Adventure Hunt Day Two
If you haven't yet, read Day one of the Adventure Hunt. This is Day Two. You better go back and read it.
When I woke up it was early mornin. The sun was not up yet. A dark orange ribbon of light was marking the dark eastern horizon. The sun would appear soon. Mornin dew fell from the sky and wet my face. That's what woke me. I sat up and pulled my blanket tight around me shoulders against the mornin chill.
I can't really tell from the dark shadows, but from the amount of snoring and breathing I think everyone's still asleep. The camp fire had a low glow from coals still warm. I went over and blew on it to get it goin again. Then I put more dry branches on it that were laid next to the fire. It took a bit of doin to get them to burn because they be covered in mornin dew. I got it though.
Now I'm taking a moment to write in the quiet light of the fire. I love morning so much! The freshness of it, the peacefulness of it and the promise of a new and better day makes me happy. Thank you Cara Mor for new days with the promise of new beginnings.
I need a moment to reflect on yesterday. It was just too much. The excitement I felt with seeing the mighty guardians of the sea, The Alewives, was quickly dashed by what they told me. They said I am to be the leader of the new era, the era of Yaway. Now is the era of the Guardians and has been since the beginning. I always knew this era was prophesied to pass away into the next era, but I didn't expect it to happen in my lifetime. My Uncail Anwan has told me about it my whole life. I never thought I would have anything to do with it. I do so love my Graban. He's my rock monster bonded to me for life! But what if I have to go on and live my life without him? I'm starting to depend on the bond I have with him. I can't hardly bear the thought of losin him! Oh, I'm just unsettled inside right now. It's heartbreaking.
I just realized Roland be gone. His blanket and pack are here, but he's not. I wonder where he went? Probably to relieve himself. He mayhap will return in a bit.
The fire is warmin me up now and the sun is startin to peek over the horizon. It's so beautiful. It's a deep red with a deep orange sky this morning. So pure and lovely. No clouds though. How can I be upset lookin at that? I can't. It just makes me grateful. I do so love Cara Mor. I have to trust him.
The silent light be fading in. Now I can see the Heartwood trees in the distance. I think I see the shadows of Fia Rhua feeding in the grove. Peaceful beasts. I like to watch every beast in nature. Back home I would sit in my favorite tree so silently that feathered beasts and tiny fuzzy tailed beasts would come out and chatter in the very tree I was sittin in! It was amazing!
Roland and Mafic just came back. He has three full sacks of seaweed with him. He started without me! I didn't even realize his rock monster, Mafic was gone! I will write more later. I'm going to talk to him.
Later~
So we started the mornin with:
3 sacks of seaweed. (Thanks to Roland.)
2 sacks of berries.
2 sacks of clams.
We still need:
5 bones from the Boneyard.
4 sacks of Shock Berries.
10 green branches from the Heartwood Trees.
2 bundles of dry sticks from the ground.
5 pieces of flint from Black Bane Mountain.
5 quartz stones from Speckled Peak
5 pieces of limestone from Moon's Hole.
Two days left for our Adventure Hunt!
We had to backtrack to the Boneyard because we forgot yesterday. We were so worried about gettin to the checkpoint before the sun went down, we just ran right by the boneyard. The time on Brides Beach with the Alewives took way too long. That's why Roland got up early and got the seaweed since it was nearby. He wanted to be more ready for today.
The Boneyard.
We were struck by how many bones be there! No wonder they named it that! Bones be piled up as if someone's savin them fer winter or somethin. It's crazy! I guess the tides bring bones and other debree into boneyard bay. They wash up on the beach. Then animals and giants move the bones around and that's what's made the boneyard. It's really creepy. Sun bleached bones litter the beach and further inland. I don't know where all those bones came from! Nothin but sand and rock and bone be in the boneyard. No plants grow there. I don't know what to make of it. I will have to ask one of the Magistrates or a 2nd or 3rd year student what's the story behind that.
When we first approached the yard there was a giant there. The two Rockies 'felt' it before we saw it. We stopped and discussed what to do.
1. We can hide until the giant leaves. We don't have the time for that.
2. We could go the other direction to the Heartwood trees but then we really don't have the time for comin back either.
3. We could try to scare it off. With two Rockies we had a good chance of scaring him.
So the 3rd choice is what we decided to do. The four of us, (Roland and I, and our two Rockies, Graban and Mafic), crept up on him. We surprised him by hollerin and yelling really loud. He nearly jumped out of his rotten skin when we surprised him! Then the two Rockies charged him together. All the time we were all bangin and yellin and makin a ruckus as much as we could. That giant turned tail and ran the other direction! It was funny! He dropped a very interesting looking solid bronze axe in his haste. I picked it up. It was a heavy sucker! I tied it to Graban with some of the rope. I want to keep it and show it to Uncail Anwan when I see him again. The axe has some strange carving on it. I wonder if Uncail would be able to read it or decipher what the symbols mean.
