A/N: So I do have good intentions when I start writing, cuz this isn't that long after the last update (by my standards). Thankfully, we're reaching the end soon. Probably. Yeah, probably… We might see an end to this before 365 days go by.

Disclaimer: Don't own the Seventh Tower. Which you would know if you've been reading the last 13 chapters.

Chapter 14 – Side-by-side

The silence stretched in the cold dungeon. The only illumination came from the Violet veil that cut them off from their weapons and the door. Milla refused to lean back, to lean her weight on the back of her sister, even though her spine ached from sitting so upright.

Her sister! By the Crones, she had a sister! Milla didn't believe in the great Reckoner, but if she did, she would have sworn that whoever moved the pieces had to be a spiteful person.

Milla didn't want to be the first to break the silence either, but the slouch in the other girl's posture told her that if she didn't, then they could wither in silence for all eternity.

"Did you know about it?" The sound that came out from Milla's mouth surprised even her. It was harsher than she had intended. Was that why, ever since Rhin's escape – ever since she came back from the Ruin Ship, even – Miria had conspicuously avoided her?

There was no reply, and Milla's patience was running thin. "Did. You. Know. About. It," she repeated fiercely.

Silence reigned for a moment, before a reluctant "No" was replied. "Not everything," she added after a pause. It didn't occur to either Icecarl that Rhin might be lying, but the fact that he had the Codex and all the evidence before them pointed otherwise. And to begin with, neither of them had much faith in his story-telling skills.

"What did you know?" Milla demanded. A part of her mind told her that she was pushing too far, pushing too much, but Milla couldn't stop herself. Not when she felt like she'd been betrayed.

A waterfall of words burst out of Miria. "I knew from the Mother Crone that I was abandoned near the Ruin Ship. I knew that my parents were from elsewhere. I knew that a Shield Mother saved me when she was still a Shield Maiden. I knew that you," here the words came out strangled and tear-laden, "slew her." Done with her outburst, the Icecarl uncharacteristically, finally, broke down and subsided into silent sobbing.

Milla felt as though the room had cooled to the temperature of the Ice, along with her temper. "Arla," she whispered.

It was not a question, but Milla heard the rustle of hair and furs as her companion nodded vigorously. Then – Milla assumed – she finally gave up on trying to suppress her self-pity and cried openly, making Milla feel distinctly uncomfortable.

Milla shifted nervously and relaxed her posture, allowing herself to lean on Miria's back. She sighed once and kept quiet as she allowed her sister to cry, watching their shadows dance on the wall in the flickering light. Interpersonal conversations had never been her forte, but given the situation that they were in… I guess I don't have a choice.

Finally the sobs quieted, the body at Milla's back calming and no longer shuddering. Milla considered her words carefully, but what came out was something completely different from what she had planned. "Do you hate me?"

Do you hate me?

Miria was shocked to hear it so plainly, but it was the Icecarl way after all, and why should she be so surprised when she knew her people so well? Still, the question cleared a path through her whirlwind of emotion, an exceedingly clear one.

Her reply burst from her readily. "No!" Even though her voice was weak and shaky from crying, she could hear how aghast she was; and under that, her own conviction. "No, I don't," she repeated more calmly, starting a Rovkir breathing exercise to steady her voice.

"Then are you going to avenge Arla?" The War-Chief was unbelievably calm discussing her own death, and it shook Miria to the core. She bit her lip and continued her breathing exercise as she pondered her answer.

"No," she said shortly. She knew all along that she was too soft to slay anyone she didn't see as an enemy or prey, and with Milla as her opponent, she would definitely be going the same way that Arla did. But that wasn't the main point. She felt compelled to add, "And it's not because I think I won't be able to outfight you." She was glad that the Rovkir exercise worked, she sounded much more secure. Not like she was insecure to begin with, she told herself.

"Why?" asked Milla again. Miria couldn't see the War-Chief's face, but she was sure that it, like her back, had stiffened into the mask that she saw her always wearing in front of the Assembly. The one that Miria tried hard to imitate when she engaged in a war of words with Kazhua.

"Why do you care?" Miria shot back. She didn't particularly want to think about it, and it irritated her to know that she wanted to avoid it. The past few sleeps in the Castle had been particularly horrible because she began to see, but refused to accept, that she wasn't really herself anymore. Annoyance laced her voice and built a wall around her emotions. "Do you want to die that badly?"

"I am not afraid of death," said Milla evasively, and though Miria couldn't see, not with the dark and the angle they were positioned, she swore that she could hear in her voice that Milla was smiling, the small quirk that she rarely allowed herself, the one that she only saw out on the Ice. "Now answer my question."

