Chapter 14

-Well, you're quite good friends with her, so I'm guessing it's almost as hard for you as it is for Lalli.
Reynir was quite sure that it was actually harder for him than for Lalli. But the reason Emil offered for it made complete sense to one part of his brain, and was pure idiocy to another. Having made friends with Tuuri would indeed explain his mood... if he had actually made friends with her. Granted that he had spoken with her more than with everyone else, but this was because they worked together. And in spending so much time working together, of course they would end up finding out things about each other that didn't pretain to work. But he was still reluctant to actually make friends with any of them. Could friendships just happen without people noticing it? He was going to need a second opinion on this.
-Thanks for asking, but you are just about the last person I feel like discussing this with.
-Fair enough. Do you mind if I ask you about m... ma...
Emil had been perfectly capable of pronouncing the word when had been making fun of it. But Reynir recognized that hesitation. Words having trouble coming out when they become associated when something one has trouble wraping their mind around.
-Magic?
Emil noded. The only reason Emil was currently next to Reynir in the first place had been that Lalli had said he'd come back soon after heading out to the old house with Reynir's runes, and Emil had understood it to be soon enough that he could just wait for him. Emil had tried breaching the subject with Lalli while Reynir was still working on the runes, only to realize that someone who couldn't even make real sentences in Swedish wasn't the best person to ask about something almost completely new to him.
-I don't even know where to start.
Reynir tried to remember his earliest lessons. His childhood tutors had fortunately considered that it was essential for him to know about magic, even before Hildur turned out to be a mage.
-Are you aware that Lalli and I work differently in that regard?
-Well, I did notice that Lalli never makes any drawings, if that's what you mean.
-It is part of it. Lalli is supposed to be reciting spells instead of using runes. But if he's ever used anything powerful enough to require one, I was never there to see it. Wait... he must have, at least once. Whatever put him to sleep for two days must have required one.
That part opened Emil's ears for sure.
-You mean that time? Tuuri must have known, why didn't she... ah, probably because I wouldn't have believed her at the time. Could this happen again?
-Probably, but I have no idea how it would happen. He's still up and running after last night, but it may be one of the reasons he wants me to do all the work today.
Reynir realized Lalli was back only when he shoved one of his paper runes into his face:
-This. Big. On tank.
It probably wasn't the best place to end the conversation, but the priority was to have everyone live long enough for eventual consequence of that. Live long enough. Reynir briefly looked at the door behind which Tuuri was. Having an extra person know the actual reason why Lalli had been impossible to wake up for two full days may have actually been the right thing to do.

Tuuri unfortunately only managed to repair part of the damage that had been done to the tank's engine during the battle before night came. At least, with the rune painted on the back of the tank, a bowl of food in his hand and prospect of getting some sleep, Reynir could relax a little. Unfortunately, this moment relief ended before the meal did. One of the ghosts the rune was intended to keep away now intended to follow them wherever they went and take everyone around them, which most likely included the Known World and whoever lived there.

-Actually, maybe it is best that we all stay here forever. Father is going to get them all thrown in jail once we return anyway.
-You'll run out of food.
-We can hunt and scavenge.
-You'll eventually run out of something vital that needs to be manufactured.
Reynir knew Hildur meant a specific thing: breathing mask filters didn't last forever.
-We can get it delivered during daytime.
-Along with a bunch of Danish hired thugs that have been persuaded that they are dodging their trial with a flimsy excuse, holding you hostage or both?
-I wouldn't mind letting the ghosts have them... if didn't know they probably have families of their own that they are trying to provide for.
Reynir let himself drop on his back in the grass of Hildur's space. So that was it. Unless that church lady, who had mysteriously vanished, turned out to be able to help after all, they were going to watch Tuuri die far away from home. Even if she turned out to not be infected after all, she and Reynir would be the first to go. But he refused to let his father be vindicated. And just for that sake, he was going to keep trying as long as he could.

Events unfortunately eroded his will much faster than he would have thought possible. Tuuri was still trying to repair the engine several days later, and they were getting dangerously close to the point at which they would have to try reach the outpost on foot, leaving the tank and most of their research material behind. Reynir had initially kept himself busy by continuing to copy book illustrations during the long hours he had to spend inside, but lost all motivation to continue once he realized that they were probably weren't to be taking them home anyway. Making more portable versions of the rune keeping ghosts away had kept him busy for about a day after this. All he could now do was try to coming up with a new rune, but he had no idea what to make that he hadn't already tried. There was one he wished he could make, but he definitely wasn't going to be the one coming up with it if ninety years worth of the best Icelandic mages working together hadn't. To top things off, it was now raining outside. He suddenly heard the engine come back to life, just barely.