C13 Chapter 13

Nataniel was on the verge of losing his composure for a moment. This was his first encounter with Tengel the Evil, and he was horrified. It couldn’t possibly be true that such a being really existed!

But it’s just his spirit, don’t forget, he said in an attempt to console himself.

The problem was that that was exactly what they themselves were. They were situated in the middle of nowhere, both in time and in space. It was a hopeless point of departure.

The projection spoke to him, and the words came out like an uncontrollable hiss spitting at him. “You cheated me out of the four years she owed me, you miserable wretch! That’s something you’re going to pay dearly for! She is my slave, and you know that! And I’m going to make use of her on the earth’s doomsday!”

“Sørensen! Dr Sørensen, get us back!” Nataniel thought frantically.

He could hear Tova’s panic-stricken thoughts saying the same.

But nothing happened.

“For God’s sake, what is happening? Get us back now!” Nataniel insisted. “I demand and order that we go back to the year 1959 to our bodies in the apartment in Oslo!”

But no. They were still in the empty space above Dan-no-ura in the year 1185. And the abominable creature’s figure became more clearly discernible in the fog.

In a recollection that came to him as fast as lightning Nataniel saw before him the words from what he had once read in the Book of the Ice People. About Heike and Tula, who had tried to stand up against Tengel the Evil long ago in the Valley of the Ice People. That was when Heike, the mighty and strong one, had received his mortal wound. Tengel’s toxic vapours had broken him for good.

It’s just his spirit, Nataniel thought once again in a desperate attempt to summon up his courage. But it had also been nothing but Tengel’s spirit that had brought Heike to his knees back then.

I won’t be able to handle this alone. I must have assistance, no matter the price. I might have been able to take up the fight with him had I been on my own, but right now I have Tova to think of.

He collected his thoughts. “Linde-Lou! You are my helper. Do what you can. Get Dr Sørensen to help us. It’s extremely urgent!”

He turned to Tova and sent his thoughts to her, hoping that Tengel’s projection wouldn’t be able to register them. “Tova! Let’s try to summon Gand!”

“But he’s a living person. And he isn’t to be seen...”

“But this is an emergency! I’m afraid that I won’t be able to get the two of us out of this!”

“Gand!” he heard Tova thinking. “Come and help us! He’s going after Nataniel. It’s Nataniel he wants and I’m just in the way. My presence is just making things worse, actually hopeless, for Nataniel!”

He realized that what she had said was true. It was him, his worst enemy, that Tengel the Evil was focusing all his concentration on. He could always collect Tova afterwards ... or destroy her if he didn’t think he could use her for anything.

And she was a stumbling block for Nataniel, there was no denying that. Having to make sure that nothing happened to her took away his ability to concentrate properly on the task at hand.

The hissing, terrifying voice could be heard once more, “Apparently your wretched family thinks I have been defeated. But don’t fool yourselves! I have grown strong in my slumber! Many years have passed since the simple-minded Wanderer left me in the belief that he had managed to neutralize me. But he is utterly helpless and worthless to you now that I have managed to take the flute from him.”

Their ineradicable ancestor had an apparent need to brag a little. Well, he hadn’t really had anyone to talk to for the last seven hundred years.

His words came out sounding exaggeratedly sluggish, as though his voice was rusty and there was nothing left but a hissing sound. “I am ready to set foot on earth soon. But first I need to do away with the vermin standing in my way. It’s perfect timing that I discovered you now where my spirit is of great strength.”

Nataniel took him at his word.

The language that Tengel the Evil spoke sounded peculiar. It was so ancient that Nataniel had first to transcribe the words in his thoughts in order to understand them properly. But it was also a very simple and vulgar language. Tengel the Evil had never exactly been an educated man. He considered that sort of thing to be a waste of time. Furthermore, he had gained his knowledge about how to conquer the world through the gifts he had received from the source of evil.

“Gand! Only you can save us now!”