In return, Miria scowled, though that went unnoticed. Far too many years of training made her automatically want to obey Milla's order, even if it unnerved her. She thought about how she had came to be, about how she enjoyed Milla's company as a friend, about the Mother Crone, about her parents, and about Arla. The more she thought about it, the more her wall crumbled, until she was once again swamped in self-pity and confusion.

Do not cry, she ordered herself. Whatever you do, Miria Light-Arrow, do not cry! You're weak enough as it is! Her breathing, which had become ragged once more, slowed down. She took a deep breath to steady herself and continued.

"I'm too weak and soft to kill anybody, much less the War-Chief," she said, trying to sound as matter-of-fact as she could and hoping that the self-pity didn't show through her voice. "And it's not as though my life is that important to justify getting rid of the hero of the Icecarls. It was supposed to be snuffed out long ago because I wasn't strong enough-" her voice grew acidic, then cracked, and finally became inaudible. Oh, darkness, she swore inwardly. She really was going to cry. She held her head up, unwilling to let the tears spill out, though it was a futile attempt.

"You aren't weak," Milla's voice came from somewhere behind her, sounding oddly curious. "What gives you the idea that just because our parents tried to toss you, you'd grow up weak?"

Miria gave a self-deprecating laugh through the fountain of tears, and some part of her mind that was still rational noted that she was sliding towards hysteria, and rapidly at that. "Isn't the cause and effect kind of switched around here?" she said, voice thick with tears. "Oh, it doesn't matter, it doesn't change the fact that I'm unwanted-"

Milla cut her off. "You're not unwanted. There are plenty of people who want you around." Her voice, in contrast, was sharp-edged, like a bone knife. "I, for one. And Ebbitt, for another. And I'm sure the Mother Crone must have wanted you around too, or we wouldn't be here talking. Let's not count the Shield Maidens you train with at the Ruin Ship."

Miria snorted through her tears. Milla ignored it. "So I don't believe that you're too weak and soft, as you put it, to kill. Try again."

Miria sniffed. The War-Chief was smart. The Emperor chose well, she thought inanely, and mentally giggled at the thought of it. The rational part of her mind noted again that her hysteria was getting out of hand, and maybe they should try calming down a bit. She coughed once to buy some time. This is going to make me look stupider than I already am, she told herself. She kept her puffy, stinging eyes on her shadow, outlined in Violet, as she composed her answer.

"Because…," she muttered as more tears spilled out, "Because I'd rather forgive than slay you." She sniffed once more as it became harder to breath. "I don't think it's worth it, even if you aren't my sister." The last few words bordered on inaudibility, and Miria hoped that her sister didn't catch her bout of sentimentality.

But Milla, trained as she was, did hear. And she did something that surprised Miria. She entwined her fingers with Miria's, bound behind their backs. "Thank you, sister," she breathed, and tilted her head back so that they touched.

Miria would have wanted to stay that way for a while, but when she finally fell silent once more, the twitch in Milla's fingers reminded her of the situation that they were in… and what they had to do. Feeling rather wistful but understanding Milla's slight impatience anyway, she disentangled her fingers from Milla's and began untying the ropes that bound her wrists together. Given that the Icecarls often had to work in the dark, she successfully undid the knots without looking.

Milla took a moment to let the rope fall from her wrists before twisting around to work on Miria's bonds. Likewise, she worked quickly and silently, and before long both girls were freeing their ankles and rising to their feet.

Milla paced along the length of their prison silently, right next to the veil of light. She estimated it to be about 5 stretches wide and maybe another 2 stretches longer in length. Her eyes followed the line of Sunstones set in the ceiling, set about a hand's width from each other. Miria followed a few paces from her and tracked her gaze to the Sunstones. She moved closer and whispered in Milla's ear.

"If we can reflect the light back at an angle, do you think that we can destroy the Sunstones without bringing the ceiling down on us?"

Milla considered the possibility, cocking her head at an angle as though it the new perspective would reveal something she overlooked. If the angle was gentle enough, probably so. But they would need a mirror for this, and her mirror shield was sitting in the corner along with all their other weapons on the other side of the curtain, which was to say, out of reach.

"Yes, but we don't have a mirror-shield," replied the War-Chief. It was a good idea though.

The War-Chief turned to pace in the other direction, only to meet with a small grin. In the pale Violet light, it looked ghastly below puffy eyes and wet cheeks, but Milla was glad to see a trace of humour, albeit wry and insane at the same time.

"What?" she demanded in a whisper. The smile unnerved her more than she would admit.

Miria reached a hand into the neck of her furs and fiddled around at her shoulder. Milla heard the muffled sounds of hide straps coming apart as she did. She repeated the motion at her other shoulder and all of a sudden something thin and rounded came sliding out from under Miria's inner furs from her back. She swept her hands down to catch it before it hit the ground. She straightened and held it out. Milla took it. It was one half of a shell. The kind that when polished, functioned as mirror shields. She angled it to catch the light and saw the gleam that confirmed her suspicions.

