In "Mystic Arcana: Magik", McNee's journey begins in the mystical Serpent's Sea as he is drowning and freezing to death; he claims to be ignorant of who sent him there or why they want him dead. He invokes the deity Oshtur and she offers to save him if he helps to restore the magician Heka-Nut, the villain of Ashake and Magick's quest, with mystical power to save the magical realms. Ian agrees and Oshtur charges him to find the Cornerstones of Creation, the "aces" of the First Tarot. He begins by locating the sphinx Ammut, disguised as an ordinary woman, and invokes a contest for possession of the Sword of Bone: Ammut will pose a riddle to McNee, and if McNee guesses correctly, Ammut surrenders the Sword, but if McNee guesses incorrectly, Ammut will eat McNee's mind. McNee guesses correctly and gains the Sword of Bone, the Cornerstone of Air, disguised as a sword-shaped pendant on a necklace. Ammut then informs McNee his next task is to retrieve the Ebony Rose, the Cornerstone of Earth, from Morgan Le Fay.