“I don’t know where you are concealing your body, you wretch,” continued the jarring voice. “But your spirit is present here. And what can your body do without a soul? Without thoughts or intelligence? I will destroy your soul – and then I’ll finally be done with you!” he concluded, in a voice of indifference and loathing,

Nataniel tried to collect his thoughts so that he could retaliate in some way. But he didn’t know how to go about it. His brain was working frantically to bring forth some recollection of the magical runes of the Ice People. He tried to recall what had happened to Heike in the Valley of the Ice People, but it was clear that the evil creature before him intended to enshroud his thoughts and memory in a veil of mist.

He couldn’t bring forth a single sensible thought.

“Linde-Lou! Gand! Come and help us, for the love of God!”

Nataniel could think of only one thing to say, and it proved to be catastrophic. “I found your parents, you curse of the Ice People and I ...”

At that very moment his recollection of Heike’s fate in the Valley of the Ice People returned to him in the most painful way. From Tengel the Evil’s gaping mouth burst a yellow-grey cloud of acidic, toxic breath that had an indescribable stench. All of it penetrated Nataniel’s thoughts, like an evil poison.

For a moment he was filled with the joy of evil. But he wasn’t Heike. Nataniel had far more force and strength within him, so he straightened himself up at the same time that he heard Tova scream: “Stay away from Nataniel, you vile little creature! And how about using some toothpaste?”

Tengel’s yellow-grey slits of eyes immediately turned on her and he opened his gape.

Now Nataniel heard Gand’s voice in his head. “Try to draw his attention away from her, she doesn’t have enough strength to go up against him! Then I’ll try to save her. She’s my responsibility.”

Nataniel had recovered his power of thought as soon as Gand stopped speaking, and without hesitation he held out his palm towards Tengel the Evil. “Stop! I know where you’ve concealed your water jar! I know the exact place!”

That was enough to direct Tengel the Evil’s boundless rage and fear back towards Nataniel. Now he had become the victim, the target of destruction.

The humiliating downfall of his soul.

But Nataniel didn’t intend to give up so easily. Who has ever wanted to lose their soul?

But right now he was up against an immortal force. It wasn’t hard to figure out who had taken over the situation!

In the apartment back in Oslo things had run their natural course. Dr Sørensen had sat by Nataniel’s couch while Jonathan sat in a chair in the background. At first they had eagerly followed the developments, but when Nataniel had retreated into the world of the past that he had contacted – in other words, the moment he began speaking Japanese, they had not been able to communicate with him. They were unable to converse with him any longer. They were told nothing about what he was experiencing.

They waited in silence, but he continued to breathe calmly and there was no change to observe in him. They knew nothing about the dramatic experiences he was having.

As the minutes turned into hours they grew increasingly sluggish. The hard, tense experiment had lasted for more hours than they knew.

That is to say, Jonathan was still more or less awake even though his eyelids felt as heavy as lead. At times reality would disappear from him for a moment, and he would start so that his body was in a terribly painful state as he attempted to make his way back to wakefulness.

Dr Sørensen was older. He fell into a deep sleep in his chair but Jonathan, who was sitting behind him, didn’t see how the doctor’s eyelids closed or that his head sank down onto his chest. The doctor didn’t register Nataniel’s and Tova’s shouts and pleas to be brought back to the present.

And neither of them registered that the doorbell had rung. Jonathan thought it had been church bells in a short dream he had about Nataniel’s funeral, and the doctor hadn’t heard it at all.

Those minutes would prove fatal for the two who were wandering alone through time and space.

Tova heard shouts coming from somewhere. She saw Tengel the Evil attack Nataniel again, but someone was calling her name so imploringly that she had no choice but to turn her head.

“Tova!” she heard again, and this time she was able to recognize the gentle voice. It belonged to Gand, her wonderful protector.

But he couldn’t possibly be here! He wasn’t supposed to be! Tengel the Evil might catch sight of him and ...

She propelled herself into the whirls of clouds, towards where she had heard Gand’s voice in order to warn him.

She immediately sensed a gentle arm around her shoulder and a soothing hand on her cheek.

“Come with me! Your assistants in Oslo can’t reach you. I’ll help you get back to your own time.”

“But Gand, that means that Nataniel will be left alone with ...”

“Now, now! Linde-Lou will try to catch the doctor’s attention. Right now we’re just concentrating on you!”

“But what if Linde-Lou doesn’t succeed?”

