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

Twenty-two people. It was a long time since the Ice People had been so numerous. Vetle’s descendants were the biggest crowd.

They had twelve helpers between them in all: Dida, the Wanderer, Heike, Villemo, Dominic, Niklas, Tarjei, Trond, Ulvhedin, Ingrid, Linde-Lou and Gand.

And nobody apart from Gand knew where they were going or who had invited them. In these strange surroundings.

They were all excited, but a few were still scared. Gand led them in between the blue, shining cliffs. The cold from the mist had gone completely; the temperature was pleasant and a perpetual, burning sunset lay over the entire golden landscape.

The phrase “evening land” rushed through Gabriel’s mind. He had read about Silje’s name for the country she had seen in visions. Once more, he looked up towards the summit where the winged creatures circled around. This was precisely what Silje had described. Demons ...?

Could they be demons, those creatures up there?

He couldn’t be sure from so far away. He heard a distant roar as if from a volcano that suddenly flared up, or some kind of underground explosion. The roaring sound came and went with greater or lesser strength. Like irregular bangs inside the cliff itself.

Gabriel looked at the others to see whether they had also noticed the phenomenon, and found that was clearly the case.

They had only taken a few steps between the cliff walls when a gate appeared in front of them. It was guarded by two giant, black creatures with beaks and thin, spidery limbs.

“I recognize them!” Tova exclaimed. She was frightened. “But before it said ‘The Gates of Peace’ over them. How bizarre! I know I’ve been here before. This is the entrance to the other world. This place is dangerous, as I certainly experienced!”

Gand gave her a calm smile. “It isn’t now. Vanja also passed these gates once, when she was trying to find Tamlin down in the abode of the night demons.”

“Surely these gates with beasts can’t be everywhere, can they?” Tova protested hotly.

“Yes, they can. Because, as you so rightly pointed out, this is the transition into another world. It differs according to the circumstances in which you pass such a border. Vanja did so on the way to the grottos of the night demons. You did so when you searched for the parallel world. And here ...”

Mari was frightened. “This is all just a dream, isn’t it?” she said quickly.

“Of course not!” Tova replied sharply, and Mari burst into tears.

Vetle tried to reconcile them. “You have to understand,” he told Tova, “Mari is so afraid that people might dislike her and be angry with her. She can’t stand sharp voices.”

Tova tightened her lips and tried to sound gentle and compassionate, something only Mari didn’t notice. “I’m sorry, Mari. I didn’t want to sound brusque. Now we should continue on our way, shouldn’t we? So we won’t come across anything unpleasant here, Gand?”

His name was so difficult to pronounce without setting her whole soul in uproar!

As always, Gand was grounded and completely calm. He smiled and said: “No, it’s not dangerous now.” Why did her presence never affect him?

And he was quite right: the creatures stood up with gentle, sinuous movements and lowered their shining swords. They bowed deeply before the procession that followed. But it was Gand whom they greeted with the greatest respect, as everyone could see.

Gabriel assumed that everybody would slip through without any further ado, but a short exchange of words followed when it was Mari’s turn to pass the creatures by the gates. The spidery creatures blocked her way with their swords. With harsh, grating voices, they asserted that she didn’t have the right frame of mind. She was negative and didn’t see all this as something fine and exciting and outstanding. In other words, she had lost her sense of adventure. Mari began to weep again and explained that it was only now that she grasped the importance of belonging to the Ice People. Could she please be allowed to join them? She entreated them all, and most of all Gand.

The children were concerned for their mother and prayed for her. The younger children were probably thinking that she would have to walk the long, raw way back all by herself. What if she got lost?

Gand regarded her mildly. “Losing your imagination in childhood is dangerous. You were a gentle, sensitive girl. Perhaps you were too sensitive. Have you tried to become hard in order to face your disappointments and grief in the cold world of humankind?”

“Yes, I probably have,” Mari sobbed.

Gand addressed the guards at the gates: “This is just a façade to protect against the uncertainty that runs deep. I think she is showing her true self now. Let her in.”

The swords were lowered. Mari wiped away her tears, giving the beasts a grateful nod.

Everybody was inside the “other” world.

Tova was puzzled. “The landscape isn’t the same. Last time, all this was an open plain. What lay behind it was hidden in mist. And the grey people were lurking inside the mist.”

“They’re not here now,” said Gand. “You’re not at all in the same place as you were then.”

All they could see was an endless range of mountains. They walked silently along roads that twisted and turned; a long caravan of living and long-dead souls that right now seemed to be equal. Apart from two members who were different: Dida in her ethereal translucency and Gand, who was leading them all.

They walked on like this, in puzzled silence, until they reached a valley. All along the way, they could hear dull thuds that came ever closer and became ever louder, followed every time by a flare of colours in the sky – as from erupting volcanoes in the distance.

They stopped.

A shining peak, tall and conical, protruded from the ground in the middle of the valley, as if it had been forced up from the underworld by a gigantic earthquake.

The younger children instinctively sought their mother or father.

The cliff wall rose sheer before them. A black stone stairway led up to a new, open gate that led inside the cliff. Up there, on a broad ledge outside the gate, stood some awesome creatures.

Gabriel took a firm hold of his mother’s hand. “I don’t think we’ll go any further now.”

Ulvhedin turned to him with a smile. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. We’re expected – all of us. You’ll find that there will be many happy reunions tonight. To begin with, certainly; later on, we’re bound to have something else to focus on.”

They were all expected! Some other creatures broke loose near the foot of the stairs. They were very beautiful, with elegantly shaped horses’ heads with human features. Each was dark blue, with a silver mane that grew from his forehead and all the way down his spine to his silver tail. Their limbs were human. These immensely beautiful creatures greeted the Ice People gently, beckoning to them to follow them. Each horse-man took care of a guest.

“I’m dreaming,” said Mari.

“No, you’re not,” replied one of her sons. “If you were, we’d all be dreaming the same dream, and that’s not possible.”

“You’re just taking part in my dream.”

Her brother Jonathan pinched her arm. “Are you also dreaming this?”

“Ouch! No, I’m not.”

“You must be a bit more careful, Mari,” Jonathan warned her. “If you can’t make the effort to show a more positive attitude, they might throw you out.”

Mari sobbed, but pulled herself together.

Gabriel looked anxiously up at the ledge. Now there was no doubt at all. The four creatures up there could be nothing else but demons. They were horrible to look at, half naked, with big wings of thick skin, and claws instead of fingers and toes. Their facial expressions were appalling, with pointed teeth and eyes that glowed orange and yellow. Horrific! Gabriel hesitated; he was dragging his feet up the stairs as if he was on his way to doomsday.