C2 Chapter 2

While everybody listened carefully, Rune said: “What remained of the small flock arrived in Taran-gai, the Land of the Red Snow. This mountainous region was ideal for the tribe from the east. It was wild and inhospitable to look at, but the pine forest there provided a shield against the storms.”

“I remember that forest very well indeed,” said Vendel Grip. “It was beautiful.”

Daniel joined in: “Yes. But there was already a tribe there when you came, wasn’t there?”

Rune smiled. “Yes, I think so. We must ask Shira to tell us about that.”

Shira stood up. “Yes, it was AginaharijaR who told me about them when I reached the final gate to the source of the clear water. He and his crew had sailed there from the west. They suffered for many years because in those days there was no forest, no vegetation. Then a wild tribe came from the east – not your group, Rune, this was much earlier. That particular tribe brought their religion with them, and their seven gods settled on the Mountain of the Four Winds out in the sea. They built the grotto as the source of life for the consolation of human beings.

“But Sharma, the spirit of stone, also resided on the island, and he forced the gods to create a counterpart to the source of pure water. AginaharijaR succeeded in reaching the source of goodness and by means of the water from it he created the forest and endowed the sparse vegetation with fertility. He and Techin Khan also spoke about the very few that remained of your people, Rune. At the time, only very few of the old tribe were left in Taran-gai. But the new tribe, the one that was later to become the Ice People, adopted the religion that reigned in the country. With the seven gods and the spirits and Shama.”

“Yes,” said Rune. “Thank you for your account, Shira. The Ice People – which is what we will call them from now on – remained in Taran-gai for some years. By the time he was fourteen, Tan-ghil had already fathered his first child, and more were to come. But as you know, these children aren’t counted as members of the Ice People. This was before he reached the sources.

“When Tan-ghil was a grown man, I would say about thirty-five years old, something happened that you have never heard about. Something of which I was very proud at first but which turned to despair for me, the Ice People and the whole world.”

Rune was thoughtful for a moment and then continued: “Just like you, Targenor, my master made a terrible mistake. One warm summer day, when he wanted to bathe in a forest lake, he took off the mandrake – me – as you also did, Targenor.”

Targenor nodded. “It was the biggest mistake of my life.”

“Yes,” said Rune, “and also of my master’s. Because, unfortunately, Tan-ghil had gone hunting in the beautiful pine forest behind Taran-gai’s wild mountain. He came sneaking among the trees, saw my master splashing around out in the lake – and suspected immediately that he now had a chance. Tan-ghil found me and stole me.

“His triumph was immense. He hurried as fast as he could through the forest to his lonely abode; he very rarely mixed with the others.

“Tan-ghil had learnt a lot from his mother, the shaman woman. He had taught himself even more when it came to evil. He knew how valuable I was and what even a piece of me could accomplish. I didn’t know what was on his mind at the time or what he had thought of achieving through me, but he cut off a large piece of me, fibrous roots and all, which was like one of my feet. The fibrous roots are the equivalent of toes.”

Rune took his boot off and showed a mutilated foot.

“Hey, comrade,” shouted Ulvhedin. “Then we’re equal!”

Rune laughed kindly. “I know. I’ve always understood you completely.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” exclaimed Ingrid. “I and many of us were in the habit of cutting off a root thread or two when we needed your assistance.”

Rune smiled and raised his fingers. “Don’t I know it! But this happened long before your time. I must be grateful that my arms and legs remained intact.

“Anyway, Tan-ghil brewed a potion from the piece of my root and much more. But I’m mightier than he knew. In that part that he took, I placed a conjuration that would make the drink lethal ...

“It worked. Tan-ghil was in agony, his life threatening to come to a very swift end. He damned me all over the place, but it didn’t help him. I was quite unaffected when I saw how the days of the damned would end.

“Then something happened that I hadn’t taken into account, which was our downfall. Tan-ghil was dying. Shama turned up!”

“I see,” Shira gasped. “So you were the reason why he met Shama!”

“Yes. My pride was my downfall. Shama led Tan-ghil into the void, which you, Shira, also experienced. The point in time between two moments. The calm. Just like you, Tan-ghil argued with him. Set up conditions. Expressed his wishes.”

Henning asked Rune: “So you were also in this calm?”

“Yes, I was. I don’t think Tan-ghil realized it, as he seemed bewitched by Shama’s presence.”

“What did they talk about?”

