The Ice People 41 - Demon's Mountain. Margit Sandemo

cruelty isn’t self-inflicted. All of us have in our families somebody who has been badly stricken. They aren’t here now, but let’s meet them with compassion.”

      Gabriel bit his lip. This wasn’t how he had thought of the evil ones: Ulvar and Hanna and Kolgrim and all the others. Yet he could feel that everybody in the hall was touched by Tula’s words. There was quiet for a long time.

      Then she continued: “We don’t all speak the same language, but that is unimportant tonight. Tonight, each and every one of us will understand one another.”

      Gabriel thought that sounded strange, but he had no problem in understanding Tula, even if she used archaic words and expressions.

      He knew there were Danes present, which worried him the most. What if he couldn’t understand them? He had always thought that Danish was such a difficult language to understand on the radio and television.

      Then there were the Taran-gai ... Gabriel felt his ears grow hot. How was he to understand them?

      But they probably wouldn’t say anything. After all, they wouldn’t understand a word of what Tula was saying.

      She went on: “We want to tell you that we have established a Council of the Highest – for tonight and for the time to come. We will tell you later who the five members are.”

      Gabriel looked about. Who could they be?

      He could almost guess.

      Gand must be one. And the Wanderer. And Tarjei. And ... probably Tula herself. But who was the fifth member? Who was it?

      He hadn’t had time to think any further when Tula’s clear voice could be heard once more. “Much in the history of the Ice People is enigmatic and hidden from us. Before we tell you about our plans against Tengel the Evil, we would like to ask every single one of you to tell us about your life. Unfortunately, we don’t have the time for that, because we would be sitting here until Doomsday. So we have decided to ask to step forward those we just have to hear. If any of you have anything to add, you’re welcome to do so. Please ask for permission to speak, but only speak about what is relevant to our dear little ancestor with the bad breath!”

      Heike smiled wryly and got to his feet. “I think some of us would need a bit more time. There are some that we are especially curious about and whose history we don’t know at all.”

      Tula replied: “We agree to that. However, the twenty-two who are currently living don’t need to say anything at all. They’re here to listen and to learn.”

      “Twenty-two?” said Tova. “What about Gand?”

      Tula smiled. “We’ll come to him.”

      “I suppose he is here, is he?”

      “Oh, yes. Gand’s here.”

      Tova sat down. She could relax. Oh, she thought. Now I must be careful not to sound silly.

      Gabriel could barely see the four demons behind Tula. Her own demons. And with a thrill, an insight came to him: he had a vision of the deserted mountain peaks outside.

      Discreetly, he tried to look up to the top rows of benches on the other side of the hall. They lay in complete darkness.

      But here and there, he could see the phosphorescent glow of narrow, slanted eyes ... He imagined that, for a second, he saw the pointed teeth of a predator as an upper lip was pulled up.

      He shuddered and turned to look the other way.

      There was something else to see far up on the benches. He was better able to sense than to see them: tall creatures so black that they blended in with the darkness. They seemed to fill the upper benches behind him, which he could only see if he turned around, which he felt wouldn’t be the right thing to do. But up beside those creatures, quite close to the entrance, he could detect others. They had been among the last to come in. He hadn’t heard them because there were so many other, frightening sounds. Now he could hear soft, surreptitious movements, a growl, a snort, and the threatening, snorting sounds of predators. The creatures that had been so short that all he had seen of them was the dark glow in their horrible eyes.

      Now he stole a glance up towards the entrance, diagonally behind Tula. The newcomers were there. As the dais was illuminated, he could see them more clearly than the others. There was some kind of greenish phosphorescence over them when they moved.

      It was just a sensation that Gabriel registered, but he instinctively felt that they were anything but nice! He was extremely grateful that he had them on his side.

      However, in order to feel safe, Gabriel moved a bit closer to Nataniel.

      There must be a reason why the lights in the hall had been switched off.

      Now Tula’s voice could be heard once more: “We’ll open this meeting by drinking a toast to the victory we all wish for!”

      They all got to their feet and lifted their glasses, including Gabriel, who had never been allowed to do that at home. Of course, there was only a soft drink in his glass, but that didn’t matter. It was a solemn toast nevertheless. He cast a sideways glance at his cousins, who were the same age as him. They were also drinking the toast ... but they weren’t sitting in the front row.

      Phew! He mustn’t be arrogant! But surely he was allowed to be proud of himself?

      When everybody had emptied their glasses and sat down again, there was a slight pause. When the room was absolutely quiet, Tula spoke again.

      “The Council asks Tengel the Good to step forward!”

      There was a stir in the hall. Tengel left his seat and stepped up onto the dais.

      Now it begins, thought Gabriel, and he felt very excited.