"The fury did not come to him," said Milla.
"He did not want to live after Kirr was slain," said
Malen. "So it is with all Wilders. The fury only fails them when they do not need it anymore."
"I was too slow," said Tal. He looked away. "Too slow again . ."
"You fought well," said Milla to Tal. "Almost like a Far-Raider. But we have all been too slow. We must not let Sushin have any more time to bring foes like this to life again."
"The Codex can't tell where Sushin is," said Ebbitt, appearing from under the Wormwalker, his breastplate pushed well away from his chest, a strange light now clearly visible shining through his rather grimy undershirt. "A power opposes it."
"What about the Veil?" asked Tal urgently. "Is the Veil still working?"
Ebbitt looked down and muttered a question.
"It's hard to read upside down," he complained. "But the Codex is not to be trusted if I keep it anywhere else, so--"
"The Veil, Ebbitt!"
"It's still up," replied Ebbitt with a smile. Then the smile disappeared, instantly wiped away. "But not for long. The Codex reports the Chamber of the Veil is in use. The Veil is being 'shut down,' whatever that is. Three of the Towers are already out, from Violet to Blue. Oh, no! Green is going!"
"Where is the Chamber of the Veil?" snapped Tal. "How do we get there?"
Ebbitt looked down, growled in exasperation, and ripped off his crystal breastplate, sending it clattering to the floor. There, tucked into his shirt, was the Codex of the Chosen, or a miniature version of it. A rectangle of pure crystal, its surface shimmered like the reflection of the moon on water.
Ebbitt pulled the Codex out, tearing his shirt, and set it against the wall. Its edges shimmered and then it slowly spread both sideways and up. In a few seconds it was the size Tal remembered, about as tall as Ebbitt and three times as wide.
"How do we get to the Chamber of the Veil from here?" asked Tal. He knew the Codex only answered direct questions.
Dark lines appeared on its surface. A map, with far too much detail for Tal to quickly take in. But there was also a line of text beneath the map, written in Chosen script and Icecarl runes.
Only one way, follow this spiral corridor to the top of the Seventh Tower.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
"How long will it be until the Veil is completely… ah… shut down?" asked Tal almost before he absorbed the answer to his previous question.
Twenty-nine minutes at current speed of procedure, answered the Codex, again in Chosen script and Icecarl runes, presumably so Milla and Malen could read the answer as well.
"Come on!" shouted Tal. He spun around and started running. From the map, there were at least three thousand stretches of spiraling corridor to run up. It should be possible to make it in under twenty minutes. Provided they didn't run into more Wormwalkers or other obstacles…
Milla, Crow, Malen, Adras, and Odris followed Tal without question. Ebbitt coughed and leaned against the wall.
"I'll catch you up," he shouted after them.
When he looked back, the Codex was shrinking and losing its form, becoming a stream of jellylike fluid that was climbing up the wall. Ebbitt pounced upon it and wrestled it back against his chest before starting off after the others at a quick walk.
The corridor wound past several more Wormwalkers, fortunately none of them operational. Tal tried not to slow as he approached each one, though it was hard not to. Instead he called Adras to come close to him, ready to throw him up onto its head if it proved necessary. Milla came close to him, too, with Odris at her side, obviously to mimic his tactic if required.
Crow and Malen ran together a little way behind. Tal had stopped worrying about the Freefolk boy. Either he had reformed completely, or he was not prepared to jeopardize his relationship--and his people's--with the Icecarls by doing anything to Tal.
The corridor narrowed a bit after the next turn, and there were many doors coming off it, one every twenty stretches or so on both sides. The doors were transparent, and as they got close enough, Tal looked left and Milla looked right, in unspoken agreement.
They saw strange things through the doors, but could not stop to look at them. There were many odd-looking machines, of metal and crystal and Sunstones, some of the latter still twinkling and glowing. There was room after room full of animals suspended in clear containers of fluid, animals that Milla recognized as being denizens of the Ice, or distant ancestors of them. There were things like newborn Selski, but not quite the same; and Merwins with no horns; and Wreska only a tenth of the size she knew; and Wrack hounds with strange skin instead of fur; and even shiny Norrworms, no larger than her finger and bundled up in balls of many worms, unlike the huge ones of the distant Ice that defined in pairs.
Onward and upward they ran, the spiraling corridor narrowing with every turn, and the doors showing glimpses of stranger and stranger secrets.
"Ebbitt," panted Tal, "will never get past all this. He'll open a door and forget what he was doing."
"We should have brought the Codex," said Milla. She was not really panting, but it took an effort to speak normally.
"No time to make it shrink," gasped Tal. "Besides, we know where Sushin must be."
Around another turn, Crow suddenly cried out behind them, and half fell, half stumbled against the wall and immediately threw up. Malen stopped, too.
"Too much exertion, too soon," she said, feeling his forehead with her palm. "You must rest for a little while."
"Follow when you can!" shouted Milla, without stopping.
"So, it's just you and me again," said Tal as Milla increased the pace.
"And us!" interrupted Odris. "Why do you always forget us, Tal?"
"He's the Emperor now," said Adras gloomily. "Treats me like a servant."
"I do not!" protested Tal.
"Do too!"
"Save your breath," warned Milla. "It's getting steeper."
The spiral corridor was also winding itself tighter, and there were no more doors. It was like running up a very steep hill.
Tal started finding it harder to breathe, and a stitch began to grow in his side. He pushed his fist into it and ignored the pain. What was a stitch when the Veil was disappearing with every minute.
Then he saw it up ahead. The Veil. The corridor ended in absolute, clearly defined darkness.
"Is that…?" asked Milla as they slowed down.
"Yes, the Veil," said Tal. "Adras and Odris, hold on to each other and on to us. Milla, take my hand. We should go through at a walk, and I'll keep my hand on the inside wall."
All four of them joined hands and Tal reached out to touch the inner wall.
"What if there is a trap inside?" asked Milla suspiciously.
Tal shook his head.
"I don't think you can do anything inside the Veil. It not only takes the light away, but breath as well. It's strange. It is not somewhere you could stay in long enough to set a trap."
Tal took a deep breath, Milla following suit. Then the two of them, and their Spiritshadows, plunged into total darkness.
All sound disappeared with the light. Even the touch of Milla's hand seemed distant and far away to Tal. He could feel the rasp of the stone under his other hand, but it was lessened, too. It would be easy to lose one's way in the Veil, to get turned around and blunder about until breath and senses failed.
It was even worse for Milla. She had expected the darkness of the Ice, but this was different. It was not cold, but somehow it leeched both energy and heat out of her, and made her shiver, something she rarely did from a simple chill. It also stretched on and on for much longer than Tal had said it would. She could feel his hand, but not the Spiritshadows', and even his hand felt strange and inhuman. The Veil was robbing her of breath and she was sure she would never see the light again.
When they burst out of the Veil, out into the Sunstone-lit corridor winding its way up and around ahead of them, Milla gasped in relief and swiftly looked at
Tal to hide the small sign of her weakness. But Tal was gasping, too, and did not notice.
"That was bad," said Odris. "I do not think I would go through alone."
"I've been through three times," said Adras proudly.
"Let's hope it's still there when we come back," said Tal grimly. He broke into a run again, the stitch coming back straightaway.
"Will Crow and Malen make it through?" asked Milla.