After sitting and thinking on the spur, I descended back into the gorge where Uga was waiting for me. He showed no signs of impatience — he just sat there, staring into nothingness. Interesting, are they all this calm, or is my escort just special? As soon as I descended, he silently stood up and walked in the direction he had intended before I climbed the spur, turning right.
It turned out we were leaving the gorge running along the Sangolt River and were now moving across a small plateau formed by spurs descending from the Sangolt Tooth. There were changes in elevation between them, but minor ones. So, without descending to the Ziddi River, we were heading towards its headwaters.
We crossed the plateau and approached its edge, where another tributary of the Ziddi flowed below. We first descended to it, and then to the river itself. After walking a short distance upstream, we came to the confluence of several small rivers that form the Ziddi. Here, trails began to appear, running along the river and branching away from it. These trails led to what I initially thought were burrows.
As we got closer, it became clearer — they were indeed something like burrows, located on all the surrounding slopes. In this area, the slopes were mostly earthen with occasional outcrops of rock. These burrows, or rather, the dwellings of the snow people, weren't concentrated in one place. Rather, they were dispersed over a large area, covering all the visible space on the slopes. There were considerable distances between dwellings, and the entire area was covered by a network of paths winding from dwelling to dwelling and down to the river.
There was no one near the closest dwellings, but near the farther ones, occasional solitary figures stood — one or two at a time. But it was too far away to make them out clearly. Nevertheless, I felt intense attention coming from all the dwellings. It felt as if the entire surrounding mountains were scrutinizing me. Our appearance had clearly attracted attention, yet everyone had hidden. Hmm, where's the welcoming committee, the bread and salt from the hands of a local beauty, and the celebratory salute? Things seem rather disorganized here.
Jokes aside, besides the attention, I also felt a serious tension literally saturating the air. I hope it's not because of our arrival. Although, who knows? I'm probably the first human here, but surely I alone couldn't have frightened them so much.
At this point, the Ziddi River resembled a trident laid on the ground: the shaft was the main channel, and the prongs were the rivers from the surrounding mountains merging into one. Bridges, mostly wooden and woven with something like ropes that felt quite sturdy, spanned the river and its tributaries in many places. We crossed one such bridge to the central tributary and climbed a short way along its right bank. Then another bridge — and we approached the spur separating the left tributary from the central one, and began climbing it.
In one place, the crest of the spur was interrupted and opened onto an extensive ledge. At the far end of this ledge, at its highest point, stood another one of their dwellings. We turned left and headed towards it. It was clearly larger than the others, even having something like a courtyard where several beings similar to Uga were located. This courtyard flowed smoothly into the ledge — a sort of square. It was evident that many people gathered here periodically.
We approached the courtyard. The local... uh, people... well, I'll conditionally consider them people, just a different kind. So, as often happens when meeting people of another race, at first glance they all seemed to have the same face. But upon closer inspection, it became clear there were differences, and many of them. While they were all tall, they varied in height, facial features differed, skin tones varied. They were dressed slightly differently, but mostly in leather clothing — only the tanning, color differed; some even had patterns. They weren't dressed like Uga, which only confirmed that he was wearing a kind of camouflage. The local representatives wore simple leather trousers and jackets, with moccasins sewn from leather on their feet, like those of Native Americans.
But what united them all was the same gaze as Uga's, and the same imperturbability. They simply sat, looking seemingly in our direction and yet as if into nowhere. When we approached, they continued sitting just as motionlessly. Apparently, this was normal, because Uga walked past them, approached the entrance to the dwelling, pulled aside the hide covering the entrance, and muttered: "Enter, you are expected," which imprinted in my consciousness. And I entered.
I was met by semi-darkness — or so it seemed, but after a couple of moments I realized it was just the contrast from the sunlight. Gradually my eyes adjusted, and I saw an imposing figure. The one greeting me was probably a head taller than even Uga, looked similar but more substantial, with hints of grey in his hair. He was dressed like those sitting in the courtyard — entirely in leather, but the workmanship was different, and the color was darker.
