by Astrid Foss
Magda felt new hope fill her, chasing away her tiredness. She jumped to her feet. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go!”
The sisters ran to the waiting polar bear and he crouched down as they scrambled onto his soft, warm back – Hanna in the front, then Ida and Magda behind. Hanna held on tight to the thick fur around Oskar’s neck.
Oskar stood up and gave an enquiring whine.
“Yes, we’re ready!” said Hanna, excitement beating through her. “Come on, Oskar! Go as fast as you can!”
The polar bear leapt forward, his big strides carrying them across the ground. It wasn’t like riding one of the castle ponies. Oskar’s back was broad and rolled from side to side with every stride. The sisters hung on tightly as he galloped across the snowy grass.
Maybe we’re going to make it. Maybe we’re going to get there in time after all! Magda thought in delight.
Chapter Five
Oskar bounded across the clifftops, carrying them closer and closer to the crest of the waterfall. As they got nearer the girls could hear the thunder of the water as it plunged into the sea. The cliffs curved around where it fell, making a semi-circular pool – Jorin’s pool, remembered Ida. The deepest pool on the island.
The air around the waterfall was filled with shimmering silvery flecks of light. It was an awe-inspiring sight.
Oskar stopped a little way from the cascade and the girls climbed off his back.
“It’s so beautiful,” breathed Magda as she took in the falling water and the silvery light surrounding it.
“It really is.” Hanna looked across and saw that the sun was a dark gold orb on the eastern horizon. “But we can’t just stand here looking at it. There’s hardly any time left until midnight.”
They set off across the heather, heading towards the crest of the waterfall. Oskar walked beside them for a few steps but then suddenly tensed and stopped. He swung round, sniffing the air.
“What is it, Oskar?” Magda said.
The hairs on the back of Oskar’s neck rose up and he started to growl.
The girls exchanged alarmed looks. Oskar only ever growled when there was real danger. He stalked back the way they had just come, his growling getting louder.
Suddenly Magda’s ears caught the faint sounds of howling. Ice seemed to trickle down her spine. There was only one type of animal that made that dreadful noise. “Wolves!” she said anxiously.
“There they are!” cried Hanna as a pack of five wolves burst out of a nearby wood. The wolves streaked across the heather towards them. Their eyes glowed red. Their lips were pulled back to show their sharp teeth.
“Aunt Veronika must have realised we tricked her and sent them to stop us!” said Magda. They were so close to the waterfall. If they ran, maybe they could reach it before the wolves caught up with them. “Quick!”
The three sisters turned and raced across the clifftop towards the silver waterfall. After a few strides, Hanna realised that Oskar wasn’t with them. She turned. He was facing the wolves as they charged across the grass towards him. His fur was bristling and there was a fierce look on his usually friendly face.
“Oskar! Come on!” she shouted.
But the polar bear refused to move.
Magda and Ida stopped too. “Oskar, you have to come with us!” Magda begged.
Oskar growled as the first wolf raced towards him. He was a lot bigger than the wolves.
“What are we going to do?” said Ida. “We can’t leave him to fight five wolves on his own.”
Hanna looked round desperately at the waterfall. “I know but we have to get the snow globe into the waterfall. Look how low the sun is. There can only be about ten minutes left before midnight.”
“Oskar!” Magda cried. “Please! We have to go!”
But the polar bear was already springing at the first wolf, knocking it down to the ground and leaving it winded and gasping for breath. A second wolf attacked him. Oskar fought back, snarling and growling. His thick coat seemed to protect him against the wolves’ teeth. He swiped out with a heavy front paw, knocking the second wolf out cold.
Hanna grabbed her sisters’ hands. “Oskar’s giving us a chance. We have to take it and go on to the waterfall. You know we do.”
Tears prickling in their eyes, Magda and Ida nodded. They loved Oskar with all their hearts but Hanna was right – they had to try to save Nordovia, and their parents. Swallowing back their tears they turned and ran on to the waterfall.