So we collected our bones and moved on to the Heartwood trees.
I love the smell of the Heartwood trees. They smell so earthy and clean. Even when you burn them.
The Fia Rhua be gone now, but they left their beds behind. I can see their antler rubbings on some of the trees. I wonder if they always sleep in the Heartwood trees.
There were plenty of dry branches on the ground to clean up and fill our bags. I did that part since I'm younger. Roland said I can bend down easier than him to pick them up off the ground. I took the opportunity to ask him more questions while we worked.
Here's what I found out:
Roland is 35 seasons old and was married but his wife died in an accident with some giants. He's from the Haltampti Nation. They are our brothers from the Eastern Tree Territory. My Annclann live in the Western Tree Territory up North. We have had many relations with them and trade as well. They do things a bit different than us, but they love Cara Mor too. Often we would get together and people from the Haltampti Nation would come to the party too!
I asked Roland what happened with the giants that killed his wife. He said they were both set to attend Callan School together. They had no children and both wanted to attend. They ran into a horde of giants on their way here. They tried to sneak by but were too loud and got discovered. The giants were so clumsy in their attempt to get them, they tripped over one another and fell in a huge pile. Giants will kill a human on site. No questions, asked and no negotiating! One of the giants fell on Roland's wife and crushed her instantly. Her name was Anille. She was running right next to Roland when it happened! The giants continued to flail about on the ground all tied up in a knot with each other. Seeing his wife was gone and there was nothing he could do for her, he ran away as fast as he could before the giants regained themselves. He only had one Rock Monster, Mafic against eight angry giants. Then he Came to Callan Compound and enrolled in the school on his own. Oh my! That was only a short time ago! Poor guy! He said he's fine. I wonder.
Roland finished cutting the green branches from the trees and I collected the two bundles of dry wood. I tied the bundles together and strung it over Graban's shoulder so he could carry it. Mafic carried Roland's haul. Then we mounted our Rockies and headed North to the three mountains. By now, it was about midday, Nun. Being thirsty and hungry, we forgot to get breakfast, we stopped at a Melifluous stream to have our jerky and fill our skins with the sweet water. Melifluous water has somethin in it that gives you strength and energy when ya drink it. It's got a light, sweet honey taste to it. The streams sound like tinkling bells. You can hear them fer a good distance. It helps you find a stream when yer in need of water.
After a quick rest we were off to the three mountains of Callan Compound! Speckled Peak, Black Bane and The Bones. We have to get all the rock items now. I think we're doin good!
We hopped onto our Rockies shoulders and they ran to the mountains. I love travelin on Graban's shoulder! It's so fun! It took a full sunpeg change to get there. Now it's Ro Peg. We have to hurry if we want to get another item today! Only three sunpeg changes til dusk or oo Peg.
We decided to go to Moon's Hole. It's a cave at the bottom of Black Bane Mountain. I heard they gave it the name because the moon shines right inside the cave in the fall. The harvest moon will illuminate the cave revealing the life in the stones. Only the moonlight or Limner Water can do that. (I'll tell more about Limner Water at a later time).
We need to collect 5 pieces of Limestone. All four of us peered down into the cave. It looked very deep and wide. On the other side it looked like some natural steps go down into the cave, good. I had never seen this cave before, neither had Roland.
We really didn't know what to expect. We decided to use the steps and descend into the deep, dark cave.
The steps were too narrow for the two Rockies to go down. Unfortunately, we would have to split up to go down. So Roland and I proceeded and the two Rockies waited at the top. We negotiated to uneven rock steps. They were very, very steep steps. We had to walk very carefully. I used the wall to steady myself and walked very slowly. The steps kept going and going and going.
This cave be so deep and dark and massive! If felt like a different world in there. No noises from the outside could be heard. Only echoes, dripping of wet stones could be heard. Plop, plop, plippety-plop. Spooky.
We just kept descending down, down, down. Finally we reached the bottom. Pools of water were everywhere. I can imagine in the rainy season this cave must fill up! Colored stones and minerals littered the walls. I could see obsidian, feldspar, granite and gneiss. Limestone be what we're after!
I remember when Uncail and his Rock Monster, Deaglan told me about the limestone Stalactites that hang from ceilings of caves. They drip salt water and limestone down from the top to the cave floor, forming the stalactites. They look like icicles on the ceiling. When they drip down, they deposit limestone from the ceiling to the floor. On the floor it forms a stalagmite. The opposite of an icicle, it's a pillar that forms on the floor. This is where we will find our limestone.