Milla was pleasantly surprised. Of course, it was an excellent strategy. Hiding the mirror shield under her furs would lull her opponent into complacency, and when Light struck her back, it would just be reflected in the direction of the spellcaster. It was just like Miria to come up with such a trick. She was just about to express her appreciation for it when she heard vague curses from outside. Immediately the words died in her throat as she realised that sound carried rather clearly in this place.

Milla looked up from the mirror shield. The smile was gone from Miria's face as she waited for the other's approval. They really were alike, Milla realised. When they got out, she would be sure to take a nice long hunting trip with her out on the Ice.

Quickly the Icecarls worked out a plan. One problem that they ran into was that the angle had to be as gentle as possible in order to avoid the ceiling burying them, but in this confined area, there was an even chance that the ceiling would come down on them anyway if they tried.

"We'll just have to take the chance," said Milla finally. She didn't like dying of suffocation any more than the next Icecarl, but since if they failed, they were all likely to die anyway, she might as well choose the manner and time of her death.

Miria nodded in agreement. She gave the good-hunting sign and spun on her heel to head to the far side of their little cell, leaving Milla on the other end – with the mirror shield.

Their plan was simple. Milla would stand at one end, as close to the wall as possible, and slide the mirror shield into the Violet curtain at an angle, and as high as possible. The Violet light would then be reflected to the ceiling above Miria's head, hopefully destroying the Sunstones or at least the rock that held them in place. With part of the spell disrupted, Miria would then rush through to their unguarded weapons and hold off the guards, who were certain to come running once they heard the noise, while Milla made her way past the veil and recovered the Talons. The Talons, being small, would cost Milla more time to prepare herself against attack.

Miria didn't particularly want to think about failure. Like all Icecarls, she had a touch of claustrophobia, but she fully understood that she wouldn't have time to suffocate to death if the ceiling fell down on her. She'd be the first to die if their plan failed. However, she saw no point in mentioning this to Milla. Milla would just make them switch places. Which Miria didn't ever want to go through again.

Miria reached the far side and took several steps away from the Violet curtain. She turned to face Milla and signalled for her to go ahead.

Milla straightened and raised the mirror shield just above her head. Bracing it with both hands, slanting it in Miria's direction, she drove it into the light.

The effect was instantaneous. There was a loud crack and the sound of falling rock dominated. Miria didn't hesitate as she covered her head with one arm threw herself into the thick of it, climbing over rubble and ignoring the bits of rock that pelted her back. A crazed symphony of thumps from falling rock and hisses from the Violet light meeting rubble played to her right, and the dust felt like it was coating her throat as she breathed it in. Miria held her breath and tried not to cough too much.

And then she was out of it. She took a deep breath of marginally cleaner air, noting that her fears were unfounded and taking care not to break her stride. From the light of the remaining Sunstones, she could see the Spiritshadows already slipping in from under the door while their Chosen masters grappled with the more physical methods of entry. She dove as one came straight at her and landed in front of her Merwin horn sword. She only managed to grab it and unsheathe it in time to parry the second Spiritshadow.

Now that the noise they created was dying down, Miria was aware of curses sounding from the other side of the door along with the sound of metal clanging. As she sliced at the Spiritshadows again, she saw Milla emerge from behind the light and rock out of the corner of her eye. At the same time, the door burst in as the Chosen behind it evidently gave up on the latch and turned to Light magic to blast their way in.

Miria pushed past the Spiritshadows to attack the two Chosen. One of them didn't react in time and was struck in the shoulder. The other, being more aware or perhaps just faster, ducked her other hand, the one still holding on to the sheath for her sword, in time and retaliated with a Red Ray of Destruction. Miria wasn't quite as lucky, and the top half of her sword was blasted off, leaving a short jagged blade. She cursed and stabbed the Chosen in the arm with the broken horn. She desperately willed Milla to be ready, but she didn't dare to turn and check.

Then a hand locked around her wrist and pulled her out of the door into the tunnel. Miria turned in time to catch her bow and her quiver. The familiar deadly whip danced, catching the Spiritshadows who'd followed them and slicing them into two, and slowing down their Chosen masters.

"Let's go!" yelled Milla, and started running down the tunnel. Miria followed, her arms still laden with her bow and quiver, broken sword and sheath. She clumsily sheathed the blood-stained Merwin horn sword as she ran, and slid the bow and quiver up on her shoulder. Then she buckled the sword at her side.

