Chapter 192 - In Cold Greenland 2/2
Ivalu at night took a torch and lit it using the fire of a campfire. Later he looked at his companions and gave them a serious look.
"We will walk a somewhat distant distance to be able to reach the place where the green stones are, which we need to obtain because we do not know if we can return.
You should know that to grab the green stones we have to use these wooden tools and these special gloves because otherwise, you could burn your hands.
Although they are dangerous green stones, they are too beautiful, in fact, we can distinguish them because where they are, no kind of grass grows.
So it is quite easy to distinguish them from the rest of the other stones. "
One of the warriors who did not know about green stones scratched his head "But how do you use a stone that burns your hands on ornaments?"
Ivalu smiled and took out a grayish stone from his bag "You see when we found the green stones, we realized that only grass grew in a place where there was this kind of gray stone.
It is as if it were natural protection from the danger they pose, that is why after many tests we managed to use the gray stone as a receptacle to place the small pieces of green crystal and make ornaments for our tribe.
Basically, we first make a shape using a gray stone as a base, and later we shape even green glass using the gray stone as a chisel.
To prevent the green stone from burning our hands, we wear gloves that are filled with gray stone, that is why we can have figurines and ornaments using the green stone. "
The warrior who had asked felt that he had more doubts than questions, but among all of them, he decided to ask the one that made the most sense to him.
"But if only the gray stone can prevent us from burning our hands, wouldn't it be dangerous not to carry it when we are taking out the green stone?"
Ivalu nodded "I talked to my father about that and we came to the resolution that half of the sled would be gray stone and the other half would be green stone.
So first we are going to create a bed exclusively of gray stone and on it, we will place the green stone, in case we feel the heat when gathering a large amount of the green stone, we will cover it with gray stone.
Either way, it will be the last time we take off that green and gray stone, so we will have to take only the best that we see.
As for if you wonder why we have to go at night, this is mainly because the light from the torches illuminates the green stone.
Making it shine very beautifully in the light even dimly, but I think enough of answering questions is enough.
Take your gray stone gloves and all your things as we are leaving right now. "
When he finished saying those words, Ivalu took his things and placed them on the sled. Later all the warriors who would accompany him did the same.
After this, Ivalu began to lead everyone through a path that went through a forest near the tribe.
The path lit only by the light of a few torches led them slowly into the forest, because Ivalu knew the path he was guided by some signs that they had been leaving over time.
"This log has the notch we left a long time ago. If I'm correct, we have to keep going straight until we find two fallen logs.
Then we just have to turn left and walk until we find a small stream that will serve as a guide to get to the clearing where the green stone and gray stone are.
Keep walking and there is nothing in the world going to separate because since it started to snow a year ago, this forest is quite dangerous.
I don't know what's inside but at least 10 hunters never came back once they entered and I'm sorry to tell you that I'm not going to do a search for you.
Because I don't know the forest very well either and it is quite dangerous for me to get lost because everyone would not know how to return. "
After that little talk, they continued walking straight through the dark forest. While they were walking, they could hear some strange voices and sounds that came from inside the snowy forest.
This made everyone nervous because they did not know where those strange voices and noises were coming from.
One of the warriors gulped and clenched his torch "Those noises are normal or there is something hidden within this forest.
I only hope they are not evil spirits since our shaman died frozen long ago. "
Ivalu took a deep breath and walked seriously "Unfortunately, it is most likely that they are evil spirits, then let me tell you that the animals in this place died or simply went to another place
This forest is only full of trees and there should be absolutely nothing, besides it is quite a night and the animals should be sleeping.
In these cases, we can only continue on our way and avoid going into the interior of this forest, be strong warriors because we will be in this place for a long time. "
After walking for some time, the light of the torch managed to illuminate a couple of logs that were almost completely covered by snow.
So when he saw them Ivalu approached and using his hands began to remove the snow that covered a large part of the trunks, leaving the two trunks that had some notches uncovered. A smile of relief formed on his face.
"Well, these are the logs that show that we have to go to the left now. We have to be very careful because the stream is most likely completely covered by snow.
Although we cannot see it, there are signs that indicate that there is, for example, a separation between the trees that leaves a kind of path.
Everyone has to have their eyes wide open because we can completely pass the stream. If we pass, we will have to go back through our steps.
This is quite dangerous because I do not know if the spirits can confuse our path and make our stay in this abandoned forest.
Be very careful and pay attention. "
After saying those words, they all started walking to the left, leaving some marks on the trees to avoid getting lost.
The dark and gloomy path, accompanied by the haunting voices of the forest, only made the warriors have to pay attention to their feet to look for the frozen stream.
Because they were already quite upset, they did not dare to lift their gazes and see beyond the darkness of the forest.
Well, every time they did, they could swear that they saw one or many shadows which hid behind the trees or disappeared with the yellow light of the torches.
After walking for a while one of the warriors who is paying attention to the road tripped on a piece of wood falling in the cold snow, so when he opened his eyes he gave a loud cry.
Because he had fallen into the frozen corpse of a woman who was staring at him through the ice as if her lifeless eyes could see his every action.
When Ivalu saw this, he breathed deeply and approached the corpse. With the light of the torch, he realized that the woman was one of the hunters who had been lost.
"I knew her a long time ago. Her name was Aaju, to think that she would end up dead in this place completely alone. It is a real shame but from what I can see her corpse is embedded in the snow.
It will be impossible for us to remove or move it. Maybe the only good thing is that we know that it broke the ice of the stream and fell into the cold waters.
Where it ended up freezing and it ended up being a reminder that we must leave these lands before we are next.
But I suppose we have to continue following the stream, we are already too far to return, but one thing I am sure and that is that we will not be back for a long time. "
When he finished speaking, Ivalu covered the ice with snow that revealed the woman's face and body, and with his torch, he began to search where the boundary between the stream and the land was.
The last thing he needed was for one of his warriors or himself to fall into the ice. It didn't take long for him to find the division between water and land.
So, following the bank of the stream, they did not take too long to reach a place where there were no trees, but only a plain where absolutely nothing grew.
"We have arrived.
Place torches around this place. If we are going to hear strange noises at least I hope I can be illuminated by the light of the fire.
I think it is the least we can do to prevent evil spirits from interrupting our work.
But stopping talking about evil spirits, the first thing to do is start to remove the snow very carefully and using the wooden shovels.
Remember not to touch the green stone directly because although nothing happens at the moment, after a little time small burns begin to appear.
As you clear the snow, you yourself will realize where a dividing line begins with the gray stone, that is the stone that we have to start mining next to the green stone. "
After he finished saying those words, Ivalu took a shovel from the sled and began to shovel snow until he revealed a large number of green crystals that were embedded in stone.
"These are the green stones that I mentioned to you. Now, look at how they produce a slight glow in the torchlight."
Picking up his torch from the ground, Ivalu used it to light the green stones. This caused a rather curious phenomenon where the crystals of the green stones gave a slight shine.
Quite surprised, all the warriors took their shovels and began to shovel the snow, because they knew it would be a difficult night.