The Falcons of Fire and Ice - By Karen Maitland Page 0,161

own hearth.

‘Help us,’ Hinrik whispered.

Shakily I walked across to Eydis. It was only a few paces, yet somehow I couldn’t think how to move. Sweat was running down my face and my back was soaked with it. I crumpled down on to the rock. Eydis placed the beaker between us. Through her thick veil I could see a glint of her eyes watching me, but I knew she would not force me to drink. She would wait for me to choose.

I was shaking so much I had to grasp the beaker in both hands. I was afraid I would spill it all. I sniffed at it and caught the tang of stale sweat – valerian! I almost smiled; that was the herb Marc0s had picked when poor Fausto had accused him of trying to poison us. But there was something else in this dark liquid too, something I did not recognize.

Hinrik was standing behind Eydis. This time his whisper was so faint, I only saw his lips moving, but I knew what he was begging me to do. Eydis touched her hand again to her heart, swearing. The falcons. She would give me the falcons! I raised the beaker, and without giving myself time to think, I gulped the bitter liquid.

For a moment or two I had to fight to stop myself vomiting, but I managed to master it. The flames in Unnur’s cooking fire were spinning around the dark walls, the floor of the cave tipped sideways, and for a moment I thought the cave must be shaking again, but no one else seemed to notice. I was so dizzy I had to lie down. My eyes closed.

I am standing in the forest. Not a single star pierces the thick blackness. It’s as if all the light in the world and in the heavens above has been snuffed out. The branches of the trees creak in the wind. The dry leaves whirl around me, stinging my skin. But I am alone. No family hurries beside me. I cling to the rough trunk. My eyes ache as I strain into the darkness. My stomach clenches as I wait in terror for the men who will emerge from behind the rough trunks, but they don’t come. I don’t know what to do, where to go. I’m more afraid, now that I am alone, than I had been when I was running from the men. It’s as if I have been severed from life.

‘You have courage. I sensed that the moment I felt you step on to this land. You have courage, but you must find more.’

I spin round, but can see no one.

‘Eydis?’ I ask. ‘Where are you?’

‘Where you are. But you must listen – there is little time. We need to tell you what you must do.’

‘But I can’t do anything to help you. Hinrik is dead. I can’t bring him back to life. I have to leave the cave and find the white falcons. Hinrik said you would give them to me. I need two white falcons to save my father’s life and the lives of others too. Please, if you know where the falcons are, you have to tell me.’

I gaze around desperately trying to see her, but I can see nothing except the trees. Yet her strong voice weaves in and out through the moaning wind and the shivering branches.

‘We know what you seek, but unless you help us, you will not live to help your father. Listen to us, Isabela. The spirit of the dead man who lies in the cave has entered the body of my sister, Valdis. As long as the iron circle remains unbroken around Valdis’s body, the draugr’s spirit cannot leave the cave. But if we are freed from the iron, then the draugr’s spirit will be freed to leave the cave.

‘The mountain of fire is stirring and the water in the pool is answering. You felt the cave shake. The water is heating fast, soon the cave will be filled with scalding steam and every living thing in it will perish. That is why Fannar wants to break the iron hoops, so that Valdis and I can escape before we die.

‘But once outside the cave I will be unable to control the spirit in my sister. If we are released, then we will be dragged by him into malice and evil for generations to come. We will not be able to die. We will be forced to commit acts of terrible