by E. C. Hibbs
The Lights raged overhead, and then, in an instant, the night was still and silent once again. A faint waft of green trailed through the darkness.
“Lumi?” he called. “Lumi!”
“Focus on me,” Henrik instructed. “It’s over. You’re safe.”
“Where’s Lumi?” Tuomas panted. With every breath, lucidity slowly returned, but he still didn’t move. His legs felt a thousand miles away.
He rubbed the bleariness out of his eyes and searched the sky. The single tendril of the aurora lingered for a moment, as though to let him know she was safe. As soon as he saw it, she disappeared, and the pressure slowly ebbed away.
Tuomas let out a shaky sigh. “I’m fine.”
“Good,” said Henrik. “Now, tell me what you saw. Did you see the Sun Spirit?”
“Yes,” Tuomas replied. He noticed the strained expression on Henrik’s face and frowned. “What’s wrong?”
Henrik sighed sharply. “I… I couldn’t connect with the Spirits. Not one of them.”
Tuomas pulled himself to his feet and immediately wobbled. He grabbed hold of the shrine to keep his balance.
“What do you mean?”
“It was like something was blocking me,” Henrik said. “I could barely enter the trance without being pulled back to my body.”
Tuomas swallowed. “Was it something I did? Was my taika out of control again? I didn’t block you, did I?”
To his surprise, Henrik smirked. “No. Your taika was miraculous. When I realised I wasn’t going anywhere, I watched you. It was beautiful.”
A smile broke across Tuomas’s lips. That was the greatest compliment Henrik had ever given him. After months of the old mage chastising him about control and practising the craft correctly, this was the praise he’d wanted to hear.
As quickly as it came, however, Henrik was back to his original question.
“I need you to tell me what you saw. What did the Golden One say to you?”
Tuomas let go of the boulder and kicked snow over the fire to end the work. Then he picked up his drum. His eyes lingered over the image of the Great Bear Spirit in the centre.
“She said it’s not a physical illness like you thought. It’s a soul plague. We need to find Lilja – apparently she knows something about it which can help us.”
A shadow passed over Henrik’s face.
“A soul plague, you say? But what does she have to do with it?
“I don’t know,” Tuomas replied. “Henrik… while I was up there, the Moon Spirit came and ambushed me. She wants me back… she tried to trap me. But Lumi fought her off…”
“You’re talking too fast, calm down.” Henrik stood directly in front of him so he couldn’t look away. “The Moon Spirit cannot take you back. You know that, don’t you?”
“No!” cried Tuomas. “If she did it before, she can do it again!”
“Not when you’re in a human body. She doesn’t handle souls, so she doesn’t even have the same power as her daughter: to take a life-soul away. And remember, when she succeeded last time, you were none the wiser. You’re stronger now. Nothing will drive you back to her unless you choose it, do you understand?”
Tuomas glanced at the silvery eye in the sky. He could feel it watching him.
“She can’t do anything unless I give her permission to?” he whispered.
“No,” said Henrik, with an assuredness which immediately made him feel better.
“So I shouldn’t be afraid.”
“I didn’t say that. We should fear and respect all Spirits. Especially her.”
There was a dark edge to his words, but he turned away from Tuomas and broke the magical circle around the shrine.
“Come now,” he said. “Let’s go back. We’ve been here for long enough.”
Tuomas inspected the sky again. The evening was upon them, though it was still only afternoon – day and night would not be equal for another couple of months. But the brief spell of daylight was long gone: a sign that spring was arriving, even if spring itself was still frozen.
He closed his eyes and forced himself to breathe deeply. The Silver One had simply caught him off guard, and if she tried again, he had seen how vehemently Lumi had defended him. Both she and the Sun Spirit had kept him safe for an entire month in the World Above. Everything would be fine.
When he had collected himself, he and Henrik thanked the Spirits, strapped their drums to their belts, inserted their shoes into the skis, and began heading back. The snow seemed to glow in the blue half-light, before it faded into a haze at the flat horizon.
