Benlunar - The Winter Special
It’s Winter in Benlunar!
The cold of the mountain bites with icicle teeth
Sharp and bitter it cuts like dagger in sheath
Benlunar folk know to stay home by the hearth
Swapping stories and songs until the season is past
Some legends are false but others might be true
What you believe of course is up to you
But when the sun is gone and taken the warmth with her
It’s hard to tell truth from lies in the darkness of winter
The snow was well into its third day of falling. The first night had been a delight. The second a site but the third was a nuisance. The residents of Benlunar were at this moment trudging through the knee high drift, on their way to the town square, getting soaked socks and shivery fingers. The sun was once again setting into the valley behind a thick layer of grey cloud, like a gold coin disappearing into the Stave Church’s money box. Chloe and George Bergren stamped their feet at the Church entrance, hoping to dislodge the worst of the snow and suffer less wetness during the upcoming service. They were nervous. This was their tenth winter in Benlunar, but the first where they were expected to perform in the Lang Natt show. They had been practising for weeks and now the whole town was finding their seats in the cavernous circular hall. Thankfully, the church hall was heated by four large fireplaces around the edges, behind the banks of seats. Chloe admired the beautiful candle arrangements in the suspended chandeliers and George reached out to see if a sprig of holly was still sharp. It was and he pulled his finger back quickly, putting it into his mouth and tasting a drop of blood.
“Ninny.” his sister whispered. George glared at her, pulled his other hand back and went to hit her arm but his strike was swiftly caught by his mother.
“Enough.” she spoke sharply, cutting the fight short. Now was not the time for nonsense. Now was the time for focus and best behaviour. Brother Thomas was there, greeting everyone in his traditional robes of white and green. Some of the other children involved in the show were sitting to one side and upon seeing them come in Brother Thomas signalled for Chloe and George to join them.
Chloe didn’t like sitting on the floor, the stone was cold and her knees always ached from sitting cross legged. George didn’t seem to mind, he plonked his bottom next to Anna Grevling and began to trace the words and patterns on the stones with his finger. Once everybody had set their gloves and hats to dry by the various fires they found their seats. The hubbub of the crowd settled down and Brother Thomas addressed the town.
“Friends, families, neighbours, welcome! The last of the visitors are gone, the leaves have all fallen and winter is once again with us. I’d ask you if it was still snowing out there but I think half of it might have just been brought into the hall!” There was a ripple of polite laughter. “But though the mountain may be cold, my heart is made warm by the sea of familiar faces before me. I’m not going to lie to you, it has not been an easy year.” George and Chloe looked up to the crowd and saw several solemn faces and nodding heads. Brother Thomas elaborated. “Our community has suffered tragedy.” Chloe saw Brother Thomas glance briefly at a middle aged woman. “And we’ve had loved ones move away.” he continued, smiling at the man and woman next to her. Chloe looked to her classmates and was reminded that they were missing two people. Kilde Vichas and Lilian Lausanne. No wonder the show felt so empty this year. George was secretly happy that Lilian had moved away, she would only have ruined the show. Brother Thomas shifted the mood, “But we have also had boons. Eva and Alex have recently welcomed a new little one into our community.” There was a small round of applause and murmurs of congratulations, “And who could forget the generosity of our visitors this summer?” The applause grew louder and even Chloe and George smiled at the shared good fortune. When the various in jokes and pats on the backs ceased Brother Thomas continued. “But tonight is not about the past. It is about our current predicament!” He said this with a wide smile on his face and the townsfolk all giggled and shot knowing looks at the younger members of the congregation. “Yes, friends we seem to be experiencing a spot of bother. Our good friend the sun has disappeared!” Some of the crowd gasped in mock horror, “Indeed! A real tragedy. However! All hope is not lost. Tonight marks one week until Lang Natt which means there is still time to convince the sun to come back to us! We do this of course by singing, dancing, telling stories and showing her that Benlunar is a place of love and warmth, filled with fun, friends and family. And! If we do well, which I have every confidence that we will, then the sun will be back to brighten our days in the spring. So! Friends, I have this favour to ask of you. Will you help me to show the sun what she is missing??” There was a loud cheer from the town. “Then I hereby declare the week of Lang Natt started!” An even louder cheer resounded around the hall and the small orchestra seated near the children began to play. This was Chloe and George’s cue to stand up and begin the show.
Their song and story went off without too many hitches. A few fluffed lines and a couple of wardrobe issues were the only real errors. This year the children were telling the tale of when Caroditte, the heroine, outsmarted Enoch, God of Chaos. Enoch had appeared to her in the form of a black heron and promised to end the plague in Caroditte’s village. Enoch of course was only pretending to be nice to distract everyone from his trickery. Caroditte agreed to his terms but only if she could watch him work his magic. With Caroditte following him closely at all times, he was unable to slip away and so the village was saved thanks to her patience and persistence. Chloe looked on with envious eyes at the girl who played Caroditte. She was two years older and had memorised all her lines in just three days. George was distracted by a tear in his costume which threatened to undermine his role as villager number three.
“Alas Caroditte, my three children are too sick to enjoy the Lang Natt bread you have so graciously given.” he said confidently when his time came to repeat the line. Chloe had no lines but she had the very important job of holding Enoch’s wings for whenever he appeared. She enjoyed the boos and jeers the puppet received each time it reared its ugly head. The piece ended with another song, the chorus of which was sung by everyone in the church. When it was finished the room clapped and cheered and celebrated the young storytellers and the triumph of cleverness over chaos.
Brother Thomas stepped forward once more and applauded his appreciation along with the rest of the crowd. Once the children of Benlunar had taken their seats on the stone floor again, he turned back to the audience, took a deep breath and looked as though he was about to say something. He was distracted, however, by movement and a small shuffling sound. The crowd followed his gaze to one of the entrances to the circle where a woman was walking into the empty space. Everyone in the town recognized her as Mrs Thoresan. She was the old lady who lived in the big house near the mountain path. A smattering of whispers and shrugs spread through the audience as she made her way slowly towards the centre of the hall. She was wearing a traditional Benlunar dress, beautifully crafted in dark blue and red colours with white flowers stitched along the hems and sleeves. She approached Brother Thomas with a kind smile on her face, took his hand in hers and patted it gently signifying her thanks and respect. Brother Thomas gave her a small bow in return and she gestured for him to take his seat which he graciously did. Mrs Thoresan then turned to bow to the children by way of thanks. Chloe and George flushed with embarrassment, they turned to each other, wide eyed and smiling. This acknowledgement from an elder was a great honour and its importance was not lost on any of the young performers. She then turned back to the crowd. Everyone was waiting with baited breath to hear what she had to say, but they would have to wait just a while longer as Mrs Thoresan raised her arms up to the sky, her fingers spread wide and closed her eyes. She remained motionless for a second, in silent meditation. Some people joined her in closing their eyes, breathing deeply and remaining still as was the way of the Nocta. George did not close his eyes. So he was amazed to witness the candles begin to dim and the hall darken as Mrs Thoresan slowly brought her hands down with a long exhalation of her breath. When the lights were low and the people were ready. She began her story.
“Where do shadows go when it is dark? During these long winter nights, we might ask ourselves such questions. Each year we tell the tale of the sleeping sun, how she must be roused from slumber and return to bring us brightness. But we have forgotten the whole story. There is another player in this pageant. We spoke of him when I was little but with every winter since his name was mentioned less and less. I can see on some of your faces that you know of whom I speak, although you may not remember his name for you were barely babes when it was spoken last. The dark emissary of the sun, the shadow man, Navnghast.”
