The Garden of Death by Margit Sandemo

Author:Margit Sandemo
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jentas A/S
Published: 2019-09-20T00:00:00+00:00

“The torch is dying!” Daniel shouted.

“Be careful, Mar!” Irovar shouted, surprised. “Lift it higher in the air!” Mar grimaced but obeyed. To their horror, they saw how the flame spluttered and dwindled into a small, weak spark, which continued to dim.

“Oh, Shira,” Vassar whispered sadly.

They all understood that the torch dying down was a bad omen. Shira was in danger. “Can’t we break through the mountain wall?” Daniel asked desperately.

“We won’t find anything,” Irovar replied. “Nothing but the massive mountain.”

“Yes, but Shira’s in there.”

“This is not an ordinary walk through a grotto,” Irovar explained. “There isn’t a way intended for us. As Shira walks in there, the mountain closes behind her. She can’t get out now. Her only salvation is to make it to the source.”

Daniel was about to break down in tears.

Sarmik looked in despair at the flickering flame. “Is there anything at all that we can do? Pray to the gods ... or the spirits, perhaps?”

Irovar shook his head. “That wouldn’t make any difference. We can’t change the life that Shira has already lived with a prayer. Now she must account for everything she has done, and said, and thought. Now she’ll discover whether she’s worthy to reach the source. All we can do is hope.”

“Do you now know the legend about the sources?” Sarmik asked Irovar.

“Only the few fragments Shama told Shira, the little I heard from Tun-sij and what comes to me spontaneously in my thoughts from time to time.”

“It goes without saying that if the spirits have something to tell us it will be through you, Irovar,” Sarmik said seriously. “Can’t Mar do anything?”

“I think it’s quite something that he is willing to hold the torch,” Irovar murmured quietly. “I’m afraid to ask him to do more because then he might become irritable and go against us. And anyway – what else can he do?”

Nobody had noticed that evening had crept in outside the dark grotto. Without saying a word, they all gazed at the flickering flame, grateful that it had not died out completely. But the flame was getting weaker and weaker.

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