin.”
“Ugin?”
“Never mind.”
“Never mind. Right.”
Strangely, the girl looked positively crushed. It occurred to Liliana that maybe Rat had felt the power of the Spirit-Gem when she had held it in her hands, and maybe she liked that power a bit too much. It was probably a good thing that “Mister Egg” was gone.
Last thing I want is for Rat to go down that path. My path.
Even now, Liliana hardly felt like she was off the path.
But maybe, just maybe, I took a step in the right direction…
She hadn’t been fixed. She was still very, very broken. But her soul did feel…lighter?
All four of them were now staring down at the Veil in the grass.
Kaya started to reach for it. “Well, if this is going to be the proof—”
Liliana grabbed her hand. “You can’t touch it, or you’ll risk its curse.”
“Well, then how—?”
“Let me try,” Teyo said. He cupped one hand, spread out his fingers and created a hemisphere of light about the size of a rubber ball. Or half the size of one, anyway. With it, he scooped the Veil (and a little bit of dead grass and dirt) up off the ground and then proceeded to complete the sphere, sealing the Chain Veil within.
Briefly—just before the sphere had fully encircled the Veil—Liliana heard the Onakke one last time—screaming. They clearly didn’t care for the white mana flowing through Teyo’s magic.
Liliana warned, “I wouldn’t even keep it in your sphere for too long, lest it corrupt your magic.”
With a quick frightened nod, Teyo acknowledged her warning.
Right then, en masse, the croaking ravens flew away. All four humans turned to look, but only Liliana could hear the voice of the Raven Man echo in her mind: Our work together isn’t finished, Liliana. You’ll see me again. And soon. Then he/they was/were gone.
“So now what?” Rat said cheerfully. Liliana thought the cheerfulness was perhaps a bit forced. That the girl was perhaps still mourning the loss of the Spirit-Gem but had made a conscious decision to move on. Liliana admired her for that.
Kaya said, “Teyo, Rat and I have to return with the Veil to Ravnica and the guilds.”
“Obviously, I can’t go with you,” Liliana stated. And then, looking around, “Nor can I stay here, on Dominaria.”
Kaya asked, “Do you know the plane of Fiora?”
“I’ve been there once or twice over the last century.”
Rat asked, “How old are you?”
Liliana smiled thinly and said, “That’s not a polite question.”
It was then that Kaya told her of the Fiddler’s Inn in the Lowlands.
“Lowlands?” Liliana asked.
“The lower city of Paliano on Fiora. The three of us will meet you there in a day or so. But let me be clear. In letting you live, I have made myself responsible for anything you now do. So I warn you, Liliana, you had better be at the Fiddler’s when we arrive. Because if you’re not, I’ll know you weren’t serious about seeking any kind of redemption…in which case I will hunt you down and kill you for your crimes against Ravnica. Is that understood?”
Now, standing in her mediocre lodgings, Ana Iora tried to understand why she had come to Fiddler’s Inn in the Lowlands of Paliano on Fiora. It certainly wasn’t because Kaya’s threat had frightened her. Honestly, Liliana was more afraid of herself…and what she might do without these three to help her.
And does that make any sense?
After all, the Gatewatch had tried to redeem her. Gideon and Jace and Chandra had tried to redeem her. They had all failed.
Well, maybe Gideon succeeded just a little. Maybe.
How could Liliana Vess—or Ana Iora—possibly think these three strangers had any chance at helping her?
Not three strangers, really. Four strangers.
She was forgetting to include herself. And without a doubt, she felt like a stranger to herself right now.
Looking out the window, Liliana spotted a single raven in a tree. It abruptly flew off.
No whispers, no threats, no cawing even.
She attempted to shrug it off.
Not every raven in the Multiverse is a harbinger of the Raven Man. For all I know, it might’ve just been a crow.
She shut the heavy curtains on the daylight. She suddenly felt a desperate need for sleep.