Ahtohallan's Lullaby

1 . From the Unknown

At the other corner of the table, Yelena rolled her eyes before sighing softly but it was enough for me to notice it. She was our chief, the one taking the big decisions and the one that everyone in this camp could follow everywhere. She was also the oldest of us. She was already there before what we call The wrath of the spirits happened.

« We were talking about moving the camp north, closer to the dark sea, since earth giants are crossing the land from east to west, we won't cross their path », she said in a strong voice, looking into my eyes.

I nodded slowly. It won't be easy to find enough food for the reindeer near the dark sea, but Ryder and I could lead them further in the forest to find a grassy clearing or even plants roots in the woods. Reindeer really weren't difficult in term of food. Then I remembered a detail about this proposition.

« I saw earth giants moving north last night », I said, « they were going west but we can't risk to cross their paths. It's better to go south »

Yelena thought about my proposition during a few seconds before she nodded back, acting for this decision. We haven't talked about moving the camp since 2 months, but the seasons were changing and the spirits were migrating through the forest. Earth giants were really intimidating and we would rather not cross their way to not upset them.

« So the council is over, we will move in a week since we still have time. But be prepared. »

The council's people stood up to go out of the tent after Yelena's words. I made ready to do the same but our chief came closer to me.

« Honeymaren, maybe Ryder and you could scout ahead to see if the place is safe enough. We will pass very close to the Boundary and the mist is really deep there. »

I nodded in a smile. The Boundary was literally the end of the enchanted forest, a magic limit that we couldn't cross, built by the spirits a quite long time ago, before Ry and I were born. Since then a deep magic mist took place all around the forest, keeping us inside it, not letting us see the outside, or even the sky.

When I was younger, I was obsessed with the idea of finding a way to go beyond this fence. I was persuaded that we could go beyond the mist and see the sky if we were climbing on trees high enough. Thinking about those old memories made a smile appear on my lips. Our Mom told us its color was changing from light blue when the sun was shining to dark grey when there were storms.

I turned back to go out of the council's tent, and then looked up. Here, our sky was always the same. A grey-white mist when spirits were calm, to a dark-grey mist when they were mad.
No blue sky. No shining sun. Just grey mist everywhere.
We learned to understand the nature spirit's mood from the mist, to live in balance with them and not bother them. Moving the camp to not be on their way was a part of the respect of this balance. That was how we were living since we were born, my brother and I.

I moved from the fire camp to walk toward the herd. We were letting the reindeer quietly graze outside the camp. Reindeer were smart animals, and also really loyal. They were like a part of the Northuldra. Some of them raised their head as they recognized me.

« Ry ? You're here ? » I asked, not seeing my brother around.

He suddenly appeared from a bush close to me, making me jump in surprise. My reaction made him laugh stupidly as I pushed him away in a fake pout.

« Very funny bro », I said with a hint of irony in the voice, « Yelena wants us to explore south to find the best place for the camp so we're going »

His eyes opened wide.
« Now ? »

I grinned at his face. Ryder and I are twins, but we really don't have the same character. He is more like a shy, calm and kind young man, maybe a little fearful, or that is me who is quite dangerously reckless. I can not stay in place and I need to do something all the time. Appart from that point, we have in common the kind character of our mother. Even if he was smaller than me when we were younger, now that we are adults I do not pass above his shoulders, and as I remained quite thin he gained muscles, making him far larger than me. But those physical transformations didn't change us from the inside and he is always like a big teddybear as I might sometimes be a little harsh or too fearless.