The ridge curved as the valley had done; T'lin led his troupe down a steep slope and straight up the other side. Dragons were in their element in mountain terrain. Roaring with excitement, they raced one another up hills and slid down long scree slopes in showers of gravel. Eleal understood then why they stayed so far apart, and she also realized this crossing might take much less time than the plodding mammoths needed for their long trek over Rilepass. Soon the air grew cold, although the wind was not as fierce as she would have expected. Even grass became rare and gray stone stretched out everywhere.
Starlight was chief dragon, but he labored under T'lin's substantial weight. With his much lighter burden, Lightning took to challenging him for the lead position, and then the pace became fierce indeed. As T'lin had said, the old dun was wily, with a good eye for the easiest routes. The two females, Blaze and Beauty, scorned to play such foolish games and were soon left far behind.
Eventually they vanished altogether, and T'lin called a halt. Eleal rode up beside him. Starlight and Lightning belched weakly at each other, puffing clouds of steam into the wind. The dragon trader himself was flushed and grinning.
"You know what that is, Jewel of the Mountains?” He gestured at a wall of dirty white blocking the valley ahead from side to side. It was bleeding a torrent of frothy green water.
"It remarkably resembles snow, but I am sure you would not have asked if the answer was so obvious."
He nodded, uncorking his canteen. “It's an old avalanche."
Eleal looked around uneasily. On either side the valley walls rose in cliffs and scarps and impossible slopes, mostly still mantled with winter snow. At the top sunlight glinted on parapets of ice, a white frame around deep blue sky.
"Meaning this place is dangerous?"
He took a long drink. He nodded as he wiped his mouth. “If Ois wants it to be. Listen!"
She listened. There was only the dragons’ puffing and the chatter of the stream and ... a distant rumble of thunder?
"There goes another!” T'lin said with an unconvincing smirk.
They peered around, but the wall of snow prevented a proper view of the valley ahead.
"We should ride along the top,” she said. “Then nothing can fall on us."
"It might fall on us as we went up. It might fall when we were on top of it. Praise the goddess.” T'lin sighed, staring back the way they had come. “What does holy scripture tell us about squabbles between the gods?"
"Scripture I leave to the priests. I can tell you what happens in drama, though."
"So what happens in drama, Embodiment of Ember'l?"
"They usually appeal to the Parent."
"And what happens then, Wisdom?” His green eyes fixed on her with a quizzical expression she could not read.
"He sends them away. That's in Act One. In Act Three he renders judgment. Then we all come out and bow and pass the plate again."
Dragontrader busied himself replacing his canteen in his pack.
"You think that's what's happening?” she asked. “You think the Lady has gone to appeal to Visek?"
He shrugged and smiled. “I am only a humble dragon trader. You are the fountain of the arts, the Avatar of Astina. If you don't know, then what mortal can understand the gods?"
She thought over all the tragedies she could remember. “Prophecy's one of Visek's attributes. Being god of destiny, he will not allow the others to block the fulfillment!"
"Truly your insight is comforting. Have you discovered yet what the prophecy prophesies for you?"
"No. Sister Ahn was about to tell me at the last stop, and you interrupted.” And he had done so deliberately.
"It says that during the seven hundredth Festival of Tion—that's now, starting tonight—that the Liberator will be born.” T'lin raised a coppery eyebrow to ask what Eleal thought about that.
"Who's the Liberator?"
"His name is not given. He is the son of Kameron Kisster."
"Who's he, and what's a Kisster?"
The dragon trader shrugged his bulky shoulders. “I do not know these things! Perhaps it is all his given name—Kameron-kisster?"
Eleal searched his face for signs that he was making all this up, in some stupid, stupid game. T'lin might, but Sister Ahn had displayed no signs of a sense of humor, and reapers had to be taken seriously.
"Who or what does the Liberator liberate?"
"And from whom? Or from what? That is not so clear at all. The Testament implies he will be very, very important, but it sort of takes that for granted and does not say how, except for one sort of hint."
"What sort of hint?” she snapped.
"It implies he will kill Death."
"I think I would class that as an important act."
"It probably doesn't mean what it seems to mean, though. What it does say is that he will be born sometime in the next few days, in Sussvale."
T'lin had not known this in Embiliina Sculptor's kitchen, or at least had not admitted knowing it. His obvious amusement was very irritating.
"And what does it say about me?” she demanded crossly.
"Ah. Here come the others now."
"You are being deliberately aggravating!” Eleal said in Ambria's most disapproving tone.
He stroked his red beard. “I think I would wager that you do not have the right sort of experience. You had best take those lessons from the old hag at the earliest possible opportunity."
"Lesson in what?” Eleal demanded through clenched teeth.
"Delivering babies."
"What!?"
"That is correct, Beloved of the Gods. Naked and crying he shall come into the world and Eleal shall wash him. She shall clothe him and nurse him and comfort him. That's what it says about you.” T'lin shook with silent mirth, so that Starlight turned his head around and peered at him curiously. “I don't suppose ‘nursing’ means ‘suckling,’ unless there are some miracles mentioned I missed."
Personage of Historic Importance?
"That's all? There isn't any more? I don't believe you! Why would I be threatened by a reaper and imprisoned for life by a goddess if all I'm going to do is help some woman have a baby?” Let Kameronkisster go hire a midwife!
"But a very important baby! Even I was small and helpless when I was born. Beautiful, of course, because of my beard. All the witnesses agreed that they had never seen so—"
"So that's where you went last night? That's why you weren't at the camp when Gim and I arrived. You went to visit someone who has a copy of the Testament?"
Seeing a glint of suspicion in Dragontrader's eye, Eleal hastily added, “Some rancher friend, I suppose—outside the city?"
"A very shrewd guess, Goddess of Curiosity."
"There isn't any more about me, or you didn't have time to read any more?"
The other two dragons were closing in, puffing.
T'lin chuckled. “All right! No, I didn't have time to read the whole thing, or anything like the whole thing. It's a terrible jumble. There may be more about you in there—I don't know.” He turned Starlight to face the newcomers.
That, she decided, was better.
Delivering babies? Yuu-uck!
A little later, walking their heated mounts up the valley, they saw an avalanche descend in white smoke and, later, thunder. It did not come close. Just a warning, Eleal thought, a sign that the Lady was still angry. She made the sign of Tion, and probably Gim did also. Sister Ahn clasped her hands in a prayer to Astina. T'lin made a gesture Eleal did not quite see.
The ascent out of the gorge was almost vertical, it ended in a scramble up a face of sheer ice. Nothing but a dragon could have gone that way, except birds. The surface of the glacier was a jagged nightmare, blindingly bright and swept by a cruel wind. It formed a saddle between two jagged peaks, and the mountains ahead were lower.