The room itself wasn't very large and was clearly a living space, not some kind of meeting hall as I had first thought. And really, who would they receive here if it's so difficult to get to them? Several other exits, covered with hides, led out from this common room; only on one of them was the hide drawn aside — a semblance of a kitchen could be glimpsed there.
This greeter stood for a while, also staring into nothingness like all of them, then gestured with his hand towards a low raised platform, like a bed, and sat down himself opposite, on a similar platform. When I sat down, I realized the platform was made of narrow poles woven together with ropes and covered with several layers of hides. It was quite comfortable and springy to sit on.
He began to speak, and interestingly, I perceived the meaning of his words much better than when Uga spoke. This elder's speech flowed measuredly, with significance: "We have heard of you, Bear-Man. The spirits whisper with alarm about the final death that erupts from the darkness in the form of a bear..." My reputation precedes me, I thought.
"Many of them try to track you, to harm you, but you are cunning, evasive, you leave immediately when in danger, swift and ruthless when you can win." Hmm, about the ruthless part — I don't think I am. Although from the spirits' perspective, perhaps... "That is why we sought you. We need the help of one such as you. But for you to understand the essence of what is happening, I must first explain how things are arranged here."
"We, those whom humans call the Snow People, the Abominable Snowman, and other names — I won't list them, you know them — once, a very long time ago, also lived in the world where humans now live. But when the long winter came and darkness covered that world — humans call this time the Ice Age — our people departed into a world which they created with the help of stones. One such stone is now upon you. These stones are, in a certain sense, sentient and can change much for those who understand them, even create a separate world. And so we left."
"Over time, we grew in number and divided into separate tribes. Now there are many such tribes. Each tribe has its own enclave, but we do not live entirely separately — there is always connection between the tribes. All are governed by a council of tribal chiefs and shamans. We convene it at certain times, where we decide arising issues. The connection is maintained by guides, who are called Uga."
"So that's not his name?" I asked, surprised.
"You are a stranger to us, and no one will tell you their true name, nor is it necessary, at least for now. As for the guides, their general title is Uga. They are the connecting link, an important part of our people. They must train long for this path, and only the worthy become guides. They travel alone and can create large portals through joint effort with guides from other tribes, to move large numbers of people from enclave to enclave."
"We periodically hold joint gatherings, where several tribes unite. There we all communicate, share news; the young, for example, can find mates. It is not our custom to seek a mate within one's own enclave — for we, living in one place, are practically kin. Rarely, of course, pairs are formed from within one tribe, but it is uncommon."
"We, of course, know much about your world, about progress, but in our own world we live precisely as you see. This is our conscious choice. We do not use metals or any other human achievements. Nature provides us with all we need. We simply live, bother no one, and no one bothers us. Those rare ones of us whom your people encounter are those who, out of necessity, travel to your world. The majority never leave their enclaves."
"Of those who travel to the outer world — these are the guides, but they are very difficult for a human to notice. Then there are the apprentices who choose the role of guide — they need to train. And the apprentices and assistants of healers, who gather some rare ingredients not found here. It is them that people sometimes meet, because they are usually youth, sometimes inexperienced, sometimes simply curious. But for many of them, it is a necessary trial. After spending time in the human world, it immediately becomes clear whether the adept is suited for the chosen path."
"Enclaves... are there many?" I couldn't resist asking.
"Yes, very many. We only contact the nearest ones, but our people, like humans, live practically all over the planet. My tribe lives here, and that council of chiefs I mentioned operates only in one region, but it also maintains contact with councils from other lands."
"And these enclaves, or at least this one of yours... what is it like?"
"It is a imprint of that part of the earth from which you came. It is easier for the stones to create them that way. Here everything is the same as on earth, except there is no cyclicality arising from the planet's movement around its star. Day and night exist — this is necessary for animals and plants, and we too need cyclicity to rest. But this is more simulated than real, hence time flows differently for us. We do not experience the full load of gravity, atmospheric pressure, or seasonal changes. This is good, but it might also be the problem regarding birth rates. We live long, but children are born rarely."
