The various guild forces maintained their uneasy perimeter around the beam, but I could feel the tension building. The soldiers from different factions eyed each other with barely concealed hostility, their old grudges and the recent battles still too fresh to ignore, despite the temporary truce.
An Azorius captain stepped forward from the cordon, her white and blue armour dazzling in the beam's light. "This working definetly bears the signature of Izzets experimentations getting loose. Their usual reckless application of magic without proper thought of safety. I demand an immediate explanation from any Izzet personnel present."
One of the Izzet mages, a goblin whose robes had more scorch marks than fabric, bristled at the accusation. "You think this bears the Izzet signature? You're seeing what you want to see, Lawmage. This has Dimir written all over it. The shadow magic, suppression fields, and targeting planeswalkers specifically? That's so classic of House Dimir, and not our work."
A figure emerged from the shadows near the perimeter, wearing the dark leathers typical of Dimir operatives. A mask obscured their face, but their voice carried amusement. "How convenient it is to blame the guild of secrets when something mysterious occurs. Perhaps the Azorius themselves orchestrated this to justify increasing oversight and control. You've been clamoring for expanding your authority since the war began."
"That's absurd," the Azorius captain snapped. "We operate within the established legal guidelines with the permission of all the guilds. We don't conduct unauthorised magical workings recklessly without consensus."
A Selesnya elf spoke up, her voice soothing, as she tried to prevent escalation. "Making accusations without evidence will serve us no purpose. We should pool our knowledge and determine the beacon's origin together rather than playing the blame game."
"You want collaboration, ha!" A Gruul warrior laughed, the sound harsh and mocking. "The only thing your precious collaboration has achieved is ten thousand years of the strong being shackled by the weak. This beacon is probably Selesnya's doing, trying to trap powerful beings to force them into your collective."
"That makes no sense," the elf replied with strained patience. "Our philosophy is voluntary unity, not forced imprisonment, so why would we create something that contradicts our core principles?"
The Izzet goblin jumped back into the argument with manic energy. "Maybe it's the Orzhov! They're always trying to bind spirits and souls to their contracts. Trapping planeswalkers for some debt scheme would be exactly their style."
"That is preposterous!" said a voice from the shadows where no Orzhov representative had been visible moments before, and a figure in ornate robes stepped forward, their appearance suggesting wealth. "The Orzhov Syndicate conducts its business through legal contracts and mutual agreements. We do not need crude magical traps when proper contracts and leverage achieve way superior results."
Lots of people stepping out from shadows I thought in amusement.
The arguments spiraled outward, each guild accusing others while defending themselves. Voices rose, and hands moved toward weapons. Red mana, blue mana and green mana began crackling around various combatants as tempers flared beyond the breaking point.
I'd had enough.
"That's enough!" I let my voice carry the full weight of my divine authority, cutting through the raised voices like a blade. Every eye turned toward me, and I could feel the various mages' attention focusing on the power I'd just revealed. "You're all acting like children fighting over who broke a vase while the house burns down around you. Someone has created this beacon, someone powerful enough and organized enough to establish a planar suppression field that's trapping travelers. That someone is probably laughing at you right now while you waste time pointing fingers instead of addressing the actual threat."
The Azorius captain opened her mouth to object, but I continued before she could speak.
"Here's what's going to happen. Each of you is going to send word to your guild leaders immediately and get them here, get them talking to each other like adults instead of having their subordinates bicker in the streets. Go on, and form a unified response to an existential threat to your entire planet. Because right now, while you're busy accusing each other, whoever set this trap is moving forward with whatever plan required imprisoning planeswalkers in the first place."
Razia stepped up beside me, adding his authority to mine. "The planeswalker is right. This is bigger than our guild politics or old grudges. We need the leadership here, not commanders and captains throwing accusations. I'll send word to Aurelia immediately."
The various commanders looked at each other, some resentful of being lectured, others thoughtful as they processed what I'd said. Finally, the Azorius captain nodded curtly. "I'll contact Grand Arbiter Dovin Baan. Though I suspect he's already aware of this situation and coordinating a response."
"I'll reach out to Prime Speaker Vannifar," the Selesnya elf said. "She was conducting research in the Simic laboratories, but she'll want to be informed."
One by one, the other representatives agreed to summon their leadership. Messengers were dispatched, communication crystals were activated, and the various factions settled into a tense wait while maintaining their defensive perimeters.
I turned my attention back to the beacon itself, continuing to study it with every sense I possessed. The structure was complex, almost beyond anything I'd encountered. Layers of interwoven magic, each one serving a different function. The suppression field that prevented dimensional travel. The calling signal that pulled planeswalkers toward Ravnica. Something deeper existed beneath those surface functions, but I couldn't perceive it clearly through all the interference.
There's a barrier around the source, I realized, extending my divine senses as far as they could reach. Physical or magical or both, designed to prevent anyone from reaching the actual casting location.
"Razia," I said. "We should test the beacon's defences. To see if we can get close enough to disrupt it or at least gather better intelligence about what we're dealing with."
