CHAPTER FIVE
Milla fled through the darkness. But it was not the darkness she knew. There were tiny lights in the sky, stars, as Tal called them. There were unfamiliar scents in the air. Strange sounds, the calls of creatures that she did not know.
She didn't even know which direction she was running in. It was an unusual feeling for her. She had never been lost on the Ice, not for an instant. There was always a smell, a sound, the texture of the ice, the direction of the wind or the Selski migration.
There was always something.
Now there was nothing to tell her where she was.
Milla was lost in a strange land. Another world. She had lost her shadow, and with it, her future.
She had always wanted to be a Shield Maiden, dedicating her life to all the clans, and the protection of all Icecarls. Free-willed shadows were one of the things the Shield Maidens swore to protect their people from.
Back in the Dark World, Odris would be just such a shadow. Milla could never return to her people with Odris.
But perhaps, she thought, if she could get back to the Dark World and the Ruin Ship without Odris following, the Mother Crone would be able to get her normal shadow back.
Milla scowled. Here she was in a strange world, and she was distracting herself with dreams that could not be.
Her duty was clear. Return to the Dark World, deliver the Sunstone ring to her clan, report to the Mother Crone, and give herself to the Ice.
Something rustled ahead of her, and Milla froze. She had no idea what it could be. There didn't seem to be anything there, but she was sure she'd heard something. The starlight was bright enough to see a silhouette at least unless whatever made the noise was lying on the ground.
Milla drew her sword and advanced slowly. The glow of the Merwin horn was enough to light up the ground under her feet, but no farther. She halted every few steps to listen and look carefully ahead of her.
There was nothing to see. The burned grassland had stopped twenty or thirty stretches behind her. Now there was just short green and yellow grass ahead. Too short to hide a creature bigger than Milla's foot.
Milla took a few more steps forward. Something didn't feel quite right, but she wasn't sure what it was. There was a faint smell, something different than the burned patches or the usual smell of the grass.
She sniffed experimentally. The smell was close. It was the scent of slightly rotting meat, overlaid by the fresh scent of grass.
It was very close. Milla looked at the Sunstone ring on her hand. She didn't really know how to use it, but she thought she could probably raise some sort of light. Tal and Ebbitt had shown her how to concentrate on the stone.
The ground rippled slightly under her feet. Milla frowned. She still couldn't see anything in this starlight, and she didn't know what she was smelling.
It was time to risk a light.
She raised her hand so she could look directly at the Sunstone. It reflected the starlight, but there was also the faintest hint of yellow fire at its center. Milla stared at it, willing it to grow brighter.
It did start to grow brighter. Milla smiled. She could feel it in the middle of her forehead, and could think it brighter. So she did.
It grew brighter still, till she couldn't see her hand for the brightness. It was a harsh light, very different from the soft illumination of Icecarl moth-lamps.
Milla raised her hand above her head and looked around. She still couldn't see anything threatening. The only oddity was that she was standing on a large, irregular square of grass that was greener than all the rest…
Even as she saw that, Milla realized this was more than odd.
She jumped forward, just as the Hugthing writhed up from the ground, wrapping its flat, mossy body around her legs and waist like a blanket.
Milla fell forward. If she hadn't jumped she would have been totally smothered by the Hugthing. But even with her arms and head free, the creature held her in a grip that was too strong to escape. Milla kicked and struck at it with her sword, but the moss simply absorbed the blows and tightened even more.
Desperately, Milla lunged forward and bit the Hugthing. Her teeth couldn't tear the moss.
The Hugthing squeezed tighter, and Milla felt her muscles being crushed as she tried to resist. It was climbing up her stomach, too, and would soon have a grip on her lungs.
She had to do something.
Fire was probably the only thing that could hurt it. Milla suddenly realized that someone had tried to burn this monstrosity back where Tal and the Storm Shepherds were. That was why there was a trail of burnt grassland.
Milla pushed her Sunstone against the moss and focused all her will on it, instinctively falling into the correct Rovkir-breathing pattern to shut off the pain of being crushed.
This time she wanted heat as well as light. She wanted the Sunstone to burn as hot as its namesake. Even if she lost her ring finger, she would escape this terrible living trap.
The Sunstone grew brighter and brighter, so bright that Milla had to half close her eyes and turn away.
