He had never seen the sign before and did not know what it meant.
But Adras did. The Storm Shepherd stopped abruptly and rumbled, "Beware! This is Hazror's place."
"What?" asked Tal. "This ruin?"
"Yes," said a voice that was soft and strangely childlike. It issued out of the ground, seemingly from several places at once.
The sand in front of Tal suddenly started to shift sideways, as if moved by a giant invisible hand. In a few seconds, it had cleared away to reveal stone steps going down. A long way down.
"Come in," said the voice. It sounded strangely familiar to Tal, though not in a reassuring way. Like the voice of someone he knew, but disturbingly altered.
He peered down at the newly revealed steps. The sand was being held back by walls of light, very similar to the ones that Ebbitt had used to hold back the water when he'd helped Tal escape from the Pit back in the Castle.
Tal looked at the light walls very carefully, noting the flecks of color. It was mostly Yellow but occasionally Blue. Whoever was making these walls appear had a powerful Sunstone and was very good at using it.
Better than Ebbitt, because there was no sand leaking through these walls.
Hazror must be a Chosen.
If the walls collapsed while Tal was down there, he would have no way out. Unless he could move the sand back himself.
Tal considered that prospect. He thought he could build himself a tunnel of light through the sand. If he had to.
He took a step forward, onto the steps.
"Don't go!" Adras pleaded. He wrung his hands together and a couple of buckets of rain fell down, narrowly missing Tal. "Hazror will eat you. Then I will be eaten, too."
"Don't be ridiculous," said Tal, though he said it with more confidence than he felt. He indicated the walls of light that lined the steps. "Hazror has to be a Chosen. We don't eat people. Besides, I don't have a choice. I
have to find the Codex."
He started down the steps. Then he looked back and said, "Stay there until I come back."
He looked back again when he was halfway down, and saw the walls of light close in behind him. Sand poured back down.
On the surface, there was no sign of the stairs or of Tal. There were only sand, ruins, and a cloud that spun around in a circle crying, "I told you not to go!"
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Odris was falling. Or she was until Milla swung up and fluttered her hand across Odris's armpit.
"Ah!" screeched the Storm Shepherd. She suddenly climbed even higher than the stump tower ahead. "Stop! Eee! Ah! It tickles!"
Milla didn't stop tickling. Odris shivered and shook from side to side but she also kept climbing. The Nanuch were left far below, jumping and clacking their beaks in disappointment.
"Stop! Stop!" giggled Odris. "I can't stand it!"
"I'll stop when you put me down on top of the tower," said Milla grimly. She was disappointed in the Storm Shepherd. Odris clearly had plenty of strength left if a mere tickling could produce this surge of energy.
Giggling and shaking, Odris complied. She dropped Milla on the walkway and then collapsed herself, a thick layer of fog draped around the spire.
Milla had half expected to see some guard or watchman on the walkway, hidden behind the central spire. But there was no one there. She walked around and saw an open door and a circular stairway, but the tower was quiet and there was no hint of anyone coming up.
Closer, it was hard to work out how the tower had been made. It was carved out of a gigantic stump. But there were no signs of tools upon the wood. No chisel marks or any other evidence that people had done the work.
Milla couldn't even begin to imagine how big the original tree must have been. Ten or twelve times the height of the Ruin Ship, at least. As tall as a small mountain.
Another oddity was the faint smell of burning, as if there had been a recent fire. But there was no sign of a fire upon the wood. All Milla could see was the natural grain and the thousands and thousands of growth rings spreading in circles under her feet.
"You shouldn't have tickled me," said Odris reproachfully.
"You shouldn't have lied about your strength," said Milla. "Come on. I'm going downstairs."
"I need a rest," said Odris. "I'll wait here."
"Do what you will," said Milla. She went through the door and disappeared.
After a moment, Odris sighed and wafted over to the door. She put her head in and then forced her shoulders through, her cloud-body ballooning up behind her. Gradually her body reshaped itself till she was longer and thinner, and the rest of her followed her head and arms down the stairway.
An hour later, Odris came squirming back the same way, followed by Milla. They had visited every level of the strange tower but had found nothing of interest. Every room was empty. Stranger still, there was a door at the bottom. An open door, which the Nanuch had made no attempt to enter. There were still twenty or thirty of them hanging around, but they simply watched Milla when she stood looking out through the doorway.
This disturbed the Icecarl. There had to be some reason that the giant birds were afraid to enter the tower. Perhaps it was the lair of some awful creature that would soon return. Or perhaps it was the smell of burnt wood. It was stronger on the lower levels, but there were still no signs of fire damage.
The rooftop was the safest place, Milla decided, which was why they had climbed back up. If some creature did return to the tower, they would hear it coming up the stairs. And it kept them out of reach of the waiting Nanuch. It looked like a dedicated score of the giant birds were determined to wait her out. She could see them clustered around the tower.
Even so, Milla was uneasy. The tower was too good a shelter to be so deserted. On her world, there would be all sorts of animals and insects living in it, taking cover from the elements.
But the tower was completely devoid of life. She hadn't even seen a caveroach or a spider.
"We'll stay here till dawn," she said to Odris finally. "Then we will see if the Nanuch still wait. You may have to carry me again."
"I'm not sure I can," said Odris. "I think I've lost too much water vapor. I need to build up. You must be thirsty, too."
Milla didn't answer. She was thirsty, and hungry. But she had practiced suppressing hunger pangs and water cravings almost all her life. It was a pity she had been forced to throw all the small Nanuch away. She could have eaten one raw, or tried once more to get heat from her Sunstone to cook it.
"I'll take the first watch," Milla announced. "You sleep."
Odris looked at the sun. It was still some way from setting.
"But I'm not sleepy," the Storm Shepherd said. "We don't usually sleep very much. It
's only since I've been bound to you that I get sleepy."
"Then don't sleep," said Milla. "But be quiet."
Odris sniffed. She really did wish she'd picked the other one. It was typical of Adras. He wasn't smart, but he was lucky.
They sat in silence for a long time after that, listening to the sounds around them. The Nanuch settled down, too, except for the occasional bout of beak-clacking. There were other, more distant noises the calls of strange creatures. Once something flew past, too quick to be seen.
The sun set, and the stars came out. Milla stretched and paced, her legs still sore from the Hugthing.
Hours passed, but when the time came for Odris to watch, Milla did not go to sleep. The more she paced upon the top of the tower, the more she felt like it was not a refuge but a trap.
Finally she decided they should try and sneak past the Nanuch, before the dawn. Immediately she felt better. Taking action was the Shield Maiden way. She would never be one now, but at least she could act like one. And die like one, if that was how it ended.
Once again they went down the stairs. Milla trod as lightly as she could, and the only sound Odris made could be mistaken for the wind through the tower windows.
At the bottom, Milla drew her dagger. Her sword's natural luminescence would alert the Nanuch.
Unfortunately there was no dust or dirt she could smear her furs or Selski-hide breastplate with, but at least the armor was fairly dark. She didn't put on her face mask. It was white bone and would shine too brightly under the stars. It felt strange going out to fight without it.
Milla crouched by the door for quite a long time, letting her eyes adjust to the starlit forest outside. It was bright enough to make out the shapes of trees and several Nanuch. They stood completely still, never moving. Milla hoped this meant they were asleep.
She slid out through the door.
At least that's what she thought she did. But somehow she ended up back inside the lower room, looking out.
Puzzled, she stepped forward again. For an instant she was in the doorway, with her foot about to land on the bare earth outside.