A chill wind whistled around the hall, Chloe pulled her costume tightly around her shoulders. She didn’t like scary stories, and this was starting to feel like a scary story. Mrs Thoresan continued.
“Yes. I see that you remember now. You know that to ask that the sun return to us is selfish really. Why should she shine on us when we behave so irresponsibly in her light and heat. That is why when she disappears she sends Navnghast. He goes door to door under cover of darkness, of which he himself is made, taking names and passing judgement on those who have been bad. If you earn the light of the sun by being kind and showing virtue then he will pass by your door. You may even receive a little gift the morning after Lang Natt, if you are very lucky.” She winked at a little girl sitting in the audience who was gripping her mother’s skirt in fright. “But…” she turned quickly back to the crowd, her eyes narrowed in suspicion, “if you are judged and found unworthy of the Sun’s light then Navnghast will put your name on his scroll, he will enter your home, he will find you sleeping and…” the audience collectively leaned forward so as to catch every word, “he will place something under your bed. And there it will sit for five long days, lest you upset him further and he takes you away. What is it? You ask, what will I dread to find beneath my bed? You can fight and you can wish but you cannot avoid the terrible, stinking… fish!” At that moment, Mrs Thoresan reached into her sleeve and pulled out a real fish. The crowd gasped and laughed in shock. The front row reeled back in mock terror as she brandished it at them and wriggled it in their faces. She laughed at their fear and the tension disappeared from the hall. Even the candles seemed to glow brighter. The Benlunar townsfolk clapped and cheered at the story, so expertly told. Many figured that Brother Thomas had been in on the joke the whole time and they swapped reactions and mock warnings with each other as they slowly left the church and headed home. Chloe and George teased each other mercilessly, each claiming that the other had been more scared of the story and its shadowy protagonist. Friends and neighbours waved goodbye as they carved paths to their front doors through the ever deepening snow. That night, Benlunar slept peacefully. Chloe and George wrapped themselves in wool blankets and drifted into dreamful slumber. Everyone in the town was blissfully ignorant of any strangeness happening in the night. And so it wasn’t until the next morning that every house in Benlunar discovered the fishes that had been nailed to their front doors.
In George and Chloe’s household it was their mother who found their fish first. It was a rather large, pink bellied salmon, kept fresh by the cold. It took her several tries to pull the nail out but eventually it came loose. She brought the fish in and plonked it onto the kitchen table with a wet slap. Like many other residents she simply assumed that some silly kids had played a trick on them. She even briefly considered that it might be her own twins that were responsible. But their expressions of genuine surprise at the sight of it told her that that couldn’t be true.
“Was it Navnghast??” asked George, prodding the fish’s eye with his finger.
“Of course not,” said his mother, slapping his hand away. “It will be the Borvild boys playing pranks.” George was not convinced. Chloe, the more curious of the two opened the front door and looked down their street. They lived in the eastern part of Benlunar, where the houses were squat and tightly packed together.
“They’re on all the doors Mama!” she squealed in delight. Their mother had been so distracted by their own fish, that she had failed to notice the others. George ran to look, gulped and whispered to himself:
“Navnghast.”
A town meeting was called that afternoon. Some people actually brought their fish to the Stave Church. Someone was sent to find Mrs Thoresan but she was not in her house. A group was put together to find her but after scouring the entire town, she was nowhere to be found. Some people were angry, as if this was some joke in poor taste meant to scare their children. Others thought it was funny, even if just for the impressiveness of the feat. Some took it very seriously indeed and vowed to keep their fish under their beds for the next five nights, for fear of further retribution from some fabled bogeyman. Brother Thomas was expected to provide people with answers but even the Stave Church had had a minnow pinned to its door and he was just as confused as everyone else. One thing was agreed upon by all, the telling of the Navnghast story and the appearance of the fish was not a coincidence.
The children of Benlunar held their own meeting at the same time, although theirs had a very different atmosphere to it. Packed in like sardines, if you’ll excuse the phrase, into Eddy Vakker’s treehouse, a group of seven young friends heatedly discussed their theories.
“I think it was Mrs Thoresan.” said Ben.
“Don’t be silly,” rebuked his younger sister Kara, “She’s too old! She would have frozen to death after the first ten fishes.”
“I think it was my Dad. He goes fishing all the time.” said little Tim as he chewed on a liquorice root.
“Yes but he doesn’t have anywhere to store a hundred fish does he?” asked George.
“No. We have an attic. It’s dark up there.”
“What if…” interrupted Chloe, “It WAS Mrs Thoresan, but she didn’t do it herself?” This suggestion gave the group pause.
“What do you mean?” asked Sara Smorkopp, the eldest of the group and the heroine in last night’s show.
“Well, we all know that Mrs Thoresan is magic.” The group nodded, this was common knowledge in the Benlunar playground.
“She’s a witch!” Tim squealed in delight.
“But a good one.” said Ben to more nods and affirmative mumbles. Chloe continued with her theory:
“So what if she worked with someone, or something, to make sure Benlunar got taught a lesson.” The group did not want to speak the name that was on the tip of their tongues. It was George who braved the words first:
“Do you mean… Navnghast?”
“Maybe.” said Chloe. “Or some other spirits or even... demons.” The liquorice stick fell out of Tim’s mouth.
“It doesn’t make sense.” said Eddy, petulantly. “Mrs Thoresan said that Navnghast gives people fish if they’ve been bad. But every house in Benlunar got one. They can’t all be bad can they?” The children thought a while. Chloe and George swapped concerned looks. Sara Smorkopp pulled her periwinkle blue shawl over her blonde hair and spoke resolutely.
“If we’re going to know who's responsible then that’s what we have to find out. What has Benlunar done to have received this judgement.” The group split into teams. Ben and Kara were tasked with finding Mrs Thoresan and asking her about Navnghast. Tim and Eddy were to speak to Tim’s father and find out where all the fish could have come from. Chloe, George and Sara were to interview the residents of Benlunar and come up with reasons why the town had been judged by Navnghast. They all agreed to meet back at the tree house just before sun down to discuss their findings.
“Who do you think we should ask first?” enquired George as he and the two girls trudged through the snow to the centre of town. The sky was still cloudy but thankfully it had stopped snowing. Even so, the three of them pulled their thick coats tight to stave off the cold. The sleepy sun was low in the sky, a bright white circle in the clouds barely illuminating the path ahead.
“I’m not sure.” admitted Sara who was confidently carving a path for the smaller siblings. Chloe was about to suggest a few names when she saw someone up ahead. It was a young woman who she did not recognise. She was walking very slowly through the snow, carrying something round and pink. Occasionally she would slip and scream and throw her free arm up in the air to redress her balance.
“Who is that?” whispered Chloe. Her brother and Sara shrugged. As they drew closer, George squinted and stared at the struggling lady.
“Is she carrying a pig?” Chloe looked back at her and saw that the pink thing under her arm was indeed a little pig. It was wearing a comical little red coat and its nose had a small icicle hanging off the end of it. It was obvious to the kids why the lady was carrying it; if it was allowed to walk on the ground it would have been swallowed by the snow.
“Are you alright Miss?” asked Sara as they approached.
“Oh! Hello. Um, yes I think so. This path is quite slippery isn’t it?” She took a few shaky steps towards them and checked her pig to see if it was still safe.