They finally reached the crest where the water was gushing over the edge of the cliff with incredible force. Standing beside it, the noise of the falling water was so loud it seemed to block out everything else. Spray drenched their hair, their skin, their clothes. Looking over the edge, Ida felt a wave of dizziness as she gazed at the sea far, far below.
“What do we do with the globe?” shouted Hanna. She took it out of the felt bag and held it up. Its glass sides caught the silvery light and it glittered and glowed. Hanna gasped suddenly. “It feels like it’s tugging me!”
“It must be its magic!” said Magda. “Where does it want us to take it?” She glanced behind them, thinking about Oskar. Was he all right? She wanted to get back to him as quickly as possible.
Holding her hands in front of her, Hanna let the globe gently pull her. It guided her across the slippery rocks, closer and closer to the fierce rush of water tumbling over the precipice. Suddenly she felt it shiver in her hands. She stopped and saw a narrow, dark crevice concealed by overhanging rocks. “I think it wants us to go in there,” she said.
“Is it the entrance to a cave? Or a tunnel?” asked Ida, peering at it.
Hanna’s eyes shone. “I don’t know but let’s go in!”
“The floor’s really slippery,” said Magda as she followed Hanna inside. “Be careful.”
Ida gasped as her feet slipped on a patch of thin ice. Magda grabbed her arm and stopped her from falling over.
“Go slowly, Hanna,” Magda begged.
“If you fall the globe might smash,” Ida added.
Hanna was itching with impatience but she knew her sisters were right and she slowed down. It was pitch-black inside the crevice in the rocks and they could hear the thunder of the waterfall. “I can’t see anything,” Hanna said, raising her voice above the noise, wondering if she should put the globe back in the bag so she could use her hands to feel the way.
But as she spoke the globe started to shine with a soft, warm light. It glowed like a lantern, lighting up the gloom.
“We’re in a tunnel,” Ida said, looking around at the damp walls. The tunnel seemed to lead down and round to the right.
Hanna felt the globe tug at her hands again. She started to walk along the tunnel. The others followed, taking cautious steps on the slippery floor.
Hanna frowned as the noise of the waterfall seemed to get even louder, so loud it made her want to cover her ears. “I wonder where it’s leading us… Oh!” She gasped as she walked around a corner. The rocky wall of the tunnel continued on one side of them but on the other side there was a silver sheet of falling water. They were standing on a platform behind the rocky waterfall, just underneath the clifftop! Silver light danced all around them and far below their feet they could hear the water crashing into Jorin’s Pool.
“Oh … wow!” Hanna breathed.
Ida and Magda were both lost for words. They knew without needing to be told that this was a place of deep, ancient magic. They could feel it in the air, and it tingled across the hairs on their skin.
“Look!” breathed Hanna, pointing ahead. There was a circular indent in the rocks at the very edge of the platform. “Do you think we have to put the globe there?”
The globe seemed to shiver in her fingers and once again she felt it tug at her, leading her feet over to the spot she was looking at. “It does need to be put here! It’s telling me it does!”
“Be careful, Hanna!” Ida called anxiously. Her sister was very close to the edge and the rocks were very slippery.<
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Hanna beamed. “I think we’ve done it! We’ve got it to the right place with a just a few minutes to spare. We’ve saved Nordovia!”
A cackle echoed through the air. The shadows on the other side of the platform seemed to move and their aunt stepped out of them. Her hair was tangled with thorns, her cloak ripped and torn. Her black eyes looked wild.
“Not so fast, nieces!” she hissed.
Hanna felt as if a bucket of snow had just been tipped over her. Moving impossibly quickly, her aunt was suddenly beside her, her hands reaching greedily for the globe.
“No!” Hanna shouted, hanging on to it for dear life as her aunt grasped it and tried to tug it out of her grip.
“Let go of it!” the Shadow Witch shrieked.
Hanna was strong but her aunt was even stronger. She wrestled it out of Hanna’s grasp just as the sound of the first bells started to ring out across the land to signal that midnight had arrived.