As he spoke, I gradually began to distinguish their muttering, at least picking out individual words. And here's what I noticed: he didn't use one word for the stones, but two. Also, when speaking about his people — both the people in general and his tribe in particular. So, everything has its own name — these stones, their tribe, the entire people. But the stone I wear translates them simply with one word: "stone," "tribe," "people." It seems it truly has some consciousness and is performing a kind of censorship. One might think it's just simplifying, but no — it translates other things, it seems to me, accurately.
"Is this world limited?"
"In a way, yes, limited. But the place itself isn't in empty space — it's simply another world, not the world of humans. No one can enter here or leave this place without our knowledge. But that was before. That is the problem. I said nothing could enter here, and that was true for a very long time. But recently, something *has* penetrated here and is killing my people."
Here, he suddenly focused his gaze. It felt like a concrete slab was pressing down on me.
"For the first time ever, I cannot protect my people. And this frightens me, a feeling I haven't experienced since I learned to walk." The pressure abruptly vanished, and he unfocused his gaze again. "This has happened before. It happened that the sanctuaries of some tribes ceased to exist unexpectedly. This can only happen for one reason — if all members of the tribe have died. Before, I had only heard of such things, and now it is happening to us."
"All the hunters of the tribe and the guides are searching for the one, or the thing, that has penetrated here, but there is nothing. No traces, nothing at all. Only slain families. Something kills the entire family at once, everyone who is in the dwelling. There hasn't been a single case where someone survived to tell what happened."
"I see. One thing: why did you decide *I* can help? If even your hunters haven't managed."
"You hunt spirits, and this can only be a spirit or a very powerful sorcerer. But it penetrated here also in the form of a spirit — it couldn't have passed unnoticed otherwise. And here it leaves no traces anywhere — meaning it is either incorporeal or can become so. And also... I fear that if my hunters find this killer, I am not sure they can deal with it. They are only accustomed to dealing with animals. We have lived apart for too long. We have no one who can both find and destroy something like this."
"However... it's hard to grasp all at once." By the way, in the heat of the moment, I hadn't even noticed that I had started perceiving his voice as ordinary speech, without any translations in my head. I could ponder that another time.
"Recently, another tragedy occurred — a family living at the far end of the stream coming from that side was killed." He waved his hand to his right. "At the same time, word came that you had finally appeared. A guide was sent for you, and we have not yet performed the ritual for the bodies. You can examine them, if you need to."
"Yes, that would be helpful."
"Then you will be taken there and afterwards shown a place where you can stay for now. I will not detain you further with talk. If you have anything to tell me or ask about, you can always find me here." Having said this, he immediately stood up. Clearly, the audience was over.
"This situation, and this place... it's all very unusual for me. But I will try and do what I can," I said, also rising.
"We are all hoping for you. Soon we are to have a festival, and people from other tribes are expected to come. We would like to find this killer before the festival, otherwise we will have to cancel it, which has never happened before."
Having said this, he fell silent. I understood there would be no continuation, nodded, turned, and exited. The entire company sitting in the courtyard stood up synchronously and all moved to the right, looking from the exit of the elder's dwelling. I stopped at first, unsure what to do. Uga wasn't visible, but the last of this company touched my shoulder and then waved his hand — as if to say, "follow us."
In that direction, a path led and almost immediately began descending from this elevation towards the very farthest tributary of the Ziddi River on this side. Although, it turns out, it's not the same river, but it will be easier for me to orient myself this way.
Well, it's all clear. I followed them, pondering the conversation with the elder. But many questions remained, and at the same time, as they say, time is pressing, and people are dying. I need to help these Snow People, and I've become curious myself to see who is causing such mischief here. A spirit or a sorcerer who can become incorporeal... Hmm.
