The Violet Keystone Read online

  "Nvarth! Ghesh gheshthil lurese!"

  Then it spoke words they did know, words that hit them like physical blows.

  "Adras eris Aenir! Odris eris Aenir!"

  With those words, Adras and Odris disappeared. To Tal and Milla it was like having something torn out of their bodies, a pain so terrible that both of them were instantly felled, toppling to the floor like chopped trees.

  Through a haze of crippling pain, Tal saw Sushin crawling back around the pyramid, crawling toward him. He tried to focus on his Sunstone, but everything was blurry and he could not make his hand do what he wanted.

  Milla tried, too, and actually managed to drag herself closer to Tal and raise her hand with the Talon. But no light whip came, and she could not keep going. All her strength was gone.

  They were dying, Tal realized, though he could not think clearly for the pain. This was what had happened to Ethar and the other Chosen outside the Audience Chamber. Sushin--or whatever was in

  Sushin--had sent their Spiritshadows back to Aenir and the sudden shock had killed them.

  "I shall take that," said Sushin in his normal voice, as he crawled up next to Tal. One blubbery hand reached across and slid the Violet Keystone from Tal's finger. The Chosen boy tried to resist, but it was no good. His arm just flopped and the pain stabbed through his eyes into his brain. "I think this is best put back together."

  Sushin sat up and inspected the half Keystone he had taken. But before he could slip it on his own finger next to the half he already had, a beam of intense red light shot out and struck him full on the hand. The Keystone ring fell to the floor and bounced away.

  The voice inside Sushin growled then, a sound that drove fear even through the pain in Tal.

  Another Red Ray struck Sushin in the chest, smoke curling up as it drilled a hole right through him. He growled again and struggled to get to his feet, forgetting his hamstrings and bulk. He fell over again and started to slither along the ground like a snake or worm, toward the pyramid.

  Through the deep cuts and rents in the Chosen's robe, Tal saw not flesh and blood, but shadow.

  Tal rolled over, crying with the pain, and saw Crow standing near the entrance. The Freefolk boy was holding out his Sunstone in the approved manner taught in the Lectorium, his face wrinkled in concentration. Red light bathed his hand, growing in intensity as he prepared another Red Ray. A second later, it shot out, striking sparks as it cut through some metal on Sushin's robes.

  But it still did not slow whatever Sushin was. He reached the pyramid and dragged himself up, using it as a prop so he could aim his Sunstone at Crow.

  "Not! Not a man!" screamed Tal, the words interspersed with sobs. "A shadow! Malen…"

  He could say no more, his strength exhausted.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  As Tal's words echoed in the chamber, Sushin fired a globe of shimmering Violet back at Crow and Male's voice filled the air. A quavering, uncertain voice, speaking the words of the Prayer to Asteyr.

  Crow dived aside and the Violet globe sailed past him, struck the wall between two windows, and exploded straight through, out into the air beyond, followed by a great plume of stone chips and dust.

  The effect of Malen's voice was equally spectacular. Sushin froze, his mouth open, his hand extended. Then his whole body blurred. There was his human form, and then there was a dark double that was separating out of him, stepping back from the human version.

  It was a shadow leaving the flesh it had hidden in. As it came out, it changed and grew, growing larger and more menacing. Slowly it assumed the shape that only Tal had seen before.

  A monster. A dragon. Sharrakor himself.

  Fully out of his fleshly host, his reptilean body stretched from floor to ceiling. His head was long and spiked, his many-toothed mouth big enough to snap up Tal in a single bite. His wings were furled, as they would not fit in the chamber. His tail was long and ended in a bone shaped like a butcher's cleaver.

  "Asteyr herself could not bind me alone," roared Sharrakor. "How could you succeed where she failed and died for her failure? I do not see Danir, Susir, and Grettir come to do her work!"

  The shadowdragon's voice momentarily drowned out Malen's, and for a moment Tal thought she had stopped. But then her voice came back again. Quiet, slow, but unafraid. Whether her prayer could bind Sharrakor or not, he clearly didn't like it.

  "Speak your spell!" he roared again. "I shall not stay to hear it. But you I shall seek out, witch of the Ice, if you still live when I return. Go now and tell your peoples that the Veil is destroyed! That Sharrakor will soon finish the war your ancestors so foolishly began!"

