Two perfect, tear-shaped raindrops fell then, splashing on their cuts, completely removing the last traces of blood. No more welled up, as if the raindrops had miraculously healed the skin.
Tal and Milla stared down at their wrists, then looked up at the sky, blinking through further rain. Both jumped as thunder suddenly crashed above them, sending a shock through the air.
They continued to stare up in amazement as dark clouds shifted and roiled, and two clumps suddenly rolled down and out of the mass. Two vaguely man-shaped creatures of billowing black and gray formed out of the clumps. Their heads came first, then their arms grew out, and then their legs stretched down to the hilltop.
Small streaks of lightning played backward and forward in their eyes, which were the only patches of white on the cloud-creatures.
Milla and Tal backed away from the towering figures, which were easily three times their height. One of the creatures loomed forward and roared. "Who gives blood to the rain at sunfall on old Hrigga Hill?"
Then the second one bellowed:
"Who calls the Storm Shepherds?"
Then both shouted, the thunder of their voices knocking Tal and Milla to the ground.
"Who pays the blood price?"
Tal stared up at the huge figures, his mind racing. The blood price. In Aenir that meant a life. But he could trick them with his shadow, and use it to bind one of them to him as a Spiritshadow. A Storm Shepherd would be a great ally here and a very powerful Spiritshadow back in the Castle. But if he got any of the ritual wrong, his natural shadow would be lost and with it any chance of getting a Spiritshadow.
Should he take this chance, on the spur of the moment? Would there ever be a better opportunity? And what about Milla? There were two Storm Shepherds. The other one would demand her shadow as well, and Milla wouldn't give it up. He would have to make her…
Tal darted a look at her. Their eyes met. He saw trust there. Milla expected him to fight at her side, not to try to sell her shadow.
Milla saw Tal's eyes flicker and his right hand rose with its Sunstone ring. Suddenly she knew that some betrayal lurked there. For all their blood pacts, he was not an Icecarl. She could not predict what he would do, or count on it being the best for clan and ship. An anger grew in her, and she felt the Merwinhorn sword rise in her hand. She could hit him with the flat of the blade, and then run.
Tal saw Milla's eyes grow hard, saw the sword rise.
He had to decide. Try and trick one Storm
Shepherd with his shadow, and hope the other one would be able to take Milla's shadow, too?
The Storm Shepherds roared.
Chosen boy and Icecarl girl faced each other. Their gaze was locked. Both knew that their fragile alliance was on the verge of breaking forever. Whoever looked away, whoever moved first, everything that came from it would be their fault.
Seconds passed and still neither moved. The Storm Shepherds raged. Lightning flashed and thunder crashed around the hilltop.
A thousand moments flashed through Tal's mind. His first encounter with Milla in the snow. Climbing the mast of the iceship. Crossing the Living Sea of Selski. The feeling of relief as he saw Milla stabbing the Merwin through the eye. The jump across the chasm. The heatway tunnels. The crystal globe with Milla waiting patiently inside it, when a Chosen would be a gibbering wreck.
All this was clearer to him, easier to remember than his life in the Castle before he fell.
Memories rushed through Milla's mind, too. Tal helping her up in front of the Selski. Blinding the Merwin. His hand under her head when she lay dying, the Merwin horn shining behind him. The jump across the chasm. How he'd looked covered in green weed, when he'd dropped into the Hall of Nightmares.
He wasn't an Icecarl, but he had never failed her, not when it really mattered. If a saga was ever sung of Milla Merwin-Slayer, she realized, it would have a potential Sword Thane in it as well as a would-be Shield Maiden.
Milla lowered her sword. At exactly the same time Tal let his hand drop back to his side.
Milla tilted her head. Tal nodded.
Together, they turned to face the blustering Storm Shepherds.
"I am Milla of the Far Raiders!" called out Milla. "I am Tal of the Chosen," announced Tal. Together they shouted, "We shall pay no price!"