Margit Sandemo: The Ice People 44 - An Evil Day

An Evil Day

The Legend of the Ice People 44 - An Evil Day

© Margit Sandemo 1989

© eBook in English: Jentas A/S, 2020

Series: The Legend of The Ice People

Title: An Evil Day

Title number: 44

Original title: Den onda dagen

Translator: Nina Sokol

© Translation: Jentas A/S

ISBN: 978-87-7107-716-2

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchase.

All contracts and agreements regarding the work, translation, editing, and layout are owned by Jentas A/S.

Acknowledgement

The legend of the Ice People is dedicated with love and gratitude to the memory of my dear late husband Asbjorn Sandemo, who made my life a fairy tale.

Margit Sandemo

The Ice People - Reviews

‘Margit Sandemo is, simply, quite wonderful.’

- The Guardian

‘Full of convincing characters, well established in time and place, and enlightening ... will get your eyes popping, and quite possibly groins twitching ... these are graphic novels without pictures ... I want to know what happens next.’

- The Times

‘A mixure of myth and legend interwoven with historical events, this is imaginative creation that involves the reader from the first page to the last.’

- Historical Novels Review

‘Loved by the masses, the prolific Margit Sandemo has written over 172 novels to date and is Scandinavia's most widely read author...’

- Scanorama magazine

The Legend of the Ice People

The legend of the Ice People begins many centuries ago with Tengel the Evil. He was ruthless and greedy, and there was only one way to get everything that he wanted: he had to make a pact with the devil. He travelled far into the wilderness and summoned the devil with a magic potion that he had brewed in a pot. Tengel the Evil gained unlimited wealth and power but in exchange, he cursed his own family. One of his descendants in every generation would serve the Devil with evil deeds. When it was done, Tengel buried the pot. If anyone found it, the curse would be broken.

So the curse was passed down through Tengel’s descendants, the Ice People. One person in every generation was born with yellow cat’s eyes, a sign of the curse, and magical powers which they used to serve the Devil. One day the most powerful of all the cursed Ice People would be born.

This is what the legend says. Nobody knows whether it is true, but in the 16th century, a cursed child of the Ice People was born. He tried to turn evil into good, which is why they called him Tengel the Good. This legend is about his family. Actually, it is mostly about the women in his family – the women who held the fate of the Ice People in their hands.

Chapter 1

Random gusts of wind blew across the mountain, emphasizing the sense of loneliness the group felt as they stood on the steep mountainside. Little Gabriel, whose job it was to record everything he saw, stood looking at his twelve friends. How on earth were they going to manage this? Were they strong enough?

Marco, the magnificent prince of the black halls, looked up, narrow-eyed and thoughtful, at the unpleasant vision above them. It always felt safe having Marco with you. He knew so much, could accomplish so many things, and – most important of all – he was incredibly powerful!

Nataniel, the gentle one. He also had the blood of the black angels flowing in his veins, though not quite to the same extent that Marco did. Nataniel was gentler; he had capabilities they still did not fully understand. Tova had always been a rebel, but in the course of this journey she had grown more gentle and feminine. Gabriel knew perfectly well why. It was thanks to Ian Morahan. They were in love with each other, Gabriel thought childishly. You could see it a mile off.

And Ian ... an outsider, the only one of the group who wasn’t a member of the Ice People. But he had managed damn well.

Oh no, it seems I’ve started swearing, Gabriel thought in alarm. Father wouldn’t approve at all.

His gaze shifted to Rune. The mandrake – neither human nor plant. Or perhaps he was both. Gabriel liked Rune, and it was good having him along with them.

And then there was Halkatla. What a wild cat she was! But she was also sweet, very sweet.

They also had Tula with them, because she refused to sit and wait in the Demon’s Mountain while the others took part in a whole lot of exciting things. It was easy for Tula not to be afraid. She was no longer alive: she was one of the ancestral spirits of the Ice People. But Gabriel himself was alive, and he was terribly afraid!

Sol was there as well – the witch with the beautiful eyes and roguish laugh. There was really no reason to be afraid so long as she was present.

Ulvhedin: Gabriel grew warm inside. His own guardian, the gigantic, incredibly strong Ulvhedin. Even though he was frightening to look at, he instilled an incredible sense of safety.

Then there was the kind, blue-eyed Linde-Lou, Nataniel’s guardian. You would never believe that such a naive, innocent and utterly friendly individual could accomplish anything, but Linde-Lou could. He had proved that many times in the course of this grotesque journey, verging between reality and nightmare.

And then there was Tengel the Good, the core of the Ice People. The one everyone turned to if they were in trouble. The one who was the connecting link between the past and the present.

And the last one to join them, the one whom Tengel the Good had summoned: Inu, the little Taran-gai, whose fur garments almost concealed him so that the only visible parts of him were his blinking peppercorn eyes.

That was everyone. Many of them had such strong, supernatural powers that they ought to be able to handle this latest obstacle that Tengel the Evil had conjured. They had handled so many others, most recently the challenge of Ulvar and Kolgrim, whom they had managed to win over to their side, whereupon Tula had sent her four demons to conceal them from Tengel the Evil’s searching gaze.

It was strange, Gabriel thought. Everything was crystal clear in his mind now, even though he ought to have been tired. He registered everything with sharpness and clarity. He was even able to make out what the others were thinking and feeling.

That’s because I am to write the whole thing down, he thought, which was true. And I’ll start writing the moment I get the opportunity. Scribble down a bunch of indecipherable hieroglyphics in my notebook, which is, incidentally, my third book of this trip. There’s always so much happening!

“We’re so close to the goal – and yet so far away,” Nataniel sighed.

They were standing at the foot of the slopes of the Udgård Mountains. Up there was the entrance to the Valley of the Ice People. But that was also where its guards were. What they saw there were the long-deceased shamans, Kat and Kat-ghil, each squatting down by their own sacrificial bonfire on their own mountaintop.

Despite the strong wind, the smoke rose unnaturally and ominously straight up into the dark-grey sky.

They knew that both Kat and Kat-ghil dealt with dangerous spirits – perhaps Kat-ghil especially. They also had a suspicion that the mountain behind them might be hiding even more of Tengel the Evil’s helpers.

“There won’t be a moon tonight,” Marco observed.

Someone mumbled in agreement. The cloud cover was too dense.

Tengel the Good said slowly, “I’m not certain whether you are entirely aware of what will transpire once you enter the valley?”