Aunt Veronika’s eyes glittered in triumph as she held the globe up. “Now, I have it! The power of the Lights will be mine and everyone will fear me!” she shrieked.
The globe started to shine brighter and brighter. The girls watched in horror as their aunt was surrounded by the glow from the globe. Power seemed to be pulsing through her.
“No!” shouted Hanna. “We won’t let that happen!” She launched herself at her aunt and tried desperately to prise the globe from her grip. They staggered together. Magda and Ida leapt forward to help, but as they collided with Aunt Veronika, her feet slipped. In an instant they all lost their balance and tumbled into the thundering water of the Silfur Falls as the midnight bells continued to ring out across the land.
Chapter Six
Hanna, Magda, Ida and the Shadow Witch were swept downwards in the freezing, thundering waterfall. They were lost in the chaos of water, silver light and thundering noise, unable to even think about using their magic as they tumbled over and over.
Is this the end? thought Magda. Is this how we die?
With a painful crash, she hit the surface of the sea and plummeted down into Jorin’s Pool, propelled by the force of her fall. Where were her sisters? Where was the globe?
I need air. The thought beat through her, silencing everything else.
Kicking desperately, she fought to halt her downwards plummet. Arms flailing, feet kicking, she swam up towards the surface. Her lungs were burning. Her heart was beating painfully in her chest. She was going to suffocate! Stars started to dance in front of her eyes. Just when she thought she was going to have to open her mouth and breathe in water, she broke through the surface of the pool. Gasping for breath she felt the silvery air fill her lungs. She took two big gasps before the force of the waterfall crashing on her head forced her back down into the depths.
As Magda was pushed downwards she started to panic that she was going to drown but then she realised she didn’t have the same feeling of suffocating. The silvery air she had drawn into her lungs at the surface seemed to be helping her to breathe underwater. It must be magic, she realised in amazement. She relaxed in relief and felt herself floating downwards. Her feet touched something hard and she opened her eyes. She expected it to be dark under the water – she knew she was far from the surface – but to her surprise the bottom of the pool was lit by a faint golden glow that seemed to be coming from the sky overhead. She looked down and saw that the base of the pool was a mirror shimmering with magic – a beautiful smooth silvery disc. Relief rushed through her as she realised that Hanna and Ida were at the bottom of the pool too – both were also breathing easily and were looking around, their eyes wide and astonished as the water currents flowed through their hair and moved their long dresses around their legs. Magda spotted her aunt staggering to her feet a little way off and then realised that the light at the bottom of the pool was starting to get brighter and brighter. What was happening?
Glancing up, Magda realised that the extra light was coming from the snow globe. It was tumbling down through the water towards them. The purple, blue and pink lights were swirling around inside it and sparkling as it fell faster and faster. Magda saw her aunt’s face crease with rage as she tried to run to catch the globe – but she wasn’t fast enough!
The globe smashed down into the rocky floor, exploding in a cloud of pink and purple and blue lights. Veronika collapsed on the floor screaming as the colours danced around the girls. Light seemed to flood into the bottom of the sea from every angle. The girls felt power rushing through them, filling them with light and energy and strength.
The water around them started to swirl and foam and suddenly they were being pushed up towards the surface. They shot out of the water and somersaulted high up into the sky, tumbling through the silvery waterfall and splashing down into the blue ocean safely away from the thundering cascade.
“Look!” gasped Hanna, pointing at the sky as they trod water. The heavy grey colour had disappeared and the sky was now glowing a beautiful bright gold. As they watched, the purple, blue and pink lights swirled upwards out of the water and the whole sky flashed. The girls instinctively shut their eyes because the light was too bright to look at. When they opened them again, the Everchanging Lights were dancing in ribbons across the sky.
“We did it!” cried Magda in joy. “The Lights are back where they should be!”