“You need some hobnails.” said George.
“Some what?” George and Chloe lifted their feet to show the woman the soles of their boots. They were studded with little spikes that made navigating the snow much easier.
“Well look at that.” said the woman, her cheeks were flushed red from the effort of walking.
“What are you three doing out in the snow? You’ll catch a chill if you’re not careful.”
“We’re asking people about the fish on their doors.” said Chloe.
“We’re trying to find out why Benlunar has been bad.” George added, bluntly.
“But we’re not sure where to start.” admitted Sara.
The woman considered their reason.
“Yes it is strange isn’t it? I’m afraid I don’t know, I’m still quite new to Benlunar you see.” The children weren’t going to say anything, but that much had been obvious from her lack of skill in navigating the snow. “But I suppose if I was you,” she continued, “I would start at the heart of the town.” George screwed up his face in thought.
“Oh!” Chloe gasped in sudden realisation, “The Fox & Octopus!”
“Yes!” agreed Sara. They looked back at the woman and her little pig to see her smiling.
“That was my thinking.” she said. The children thanked her for the inspiration and walked past her, each scratching her pig’s chin or patting his head as they passed by.
“By the way,” she called out to them as they walked away, “Where can I get some of those boots?”
The Fox & Octopus was Benlunar’s primary drinking establishment. Rain or shine, snow or no its doors were open to weary travellers and locals alike. It was still morning so the main room was empty. The inn’s owners, Xander and Liny were busy installing a large barrel behind the bar. The empty one lay to one side, ready to go back down into the cellar for the winter. The three children stomped the snow off their boots as they crossed the threshold. The sound distracted Xander momentarily and the barrel nearly slipped from his grasp.
“Watch out!” shouted Liny.
“Sorry sorry! Be right with you kids!” The young ones happily installed themselves next to the burning fire, taking off their boots and warming their socks on the crackling heat. A large moose’s head, mounted on the wall, stared down at them from above the hearth. George admired its antlers, each one was bigger than his leg.
“How can we help?” asked Xander, smiling politely at the three friends, “can I get you a drink? Some Blackberry fire perhaps?” George smiled and was about to agree to the recommendation but Sara cut him off.
“I’m afraid we’re here on important business Mr Xander.”
“Oh… I see. Well how can I help then?” Liny came over, intrigued by the young girl’s official sounding tone.
“You have many patrons in this establishment every night do you not?”
“We close early on Mondays,” confirmed Liny, “but, yes, I suppose we do.”
“We were wondering,” said Chloe, her feet dangling off the edge of the soft armchair, “if you’ve heard or seen anything that might explain why everyone received a fish this morning?” The couple looked at each other, earnest and confused expressions on their faces. Xander turned back to the little girl,
“What do you mean exactly?” It was George who replied,
“Why would a spirit think Benlunar has been bad?” This seemed to make more sense to Xander who leaned back with his hands on his hips and considered the question.
“I suppose,” he said looking at his wife for affirmation, “that it would all depend on whose perspective you were looking at.” The children swapped excited looks,
“Perspective?” Sara parroted.
“Oh yes,” said Liny, “You see, what might be good for one is not necessarily good for another. The wolves are happy to find a lonely deer in the woods, but is the deer happy to be found by the wolves?” The flames were reflecting in her eyes, giving them a strangely menacing glow. George felt a shiver run down his spine, despite the heat of the fire. He glanced up to the moose, wondering if it had been happy to spy the hunter.
“So you’re saying that someone, or something, might be upset by something good that Benlunar has done?” asked Sara.
“It’s possible.” Xander crossed his arms in thought, “I certainly can’t think of anything evil that the town has done on purpose.”
“Can I just ask?” Liny spoke up and the children turned to look at her, “Who do you think was responsible for the fish.” George, Chloe and Sara all looked at each other. They were nervous to give their theory, for fear of sounding silly. It was Chloe who put it best,
“We were remembering Mrs Thoresan’s story about the demon who puts fish under the beds of bad people…” she trailed off, leaving the inn’s owners to fill in the rest. They both nodded in understanding.
“Well,” said Liny, clapping her hands together, “if that story has brought you here, then I’m afraid you’re in the wrong place.”
“Why?” asked George.
“Because we don’t deal in those kinds of spirits.”
The door of the Stave Church loomed tall and dark. Sara knocked on it hard with the base of her fist. The old wood shook on its hinges, sending a booming echo into the depths of the building. George picked his nose while they waited for a response. Chloe studied the intricate carvings of frogs that adorned the doors. Her favourite was a rather fat looking one with funny eyes on the bottom left.
“Maybe they’re out?” she suggested, but as soon as she stopped speaking the latch on the other side sounded and the doors opened revealing Brother Ulnar. At first he looked right above their heads in confusion, not seeing the three of them standing beneath him. But then he noticed them,
“Oh!” he exclaimed, “Good morning young ones.”
“Hello Brother.” said Sara, “may we come in? We have some questions for you and your brother.” Brother Ulnar stepped to one side and shut the door behind them. He led them down the entrance and into the main hall, muttering to himself as he went.
“Questions for the brothers. Well the brothers have questions, the books have the answers to most questions. But what if we question the books? Therein lies the path of the brothers hm?” Chloe didn’t realise that he was directing the question at her.
“Oh. Um, yes.” she said, unsure of how else to respond. Brother Ulnar brought the three of them to the church library, the door to which was at the back of the hall, near the entrance to the brother’s communal space. The door to the library was painted red and was slightly ajar. Sara had been in here before but it was George and Chloe’s first time inside. Chloe’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as Brother Ulnar pushed the door open to reveal a room nearly as tall as the central hall. Every wall was lined with shelves and on these shelves were hundreds and hundreds of books. Some of the shelves had broken under the weight of them. The colourful covers made the room look like it was mosaiced in bright bricks. It was warm in here, with a small fire burning brightly at the far end. A large armchair sat facing the flames. It was positioned on a well cleaned stone floor quite a distance from the fireplace. The fire itself was behind two layers of protective metal screens, extra precautions were necessary here considering the precious contents of the room. Nestled inside the armchair, covered in a patchwork blanket, reading a large book was Brother Thomas.
“Some young ones with questions brother.” said Brother Ulnar by way of introduction.
“Ah! Hello! Thank you Brother, I’ll be happy to answer their questions.” He stood up and bade the children to fetch chairs and stools so that they could all sit together. Once they were all comfortable Brother Ulnar shuffled off and the children explained their mission to Brother Thomas who smiled in understanding.
“I’ve been wondering exactly the same thing! I came in here to see if I could find any stories about this Navnghast character.” He gestured to a small pile of books lying on a table nearby, “I’ve found some mentions of the name but this is the oldest book I’ve found so far with the whole story.” The children looked at each other excitedly. George secretly hoped that they wouldn’t have to hear the story again, once had been enough.
“Can I see it?” asked Chloe.
“Yes of course, but please be careful, the parchment is extremely old.” Chloe took the book from him and Sara and George moved their chairs closer to hers. It had a black cover, tarnished by mold and damp and its corners were worn away. The pages within were in decent condition but they were yellow and brittle. Chloe could feel how fragile they were as she brushed her fingers over them. She read the title out loud.
“Northern Stories: A transcription of oral traditions from the mountains and valleys.”
