Above the Veil

by Garth Nix

  Milla had to let Crow go then, as Gill tried to grab her around the knees and push her over into the hole. Milla jumped clear and followed up with a kick that knocked Gill out.

  "Odris!" she shouted. "Attack!"

  "But Adras has gone down there," said Odris, pointing at the hole. She didn't attack.

  Milla scowled in anger. Crow and Clovil circled her warily. Ferek had retreated to join Inkie. Gill was groaning on the ground.

  "Why?" asked Milla. "We had an agreement."

  "Can't trust a Chosen," said Crow. He drew a long, sharp knife. Clovil looked at him, then hesitantly drew his own knife.

  "What about Ebbitt?" said Milla. She didn't take her eyes off either knife-wielding opponent. "And your Crone? Your leader?"

  "What they don't know won't bother them," Crow replied.

  Clovil glanced across at his leader. Milla saw the uncertainty there.

  "Someone will tell them," she said. Crow smiled and edged forward, his knife weaving slightly from side to side.

  "I could let you go," he said, "if you promise to just get out of here. We'll take you to the heatways.

  You aren't a Chosen. I've got the one I wanted. That Tal. Once a Chosen, always a Chosen."

  "We have to help Adras," said Odris. "He hasn't come back up."

  Milla thought about it for a moment. She could feel Odris's desire to fly down to see what had happened to Adras.

  Inkie moved. For a fraction of a second, Milla was distracted.

  In that moment, Crow reversed his knife, revealing a Sunstone in its pommel. The stone flashed white. Milla and Odris cried out and shielded their eyes.

  At the same moment, even more of the floor opened up. Milla fell back, flailing her arms and legs. Accompanied by a torrent of sand, she slid down into darkness, Odris fleeing after her.

  Behind them, Milla heard a panicked shout and saw someone else tumble into the sandslide above her.

  It was Gill. She had been caught, too, and she, Milla, and Odris were all plummeting down.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  There was no way to break their fall, though Milla did manage to turn herself around so she was sliding feetfirst. And she called up light from her Sunstone.

  As she spun and slid along with a large quantity of sand, she saw they were on some sort of steep ramp. A very long, steep ramp. Already she'd lost sight of the trapdoor above them, though it had probably closed again.

  Gill was twenty or thirty stretches behind her, upside down and screaming as she tumbled.

  Odris was ahead, on her back, her arms and legs spread out wide. She appeared to be enjoying the ride.

  "Odris! Slow me down!" Milla shouted. For once, the Spiritshadow obeyed. She made herself puffier and flew back against the sliding sand. Milla put her feet on the Spiritshadow's shoulders and felt herself slow. A few seconds later, she caught Gill as the Freefolk girl slid past.

  An immediate headlock indicated that Milla hadn't grabbed the other girl out of kindness.

  "Where does this go?" Milla demanded. The rushing sand was very noisy, as well as uncomfortable. They would be minus some skin by the time they got to the bottom.

  Gill coughed and spluttered, unable to answer. She'd gotten a lot of sand in her face. Milla contented herself by keeping hold of the girl. Questions--and answers--could wait till they got to the bottom.

  They didn't have long to wait. The ramp suddenly grew steeper and Odris groaned at the extra effort of slowing them down. Then suddenly they shot out into open air, high up in some vast cavern.

  "Odris!" Milla shouted again as she fell off the Spiritshadow's shoulders and lost her grip on Gill. She was falling, and the ground was a hundred stretches below. Milla concentrated on keeping her eyes open. Icecarls always faced death with their eyes open.

  Odris grabbed her a second later. She had Gill in her other hand, but the combined weight of both girls was too much for the Spiritshadow to fly. They continued to fall, too fast for comfort.

  A few seconds later, they hit.

  Not solid stone or sand, but warm water. All three went under with a huge splash, and all three came back up again.

  Milla spat out a mouthful of water and swam a few strokes in a circle, looking around. She could see Gill coughing and spluttering, but she was all right. Odris was puffing herself up, climbing out of the water into the air.

  There was no sign of Tal at first. Then Milla saw a bright Sunstone light, fifty or sixty stretches away and higher up.

  "Over here!" shouted Tal. "Hurry!"

