The Ice People 43 - A Glimpse of Tenderness. Margit Sandemo

and didn’t have the typical Irish tendency to be superstitious. But now he would have to give it a second thought.

      Unless he chose to brush it all off as dreams, he would have to make up his mind about what he thought it was.

      What was it he had seen?

      This much he understood. Everything he had experienced was connected with the initial shock he had received: the sight of the creature of the abyss in the tower.

      Tengel the Evil, that was what they had called the figure.

      And this family, the Ice People, were apparently the only ones who knew about the monster. They loathed him, that much Morahan was able to grasp.

      But what about all the things he had seen on the road?

      Rune? Who or what in the world was he? Was he human? What else could he be?

      And Halkatla? She looked quite normal but there was something wrong with her. The way she spoke, the clothes she wore and the strange devilish glow in her eyes. He shuddered.

      Not to mention Marco. Who was he? Had it not been so absurd to say so, Ian would have sworn he was some kind of angel. But angels were fair and gentle, he assumed. Marco was as black as night. It didn’t add up at all.

      Ellen ... What a shame things had turned out that way for her. Ellen had been a wonderful acquaintance. She was not for Morahan, of course: she was already engaged and he himself was dying, but she was the kind of woman one could only dream of.

      However, she was rather ordinary-looking. As opposed to Nataniel, who most certainly wasn’t. He couldn’t quite place his finger on what it was, it was just something intuitive, the sense of seeing something extraordinary in another living being.

      And then there was Tova. Morahan sighed instinctively. Being born so hopelessly ugly shouldn’t be allowed. She looked prematurely old, like a wicked old witch but much too young: one of the worst, in other words. She was both aggressive and insolent, but Morahan understood her. It was self-defence, of course! Offence is the best form of defence.

      And yet these creatures were his allies. What he had observed on the enemy’s side was considerably worse.

      Or had he really seen them? The monster in the tower? The monster that erupted from the surface of the road?

      He was inclined to believe that these had been hallucinations. Nightmarish figures in the last phase of his life.

      Tova curled up in her corner in the back of the car and felt rather pathetic. Kind, old Benedikte dead? She couldn’t believe it. Benedikte had always been there. She had been created at the same time that the world began, Tova felt. As for the others who had become victims of Tengel the Evil’s anger, she hadn’t been particularly close to Hanne, Christel and Abel Gard, even though of course she also grieved for them.

      But what had happened to Ellen was horrible! Her poor parents! And Nataniel!

      She knew that Nataniel and Gabriel had ended up in hospital and that their condition wasn’t critical. That was what Halkatla and Rune had said.

      Tova’s thoughts wandered a little. She thought of the three men accompanying her: Rune, Marco and Morahan.

      All three of them seemed so lonely, each in his own way. Morahan was dying, far from home. And the journey into death is one that all humans must make alone. You can’t take anyone with you as a companion.

      Rune was one of a kind in this world. And alone in his own species. Because the other mandrakes were small plants that, although they too could be magical, didn’t possess any of his strength or human skills. But he wasn’t human, of course.

      Marco, too, was a stranger in this world. Who could he possibly be close to?

      Oh, how Tova wished she could be something for them, have the opportunity to care for them! She needed to do something for them!

      But none of them wanted her ...

      No one knew what was going on in Marco’s mind. His face was impenetrable. In the semi-darkness his eyes glowed as if he were awake, but he didn’t move. His gaze disappeared into the unknown distance.

      Tova opened the car door.

      “Where are you going?” Marco asked quietly.

      “Outside. I can’t sleep and I thought I’d talk to Halkatla. Or Rune. Or both of them.”

      “Just as long as you don’t go anywhere. As your protector I am completely responsible for you.”

      “No creepy types are ever going to make a fool of me. But thanks for your concern anyway.”

      There was rustling in the low trees around their parking place. It was the darkest time of night, but it wasn’t difficult to discern things, even though it was hard to make out the details.

      Halkatla approached her from behind. “Hi, my twin soul, out for some fresh air?”

      “Yes,” Tova giggled a little shyly. “Where is Rune?”

      “Oh, I’ve just left him. My subtle invitations probably embarrassed him. I wanted to see whether he was made of the same material as other menfolk, but he wouldn’t let me get close to him. I don’t think he is.”

      “Halkatla! You certainly beat me to the punch! Those were precisely my thoughts, even though I didn’t even dare think them to myself, let alone say them out loud.”

      Halkatla gave her an amused and probing look. How well those two girls understood one another! “You want to mean something to a man so you choose the one who doesn’t stand much of a chance with others. Because he might be grateful to you. For my own part, I want to make up for all the things I didn’t get a chance to experience in my real life.”

      “But with Rune?”

      “With everyone,” Halkatla said cheerfully. “I’m going to have orgies and seduce men in their thousands!”

      “But you can’t. You’re ...”

      “You don’t know what I can or can’t do.”

      With some apprehension Tova thought of Marco, who was “hers”.

      She consoled herself with the thought that neither she nor Halkatla would ever stand a chance with him.

      “I’ve never had the chance to experience it,” Halkatla sighed.

      “What?” Tova asked absentmindedly and against her better judgment.

      “Felt a man inside me. Have you?”

      “No,” Tova had to admit shamefacedly. “And I probably won’t ever feel it. Anyway, there’s only one that I want.”

      “Marco! Don’t you think I have eyes? Forget him!”

      “If only I had been attractive!”

      “Rubbish! What does appearance have to do with it?”

      “Everything! But only someone who has experienced as many painful rejections as I have would truly understand that! And if you say, ‘That’s not what counts!’ I’ll hit you! I’ve never befriended a boy long enough for him to discover how beautiful I am on the inside. Whatever that means. No one but Nataniel, and he has Ellen. Anyway, I never wanted Nataniel. There was no erotic spark of any kind between us.”

      Halkatla had been listening to her eagerly as she spoke, absorbing as much as she could about that exciting topic, eroticism. And a very determined look showed in her fascinating, witch-like face.

      Tova was almost frightened. “Halkatla, I have to warn you. Do you recall what was said about you? That Tengel the Evil was probably especially interested in destroying you? Because you are a deserter. You were one of those he was saving for the final phase of the battle. You waited for six hundred years. And just before it all broke out you changed your mind.”

      “Thanks to you, yes. I don’t think he cares