“It doesn’t say who did the actual transcribing,” said Brother Thomas, “but Navnghast appears here.” He carefully turned the pages, revealing beautiful maps, illustrations of animals, starry skies and margins filled with little tadpoles. The curly cursive text filled the pages but Chloe could only read the occasional word. When Brother Thomas finally found the chapter he was looking for the pages were suspiciously void of pictures. The story started just like the others but it took several turns of the page to reveal the first and only illustration. Chloe nearly gasped at the site of it.
Staring back at her from the page was a dark and terrible figure. It had sad yellow eyes that stared painfully out of mottled skin. It was ancient, and it looked tired of being alive. On its back it carried a large hessian sack which it gripped between twiggy fingers. Its large dirty robe covered a pot belly and spindly legs stuck out from the bottom.
“Is that…?” George couldn’t finish the question.
“It is.” Confirmed Brother Thomas, “see, his name is here and here. The language is old but I have some experience reading it.” The group stared at the picture for some time.
“What is that beside his feet?” Sara pointed to a collection of brown and black boxes at the bottom of the page.
“I believe they are the houses he visits in the story.”
“Houses!?” shouted Chloe, “But they’re tiny.” The comment hung in the air while the children came to terms with what it meant.
“Brother Thomas,” Sara spoke with a tremble in her voice, “Does the story say anything about why he gives people fish?” Brother Thomas took the book back and turned the pages, trying to find a particular passage.
“This story is similar to the one told last night. It says it somewhere…” He ran his finger down a page until a word caught his eye. “Ah! Here we are. ‘And Navnghas gaiv them pesc,’ that’s an old word for fish, ‘and tol them to kaep it for five moons. For they haed don dark deeds and were thusly wharned.’ I’m afraid that’s all it says.”
George sighed, “Dark deeds could mean anything.” Brother Thomas shut the book slowly, making sure that none of the pages were caught in the folding.
“I always thought that the fish was a symbol, a representation of punishment or penance. It says that the people who get a fish must keep it for five days to atone for these dark deeds, whatever they may be. Now fish notoriously goes off quite quickly and to keep it under your bed for even one day would be tough enough, don’t you think?” The young ones smiled at the thought. “The story is mainly about how he was born,” Brother Thomas continued, “about how he was a greedy prince who gathered riches from his people and pretended to give them to the sun so that it would continue to shine, but in truth he kept the gold for himself. The sun punishes the people for believing the prince by disappearing for five days and she takes the prince with her and traps him in servitude. He is forced to judge the people every winter to see if they are worthy of the sun’s return. The bit about the fish is quite near the end and is generally considered, among the church, to be a symbol for time running out. It certainly was never thought to be a literal fish.” The children considered this.
“So if you don’t fix the problem after five days,” asked Chloe, “What happens?” Brother Thomas’ expression grew serious.
“I believe that is what the sack is for.”
The church doors shut behind them and Sara and the twins were once again out in the cold, fresh air. The sun was gone but the sky still kept a little light. The night would be upon them soon and with it, a deadly cold.
“So if we don’t find out what’s going on and fix it within five days,” said George, “We’re all going to end up in a sack??” Chloe would normally have laughed at her brother’s exaggeration, but the situation was just too serious.
“Let’s get back to the tree house,” said Sara, “maybe the others have found something.”
Tim, Eddy, Kara and Ben were already back at the treehouse, excitedly discussing their findings. George was last to poke his head up through the floor. He grabbed one of the blankets that Kara had brought with her and huddled around the three candles. They knew they could not stay out for long, but plans were plans and their findings begged to be shared. Ben and Kara unfortunately had no luck in finding Mrs Thoresan but they did manage to speak to her butler, Mr Stepson. Apparently he said that Mrs Thoresan often went missing and that she would be back in a few nights.
“Where does she go?” asked Chloe.
“He wasn’t sure.” said Kara, “Sometimes she stays with friends, sometimes she just disappears.”
“Once he said that he found her by the Padda Stone in the middle of the night.” said Ben.
“She’s a witch!” George exclaimed. And all nodded in agreement. Tim and Eddy had had more luck in their quest. Apparently, Tim’s father said that there was only one place near Benlunar that so much fresh fish could be caught at once.
“He calls it Lake Sitron and he says it’s filled with fish of all kinds,” Tim explained, his nose red and running, “but he says it’s an hour away from town.”
“And!” added Eddy, “he also said that it freezes over in the winter, so fishing is really hard.” The group thought on this information for a second.
“I still think it would be worth going to see it,” said Sara, “We might find something useful, a clue or something.” The rest of the group agreed and Sara went on to explain what they had found at the Stave Church library. She described the story and the picture of Navnghast in great detail, not forgetting to mention that their mission now had a time limit of five, no four days. The group then swapped theories and ideas as to what the ‘dark deeds’ might be. They had some good ideas, but nothing seemed quite right. Benlunar was quite a small town, so anything that the community did all together would be common knowledge and the children couldn’t think of anything that might be considered dark or evil in any way. They resolved to meet in the morning at first light on the edge of town with enough food packed for the day so that they could go and explore the lake.
“Right, we should probably go home, mum will be wondering… oh dear.” Chloe was in the middle of warning the others about the late hour when she glanced outside. The group had been so caught up in the adventure, they had failed to see the night creep into the sky and fall silently over the mountain. Chloe let out a long breath, a cloud of vapour escaped from her mouth and it glowed orange from the candle light, making her look like a very worried dragon.
“Crumbs!” shouted Kara, “I need to be home. Mum doesn’t like it when I’m out after dark.” The group scrambled to get up and leave the confines of the suspended wooden hut. Sara blew out the candles, only to light them again as the cloud covered sky had plunged Benlunar into a thick, inky darkness. They divided the candles between them and held them aloft like torches to guide them home through the snow.
And so they picked their way through the frozen streets. The candles were small and their golden glow barely went ten feet before being overwhelmed by the oppressive blackness. Tim’s house was found first, then Kara and Ben’s place was only round the corner. Sara and Eddy found their homes soon after which meant that Chloe and George had to take the main road, two left turns and then only twenty feet until they were back home. The first leg was fine, the roads were quiet and their candle still had plenty of wax to last them the journey.
“My fingers are going numb.” said George.
“Not much further.” his sister reassured him, even though she knew exactly how he was feeling. They were both wearing sheepskin mittens, but the cold did not care. A few flecks of snow started to fall about them. After the first left turn and with the warm hearth of home not far ahead, Chloe stopped her brother.
“What is it?” he asked.
“I thought I saw something.”
“We can check in the morning Chlo, come on I’m hungry and freez…”
“Wait!” she stepped back a few feet, holding her candle low to the floor to illuminate the settled snow. George’s stomach urged him to hurry her.
“It’s nothing. Now come on, it’s creepy out here.”
“There!” George, his curiosity getting the better of him, retraced his steps and stared at the spot where his sister was pointing.
“What… what is it?”
“Can’t you see?” his sister traced the shape stamped in the snow in the air with her finger.
“It’s a footprint.”
“But…” George’s voice shook with cold and fear, “It’s so big.”
The next morning the seven friends met near the river path. Each one carried a small pack, filled with sandwiches, dried meat or cheese. The snow had frozen and hardened over night, making the pathways a little more treacherous than normal, but nothing a good hobnailed boot couldn’t handle. Chloe described the footprint they’d found the night before.