They didn’t need to worry about going far. The reindeer were visible in the distance: a dark smudge against the white land. Soon they would be stopping for the night and the herders would erect their tents. Tuomas guessed that by the time he and Henrik caught up with them, it would be time for food and bed anyway.
After almost a mile of walking in silence, Henrik cleared his throat.
“You know, boy… I’m concerned about Lilja being involved in this.”
His voice was tight, as though he had been mulling over the words for some time and mentally testing to see if they sounded right.
“Why do you say that?” Tuomas asked, even though he already knew the answer.
“Well, there’s everything that’s happened. She was like a wolf, growling and attacking Paavo –”
“She wasn’t herself then. You know that. Kari had her under his control.”
“But she’s such a strange one,” Henrik insisted. “Her and her brother both, even before you went looking for them.”
“She had her reasons,” said Tuomas. “I know her. I’ve spent time with her.”
“As have I,” Henrik replied, somewhat snappishly. “She came to Akerfjorden before. She was even on the migration years ago, back when your poor mother was pregnant with you. I traded with her for some fish hooks. Then she delivered you.”
“I know. But you haven’t lived with her like I have. It’s different.” Tuomas glanced at him. “Do you not want me to be her apprentice now?”
“Don’t be childish.”
“I’m not being childish. I’m asking a question.”
“You’re being insolent,” Henrik said. “But you’re a man now, you can choose to do what you want.”
“You’re the one who said I was still a boy. And you told me to ask her,” Tuomas argued.
Henrik crossly brushed him off. “But with all this going on; a soul plague… You know my opinion of her. Too powerful. No good will come of it.”
“I’ve heard that before, Henrik.”
“Need I remind you of what happened? How do we know she hasn’t followed in her brother’s footsteps? Done something wicked?”
“How do we know she has? You’re jumping to conclusions. I didn’t trust her last time. I’m not making the same mistake now.”
“It’s not a mistake if it’s well founded.”
Tuomas looked straight at Henrik. “I know you don’t like her, but she would never do something like that. Never. Are you saying all this because you mean it, or because you’re jealous?”
“Mind your tongue! What would I have to be jealous about?” Henrik snapped. “To have no family? No home? No village to care for and act as a mage should?”
“To be touched by the Great Bear Spirit?” Tuomas retorted. “Or maybe you’re afraid of her?”
His words seemed to cut through to the old mage, because he turned away. But before he did, his eyes changed, and Tuomas noticed it as though he’d slapped him.
“Are you afraid of me, too?”
Henrik cleared his throat and shot him the quickest of glances.
“By the Spirits, Henrik,” Tuomas breathed. “Don’t be afraid of me. I’m still just me.”
“Let’s not talk about her anymore,” said Henrik, softer now.
Tuomas wanted to press him, but he let it lie. A tangle of unease grew in his stomach like a hairball. Henrik was scared. Everyone was. The only one who
wasn’t treating him any differently was Elin.
She was on the journey with you, he reasoned. She knows what happened; she saw it. She knows you.
But that didn’t help. All the others, most of whom he’d been around his entire life, should have known him too.
He set his attention on the herd in the distance. It had stopped moving now; with every step they took, the dark mass grew larger. The tents glowed from the fires within them, but Tuomas knew that was no guarantee that anyone would still be awake. He could tell from the position of the stars how long he and Henrik had been gone.
The tundra dipped into a gentle slope and the two of them leaned forward, letting the skis carry them smoothly down. The tents were up and fires spread a welcoming orange over the land
“Anyway,” Tuomas said, “the Sun Spirit told me it’s caused by something older than a mage.”
“Then what is it?” Henrik asked quietly.
Tuomas kept his eyes on the camp.
“She said something about creatures from the void between the Worlds,” he said. “She called them draugars.”
