"What of the Speaker?" the Moon Kraken blurted.

Nissa could feel his tentacles loosen.

"Release the ship," Nissa said.

It did. The kraken pulled its tentacles back under the surface of the water.

"I will tell you what I know," Nissa said. "But you must promise to guide us to sh.o.r.e."

"If it pleases Brinelin," the kraken said.

Nissa thought about this. He might not be in the best mood after he hears that Speaker Sutina is dead.

"Take us to sh.o.r.e first," Nissa said.

The kraken thrust its fleshy chin out. "Tell me now."

"Do you promise to take us to sh.o.r.e after I tell you?"

"The Moon Kraken makes no promises."

"Then it saddens me to tell you that Speaker Sutina is no more."

The expression on the kraken's face fell. Nissa felt a twinge of pity for it. The creature sank deeper into the water, before floating higher again.

"You lie!" the kraken spouted water from its gills. All of its tentacles shot straight out of the water and into the air. "You are lying to save your barnacles. Your falseness will not save you."

"I am not lying. She died in an attack made by the new scourge that plagues Zendikar, the very scourge we are on a journey to stop." Nissa said. From her pocket she drew the pearl Speaker Sutina had dropped the day she died. Nissa held the pearl up. "Behold the pearl you gave her." The a.s.sumption was a gamble, but it was all she had. The kraken's eyes squeezed together when it saw the gift. A small tentacle lifted out of the water and came close to the pearl. With a gentleness that surprised Nissa, the tentacle caressed the pearl before taking it carefully. The kraken brought the pearl to the front of its face, and examined it through sad eyes.

"Tell me everything," the Moon Kraken said softly, without looking away from the pearl.

Nissa told the creature the story of Speaker Sutina's death and of their quest to imprison the brood lineage. When she had finished the only sound she heard was the not-so-distant sound of waves breaking on the white sh.o.r.e.

"What did she say before she fell away?" the kraken said.

Nissa cast her mind for a good lie. "She spoke of the ocean," Nissa said.

"That is not true. Sutina hated the water," the kraken said, softly. "But I will let you pa.s.s."

The kraken moved out of the way of the ship, and the behemoth started paddling again.

The kraken's white face crumpled as it slipped under the water. Soon it broke the surface of the ocean and waved them forward. The creature guided them through the deadheads lurking just below the surface of the water, and crystals as long as three of their ships, one of which had at its tip a human skull pierced through the brain pan and clacking in the wind.

Soon they were near the sh.o.r.e. The Moon Kraken moved to the side and let the behemoth clamber onto the sh.o.r.e, dragging the ship through the sand. The ship tilted right off its keel and onto its hull, and Nissa had to grab a railing to keep from sliding off into the sand. She dismissed the behemouth and immediately felt stronger.

"Go forth from here," the kraken said, glumly. "Brinelin will do his part to rid Zendikar of this scourge." With that, he slipped below the surface and was not seen again.

A shaft of sunlight broke through the clouds overhead and sparkled on the white sand made of crystals ground to grains. The beach extended to a sheer cliff. Nissa's heart sank as her eyes followed the cliff up. It was a league high if it was an arm's length, rising in one uninterrupted sweep so high that Nissa could see clouds moving at the top. Crystals protruded at irregular intervals from the cliff's sheer face. shaft of sunlight broke through the clouds overhead and sparkled on the white sand made of crystals ground to grains. The beach extended to a sheer cliff. Nissa's heart sank as her eyes followed the cliff up. It was a league high if it was an arm's length, rising in one uninterrupted sweep so high that Nissa could see clouds moving at the top. Crystals protruded at irregular intervals from the cliff's sheer face.

Anowon brushed past her to evaluate the cliff, suddenly the guide on the continent she had never visited. "The creatures that have adapted to live here are as hard and as spiny as this land," the vampire said. "And tougher by far."

"We cannot scale this cliff," Nissa said, suddenly understanding the kraken's malicious smile before it submerged.

Anowon looked up from the cliff's base.

"For one," Nissa continued. "We lack rope enough for even one ascent. Second, none of my pegs will penetrate that crystal."

Anowon turned as though he had not heard Nissa. He walked back to the sh.o.r.e, pushing through the goblins that drew back from him as he pa.s.sed. Even Smara stopped mumbling to watch what he was doing. When Anowon reached the sh.o.r.eline he began to dig. He soon unearthed the badly rotted wooden mast of a ship.

"I saw another ship broken and scattered in the shallows there," Anowon said, pointing just off sh.o.r.e to a ma.s.sive crystal as thick as their whole ship. "And now this one."

The vampire looked up from the hole he'd dug and peered at the top of the cliff, where clouds skittered by. "I wonder ..."

Nissa waited for Anowon to explain what he was thinking. He walked a bit up the sh.o.r.e and began to dig again. Sure enough, he uncovered a broken piece of hull.

"This place is a graveyard for water vessels," Anowon said.