“It looked like a foot, a barefoot, only it was big, about your height Kara.” Kara looked down at her body, her face the picture of shock. The group considered going to see the footprint and maybe even seeing where it led, but more snow had fallen during the night and any trace would have been long gone. Not wishing to lose any more time, they set off on their journey to find Lake Citron.
Following the river was not too difficult, Tim’s father had advised they stick close to it if they wished to find the lake. They sang songs and told jokes as they picked their way through the winter wood. It was like walking through a painting. Sunlight streaked in golden lines through the snow capped canopy. The river babbled pleasantly by their side as if eagerly joining in their conversations. Tiny icicles clung to banks and branches. Every now and then one of them would slip and the rest would laugh and go to help, wiping wet leaves from soggy bottoms. It was a journey whose beauty could only be truly appreciated through the eyes of an older self, many years after the fact.
They made good time. After an hour or so the river began to widen and they had trouble keeping up with the sticks they threw into it. The happy babble quickly grew to a raucous roaring and after cresting a small hill up ahead Sara turned around to shout something back to her friends.
“There it is! We found the lake!” The rest of them ran to catch up with her. The trees thinned and the view opened onto a large empty space surrounded by steep, rocky mountain sides. At first it looked as though there was just a field covered in snow, but it was too flat and too perfectly settled to be anything other than a frozen lake. The troupe made their ways slowly down the hill, the river they had been following had turned sharply left some way back and they could see where it fed into the lake further down the shore. The water moved too much to freeze at the mouth making it look like it was disappearing underground beneath the frozen floor. George paused his descent to look further down the coast, he spotted other rivers feeding the lake as well, two, three and even a fourth quite some distance away.
“It’s very pretty.” said Ben as they approached the stony shoreline. The rest of them nodded in silent agreement. Nothing stood immediately out to them as strange or out of place, so they resolved to eat their packed lunches and discuss the various findings. The sounds of water and chewing as well as the occasional bird filled the silences.
“If the footprint was made yesterday,” Eddy wondered aloud, “then does that mean Navnghast came back?”
“What do you mean?” asked Chloe.
“Well, if he gave everyone a fish the night before, then his prints would have been covered by the snow. So since you found a footprint last night that means he must have come back no?” The group chewed over the notion. It seemed to make sense.
“I suppose so.” said Ben.
“Strange to think that he was in town while we were in the treehouse.” said Tim in a low and shy voice. The others didn’t want to think too much about that.
“Hang on,” Chloe realised something, “if he came back to Benlunar last night, does that mean he’s going to come back tonight as well??” Everyone let out a small sound somewhere between fear and excitement.
“We can set up a watch!” suggested Kara.
“We’ll get torches instead of candles.” added Ben.
“No no no, we shouldn’t have any light! He might see it and run away.” suggested George.
“How are we going to see him if it’s dark?” chided his sister.
“Oh yeah.”
“Listen,” Sara, always the voice of reason for the group, interjected, “let’s take it one investigation at a time. We came all the way here, we should at least look for evidence of a boat or something.” They packed away their lunches, Ben was still eating so he hurriedly tried to finish so that he could join the hunt. His mother had packed him a small slice of cake and it was just too delicious to rush.
Eddy was the first to suggest stepping out onto the ice.
“Absolutely not!” said Sara, “if you fall through you’ll catch a chill and I’m not carrying you home on my back.” Sara was adamant, but Eddy was persuasive.
“Don’t fret Sara. Look, I can see the stones under the ice here, even if it did break I’d only get a wet foot.” Sara went to stop him but he was already taking his first tentative step. “See? He turned back to show his progress off to the others, it’s fine!” He was quickly joined by the boys, Ben and Tim and then after seeing that it appeared to be safe the girls hopped onto the frozen surface. They all leaned on each other for safety slipping and giggling as they went. Sara made sure that no one went too far out.
“The last thing I want is to turn around and see you fall in okay? I’m the oldest so you have to listen to me.” They grumbled their consent and went back to exploring the icy surface. It was fun to scrape away the thin layer of snow and peek into the hidden water world below. Occasionally, someone would spy a fish and all would rush over to look. It was while they were admiring a particularly large swimmer that Sara heard George cry out.
“Oh!” she heard and she whipped around, worried. George was fine, but he lifted his right boot up to show the rest of the group. Water dripped off the end of it.
“There’s a hole here!” He exclaimed in curious delight.
“Careful George.” said Chloe.
“I’m fine, come and see though.” he gestured to where his foot had fallen through the ice. The others tiptoed and slid over to join him.
“It might be a crack, so be ready to run.” Warned Sara, ever watchful.
“It’s not a crack,” said Kara, “It’s a hole, a perfectly round hole.” The rest of the group caught up and confirmed the find. It was just as Kara said. There in the ice was a perfectly cut, smooth edged hole, too perfect to have been made by some falling rock or emerging creature. The depth of the snow surrounding it had hidden it from their view until now. It was brilliant and dark, like a rabbit’s eye staring out of a white winter coat.
“There’s another one over here!” George had already moved on and discovered another. This hole was of a similar size and only a few steps away from the first one. Tim had his eye fixed on the first hole and wondered how it had been made, or even why. Suddenly, the slim wriggly body of a fish swam across his view and the idea came to him.
“They’re fishing holes!” he shouted.
“Here’s another one!” Ben shouted again, a little further onto the ice. Suddenly, the hunt was on. Four more were found quickly, but then five, six and then seven made themselves known. After half an hour’s hunt they had found thirty-six fishing holes and if they had wanted to keep hunting, they were sure they might have found even more. The reason the hunt stopped was because Kara was complaining of being cold and the group realised that they should probably be heading home soon. Ben, Tim, George, Eddy, Chloe and Sara were still absent mindedly keeping an eye out for more fishing holes as they traced their way back to the stony shore. Kara was bored of that game however so she turned her eyes back to the shoreline.
“Doggy!” she squealed in delight. Kara loved dogs, maybe even more than she loved cats. The rest of the group looked up ahead to see what she meant. There, waiting for them on the beach where they had had their lunch was a rather large, grey dog. And then another dog appeared out of the treeline and came to join it.
“Two dogs!” shouted Kara. Two dogs were even better than one. But then, there were three dogs. Four, five, six… seven… eight.
“Kara,” Sara whispered loudly, “come here please. Come back to us now.” Kara turned round to see that her friends were huddled in a group some distance behind her. They looked scared for some reason. Kara turned back and counted two more dogs, a whole pack! And then she realised why her friends were scared.
“Sara…”
“Just come here slowly.” Kara turned back to look at the dogs, no, the wolves that were edging ever closer to the ice. She took a step back towards her friends just as she watched the largest wolf put a paw on the ice. She began to walk backwards, checking her footing occasionally but not daring to turn her back on the pack. The animals ahead of her were uncertain about traversing the ice and Kara was nearly with her friends before the first wolf was fully standing on the surface.
“Watch your step!” Kara heard George’s voice behind her. She glanced down and twisted her weight just in time to avoid stepping into a fishing hole. She quickly glanced back up to see two more wolves had joined the alpha on the frozen water. They were clearly unsure about the ice, but desperate enough to risk it. One of them even licked its lips in gruesome anticipation. Kara felt a hand grip her arm and she was pulled back into the group’s embrace.
“What do we do now?” said Eddy in as steady a voice as he could manage. Chloe took her eyes of the wolves and glanced around. She looked at the footprints they had left in the snow and she saw how they had left a zigzag pattern around the various fishing holes that they’d found. An idea was forming in her head.
