Into Battle Read online

  "Soon!" snapped Lokar. "Oh, where? Where? The rim. The rim of the crater, at night.""At night?" asked Tal. "You mean I can visualize a time as well?""Yes," replied Lokar. "Yes. Two deep breaths. One. Two. Where was I? Besides here.

  Yes. Within a day or so. I do not know what would happen if you tried to cross too far into Aenir's future.""Where do we go if it is not yet night in Aenir?"

  "Who knows? Our bodies sleep here, and our spirits arrive there. We will not notice if our spirits spend time somewhere in between. It doesn't matter!"

  Tal didn't like the thought of that. But he had decided."Visualize," said Lokar. "Hurry. Oh, darkness -take you! Think! Think of the Enclave. Pick a spot where you have spent time, that you know well. Remember it in detail. Paint a picture in your head…" Tal let his head fall back. Lokar's increasingly shrill voice dropped away to the distant buzz of a tunnel-gnat.He thought of the Chosen Enclave. He saw it in his mind, imagined it as a Storm Shepherd might see it from high overhead. The vast volcanic crater, the rim rising up a thousand stretches above the Plain of Thorns. On the inside of the rim, a lesser fall, only five or six hundred stretches down to the lake that filled the crater. But this was no ordinary lake. It was not water but a mixture of fine gray ash and millions upon millions of tiny clear crystals.Strange creatures lived in the ash lake. Most were unknown, though some of the shallower regions had been netted over the years, with the catch made to serve as Spiritshadows back in the Castle.

  Sushin had originally had a lake-dweller Spirit-shadow, a tall, thin creature with an armored shell and a snapping beak. But Sushin had a different Spiritshadow now, another sign of his treachery and alliance with the creatures of Aenir. Chosen did not change their Spiritshadows.

  Tal quickly concentrated, remembering details of the Enclave. The Chosen in Aenir stayed in houses built on stilts across the Lake of Ash, houses joined by raised walkways that kept them safely out of reach of the lake-dwellers.In the very center of the lake there was a real island, rather than a platform made by the Chosen. Protected by stone walls and Sunstone wards, the island was the Empress's Aeniran residence. It had gardens and a palace. It was not open to other Chosen and was not joined to the network of raised pathways and bridges.

  Tal thought about arriving on the Empress's island. But he had only seen it from a distance, from high on the crater wall. He couldn't visualize any details because he didn't know any.He also had better not arrive on a walkway or house. It would be too easy to be seen. Lokar was right, the crater rim would be the best. But where on the crater rim?

  Tal remembered climbing up with his parents as a very young boy, before Gref was born. He remembered grizzling and complaining at the steepness of the path, until his father picked him up and piggybacked him most of the way.But his clearest memory was from the year before. With a bunch of other boys he had climbed to the Hanging Rock to watch some older Chosen light-diving.The Hanging Rock was a tongue of stone that projected from the crater rim, in toward the lake. It was at least fifty stretches long, a strange, seemingly unsupported platform that was perfect for light-diving. If anywhere could be considered perfect for light-diving, that is. It was a dangerous sport, frowned upon by senior Chosen. Any child who attempted it, rather than a Full Chosen, would automatically gain four Deluminents… if they survived.

  Four Deluminents was more than halfway to the disgrace of demotion, the beginning of a slide that might end in Red or even the white robes of Underfolk.

  Light-diving was simple enough. The Chosen divers would weave themselves a rope of light, tie one end around their ankles and the other end to the "anchor hole" in the Hanging Rock. Then they would simply dive off, down toward the lake. If the lightrope was made properly, they would plummet down about two-thirds of the way, then suddenly rebound and bounce up and down for a while. Once they'd come to a stop, it was usually a simple matter to shrink the rope and be drawn back up.If the rope wasn't properly made, the Chosen diver might fall into the ash, and drown or get eaten by something. Sometimes, less fatally but more embarrassingly, the lightrope wouldn't shrink, and the diver would be left dangling upside down below the Hanging Rock until friends came to the rescue.The Hanging Rock would be ideal, Tal thought. He would time it so he arrived at dusk. Then he could sneak down the path at night, and onto the network of bridges and walkways. There were some boats on the lake, and he would steal one of those to get to the Empress's island.

