"If Sharrakor can get into the whirlwind, so can we," said Milla.
Zicka's tongue flickered in and out in agitation.
"No," he said. "The flesh would be stripped from your bones. It is not possible to enter unless the Old Khamsoul allows you. It would not grant that permission if Sharrakor is already there. It never allows more than one being to consult with it at any time."
"There must be some way," Tal protested.
"A Shield Maiden thinks of all things possible and expected, then does the impossible and unexpected," said Odris unexpectedly from above their heads. "I know a way into the heart of the Old Khamsoul."
"Odris knows a way," repeated Adras smugly. "How?" asked Tal and Milla at the same time. "It's a whirlwind," said Odris. "You don't fly into a whirlwind. You get above it and fly down through the eye."
"But the Old Khamsoul is no ordinary whirlwind," cautioned Zicka. "It reaches up to the very margin of the world, high above the clouds. How could you fly above the whirlwind?"
Odris sniffed.
"We can fly higher than anything, if we feel like it," she said. "Up and up and up, and then… a dive straight down through the eye."
"I have climbed high mountains," said Yazeq. "With height comes cold, and there is little air to breathe. You Storm Shepherds may fly high, but your companions would die."
"No we wouldn't," said Milla. "We could make globes of air with green light and warm ourselves with our Sunstones."
"I do not have a Sunstone," said Malen quietly.
"You may use mine," said Ebbitt. He slipped off the Sunstone he wore in a silver ring and held it out to Malen. "I am afraid that I cannot come with you any farther, children."
Malen protested, and Tal started to say something, but Ebbitt dropped the ring in Malen's lap and held up his hand to Tal.
"I am very old and very tired," he said firmly. "And I would undoubtedly lose my false teeth if I went diving into whirlwinds, and with them any dignity I have left. I have almost every confidence in your ability to deal with Sharrakor without my help."
"You don't have false teeth," said Tal.
"That is totally irrelevant," answered Ebbitt. "Now I am going to go to sleep. Good luck."
With that, the old Chosen curled up on one of the thicker rugs and closed his eyes. Tal half expected to see his maned cat slink in and curl up next to him.
Milla and Malen both slowly clapped their fists and then made a sign the others didn't know, crossing their palms one above the other and then gesturing out toward Ebbitt.
"What was that for?" asked Tal.
"He prepares to go to the Ice, in his own way," said Milla. "We honor him."
"He's just tired, that's all," insisted Tal. "Just tired. He's not going to die. Crow, you know him. He's just tired."
"Yes," agreed Crow, but Tal did not know who he was agreeing with. The Freefolk boy did not meet his eyes.
Tal looked back out at the entrance to the roro. He could remember so many times he had gone to Ebbitt, seeking help and advice, or simply to hide away from trouble. It was Ebbitt he had gone to when his father had disappeared, when he had to find a Sunstone…
But he could not let himself grieve now. Ebbitt might have decided to die, but that didn't mean he would.
"Look after my great-uncle, please, Zicka," he said, looking back at Milla, Malen, and Crow. "Perhaps… perhaps he will be better in the morning. When we return."
He tried to say the last three words with the confidence of an Emperor, but it did not come out as well as he would have liked. There was an unspoken if hanging in the air instead of that when.
If we return…
"We'd better plan how we are actually going to do this," said Tal. "Adras, Odris, are you prepared to risk yourselves flying into the eye of the whirlwind?"
"Yes," said Odris. She nudged Adras and he repeated her answer.
"Will we be able to take a boat of light through?"
"No," said Odris. "But we could take it above the eye, then I can carry two if we're just dropping straight down."
The Storm Shepherd's answer chilled the air for a moment as they all visualized dropping straight down the eye of a whirlwind, a whirlwind that rose higher than any mountain.
"We will have the added advantage of surprise," said Milla. "We will be able to strike at Sharrakor before he even suspects we are there. If we manage to actually drop on him--"
A lizard poked its head in and babbled something before she could continue.
"The Old Khamsoul is indeed in the Hrykan Desert," said Zicka. "Two days' march away for one of us."
"A few hours' flying," said Milla. "We could be there by the time the sun falls. What is that time called?"
"Dusk," replied Tal.
"A good time to attack," replied Milla with satisfaction.
"We will surprise Sharrakor and I will cut his throat with the Talon."
Zicka and Yazeq exchanged a look. Yazeq's tongue flickered sideways.
"Please excuse me," said the older lizard. "There is something I must attend to."
"If we're going to get there by nightfall I'd better give Malen some lessons on how to use Ebbitt's…
her
Sunstone," said Tal. "Then I guess we'd better make some globes of air. Though… I don't suppose there's any point in waiting until early in the morning, and attacking at dawn?"
"Waiting feeds fear," said Milla. "Courage comes with deeds."
"Let's get it over and done with," added Crow. "Yes," agreed Malen. "The longer we wait, the more the Veil weakens."
Adras and Odris nodded their agreement, huge heads of cloud bobbing up and down.
"The Kurshken wish you good fortune," said Zicka. "And success."
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
They came out of the roro an hour later, blinking in the sunshine. All had globes of green light around their heads, and Malen kept flinching slightly as warmth flowed in waves out of the Sunstone on her finger and onto her skin.
Tal was surprised to see hundreds of Kurshken massed in the field in front of them. As they emerged, the lizards gave a deep-throated cry and waved their bows in the air.
"What is this?" asked Milla as four Kurshken advanced bearing an ornately carved stone box between them. They knelt before her and offered her the box.
"We are returning something," said Zicka. "Please open the box, Milla."
Milla lifted off the lid and handed it to some more Kurshken who rushed forward. Her hand hovered above the box, an expression of surprise and wonder fleeting across her face before it was suppressed, as she tried to suppress all signs of emotion.