Duel of the Gemini

Freedom

The vampires of Zendikar welcomed the return of their Queen with a celebration that lasted ten days. Great balloths were brought in from the forests for nightly feasts and the music never ceased. Sorin was no longer called Eldranis, and the guards saluted him when he passed. Despite the hero’s welcome, he spent much of the first night in his tent, his wounds being attentively tended by the priestess healers. A few times their Black-based healing clashed with his White mana, especially nearer to his damaged arm, which alarmed them greatly until he told them not to try to fix it. By the second day he was feeling well enough to enjoy himself.
Eldranis was away for much of the celebrations. “Too much noise,” he had complained. He wore his cloak and shroud the whole time he was in camp, and made every effort to avoid being recognised. In the end, he made an excessive show of escorting their prisoners off-world. The vampires were insistent that Liliana not leave again so soon, so Eldranis made the exchanges alone. Tezzeret, a much-hunted man, earned a large bounty on his homeworld, the Alara shard of Esper. He grinned wickedly as he was carried away, as if to say he would be free again soon. Meanwhile, Jace Balaren insisted on being released to the Izzet Guild back on Ravnica. In exchange, he revealed to Liliana the whereabouts of Garruk the Hunter. The Green Original, according to Jace, was currently searching for something, or someone, on the plane of Innistrad. Liliana never explained the significance of the information, only that she had unresolved business with the Hunter. Sorin reflected grimly on the idea of one day returning to his original homeworld, but said nothing.
As night fell on the second day, Sorin heard cheers coming from outside his tent. Following the sounds, he rounded a tent to find a large bonfire burning in the centre of a crowd of revellers. They parted respectfully as he approached, and he quickly saw what had drawn their excitement. There, next to the fire, was Liliana Vess, with two young priestesses by her sides. Her hair was artistically styled so that it flew behind her without covering her face; the runes near her right shoulder were hidden by a shroud that left the other exposed, and she was dancing. A band was playing excitedly, even violently, Sorin decided, with a beat that seemed to be getting faster as the song continued.          
“It was the task of the dancers to keep up with the music, as long as possible,” explained Anowon.
The priestesses were clearly experienced with the challenge and were keeping up nicely. The music played for several minutes, getting faster and faster. Soon he thought he saw the girl on the left break into a sweat, followed quickly by her sister on the right. Before long they were struggling to keep up. Looking back at Liliana, it was clear that she was enjoying herself immensely, keeping well in time with the raging music. Finally the first of the women fell to her knees, taking deep draws of breath. Several other girls ran from the crowd to help carry her out. Meanwhile, Liliana and the remaining girl were dancing faster than ever. It had become a true contest. Sure enough, after another minute or two, the second girl slowed to a stand, refusing to fall to her knees, instead congratulating her Queen on her victory while still on her feet. Liliana laughed aloud and yelled blessings to the crowd.
Several nights passed and Eldranis returned to the camp. A guard arrived to summon them, even managing to communicate the situation to Sorin without a translation. They followed the guard to where he was waiting in the compound. 
“I’ve just got back from the human settlements. Much of their cities have been decimated. They’re eager to form any alliances that may see the end of the Eldrazi… even with the vampires.” Something about the humans’ willingness to capitulate had Liliana visibly amused, but she said nothing. Eldranis went on.
“In exchange for us using the Spirit of Ajani to banish the Eldrazi, the humans have agreed to a truce to allow both sides to rebuild their forces. Their standing order to kill vampires on sight will be lifted, at least until things on Zendikar return to normal.”
“It’s the best we could have hoped for,” Sorin concluded, then he asked, “Where are you going to go now?”
“I’m going back, to take up my place in your future. You’ll catch up to me one day, but you won’t know it.” Liliana was standing some distance away now, talking to her guards in Zenkaril. Eldranis looked over at her as he spoke.
“What about you?” he asked Sorin. “Are you going to stay on Zendikar? I know the Orzhov would give you a God’s welcome back on Ravnica. And with them behind you, you could rule that plane.” Of all the planes to rule over, he had to admit Ravnica was not a bad choice: rich in both magic and life. Liliana didn’t move but he thought he saw her conversation slow, as though she were distracted.
“We still have the Eldrazi to deal with here. It shouldn’t be a problem now that we know how to summon Ajani.” The guards were gone now. Liliana was staring at something in her hands: the jewelled blade she had carried through their adventure. He still had the gold blade from Rakdos’ cave in his tent.
“And after?” Eldranis said, clearly pushing the question.
“After…” Sorin waited for Liliana to meet his gaze, then spoke without looking away from her. “I think I’ll stick around for a while.” A smile broke across her face as she walked up beside them.
Eldranis was grinning. “You’ll have to learn to speak vampire then,” he said, poorly mimicking the accent, after which he added normally, “It’s not so tough.”
“That’s ok, I’ve got a good teacher.” He glanced at Liliana, who had her hand on his shoulder. “I am of course talking about Anowon!” he said, laughing loudly.
“You…” she roared, but was cut off when he took her face in his hands and kissed her deeply. When they finally looked up again, Eldranis was gone. They could both feel the traces of mana in the air where he’d vanished.
At dawn the next morning a hunting party had assembled on the far side of the camp. Sorin climbed aboard the lead zha-kari, and took his place next to Liliana. She raised her arm and let out a loud call, which was echoed tenfold by the surrounding warriors. In unison, the party launched into the air. They were headed deep into the forest, to where the sounds of the crashing Eldrazi were loudest.
When they arrived Sorin stood on the giant bird’s back to give the order, which he called twice. “Makria ha-koa!” They were the words Liliana had explained meant ‘to surround and distract.’ 
Like a living tidal wave the birds and their masters flew in a circle around the enormous mass of steel, rock and limbs that was an Eldrazi. Powerful beams of energy were being fired through unidentifiable cavities in the body, destroying anything in their path. Though no face was clearly visible, their presence was undoubtedly known: the destruction that had been focused on the surroundings was now being directed at the riders, who used all of their skill to avoid the devastating blasts. Liliana pushed her bird to land quickly, before any of them were hurt.
Releasing her hair from its ties, she shook it free as the runes began to glow softly. She smiled at Sorin who was watching her despite the giant destructive creature in front of them.
“Are you ready?” she mocked.
“Of course,” he answered, and turned to the raging monster, who seemed to have finally acknowledged the presence of the two powerful mages.
Sorin felt the White and Black mana inside him beat in harmony as he raised his gold sword in front of him, the latter feeding strength into the former to be purified and delivered in full to the Spirit that fought with all the power of the soul. When the time was right, he yelled.
“Ajani!”