Venser shrugged. “I try to avoid them so I’ve only seen a few. Most of the gladehunters are people like you and me, but they will recruit anything that knows how to follow orders. You know, ‘kill’ and ‘break that machinery’ and so forth.”
“You said they would come back for us and you. Will our small victory back there really bring the gladehunters’ wrath down on you in the future?”
Venser’s eyes shifted. “Not any more than it has in the past,” he admitted. “If they had seen me there with the machine and the dead bodies, it would be a different story, but if we got away clean, they’ll probably never tie the whole thing back to me. I try to keep a low profile, generally speaking, especially for the gladehunters. They come in all shapes and sizes, most of them nasty, and they really don’t like people like me.”
Jhoira nodded. “Humans?”
“Artificers.” Venser’s spine straightened and he spoke with obvious pride. “I’m a builder. I make things.”
Jhoira felt a warm smile growing on her lips. “Do you, now? You have no idea how interesting that is.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Not at all. I’m something of an artificer myself.”
A flicker of fear crossed Venser’s face. “You’re here to study the Stronghold?”
“If we can. Our real work lies elsewhere, but some of us wanted to see Urborg for ourselves.”
“Why did that bald wizard say you had come for me?”
Jhoira scowled. “Because he’s a child. He likes to keep people off-balance and guessing.” She regained her temper and continued, slightly less sharp. “More importantly, he thinks you might have something that will help us.”
A new look came across Venser’s face. For the first time since Jhoira had met him, he didn’t seem frightened, baffled, or overwhelmed. His face became focused and determined. He stuck out his jaw as he spoke.
“I only have one thing of any value,” he said, “and it’s mine. I need it.”
Jhoira noticed his hand twitching, as if it wanted to stray back to the pouch on his tool belt of its own accord.
“You can keep your powerstones,” she said. “They’re not what we want.”
Venser was not assuaged. “But you know about them. You know I have them. You know what they’re called, and you’re an artificer, so you must know what they can do.”
“All true, but I give you my solemn word: I would have more uses for a bag of sand in the middle of the desert than I would for your powerstones right here and now.” This seemed to confuse Venser all over again, so Jhoira added, “What do you use them for?”
Still suspicious, Venser said, “I scavenge parts from the fen. I build machines. The stones drive the machines I build.”
Jhoira nodded. “That is what they’re meant for. I myself tend to prefer clockwork designs. There are so many ways to wind the gears, so many different kinds of energy that you can convert to mechanical—sunlight, wind, even gravity. If you factor that into the initial design, you can incorporate rewinding into the machine’s initial function.”
“Then you run into the perpetual motion problem,” Venser said. “The clockwork eventually wears out and you spend all your time making and installing replacement parts.”
“Not if you use the right metal. In Shiv, we used to make an alloy that actually grows. As the pieces wear out, they also replace themselves.”
Venser was warming to her more with each new exchange. “Amazing,” he said. “I don’t have the facilities to make my own metals here. I’d love to get an ingot of that metal to work with.”
“I can easily arrange that.” Jhoira stood, offering her hand to Venser once more. “It will have to wait, though. I think if we can get a good, solid look at the Stronghold and then another at you, we’ll be done here. We can take you anywhere you want to go before we leave.”
Venser took Jhoira’s hand and got to his feet. “Thank you,” he said, “and thank you again for saving me in the swamp. It might not seem so, but I am grateful.” He licked his lips nervously. “I’m not very good with people.”
“I think you’re doing just fine. My friends are hard to be good with, if you know what I mean.”
Venser nodded. Jhoira would have bet everything she owned that he was thinking of Radha.
“This way,” she said. She led him out of the tent and found Teferi waiting for them.
“Greetings, Venser of Urborg,” he said. Teferi turned to Jhoira and sent, I need to hear what you think.
A moment, she thought back. To Venser, Jhoira said, “I am going to talk with Teferi for a moment. Please stay here or inside the tent.”
