Darkness is perpetual; something that always has been, is, and will continue to be. Whether it be shadows in the corner, or shadows inside, darkness will never cease to exist. A thought like that might have been reassuring any other time, but Phyrexus’ frown was as perpetual as the shadows he manipulated. He stood enveloped in an empty abyss, unamused but overall noncommittal as he looked from gateway to gateway, his eyes narrowing in concentration. Darkness was not something that could be done away with, but so too was it something that shouldn’t grow as rapidly as it had been. Upheaval and unrest and war had always been commonplace - to war is human, as he’d learned myriads past. There was something different about this, something that made Phyrexus uneasy. An unnatural darkness was spreading rapidly across the plains of Soluunar, and something about being the Elder God of Shadows and not being able to pinpoint the root of the cause left a bitter taste in his mouth.<br/><br/><span style="color: #00BFFF">Phyrexus…</span>He paused, stared blankly at a Gate looking down at the ruins of Linden as his own name repeated in his head, over and over until it got louder and clearer. He straightened his back just a little, lifting his chin just slightly to look straight ahead as he waited, ever patient.<span style="color: #00BFFF">I need you at once.</span><br/><br/>Phyrexus turned on his heel, the blackness melting around him as he was introduced once more to the light of the world. One light in particular, emanating from Rolyn’s palm. Phyrexus watched from his place in the shadows, waiting only a moment before making his presence known.<span style="color: #8040FF">“My lord,”</span>he responded, taking the long strides that separated him from the Circle God.<br/><br/>Rolyn nodded in greeting as the Hand of the Circle moved towards him. He extinguished the golden light rising from his palm and watched the Elder God, considering the correct approach to what was a very delicate situation. Endless possibilities flew through his mind, each less likely than the previous, and at the heart of it all was the fear that Malinar had done the unthinkable.<span style="color: #00BFFF"><span style="font-style: italic">No, not that. Never that,</span> </span>he reassured himself.<br/><br/><span style="color: #00BFFF">“I need you to find Malinar. I do not know where he is, but he needs to be found immediately. I cannot sense him, however, which does not bode well.” </span>Phyrexus was capable, and in many ways reminded Rolyn of his predecessor, but this would be a challenge even for him.<br/><br/><span style="color: #00BFFF">“He is not being charged with anything, meaning you lack the authority to bring him to me by force. You also lack the power to face him if he decides against cooperating. I would handle this on my own, without the others, if possible. I am trusting you with this, Phyrexus. Handle this with tact, and be careful.” </span><br/><br/><span style="color: #8000FF">“Without the others?”</span>Phyrexus clasped his hands behind his back, idly toying with his fingers as he examined Rolyn. The Circle God had always been someone he’d respected in the utmost fashion, his own post as Hand aside. Malinar had become enveloped in a flurry of unbridled emotions like ambition and power, and left unhindered those made him dangerous. All the same, though, this sounded uncomfortably like vigilante justice.<span style="color: #8000FF">“My lord,”</span>he repeated, this time with a begrudging tone of neutrality.<span style="color: #8040FF">“Under what circumstances should these be, where you are not informing the others of your request?”</span><br/><br/>Phyrexus seemed hesitant, which was no surprise given the nature of Rolyn’s request. The God of Time had taken matters into his own hands in intervening on Soluunar, and the repercussions of that act were still reverberating through the two worlds, but in that matter he had acted alone. Involving Phyrexus was a different situation entirely, but it was a course of action he didn’t think he could avoid.<br/><br/><span style="color: #00BFFF">“Yes, without the others,”</span>Rolyn replied, even as he wondered just how outlandish his behavior would have seemed to the Rolyn who first assembled the Circle.<span style="color: #00BFFF">“Malinar has done something for which he must be called to account, but if I utilize the traditional means I will only make things worse. I intend to repair the rift that has formed between us, once and for all, and for me to do that I must do this without the rest of the Circle.”</span><br/><br/>The words sounded ludicrous, with all the years that had passed without even a dent made in the hatred Malinar held for him, but Rolyn wasn’t going to walk around the difficulty ahead. Not this time.<br/><br/>Phyrexus eyed him warily as he rocked back onto his heels. There was a lot of weight in what he was asking, even if the question itself seemed nonsensical. In the absolute worst case scenario, Phyrexus would fail. Whether it be in locating Malinar, making it back to Rolyn alive to reveal his location, or keeping this a secret from the other members of the Circle. The danger didn’t reside with Phy alone; Rolyn would be in immediate danger as well. ‘Repair the rift’ between them? What did that even mean, and regardless would it be enough? Malinar was not the type to listen to reason. They were all acutely aware of that.<br/><br/><span style="color: #8040FF">“Malinar has done more than one thing in which he must account for,”</span>he started, slowly at first in order to word his thoughts properly.<span style="color: #8040FF">“Should you fail, what then? I swore to uphold an oath to obey and protect the members of the Circle, and to protect their lives even at the cost of my own. To let you go to him alone - to talk, of all things - would not only be violating that vow, but it would simply be asinine.” </span><br/><br/>He let out a deep breath, let his hands fall back to his sides and closed the respectable distance that was between them.