  Milla spat out even more water and started to swim. Her furs were heavy and already waterlogged, but she had learned to swim that way, in the warm pools around the Smoking Mountain.

  "Hurry!" Tal yelled again. He sounded scared. Milla looked around, wondering why. Gill was already swimming as fast as she could toward Tal. Odris was floating above Milla, unconcerned.

  What could Tal see that she couldn't? And what did Gill know about this place that was making her swim so fast?

  "Spiders!" Tal shouted. "Hurry!"

  Milla focused on her Sunstone, making it brighter, and swung her hand behind her, sending the beam of light flashing across the water. It was met by many sparkling reflections, clusters of bright eyes.

  Water spiders. Lots and lots of water spiders.

  Milla twisted in the water and started swimming as fast as she could. There were too many reflecting eyes behind her. The whole place was thick with water spiders. She remembered Ebbitt talking about them. They were about half her size, their bulbous bodies were thick-skinned and hard to damage, and they could walk on the water as well as swim in it.

  They were also very poisonous.

  Milla turned to take a breath and saw a ray of Red light shoot over her head and strike somewhere behind her. She heard the hiss of steaming water and a weird clacking noise, like the grinding of bone planks in an iceship as it ran over rough ground. It took her a moment to realize that it had to be the noise of the spiders' multijointed limbs.

  They were racing after her, legs skimming the surface. Tal was trying to keep them at bay with his Sunstone. She saw more Red Rays zap overhead, and more steam spouted up behind her. But the clicking was louder, too, and she redoubled her efforts, kicking harder and pushing all the strength of her shoulders and arms into her stroke.

  Somewhere along the way she overtook Gill, who was struggling, her arms and legs flailing, all rhythm lost.

  Milla slowed momentarily, and looked back. Red Rays of Destruction from Tal's Sunstone crisscrossed the water, sending up gusts of steam. She could feel the heat of them passing overhead. In their light, she could see hundreds of water spiders. A solid line of them, skittering and dancing on the surface. Constantly edging forward, hesitating as Tal's rays struck them, then coming forward again.

  "Odris!" called Milla. She couldn't see the Spirit-shadow, but she shouted anyway. "Help Gill!"

  Something erupted from the water near here, and Milla almost struck at it before she realized it was Odris.

  "Too dangerous up there," said the Spiritshadow, indicating the Red Rays flickering off and on above their heads. She reached out and grabbed Gill, who shrieked and went under for a moment, then reemerged, coughing, as Odris lifted her partially out of the water.

  Milla grabbed Odris, too. The Spiritshadow had formed her back half into one energetic tail, which was propelling her far faster than Milla could swim.

  That was only a fraction faster than the water spiders. They reached the ledge where Tal was kneeling in deep concentration, his Sunstone ring bright Red, rays bursting from it every few seconds. Adras leaned down and pulled Gill out, and Milla leaped up, using Odris's shoulder as a step.

  "Too many!" Tal gasped. He waved his hand across the whole front of the ledge, creating a continuous Red Ray that touched the water so that a curtain of steam rose all around the ledge. Water spiders clacked and there was a multitude of splashes as they fell back.

  For a moment or two more kept cra
wling up, even as Tal shot them down.

  The ledge was narrow, a crumbling shelf in the cavern's side. It went back only five or six stretches. There was a corridor beyond it, through the cavern side, but the way was barred by a portcullis of golden metal--a heavy grille of cross-hatched bars, set too close together to crawl through.

  "Odris! Adras! Help me open this!" Milla shouted. She strained at the portcullis, trying to lift it. But it didn't budge.

  The two Spiritshadows flowed across to join her. But when their hands met the golden metal, their shadowflesh went straight through. They couldn't get a grip on it.

  "Aarrggghh!"

  It was Tal screaming.

  Milla spun around to see a huge, bloated spider leap on top of Tal. He fell back and its eight hairy legs wrapped completely around him. A second later it struck at his chest with its two huge fangs, venom dripping as it pulled away.

  Milla rushed at the spider and kicked it in its disgustingly swollen abdomen, until its legs uncurled and Tal rolled out. Then she spun on her heel and kicked it again, knocking it back into two other water spiders.

