Planeswalker (34 page)

Urza was right. They were being tested. Xantcha hoped
she had passed.

Xantcha slept well and awoke to the unmistakable sounds
of children being quiet outside her door. They were not so
fluent in Argivian as the household's adult members, but
the tallest of the three boys-who understandably took
himself to be older than Xantcha and therefore entitled to
give her orders-made it clear that sunrise was coming and
it was time for guests to come outside and join the family
in its morning rituals.

The eastern horizon had barely begun to brighten when
Xantcha settled into what was evidently a place of honor
between Tessu and the ancient. They faced west toward the
mountain, which was as monolithic black in the pre-dawn
light as it was during Xantcha's bath. There were no
prayers, a relief, and no Urza or Romom or Brya, either.
Brya's absence could be explained by the motionless
serenity with which the household awaited the coming of
daylight. No toddler could sit so still for so long.

Xantcha herself was challenged by the discipline. Her
mind ached with unasked questions, her nose itched, then
her toes, and the nearly unreachable spot between her
shoulder blades. She was ready to explode when light struck
the mountain's rounded crest. As sunrises went, it was not
spectacular. The air was clear. There were no clouds
anywhere to add contrast or movement to the surprisingly
slow progression of color and light on the mountainside.

But that, Xantcha realized, was Equilor's mystery and
revelation. Those who dwelt at the edge of time had gone
past a need for the spectacular; they'd learned to
appreciate the subtlest differences. They'd conquered
boredom even more effectively than the perfect folk of
Serra's realm. They could wait forever and a day, which
Xantcha supposed was a considerable accomplishment, though
nothing she wished to emulate.

Find what you're looking for! she urged the absent
Urza, moments before the dawn revealed two white-clad
figures moving among the mountain's many caves.

The ancient rapped Xantcha sharply on the back. "Pay
attention! Watch close!"

Guessing that some rite of choosing or choice was about
to take place, Xantcha did her best to follow the ancient's
advice, but it proved impossible. Brilliant lights suddenly
began to flash from the cave mouths, as if each contained a
mirror. She blinked rapidly and to no useful effect. Each
cave mouth had its own rhythm, no matter how Xantcha tried,
her eyes were quickly, painfully blinded by reflected
sunlight.

"You'll learn," the ancient chortled, while tears ran
down Xantcha's cheeks.

The dazzle ended.

Tessu embraced Xantcha with a hearty "Good morning" and
pulled her to her feet before releasing her. Xantcha had
scarcely dried her face on her sleeve before the rest of
the household followed Tessu's example and greeted her with
the same embrace they used with one another. She had never
been so carefully included in a family gathering, and
seldom felt so out of place. Her vision was still awash in
purple and green blobs when she and Tessu were alone in the
atrium.

"You aren't used to it yet," Tessu said gently. "You'll
learn."

"That's what the ancient said."

"Ancient? Oh, Pakuya. She'll go up the mountain
herself, I think, after you and Urza leave. We've been
waiting quite a long time, even for us, for you to arrive."

The certainty in Tessu's voice was an unexpected
relief. "Urza's in one of the caves, right?"

"Keodoz, I think. Romom will say for certain when he
returns this afternoon."

Keodoz, the name of the cave or the elder who occupied
it? Xantcha stifled idle curiosity in favor of a more
important question: "Do you know when Urza will return?"

"Tomorrow or the next day. Whenever he and Keodoz have
finished."

It was nearly twenty days before neighbors spotted a
white-robed man coming down the mountain. By then Xantcha
knew that there was no difference between the cave and the
elder-or more accurately, elders-who dwelt within it.
Romom, Tessu, and the rest of the Equilor community-and
there was only the one community at the edge of time-lived
their mortal lives in expectation of the day when they'd
climb the mountain one last time to merge with their
ancestors.

Despite their focus on their cave-dwelling ancestors,
the folk of Equilor weren't a morbid people. They laughed
with one another, loved their children, and took genuine
delight in the small events of daily life. They argued,
held grudges, and gossiped among themselves and about the
elders, who, despite their collective spirits, were not
without individual foibles. Keodoz, Xantcha learned, was
known to be long-winded and supremely self-confident. As
Urza's time in the caves had lengthened, the household
began to joke that Keodoz had found a soulmate-a notion
that distressed Xantcha. Idyllic ways notwithstanding,
Equilor was not a place where she wanted to spend eternity.

