The Ice People 42 - The Calm Before the Storm. Margit Sandemo

I remember it so well. That was where my wit and resolution were tested.”

      “Yes,” Rune said, “and that was where Tan-ghil overestimated himself and his intelligence. As the spirit of Air said: ‘He didn’t take time to wait and think; he thought he was invincible in his wisdom. That could have cost him his life. That hall was a test of his resolution and forethought, which he didn’t have very much of. This was when the flute saved him. Nevertheless, he had to spend two days in that grotto before he found the way out, and by that time he was so beaten that he very nearly collapsed.”

      Shira said eagerly: “Then I came to the bridge of evil. That was where qualities such as cruelty, anger, impatience, vengefulness and many other things dwelt. On that extremely thin bridge, I would meet everyone I had consciously hurt.”

      “As far as Tan-ghil was concerned, it was, of course, the complete opposite. It was the bridge of goodness where he was to meet all those to whom he had shown kindness. That was where he did extremely well because he has never shown mercy towards anybody. Then he came to ... now what did he come to?”

      Shira said: “I came to the hot room of crime.” She thought it was interesting to go over it all again from a different perspective. She had completed her tests and had passed with flying colours.

      “It was also the room of lies and gossip.”

      “I see,” said Rune with a smile. “For Tan-ghil, it was all about honesty, honour, discretion and a pious disposition. He has always been dishonourable and we won’t say very much about his piety. The spirits told me that the element of discretion caused him problems. Tan-ghil would never reveal a secret; he never gossiped, he despised his fellow human beings so intensely that he never mixed with them, never shared any secrets with them. However, it was precisely his disgust that saved him there. It was seen as counterbalancing his involuntary discretion.”

      Shira shuddered. “Then there was a hall that was very difficult for me: the forest of envy and lust – and jealousy. This was where a long thorn pricked me. Ugh!”

      “Now what did the spirits have to say about Tan-ghil?” said Rune. “Yes, I remember. It was the forest of magnanimity, generosity and compassion. He had no problems there! Then followed more halls that he passed through with ease. Well, ease might not be the right word here. But he wasn’t known for any kind of love, admiration or affection. Nor for charisma and enthusiasm, which followed. Then came the final test but one, which was the same one that you had, Shira.”

      “Really? Let me see ... That was physical strength and endurance.”

      “Exactly. That was something that Tan-ghil could do with, wasn’t it?”

      “Yes. It was where I met Shama and fought against him. I suppose Tan-ghil didn’t do that, did he?”

      “No, he met the four spirits. They also had the task of blocking the way to the source of evil, in the same way that Shama blocked your way to the source of goodness.”

      “So he fought against the four elements? That must have been tough!”

      “It was. It was also where he spent most time. Nevertheless, with all his tricks, he won in the end. He found the exit.”

      “How did he do it? After all, I had Mar’s torch to guide me in the darkness. All Tan-ghil had was utter darkness.”

      “He crept along the walls. The spirits told me that by the end, he was so exhausted that every breath was like a scream. But he made it.”

      “Wait a moment,” Nataniel said. “You said that he was close to death twice. When was the second time?”

      “Yes, what was his other weakness?” asked Dida. “Where did he err so that he had to use his flute again?”

      “I put the same question to the spirits,” answered Rune. “And Fire answered: ‘In the final grotto, but we don’t know why.’ Of course, I wondered what they meant by that, but they said that they couldn’t find any demonstrable reason. Nevertheless, he collapsed in the snow and looked as if he was about to die. With his last strength, he put the flute to his mouth and managed to get up again.”

      Shira recalled her final test with horror. It was the one that concerned her mental strength, her intellect. She met those she had unconsciously hurt. That test had been so tough that she had been mentally ill for a long time afterwards. Right up until Mar gave her a drop of the clear water. That was how he saved her soul, but this also meant that she lost every chance of searching for Tan-ghil’s interred black water in the Valley of the Ice People and destroying it. She became an ordinary human being – though she didn’t really mind this, because it meant that she won Mar’s love ...

      Shira’s thoughts had wandered far away. She woke up, confused, in the Demon’s Mountain.

      She said in a matter-of-fact tone: “I met the ones I had hurt unconsciously. Who did Tan-ghil meet?”

      Rune replied: “He met the ones he had been unconsciously kind to.”

      “How many were they?”

      “None.”

      “Why was he about to die then?” asked Gabriel.

      “That was precisely what the spirits couldn’t figure out. They could find no reason.”

      “Well, then we’ll leave the matter for the moment,” said Tengel the Good. “What happened then? He reached the source, didn’t he?”

      “Yes. But the spirits didn’t say much about it because they couldn’t reach as far into the grotto – only Shama could. They had just heard him trying to find his way in: furious, stumbling, worn out, and exhausted to the point of death. Just like you, Shira, he had lost all his clothes, but the hair on his head had also been torn off in the stone grotto, and he had deep wounds all over his body. They heard him moan, weep, and scream; he was no longer a human being, merely a creature stumbling about blindly. He wasn’t alone: they heard a voice speaking to him, which must have been Shama, it couldn’t have been anyone else. If he drank of the water, Shama was promising him immortality, all the riches in the world and complete power over humankind.”

      “Did Shama really have such power that he could be at the very source?” asked Tengel the Good. “Could he promise all that?”

      “You’re right to ask,” said Rune. “The spirits also thought it odd that they had no access to the other source. They felt uneasy about their conclusion about Shama but they couldn’t see any other possibility. Unless ...”

      “Yes?” said Tengel the Good. “Did they suggest what I’m thinking now? That it was something much more powerful?”

      Rune nodded. “Yes, they did. They thought that it might be ... the source. Or evil itself, which I suppose is the same thing. They had never been inside the grotto, nobody had. At any rate, whatever it was imposed conditions. Tan-ghil had to promise something in return. He had to promise at least one descendant in every generation to the evil power. Of course, Tan-ghil was quick to offer this! What did he care about his children or grandchildren if only his greedy soul got what it desired. And then ... the pact was sealed. And Tan-ghil drank the water.”

      “With such terrible consequences,” said Dida. “First for himself and subsequently for us. Do you know what? My aversion to that man is increasing every second!”

      Dida wasn’t the only one who felt like that.

      Rune continued: “The spirits left me with a renewed wish that I was to keep the obnoxious one under surveillance. I promised that I would, but I felt pretty dejected. What on earth could I do?

      “Then Tan-ghil returned from the Mountain of the Four Winds. He was so worn out that he lay in his cave for many moon phases afterwards. That was something I heard the men who visited my master speak about. The walk through the grottos had been bad enough in itself, but I think it was drinking from the source of evil that truly broke him.”

      “So do I,” said Shira with a serious look on her face.