Venser looked around anxiously. “Is that frightful woman about? The demon with the big knife?”
Teferi laughed. “She is.”
“Does she know not to kill me?”
“I believe she does, but it’s best to stay close to the tent as Jhoira says. Just in case.”
Jhoira followed Teferi a few paces away from the tent. He stepped around a tree that was struggling to stay upright and spoke quietly.
“He’s not the one,” Teferi said. “There is no connection between him and the Stronghold rift.”
Jhoira glanced back. Venser had retreated back inside the tent. “Are you sure?”
“Close to it. The rift here is different from the one in Skyshroud, but it’s having the same mana-draining effect on the land. Urborg is in better shape than Keld for the time being, but eventually it’ll be just as lifeless. And in the meantime, Venser has no magic about him at all.”
“He’s an artificer,” Jhoira said. “Maybe he doesn’t use spells.”
Teferi brightened. “An artificer? That would explain a few things.” He stared off into space, tapping his finger alongside his chin as he mused. “Maybe I should take a closer look at our new young friend.”
“I think you should. He’s a good man.”
Teferi raised an eyebrow. “You’ve formed a favorable opinion of him already? Is there romance in the air?”
“Hardly. Though I expect he’s also mistaken me for being as old as I look. If anything, he’s probably worried about the sweet young girl forced to travel with such ogres.”
Teferi laughed lightly. “How you suffer,” he said. “All right, then. Let’s take our new friend a bit closer to the Stronghold and see what happens. After that … well, I’ve had a chance to examine two different rifts now. Time is running out, so let’s go learn what we can and see how it applies to Shiv.”
“With pleasure,” she said. Together they stepped out from behind the tree and headed for the tent.
Jhoira said, “What do you make of the gigantic slivers?”
Teferi exhaled. “No idea. I can’t tell if they’re everywhere or just everywhere we go. They don’t seem to be a major danger yet, and they’re not tied to the rifts … at least, not like Radha is.” He shrugged. “We’ll have to put that on the pile of questions that need answers.”
“After Shiv.”
Teferi nodded. “After Shiv.”
Venser must have heard them coming because he stepped out and hailed them with a wave.
“Say,” the artificer said. “I’m pretty close to my home here. I hate to trouble you, but if you can carry me home, could you also carry me back to the swamp where you found me? I’d like to see how much of my ambulator can be recycled.”
“I’ll do better than that,” Teferi said. “If you’ll come with me on a short flight, I’ll take you and your entire machine anywhere you want to go.” The planeswalker blinked. “What did you call your device?”
“An ambulator,” Jhoira said. She felt the same thought growing in her head that she saw forming in Teferi’s.
Venser did not notice their increased interest. “She’s right,” he said. “I call it the ambulator, but it’s still far from functional.” He laughed modestly. “Well, far from reliably functional. I have gotten it to work a few times.”
Teferi floated toward Venser on a cloud
of blue dust, his eyes wide and his teeth dazzling. He landed softly near Venser, who took an involuntary step backward as if Teferi were poised to slap him.
“This ambulator,” Teferi said. “What does it do?”
Venser looked at Jhoira for a moment before answering, “It’s a teleporter really. It’s supposed to let me travel instantaneously from one place to another.” He paused, continuing almost to himself. “Almost instantaneously. I can do it; I just can’t do it consistently.” He glanced back up. “Plus, I can’t go very far, and I have very little control over where I end up. I’m just now starting to zero in on the accuracy problem. First priority was to make the trip less stressful on the machine itself.” He tilted his head forward, separated his hair, and showed them an old, thin scar that ran across the top of his scalp. “And its passenger.”
Teferi could hardly contain his interest. “And you’ve been testing this device near here? This close to the Stronghold?”
“Yes. Well, I had to. I set up my workshop here because it’s close to where the parts are.”
“Jhoira,” Teferi called breezily. “Venser is working on a teleportation machine. Isn’t that fascinating?”
“It is.”
