-And you're sure these killer ghosts were vision and not just a dream?
-Well, my dog led me to it, and told me to remember what I just saw near the end. So if that was not vision, I'm not sure what it was.
-A part of your mind that still thinks every single one of us may be an assassin in disguise?
The glare Sigrun gave Mikkel at this suggestion wasn't that far off from the one Reynir wished he could give him at the moment. One of the unforeseen side effects of his father's plans was that they gave Mikkel a ready-made explanation for any manifestation of his powers that Reynir mentioned within earshot of him, and made them "additional symptoms" to what Reynir knew to be actual reactions of his mind and body to those events. He resumed his conversation with Sigrun:
-Maybe we should leave for another campsite when we come back?
-Visions can be tricky, especially first-time ones. Preparing for them too early can sometimes cause the very avoidable thing that the gods were trying to warn about. Or make it worst. I know it sounds risky, but mistakes are less likely to be made when acting only when the event is close enough that there is no mistake possible on the vision's meaning.
-I see... I'll try paying attention, then.
-You'd better, if nothing better than a dog is protecting you.
Reynir quickly saw the wisdom in Sigrun's words, barring her remark about his dog. The sick room in Kastellet fort had the same strange ghost-like spirits as their current campsite. He had previously not paid attention to the fact that his vision was clearly happening there, and not in another location that had strange ghosts. Unfortunately, he had trouble convincing Tuuri and Mikkel to not venture too close to the ghosts, the former claiming there was no danger if the kitten she had in her pocket was calm, the latter not believing the ghosts were even there. Mikkel had the following words for him as he passed Reynir in the entrance, beyond which he had refused to walk:
-You know, if you've suddenly grown scared of those sick rooms, you just need to tell us and we'll stop taking you there. Keeping you from staying idle is one thing, but giving you too many bad experiences to deal with at a time would be ill-advised as well.
-I'm not scared of the sick rooms. I was perfectly fine in the first one. The two last ones just have scary ghosts that the first one didn't have.
-Yes... "Ghosts".
It was no use.
They came back to the tank to the news that the fruit juice incident in Mora had been settled. Lalli still hadn't woken up according to Emil, who had stayed to watch him. Calling home, where their usual helpers were available again, had been necessary to find out what the address on the package of syringes brought back from the site corresponded to. It was an ancient hospital quite far away, but on the way to the pickup spot that Trond had planned for them. Unfortunately, there were no plans to move towards the destination until the next day.
The owl chanting with Onni's voice, and the ewe that had Hildur's eyes, had managed to get the ghosts out. When Reynir’s awareness came back to the real world, Sigrun and Mikkel were regaining consciousness, and Lalli wasn't screaming anymore. Reynir realized that either Sigrun or Mikkel was going to notice that the tank was moving as soon as they were sufficiently aware of their surroundings, and moved out of the entrance to the driver's cabin. Fortunately, Sigrun’s first reaction was to look around for Reynir:
-The ghosts you've been complaining about, by any chance?
-Yes.
-Okay, I definitely don't want a face to face with these again. Tuuri, get us out of this city and try finding a new campsite.
Sigrun, Mikkel and Emil had had to fight trolls so they could leave the city. When Reynir finally fell asleep, he had been inside a strange building, possibly another vision, instead of his protected area. He'd had to wake up from that and fall back asleep before reaching his protected area, where a frantic Hildur was waiting for him.
-Do you have any idea of what they are?
-No. Onni says he couldn't read them, and Finns are supposed to actually be better than us at spirit stuff, even if many won't admit it. Where did they even come from?
-Some Old Word Rash sick rooms. One of them was in one of the buildings surrounding our campsite, the other was one that we visited today because it gave indications of having something interesting.
-What was that "something interesting", exactly?
He told her about the patients that had apparently died of something other than the Rash, the syringes that had been found in both sick rooms, the flyer in the first research site and their plans to go to the place in which the syringes had been manufactured.
-Could this be... what I think it could be?
-We're not sure yet, but yes. It looks like someone may have found a cure to the Rash. We are going to that hospital to find out what it was exactly.
To his surprise, Hildur laughed:
-What's so funny?
-Sorry to do that, especially after all you've been through but... to think of father's initial intent for this expedition, and what it may end up accomplishing because it failed... but you and your crewmates are going to need to keep these things away if you want to get there in one piece. Let me teach a few runes that will help with this before you wake up. I really don't know much about warding off spirits, but it's better than nothing.
-Can I ask you something before we start?
-What?
-What happened to the left side of your hair?
-If you are ever around these kids, avoid going into trance at all costs. But I was quite lucky compared to Onni. They managed to cut a tiny part of his ear off.
