Lynn Abbey - Planeswalker

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.

"Thank you for thinking first of the children," Tessu said. It wasn't what she'd come running home to say, but the words seemed sincere. "Nothing will crash down on Equilor. A star is dying."

Xantcha shook her head, unable to comprehend the notion. "It happens frequently, or so the elders say, but only twice when we on the ground could see it, and never as bright as this." Tessu took Xantcha's hands gently between hers. "It is an omen."

"Urza? Is Urza-?"

"There will be a change. I can't say more than that. Change doesn't come easily to Equilor. We will go outside and see what the sunrise brings."

Xantcha freed herself. "You know more. Tell me ... please?'

"I know no more, Xantcha. I suspect-yes, I suspect the elders have gotten Keodoz's attention. The problem with Urza will be resolved, quickly."

Xantcha stared at her hands. She didn't grieve or wail. Urza had brought this on himself, but when she tried to imagine her life without him she began to shiver.

"Don't borrow trouble," Tessu advised, draping a length of cloth over Xantcha's shoulders. "The sun hasn't risen yet. Come outside and wait with us."

No night had ever been longer. The dying star continued to brighten until it cast shadows all around. It remained visible after the other stars had dimmed and when the dawn began. Xantcha worried the hem loose from her borrowed shawl and began to mindlessly unravel it.

There was change, more noticeable than anyone had imagined. As dawn's perimeter moved down the mountain, the caves flashed in unison and in complex rhythm that could only be a code. Xantcha tugged on Tessu's sleeve.

"What does it mean?" she whispered.

"It means they've come to their senses," Pakuya snapped. "If that fool wants to change a world, let him change his own!"

To which Tessu added, "You'll be leaving soon."

"Urza's alive?"

"No more than he was yesterday, and I'd be surprised if he's learned anything. Keodoz certainly hasn't. But that's for the best, isn't it, if they both think they've made the changes for themselves?"