  Tal fixed the image of the Hanging Rock in his mind, with the red light of the setting sun just upon it. He could see the Rock and the lake below, the crater wall stretching away to either side to circle around in the distance. It was all very clear in his head.

  Tal raised his Sunstone and called forth the first of the colors that would begin his transfer. At the same time, he began to recite the Way to Aenir, his words and the colors from the stone mixing together. He felt the color spread across his skin, felt the difference as Red gave way to Orange and then Yellow.The inside of the stone sarcophagus faded away,to be replaced by swirling colors. Bright rainbows washed across Tal, blurring into each other as each new one passed.All the way through, he kept the image of the Hanging Rock in his head, with the sunlight just beginning to fall upon it. Tal was on his way to Aenir. Whether he'd made a good decision or not, he had chosen his cards. Now he would have to play the beast he had created.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  A heavy outer coat lay a few paces inside the heatway. It was Tal's coat, where they had left it the first time Milla had entered the Castle. That felt like a lifetime ago, or a dream. Milla had been a different person, honored to be going on an adventure, to get a new Sunstone for her clan. Now she no longer belonged to the clan of the Far-Raiders and everything had changed."Hurry up!" whispered Odris. "The Crone is stuck outside."

  Milla jumped forward and hurried along the heat-way. She hadn't realized she'd actually stopped and was touching Tal's coat. This wasn't how a Shield Maiden behaved. She might have been surprised by an enemy! Even though she wasn't a Shield Maiden she should still try to behave like one.

  The airweed was farther along the passage. A long stalk of it lay on the floor. Milla picked it up and examined the four bulbous nodules of air that were left. She had used only one nodule on the way out. Even though it had been the biggest, there should still be plenty left for the two of them to make it through.Taking out her new knife of golden metal--yet another treasure from the Ruin Ship Milla carefully cut the strand of airweed in half. Handing two of the four nodules to Malen, she explained how to use them."When the time comes, Odris will warn us to use the airweed. You must make a tiny hole at the end,where it is softest, and then press your finger on it. Keeping your finger over the hole, put your mouth onto the airweed as if you were a baby suckling milk, and breathe in. Breathe out through your nose. Keep your finger pressed tight over the hole whenever you are not taking a breath."

  Milla demonstrated, without actually cutting the nodule. Malen copied her."You do have a knife, don't you?" asked Milla. She couldn't see one, nor see the telltale signs of one hidden in a sleeve or boot.

  "Yes," said Malen. She looked at Tal's coat. "Do we leave our outer coats here?"

  Milla nodded and started to shrug her coat off. The heatways were aptly named. This tunnel and the network of others like it were actually inspection tunnels for the Castle's heating system. It used lava to heat great lakes of water, and the steam was piped throughout the more than a hundred levels and seven towers of the vast building. Unfortunately, over the centuries the lava had broken out of its assigned channels and had invaded some of the inspection tunnels. That was where the bad air came from. "Odris, go first," Milla ordered. "Do this, do that," grumbled Odris. "You might be War-Chief of the Icecarls but you're not War-Chief of the Storm Shepherds.""You need to go first so you can warn me about the bad air," said Milla patiently."How can it tell?" asked Malen.

  "It!" exclaimed Odris. "How would you like to be called 'it'?""She can taste it," Milla answered. "Odris was a Sto
rm Shepherd in Aenir. They have a particular affinity for air, even as Spiritshadows."

  Malen nodded, but she didn't answer Odris, or otherwise acknowledge her. Odris stood waiting, puffing herself up to her full size, a huge shadow that completely filled the tunnel.

  "Odris, it would please me if you go ahead," said Milla wearily. It was clear that Malen was not going to lower herself to talk to a free shadow."Tell it to keep its distance," hissed Odris, pointing a puffy finger at Malen. Then she turned and started off down the heatway. She shrunk herself at the same time, her shadowflesh becoming darker and denser.