“Then we’ll have to think of something else. We’ll manage to save Nataniel from the situation he’s in, so long as he doesn’t also have you to think of at the same time!”

Tova could feel the tears welling up in her eyes and her throat tightening. Her face became distorted and she squinted in an attempt to hold back her tears. Gand, the finest of them all, and the chosen one Nataniel had both put their lives at risk in order to save her. And it had all been her fault. Had she not acted so stupidly they would have been safe from Tengel the Evil.

“It wasn’t you,” Tova heard Gand’s voice assure her as they floated through soaring heavens of indigo and grey clouds. “It was Hanna who wanted it and she used you to accomplish it.”

Oh Gand, the one whom she had always admired and hated at the same time, precisely because she had a weakness for him. This celestial young man who spoke so kindly to her.

Right now, she was ashamed of being Tova!

Gand held her warmly by his side as he whispered in her ear: “You have changed sides now, haven’t you?”

“Yes! Oh, yes! May I be one of you now?” she sobbed loudly.

“We’ve been missing you for such a long time,” he answered with a smile.

That was more than Tova could bear. She wept so hard that her heart felt as if it was going to break.

Tengel the Evil’s eyes had grown so narrow that the dirty yellow glow had practically disappeared.

“What was that? Who was that? Where is the girl?”

“I don’t know,” said Nataniel innocently. He knew very well that the voice he had heard from far, far away must be Gand’s.

“It was HIM!” said Tengel the Evil, grinding his teeth.

“Him?”

“The one who has been in my way for too many years. The one who has concealed himself from me.”

“He’s twenty-two years old. How could he possibly have been in your way for all those years?”

Tengel gave him a cunning glance. His voice was dripping with poison. “So there are several of them! Well, at least now I’ve got wind of him. And of you! What luck!”

Without warning he attacked Nataniel. Not physically, because neither of them had bodies, this was a battle between projections, between two powerhouses made up of thoughts.

Tengel the Evil’s attacks happened sneakily. The evil, wretched, nasty thought would creepily enter Nataniel’s subconscious. It wasn’t difficult to grasp the intention. To undermine Nataniel’s integrity, to destroy all the good in him.

I mustn’t be scared, Nataniel thought. Because then he’ll be able to take over and I’ll be doomed.

But what Nataniel was hit with was worse than fear. He received torrents of bad influence and was gripped by a catastrophic sense of indifference.

Is all this really worth taking so seriously, this whole question of the water jar and our rebellion against our beloved ancestor? he thought lightly. He’ll win anyway in the end, and he is right, isn’t he? It’s wonderful just to be able to cause havoc in the world, to be part of the reigning force and to be able to suppress those wretched humans! They are completely helpless against me, against us! The Ice People will be the rulers, we ...

“No!” Nataniel shouted. “Don’t try your dirty tricks on me. It’s futile! Because you see I know more about you than you know about me! I know from where you come, but you don’t know from where I come!”

“You,” the terrible little creature laughed scornfully. “You’re one of the Ice People! Of course I know your place of origin!”

Be careful, Nataniel warned himself. Don’t give away your origins. Oh, why did we have to lose our mandrake? It would have been of great use here.

Instead he hurled words of mockery at the creature. “I know that your parents had a weakness that would never have allowed you to pass through the caves had it been known ...”

It was as though Tengel the Evil shrank a little. But in reality, he was gathering strength to make a jump. And this time it was meant seriously.

Nataniel turned his palms towards him, and blue sparks sprang from them that sparkled in the eyes of the evil ancestor. In response Nataniel received a grey-green cloud of stinking breath, an attack that brought Nataniel’s willpower to its knees. He gasped for air, but there was nothing to breathe but that horrendous dust that caused the paralysing whims of humiliating, destructive urges.

He’s ... got the better of me now, Nataniel thought desperately. But he’ll never gain power over me. He can’t destroy me, for I belong to the Ice People and am the world’s last hope.

It was perhaps at that moment that Nataniel realized he had to prepare himself for the most important task of his life – and that the battle was going to be much harder than he could ever have imagined.

And now he was on the verge of defeat, before Tengel had even reached the earth!