Henrik’s eyes widened. “Impossible. Those are things of fireside tales.”
“It’s what she said,” Tuomas insisted. “And she mentioned something alive, yet not alive… I didn’t really understand. I suppose I’ll just have to ask Lilja.”
Chapter Nine
It was a restless evening. As soon as they arrived at the camp, Tuomas and Henrik shared a quick meal of dried char, then he left the old mage in bed while he prepared to leave. He went to the sleighs and pulled aside a small one filled with spare tent poles and tarp. It was a perfect size for a small journey, so he emptied the contents into a neighbouring one. When it was cleared, he raided the food sacks and dug out some smoked reindeer and ptarmigan strips. When he was sure he had all he would need, he drew a tarp over the top and went to his tent.
Elin lay on one side of the fire, and Paavo on the other, snoring softly. They had laid out Tuomas’s sleeping sack too and left it ready for him.
He crept closer to get a better look at Paavo. His skin was still pale and tiny blood vessels were visible underneath it, but he had thankfully lost the blue in his lips. Tuomas wiped a few specks of blood off his chin and sat back on his haunches. He had never seen Paavo so thin. It was as though the muscle had simply dropped off him in a matter of days.
In his sleep, Paavo let out a weak cough, then rolled over and curled himself closer to the fire. The movement made him seem so small, like a child somehow trapped in a larger body.
Anger wrenched through Tuomas as he imagined the souls within Paavo, struck with illness, struggling to stay together inside their host. He was still young – only twenty-five years old. He should be looking for a nice girl, planning his own family, not struggling to breathe like a fish pulled from a lake.
“What’s the matter?”
He jumped in fright and almost fell over into the tarp wall. Across the hearth, Elin had awoken and propped herself up on her elbows.
“Sorry,” she mouthed. “Do you want to go outside? Talk?”
Tuomas shook his head and crawled to her, being careful where he laid his feet so he didn’t make any noise.
“I need to speak to Lilja,” he whispered. “I’m going tomorrow. I’ll catch up with the herd later.”
“Why Lilja?” Elin asked through a yawn. “Does she know why all the kids are sick?”
“Apparently.”
“Alright. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Tuomas caught her meaning immediately. “You’re not coming.”
She shot him a pointed look. “Watch me.”
“It’s just for a couple of days. They’ll have left Poro by now, I’m only going to be a few miles to the west,” he argued. “There’s no point in you coming.”
“But I want to,” she replied, “so I’m going to.”
With that, she laid back down in her sleeping sack.
Tuomas looked at her incredulously. “You’re impossible.”
She didn’t reply, so he got to his feet and gave her a gentle kick in the side. “Nobody falls asleep that fast.”
“Then shut up so I can,” she muttered.
Tuomas rolled his eyes and settled into his own sack, throwing another log on the fire as he did. Orange sparks flew into the air and disappeared through the smoke hole. He watched them soar, like miniature Sun beams, and mingle with the stars, before his eyes closed and he drifted away with them.
The last thing he heard was a faint cough from Elin.
They rose early, long before dawn had broken the horizon, and immediately set to work. After breakfast, Tuomas and Elin helped strike the camp, unravelling the tarp from around the tent poles and folding it all down to fit neatly into the sleighs. Everyone knew their jobs, honed from generations’ worth of experience, and all were ready to move on before the reindeer had even finished foraging.
Paavo stumbled his way forward. Aslak and Anssi ran over and each pulled an arm across their shoulders to steady him.
“I can get there myself,” Paavo insisted.
“I’m sure you can, but we’re helping anyway,” replied Anssi.
They didn’t let go of Paavo until he was in a sleigh and covered with blankets. Paavo angrily waved Aslak away, but then curled over and coughed so hard, he retched.
Tuomas watched as the other youngsters made their way to the convoy. His breath caught in his throat. So many of them were struggling to walk. Practically every child was wrapped in all the layers which could be found, and some of the teenagers and young adults were as ashen as a corpse. Their lips had turned pale and their eyes were so bruised, they looked as though they had aged overnight. All were coughing.