  Milla followed her, ignoring the Crone. She would follow or not. Milla was already remembering all the twists and turns of the heatway passages. Tal had found a map the first time through, and she had committed every turn to memory. Coming out she had reversed it and now must reverse it again. There were more than a hundred turns and several climbs to recall, and she had to get it right. A wrong turning or other mistake could plunge them down into the lava flows or the boiling reservoirs.Despite the increasing heat, Milla kept up a punishing pace, first in a hunched-over walk and then at a crawl as the ceiling lowered. Odris was often only a few steps ahead of her, and Malen was often ten or even twenty stretches behind. Milla knew the Crone would have had no experience of such heat, and was obviously finding it a struggle. But Malen did not complain. All she did was undo the lacings at her throat and sleeves.Soon they had to resort to breathing through dampened rags, as the heat continued to build. Still Milla kept on, occasionally pausing to think about the next turning before continuing forward. Her Sunstone lit up the tunnel ahead and also provided Odris with a source of strength.After a few hours they came to the broken skeleton where Milla and Tal had found a Sunstone that Tal's great-uncle Ebbitt had later split in two. Later, on the way back, Milla had found the strange fingernail that she now knew as the Talon of Danir among the bones.

  Milla paused before the skeleton and held her Sunstone high. Malen came up close, and they both gazed down upon the bones."This is where you found the Sunstone and the Talon," said Malen. "I wonder who bore them? I do not think the bones are particularly old."

  Milla scowled. She hadn't noticed before, but the bones were not as ancient as she had always thought. Trust a Crone--this Crone--to instantly recognize something that might be important.

  "Tal said he must have been a Chosen," Milla said. "He wore the Sunstone on a ring."There was no room for Malen to get past Milla to the main skeleton, but the Crone reached out and picked up a bone that had been scattered farther along. She tapped it against the wall, then pulled out a small sharp stone from her sleeve and pared off a sliver."Not more than a hundred circlings," Malen pronounced after examining the sliver. "And not less than fifty. I wonder who could have been wearing the Talon of Danir as recently as that?" Milla shrugged. The question was of no importance to the immediate task. The skeleton was a pile of bones, and bones could not speak."The bad air will probably begin soon," Milla said. "Be ready with your airweed."

  Malen nodded. Milla gestured Odris to go on. But the Spiritshadow did not move. Instead she held up one puffy hand and cocked her head to one side."Wait," she whispered. "Someone comes. There is movement in the air."

  Milla reacted instantly, focusing on her Sunstone to dim it to a weak glow. Then she eased her sword in its scabbard, for a quick draw. Behind her, she heard Malen draw in a nervous breath.They waited in the near darkness for what felt like a long time but wasn't, before a faint light appeared in the distance. It was not even and bright like a Sunstone, or the red glow of the lava, but a flickering yellow. Milla and Malen lay completely still, close to the floor. Odris slid up against the ceiling and pressed herself there. All of them looked forward.The yellow light grew brighter. Milla saw two men in white Underfolk robes crawling down the tunnel. They each carried an Underfolk lamp of the type Milla had seen before, simple globes of unbreakable crystal filled with mineral fuel and topped with a wick.The lamps shed only a narrow circle of light around the men. It also blinded them to what lay ahead.The yellow light flickered as the Underfolk crawled, but there were more shadows around the men than could be explained by that. Milla tensed as she realized that the men were being followed by two… no, three… Spiritshadows. Thin, thorny Spiritshadows, not of any kind Milla had ever seen. They were about the same size as the Underfolk, but had six legs, razored and bulbous bodies, and long thin heads that ended in what would probably be a sharp spike or bloodsucking proboscis in their native Aeniran form.The Underfolk paused to take breaths from airweed nodules they had slung around their necks. But the Spiritshadows didn't let them take more than one. Their forelegs whipped the men about the shoulders. Milla saw their shadowflesh get darker and denser and the Underfolk flinch under the blows.These were free shadows, Milla realized. They were using the Underfolk to provide the light they needed. If only the men realized, they could blow out their lanterns and the Spiritshadows would be helpless. But then, down here, so would the Under-folk. And the Spiritshadows might not fade fast enough…The Underfolk started crawling again. Thoughts flashed through Milla's mind. She had her Sunstone, but didn't really know how to use it properly against Spiritshadows. Her Merwin-horn sword would cut them. Odris could probably outfight one or two of them. The Crone might also be of some use. The Crones did seem to have some tricks they could use against shadows.