When she heard that Urza had been spotted, she left the
house at once and jogged along the stone road until she met
up with him.

"Did you get your answers ?" she asked, adding, "I can
be ready to leave before sundown."

"I have only scratched the surface, Xantcha. We are
young compared to them. We know so little, and they have
been collecting knowledge for so long. A thousand years
wouldn't be enough time. Ten thousand, even a hundred
thousand wouldn't be too much. You cannot imagine what the
elders know."

Of course she couldn't imagine. She was Phyrexian.

"Remember why we came here. What about vengeance? Your
brother? Dominaria? Phyrexia!"

He grabbed her and lifted her into the air. "Keodoz
knows so much, Xantcha! Do you remember, after we left
Phyrexia, how I was unable to return to Dominaria? I said
it was as if the portion of the multiverse that held
Dominaria had been squeezed and sealed away from the rest.
I was right, Xantcha. Not only was I right, but I was the
one who had squeezed and twisted it when I emptied the
sylex bowl! It wasn't evident at first-well, it was.
Dominaria was cooler when I left, but I didn't understand
how the two were related. But it was in my mind, when I
used the sylex, to protect my home for all time, and the
bowl's power was so great that my wish was granted. No
artifact device, nor planeswalker's will, can breach the
Shard that the sylex created. The elders here at Equilor
could not breach it."

"You turned your home into Phy- " Xantcha caught
herself before she finished the fatal word and substituted,
"Serra's realm?" instead.

"Better, Xantcha. Much better! The Shard is more than a
chasm, and Dominaria is an entire nexus of planes, all
natural and balanced. Dominaria is safe, and I saved it
with the sylex."

"But the Phyrexians? Phyrexia? The Ineffable?"

"They are doomed, Xantcha. Accidents and anomalies, not
worth the effort of destroying them, now that I am sure
Dominaria is safe. There are more important questions,
Xantcha. I see that now. I've found my place. Equilor is
where I belong. Keodoz and the others have so much
knowledge, but they've done nothing with it. Look around
us, Xantcha. These folk need leadership- vision!-and I will
give it to them. When I am finished, Equilor will be the
jewel of the multiverse."

Xantcha thought of Tessu and Romom waiting to merge
with all their ancestors. She wriggled free and said,
cautiously, "I don't think that's what anyone here wants."

"They have not dreamed with me, Xantcha. Keodoz has
only begun to dream with me. It will take time, but we have
time. Equilor has time. They are not immortal, but they
might as well be. Did you know that if Brya, Romom's
youngest, had been born where I was born, she would be an
old woman in her eighties ?"

Xantcha hadn't known and wasn't comfortable with the
knowledge. Urza, however, was radiant, as intoxicated by
his ambitions as she would have been by a jug of wine.
"Urza, You haven't found your place," she said, retreating
into the grass. "You've lost it. We came here to find the
first home for the

Phyrexians. They've never been here, and if the elders
don't know where they're from, then we should leave ...
soon."

"Nonsense!" Urza retorted and started walking toward
the white houses.

Nonsense was also the first word out of Pakuya's
toothless mouth when Urza regaled the household with his
notions over supper. Tessu, Romom, and the others were too
polite-or perhaps too astonished-to say anything until Urza
had 'walked back to Keodoz's cave, and then they spoke in
their own language. Xantcha had learned only a few words of

Equiloran-she suspected they spoke her Argivian dialect
precisely to keep their own language a mystery-but she
didn't need a translator to catch that they were unhappy
with Urza's plans or to decide that their politeness masked
a strong, even rigid, culture.

Tessu confirmed Xantcha's suspicions. "It might be
best," she said in a supremely mild tone, "if you spoke
with Urza."

"I've already told him but Urza doesn't listen to me
unless I'm telling him what he wants to hear. If I were
you, I'd send someone up the mountain to talk with Keodoz."

"Keodoz is not much for listening."

"Then we've got a problem."