He was gripped by a violent sense of rage. This ancient little monster, this nasty thousand-year-old man! Was he really anything to be scared of?

A new cloud emerged, destroying his willpower for a second time. But Nataniel refused to give in. He straightened up and staggered obstinately towards the centre of the abomination. Once again he taunted him into a fury by making insinuations about his parents, because that was his weak spot, he had discovered. Tova – or Hanna – had been right about that.

How it would have ended was hard to say, but suddenly, in the midst of the impenetrable, repulsive vapours, he felt something touch his hand.

That can’t be Tengel the Evil, he thought. He’s in the very centre of the stinking vapours.

It’s soft. Furry. It’s moving. A big animal is breathing in my face ... there’s an animal facing me?

The wolves of the black angels!

Then we are in danger! They need a good reason for coming!

Without hesitation Nataniel swung himself up on the nearest wolf, whereupon the animals immediately turned and rushed away from the place.

He had great difficulty holding on to the animal properly – everything seemed to rush by at an immense speed. But far behind him he could hear screams of disappointment and bitterness. “Don’t think you can escape this time, you miserable wretch!” Tengel the Evil howled, with a voice so shrill that it made Nataniel’s blood run cold. Someone jumped on to the wolf behind Nataniel, but their grip on his arm was so calm and warm that he wasn’t alarmed.

“Don’t turn around,” a male voice whispered in his ear. “Your assistants in Norway are unable to help you return. So your friend, Linde-Lou, has asked us to get you out of here. You’re going to need our support now.”

“Is he following us?”

“His projection isn’t strong enough. So he’s sending others.”

That didn’t sound too promising.

“I understand that the normal channels back to the present are shut off,” said Nataniel.

“That’s right. Your friend, the doctor, is unable to call you back right now. So we’re going to have to try to delay your enemy in the meantime. It will take only a few earthly minutes. In order for you to get home faster we will rush through the centuries and across foreign lands, in the same way that you came.”

“But how can this happen? I’m merely flying by means of my thoughts. I’m just a projection!”

“Is that how you see yourself?”

“Of course not. It’s exactly like a dream. Exactly like that.”

“You are more materialized than you think. You are of the Ice People. Your doctor isn’t used to dealing with the Ice People. You know that you live parallel to ordinary people’s lives even though you can’t be seen or felt by others. But your doctor isn’t aware of the fact that he has practically made you incarnate through your train of thoughts.”

“Yes. So where is Tova?”

“She’s safe. Right now, we’re concentrating on you. This is the first time the malicious wizard has laid eyes on you: he isn’t going to let you go that easily.”

“But we aren’t completely materialized, are we?”

“No, no, your bodies are in Oslo. But you both have such strong imaginations that your projections are just as clear as Tengel the Evil’s. That’s why it’s turned into a matter of life and death. If he catches you now you will, at best, become stuck in time, as Tova did in Setsuko’s body. At worst ...”

“At worst?”

“In the next to worst scenario he would destroy you. In the worst case he would get you over to his side.”

“Never!”

“Don’t forget that promise. And take care. His first attack is on its way now. Hold on!”

Out from the indigo clouds that continued to swirl towards them at tremendous speed, shadows began to emerge. Nasty livid little creatures with teeth that were uneven, elongated and sharply pointed, which they bared as though ready to bite.

Unwillingly Nataniel retreated somewhat.

“Who are they?” he shouted to his companion above all the noise that arose as the creatures made their attack and the wolves responded with ripping bites in all directions.

“Oh, it’s just some demons of his own engendering. He has a lot of them,” the figure answered lightly. “You’ve heard of the seven deadly sins?”

“Yes.”

“Tengel the Evil reigns over at least five of them: arrogance, greed, envy, anger and indifference. These are demons of envy. The wolves can easily hold them off.”

There was an infernal racket surrounding them: the fiery screams of the demons mixed with the heavy, deep growls and yapping of the wolves.

There were at least four, maybe five wolves, Nataniel never got a chance to count them because they kept dashing to and fro in order to protect him. He was the one the demons were after, but it was clear that the figure behind him alarmed them because they made only half-hearted lunges at Nataniel, stopped halfway and rushed away again. They were indescribably abhorrent to look at, and when one of them made a daring forward thrust towards Nataniel’s face he looked straight into white, practically dead eyes. He started, and his companion’s grip on his arm became firmer.

