Tiili looked around in fright. “How am I to live in such an unfamiliar world?” she asked herself.
And then, quietly anxious: “What will Mother say about what I did today?”
“That was necessary, you know that!” Marco said quickly. “I wanted it as little as you, but ...”
His phrasing was a bit unfortunate. She turned her head and looked at him with an unhappy expression in her eyes.
“You know what I mean,” he said in a low voice, his words meant only for her ears. “You know that I didn’t want to take away your virginity, but since we were in a situation where there was no choice, I wanted to be ... with you.”
She sat for a moment, frozen and dismissive, as though she blamed herself for what had happened, but then Marco caressed her cheek and she looked at him shyly, then quickly looked away and then back again. A small smile hovered on her lips.
“You and me,” he whispered in her ear. “It will be our little secret.”
Well, that wasn’t entirely true because there were several who had grasped what had taken place in the red tunnel. But his words consoled Tiili. Like a child, she leaned her head against his shoulder and relaxed.
“Help me,” she whispered quietly. “I’m afraid ... of this world.”
“If we are allowed to keep this world, you will always be able to count on me,” Marco said just as quietly “I will be by your side whenever you need me.”
“I will always need you,” she said, so faintly that he had to guess her words.
It was a bewitching moment, he thought. Marco wasn’t spoiled when it came to such situations. Their first encounter had been so rushed, so brutally intimate, and a complete shock to them both. But now she sought him, told him that she had forgiven him, perhaps more than that. Perhaps chose him?
Thousands of girls had had crushes on Marco through the years. But he hadn’t allowed himself to get involved with anyone and hadn’t liked them either, not in the right way. He had just felt a longing. The human part of him had had the restless human tendency to long to share love with the one and only.
He just hadn’t found anyone whom he had dared to love. He knew that he was immortal, while an ordinary girl would grow old and die before him.
But what was Tiili’s situation?
He didn’t know. All he knew was that he felt a warm sense of devotion to her.
And that made him uneasy for the future.
Tova woke him from his thoughts. She was paying close attention to something.
“Marco, listen!”
He immediately obeyed. “Yes, I hear them! They are signals coming from Nataniel!”
Ellen jumped up and came closer. The entire group concentrated on what was going on.
“Nataniel,” Ellen whispered. “He’s alive! Thank God! What kind of signals are they?”
“He needs help,” Marco answered.
“Oh no!” Ellen gasped. “We must rush over there!”
“No, no, not that kind of help. Everyone be quiet, now, so that Tova and I can receive the signals!”
It grew deadly quiet. Marco frowned. The others didn’t know that it had to do with the information about the hell hounds helping Nataniel. Then it was quiet for a moment, and Tova and Marco relaxed.
“The exchange is over,” said Marco. “Nataniel wants to get into telepathic contact with Rune.”
“Rune?” said Halkatla. “I wouldn’t mind that either!”
“Calm down, now,” said Marco, smiling. “I’m going to try to contact Rune. Nataniel sends his greetings to you all, and especially to Ellen.”
“Thank you! Oh, thank you!”
They let Marco sink into the strange world of telepathy.
After a while Tova started. “He’s sending another message.”
“Could you take it? I don’t have time.”
Tova collected herself. She looked so concentrated that Villemo had difficulty keeping a straight face.
Then Tova sighed. “The time is approaching,” she said softly, so as not to disturb Marco. “I have been given orders to prepare Shira.”
“Help!” said Gabriel tonelessly, swallowing.
Tova concentrated on contacting Shira and she quickly succeeded. It was harder for Marco to locate Rune.
But soon the mandrake man was there with his squeaky voice, and Marco asked him to seek Nataniel’s thoughts.
Everyone discovered that they had been holding their breath for quite a long time. There was an audible sigh from them all once the tense moment had passed.
“Now I’m going up to look for Nataniel,” said Ellen resolutely.
This time Marco didn’t stop her. Instead he got to his feet and the others followed suit.
“Yes, we may just as well start heading there,” he said, “because things are starting to happen there now.”
It was as though the entire group had gained new strength. They streamed up towards the highest point on the cliff overhang, from where the wide expanse of the moor stretched before them. The May night had already changed: though it was still night, the light was strong.
They were much better able to see the snowy weather from there. It lay heavily across the tops, creating grey-white curtains over the slopes. Had anyone seen them now they would have thought a handful of people were making their way towards the moor. But there were, in fact, more like a hundred of them.
There is so much an ordinary person can’t see, and that might be for the best.
Marco had to be free to concentrate, so Ian carried Tiili on his back. She sat there looking with bewilderment at the flock surrounding her. And when her gaze happened to meet Marco’s she lit up in a quick smile that made her finely chiselled features irresistible.
“You weigh nothing, my girl,” said Ian.
At which she smiled a little. Then she became serious, thoughtful. “It was precisely along this road that I walked with the ... horrible one, back then.”
“Don’t think too much about it.”
“I don’t have that many other memories to think about,” she said.
“Then try to remember the beautiful ones.”
“I will gladly do that.”
To which she added silently to herself, “But the most beautiful one is completely new!”
Out loud she said with a clear shudder, “So you think he has come back? Is he up there? Where are we going?”
“We won’t expose you to any danger, don’t be afraid of that,” said Ian, mustering up all the reassurance he could in his voice.
But she wasn’t entirely reassured.
Ellen stopped. “I’m worried.”
“Me, too,” said Marco. “Come, let’s hurry!”
“But can we enter the mountain?”
“No, but perhaps we will receive a message.”
They didn’t. But something else came instead ...
Everybody