“Look, over there,” she said, pointing to the mouth of the river, there was an outcrop of rock accessible through the maze of fishing holes. “If we run that way and dodge around the holes, we should be able to reach the rocks before they catch us.”
“But that would mean going towards them Chloe,” protested George, “shouldn't we run backwards, across the lake?”
“No.” Chloe cut him off, confidently, “we don’t know where the other fishing holes are behind us, we can go around those ones if we follow our footsteps. We’ll have to swing round to the right. But if we go now then they’ll just head us off.”
“We have to wait.” said Sara.
“Yes. Just until they’re about… there.” Chloe pointed to one of the fishing holes they had discovered, it was roughly halfway between them and the pack.
Chloe breathed out slowly. She could feel her heartbeat beating out the seconds, measuring the footsteps of the largest wolf. She glanced down at Tim and Kara, hoping upon hope that they could keep up with the older kids.
“Just a few more steps.” she whispered.
“We should run now.” said Ben.
“Not yet.” argued Chloe. She could see Ben’s hand nervously shaking, playing with the toggles of his oversized coat. Chloe turned back to the wolves. Just a few more steps.
“NOW!” she shouted and they began to run. They had spent a while on the ice now so they were familiar with how to move, thankfully, the wolves were new to the feeling. As soon as they broke into a run, the wolves followed suit. A few of them slipped and slid, their claws unsuited for running on this surface. Chloe sprinted ahead choosing her path carefully. It was not the most direct route, instead she wound round the holes hoping to trick the animals behind them. Occasionally she would glance back, she saw one wolf lose its footing and fall into a hole just as she’d planned. Its chin hit the ice with an audible thunk. They were nearly at the outcrop now, Chloe knew that they needed height as well as distance between them and the wolves. The mouth of the river was a stone’s throw away now. Kara squealed and Chloe turned to see the pack leader snap at her heels, slipping sideways and stumbling as he did. Just a little further, she thought.
And then she heard the first crack.
“What was that?” shouted Eddy, breathless and terrified.
“Just keep going.” Chloe needed them to ignore it and push forward. A second crack sounded, louder than the first. The ice was thin here and was having difficulty holding steady under heavy, concentrated footfall. The third crack visibly split the snow to the left, the ice sheet pinged as the impact echoed across the floor. Chloe jumped for the rock and found steady footing. She turned quickly to help the others. The lead wolf had thankfully slipped and was still getting to its feet as Kara finally found the rock and clutched at Chloe’s outstretched hand.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Yes. I think so.” Kara replied and the group let out a brief sigh of relief. The wolves were finding their footing and scouting a way towards them.
“Keep going!” Sara shouted and turned to scramble up the rock surface slope. Chloe went to join her, but noticed her brother turn to the right.
“George! Come on.” she chided but then she saw his thinking. Using all his remaining strength, George Bergren lifted a small boulder, roughly the size of his own head, up above himself and hurled it at the ice. All children and wolves alike watched it sail through the air. It hit the ice with a wet crunch and went straight through into the water beneath. The wolves watched the cracks appear like a spider web from the point of impact. Chloe knew they needed to run but she couldn’t help feeling a small sense of satisfaction at watching the lead wolf lose its footing and plunge into the icy water.
Twenty minutes later, the children were well on their way back up the mountain. The shock of the chase was still close, and they were all out of breath. Little wet clouds of heavy breath caught the light of the sunset behind them as they walked up and up towards home.
“That was the scariest thing I’ve ever done.” Said Ben.
“That was scarier than Navnghast.” added Eddy.
“That was scarier than getting home after dark and being shouted at.” said Tim. There were no arguments, only further comparisons.
“That was scarier than having to remember lines in the play.” said Sara. They all laughed in agreement.
“That was scarier than…” Chloe began but her thought was interrupted by the sight of a figure walking down the river bank towards them, “Mrs Thoresan?” she said.
“Oof, I don’t know about that.” said George.
“No, look!” urged his sister, “she’s there.” The group followed her pointing finger and saw the old woman. They stopped, half out of shock, half out of deference for their elder. The older woman spotted them and smiled. Her eyes closed sweetly as the corners of her mouth curled upwards. The children expected her to say something, but instead she stopped about ten steps ahead of them and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and began to twist her hands through strange shapes. The young ones watched enraptured as she waved her arms in front of her like she was testing feeling fine silk between her fingers. George was about to ask the others what she was doing when they heard a sound behind them. It sounded like the crack of a twig or the rustle of a leaf. They all whipped round and gasped in shock and terror as they caught sight of the largest wolf, still wet from the water, only a few feet away from them. Kara screamed and the wolf ran two or three steps forward before leaping into the air, its jaws open wide, fangs bared and ready for the bite. Chloe thought in that brief moment that all was lost and that they would be dinner for the pack, but then the snow moved. A patch of it between them and the wolf began to shake and shiver. Suddenly, as the wolf was jumping over it, the snow shot upwards, taking the shape of a giant hand. The wolf yelped as the icy fingers closed around its body as quick as a flash of lightning. The snow hand shivered as it tightened and then quickly became hard as ice, freezing the wolf in place. The children turned slowly around to look back at Mrs Thoresan.
“She’s a witch.” whispered George, only half under his breath. They watched her reach into a small pack on her side and pull something out that was wrapped in wax cloth. She unwrapped it slowly, the snuffling and grunting sounds of the struggling wolf behind them underscored the process. The wax cloth opened to reveal large slabs of red meat which Mrs Thoresan proceeded to place gently on the floor by her feet.
“They get hungry in the winter. This stops them from eating our sheep.” she said, “We should get going though, the ice will not hold for long. Come bairns, I’ll walk you back to Benlunar.” The seven friends went with her then. Kara took the old lady’s hand as she walked, feeling instantly safe by its tight grip and warmth.
The next day was the third since the fish had appeared in Benlunar. Some of the houses that had decided to keep their fishes, were starting to smell. No one had worked out exactly why the fishes had appeared yet, but at least the children knew where they had come from.
“I can’t imagine a demon needing to make fishing holes.” Eddy was speaking with his mouthful of Lang Natt bread, a traditional sugary bake that Benlunar folk enjoyed around this time of year. They were all sitting on the comfy chairs in the Fox & Octopus enjoying warm milk and honey with their breakfast.
“So what?” asked Chloe, “you think people got all those fish from the lake?” Eddy nodded in response, a splodge of blackcurrant jam staining his chin.
“Who though?” asked George. Eddy shrugged.
“I dunno, people.” he gestured around as if to signify anyone and everyone in Benlunar. The others thought on this, it did make sense. Although it would point towards evidence of a large and very well organised operation. Somehow, the work of a demon still seemed more plausible.
“And what about the footprint?” asked Ben, “We still don’t know what made that.” They all fell silent again. They had set out to find answers, but all they had were more questions.
“I have an idea.” Chloe spoke up. She had been staring into the crackling fire, barely listening to the others as they spoke. She turned to them now and shared her thoughts, “Remember how we said we could set up a watch and try and see if Navnghast comes back to Benlunar? Well I think we should do that tonight.” The others had not forgotten the conversation. They had been too tired to do anything about it last night, but after their experience with the wolves staying up late to hunt a demon seemed easy enough.
“We only have two days unti Lang Natt,” Chloe reminded them, “We can read books and find as many fishing holes as we like, but if we’re going to save Benlunar then we need to find the culprit.” George was impressed by his sister’s confidence. He wasn’t sure he would have been brave enough to suggest the hunt himself.