“There, there, calm down, they can’t reach you.”

Nataniel looked down at the hands holding him. They were dark, with an aura of shimmering green. They were long and sinewy but very beautiful. A sculptor would have been sent into ecstasy at the sight of such perfection.

But who was he?

Nataniel didn’t get much time to ponder that, because he was completely absorbed in the battle. The demons gave up the futile attacks and disappeared with shrieking howls into the whirling clouds of the abyss.

“Thank you, my friends,” Nataniel shouted to the wolves. “Have any of you been hurt?”

The wolves just lightly rubbed against him as they rushed on to show their gratitude for his compassion.

But Tengel the Evil didn’t allow them a moment’s rest. He sent out new creatures.

They came out of nowhere. They were suddenly just there, floating sluggishly up close to Nataniel. They were female creatures, soft, indolent and very pleasant to look at.

“There’s no need to explain,” Nataniel said to his protector. “I can sense their influence on my subconscious. Indifference, right?”

“Yes. They are the demons of indifference. They are extremely dangerous because they are so captivating and tempting to follow.”

“That’s right. I am gripped by revulsion at the thought of fighting on the right side. Tengel the Evil has used this against me before. But I was able to resist him then and can do it again now. But send them away before I change my mind!”

The wolves immediately started attacking them. They pushed and pulled at the female creatures, who, however, didn’t seem to be affected by trifles like wounds. And Nataniel found their attitude charming and felt like joining company with these nonchalant creatures. That would be so wonderful. Indifference ... to have no worries or a care in the world ...

Like drug addicts.

That thought made him wake up. “Oh no!” he gasped. “No! They’re dangerous! Send them away, they’re dangerous!”

But the creatures had now discovered his weakness for ideas and had literally taken hold of him. They clung to him as they whined and whimpered. They tried to influence his thoughts even more persistently than before, and he saw a long, shimmering arm extending and grabbing hold of one of the women and hurling her far away ...

Now Nataniel started to be afraid. The uncontrollable urge to follow them shook him. Yet still he knew that if he gave in to the urge of not caring a hoot for the world it would eventually only lead him directly into the clutches of Tengel the Evil.

The voice behind him murmured: “The doctor should soon take some sort of action.”

Nataniel knew that he was right, and he put his hands to his ears in order to avoid having to hear the women’s attempts to persuade him to join them.

Jonathan started and woke up from his half-slumbering state. It hadn’t been a church bell he had heard but a doorbell!

Which went on ringing and ringing!

At four in the morning! Which meant that Rikard and Vinnie had probably been informed of Tova’s whereabouts ...

Dear God!

He didn’t really feel like opening the door.

But whoever was ringing it persisted in doing so. Jonathan got to his feet with great effort and made his way to the door.

At that very moment the ringing ceased. He opened the door but there was no one out there!

No one? It was completely impossible to go on ringing like that and then to disappear without a trace! Perhaps there was something the matter with the doorbell?

He turned around and went back in. But, goodness gracious, the doctor was still sleeping. He must have been truly exhausted if he hadn’t even managed to hear that eternal clanging a few moments ago.

Jonathan went over to the doctor and shook him by the shoulders. The doctor flinched, made some croaking sounds and sat up, heavy with sleep.

“Goodness, goodness, I must have fallen asleep,” he said with concern. “But it seems that our patient is still sleeping very soundly.”

“Yes, and thank goodness for that. I must also have fallen asleep because I was awakened by the sound of someone impatiently ringing the doorbell. But when I opened the door no one was there!”

“Really? How strange.”

All at once they heard a sound coming from the bedroom. They looked at one another.

“Tova?” Jonathan whispered.

“She’s awake!” Dr Sørensen cried out as he rushed straight into the room.

Tova stretched out in her bed. “What a dream! What a dream I’ve had! But, Jonathan, what are you doing here? And Dr Sørensen?”

The two men sighed with relief.

