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

He smiled. Now he felt quite at ease.

The people who had accompanied them through the mist entered the hall and sat down on one side of the row of benches: Heike, Ingrid, Ulvhedin, Villemo, Linde-Lou, and the others.

Still there was no Gand, and no Wanderer either. Perhaps he had disappeared along the way, probably in the big hall. Now Gabriel could see who the third missing person was: Tarjei.

Gand, the Wanderer and Tarjei. Why those three?

Gabriel was very comfortable in his seat. Each person in the hall had a small table in front of them, and the horse demons walked about placing food on the tables. Gabriel stole a cautious glance at the bowls. Did he dare to eat any of that? He had read tales about the spit of troll-cats and cobwebs, and all sorts of strange things that those who were spellbound were forced to eat.

But this looked better. Truly delicious and quite human. There were small dishes of various kinds and impressive cakes with lots of cream.

Gabriel wondered whether he could begin with them?

But none of the others had yet begun to eat, or drink from the exquisite glasses of light wine and other refreshments.

He had better wait a bit.

He wondered what he would have to do if he needed to go to the bathroom. But he didn’t feel that he had to go there straightaway.

Time seemed to stand still here inside the mountain. Just as it said in the chronicle of the Ice People, about when Shira met Shama and he stopped time so that they found themselves in the interval between one moment and the next.

It was strange, but that was precisely how Gabriel felt. This was certainly an enchanted night. Was it all just a dream? A terrible, exciting dream! But all the same, he hoped that wasn’t the case.

Gabriel had long known that he had been chosen as one of the five members of the Ice People. Occasionally, the knowledge had faded far, far away, as something he didn’t have to worry about. At other times, his hands would turn quite clammy at the mere thought. What frightened him most was that he was supposed to carry out a task he didn’t understand. He would ask his mother what he was to do. But what could he ask her about? And why had he, of all the Ice People, been chosen?

His mother had replied: “Because of your clear eyes. Because you’re absolutely honest and because of your seriousness.”

He had thought about that a lot. Everybody said that his personality was very similar to that of the serene Henning Lind of the Ice People, but they were not alike in appearance. Gabriel was quite short and had big, dark blue eyes, bristly hair and freckles. The girls in class used to say that he looked “sweet”, which he loathed. He was a dreamer and tended to leave everything in a mess. He would forget everything around him, forget his homework and schoolbooks; would be lost, deep in thought, with one sock in his hand in the morning, forgetting to put it on; lost in thought at the dinner table, forgetting to eat; he might begin to tell a story or a joke and then get lost halfway through the narrative because something else had entered his mind.

He was honest and without deceit, he was quite sure of that, and he was good at writing essays in school. The teacher said that he was good at expressing himself. He was extremely conscientious. Was that why he had been chosen? He started. All this had seemed to be in the distant future for so long, but now, all of a sudden, it was real! Now! Now, this very night!

Gabriel’s heart began to beat hard, and his hands shook. He would never get through all this. He didn’t know what to do!

Fortunately, his thoughts were diverted by what was happening around him.

Tula was no longer there, and Gabriel understood that she had gone out to receive more guests because now a new crowd was walking in. He looked at them from the corner of his eye in the semi-darkness.

They sat down in the second row on both sides, on the same level as his mother and the others. Suddenly, Gabriel recognized some of them from photographs hanging on the wall at home.

There was his grandfather, the professor! Christoffer Volden! And his mother, Malin! But they had died many years ago!

All this was beginning to turn slightly spooky!

There was old Henning from Linden Avenue. Gabriel had often seen the photograph of him, but he looked older in the photo. So did Christoffer Volden.

Now, all of them seemed to be just about the same age. Roughly in their thirties or forties.

That was nice. Perhaps that was the time when people were in their prime? It was nice that the Ice People’s deceased came back at that age. It would have been sad if they had been there as frail old men.

There were a lot of them! Gabriel was unable to recognize them all, and he couldn’t see them clearly either because now they began to fill the rear benches as well. He gathered that only the relatives of the Ice People were present. Christoffer Volden’s wife, Marit of Svelten, wasn’t there. The same went for Sander Brink and Henning Lind’s wife. They were all outsiders.

Tula stood on the dais again. She made a sweeping gesture towards the new arrivals: “Thanks to Gand’s promise to Henning Lind of the Ice People and the Wanderer’s promise to Vetle Volden of the Ice People, we now have all our friends with us today. All those who will fight against our doubtful ancestor. You are all most welcome. It’s wonderful to see you all gathered here!”

An elf-like woman came in, and Heike stood up immediately. The two of them clasped each other in a warm embrace. Then she went further up the row of benches with the others.

Gabriel, who knew the Legend of the Ice People like the back of his own hand, thought: Vinga Tark of the Ice People. They had been married, but only Heike was stricken.

How nice that they’re allowed to meet each other again!

The heavy steps of big boots could be heard on the stairway. There was a rattling of weapons, a creaking of elk-skin.

The Paladins, Gabriel thought, and had to swallow hard. He couldn’t see them properly because they were too far up in the semi-darkness, but he could discern three men: Alexander, Tancred and Tristan. He knew that these were their names, and Alexander Paladin had received a special invitation since he was not one of the Ice People. There was a fourth person with them. That must be Michael Lind, Tarjei’s son, who had lived in the 1600s, in the age of top-boots, swords, gloves and helmets with waving plumes.

The first two rows were beginning to fill up, but there were still empty rows of benches above them.

The lowest row was also empty. Gabriel worked out that this was where the stricken and the chosen would sit.

He was sitting at the same level as that row ...

In one of the most important seats.

The thought made him shudder with pleasure, excitement and awe. And a touch of nerves, but this was something he didn’t want to admit to himself.

A couple of women entered together. You could tell that they had just met each other and were thrilled. Gabriel couldn’t see them properly, but Nataniel whispered: “Silje. And Charlotte Meiden.”

“But they’re not ...”

“No, they’re not of the Ice People, but a few others, who have meant a great deal to our clan, have been allowed to come here.”

“That was exactly what I thought about Alexander Paladin!”

“Bravo. It’s also the case with Elisa. She’s the one Ulvhedin is welcoming so warmly right now.”

Gabriel leaned back and said: “I think it’s just so wonderful.”

“Yes, it is.”

At that very moment, he felt something cold creeping down his spine. A long, long row of very small humans came in and were shown to places in the row of benches opposite the most recent arrivals. Gabriel twisted his neck to get a better view.