Nissa waited, but the vampire said nothing more. A moment later he knelt and closed his eyes. He stayed in the position for long enough that Nissa thought he might have fallen asleep, but then she saw his fingers moving like spiders over one of the metal cylinders dangling from his belt.

"Ghet," Sorin said. "Oh, Ghet."

Anowon opened one of his eyes and curled his lip at Sorin.

Sorin chuckled. "You were only just about to explain your hypothesis to us."

"We cannot scale that cliff," Anowon said.

"The elf said that already."

Anowon opened both of his eyes with a sigh. "If ships ruin here commonly, then there must be something taking advantage of it. On Akoum nothing is wasted."

The waves broke on the beach. The wind blew hard across Nissa's ear. "So we wait?" Nissa said.

"Yes," Sorin said. "For imminent attack."

They waited the rest of the day and into the night. Brightness, Nissa learned, was never much of an issue on Akoum, where the ever-present crystals magnified even the dimmest light.

So it was easy for Nissa to see almost as clearly as day when figures slowly rappelled down the side of the cliff later that night. They rappelled in a way she had never seen before-face forward with their harness at their belly, belaying the rope that way. The figures were short and lightly armed. When ten were on the sand, they branched out and drew small knives.

Nissa waited to give the signal until the men were almost on top of them. Then she whistled, and they jumped up, Nissa with her stem sword drawn and limp next to her. Anowon's eyes glowed pale in the starlight and Sorin's silhouette, as black and as deep as velvet, drew in the surrounding light.

The beach combers looked from Nissa to Sorin to Anowon to Smara and to the two goblins, then to Sorin's parasite sword, which seemed to pulse darker than the night around it. They were clearly weighing their chances. The combers had obviously been counting on surprising them, and with that gone, they wondered if they had the numbers to carry the fight. The decision was made when the lead scavenger dropped his dagger. The others soon followed.

"Stop," one said, stepping forward and holding his hand with the palm facing out. "We are not your enemy. We have come to help."

"That is is a relief," Sorin said. "Because I thought you wanted to cut our throats in our sleep and then plunder whatever goods we might have." a relief," Sorin said. "Because I thought you wanted to cut our throats in our sleep and then plunder whatever goods we might have."

"We saw your ship from above," the head man said. He was a human, without a doubt.

Anowon threw down a tooth, which began to glow. The combers were a mixed group-some goblins, some humans, two world-gift kor ... even an elf-a Tajuru-splinter by how he wore his quiver-with a dire look in his eye. Nissa put her stem sword back into the staff and stepped forward. "Come," she said to the combers, gesturing next to the tooth. "Sit here."

When they were seated under the eyes of Anowon and Sorin, Nissa went around and collected the knives. Each knife was different, clearly salvaged. One of them was even made of flint. She took the knives to the water and threw them in.

"Those took a long time to collect," the head man said.

"They will still be there when you return for them later," Nissa said.

"Are we your prisoners now?" the human asked.

"No," Sorin said. "You are now our guides. At least until we get to the top of that cliff. At that point we will decide if you have been helpful. If you have not, we will let our vampire drain your veins. I must say, you do look tasty."

The human looked at the sand between his feet and did not speak again.

As soon as the sun broke on the eastern horizon, they rose, stiff with cold, and proceeded to the cliff.

"How long will this take?" Sorin said.

"All day," the human replied. In the sunlight Nissa could see that he was a short man with every inch of exposed skin covered with puckered white scars. A scraggly beard clung to his chin, as did remnants of armor to his wiry body.

He began strapping his harness to one of the ropes they had descended the night before. Nissa took the rope in her hand, feeling its odd, firm texture.

"What is this made of?" she asked.

"Dulam beast hide," the man replied, taking out a coil of thick rope and deftly looping it to his harness and then to the rope. "The crystal has trouble cutting it," he said before pulling himself up, catching each foot in one of the loops he had tied to the harness. He pulled so the loop cinched around each foot, raised one of them, and stepped up. The rope caught and raised him up one step. He repeated the action with his other foot, and soon he was ascending the rope as though it was a ladder.

"Stop," Sorin said. "Wait there. We would not want you getting up to the top and alerting whatever a.s.sociates you have up there to our presence."

Three of the combers stayed on the beach while Nissa, Sorin, Anowon, and Smara ascended. The combers strapped them in and tied their foot loop tethers. Smara's goblins, both of them, looked at one another and simply climbed Smara's rope without harness or tether.

Nissa looked down at the beach after she had been climbing for a couple of hours. The three remaining combers were sanding at the base of the cliff, eyeing the ship tipped on its side.

Soon Nissa was too high to look down; the clouds obscured her view, and the wind blew so hard that it caused the rope to bow and snap against the crystals. But the rope did not break, unlike the sleeve of her jerkin, which sliced easily when she grazed a crystal halfway up the cliff.

The crystals were everywhere as they climbed. Sorin managed to cut his hand, and the blood fell in rivulets, only to be blown away in the wind. When the comber climbing near her saw Sorin's blood blowing away he made a certain whistle and pointed to Sorin. The head man stopped and looked down.

