The Ice People 46 - The Black Water. Margit Sandemo

said Gabriel. He was surprised and had forgotten that he had been asked to be quiet.

      “And Targenor,” said Marco. “They want to get in touch with us.”

      “Now I’m picking up Tula,” murmured Tova. “All three seem to want to tell us something.”

      “Yes,” said Nataniel, who had the strongest visions now. “It’s a bit unclear, but Heike is showing me an image of the mountain ridge above the old Graastensholm. Of the clearing there.”

      “I’m picking up images of Targenor’s sword,” said Marco.

      “And I ... Oh ... I can’t get it,” said Tova impatiently.

      “Sigleik is with Targenor,” said Marco.

      Gabriel interrupted again. “Sigleik? Surely there’s nothing special about Sigleik, is there?”

      “Yes, there certainly is,” said Marco. “And now you keep quiet,” he added, without turning his head.

      Gabriel felt ashamed of himself as he crept into the corner.

      Tova shouted triumphantly: “Now! Now the message from Tula is coming through to me! She’s sending her four friends. I’m not allowed to say their names out loud here. We’re to wait for them. To stay where we are. Draw ourselves up against the walls. Not to go up. No matter what we do, we mustn’t go out of this place now!”

      “No, that seems perfectly clear to me,” said Marco shortly.

      Nataniel joined in: “And also to me. Gabriel and Ian, stop looking up. It won’t do you any good.”

      Marco, Nataniel and Tova let go of their hands.

      “This is strange,” said Marco. “It doesn’t seem as if they can attack us.”

      “No, I think they’re biding their time,” Nataniel replied.

      Gabriel put his hands to his eyes. It was so easy to look up when he had been told not to do so.

      He really didn’t like this at all.

      After a long silence, Tova whispered: “Tula’s friends are taking great chances.”

      “They’ve always done that,” said Marco. “They’re some of our best helpers.”

      “Yes, because Marco’s and my relatives can’t involve themselves in this valley,” Nataniel said, referring obliquely to the black angels he wasn’t allowed to mention.

      “For them, far too much is at stake,” whispered Marco.

      Once again, Tova felt ill at ease when Marco spoke like this. There was something about it that frightened her, something that was too great for a child of the human race to think about.

      There they stood, silently pressed up against the cliff wall. Their ears had grown accustomed to the mysterious whirring, so that now they took it to be a very, very distant roar. Tova searched for Ian’s hand and he took hold of hers and gave it a comforting squeeze. It made him feel good that he could be of use to this exclusive group of people.

      Tova nestled nearer him so that they stood close to one another. Ian could feel that she needed his reassurance. Quite unexpectedly, he felt an urge to cry. A wonderful and unbearable feeling of joy filled him. Happiness ... and despair. Powerlessness. A wish to take care of her. To be among human beings again and live a normal life with her.

      Sensitive as she was, Tova picked up his frame of mind and whispered a touched little thank you.

      Gabriel stood between Nataniel and Marco. That was where he felt safe.

      They knew that those outside were keeping a close eye on them. They knew that Tengel the Evil was bound to be quite close to them, somewhere on the moor down below. But they had no idea how they should proceed.

      They just had to wait.

      Then they lifted their heads and looked at each other.

      They had heard flapping, as of leather wings.

      “They’re flying low,” Tova murmured.

      “They’re certainly brave,” said Nataniel.

      “Don’t look up,” Marco warned. “Their arrival has caused a lot of agitation among our guards.”

      They could hear nervous, whispering sounds from above their hiding place.

      Suddenly, all five cowered against the cliff, pressing themselves against it with their backs towards the opening of the crypt. Because at that moment something heavy crashed down, something that Gabriel thought was Tula’s demons. Then he heard them rising into the sky again, while piercing screams came from those that stood around the opening.

      Stone dust whirled around Nataniel and his friends. The demons were gone, and the five hoped that they had escaped in one piece.

      But around the crypt, the frightening, tall, pale creatures in black reacted furiously. The very next moment, the heavy stone slab was back in place. The five chosen ones stood in paralysing darkness, buried alive under a block of stone they would never be able to lift from below. They couldn’t even reach it.

      Chapter 2

      When they had collected themselves, Nataniel said, matter-of-fact: “We certainly can’t get out that way.” His blue aura began to shine again.

      “Switch on your torches,” Gabriel urged them.

      “Yes, yes, little genius,” smiled Marco, and the five strong searchlights were switched on again.

      “What did they send down to us?” Tova wanted to know, and she went closer cautiously and walked around the thing that had fallen from the sky.

      They saw a couple of huge horns, and a whole lot of things they recognized very well.

      Nataniel was delighted. “The Ice People’s treasure. Now it will be put to its proper use.”

      “Yes, and here we have Targenor’s sword,” exclaimed Marco, and lifted it. He looked very impressive, standing there holding it. It was a huge sword.

      Unknown artisans had forged it eons ago. It had been given to Tan-ghil by the Source of Evil ...

      Or ...

      “What do we know about this sword?” said Tova pensively. “If Tan-ghil was given it by the source, there must be an element of evil in it. Would it be a good idea for us to use it?”

      Marco smiled. “Now you’re going to hear the story of Targenor’s sword. Its history was never told in the Demon’s Mountain, because Rune didn’t know it properly. But I was curious when we were all gathered in the great halls, and that was when I asked Targenor. It turned out that he didn’t know its true origins either. Because its history hadn’t been told. The only thing we knew was that Tan-ghil had told Dida that the sword was given to him by the source, that it had tremendous power and that Targenor was to have it so that it could protect Tan-ghil on their journey.”

      “That’s true,” said Nataniel, “and that’s all we know.”

      “But Targenor and I wanted to know the rest,” said Marco with a gentle smile. “So while everybody was partying in the Demon’s Mountain, Targenor and I managed to establish a connection with Taran-gai’s four spirits in a secret hall in the mountain. Tula helped us choose it.”

      “Did the spirits come again?” asked Tova, in a voice full of incredulity. “They were so reserved the first time!”

      “They came,” said Marco. “They aren’t as uninterested as they pretend to be. I know very well that they have nobody left who believes in them. So they were pleased to come. They told us that Tan-ghil had not received the sword from the Source of Evil at all. He had stolen it. When he came out of the grottos, ragged and totally exhausted, he had the cheek to enter the nearest grotto, which was that of the Western Wind. This was on the Mountain of the Four