We could see some stalagmites on the floor. We would have to wade through a pool of water to get to them. Hopefully, the water won't be too deep. We pulled our packs off and left them on the stone steps. Taking out our hammer and chisels, we proceeded to the stalagmites. They did look green in the light shining in from above. I can only imagine what the life of the stones look like illuminated by the harvest moon's light! I would love to see it sometime!
Luckily the water was only thigh high on Roland. On me, however, it went up to my chest! Short people problems!
It was fairly easy to chip the limestone from a stalagmite, it's a fairly soft stone. It's actually a mineral. We collected our quota and headed back through the pool of water. I went first, Roland second. About three steps in, Roland stepped on a stone underneath the water and his foot slipped right off of it! He twisted his ankle! Yeowch! He hollered out and I waded back to help him, the water rippling off of my chest. I kept the sack of limestone and my chisel and hammer (inside the bag) held above my head. Roland handed me his items as well. He said he could make it out. So we forged on. We made it out of the pool alright, but Roland was really struggling on the steps. I ascended the craggy steps ahead of him. He kept stoppin to rest his hurt ankle. I decided to go ahead and send down a rope for him. Tellin him my plan, he agreed and sat down on a step.
Back at the top, the Rockies already knew what happened. Mafic 'felt' Roland get hurt through the bond and told Graban. Quickly, I fashioned a rope around Mafic's waist and threw the rope down into the hole. Down below I tied the rope around Roland's chest, under his arms. Then Mafic simply walked backwards while Graban grabbed the rope and guided it where it should go. Roland was lifted out and safe in no-time. By now the sun looked like it was almost oo Peg so we decided to call it a night. Mounting the Rockies, we went to the campsite where Magistrate Murtagh waited, just South West of the three mountains.
Magistrate Murtagh was on it! As soon as he realized Roland was injured he cared for his ankle by rubbing White Fir Oil on it and covering it with a wrap. (White Fir is a pine tree. The oil is extracted from it. It's used to control inflammation and pain). Roland said the oil and wrap made him feel better. He was ordered to sit with the ankle propped up on his backpack all night.
Magistrate Murtagh is of medium size and build. His hair is a sandy-clay color and cut short. His eyes are brown. He wore a fitted robe (just like all the magistrates do) that was knee length in the back, but short in the front. It was green with orange and blue embroidered flowers and leaves on the trim. The back had a big orange Tiger Lily embroidery on it! The sleeves were elbow length with the same orange and blue embroidered leaves and flowers on the hem. He bent over a fire that bore a stone platter nestled in hot coals. Meat was cooking on it. It smelled like pork. Yummy! The sweet, fatty meat is one of my favorites. He too (just like Magistrate Cogadh) had gathered salad from the earth. Chickory, Fennel, Dandelion greens and Purslane filled my plate. The salad was topped with olive oil and spices. Very good. I didn't realize how hungry I was until I started eating.
The same folks as last night were at camp. I guess we basically just switched places with the other group. We didn't mean to break off in two groups, it just happened that way. Next to us were the two ladies we met on Brides Beach. Una and Niamh (The ones I made that bargain with). They kept whisperin and lookin at me. I stuck my tongue out at them. They just giggled. Niamh seems very nice to me while Una is a bossy one. She just sat there tellin others what to do. "Put another log on the fire." "Pass me some water." "Here Niamh, take my plate." She never stopped telling others what to do.
Camped on the other side of them was the two men. I learned their names are Ham and Liam. They were jokesters. The two of them had us rolling in laughter all night! Magistrate Murtagh is a jokester too! He kept getting them going. It was a fun time. The other team (the man and the woman) are Seamus and Aibrean. They seemed very nice. Very polite and smiled often.
Spending these two nights with these people makes me feel like I'm finally getting to know some of the people in my class. I am startin to relax. Laughter always helps me relax. The food was good and the company good.
I attended to Roland's ankle. I got cool rags from the stream nearby and kept them on his ankle. The coolness should help with inflammation. I hope he's better tomorrow. We have two mountains to climb. Tomorrow be our last day of the Adventure Hunt.
Goodnight.
Congratulations kids! You just read your 20 minutes for the day!
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed day two of Netri's Adventure Hunt, the Freshman Class Challenge. Next week we will conclude the challenge. Netri and Roland have two mountains to climb and shockberries to collect and their list of items is complete! Come back next week to read.
Have a blessed week.
Syd Murray
May the sun shine all day long, everything go right and nothing wrong. May those you love bring love back to you, and may all the wishes you wish come true!
~Irish Blessing.
