Ahtohallan's Lullaby

1 . From the Unknown

The girl looked down, pouting at the answer of her father.
« But why ? »
« They can't Honey »
« Yeah they have hoofs ! » added Ryder with the same enthousiasm.

Honeymaren rolled her eyes.
« Reindeer shepherds don't have ! And they never did it just because they never asked the wind ! »

Their father stopped them as they were starting to argue.

« Don't talk nonsense Maren, time to go to bed for the story before your mom falls asleep » he sighed.

Ryder ran toward the camp to be the first as he knew the story would be longer if he quickly went to his bed.
Honeymaren stayed behind, pouting as she crossed her arms. She was mad at her brother, and mad at her father to not understand that it was important to climb since the sky was just behind this mist. Why nobody was curious enough to see it? She was right that neither reindeer shepherds nor reindeer asked the wind to help them...They just had to ask, so why nobody has ever tried ?
She looked up to the tree-tops she could barely see since the mist was thick above her.

« Gale, may you help me to climb again tomorrow ? », she asked in a small voice.

A breath of air tickled the back of her neck then moved to the tip of her nose, making her chuckle.

« Honey, come here. »

Her father was waiting for her severals feet above on the path. She nodded while waving at the wind before walking toward the camp.

.

« Where the nordwind meets the sea... »
« Where is it Mom ? »
« Listen to the story, Maren », murmured her father while her mother kindly pushed her head to rest it on her shoulder.

« ...There is a river, full of memories... »
« How can a river be full of memories ? A river is full of water but n... »
« Mareeeen ! Just listen ! », complained Ryder as he raised his head to give her sister an angry look.

Her mother slowly stroked both of their heads to calm them down.

« Sleep my darlings safe and sound, for in this river all is found »

Ryder's eyes were closing slowly before he started to snore quietly. His father took him to lay him on his bed, pulling the blankets on his small body before the boy cuddled in it. Their mother turned her gaze to Honeymaren, who was still resting her head on her shoulder, quietly hugging her but not sleeping.

« What is this river, Mom ? », she asked in a low voice to not wake up her brother.

Her mother smiled at her, caressing her hair as the little girl cuddled in her arms.

« It's called Ahtohallan Honey, now close your eyes sweetie, you will see it in your sleep »

The girl nodded before closing her eyes. This river seemed to be almost magic to her, and she wanted to know more about it. Maybe it was even more beautiful than the sky ?

« Ahtohallan... » she murmured as a small smile appeared on her lips, before diving into her dreams.

——————-

« ...and maybe the best is to move north, what do you think Honeymaren ? »

Hearing my name, I looked ahead to see the 15 people of the council staring at me questioningly. Great...Seemed like I was lost in my dreams again... I didn't even know what they were talking about. As I didn't answer, an awkward silence formed in the room.
The council of the camp met every week to take decisions about the life of our people, the Northuldra, people of the enchanted forest. Each one of us around the table was representing a part of our people. I delegated the Reindeer shepherds, that actually included just my brother and I as it was our family business.