He considered that, then nodded. "I understand. But if we're going to hit it, we hit it hard and fast. No sense giving whoever's controlling this thing advance warning that we're testing their defenses."
We moved forward together, leaving the perimeter behind and advancing toward the beam's origin point. Other commanders joined us after a moment's hesitation, bringing their strongest mages and warriors. A coordinated force would serve us better than individual efforts.
The beam's light grew more intense as we approached, the power radiating from it making even the most experienced mages flinch. I could feel it pressing against my divine essence like a physical weight, trying to force me back.
We got within perhaps a hundred yards before we encountered the barrier.
It was invisible until something touched it, at which point it flared with brilliant white light that outlined its structure. It looked like a dome beam encompassing an area approximately two hundred yards in diameter. The surface rippled like water beneath my hand, but it didn't yield.
"This is very impressive," one of the Izzet mages said in admiration. "It looks like a multi-layered defensive structure with an adaptive response capabilities. Probably keyed to reject hostile intent while allowing passive observation. It is very sophisticated work."
"Can you break it?" Razia asked bluntly.
"Maybe. I don't know. Given time, resources, and several other Izzet mages working in concert. But not quickly and not quietly."
I placed both hands against the barrier, channeling divine power into my arms and shoulders. The barrier resisted, flexing slightly but holding firm. I pushed harder, divine strength that could level any buildings straining against magical defences.
The barrier held without apparent effort.
I pulled back, frustrated. Whoever created this knew what they were doing. This isn't amateur work or hastily improvised defences. This was planned, tested, and refined over a very long time. I tested my hammer next, and it bounced off as well.
Razia tried next, quickly wasting no time in between, his sword blazing with red and white mana as he struck the barrier with everything he had. The impact sent shockwaves through the air and light erupting in all directions, but when the flash faded, the barrier remained intact and undamaged.
The Azorius captain attempted a dispelling ritual, a carefully structured white-and-blue ritual designed to unravel enchantments. The barrier absorbed the spell without even flickering.
A Gruul warrior charged it with a massive axe, roaring a battle cry that shook nearby buildings. The axe bounced off the barrier like it had struck solid adamantine, and the warrior stumbled backwards, cursing.
One by one, the strongest representatives from each guild tested the barrier with their best attacks or most sophisticated magic. One by one and together as well, they failed to produce any visible effect on its structure.
I gathered power in both hands, channeling divine energy that I'd been carefully restraining since my arrival. Fire, metal and creative forces, the essence of what I was distilled into pure destructive potential. I slammed both palms against the barrier simultaneously, releasing enough energy to vaporise a multiple wide city blocks.
Anymore power and if it backfired then ravnica might be no more.
The barrier shuddered. The light flickered for just a moment. Then it stabilised, and I felt defensive countermeasures activating within the structure.
"Back!" I shouted, throwing myself away from the barrier.
Lightning erupted from the dome's surface, arcing toward everyone who'd tested its defences. I raised a shield of divine energy, protecting myself and Razia from the worst of it. Others weren't as fortunate, several soldiers cried out as the electricity caught them before they could retreat.
The healers rushed forward immediately, tending to the wounded while the rest of us regrouped at a safer distance.
"Well," the Izzet goblin said cheerfully despite having been knocked on her rear by the counterattack. "At least we learned that it has active defences keyed to respond after sustained assault. That's very valuable."
"It nearly killed half a dozen people," the Azorius captain said, sneering. "This is why Izzet experimentations require oversight and safety handlers."
"Not now," Razia said before the argument could restart. "We've established that we can't break through with brute force. We need a different approach, which means we need leadership with broader authority and resources. Until then, we maintain the perimeter and document everything we observe."
I stared at the barrier, mind racing through possibilities. The structure is way too perfect and too adaptive. Something is actively controlling it, adjusting its properties rapidly in response to threats.
Before I could pursue that line of thinking further, something changed.
The beacon's light pulsed, brighter than before, and I felt a surge of power ripple through the suppression field. Space twisted near the beam's base, folding in on itself.
A figure materialised in the plaza's air, emerging from a portal. They fell perhaps twenty feet before catching themselves with a burst of flame that arrested their momentum and lowered them gently to the cobblestones.
A young woman, perhaps in her early twenties, with distinctive red hair that contained actual fire within its strands. She wore goggles pushed up on her forehead and leather-and-metal armour designed for mobility. Her hands already glowed with gathering flame as she scanned the assembled forces with quick movements.
"Where am I? What plane is this? And who's responsible for that beacon?" Her voice carried fury. "Because I'm about to burn their face off!"
Michael's memories supplied some information on her. This wasChandra Nalaar. The Pyromancer. One of the Gatewatch.
More portals opened around the plaza as other planeswalkers arrived, pulled by the beacon against their will. Some caught themselves gracefully, others crashed to the ground, cursing. Each one looked around with confusion and anger, each one realizing immediately that they'd been trapped.