Meanwhile, Milla ran ahead, flicking the whip from the Talons at the small Sunstones set into the wall, causing them to die. But before the Sunstones darkened for good, they all let out one dying burst of light. Miria was caught off-guard on the first few and now had spots dancing in front of her eyes. After that she resolutely kept her eyes on her ground and told herself that it had to be done or the Spiritshadows would be able to pursue them faster than they could run.

Miria caught up with Milla and kept pace with her, running by her side, taking the turns without slowing down. Milla seemed to have cleared every Sunstone in this length of tunnel, since Miria could see nothing but the light of the Talons, glowing softly even though they weren't extended. Not enough to see by, but after the next turn there would be light once more. Her vision seemed to be clearing and she hitched her bow up as it began sliding down her arm again.

Milla continued to run. She wasn't out of breath, and she feared that they might be too late. Then, abruptly, she heard a sharp intake of breath from her left, followed by the sound of stumbling footsteps.

"What?" she asked sharply, turning her head slightly even though she could see nothing in the dark, not even by the light of the Talons.

"You stepped on my laces!" huffed Miria, sounding just the slightest bit indignant even in their current situation. Then, "Never mind, just run!"

Satisfied that it was not an attack, Milla continued running.

They first saw the end of the tunnel by the light of the last Sunstone. A solid wall. By mutual agreement Miria sped up to reach and open it before Milla snuffed the light out again.

The Talons extended and the whip unfurled into existence. Milla flicked it at the last Sunstone, carefully averting her eyes as she did so. It gave a final burst of light and died. Milla didn't pause. Not until she ran headlong into an obstacle.

At first she thought she missed and ran into the wall, but this felt considerably softer than rock and grunted as she felt the impact from their collision. Milla's mind processed her surroundings and she reached out, feeling for the crack in the wall where she could wedge her fingers into. The slab of rock covering the exit was heavier and harder to move than she expected, and she put all her strength into creating an opening wide enough for them to slip through.

Miria grunted again and the slab finally started to move with an irritated grumble coupled with the grate of rock on rock. When it was wide enough for her to slip through she let go and pushed through, running as soon as she was out. She knew Milla would be right behind her.

The sudden change in lighting disoriented the Icecarl, but she didn't stop. She felt Milla come from behind her to her side, and suddenly push the hilt of bone knife into her hand, one of the two that she managed to carry out with her. The rest were left behind, in the dark cavern where she hoped that the Chosen were bleeding to death. She tucked it into her sleeve, taking care to make sure that it wouldn't fall out.

Milla guided them to the main stairs, those that led aboveground. They both agreed without saying it out that their best course of action was to get to Tal as quickly as possible, so if Rhin happened to be bargaining at the moment, their appearance would effectively remove all the cards from his hand. And they also agreed that they would be at the highest possible level. Which meant a lot of climbing.

Climbing stairs didn't seem to faze Milla, but Miria was cursing by the time they were halfway there, around the Yellow levels. Not because she was out of breath, because she wasn't (or so she told herself), but because with every step she took, her boot felt like it was about to slip off. She didn't dare to stop to re-lace them, and she wasn't about to stop to kick off both boots either. She settled for concentrating on placing her foot on the next step with the boot intact.

Because she was so intent on keeping her boot on, she didn't notice as they cleared the last steps and Milla skidded to a stop in front of her. She slammed into Milla's rigid form and stumbled back, clutching her nose, which had suffered from its brief contact with the back of Milla's skull. About to ask why they had stopped, she peered around Milla. The question faded, only to be replaced by another.

"What in Dark's name happened here?"

A/N: And this rounds up the longest chapter I have written (I think. I'm not exactly into counting words). However, it definitely IS the quickest update I've ever had for this fic (actually I'm not too sure about this either. You'd probably know better than I do). Anyway, thank you lkc for the motivation to update so quickly. Nothing like someone who actually discusses things with you to motivate you to work harder.

Anyway, I'm thinking that there's definitely no way I'm going to take another 365 days to finish this. For now. I'm only left with what? Another 1 or 2 chapters. I guess it's probably also the "When I finish this I can finally do something else" thought that's driving me on. The next update might not be this holiday, but I promise that it'll be before my birthday next year (don't worry, my birthday's early). I'm going to be a lot busier next year after all.

Side note: I'm still set on doing the Child/Spirit of Aenir fic (whichever title I choose), and I'm hoping to get opinions on it. Of course, whether anyone wants to read it or not isn't much of an issue, it'll take a few "Your work sucks, stop posting on this site" messages to stop me, and even then, they'd have to back it up, but I'd like to know what you'd like to see in it. Things such as focus on Aenir, change in writing style, more attention to details and stuff like that.

And yes, I shall shut up now, this author's note is waaaaaay long. But erm, review please? =)