‘There are two Elves!’ Éha blurted, ‘they look to be a boy and an Elder, perhaps his father. The Elder is carrying a book under his arm.’
Pran and Theuli’s faces drained of colour. ‘Deborah,’ said Pran, knowing that Éha couldn’t read, ‘the cover of the book . . . can you make out what it says?’
Deborah frowned in concentration. ‘I recognize the letters,’ she muttered, ‘but I can’t read the words.’
‘Please,’ he said, ‘just read them as you think they would sound.’
Peering harder, she mouthed words for a moment, then said, ‘The closest I can come is . . . Öht Nürn Aldhii-’
Both girls cried out suddenly in fear, clutching each other for support. For an instant they had seen the silhouette of a terrible figure, crouching menacingly before a wall of ice . . .
The vision was gone.
‘I thought . . .’ said Ralph distantly, ‘for a moment I thought I saw something.’
Pran and Theuli had gone very pale. They had seen also, and knew all too well what the image meant. Rani and Zuic had seen nothing, but were unnerved by the reactions of the others.