Page 6 (1/2)

CHAPTER ONE

High on the road up the Mountain of Light, in a tent htly sewn Wreska hides, Milla sat in a chair carved frole lower jawbone of an infant Selski Outside the wind howled, and blown ice and snow struck the tent's walls with a constant rattleThe bone chair was enormous andto join her elders The chair had been carried up the ht Shield Maidens, with considerable effort and danger It was ancient, and the ares froend Next to Milla's hand, for example, there was a thu

Ar a Merwin, its horn about to be snapped off by the ferocious Icecarl

Milla felt a twinge in her side as she looked at the tiny picture, the scar aching once again where a Merwin's horn had almost fatally injured her She kneithout a doubt that no one could wrestle a Merwin, but at the sa-Arm had done it

Milla looked at some of the other pictures and wondered if the heroes of Icecarl history felt like she did--an iendShe was no longer Milla of the Far-Raiders She was now Milla Talon-Hand, the Living Sword of Asteyr and War-Chief of the Icecarls The glowing violet fingernail of endary weapon of her far ancestor Danir She was sitting on the ancient Thinking Chair of Grettir She wore the finest silver Ursek furs A bone circlet, itself carved with tiny pictures of Icecarl triuht shell leaned against the throne It was ancient, too, a relic from distant tiht ic Next to it was a Merwin-horn sword It wasn't the one Milla had left stuck in the shoulder of the Dark Vizier Sushin, back in the Castle, but an older weapon It still had a faint glohich would ainst Spiritshadows

Milla sat on the Thinking Chair, wondering what she was doing She ht be called War-Chief, but in practice she spent a lot of ti for the Crones to tell her what to do Since they had bound her with the Prayer of Asteyr she had no choice but to obey, as did her Spiritshadow, Odris

"It's better than being dead," said that Spiritshado, rising up froloo!" snapped Milla, even though she kneas no use Odris was linked to her too strongly now, both by the original binding that had been made in the Spirit World of Aenir and by the Prayer of Asteyr They would be together until one of the!" Odris snapped back "I don't knohy there's such a fog inside you You're the War-Chief, the leader of the Expedition against the Castle Probably the s about you already I heard one that goes:

Mighty the one-eyed Merwin Small the slender Shield Maiden

Bright the Sunstone's brilliance Darting the dagger drives

Home it sinks in hoary hide

Milla more than Merwin's match

"That's all wrong!" interrupted Milla, shaking her head "I'm not a Shield Maiden and I never will be Plus, Tal was the one who blinded the Merith his Sunstone, not me And even if I did kill the Merhat else have I done right? I broke all the laws, I lost my shadow I should have been left to die on the Ice""You're just sulking because we've had to sit here for too long," said Odris "Don't worry, the Crones will come up with some sort of airweed soon and then we'll conquer the Castle and send all the Spiritshadows back to Aenir Then we can go back as well and you can… I don't know… start a s…" "Odris, I'm an Icecarl!" Milla protested "This is my world I don't want to live in Aenir And I am not a farrumbled Odris "You make me feel ill with your sadness"

Silence returned, save for the howling of the wind outside Odris slid back to the floor Milla brooded on her chair, but only for a few ," Milla announcedShe leaped up, pulled her heavy outer coat fro the white bone ht Then she buckled on her sword and slung thesoht?"

Milla raised her hand, and the Sunstone ring on her third finger suddenly shone brightly, eclipsing the greenish light fro frooing, by the way?" Odris asked as Milla pulled back the heavy furs that closed the doorway Together they stepped out into the horizontal waves of wind-driven snow"The Crones have had long enough to find air-weed," Milla shouted "I left soo back through and organize the Underfolk to bring out a whole lot ed as she slipped into place at Milla's heels, a shrug that suggested that going back into the Castle through the heatouldn't be as easy as Milla ht direction as far as Odris was concerned Back to plenty of Sunstone light and Adras, her fellow Storm Shepherd -- now also a Spiritshadow

Odris hadn't wanted to leave the Castle in the first place But Milla had been deterer to the Veil, not to ive herself to the Ice Fortunately it had all turned out better than Odris had fearedIt took Odris a few seconds to coordinate herself to Milla's quick h the Crones had allowed Odris a limited freedom, ordinary Icecarls were much more comfortable when she tried to behave like a normal shadow In her natural form in Aenir she was a cloud and could easily shift shape She had retained this ability to a certain extent as a Spiritshadow, but she was never fast enough toalong behind or to the side, copying Milla's actions a few seconds late, would ever doubt that she was actually a Spiritshadow

Even with the bright light from Milla's Sunstone it was hard to see the full Icecarl host ca heavily and swirling sideways into the mountain Every few stretches there would be a moth-lantern or two tied to a bone stake driven into the side of the mountain, and the corner of a tent would become visible, or a stack of suppliesThere were also many Shield Maidens and Icecarl hunters ould suddenly appear out of the whirling snow Whatever they were doing, they would stop and clap their fists together in greeting as Milla approached She had to pause and clap her fists in turn, so it took a long time just to walk a hundred stretches from Milla's tent down the road Eventually she arrived at the point where the entry to the heatway tunnels wastubs of Selski oilThe entrance was guarded by a full Hand of Shield Maidens in shell-mirror armor They carried shadowsacks, shadow-bottles, and spears with tips that were heavily coated with luae had all come from secret stores in the Ruin Ship The Crones had thrown open the Icecarls' ancient arsenal, releasing ht Aeniran shadowsThe Chosen of the Castle had forgotten the ancient war between the Dark World and the creatures of Aenir, but the Icecarl Crones had not Through the centuries they had e, ready for the war they knew ether as Milla approached, but Milla was not fooled There was a reluctance in their greeting--they ary of her and Odris She couldn't see their eyes through the amber lenses of their face masks, but she could tell from the set of their heads that they were ready to defend themselve

s if she went ht command the Shield Maidens, but that was never what she wanted She wanted to be one of them, and still did But she kneas iht a Spiritshadow to the Ice… and she had slain the Shield Mother Arla There was no going back for her She could only go forward"We greet you, War-Chief," said the Shield Mother of this Hand Milla didn't know her name So many Shield Maidens and hunters had come, and even three or four Sword-Thanes Many h there were al ready al the road froht Another thousand orthe Ice below for food to feed the host, and there was a continuous line of carriers and carters taking food and supplies between the Ruin Ship below and the various enca in to the heatways," announced Milla, raising her voice so it would carry over the wind "Please tell the Crone Malen that I will be some time""No need," said a voice beyond the Shield Maidens Asnow A sli older than Milla, ore the light black furs of a Crone She carried no weapons and did not wear a face ht blue and gloith an unnatural light,she was of the youngest of the three orders In time her eyes would turn silver, and then cloudy and white"What do you intend?" asked Malen

She spoke easily enough, but Milla grimaced as she heard it Because of the Prayer of Asteyr, she had to obey the commands of the Crones, who spoke with one voice In this case, itthe commands of Malen