“What are we going to do if we see him?” George asked his sister. She turned to him with a strange and mischievous sparkle in her eye.
“We’re going to ask him a few questions.”
“What are you all doing?” A voice from the door of the inn drew their attention. Three boys were standing silhouetted against the sunlight. Chloe recognised them but only knew the name of the boy in the middle, the one who had spoken, Villem Kirk.
“Get out of here Villem.” Sara stood up and tried to shoo the three boys away. “We’re busy and you’ll only ruin everything.” Villem, who had a bit of a reputation for causing trouble, looked hurt. They closed the door behind them and approached, ignoring Sara’s command.
“You’re investigating the fish aren’t you?” The seven friends looked at each other, unsure whether to trust the boy with their secret plans. He was tall, and had brown, curly hair. His knees were permanently scraped or wet from fighting and his clothes were a few sizes too big, clearly cast offs from his older brothers he had yet to grow into. His two friends both had round faces and short, red hair. They looked similar enough to be brothers. “It’s okay.” Villem continued, “We’re doing the same thing.” Sara shot Chloe a suspicious look. Was this some kind of mean-boy plot meant to poke fun at them? Eddy, still naive to the games of older boys, broke the silence,
“What have you found?” Villem gave him a smirk and looked around to his friends.
“We’ll tell you what we know, if you tell us what you know.” The offer hung in the air. Could the seven friends risk the bargain? What if these boys didn’t know anything and they gave up their secrets for nothing? Surely they couldn’t know about the fishing holes and the lake? Chloe considered declining the offer but then realised something important,
“Yes. Okay.” Her team turned to look at her in shock as if she had betrayed all their hard work. Chloe continued, “I think we should work together. We have a plan and we could use some help.” Villem smiled a big grin, it looked genuine and void of treachery.
“Great!” He said, “We’ve actually just bumped into some girls who are doing the same thing.” The three newcomers came to sit beside them on the soft fireside chairs. Everyone leaned in to swap stories and theories. The four girls they’d spoken to had apparently found the giant footprints and the boys had also spoken to Brother Thomas and read the ancient book. On top of that they had spoken to Ortan, the town trapper, and he’d given them some insights into the story of the Prince. He apparently said that the prince was not just guilty of telling lies and being greedy, but of other evils as well. He double crossed his friends, he was lazy and he stole money from his family. Chloe told them of the fishing holes they’d found in the frozen lake and their adventure with the wolves. Her friends chipped in with the occasional missed detail. The boy’s faces were the picture of suspense and when the time came to describe Mrs Thoresan’s magic they could barely believe their ears. Finally, George described the plan to meet that night and confront Navnghast. Villem and the two brothers, Michael and Jamie, nodded solemnly and agreed to join in. They would alert the other children of Benlunar and together, they would confront the vengeful spirit.
Chloe and George were the first to arrive in the Benlunar town square. They had convinced their parents that they had wished to go to bed early that night and they had even shaped pillows under their covers as an added precaution. Then it was just a matter of slipping out of the window and dropping into the snow drift below. They hopped from one leg to another and shook their arms to keep warm. The Stave Church, usually so grand and welcoming instead loomed over them like the dark giant they were meant to be hunting. Sara Smorkopp approached them through the gloom holding a small candle to guide her. Chloe thought she looked like a sprite or Will o’ the wisp, floating through darkness to guide men to their doom. She waved at them and they exchanged bedroom escape stories until the others joined them. It took about fifteen minutes for everyone to arrive. On top of the seven friends who’d visited the lake the day before, there were the three boys they’d met at the inn as well as four girls from the north part of town. After them, five more children arrived who had apparently also been investigating the Navnghast mystery. Nineteen children in total. After a brief round of introductions Villem asked the question that was on the tip of everyone’s tongue,
“So what’s the plan?” Chloe and George had actually been discussing this earlier that evening and so when no one offered a plan of their own, Chloe spoke up.
“I think we should split into groups. Each group should station themselves at a road leading out of this square. If anyone sees or hears something strange they should light a candle, then the rest of us should run towards the light.” Nobody disagreed with the plan and everyone quickly split into eight smaller groups.
“Make sure every group has a mix of younger and older people,” added George, “We don’t want young ones left alone.” A quick reshuffling and the teams were cemented. Thankfully, the sky was only partly cloudy so all of this could be organised by the lights of one or two candles. Chloe thought she would be more scared than she really felt. Everybody’s face glowed with excitement and eagerness.
“So if we see something and we all meet,” a girl with dark eyes and hair called Vanda was speaking up, “What do we do then?” Chloe had expected the question.
“We’ll figure that out when something happens I think. Benlunar has clearly been warned of something, this spirit is telling us to fix it but we don’t know what it is we need to fix. So if we see it tonight, that’s what we’re going to find out. Okay?” Everyone looked at each other and nodded. Their streets were assigned, their candles extinguished. They were ready.
Chloe and George were in a team with Eddy and Tim. They made their way across the square to their assigned street , the snow crunching and groaning under their feet.Theirs was the mountain path that led up past the Thoresan house and continued up the mountain towards its peak.
“Everyone alright? Not too cold?” George asked, forever looking out for others. Everyone nodded whilst checking their sleeves, tucking in any loose shirts and generally checking for anywhere their body heat could escape. Now that they wouldn’t be moving, the cold would set in quickly. Chloe looked about the square, it was too dark to see all the way to the other side. The flat snow stretched out into the gloom, she was reminded of the frozen lake. Would this plan turn out to be just as dangerous? Eddy sniffed loudly beside her and she became aware of just how quiet everything was. She looked at the boy’s faces, they seemed to have that strange mixture of excitement and fear that she was feeling. Suddenly, she found that she could see them clearly. A cloud above had moved and the moon; full, bright and beautiful, illuminated the snowy scene. They all looked up at it for a moment, transfixed by its light. It was the exact opposite of the dark pool in the ice. Chloe smiled and then remembered her duties.
“Two of us should look out over the square, and the others should look towards the path.”
“What do you think we will see?” Tim whispered, his teeth chattering.
“I think it will be scary.” replied Eddy.
“What is it though?”
“I don’t know, maybe a ghost?”
“Ghosts don’t eat fish.” Tim giggled. The two boys continued to swap theories about what ghosts or ghouls may or may not eat. Chloe smiled at their silly musings. After Tim and Eddy inevitably began to hit each other she raised a hand to hush them.
“We need to keep quiet, we might not hear anything if you two keep…” she paused. Chloe had been tasked with watching the square and just now she thought she might have seen something.
“What is it?” asked Tim.
“Is that… a candle?” she replied. Everyone whipped round to look across the moonlit square. At the edge of the sea of snow, just where the shadowy wall of buildings began there was the smallest of lights. Barely a pinprick in the distant darkness, the four children had to strain their eyes to be sure of what it was.
“I think it is…” said George. Chloe began to walk towards the light, hoping that it would become clearer as she approached.
“It is, it’s a candle light!” her voice was filled with excitement, someone had seen something. She started towards the light, the boys, quickly following behind her. They hadn’t gone ten steps however when another light appeared, this time just fifty feet left of the first. Chloe and her group stopped.
“Which one should we go to?” asked George, who’d seen the second light appear also. Chloe glanced from one to the other, unsure of what to do. Then, her decision was made for her by the appearance of a third candle flame, further round the square to the left.