But the stone didn't get any hotter, and the Hugthing squeezed and squeezed and Milla felt her joints cracking and the air slowly being forced from her lungs…
CHAPTER SIX
There was a sudden rush of cold air above Milla. A cloud blotted out the stars, and then a jagged bolt of lightning lit up the sky. It struck the green mossback of the Hugthing and Milla felt a strange shock go through her body. The creature reared back, let out a high whistle, and immediately let go of Milla. More lightning struck and thunder boomed. Milla crawled rapidly away. Her legs and ribs hurt, but as far as she could tell nothing was broken. She was just bruised, and that was nothing to an Icecarl.
Above her head, Odris sent down a dozen more lightning bolts, driving the Hugthing farther away. But even though it rippled and undulated across the ground at a frightful speed, it didn't seem badly hurt. It was clearly afraid of the lightning, and each strike did leave a blackened mark on its green mossback, but that was all.
Milla watched it flowing off and shuddered. Something that hard to slay was very dangerous indeed. At least she knew the smell of it now. Fresh-cut grass mixed with rotting meat.
She hoped she had a flaming torch and a bottle of Selski oil in her hand next time she saw one.
Odris sent one last bolt of lightning after the Hugthing, then circled back and settled down near Milla, growing two long legs to anchor herself in one place.
"I thank you," said Milla grudgingly.
"It was nothing," Odris replied modestly. "A Hugthing is no danger to me, of course. But they are vicious hunters of anything made of… meat."
"A Hugthing," said Milla, feeling along her legs to make certain they were only bruised. "It is well-named."
"Can I come with you now?" asked Odris. "I can help you."
"I can't stop you," said Milla bitterly. It had been a mistake coming to Aenir. She should have tried harder to leave the Castle and deliver the Sunstone to her clan. Now there was a chance she might not be able to get back at all, and the Far Raiders would soon have nothing but moth-lamps and glowjellies to light their way.
Her chances of returning would be better if she let Odris help her. She hadn't properly thought everything through before. She'd panicked something she never thought she'd do.
Milla frowned, and forced herself to go back and think the problem through from the beginning.
Her quest was to deliver a Sunstone to the Far Raiders. She had forgotten that, letting herself imagine even greater triumphs, returning to the Ship with information even the Crone Mothers did not know. She had wanted to be a famous Shield Maiden, the one who had gone to another world and learned of new dangers to the clans.
That ambition had led her from her duty. Neglect of her true purpose had destroyed her dream of being a Shield Maiden. She had wagered her future and had lost her shadow, all for pride and ambition. She had demonstrated to the world - and to herself - that she was not
fit to be a Shield Maiden.
She knew she had to get back as soon as possible, deliver the Sunstone and then… the Ice would judge her.
So she should let Odris help her, at least for now.
"Where is the Chosen Enclave?" Milla asked. "Do you know?"
"I have heard travelers speak of it, and Chosen have come to our hill to offer lives in exchange for gifts," said Odris. "I think it lies far to the north and east."
"How far?"
"Many days for me, even upon the wind," said Odris. "I can carry you for a while each day, but my strength is not great enough to do more."
"Which way is east?" asked Milla slowly. She hated not knowing directions.
"That way." Odris extended her arm to point. "You see the bright star, halfway up the sky, that is all alone? The one that shines a little blue? That is Norrin, sad star of the east, who weeps for company.
"What? How can it weep? Why is it blue?"
"It is only a story!" Odris laughed. "Stars are distant suns. I do not know why that one is blue. But Norrin always shows the way east."
"I do not understand stars," said Milla. "We do not have them."
"Ah, I have heard of the Veil," said Odris. "That must be strange, to live always in darkness." Milla was silent. The Dark World was not strange to her, but for the first time she wondered why it was so. The Veil was not a natural thing. It had been made, placed in the heavens to block out the light. Who had made it? And why?
"I will sleep now," said Milla. "Will you watch? I will count my breaths and wake when it is my turn."
"Sleep your fill!" encouraged Odris. "Storm Shepherds rarely sleep. We have long dozed above and around Old Hrigga Hill, so I am rested. Sleep!"
"The Hugthing has gone, hasn't it?" asked Milla. She made her Sunstone brighten and carefully examined the grass all around. It was satisfactorily brown and uneven, but she still felt a faint buzz of fear as she lay down. It was odd to sleep without heavy furs, but the night was warm.