“At first, Tan-ghil resisted terribly. He refused to die. Like all human beings who take themselves very seriously indeed, he was extremely frightened of dying. Panicked. Scared stiff. He who so readily extinguished other people’s lives. He began to bargain with Shama. The spirit of Stone and Death had a jolly good time listening to him. At first, with his usual disgust, which you undoubtedly recognize, don’t you, Shira? Yes, I thought so. Then Shama began to listen with greater interest ...

“For Tan-ghil offered to be of service to him. To give him a thousand dead bodies instead of himself. This was when Shama pricked up his ears. I recall his soft, charming voice: ‘A thousand dead bodies? What am I do with them? I’ll have them anyway sooner or later. No, but if you could ...’ Shama fell silent as he pondered, and Tan-ghil became eager: ‘Yes, yes, if I could ...?’ ‘How evil are you really?’ Shama asked. ‘You self-satisfied little human creep.’ Tan-ghil assured him that there was nothing soft in his nature. A colder person than he had never been born.

“Then Shama spoke about the source – about the source of evil, which nobody had been able to reach. Never ever. Many had tried, because it generated power and eternal life, which are delicacies for selfish creeps. Tan-ghil’s eyes grew bigger and bigger and he didn’t listen to the streams of abuse – for a change. If another person had called him a creep, they wouldn’t have lived many minutes longer. But Tan-ghil almost crept for Shama when he heard what costly goods he could get for him. Just listening to him made me feel extremely ill at ease. ‘If you succeed in reaching the source,’ Shama told Tan-ghil, ‘you can be my helper. You can give me many, many dead bodies, beautiful flowers for my black garden. You and your descendants can give humans a swift, evil death – and they will be the ones who come to my garden.’

“Tan-ghil promised anything and everything, if only Shama would show him the way to the source. That was when Shama gave a crude laugh. ‘I can show you where to find it – the entrance to the grottos that lead to the source. But you’ll certainly have to walk to the source by yourself.’

“Shama’s eyes took on a cunning expression. ‘Yes, I’ll show you the way. But ... don’t bring that thing you have hanging on the wall over there! If you do, you’ll never reach the source.’ It was me that he meant, and Tan-ghil snorted. ‘What do I need that thing for? It hasn’t been very useful to me.’ ‘No,’ Shama replied curtly. ‘Do you know what, my cunning friend? I really hope you’ll make it to the source of evil, and I actually believe you stand a chance of doing so. A chance – whether you reach it, nobody knows. You’ll face enormous dangers on the way. If you have any kind of weakness in you, the merest hint of humanity, you’ll die immediately. You will almost have to. Now ... I’ll provide some assistance.’ Tan-ghil was so eager that his eyes turned green with his lust for power. ‘Yes, yes,’ he gasped. Shama took out a small flute. ‘If you feel that you’re about to lose your struggle to reach the source, if your life is in danger ... then try to blow into this. This is a flute for awakening: it wakes up what seems to be sleeping or is dead.’”

“Oh,” said Tula. “This is where the flute enters the picture.”

“Yes,” said Rune. “Shama gave him the flute.”

“Did he need it?” Shira asked. “Inside the grottos?”

“Yes he did, because that route may have been even more inhuman than yours was, Shira. I don’t know everything about his walk through the grottos of evil because I wasn’t allowed to go with him. Instead, I concentrated my will on my rightful master, so that he would understand where I was. While Tan-ghil was out on the Mountain of the Four Winds, my master sneaked up to Tan-ghil’s terrible abode. It was so full of magical objects of devilry that nobody else had dared to enter. So my master was very brave to have the courage to step inside. He found me, and was relieved that he had found me, but frightened to death of Tan-ghil’s revenge. He had no reason to be. I held my hand over him.”

Inu, the oldest of all the Taran-gai, stood up. “Does this honourable assembly permit your humble servant, Inu, to speak?”

The audience was pleased to do so, as they told the short Taran-gai.

Inu bowed deeply to Rune. “Your excellency, I heard a lot about you when you lived in Taran-gai. You were already a legend then, and we grieved that you left us in the company of those that migrated westwards.”

“Thank you for those words, Inu,” said Rune gravely. “Of course, you only knew me as a root with magical properties, nothing else?”

“Yes, master. We also knew your master, the one who owned you. He was a good man, who left a good reputation. However, there’s something else I would like to mention ...”

