The Nillertoq Uummat

When Father requested my help, I did not hesitate for a moment. After three grueling travel days by plane and chartered boat, I arrived at a remote Inuit settlement on Greenland's south-western shore, a beautiful wild and remote place huddled between massive blue-white glaciers and a frothy gray sea. Upon arrival at the dock, I wrapped Father in a tight hug. Nine months had passed since I last savored his embrace.

Four Inuit men wearing seal-skin anoraks, trousers, and boots formed a rough semi-circle around us on the pebble beach. A woman smiled and bowed, offering me similar warm clothing, which I gratefully accepted. Above us, on a rise protected from the worst waves, colorful boxy houses stood in orderly rows.

My father led me to a short, middle-aged man with a round tan face and bushy black hair. "Astoria, this is Tarniq, the tribal shaman."

"Tikilluarit, daughter of darkness and light," he said with a deep bow. "Your prescience honors us."

His words warmed my heart. So many others shunned me, but here I was welcomed. "Qujan, Tarniq," I replied, thanking him with one of the few words I knew in the Kalaallisut language. "How may I assist?"

"It is an urgent matter," Father replied as he guided me toward an aluminum long boat with outboard motor. "We will tell you along the way."

Cold salt-spray nipped my cheeks as the boat cut through churning waves, dodging chunks of blue ice that littered the bay. We made our way toward a massive iceberg that rose from the cold water like a blue-white mountain, apparently recently spawned from a nearby towering glacier.

Extending mitten-covered hands, Tarniq launched into an epic tale. "Ages ago, the Nillertoq Uummat, an anirniq, or spirit in your tongue, fell from the Aurora Borealis during a fierce blizzard. But without form or body, it suffered deep loneliness. Driven to madness and rage, it lashed out, bringing great storms and bitter cold. The people cried out for mercy, but the spirit would not hear them. A great shaman, my ancestor, climbed the glacier and called out to Nillertoq Uummat, offering his own body as vessel. But once joined, the shaman jumped into a deep crevice, hoping by his sacrifice to guide the spirit to the afterlife."

I lifted an eyebrow. "And that didn't happen?"

The shaman pointed at the iceberg. "Nillertoq Uummat returns. I have foreseen it."

"The iceberg contains the spirit," my father clarified. "That it broke from the glacier now is a consequence of global warming."

After the boat landed with a jolt, three men pulled it safely onto the ice. Tarniq, Father, and I donned crampons and ventured onto the ice, leaving the other Inuit men behind with the boat. As we climbed the ice, the aquamarine glow within deep ice cracks faded as a line of dark, turbulent clouds blotted out the sun. My magic sense sparked within my mind, setting my nerves on edge, and the anti-magic Null bucked against its constraints, growling.

When I turned toward Tarniq, he nodded with a grim face, saying, "Nillertoq Uummat."

A sudden cold north wind rose, sloshing the sea, and a chilled shudder overtook me as driven snow pelted us. The wind increased to nearly a gale, making progress difficult. Looking back, the Inuit men struggled to secure the boat.

"I have this," my father said, raising his hands. Blue threads of magic swirled from his fingertips, reaching upward toward the gray clouds.

The winds calmed, obeying a Druid Priest skilled at elemental magic. But Father grimaced. "The spirit is strong and I won't hold back the storm for long. Act quickly!"

As we came to a half-buried and emaciated body, Tarniq kneeled and clasped hands, mumbling a quiet, reverent prayer. Then, as he raised arms, the Nillertoq Uummat burst out in malevolent vehemence, towering over us like a shimmering vengeful ghost.

Yet for all its wrath, I sensed a painful, desolate loneliness.

In the spirit's presence, I could no longer contain the Null within me, and it poured out as roiling mist. Rage met rage as the monsters clashed, enveloping each other in formless fury. Jagged electric bolts pierced the air amid deafening screeches and the iceberg trembled, sending small chunks of ice skittering down the slopes. But neither force gained dominance over the other.

"Pull back your Null," Tarniq instructed. "But contain the spirit."

'Back off,' I said to the Null. But it did not comply, continuing in fervent battle. 'Pull back!' I ordered with a mental yell. Reluctantly, it did, hovering nearby in turbulent contempt.

Tarniq raised his palms to the sky and mumbled something in his language. The malevolent spirit descended, swirling around and into the shaman, claiming residence within his body. With a gasp, Tarniq collapsed to his knees with head bowed. The dark clouds dissolved into the sky, allowing rays of bright sunshine through.

Rushing to his side, I steadied him. "Are you all right, Tarniq?"

Eyes closed and fists clenched, he nodded in response. Then, rising on wobbly legs, he stumbled to the ice's edge before a calming sea. "Now, I must complete my ancestor's purpose."

The implication sent electric jolts down my spine. "No, Tarniq!" I yelled, holding him back from the cold-water abyss. "There is another way. You can learn to live with the spirit, just as I have with the Null. Together."

Tarniq shook his head. "It may enslave my soul, then I would become its tool of destruction."

"Your ancestor contained the Nillertoq Uummat by his sacrifice, saving his people, yet the spirit returned. I implore you to try another way." Closing my eyes, I called back the Null. 'It is over. Return to me.' Reluctantly, its swirling eddies calmed, and the Null spilled back into my body.

As Tarniq lifted dark moist eyes to me, I continued, "The Null is part of me, yet separate. This existence is difficult at times, but we have come to accept each other, a kind of balance. So it can be with you and the Nillertoq Uummat. I sensed the loneliness, and I believe it only seeks companionship."

Tarniq removed his mittens and gazed at his hands. Small, shimmering white threads swirled around them. "Will you teach me... us?"

I glanced at my father, who smiled with a slight nod, then I replied, "Yes, Tarniq. We will teach you both."