Prompt from @Talesofthedeep for Fantasmical 2023: Your team was assigned to explore the iceberg that recently broke off the Atlantic. A horrifying discovery was waiting to happen...

Story word count = 978

When my 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 and wrapped him in a tight hug. Nine months had passed since we last touched.

Five Inuit men wearing seal-skin anoraks, trousers, and boots formed a rough semi-circle around on the pebble beach. A woman smiled and bowed, offering me similar clothing, which I gratefully accepted.

My father led me to a short, middle-aged man with busy 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. Many others shunned me as the offspring of a dark magic mother and light magic father, 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 ice that littered the bay. We made our way toward a massive iceberg that rose from the cold water like a blue-white mountain.

Extending mitten-covered hands, Taniq 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, we donned crampons and ventured onto the ice, leaving the other Inuit men behind with the boat. The deep 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 Taniq, he nodded with a grim face, saying, "Nillertoq Uummat."

A sudden cold north wind rose, frothing the sea. A chilled shudder overtook me as driven snow pelted us. The wind increased to 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.

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, Taniq kneeled and clasped hands, mumbling a quiet 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. But neither force gained dominance over the other.

"Pull back your Null," Taniq 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.

Taniq 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, Taniq 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?"

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, Taniq!" 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."

"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. Its swirling eddies calmed, and the Null spilled back into my body.

As Taniq 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 become to accept each other, a kind of balance. So it can be with you and the Nillertoq Uummat. I sensed its loneliness, and it needs you alive."

Taniq 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, Taniq. We will teach you both."