The night turned out to be a problem, because nobody could go to the tents, so they stayed where they were. At least, it was a problem for all of them except one: Camu no longer needed to keep himself camouflaged and was delighted with the situation. He had cuddled up next to Ona, beside Lasgol and Astrid. Further to the right were Gerd and Viggo, and a little further still Nilsa and Ingrid. Lasgol had used his skill to see whether Viggo was trying one of his little jokes or tricks, but so far he had done nothing and simply stayed where he was. Lasgol was grateful, since Ingrid’s shouts if Viggo were to try anything would frighten half the crew.
For three days they sailed on in the midst of the depressing mist. They found serious difficulties when it came to distributing food and drink among the crew. There was a lot of tripping over, and most of the time the food ended up on the floor. There was no sign of a breeze, and any sound died out the moment it was emitted. It was all decidedly gloomy. The oarsmen went on rowing, under Captain Olsen’s orders.
“How do we know where we’re headed?” Gerd asked suddenly.
“That’s a very good question, big guy,” Viggo said. “I’d like to know too, because we can’t see either sky or stars. How’s the captain finding his way?”
“I’ve no idea,” Ingrid admitted.
“He’s not steering blind, because he’s veered several times,” said Astrid, who had felt the changes of course.
“I know the answer to that,” said Lasgol. “Eicewald has an object that lets him navigate in this fog, or in a starless night, toward the islands. It’s a magical thing the Turquoise Queen gave him. I’ve seen him use it, and it’s really fascinating. It’s a small pearl with a blue incrustation on the surface, like a small precious stone. The Mage put it on the palm of his hand and used his power to make it levitate. As it did, the sphere rotated on itself and the blue dot swiveled to point in one particular direction. Then Eicewald moved to the right, and all at once the pearl swiveled again and the blue dot showed the same direction as before. Then the Mage moved a few steps to the left and the pearl swiveled again, with the blue dot pointing at the same place again.”
“We’re being led by an object with magic?” Nilsa protested. “The thought makes me sick!”
“Well, as long as it works,” Astrid said nonchalantly.
“But it’s filthy magic!”
“In case you hadn’t noticed, redhead,” Viggo pointed out, “we’re completely lost at sea and blind. Any way out is acceptable, even filthy magic.”
Nilsa protested, but had to admit that they did not have much choice. “Well, anyway, I don’t like it at all,” she ended up saying.
They went on in the same way for two more days. On the third day, Lasgol suddenly felt a breeze caressing his face. He was so surprised that he craned his neck to try and see something, but found that they were still surrounded by thick fog. He felt the breeze again, this time in his hair.
“D’you feel it?” he asked his friends.
“Yeah, a breeze,” Astrid said beside him. “It’s just appeared.”
“I can feel it too,” said Viggo.
“Me too,” said Ingrid.
Then the breeze ruffled Lasgol’s hair. He had the impression that it was growing in intensity. He craned his neck and the breeze reached him again, but this time as wind.
A moment later the Captain was ordering the sail to be hauled, to take advantage of this.
“Great!” Gerd said. “This’ll make us go faster.”
“Mmmm,” Viggo said. “I’m not so sure …”
“Why d’you say that?” Ingrid asked.
“It’s growing stronger …”
Lasgol had noticed this too. What had begun as a gentle breeze was now a strong wind.
“Very true,” said Astrid. “I think it’s building up to –”
“… a storm,” Lasgol finished for her.
They were not mistaken. The wind began to blow harder and the sea to turn wild, with a massive swell. Captain Olsen had to order the sail to be lowered, and what with the blinding fog, the strong wind lashing the ship and the growing swell, this turned out to be a complicated maneuver. They managed to save the sail at the last moment, but nearly lost two sailors, who ended up rolling across the deck, then hitting the gunwale and nearly being thrown into the sea.
“Hold fast, everybody! Storm!” yelled Captain Olsen.
The trouble was that they could see nothing. The fog did not move even under the force of the wind, which by now was lashing the ship hard.
“Hold on to whatever you can!” Ingrid shouted.
A huge wave broke on to the deck, knocking over several oarsmen, who were sent rolling across the deck and trying to grab whatever support they could. A deluge of rain was now falling on them, driven by the wind and mingled with the enormous waves on both sides of the ship.
“Why doesn’t the wind blow away this wretched fog?” Viggo demanded angrily.
“Because it’s not natural, it’s a spell,” Lasgol explained.