<span style="color: #8040FF">“I will not be an oath breaker, Rolyn,”</span>he warned, though he knew his voice betrayed him. He had already decided some minutes ago what that he would do as Rolyn requested. He brushed passed the Circle God, clapping him once on the arm.<span style="color: #8040FF">“So try not to die.” </span><br/><br/>He left Rolyn then, without so much as a goodbye. Perhaps it was rude to suddenly abandon someone you were supposed to be serving, but then again those that he served typically didn’t ask such outlandish things of him. The light faded around him as he stepped back into the shadows, the darkness that he was so accustomed to enveloping him in its familiar embrace.<br/><br/>One by one, the Gates appeared to him. He did not summon the two or three that he chose to watch day to day, but instead an army - millions and myriads of gates appeared before him, stretching across an unfathomable distance across the dark nebula that he stood in. It seemed that for every star in his otherwise empty surroundings, three gates arose, opening themselves to Phy’s searching gaze. It was time to get to work.<br/><br/>His legs lifted out from under him, crossing beneath him as he levitated weightlessly in his environment. He took a deep breath and then let it out, in, and out, repeating this process until he could no longer register the fact that he was breathing at all. His mind went blank, a void to anything other than the image of Malinar, and then everything rushed him at once. Images passed through his mind at an alarming rate, one that threatened quite suddenly to overcome him.<br/><br/>Vivid pictures of rotten corpses, battle-hungry soldiers, starving children, desecrated cities, the aftermaths of war all surged through his mind. He saw mothers stealing food for their children, only to be hanged for it; a man jumping to his death to put an end to his inner torment; a man reciting a prayer to Phyrexus himself, to have the night cover him and his family as they escaped from the Scorched Plains. The images flickered faster, and faster, and faster until they were unrecognizable.<br/><br/>Dark eyes snapped open at once and Phyrexus lost his balance, his legs falling out from under him and his hands clasping at his chest as his labored breathing attempted to return to normalcy. Phy looked around, his gloved hand coming up to brush a thin sheet of sweat from his brow. He located Rolyn easily enough, though one look through the Gate had informed him that he’d been asleep much longer than the few seconds he felt like he’d been gone. He must have looked for hours, maybe longer, and while that thought in itself was mildly distressing, Phyrexus had other matters to attend to.<br/><br/>The passage through the Gate was a short one, but this trip taxed him. He felt lethargic, unnerved, weary, but he walked into Rolyn’s abode with as much grace as he could muster, looking as disheveled as he did.<span style="color: #8040FF">“My lord,”</span>he said, making no effort to raise his voice any more than necessary. He knew Rolyn could hear him.<br/><br/>Rolyn looked up and watched as Phyrexus returned to him. The God had conducted a very thorough search, it seemed, but whether or not it was successful remained to be seen. If he<span style="font-style: italic">had</span>found Malinar, he hid his triumph well.<br/><br/><span style="color: #00BFFF">“Do you have anything to report?”</span><br/><br/>They were alone, as they were before; knowing Phyrexus would have no difficulty finding him, Rolyn had chosen a secluded area of the woods not far from where Seagan Kahz had arranged his solitary dwelling. From then it was simply a matter of waiting, which was no matter as there was always far too much for the Circle God to think about.<br/><br/>Phyrexus looked down, feeling the vague wash of shame wash over him. In all of the times he’d been asked to locate someone, he’d never failed in his endeavours. Why was this time any different?<span style="color: #8040FF">“No. Well, yes,”</span>he corrected, willing himself to hold his head up and look Rolyn in the eye.<span style="color: #8040FF">“I have nothing to report, because Malinar has hidden himself. Wherever he is, he is taking great measures not to be found.”</span>He almost didn’t recognize his own voice, and it sounded uncomfortably to his own ears like he was blaming his own shortcomings on something extraneous like what Malinar wants. When had Phyrexus ever taken into account what someone wanted? If he was ordered to find someone, he<span style="font-style: italic">found them.</span>Why should Malinar be any different?<span style="color: #8040FF">“That is to say, I failed.”</span><br/><br/><span style="color: #00BFFF">“Hid himself?” </span><br/><br/>Rolyn stared at the Hand for a long time before shaking his head in disbelief. He was<span style="font-style: italic">sure</span>Phyrexus would’ve been able to find Malinar; the Elder God could track anyone down thanks to his domain, and the powers granted to him as the Circle’s instrument made him even more precise. If Phyrexus couldn’t find him, Malinar was indeed taking great pains to hide himself.<br/><br/><span style="color: #00BFFF">“This is not good,”</span>he murmured, looking off at nothing in particular. His mind was working furiously, but there were no solutions — only more problems, no matter where he turned.<span style="color: #00BFFF">“This is not good at all. We need the others, and quickly,”</span>he said, the volume of his voice rising as the urgency of the situation took hold.<span style="color: #00BFFF">“Inform them immediately, Phyrexus. Tell them it is an emergency Conclave, and they will not delay,”</span>he added, already striding off towards the Hall of the Circle.<br/><br/>Phy kept his head bowed as he took step after step back, before taking the edge of his cloak, enshrouding himself in its embrace as he spun on his heel and disappeared into the shadows once more, setting off as he was bid.