  With that, the shadowdragon's head flashed down and bit off Sushin's hand. It held it in its mighty jaws for an instant, then the Spiritshadow disappeared, and the hand fell to the floor--minus the Sunstone ring that had been there a moment before.

  Malen kept reciting the Prayer to Asteyr, even though the object of it was no longer visible. Crow rushed over to where Tal and Milla were writhing on the ground.

  "What happened?" he asked. "Where are you hurt?"

  "Spiritshadows," said Tal. He could barely speak between sobs of pain. "Sent back. Aenir. We… must… follow. Get Ebbitt. Get ring. Please… please…"

  Tal watched Crow turn and pick up the ring. This is where it happens, his shocked brain thought. This is the betrayal. This is where Crow takes the ring and walks away. There, he is turning now. This is the end.

  He was still thinking that when Crow slipped the half Keystone back on his finger.

  "I know the Way to Aenir," said Crow. "Ebbitt showed me once. But I never went. Now seems the time."

  "Get Milla," whispered Tal. He couldn't concentrate. "You… reflect the light into our stones…"

  Milla had already crawled a little closer. She did not speak or make any sound of pain when Crow grabbed her and dragged her next to Tal, rolling them both onto their backs and resting their Sunstones on their chests, their heads on his lap.

  "Milla," muttered Tal. "Watch… Sunstone… follow… repeat…"

  Crow began to visualize the colors and speak the Way to Aenir. His Sunstone flashed and he directed beams from it to the Sunstones clasped in Milla's and Tal's hands.

  Through the pain, Tal tried to repeat the words Crow was speaking. He knew that they must get to Aenir. They had to find Adras and Odris, who must be dying there. They had to get back and repair or raise the Veil again, and prepare for Sharrakor's invasion…

  Milla followed the words without thinking of anything else. The words and colors were all that mattered. She had to survive. Her people were depending upon her. She had failed them already and had not defended the Veil. She must live to reverse her defeat…

  Malen finished the Prayer to Asteyr. But she did not feel its success. Sharrakor must have returned to Aenir to avoid the spell. He was not lurking, somehow invisible.

  Malen saw Crow sitting with Tal and Milla cradled against him, with waves of many-colored light washing across all three of them. She saw Sushin dead or dying next to the pyramid, blood flowing freely now that the shadow in him was gone.

  Then she saw a flash of light at the very apex of the pyramid. It had been completely dark, but now the top began to shine with a weak red light. Malen watched it, thinking the light might spread, but it didn't. Only the top glowed.

  She heard a noise behind her and whirled around, suddenly afraid. She was effectively alone, a Crone disconnected from her mothers and sisters, without Shield Maidens or hunters to protect her.

  It was Ebbitt, puffing and straining as he climbed the ramp. He saw Malen staring at him, wild-eyed, and Sushin behind, the almost totally dark pyramid, and the rainbow-cocooned trio of Crow, Tal, and Milla.

  "What happened?"

  Malen shivered and found herself unable to speak, the words caught in her throat. Ebbitt rushed past her, and after a further glance at the three who had clearly gone to Aenir, he knelt beside Sushin, his Sunstone glowing as he call
ed up healing magic. Ebbitt's Spiritshadow sniffed at Sushin, then wandered over to sniff at the point where Adras and Odris had pulled apart Sushin's spiky Spiritshadow.

  "He… he had a shadow in him," blurted out Malen. "Sharrakor. A dragon. He made Adras and Odris disappear and Tal and Milla fell down. We were watching and Crow used Light Magic and I tried the Prayer of Asteyr but Sharrakor said the Veil was destroyed and he'd come back…"

  "The Veil isn't destroyed, it's just fraying at the edges," said Ebbitt sharply. There was no indication of his usual dodderiness. "The Red Keystone is keeping it going, at least for a while. Though not as strongly as it should, perhaps. What did Sharrakor say about coming back?"

  "He said he'd come back and finish the war," said Malen. "Oh, I'd better… I'd better report…"

  She stood up straighter and put her hands to her head. But the more she tried to reach the other Crones, the more she heard Sharrakor's awful voice, and his threat, that he would find her…

  "That'll hold you," said Ebbitt.