“You’ve been in a coma for several days now,” Jonathan informed her. “And we couldn’t get you back to life.”

She looked up in bewilderment. It seemed as though she didn’t understand what they were talking about. She looked around ... and then suddenly she jumped up.

“But ...!” she gasped.

“Yes, Nataniel is here,” Jonathan explained, “He followed you. He ...”

“Followed me? But can’t you see....?”

“What?”

“Linde-Lou! Linde-Lou is sitting with him! Hello Linde-Lou, with the melancholic look. What do you want?”

The two men could see only Nataniel.

“Uh-oh,” Jonathan whispered, “So he was the one who rang the doorbell. And I must have let him in.”

Tova spun around and gave the doctor a desperate look.

“Wake him! Get him back immediately! He’s in danger!”

“What are you talking about?” Jonathan laughed somewhat insecurely.

“Linde-Lou is praying for him. Hurry!”

Dr Sørensen took a deep breath and sat down on the edge of the sofa next to Nataniel. Jonathan was afraid that he might have accidentally sat down on Linde-Lou, but it didn’t look as though he had.

Jonathan himself was just an ordinary person so he was unable to see their special guest. And neither could the doctor. But Tova, the stricken one, could, of course.

Tova stood there whimpering with impatience. “So it wasn’t a dream after all,” she moaned. “But that’s exactly how it felt just now. And Nataniel ... Oh, you must help him, help him, it’s all my fault. What in the world have I done? Oh, what have I done?”

“Do you know what’s happened to him?” Jonathan asked.

“No. I left him alone with Tengel the Evil. I was helped back here by Gand.”

“I don’t understand,” Jonathan said, totally confused. “You managed to come back without Dr Sørensen’s help, but Nataniel needs his help?”

The doctor added quickly: “That’s because Tova put herself into that state of mind on her own, while I did it for Nataniel.”

Tova’s next words weren’t exactly comforting. “He, Tengel the Evil that is, said he couldn’t reach Nataniel’s body so he couldn’t kill him. But he intended to destroy his spirit, his soul or his intelligence or his thoughts, I don’t recall exactly how he put it, that terrible little bastard. By the way, Jonathan ... I’m with you.”

“You mean ... with the rest of us?”

“Yes, if you want me, that is.”

Jonathan sensed the uneasiness in her statement and gave her a hug.

In an attempt to conceal her awkwardness, she said in a rather silly manner: “Yes, because I promised Gand that I would be a good girl from now on. And he is my great hero.”

“Wonderful, Tova! You are most welcome! We are in need of both you and your abilities, as you are well aware.”

How wonderful it felt! It made her heart feel so good and wonderful knowing that she no longer had to be antagonistic and aggressive. “Those to whom you are friendly will be your friends,” her mother had once said. Tova had scoffed at it and thought that it sounded like a cliche. But now ... it turned out to be true!

“Could you please be quiet?” the doctor whispered. “I think he is about to wake up.”

To Jonathan’s amazement, Tova went over to the door and opened it, then immediately closed it again. She tip-toed back and explained, moving her lips without making any sound, “I just let Linde-Lou out.”

Jonathan couldn’t keep a straight face. “He’s not a dog!” he mimed back, and she had to cover her mouth so as not to laugh out loud.

But it was merely the tense situation that made them act so disrespectfully. They were both deeply grateful to Linde-Lou, who had saved Nataniel’s life by stepping in when they themselves, the two supposed helpers, had to their embarrassment fallen asleep.

For Nataniel finally opened his eyes now and stretched comfortably.

“Thank goodness, Dr Sørensen! I was just about to give up on all the struggle and fighting from sheer indifference! Thank you, everyone! Hi Tova, it’s good that you are here. I’m telling you, it’s good to be back! My grandfather sends greetings, by the way!”

“Your grandfather?” Jonathan asked in bewilderment. He thought for a moment. “Oh, but that must be ... Tamlin! The night demon who was accepted by the black angels!”

“Exactly. He sat behind me on the wolf as we fled from Tengel the Evil. I never got a chance to really see him, but from what I was able to gather, it must have been him.”

Dr Sørensen covered his face with his hands and moaned. Now he just couldn’t follow them anymore.