"How do I use my Sunstone to heal an acid burn?" asked Milla.
Watch and learn.
The runes disappeared and a picture swam into focus. A picture so lifelike that for a moment Milla thought that it was real. It showed an Icecarl girl holding up a Sunstone ring. It took her another second to realize that the picture was of her.
More runes appeared under the picture. They told her what to do and then the picture of Milla did what the runes said. Then Milla copied the picture. When she got it wrong because she hadn't read the runes correctly, the picture repeated what it was doing until she got it right.
It took some time. Milla had to stop the Codex a few times to check on Tal. He was unconscious, but the wound was not bleeding. The acid seemed to have sealed off the blood vessels, which was some small mercy.
Finally, Milla was ready. She looked down on Tal and raised her Sunstone. Slowly, she called up a Blue Ray of Healing. It had to be exactly the right shade and density, but she had memorized that. It looked right.
As her forehead creased in the sharpest frown she'd ever had, Milla played the Blue Ray across the wound. Wherever the light touched, it soothed and healed. The flesh began to grow back.
Milla kept the Blue Ray going and started to build a second ray, the Yellow Ray of Replacement. This was the really hard one. It would put a layer of light over the blue, building up artificial bone, muscle, nerves, and blood vessels to act as temporary replacements until the real ones grew back.
The Yellow Ray wove back and forth, slowly replacing Tal's missing flesh, layer by layer.
Finally, it was done. Milla let the light sink back into the Sunstone and let out a deep sigh of relief. Only then did she notice that Tal was awake and watching her.
"Thank you," he said. "That was well done. You have a knack for healing."
"I am a warrior," Milla replied, and for an instant Tal thought she was offended. But she went on to say, "It is the mark of a true warrior to be a healer, too. Though that is more the way of a Sword-Thane than a Shield Maiden."
Tal sat up and gingerly felt his leg. It ached to the bone, rather like a nasty toothache, deep and constant. But he could use the leg, if he was careful.
Adras helped him climb out. It was strange to feel friendly shadow-flesh again, Tal thought. Somehow Adras did not feel unpleasant and clammy, as other Spiritshadows did.
"Didn't you say Ebbitt left a message?" Tal asked. Milla handed him the scroll that had been in her coffin, and got out the one that had been in his. Tal opened both. It took only a moment to see they were the same. He read it aloud so Milla and the Spiritshadows would know what it contained.
Dear Children,
Somebody thinks I have become dangerous, for certain Spiritshadows have tried to sniff me out. To draw them off your scent as well as mine, I have gone down, down, down, down, down, down, and then down once more, from my usual abode. Come join me there if you can. If you have the Codex, bring it with you. Trust no one, absolutely no one at all. Except me of course. I have found an Underfolk corridor from the Mausoleum that leads to one of their main stairs. If you take this way you should have few problems. Unless I have been caught using it, in which case you will have many problems. But then we all have problems.
Yours truly,
E.
"Typical Ebbitt!" groaned Tal. "Where has he gone?" asked Milla. "I don't understand."
"The Seventh Underfolk Level," said Tal. "I think that's what he means."
He shook his head. "But I'm not going down there. I have to rescue Gref. That's the main reason for getting the Codex in the first place!"
"I think we should take the Codex to Ebbitt," said Milla. "It cannot be lost to your…
our enemies."
"No!" exclaimed Tal. "I
have to rescue Gref!"
The effort of speaking made him even paler. Despite the Sunstone's healing magic he was still weak.
Milla did not answer, but her eyes narrowed as she looked at him.
"What do you mean when you say our enemies, anyway?" asked Tal.
"Now that I know much more, I think there are bad Chosen and… stupid Chosen. The stupid Chosen are not important. Your enemies are the bad Chosen and they are enemies of the Icecarl, too."
"Er, good," said Tal, but it was clear to Milla he didn't want to think about anything except finding Gref.
He looked at the Codex as he spoke. Milla caught the glance and said, "You must ask it questions. It will not speak otherwise."
Tal nodded and slowly made his way over to the strange silvery artifact. It looked a bit like a mirror, propped up against the coffin. But its silver surface did not reflect anything.
It took Tal a moment to phrase a question. It all seemed to have happened so long ago. Gref climbing up the Red Tower after him, the Spiritshadow that caught him and took him back inside…
"Which Chosen is the Master of a Spiritshadow in the shape of a Borzog?" asked Tal.
Words formed on the surface of the Codex. A great list of Chosen names moving across and up the Codex. Then they stopped and one name grew larger and larger.
Nilhir Jerel-Orim, of the Third Order of the Red.
"Where are the rooms of Nilhir Jerel-Orim of the Third Order of the Red?" asked Tal. He wasn't sure if the Codex could answer this sort of question, but it was worth a try.
The Codex answered immediately, with a clearly labeled map. As expected Nilhir had rooms in the Red Levels. But strangely enough, the Codex also showed him having a room in the abandoned White Levels quite close to the Hall of Nightmares.
That was where they would be holding Gref, Tal thought. It had to be. He stared at the map, memorizing the location of the room.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-NINE
"It is not sensible to try and rescue your brother now," said Milla calmly. "We should take the Codex to Ebbitt. Then I will go on to the Ruin Ship."
She did not mention the Ice. That was left unsaid between them.
"No," said Tal stubbornly. "I have to rescue Gref! That's the whole point! I have to look after my family. It's what my father "
"You have not asked about him," said Milla suddenly.
A movement caught her eye and she whirled, her hand on her sword. But it was only Adras and Odris, getting used to their new shadow-selves. They had already learned how to make themselves almost solid, and the reverse, to drift through stone. Now they were practicing shooting shadow-
lightning.
Fortunately, unlike the real sort, it was not accompanied by thunder.
Milla waved at them crossly, pointing at the doors. They got the message and resumed their guard duty.
"No," said Tal quietly. "I haven't asked. I'm . I'm afraid of the answer."
Milla nodded, but she didn't really understand. Her parents were long dead.
"I suppose I should," he added. But he made no move to do so.
"I have made too many mistakes," said Milla. "My mistakes, since I do not believe everything is directed by some great Reckoner, and I just a piece upon the board. I should have returned to the Ruin Ship as soon as I had the Sunstone. I should not have crossed to Aenir"
"I know, I know," interrupted Tal. "I
am sorry"
"You do not understand," Milla resumed. "I have decided that one more mistake will make no difference. I will help you rescue your brother. But we will have to hide the Codex here. And we cannot roam your Castle looking as we do now. And I need to eat and drink."
"We can get clothes and food and so on from an
Underfolk store," said Tal. "It's the middle of the night, so if we stick mainly to the colorless corridors in the midlevel we can get across to where I think they're holding Gref. It's… it's near the Hall of Nightmares…"
Milla shrugged. Unlike Tal, the Hall of Nightmares held no particular terrors for her. She had proved immune to the Nightmare Machines, calling on the Crones to protect her.
"I hope we catch Fashnek by himself," she said, referring to the creepy keeper of the Hall of Nightmares.
"I don't," shuddered Tal. "We can't afford to start any sort of fight."
"Let's go, then," said Milla. "First we eat, and then we fight… or we sneak."
"We have to hide the Codex," said Tal. They walked over to it. Tal started to pick it up, but Milla didn't move.
"You must ask," she said. "The question will hunt you in your dreams if you do not."
Tal nodded. He desperately wanted to know that his father was alive, but he also desperately feared that the Codex would tell him he was dead.
"Ask!" urged Milla.
Tal put his hands together in an arch and scratched his nose. Then he cracked the knuckles on his left hand. Finally he asked the question, his voice gruff.