  Sushin opened his eyes. "Thank you but that will be quite…" His voice trailed off and an expression of total bewilderment spread across his face. "Where am I? Who are you?"

  "Rest now," soothed Ebbitt. "You've had an accident."

  "I was in Aenir," said Sushin. "Having breakfast with Julper Yen-Baren. He was going to help me climb to Yellow…"

  He paused for a moment.

  "I dreamed," he said after the pause. "A terrible dream. My head was opened and a stranger poured himself inside--"

  His voice was getting more and more shrill as he spoke, building toward hysteria. Ebbitt hastily raised his Sunstone and a green light fell down on Sushin's face. The Chosen's eyes closed and he slumped back against the pyramid.

  "I'm not sure whether it will be more merciful to help him live or die," remarked Ebbitt. "I suppose as in so many things, fate will decide. Imagine his last memory being breakfast with Julper Yen-Baren! More than thirty years ago. I bet it was a rotten breakfast, too. Julper was a mean fellow. Come on, then."

  "Come on?" asked Malen. "Where?"

  "Aenir," said Ebbitt impatiently. "You'll have to share my Sunstone for the transition. Just stare at it and repeat what I say."

  "Aenir!" exclaimed Malen. "I can't go there!" "You'll be needed," said Ebbitt. "From what I read in the Codex."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Ah, that would be telling," replied Ebbitt.

  "Yes it would!" said Malen, stamping her foot. "So tell me, you… you old hoarder!"

  Being called a hoarder was a serious insult among Icecarls, for sharing food and essentials was a central part of any clan's survival. Ebbitt, however, was not offended.

  "Oh, put like that, I suppose," he said, rubbing his nose. "Having got rid of the Veil, or close enough, Sharrakor's next step must be to undo the Forgetting. Since it was your Crones--or the historical equivalent--that did the Forgetting in the first place, it seems to me that you'll be required."

  "But I'm only a young Crone," protested Malen.

  "You're the only

  Crone who's right here right now," answered Ebbitt, taking her arm. "Just stare into this Sunstone."

  "But I should inform--"

  "No time for that!" cried Ebbitt. His Spiritshadow had sidled up to his side, and his Sunstone was already changing color, beginning the sequence that was part of the Way to Aenir. "They'll figure it out. Remember, say the words after me!"

  He started reciting, and Malen, despite herself, stared into the Sunstone and repeated the words. Aenir! She was going to Aenir, where no Icecarl save Milla had been for a thousand circlings or more!

  Neither of them noticed a trickle of silver slide out the back of Ebbitt's shirt and roll across the floor. The Codex of the Chosen had spent too long in Aenir, and it had no plans to return.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Tal, Milla, and Crow fell onto a stone platform that wriggled under them and tried to crawl away. The weaker sunshine of Aenir fell upon their changed bodies, the Aeniran versions of themselves. They were a little shorter, and slimmer, and their skin glowed with a slight luster.

  The pain was still with Tal and Milla, but to a much lesser extent. Tal could feel Adras somewhere. Too far away, but not totally absent. So the Storm Shepherd was still alive, thank the Light.

  Tal sat up and looked around. They didn't seem to be in immediate danger, though the stone slab moving under him was a bit creepy. It was not the only apparently solid object that was moving. The remains of a nearby wall were also slowly shifting away, trailing old mortar.

  "Ruins," said Crow. He was standing up, shaking his head a little as he looked around him and down at his changed self. "So this is Aenir. I always wanted to see this."

  "Can you see any enemies?" asked Milla. She stood up, too, then sat down again rather too quickly and began massaging her legs and doing exercises with her arms.

  "No," replied Crow. "At least I don't think so. There are a lot of stones moving around. Very slowly. Where are we, anyway?"

  "A ruined city," said Tal, which was pretty obvious to everyone. At least that was what it looked like. You never could be too sure in Aenir what anything really was, as opposed to what it seemed to be. Certainly they were surrounded by many ruined buildings, and there were plenty more as far as he could see, rising up into the hills around.

  "What happened?" asked Milla. "I felt Odris… wrenched… away. It was worse than when the Merwin gored me."

  Tal shook his head.

  "I'm not sure. Somehow Sharrakor sent them back here. But they're coming. I think."

