At Urza's abandoned tower, a damaged coalition prepares to invade New Phyrexia while its enemies close around the Temporal Anchor
Grief Beside the Defences
Elspeth, Jodah and Chandra make room for their dead before a Phyrexian assault turns mourning into the strength that saves the tower.
Elspeth arrives carrying memories of New Phyrexia that cannot be converted into strategy alone. Chandra and Jodah are grieving Jaya; Elspeth names Venser and Gideon. Their toast does not solve loss, but it prevents urgency from reducing the dead to motivation. They remember relationships rather than only the uses of sacrifice.
When Phyrexian forces attack, Jodah entrusts Elspeth with a spell Jaya left behind. Their combined light destroys the largest threat outside the tower, revealing power in Elspeth that she has spent years containing beneath borrowed identities. The victory leaves both exhausted while the visible battle conceals an infiltration.
Rona wounds Jodah and nearly kills Elspeth. Tezzeret intervenes, removes Rona and warns that the tower will fall, deliberately leaving a small crack in Phyrexia's plan. His mercy is tactical, not kind. Elspeth uses the reprieve to save Jodah and returns to the mission with one more reason to distrust victories offered by compromised allies.