“And it’s not working properly.”
“What a shame.”
Venser’s confusion was slowly becoming irritation. “What are you two so happy about?”
Jhoira locked eyes with Teferi for a moment, then said to Venser, “Let’s go collect your ambulator,” she said. “I’d like to take a look at your teleportation machine. Teferi would, too. We have some experience with machines and teleportation.”
She smiled at Venser’s still-baffled expression and said, “I think we might be able to help.”
“Fabulous. Brilliant. What an amazing achievement.”
Teferi was laying it on a little thick, as he was prone to do. The more Jhoira saw of Venser’s device, the less hyperbolic Teferi’s praise seemed. Venser had cobbled together an extremely efficient teleportation matrix with very little in the way of resources. If it worked like he said it did, he had already accomplished more than most artificers did during their entire lifetimes.
He had certainly set his sights high. There were spells that could move objects and people—Teferi claimed to know at least thirty—but they were complicated and exacting things to cast. The slightest variation in the ritual could have catastrophic results for all concerned, so only experienced wizards would even dare try. A reliable teleportation machine that anyone could use on demand would be a rare prize indeed. It would also be the crowning achievement that made a journeyman artificer into a master.
“May I?” Teferi asked.
His eyes shined blue and he raised the tip of his staff. Venser nodded stiffly. Teferi reached out and touched the staff to the thronelike ambulator. Venser’s machine sparkled then rose gently into the air. It began to rotate slowly.
“How does it work?” Teferi was still circling the device, walking against the direction of its rotation.
He was oddly manic, a little too interested in the machine, and it was making Venser nervous. The young artificer was also squirming under Teferi’s barrage of compliments.
“Well,” Venser said, “it doesn’t yet.”
“Of course it does,” Teferi said. “Was it sitting out here in the swamp this morning? No, it was not, but it’s here now. Your ambulator ambulated, my young friend, and good on you for it. Mind you, perfection is a goal, not a destination, and there’s always some way to improve even …” Teferi’s voice trailed off as Jhoira caught his eye. Almost imperceptibly, she shook her head.
Venser shifted his feet uncomfortably.
Teferi cleared his throat and said, “Excuse me. I am so excited about your work that I have forgotten how that particular cliché ends.” He bowed. “Allow me to sum up: Well done, sir.” From his bent position, Teferi looked up at Jhoira.
What is it? he sent. Venser’s machine is remarkable, but it’s going to take decades to solve his navigation problems without the right materials.
I can see that, Jhoira replied. We should leave him to it.
Teferi straightened up, still beaming at Venser. We could save him years just by making a few simple suggestions. He’ll never get anywhere at this rate, not before he’s middle-aged.
I don’t think he’s building it to use it. I think he’s building it to prove he can.
Teferi walked under the ambulator, inspecting its undercarriage. I want to see how it works.
Why? I thought the point was to see if Venser was interacting with the rift.
It is, but I don’t think Venser is interacting with the rift, not even through the ambulator. I think the ambulator is interacting with the rift on its own.
You think the machine is conscious? Jhoira thought of all that Phyrexian wreckage in the swamps where Venser had been scavenging.
I think the machine is connected to the rift, or at least those powerstones are. When they drive this machine, I think it travels through the rift the same way I travel through the Blind Eternities during a planeswalk. Maybe mana is the conduit to and from the rifts … that would explain why it’s drawing so much in, but then, where does it come out?
Back to Venser … he’s essentially built a planeswalking machine?
No. It’s similar to what I do when I move within a single plane, but it wouldn’t allow one to cross planar barriers. It’s not a portal like the Phyrexians had. It should only be the somewhat crude but very effective teleporter Venser was trying to build, but it’s not. It’s more.
Teferi spoke aloud, “I think that”—he pointed to the ambulator—“interacts with that”—he gestured up at the Stronghold—“every time you use it. It would help me to know if it does and how. Venser, will you provide us with a quick demonstration of your marvelous machine?”