  "Yes," confirmed Milla. "I can feel Odris getting closer. But they are far away."

  "We failed," said Tal, after they were both silent for a moment. "The Veil is gone."

  "The Ice will melt," said Milla quietly. "The Slepenish and the Selski will die, and my people with them."

  "And any who do survive will be slain by the shadows Sharrakor will lead back there."

  "Not if we stop him," said Milla. "Perhaps we can do this one small thing, when we have failed in so many others."

  "We must try," said Tal. He was thinking of his family, back in the Castle. He had saved Graile, there was a good chance his father, Rerem, could be rescued from the Orange Keystone, and Gref and Kusi reunited with them. But for what? So they could all die together when Sharrakor invaded?

  "No," Milla contradicted him. "We must succeed."

  Tal and Crow nodded grimly in agreement. Tal forced himself to his feet. He tottered a little and had to put his hand on Milla's shoulder to balance. Crow offered a steadying hand, but Tal refused it. He managed to stand unassisted and look out in the direction he felt the Storm Shepherds were coming from. Seeing nothing, he slowly turned around in a circle.

  There was a speck on the horizon, and for a moment Tal thought it was Adras. But it didn't look right, and after a second he realized it was flying away. He pointed it out to Milla and Crow.

  "What's that?"

  Crow looked but couldn't see it. Milla shaded her eyes with her hand.

  "A dragon. Sharrakor," she said, the name sending a thrill of fear through each of them. "He is not dark like a shadow here, but bright as a mirror shining in the sun."

  "Watch him as far as you are able," said Tal. "We'll have to follow when we can."

  A movement attracted his attention and he whirled unsteadily. But it was only a boulder crossing between two walls, in a slow and stately progress.

  Tal sighed and sat back down. There was nothing they could do for a little while. They had to regain their strength and wait for Adras and Odris to arrive.

  But it was not Adras and Odris who arrived. There was a shimmer in the air next to them, and a sudden rainbow. Tal and Milla scurried back, readying Sunstone and Talon. Crow took cover behind the wall and picked up what he hoped was an inanimate rock. His knife had not come across with the transfer, but some of his other odds and ends had, though perhaps not without some transformation.
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  "Chosen!" snapped Tal. "Coming through from the Castle!"

  The rainbow grew brighter, there was a flash, then Ebbitt and Malen were standing in front of them, accompanied by a dark green cat with a light green mane. Ebbitt was clutching his chest, and for a moment Tal thought he was having a heart attack, until the old man stamped his feet and launched into a tirade.

  "Dark throttle the thing! Just when we needed it the most!"

  "Hello, Great-uncle," said Tal. "What was it you needed?"

  "The cursed Codex," shouted Ebbitt, flinging himself facedown on the stone to beat at it with his fists. His maned cat sat next to him and started licking its paws. "It got away from me."

  "Welcome, Malen," said Milla, clapping her fists. "I am glad you are with us."

  Malen was looking around, watching the creeping rocks and shivering walls. She stared back at Milla and belatedly clapped her fists in return.

  "Greetings, War-Chief. I wasn't sure, but Ebbitt insisted… I have to help stop Sharrakor from undoing the Forgetting, before the Veil fails."

  "What?" snapped Tal. "What do you mean before the Veil fails?"

  Ebbitt stopped beating at the stone with his fists and rolled on his side. His cat moved aside a little crossly to give him room, then resumed its toilet. Tal noticed that while its short hair was green, its eyes were yellow and its claws remarkably white.

  "Lokar replaced and resealed the Red Keystone," he said. "Or the other way around. Anyway, it will keep the Veil going--at less than full strength for about seven days, by my calculations."

  "Your calculations!" exclaimed Tal.

  "The Codex helped me with the hard bit, carrying the decimal point all over the place," admitted Ebbitt. "We talked about it as I was coming up after you hotheads. Always best to plan for the worst, I"

  "Seven days!" exclaimed Tal, and Milla echoed him, as Ebbitt frowned.

  "It's not long, but I could be out an hour or two--" Ebbitt started to say. He stopped as Tal and Milla laughed and cheered. Crow smiled briefly, but kept watching the surrounding ruins and the sky.

  "Seven days!" Tal exclaimed again. "We thought the Veil was already gone! This gives us… this gives everyone… a chance."