Anxiety pressed on his chest. They had covered a fair distance from Akerfjorden now, but they still needed to get over the mountains and then down again to the coast. How were they going to manage?
An even darker thought passed his mind. How many were going to survive?
He went to the sleigh he had set aside the night before and threw his sleeping sack inside. Henrik, Maiken, Sisu and Mihka hovered nearby.
“This is twice in the same winter you’re heading out to find Lilja,” Sisu remarked.
“Well, at least this time, Mihka’s awake,” Tuomas replied with a small smile.
Mihka narrowed his eyes at him, trying to hold back a cough. His face was almost as white as his hair.
The sight was painful. Only a night had passed since he’d been able to hike beside Tuomas, and now he could barely stand. Sisu put an arm around him; Mihka melted into the embrace and clutched at his father’s side like a child. He didn’t bother trying to hide it: he was scared.
Maiken stepped forward so she could whisper to Tuomas.
“Before you go, isn’t there anything you can do for them?” she asked.
“Henrik can keep giving them the tea,” Tuomas said as steadily as he could manage. “It will take the edge off –”
“No, not like that,” Maiken said. “I mean you. Can you do anything?”
Tuomas swallowed anxiously. “I don’t think so.”
Her face fell. “But you’re –”
“Still just a mage,” he cut in. “Maiken, please don’t think I’m any different. I’m still figuring out how it all works myself. I can’t just snap my fingers and everyone will be healed.”
“Isn’t the Sun Spirit the one responsible for healing?” she pressed. “If you’re her son, then maybe you’ll have the power to fix it.”
“And maybe I don’t,” Tuomas replied. “I don’t know what I can do. The best way I can help people right now is speak to Lilja and see what she knows.”
Maiken looked at him searchingly, but she could tell from his firm expression that he meant it.
“You’re right,” she said. “I just hope she does know something. And that we’re the only village who have been struck with… whatever this illness is.”
Tuomas offered her a small sm
ile and lowered his head in respect. To his surprise, she did the same, followed by Sisu.
Tuomas swallowed. It was usually everyone else who bowed to the leaders, not the other way around. And he’d only seen them bend that deeply when the Lights appeared.
He bit his lip. Not just with the Lights, but when a Spirit was among them.
He waited in uncomfortable silence until they straightened up.
“I won’t be long,” he promised.
“We,” Elin called, walking over with her own sleeping sack. She removed her bow from her shoulder in mid-stride and tossed everything into the sleigh beside Tuomas’s belongings.
“Yes, we,” Tuomas conceded.
He spotted a nearby reindeer bearing his earmark and pointed it out to her. A bell hung on a length of fabric around its neck: a sign that it had been trained to pull. Elin grabbed a lasso, threw it, and it flew perfectly over the animal’s head.
She reeled the reindeer close, dragged it to the sleigh and hitched it up to the poles. It was a male – taking a female would have put unnecessary strain on her and the unborn calf. It snorted and pawed at the snow, but soon calmed, and Elin pulled some lichen out of a sack to feed it from her hand.
Tuomas noticed Mihka pouting at Elin, but ignored him.
“We’ll meet you further along the route,” he said. He clambered into the sleigh, elbowing a tent pole out of the way as he sat down. Henrik approached and laid a hand on his arm.
“I’ll do my best to keep the sickness under control,” he said, “but get back here as soon as you can.”
“What if you reach the mountains before we do?” Tuomas asked. “There’s no way we’ll catch up with you.”
“Don’t try to. Stay with the Poro herd when you reach them,” said Sisu. “If we all make haste, nobody will be waiting too long. We’ll just camp at the coast until we’re together.”
Tuomas nodded. It wasn’t the best plan, but nothing would be perfect in these circumstances.
Henrik tapped his hand to get his attention again.