  "Adras! Odris! Help!"

  Without Tal's Red Rays of Destruction to keep them back, the water spiders swarmed the ledge. Milla stood over Tal's body, kicking and punching, and the Spiritshadows stood at her shoulders, their massive arms whirling to knock the spiders back into the water.

  Gill hung on to the portcullis, screaming for help. But no help came. Only more spiders.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  With the help of the two Spiritshadows, Milla managed to beat back the spiders' assault and drag Tal to the portcullis, to gain some slight shelter at their backs. But as the water spiders withdrew, it was clear it was only a temporary respite. They were climbing up the wall, spinning sticky threads of web behind them.

  "They're getting ready to drop down on us," said Milla, watching the spiders climb. "They'll attack from above as well as in front. Gill! How do you open this portcullis?"

  "From outside," sobbed the girl. "Crow will come and get us."

  Milla scowled and looked back at the massed ranks of spiders. All those glistening eyes, reflecting in the light of her Sunstone. If only she knew how to create the Red Ray of Destruction, or some of the other light magic Tal had told her about. Even better would be her Merwin-horn sword or an Icecarl battle-ax. Then the water spiders would keep their distance.

  But she had only her fists and feet. Even her knife was lost.

  A sudden thought came to her. The other Freefolk had knives. Perhaps Gill did, too.

  "Gill, give me your knife," she ordered. The Freefolk girl was still screaming through the bars of the portcullis, so Milla had to shout at her twice. Numbly, the girl pulled a long, thin knife from the side of her boot and handed it to Milla.

  Milla smiled as she brandished it. The knife was metal and sharp, and it glistened in the light more brightly than the spiders' eyes.

  She would make the spiders pay dearly for her life. She hadn't managed to kill any spiders with her blows, but she would now.

  "Ten," she whispered. That seemed a reasonable number of spiders to take as a death-due for her own life. "And five for Tal."

  The water spiders were almost directly above Milla. A thin wisp of spider-silk fell down across her shoulders. The front rank of spiders began to click and rustle as they moved forward in a single line. Their horrible hairy legs rose and fell in near-perfect synchronization as they edged forward, their fangs twitching and dripping with venom.

  Their eyes, thought Milla. She would have to stab them in the eyes.

  "Adras, Odris. I want you to hold each one in front of me, so I can stick them. Then throw it back and grab the next one."

  "I feel sleepy," said Adras, yawning. "Very sleepy."

  "Not now!" exclaimed Milla. But even as she spoke, the huge Spiritshadow slipped down the wall and spread out on the ground, across the still form of Tal.

  "Adras!" exclaimed Odris and she slid down, too, to see what was wrong with him.

  The spiders chose that moment to attack. Dozens of them rushed forward, running on one another's backs and getting tangled in their eagerness to get at their prey. Others dropped straight down, or swung in on webs.

  Milla shouted her war cry, Gill screamed something--and suddenly the water spiders stopped and reeled back. Milla stared at them as they fell over each other trying to get away.

  Surely her war cry wasn't that effective?

  A moment later a great cloud of foul-smelling mist rolled past her. It was a foul smell she recognized, though she had last experienced it as a yellow ointment.

  Ebbitt's water spider repellent.

  She turned around. The portcullis was up, and there was Ebbitt and his maned Spiritshadow. The old man had a small barrel under his arm and a pumping device. He was working vigorously to spray repellent everywhere.

  Gill was dragging Tal through the gate, and Odris was dragging Adras.

  "Hurry up, hurry up, don't be late for the gate," said Ebbitt. Milla hurried through. Ebbitt backed after her, still spraying. When he was through, the portcullis rumbled down.

  "A spider bit Tal," said Milla. "I couldn't stop it."

  "Well, now, I don't suppose you could." Ebbitt didn't appear to be terribly concerned. "They're awful biters when the mood strikes them. Which is most of the time. You and young Gillimof will have to carry him."

  "I told you not to call me that," Gill protested.

  Milla was about to ask Ebbitt how he knew where they were. Then she saw Crow and the other Freefolk standing by a large wheel that obviously raised and lowered the portcullis. Instantly she pushed past Ebbitt, knife held low for a savage cut.