  The Underfolk kept crawling on. The Spiritshadows followed them, but not closely. They kept flitting from side to side, thrusting their shadow proboscises into cracks in the walls and ceiling, reaching out with their forelegs."They are looking for something," whispered Malen, just as Milla had the same thought.

  Milla looked down at the Talon of Danir on her finger. It was glowing violet and gold. When she had fought the Shield Mother Arla, it had suddenly extended and mortally wounded Milla's opponent. Milla closed her fist to hide the glow of the Talon."When they get close, we will attack," she whispered. "The shadows, not the Underfolk."

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Tal blinked and opened his eyes. As he always did when he arrived in Aenir he felt lighter, less substantial. The first thing he did was look down at himself. Sure enough, his skin had gained the peculiar glow that all Dark Worlders had on Aenir. He knew that he was also shorter and slighter, another effect of the transfer.

  Tal looked around, his eyes adjusting to the twilight. It was exactly as he'd pictured it. He stood on the end of the Hanging Rock, high above the Lake of Ash. Out on the lake there was the Empress's island and then, in a semicircle around it, hundreds of Chosen houses, all built high on stilts and joined by narrow bridges and raised walkways.The anchor hole was near his feet. He could see through it, see the lake far below.

  "I've done it!" he exclaimed. There was a red glow in the distance, behind the far crater wall, the sun setting. He had timed it exactly. Soon the last light would fade and he could sneak down the path behind him. "Adras, I've done it!" he said again.There was no reply. Puzzled, Tal looked around. There was no sign of the Storm Shepherd. But Tal knew he had to be there. They were inextricably bound together. Adras couldn't have been left behind. He'd die in the dark sarcophagus without Tal's Sunstone light!A faint cry sounded above him. Tal looked up and sighed in relief. Adras was high above him, a faint white speck in the darkening sky. He was still only a third his normal size, but he was no longer a shadow. Like Tal, he had been transformed, in this case back to his natural form, the puffy cloud-flesh of a Storm Shepherd."Water," called Adras, his voice thin and high, like the wind blowing between the cracks of a house. "I must find water. I will return!"He rose up higher then, and Tal felt a pang in his stomach. It wasn't exactly painful, but it wasn't pleasant, either. He knew it would last until Adras came back, and that the Storm Shepherd would also feel it. They could not stay very far apart for too long.He looked down again, and realized he was still clenching his fist. He opened it and looked at the Red Keystone. As before, Lokar swam into view as he concentrated upon the stone's sparkling
depths."We're here," announced Tal. "On the Hanging Rock, at dusk.""Good," replied Lokar. Her voice was almost a sob. "Oh, I will soon be free of this accursed prison! The Empress will use the Violet Keystone to release me!""Is it… is it that bad in there? Does it hurt?"asked Tal. He wasn't really thinking of Lokar. His thoughts were with his father, Rerem, trapped inside the Orange Keystone. Lokar laughed, a laugh tinged with hysteria."Hurt? It doesn't hurt. Yet I cannot rest, I cannot sleep, I cannot stop this endless circling inside the stone. Unless someone speaks from outside, there is only my Spiritshadow and me, surrounded by silence. Years and years and years of silence. Is it any surprise that I have been mad?"

  Tal stared down at her. Suddenly taking her advice didn't seem so sensible. Lokar said she had been mad. What if she still was?

  "Speak!" ordered Lokar. "Speak! Tell me what is happening outside!""Uh, nothing really."

  Tal stumbled over the words. He didn't know what to say. "Urn, Adras has flown off to find some water. I'm going to wait until it's a bit darker and start down the path."He looked up as he spoke, to see how much light was left. To his surprise, the light on the horizon was brighter than before. It was also less red. Tal stared at it, not listening to the buzzing voice of Lokar.

  It took him a full two seconds to realize he'd made a dreadful mistake.It wasn't dusk. It was dawn. In a few minutes, the sun would rise above the crater wall. He would be easily seen on the Hanging Rock, or heading down the path. Sushin's followers, or even just some concerned Chosen, would spot him for sure."I made a mistake! It's dawn!" he gabbled to the Keystone. Without waiting for an answer, he tied the stone into the corner of his sleeve and pulled it tight, so there was no chance it could be lost. He already had his two vials of water-spider antidote tied in the other sleeve.