“Go ahead, Inu, we’re all listening.”

“In your account, you said something that caught our particular interest. Shama – may he not hear me mention his name now – had said to Tan-ghil that he and his descendants were to give human beings a sudden, evil death. This is absolutely right, your highness. We, Tan-ghil’s descendants, were chosen to be Shama’s henchmen in order to procure black flowers for his garden.”

“There, you see,” said Shira. “We mustn’t underestimate Shama’s influence.”

“No, that’s right,” said Heike. “Did you do that, Inu? Did you make your fellow human beings die suddenly?”

“Not us, we who had been spared evil hearts. But Tan-ghil’s son and his grandson and his great-grandson – Winter Sorrow, Kat and Kat-ghil – did what they could to fulfil the promise. I know that they assembled an army to kill other tribes. They were evil, evil! After them, I think the terrible custom died out.”

Tula exclaimed: “He-who-was-born-in-the-door, you who were born two hundred years later, can you tell me what happened to our relatives afterwards?”

The short man with the long name rose and said solemnly: “Honoured audience, it’s my opinion that by then nobody knew any longer that we were meant to procure flowers for Shama.”

“You don’t say, you don’t say!” said Heike emphatically. “That’s good to hear. Thank you for letting us know, Inu. Have you anything more to tell us?”

“No, now I’ve said my piece.”

“Thank you,” said Rune. “Then I’ll continue. Of course, I took note of the loud roar under the ground, which occurred when Tan-ghil reached the source of evil. I also heard the scream. Since nobody could tell me what it was, I didn’t know it at the time. You must remember that I wasn’t a fully developed human being, merely an attempt to be one. My senses weren’t like yours, they were somehow more introverted. I hope you understand what I mean. I was able to sense rather than being able to see and hear and feel.”

Tengel the Good said: “We understand. But you had thoughts, didn’t you?”

Rune thought for a moment. “Yes, I’ll call them thoughts, although I’m sure professors would say that they were instincts. The sort of dismissive expression you use to explain the behaviour of animals.”

“But you were no animal,” said Mari.

“No, but I wouldn’t be humiliated to be called one.”

The audience burst out in spontaneous applause. The Ice People had always been known to appreciate and respect animals.

“So you don’t know anything about his walk through the grottos?” Mari said. “Nothing about what happened at the source of evil?”

Rune gave her a knowing look: “I’m coming to that now.”

Many straightened themselves up in their chairs.

Now Rune was speaking to Shira: “On the night when you were born, four spirits came to your grandfather and predicted that you would fight against the human creep, didn’t they?”

“Yes, that was what Grandfather said,” she replied.

With a smile as gentle as his wooden face would allow, Rune said: “You see, the spirits also came to me.”

“Did they?”

“Yes, remember what was said about the time when Tan-ghil was there? About how the Taran-gai had heard the boom of a distant gong, which was repeated no less than eleven times during the night. That wasn’t quite true because we’re speaking of many nights and days ...”

Shira nodded. “I know. I spent several nights and days on reaching the source.”

“Tan-ghil spent at least as long. Then a final boom from a gong was heard. The Mountain of the Four Winds shook in its foundations, the sea was in turmoil and a shout as from an animal in very extreme distress echoed over the water, spreading with a moan and a sigh under the earth and under the feet of humans.”

Shira nodded in agreement.

“Everybody in Taran-gai was shaken and frightened, because the earth and the waves were in turmoil, so they congregated in each other’s homes. My master was with his neighbour, so I was alone in his yurt. I was hanging on the wall, relieved and grateful to be at home once more, away from Tan-ghil’s stinking cave which had been so full of horrible, occult brews and objects. Like hell on earth ... Never did I want to go back to it! Nobody would be allowed to steal me anymore.

“This was when I sensed four diffuse creatures entering. One flamed like fire, one was clear as air, one a beautiful blue-green like the sea and one brown as earth. They walked over to me and touched me, inspected me as if they were very baffled, but they clearly showed that they had confidence in me. Then they took a step back and spoke to me in commanding tones, as if they didn’t really know where they stood with me so were hiding behind authority.

“Earth said to me: ‘Shama has defied the gods again.’

“‘He has lured a human creep into the grotto of evil,’ said Air.

“‘And that creep has succeeded,’ continued Fire. ‘We never thought that a human being would be wicked enough to make it.’