"No, Xantcha, Urza's got a problem, because the other
elders will get Keodoz's attention, sooner or later."

"Is Urza in danger? I mean... would you... would they?"
Tessu was such a calm, rational woman that Xantcha had
difficulty getting her question out, though she knew from
other worlds that the most ruthless folk she'd ever met
were invariably calm and rational.

"Those who go up the mountain, do not always come
down," Tessu said simply.

"Urza's a 'walker, I've seen him melt mountains with
his eyes."

"Not here."

Xantcha absorbed that in silence. "I'll talk to Urza,
the next time he comes down ... assuming he comes back
down."

"Assuming," Tessu agreed.

Urza did return to the white houses after forty days in
Keodoz's cave. He summoned the entire community and made
the air shimmer with visions of artifacts and cities.
Xantcha had learned a bit more Equiloran by then. When she
spoke to Urza afterward, her concerns were real.

"They're not interested. They say they've put greatness
behind them and they're angry with Romom and Tessu for
letting you stay with them so long. They say something's
got to be done."

"Of course something's got to be done! And I'll get
Keodoz to do it. He's on the brink. He's been on the brink
for days now. I left him alone to get his thoughts in
order. They're a collective mind, you know, each elder
separately and all the elders together. They've become
stagnant, but I'm getting them moving again. Once I get
Keodoz persuaded, he'll give the sign to the others, and
the dam will burst. You'll see."

"Tessu said, those who go up the mountain don't always
return. Be careful, Urza. These people have power."

"Tessu and Romom! Forget Tessu and Romom, they might as
well be blind. Yes, they've got power. All Equilor had
undreamed power, but they turned their back on power and
they've forgotten how to use it. Even Keodoz. I'm going to
show them what greatness truly is!"

Xantcha walked away wondering if Tessu had enough power
to take her between-worlds once Urza stayed in the
mountains with Keodoz. The adults were missing, though, and
the children wouldn't meet Xantcha's eyes when she asked
where they'd gone, not even eighty-year-old Brya. Xantcha
went outside, to the place where they gathered to watch
sunrise light the mountain each morning. The skies were

clear. It had rained just four times since she'd arrived-
torrential downpours that soaked everything and recharged
the cisterns. During the storms they'd taken shelter in the
underground larders. She'd thought the adult community
might be meeting there, or outside one of the other houses.
Xantcha listened closely for conversation but heard
nothing, and though she'd never heard or seen anything to
suggest that the gardens and fields beyond the white houses
were dangerous at night, she decided she was safest near
the children.

Tessu's children took harmless advantage of her
absence. They raided the larder, lured the kittens onto the
forbidden cushions and, one by one, fell asleep away from
their beds. Xantcha guessed they'd slipped into the long
hours between midnight and dawn. She decided to try another
conversation with Urza, but he was gone, 'walked back to
Keodoz, most likely. She sensed that the Equilorans didn't
approve of skipping between-worlds to get from the house to
the cave. They didn't say anything, though; they weren't
inclined toward warnings or ultimatums. Not that either
would have mattered with Urza.

Xantcha went outside again. She paced and stared at the
mountain, then paced some more, stared some more. The sky
brightened: dawn, at last. The adults would come back for
the sunrise. She'd talk to Tessu. They'd work something
out.

But the brightening wasn't dawn. The new light came
from a single point overhead, a star, Xantcha thought-there
weren't so many of them in the Equilor sky that she hadn't
already memorized the brightest patterns. She'd never seen
a star grow brighter before, except on Gastal when the star
had been a predatory planeswalker.

Xantcha ran inside, awakened the children, and was
herding them to the larders when Tessu raced through the
always-open door.

"I was sending them to shelter, before that thing-"
Xantcha pointed at the brightness overhead-"crashes on top
of us."

The children had rushed to their mother, babbling in
their own language-offering apologies and excuses for why
they weren't in bed, Xantcha guessed, and maybe blaming
her, though there were no pointed fingers or condemning
glances. Tessu calmed them quickly. If the youngest was
indeed eighty, Tessu had had several lifetimes in which to
learn the tricks of motherhood. She didn't urge them into
the larder, however, but outside to the sunrise gathering
place.