A Magic: The Gathering TF Story

(Woman to Raven)



“You are not to fight that demon alone.” The Raven Man spoke, and Liliana huffed indignantly.

She turned towards him, a frown on her features. “You heard Nissa, heard Gids, heard Sparks. We’re done.” She spoke flatly. In truth, she was seething with rage, and right now she really, really needed to kill something. And, fortunately for her, the last demon on her checklist was right around the corner.

“Then accept this. Bolas is your superior.” The Raven Man continued, and Liliana rolled her eyes.

“Nice of you to think of my safety for once.” She turned back towards Urborg, settling once more for the chaotic swampland. “But unless you have anything important to tell me, shut up. I need to focus right now, because.”

She stopped. Her body wasn’t moving anymore. The woman turned towards the Raven Man again, this time not of her own volition.

“You need nothing but to obey me. The Veil has consequences, and you’ve been using it quite often as of late.” He whispered.

“Yeah, well the enemies I’ve been facing have tended to creep upwards in power. It’s not your garden variety demons anymore, I’ve fought an Eldrazi. And won.” Liliana kept the unease from creeping into her voice, though her heart began to patter apprehensively.

“I have noticed.” The Raven Man whispered, extending his palm towards Liliana’s face. “Just as you have not noticed that there are consequences to overusing the Veil. The more you bear its power, the more of its power I can use on you.”

“What are WAARK!” Liliana cawed like a bird, her lips pursing as though she was blowing a kiss. They began to grow numb, and she worked them soundlessly, hearing a quiet clicking fill the air. It took her a second to realize that her lips were clacking against another, that they were hardening.

“CAAW! No! What AAAWre you doing?” Liliana gasped, watching her lips pull from her face and her nose sink into what was undeniably a developing beak. Her heart was now racing in terror, and she could tell the Raven Man knew it.

“Keeping an investment safe. I’ve used you for far too long to throw your life away now. I need your life to restore my own-though I do not need you to be human to do so.”

“HGGHAAAWRK! GWAARK!” Liliana cawed, tears dewing at her eyes at the uncomfortable feeling of her sinuses rearranging. She pawed at her face, only to squawk louder as she saw her fingers were merging together, slowly losing their definition.

Before the necromancer’s very startled eyes, her hands changed into wings, bone and muscle rearranging itself to leave her with a flexible, albeit useless, pair of arms. She extended a wing apprehensively, shuddering at the feeling of countless feathers force themselves from her arms.

Ravens began to flutter from her tormentor’s cloak, surrounding her and crooning in her ears. The hellish chorus surrounded her, drowned out her thoughts, made it so hard to think. Liliana covered ears that no longer existed with her wings, pressing them against small holes concealed by feathers.

Her knees popped as they changed, and the harsh prickling of feathers settled along her thighs next. She fell onto her knees, looking up and struggling to speak. “CRRAWWW! CAAWWW!” She crooned, feeling her toes stretch away from herself.

The Raven Man had no words for her, simply letting his pets do the speaking for himself. Their cawing was even louder than Liliana’s had been, and she could no longer drown them out. Her hands fell from the sides of her rounding head, and she worked her ugly beak.

“CRRAAW! URRGHCAW! HRRKCAW!” She repeated herself insistently, thoughts glossing over, mind erasing to the maddening droning of ravens, to the crooning of the murder. She tried to resist, tried to fight against the erasure of her thoughts-though they were little more than attempts. Her wings beat softly as she rocked back onto her haunches, a tail stretching from her spine to balance herself.

She preened her feathers, looking up to the man and realizing she’d shrunken. She hadn’t noticed it, hadn’t noticed so many things. The only thing Liliana could focus on was the cawing, a droning she had to join with, had to echo. “CAW! CAW! CAW!”

She… Liliana… It was getting hard to think. She wanted to curse the man. “CAW!” She wanted to kill the last demon that bound her soul. “CAW!” That was her goal, had always been her goal. “CAW!” Tears dewed at “CAW!” the “CAW!” sides “CAW!”

“CAW! CAW! CAW!” The raven beat her wings, jerking her head forward with every croon. She was hungry. Her owner would feed her soon. That was good. She needed to eat, needed to nest. She had no eggs yet, but when she laid them, they would need her healthy.

“As I said. You are not to fight the demon alone.” The Raven Man smirked, his lips quirking into a smile. He knelt beside the former woman’s clothing, rooting through the cloth and finding the Chain Veil. His fingers closed around it, and his smile only widened.

“CAW! CAW! CAW!” The raven continued to look up at him through glossed eyes, no longer comprehending any relationship between him save for that of pet and owner. She was hungry, and needed to feed. Her owner would feed her soon. That was good.

“So good to touch things again, to have a body. All it took was yours.” He spoke to her as though she could understand his words, as though she could comprehend what she was hearing. “I shall fight the demon, break this curse, and finally be restored to more than a shade. Until then, you are not to leave my side.”

“CAW!”