“‘We have no one but you to turn to,’ said Water. ‘You must defeat him. Don’t let him seize power over the world!’

“I couldn’t speak at the time, but I could convey a question to them because they understood my thoughts.

“Earth replied. ‘The human creep had a very arduous journey through the grottos. Only his immense lust for power and immortality saved him. Oh, and the flute, which the damned Shama gave him. Twice the creep was almost devoured by death, but he managed to put the flute to his mouth and returned to life again ...’”

“Wait a minute,” Heike broke in. “How did Tan-ghil know the tune that led to his awakening? Did you get to know it when Shama was in the cave?”

“I’m sorry,” Rune said. “I forgot to mention that Shama told Tan-ghil that the flute would play the right tones by itself.”

“I see,” said Heike, shuddering. “Then thank goodness you all tied me to that birch tree, to prevent me from playing on the right flute, the one we found in Eldafiord. Go on, Rune.”

“The spirits said that Tan-ghil’s walk through the grottos was twice as difficult because he didn’t have a torchbearer to guide him. He had to walk alone. They told me everything they knew. I’ll try to tell you, maybe not exactly word for word, but ... Water explained to me that the first hall Tan-ghil came to was that of modesty.”

Shira jumped up: “Exactly! Because the first I came to was vanity. They are exact opposites.”

Rune nodded. “Of course, everything was the complete opposite. There wasn’t to be the least bit of arrogance in your character. He wasn’t to possess a trace of humility in his. He tackled that hall well: Tengel has never been bothered by such traits. The eleven halls he had to pass through were all tests of his human coldness. Shira, it would be better if you came up here with me so that we can go over this together ...”

Shira walked up the dais immediately. Gabriel saw the warm look of solidarity they gave one another, which made him happy. We’re such good friends, he thought for the umpteenth time that night. Is there anything better than friendship?

“What was your hall number two, Shira?” Rune asked.

“It was a test of my spiritual resistance. They tried to tempt me to drink from a false source because then I would meet love. They knew that love was the only thing that could tempt me away from the path.”

“I see. The spirit of water told me that Tan-ghil had the same vision of a false source. But he saw a chest containing an immense treasure standing by the source. He was on the verge of falling into the trap, but at the very last minute he thought better of it. The next hall, Shira?”

“Oh, 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. “For me, encountering the water in the source was an appalling experience. So what could it have been like for him? The dark water is bound to burn even worse.”

Rune was lost in his own thoughts. “When Tan-ghil emerged again, everybody was shocked. They could hardly recognize him. He had aged considerably and there wasn’t much left of his former handsome features. I got close to him once and I’ve never experienced anything so sickening in my life. Evil had already begun to put its mark on him. And it was to get worse ...

“While Tan-ghil lay exhausted in his cave, my master believed that his punishment for stealing me back from the evil one was bound to be harsh. For that reason he was very careful to sell me secretly to his son, who needed to pay only a small seashell for me. It was stupid of my old master to sell me because I would have been able to protect him. But perhaps he didn’t understand that. Now he no longer had any protection: I was no longer with him and couldn’t take care of him. The punishment my former master was dealt was the harshest possible. Tan-ghil killed him in a cunning ambush.”

“How awful,” murmured Dida. “Such a nice man!”

“Yes,” Rune replied. “I grieved for him. My new owner, his son, had to hide the fact that he had me because he feared the worst. Tan-ghil was really shocking, even then. This is something you must all understand.”

“We can well believe you,” said André.

“Of course, Tan-ghil was no longer content to live in that barren mountainous country. The promise he had been given about earthly power, riches and eternal life propelled him forward. He wanted to go out into the world and conquer it. This meant that most of the clan wanted to continue westwards, especially as other peoples were beginning to settle in Taran-gai. The Ice People believed that they could extricate themselves from his control as soon as they came to a more hospitable and fertile region. But that was not part of his plan. Those he needed he kept in his power, as they were soon to discover.

“Four of the women didn’t want to leave Taran-gai. This was because they had children that they didn’t want to take with them on a long trek, and another reason was that one of the women was pregnant with Tan-ghil’s child. Poor woman! As we have heard tonight, Winter Sorrow, that damned and later lost child, was about to be born.

“But the main group journeyed westwards. Among them was Tan-ghil – and me, who had changed owner. The long trek had begun.”

The audience made themselves comfortable in their seats. They were entering a new epoch in the history of the Ice People.