Future Sight (novel)

Future Sight is the third book in the Time Spiral Cycle. It is written by Scott McGough with help from John Delaney. It was published in April 2007. The other books in this cycle are Time Spiral and Planar Chaos.

Blurb
It's time to make a stand.

Three more planeswalkers are dead or lost. How many more will allow themselves to be led to the slaughter? It's not easy to convince godlike beings to risk their lives on the word of a man known for his lies. But the fate of the multiverse depends on it.

For once in his life, Teferi can't run away.

Plot
On the beaches of Madara, the planeswalker Leshrac is approached by the Myojin of Night’s Reach. Since the dragon planeswalker Nicol Bolas was released during the events of Time Spiral he has been settling old debts across the multiverse. As one of those debts, the Myojin is on the run and offers Leshrac a copy of her mask that allows the user to drain black mana from others in an attempt to convince him to fight Nicol Bolas for her. Leshrac accepts the bargain.

Elsewhere, the planeswalker Jeska questions Jhoira, Venser, and Teferi directly after the events of Planar Chaos. The rifts over Tolaria, Skyshroud, and Urborg have been sealed, but rifts over Zhalfir, Yavimaya, Madara, and Otaria remain. Unsatisfied with their past actions regarding the time rifts and Karn’s disappearance, Jeska decides to conduct her own research and teleports to Otaria. There she is approached by Leshrac, who explains that he has been observing Teferi and Jhoira, and that while they have sealed several rifts, they have also made the others more violent and difficult to seal in the process. Leshrac proposes that Jeska use Venser's and Radha’s latent planeswalker sparks in order to channel mana and close them since their sparks are seemingly immune to the rifts. Not trusting Leshrac, Jeska initially refuses, but does travel to Keld to see Radha for herself. Defiant, Radha rebuffs the planeswalker’s entreaties. Seeing no other alternative, Jeska defeats Radha in a duel and takes the unconscious elf with her.

Meanwhile, Teferi, Jhoira, and Venser decide to travel to Yavimaya and seek the aid of Multani, the forest’s avatar, in sealing its rift. Upon their arrival, they find that Multani has been incapacitated by the rift when he attempted to merge with the rift to consume it, and he can barely communicate while it feeds off the forest's mana. Venser is able to planeswalk into the rift and free Multani but sensing Jeska’s actions, Teferi quickly asks Venser to bring them to the Zhalfirin rift.

At the Zhalfirin rift, Jeska uses Radha as a buffer to fight it's consuming pull. Teferi and Jhoira plead with her to stop but Jeska is past the point of no return and completes the sealing, leaving Radha close to death. Jeska gloats to Teferi that she was able to close a rift without sacrificing a planeswalker but Teferi angrily tells her that as a result of her actions Zhalfir cannot be properly phased back into Dominaria. The civilization and millions of lives are now lost since Teferi no longer has his spark and with it, the ability to find them. Jeska shows remorse but claims her actions were done for the greater good, and then ‘walks to Yavimaya to continue her work. Teferi, Venser, and Jhoira follow her.

In Yavimaya, a weakened but free Multani is briefly able to restrain Jeska using maro-sorcery. When he tries to calm her mind, Leshrac’s influence causes him to fail, and Jeska awakens in a rage. Taking Multani’s mask and Radha into the air, Jeska channels her magic through their bodies into the Yavimayan rift and seals it. Radha is rendered unconscious again and Multani’s mask is left inert and lifeless. Jeska takes Radha and teleports to Madara. Jhoira buries Multani’s mask in the hopes that he can someday be revived, and the group resolves to follow Jeska to convince her to listen.

Jeska arrives in Madara with Radha in tow, but before she can consider dealing with the rift, Leshrac appears. Revealing himself to have been subtly influencing Jeska since before he first spoke to her, Leshrac paralyzes her and uses the mask of the Myojin of Night’s Reach to drain Jeska’s black mana and corrosive touch from her time as Phage. He explains that he intends to use this mana to help him defeat Nicol Bolas, and then take his power for his own. Teferi, Jhoira, and Venser arrive, but can do little but watch the planeswalker’s machinations unfold.

Leshrac calls Nicol Bolas and proposes a duel between them. When Bolas agrees, Leshrac uses the mask again and successfully drains Bolas’s black mana, however, the dragon maintains his access to the red and blue mana of Madara and the duel begins in earnest. Neither planeswalker is able to noticeably harm the other until Leshrac defaces the Talon Gates, and Bolas charges in a rage over the insult. Taking advantage of this, Leshrac is able to maneuver and apply Phage’s corrosive touch amplified by the black mana stolen from Bolas. This touch severely damages Bolas, and the dragon tries to flee as entire sections of his body decay and fall off. Leshrac gives chase across multiple planes until Bolas eventually crashes back in Madara. As Leshrac prepares the killing blow, Bolas reveals that he has been playing Leshrac the entire fight. Bolas states that he had defeated the Myojin of Night’s Reach earlier and claimed the original mask so Leshrac’s copy could not harm him. Skewering Leshrac with his tail, the dragon uses the mask to drain and trap Leshrac’s essence, winning the duel.

Nicol Bolas restores Jeska’s faculties and the duplicate mask with her black mana. Claiming responsibility for the Madaran rift, Bolas then uses Leshrac’s trapped essence to feed and close it, killing the defeated planeswalker. Bolas then departs Dominaria for a safe haven in the event that the last rift cannot be sealed.

Jeska, repentant for her previous actions, takes responsibility for the last rift over Otaria, which was caused by her transformation into Karona during the Onslaught storyline. With Radha and Venser’s help, Jeska teleports into the rift and sacrifices herself to finally end the threat of the time rifts. Upon its sealing, the nature of the planeswalker spark is inherently altered in the process known as the Mending.

Their work done, the group disbands. Radha returns to Keld and her war host. Teferi decides to return to Jamuraa to help its people rebuild. Jhoira borrows Venser’s ambulator and seeks out Jodah, Archmage Eternal. Venser, now a planeswalker in his own right, makes his first planeswalk into the unknown.

Summary

 * Jeska seals the Zhalfirin rift using Radha's spark as a buffer.
 * Jeska seals the Yavimayan rift using Radha's spark and Multani's mask. Multani is destroyed, but may live on in the forest.
 * Nicol Bolas seals the Madaran rift using Leshrac's life essence, killing Leshrac in the process.
 * Jeska sacrifices herself to seal the Otarian Rift, the last of the time rifts.
 * With all the rifts sealed, the Mending occurs, forever changing the planeswalker spark.