The artificer stole a quick look at Jhoira. She could only shrug.
“I would love to,” Venser said, “but there is some structural damage I’ll need—”
Teferi’s eyes and the tip of his staff crackled. “Fixed it,” he said. Half-turning to Jhoira, Teferi said, “I haven’t changed anything about your device, Venser. I’ve merely replaced the parts that were clearly damaged.”
“Uhh … thank you, but it’s not safe to stay out here. The gladehunters—”
“Will not bother us.” The bald man’s eyes went white. “If they can still perceive us at all, they’ll still have to dig for ten days to get close.”
“I … see.” Venser went to the device and stared up at it. He glanced back at Teferi.
“I beg your pardon,” Teferi said. He gestured and the device slowly settled back down onto the blue platform of light.
Venser woodenly began to inspect the machine’s innards. He called back, “Where would you like to go?”
“Oh, I don’t want to go, dear boy. I want to watch. Take it anywhere you like, any distance, any direction. I just want to see the ambulator in action.”
“Teferi,” Jhoira called, “you should think this over.”
The planeswalker smiled. “I disagree.”
“Then at least call the others.”
Venser’s pale face popped around the corner. “Is that absolutely necessary?”
“Hear, hear.”
Jhoira glared at them both. “The last rift we stood in front of spat out a platoon of berserkers, so yes,” she said, “it is absolutely necessary.”
Teferi sighed, sounding defeated, but then he perked up again. “How about if Venser goes and gets them in the ambulator? That way we can do everything at once.”
“That’s your solution to everything,” Jhoira said, “and look how well it’s worked for you so far.”
Teferi’s face fell. Venser said, “I’ll need a few minutes to set things up. You have time to collect the others, if you like.” He swallowed. “Just keep all the knives, fire, and teeth a safe distance from me. All right?”
“Done.” Jhoira nodded, but she didn�
��t look away from Teferi. He seemed chastened, but Jhoira knew that inside he was celebrating like a spoiled child who has been punished but still gotten his way.
Radha and the Shivans stood by, weapons ready. Teferi had dissolved the energy platform and the warriors all stood ankle-deep in the mire.
Venser was busy at his machine, still tightening and calibrating. They had placed it on one of the drier mounds that rose from the fetid water. Teferi stood off to one side, gazing contemplatively up at the Stronghold.
“We’re ready,” Venser said. He called out to Teferi and the others, “Anyone else want to come along?”
The Shivans only stared. Radha rolled her eyes during the silence and said, “Just get in and flip the switch, pasty. It stinks out here. I hate your whole country.”
“On behalf of all us,” Teferi cut in, “no, thank you.”
Venser opened the door. “I’m just going from one end of this clearing to the other.” He smiled hopefully at Jhoira. “We’ll see if I get there.”
“I’ll find you if you go astray,” Teferi said. “We’ll get to you before the gladehunters do.”
“Glad to hear that.” Venser waved, sat down, then pulled a harness into place around his chest.
“Teferi,” Jhoira said, “I’d like to see the rift during Venser’s demonstration.”
“An excellent idea.” The planeswalker waved his staff. The angry red clouds shimmered and the great storm vortex faded into view over the Stronghold.
Venser unhooked the harness and stood. “One last detail,” he called. He walked around to one side of the machine and reached into his tool belt. He fitted the glowing yellow powerstone into its housing and closed the panel. Then he went around and did the same on the opposite side with the second stone.
The artificer went back to his machine, sat down, and pulled the harness back on. The ambulator sat silent for almost a full minute. Then Jhoira heard a click and a metal lever being released. A series of small yellow lights came to life around the upper edge of the machine.
The Stronghold rift reacted immediately. The vortex spun faster and jags of purple lightning began to dance across its wide mouth. The lights on the ambulator glowed brighter and an increasingly loud metallic grinding sound rose over the swamp. The louder and brighter Venser’s machine grew, the louder and brighter the vortex.
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