  "Traitor!"

  Before she could reach him, Ebbitt's Spiritshadow reared up between them and a sparkling loop of Indigo light wrapped around Milla's torso and pulled her back.

  "Let me go!" roared Milla. "He promised to bring us to you and then dropped us in with the water spiders!"

  "That's what we're supposed to do for suspicious visitors," said Crow easily. "And all

  Chosen. So we can leave them in with the water spiders if we need to."

  "That's true," said Ebbitt. "A precaution insisted upon by the leader of the Freefolk. Only the blue-tufted flowershrike here was a little slow letting me know."

  "Crow!" corrected Crow, touching the black feathers in his hat. "You know I'm called Crow!"

  "What about Tal?" asked Milla. "I told you a spider bit him."

  "And something's happened to Adras as well!" added Odris. "I can't wake him up!"

  Ebbitt peered at Odris, who had her fellow

  Spiritshadow draped over her shoulders. He looked at them through both eyes, then only through his left eye, shutting the right. He tried looking with his left eye shut and right eye open, then with both shut.

  Finally he opened both eyes again and said, "Storm Shepherds, I believe? And in free association, not bound?"

  "Yes," said Odris.

  "Well, won't lots of Chosen be running around gibbering when they hear about you!" Ebbitt exclaimed. "Now, don't worry about Tal and… um. Pladros. The spider venom is only a soporific in small doses, and the Fleefolk have an antidote."

  "That's Freefolk, not Fleefolk!" corrected Crow.

  "What is a soporific?" asked Milla. The word was unfamiliar to her, though much of the Chosen and Icecarl language was the same.

  "Something that puts you to sleep," explained Ebbitt. "It can be a drug or something else, as in the sentence `Blueshrike's tales of his bravery were extremely soporific.'"

  Gill and Clovil laughed, but choked it back as Crow glared at them.

  "Come on, then," said Ebbitt, clapping his hands. "Milla and Gill, you can carry Tal. We must be off to the Leefolk's lair. I mean the Weefolk's weir. That is, the Freefolk's fortress. Where is the Codex, by the way? Under your coat, perhaps? We'll need it for the meeting."

  "It's up in the Mausoleum," replied Milla. "We had to hide it there. It
was too big to carry."

  Ebbitt stopped and a look of genuine consternation spread across his face.

  "You mean you left it behind? It's the one thing we really need! You should have left yourselves behind!"

  "We brought it back from Aenir, and that wasn't easy," retorted Milla. "But we hid it. It will still be in the Mausoleum."

  "No, no, no it won't!" Ebbitt howled. He started jumping up and down on the spot. "It can move of its own accord in the Castle, at least, if not farther afield. It will wander off! It could be anywhere!"

  "It was too big to carry," said Milla angrily. "We were lucky to get away ourselves. Besides, it is nothing to me. I am returning to my people."

  "It shrinks," said Ebbitt mournfully. "You could have carried it. Or asked it to follow you."

  "I don't care," said Milla. "I will help carry Tal to your Freefolk Fortress and then I am leaving. I am going back to the Ice."

  CHAPTER NINE

  The Freefolk Fortress, as Ebbitt called it, lay on the far side of a deep chasm that went all the way down to the lava pools that the Chosen had tapped long ago for their complex heating systems of steam and hot water. As they approached the lip of the chasm, Milla could feel the heat rising up from the depths and could see the red glow.

  The only way across was a narrow, makeshift bridge that precariously spanned the fifty-stretch gap. The basic structure of the bridge was two very narrow rails of the same golden metal as the Ruin Ship. But all the planking and the handrailings were made of crystal, metal, and scavenged material of all kinds that could easily be dismantled so that the bridge would be almost impossible to cross.

  Fortunately it seemed solid enough as they crossed it, though Milla was careful to watch where she stepped and not put any undue reliance on the handrails. She and Gill were carrying Tal between them, so it was a slow progress. Odris was carrying Adras and complaining about it every ten or twelve steps.

  Ebbitt led the way in his own peculiar fashion, stopping every now and then to spin around, or suddenly crouch down, or just stop and stare into space. His maned Spiritshadow watched him indulgently, itself always regal and controlled.