“It’s moving.” she said, and she turned on her heel and headed to the left of the third light, hoping to head off whatever it was that was traversing the Benlunar streets so quickly.
It didn’t take them long to cross the square. The moon illuminated their way, reflecting off the snow as they went. But as they approached the wall of houses, the shadows began to reach out. They hit the entrance to an alleyway where Sara, Kara and Villem were stationed. Sara Peered out from behind a frightened looking Villem as they approached.
“What are you lot doing?? You nearly made us light the candle. Why aren’t you at your post?” Chloe had to catch her breath before she could reply, and even then, the response came in short bursts.
“Candles… already lit. Something… coming this way.” And that’s when they heard it. Or more accurately, they felt it. It was a low thudding rumble. Like when snow avalanches down a hillside but it only lasted a moment. Suddenly, another came only seconds later. Kara jumped and shrieked as a clump of snow was dislodged and fell from the roof above them. Chloe hushed her quickly and tried to get her breathing under control. Whatever it was that was making the noise, it was big and it was out of sight. At that moment, the rest of the children joined them, some still had their candles lit. Chloe went over to blow them out, the moon was still bright enough to see by. Then she turned and started walking briskly down the alley. She tried to stay low and hug the walls hoping they would hide her and her group from whatever it was. The thuds were erratic and evasive. At one moment, they seemed close, only to fade quickly into the distance. Running down the alleyway let the young people of Benlunar keep up with whatever it was, but they often found themselves turning around, having half heard a loud thud coming from behind them. Chloe had no room for fear, she pushed all anxiety aside and led her team past the back door of the Fox and Octopus and further down the alleyway towards the trades quarter. At one point the moon’s light was briefly blocked out, plunging their street into complete darkness for only a second. Too quick to be a cloud, too big to be a bird. Thud, thud, the rumbles quickened and Chloe sensed they were getting closer. The alleyway opened out into a cobbled street. The thudding had frustratingly stopped and the children looked desperately left and right, searching for some sign of the subject of the hunt. The street was quiet and empty. Chloe was about to curse and give up when she saw her brother’s face. He was looking up and back towards where they had come from. His expression was one of confusion.
“I can’t see the Stave.” he whispered. Chloe almost dismissed the comment as unimportant, but then she realised that they really hadn’t come that far from the town square and even in this light the Stave Church tower should be clearly visible. She turned around to verify her brother’s observation. All the children gathered on the snow covered cobbles turned as one to stare back down the alley and up at the church tower. George was right. The church was invisible, and so was the mountain behind it. That patch of sky was so dark that even the stars were obscured. Chloe turned back to check whether the rest of the sky was just as dark, but the moon was still shining brightly behind her, and she could even see stars twinkling around it. She turned back to the patch of darkness. It was still there. Chloe felt her stomach tighten and took a deep involuntary gulp of cold air as she, along with the other children, saw the darkness move.
The creature was darkness made flesh, a being of pure tenebrosity. It blended into the night sky like a shadow in shade. The only thing distinguishing it from the rest of the sky was the occasional absence of stars. They winked out as it swayed clumsily from side to side, shifting its weight to compensate for its massive size. Chloe tried to make out a shape. By squinting and employing a little imagination she thought she could discern a head sitting on giant shoulders on top of a wagon sized body. Arms the size of ceiling beams and legs the length of tree trunks. The children stood frozen in place like that wolf gripped by an icy hand. It was fear and fascination that kept any of them from screaming or running away. Chloe even felt a smile creep across her face.
She thought she saw the stars starting to return, was the giant fading away? There were two lights appearing towards the top of its form where its head would be. Chloe realised that they were not stars, they were the wrong colour and size. These lights were red. And they were big. The children stared up at the creature, and the creature was staring back.
Chloe stepped forward. She knew that if she did nothing now she would kick herself in the morning. They only had a few hours left until Lang Natt and they could not afford to waste this opportunity.
“Chloe! What are you doing?” Kara found her voice and whispered a loud warning. Chloe put a hand out to calm the group. She turned back and looked up into the eyes.
“You’re the emissary aren’t you?” There was silence. The children barely dared to breathe. Chloe went on. “You were a prince once. You’re here to warn us. I didn’t understand before tonight, but I think I know now.” The large eyes blinked. Chloe had been mulling the various clues and messages over and over in her head all day, and she had come to a conclusion. “We thought that Benlunar had done something bad, but that’s not it. The fish weren’t given to the town, they were given to the people who live in it. Everyone got one and so everyone had to think about why that was. It was meant to make us think wasn’t it? It was meant to make us examine the deeds we have done and take steps to make amends. Five days to forgive each other, five days find the problems and solve them. Five nights to hold each other close and share songs by the fire. That’s what Lang Natt is about isn’t it? We take one last look back at the year and we promise to be better. If we truly do our best, then the sun will come back because it will know that we’re trying. So, what I’m trying to say is, thank you Navnghast. Thank you for reminding us every year that we need to be good to each other, and good to ourselves. We promise we won’t let you down.” She turned to smile at her brother, who was smiling back at her. All the children held hands or closed their eyes and made their promises to be better. They knew they would sometimes fail, but the point was not perfection, they understood that now, the point was the effort. This beast when or if it was alive, had never made the effort to change and so it was cursed to remind others of its fate each year. So Chloe whispered one final thought to herself with her eyes closed. With that whisper, she forgave the prince for she knew that he had had no one like Navnghast to warn him. When she opened her eyes she saw the Stave Church tower, bathed in silver moonlight. The darkness had disappeared.
The next day the children went around the town telling everyone about what they had learned. Some people believed them, others did not. But everyone agreed that the message was a good one. To love freely and to forgive were not always easy things, but they were what made the long winter nights that much warmer and easier to bear. Chloe and George would spend the night with their parents, swapping stories and singing silly songs that only their family knew the words to. In the morning after many hours of darkness the sun would appear and be just a little bit brighter than it had been the day before.
Before that day however, Sara Smorkopp had a promise to keep. When the rest of the children were running around town spreading the lessons they’d learned the night before, she snuck through the big double doors of the Stave Church. Inside she found Brother Thomas and Mrs Thoresan deep in conversation. She shut the doors and they both looked up, alerted by the sound. They smiled and Sara smiled back at them as she walked down the tapestry lined passage to the main hall.
“Good morning Sara.” said Brother Thomas.
“Hello!” said Sara in greeting. Some movement from the back of the hall caught her eye and she saw Brother Ulnar carrying some heavy dark curtains into a storage room.
“We have been hearing all about your adventures.” Mrs Thoresan added.
“It has been quite an eventful week!” Sara agreed, “and a successful one I might add.” the church brother and town elder nodded in agreement.
“Might I ask, did anyone stand out for next year?” said Mrs Thoresan. Sara had been giving the question some thought that morning and had an answer prepared.
“I think Chloe Bergren would do well. She’s bright and cares greatly for the little ones.” Mrs Thoresan smiled.
“Then we are in agreement. Thank you Sara for helping, you performed admirably.” Sara bowed her head in deference.
“May I ask,” the question caught in Sara’s throat, she was still not used to conversing with important people. But the smile on their faces bade her to continue, “why now? Why this year?” She watched Mrs Thoresan turn away as if in deep thought. She was considering her words before answering.
“It has been a difficult year for everyone. I think it was nice for the young ones to have a distraction from the hardship. They deserve that from us. A little magic, a little adventure is important when you are young.”