The three girls swam on the spot as torrents of water continued to pound into the sea beside them. They should have been freezing but the magic that had surrounded them under the water seemed to have banished cold and tiredness. Ida thought she had never felt so warm and alive. She spun round. “We did it! We did it!” Suddenly she spotted a movement behind the waterfall’s spray. “Is that Aunt Veronika?”
They saw their aunt’s arm reach out of the water. Her head popped out and she gasped a breath before she was sucked under again. The colour had faded from her face and she looked older and weaker, her hair hanging in thin straggles.
“She’s drowning!” said Magda in alarm.
Hanna swam towards the cascade. “We can’t just let her die,” she said as their aunt surfaced again. “We’ll save you!” she shouted. “Ida can you draw some rope?”
Ida nodded. Gathering all her strength, she swam around the side of the waterfall to the rocks behind it. She picked out a sharp stone from inside a crevice and scratched a picture of some rope on the surface of a rock. A coil of rope appeared beside her. She threw it to Magda who threw it to Hanna.
“Aunt Veronika!” Hanna yelled. “Grab the rope and I’ll pull you in.” She circled one end of the rope above her head like a lasso and then threw it so that it landed next to their aunt.
“I do not need your help!” their aunt panted, ignoring the rope.
“But you’re going to drown!” shouted Hanna.
Aunt Veronika’s eyes narrowed. “I said I don’t need your help. I still have some power left!” She muttered a spell. At first nothing happened but then she repeated the words and a rope of dark green ivy started to slowly grow at the top of the cliff on the other side of the waterfall. The girls watched as it crept down the cliff. Reaching the bottom, it slithered across the rocks and into the sea. Their aunt splashed wearily towards it and grabbed it. She used it to haul herself out of the water. She stood on a rock, panting and bedraggled, water and seaweed dripping from her hair, her cloak and dress torn.
“You will be sorry for this, nieces,” she cried and, giving them a final bitter look, she stepped into the shadows at the base of the cliff and vanished.
Hanna, Ida and Magda stared at where she had been standing and then Hanna breathed out and swam back to the others. “She’s gone.”
“For now,” said Ida slowly, wondering where her aunt would go and what she would do next.
“She looked different,” Magda said. “Much weaker.”
“She changed when the Lights went back into the sky,” said Hanna. “I don’t know why it happened but I hope it means she never threatens Nordovia again.”
They all nodded and Magda looked around. “How are we going to get home?” They were treading water at the bottom of the sheer cliff face. It was far too steep and treacherous for them to climb up.
“I’m not sure,” said Hanna uncertainly.
Just then Magda saw five large dark shapes moving through the water near the base of the cliffs. What were they? “Narwhals!” she realised as a long straight tusk broke through the water and a pale silvery-grey narwhal surfaced, shooting water from its blowhole. An idea popped into Magda’s head. “Wait! I know how we can get back!” The Narwhal’s body sank into the water again but Magda had seen all she needed to see.
She scrambled into the water and thought about the narwhal, about its dappled grey body, its kindly dark eyes, its long spiraled tusk, and she felt herself changing shape.
Hanna gasped. “We’re going narwhal riding, Ida!” She grabbed Ida’s hand in delight, then the two girls scrambled onto Magda’s broad smooth back. Magda plunged away, dipping through the waves, using her strong tail to propel her towards the other narwhals. She clicked her tongue and whistled in delight as a shoal of silvery fish swooped past her nose and swirled around her body. It was so much fun being a sea animal and the magic that was coursing through her had swept away all her tiredness!
The other narwhals gave her a surprised look as she caught up with them but they seemed happy for Magda and the girls to join their pod as they swam through the icy ocean, following the coastline. They whistled at Magda and she whistled and clicked back. As they swam around the headland, she spotted a flat stretch of beach leading to low, grassy cliffs.
Hanna and Ida both laughed in delight as Magda clicked goodbye to the pod, put on a burst of speed and raced through the water towards the shore. As she reached it she let the magic go and turned back into a girl. They all splashed in the water together and then, giggling and laughing, they waded out of the water and onto the pale sand.