"You must bind your gash," the man said. "Certain animals can smell blood on the wind." He closed his mouth and turned back to climbing. Nissa noticed that all of the combers doubled their pace. Nissa doubled hers also, and soon they were above the misty fog and in the bright sun. The ocean below was a blurry outline.

And still they climbed, Nissa becoming more confident with the ingenious rope system. At midday the combers stopped on a small ledge, the flat side of a crystal that had had its sides chipped and dulled enough that it did not cut them. They sat on the shelf with their feet dangling over the edge and drank water sloshing in canteens made from the exoskeletons of large beetles. There was no food-there had not been any for more than three days, and Nissa's stomach had stopped hurting. She did not even miss it.

They attained the top of the cliff by late afternoon. Sorin poked the top of his head over the edge and seeing no sign of movement, scrambled up. The dulam hide ropes were tied to huge crystals that had first been wrapped with more layers of hide as thick as Nissa's finger.

When they were all up and resting in the strange, wavy shadows created behind the crystals, Sorin looked over at Anowon. The vampire had closed his eyes again and was kneeling on the hard rock, moving his fingers soundlessly over the writing on one of his metal cylinders. The combers sat opposite Anowon, pretending not to notice him.

"So," Sorin said to the combers. "You were not totally unhelpful."

"We traveled down to help you," the head man said. "We never meant you any harm."

"Um," Sorin said, and then turned. "Ghet?"

Anowon opened one eye.

"Ghet, do you know the way from here to the Teeth of Akoum?"

The vampire's eye moved to the head man and stayed there. "Not precisely," Anowon said.

Sorin addressed the head comber. "You will come with us and act as a guide. You will bring another ..." Sorin turned to Anowon and asked, "Two?"

Anowon nodded.

Sorin turned back to the comber. "Bring two of your a.s.sociates," he continued. "One of them might be eaten by the end. I feel I must tell you."

"And if we refuse?" the comber said. He spoke very calmly, without fear or uncertainty. Nissa found she liked him for that.

"If you refuse, then we will destroy all of you," Sorin said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at Anowon. "And he will turn you into nulls."

They spent that night at the top of the cliff, protected from the nearly continuous wind by a huge crystal lying on its side. In the morning two of the beach combers had gone, and the others got together to decide which of them would accompany the party.

The head man volunteered, as did a merfolk who Nissa had not seen at first. The rest of the combers said hasty goodbyes and left, disappearing into the rocks. Sorin and Nissa noticed how brief their parting words had been.

"If I were you," Sorin said, turning to the two remaining combers, "I would have told my a.s.sociates to meet us somewhere up the trail. Maybe a loose boulder could be pushed. Maybe there is a certain ledge or hole only you people know about. No?"

The two combers stood looking down at their shabby sandals made of what Nissa took to be dulam hide st.i.tched to other, older pieces of the same hide. Their shins and knees were wrapped with the same material.

"Is that what you were talking about before they left?" Sorin asked.

"No," the headman said. He stood up tall. Nissa thought he really was a fine specimen of a human, despite his thick, black beard. Growing a beard was an ability human males seemed to relish, for most of the human males she had seen displayed some type of one. The head man's beard was long enough that it touched his chest. "You have my word," he said. "We spoke of no such thing."

Smara muttered to herself off behind a crystal. One of the goblins cooed at her. Sorin narrowed his eyes at the head man.

"You are an interesting human," Sorin said. "I feel there is more to you than meets the eye."

The head man said nothing.

"Perhaps it is the first blood," Sorin said as he squatted before the head man, as one might with a child. "Your people were some of the first in this place. You and the kor. Now the vampires," Sorin said, brushing his hand in the direction of Anowon. "They are relative newcomers. The merfolk too."

He was speaking in the same tone he had used to tell Nissa of the Eldrazi t.i.tans, still buried in the rock. What Sorin had not told her was why he knew all of this about old Zendikar. Could he have been on Zendikar in the first place, to see the old races and know about the vampires of old? And how old would that make him? she wondered.

Without bothering to reply, the head man turned and slowly began to walk, with the merfolk who had also volunteered following close behind. They stopped and shouldered the supplies that the other combers had left.

Nissa pulled on the pack that Khalled had prepared for her in Graypelt. Sorin brushed off his hands and walked behind Nissa. Smara tripped after them, with a goblin fore and aft as she walked. Anowon followed last, turning a metal cylinder and running his fingers over it as he walked.

They walked up a series of small rises until they stopped at the top of the last one. Stretched out before them was Akoum. Below lay a rick of hedrons of all sizes jumbled together, with most being many times larger than any Nissa had ever seen. A mist sat low on the land, obscuring the ground, but in many of the cracks of the hedrons, Nissa could see the faint pink glow of molten rock. Scattered among the fields were crystals, some of them as large as the hedrons. They fit so close together, there was hardly a s.p.a.ce between them. Broken bits of hedron stones floated above the larger hedrons.

"How do we move through that?" that?" said Nissa. said Nissa.