Planar Chaos (novel)

Planar Chaos is the second book in the Time Spiral Cycle. It is written by Scott McGough and Timothy Sanders and was published in January 2007. The other books in this cycle are Time Spiral and Future Sight.

Blurb
No Victory Without Sacrifice

Teferi safely returned one of the lost continents to Dominaria—but at what cost? For all his effort, he only delayed the inevitable collapse of time and space. Now, he must accomplish as a mortal what he couldn't manage before, for all his godlike might: Teferi must save the world.

Easier said than done when the only power he has left is his wit.

Plot
Planar Chaos starts right at the end of Time Spiral; Teferi has sealed the rift over Shiv, allowing the phased-out continent to return without widespread destruction. However, the effort has drained the planeswalker of all his powers and left him incapacitated. Jhoira and Venser take Teferi to the Ghitu in Shiv, who help Venser build a new ambulator for transportation purposes.

Jhoira and Venser decide to travel to Urborg in order to seek the help of Lord Windgrace, the land's planeswalker protector, while the powerless Teferi remains in Shiv, though the two are separated in transit. Venser is captured by Lord Windgrace while Jhoira encounters Jodah, Archmage Eternal Emeritus, an ageless wizard similar to herself. The Archmage explains that he came to Urborg to confront the Weaver King, a “psychic vampire” and former Dal nomad in Rath that joined Volrath before the Invasion, and was tortured and experimented on in order to develop his psychic abilities. During the Rathi Overlay, the Weaver King was trapped in the Stronghold and became a shadow being. His psychic abilities allow him to create connections with beings all over Urborg and influence their actions. A sadistic and insane being, the Weaver King takes selective notice of the newcomers to Urborg, creating a mental connection with Venser.

Jodah and Jhoira make their way to Lord Windgrace, but find him less than willing to help as Urborg is under siege from Phyrexians coming from the local rift. Seeking answers, Lord Windgrace planeswalks to Shiv to speak with Teferi, who deduces that the Phyrexians are coming from an alternate reality through the rift. Lord Windgrace then takes Jhoira, Venser, Jodah, and Teferi to the Blind Eternities where they meet with Freyalise. She admits that Phyrexians and an unnatural cold are also present in Skyshroud, but despite Teferi's urging, Windgrace and Freyalise decide to pursue each rift independently. Freyalise requests Jhoira's help and takes her to Skyshroud over Jodah's objections. Windgrace takes everyone else back to Urborg.

In Skyshroud, Freyalise shows Jhoira that she is able to exert control over the local slivers' hive mind and uses them to temporarily beat back the Phyrexians threatening the forest, but admits that she has but a fraction of her former strength, having spent so much of her power trying to maintain Skyshroud while the rift drains the land of mana. She requests that Jhoira find Radha in the Pardic mountains and convince her to return and defend Skyshroud. Jhoira reluctantly agrees.

Meanwhile, in Urborg, Jodah enlists Venser's aid to rescue Jhoira. When Jodah and Venser use the ambulator to teleport to Skyshroud, the Weaver King uses his connection to Venser to follow, and malevolently makes himself known. He quickly takes psychic control of the slivers and the Phyrexians. With her last defenses gone, Freyalise decides she has no choice but to follow Teferi's example. Sending the group back to Urborg, Freyalise reclaims the mana she had spent to sustain the forest and then channels all of it into the rift, closing it but completely consuming herself in the process.

Lord Windgrace immediately senses the death of Freyalise, but elects to fight the endless tide of Phyrexians under the control of the Weaver King in Urborg. It takes the sudden appearance of the silver golem planeswalker Karn to convince Lord Windgrace to come back to the discussion. Teferi reasons that the alternate-reality Phyrexians are a result of the rift at the former academy in Tolaria. Since the rift was expanded beyond repair during the Invasion, Karn will have to travel into the past to seal it. Nevertheless, all agree that the rift in Urborg is the most pressing issue, and Karn ultimately convinces Lord Windgrace to attempt to close it. Before doing so, Windgrace places a part of his power into Urborg itself, claiming that he will always be its protector. In his resulting battle with the rift, Windgrace crushes it out of existence, but he fades from reality as well, apparently dead.

With Lord Windgrace gone, the Weaver King attempts to take over Venser's mind and body. Venser utilizes his planeswalking abilities to trick the Weaver King and kill him by rupturing several powerstones he previously used in his artifice. Karn planeswalks to the ruins of Tolaria, and then time travels to the minutes just before Barrin cast Obliterate to destroy the island. Beginning to pour mana into the rift, Karn calculates that he will be weakened, but will survive the process. However, as Karn finishes sealing the rift, he senses a dark presence infiltrating his mind. Recognizing the corruption, Karn tells Venser that he regrets that he will be unable to help them with the other rifts and proceeds to planeswalk randomly throughout the Blind Eternities in order to prevent anyone from following him.

Back in the present day, Venser, Jhoira, and Teferi are together in Urborg. Before they are able to contemplate their next move, Jeska suddenly arrives. The planeswalker protégé of Karn asks where her mentor is.

Summary

 * Freyalise sacrifices herself to seal the Skyshroud rift.
 * Lord Windgrace sacrifices himself to seal the Urborg rift, though he claims to live on in spirit.
 * Karn seals the Tolarian rift but is corrupted and flees across the Blind Eternities.