I woke in the morning, rose from the bed, and felt literally overflowing with energy. It seemed if I jumped, I might just fly. But I didn't jump—who knows, I might actually take off, and then I'd have to live with that. Instead, I looked around. My gaze fell on the tub of moonshine, and I shuddered. Ugh, what vile stuff this homebrew... I mean, moonshine is. I pulled myself together and stepped out of the dwelling. Someone small—I didn't even see who—dashed off towards the elder's dwelling. A lookout, probably, assigned to see when I woke up, running to report. Outside, I sat on the stones by the entrance, looking around. "Ah, how good," I thought. Everything around was good, and my feelings were exclusively positive. Yes, just plain good.
A whole delegation was already heading my way from the elder's dwelling, and people were converging on my temporary shelter from all corners of the settlement. The tribal leader walked at the front, the others following.
"How are you feeling?" he asked as he approached. "Did you rest well?"
"I feel excellent and I rested well. Though it wasn't exactly rest—I needed time for that creature's energy to be assimilated. Three things help with that: time, alcohol, and meat. Don't know why."
"I see. You did a great thing yesterday. Our tribe is now in your debt. Know this: this dwelling will always be waiting for you. You can always come and stay here as long as you wish. You can ask anything of us, and any member of our tribe, or the whole tribe, will gladly do whatever you ask." A murmur of agreement rose from the gathered crowd surrounding us.
"Oh, come now, I didn't do it alone. Your granddaughter helped a great deal..."
"For which she will be punished further," he said sternly, turning his head back. She was right there. Hearing the elder, she giggled into her fist and ducked behind the back of one of the women, presumably her mother. The elder spoke harshly, but when he turned back to me, I saw he was smiling. It was clear he was proud of his granddaughter. "To think of intervening in such a battle! She's just a girl."
"But if she hadn't, I might not have managed."
By this time, the elder and several other adult men of the tribe had sat down right there on the stones near me. Hides were spread out before us, and treats were set upon them.
"We've prepared gifts for you from the tribe. And we wanted to ask: what would you like as a reward for saving us?"
"Ah, come on. I was practically doing it for myself. And I got a hefty share of energy from the div."
"Whether for yourself or not, you still saved us from destruction. We certainly couldn't have handled such a scourge ourselves."
"Well, if you insist... You mentioned something about training in using your stones. That would be the best reward."
"Don't worry about that. I will personally train you myself, and our shamans will join in. Everything we know about them, everything we can do with their help—you will know and be able to do it all."
"Thank you for that."
"However, we can only train you a bit later. There's a matter... Our people never turn to humans. And if a situation arises that involves contact with humans, we must discuss it with the council of tribal chiefs. But now, with the tribe on the brink of destruction, I didn't request a council gathering; I simply turned to you. But starting tomorrow, people from other tribes will begin arriving, and we must tell them, and most likely the council of chiefs, which will assemble as soon as the others hear about yesterday's events."
"I understand. It's better if I'm not here for now."
"Yes. It makes me somewhat uneasy to have to tell you this."
"Don't give it a second thought. I understand perfectly. I wouldn't want to be here myself when your guests, whose attitude is unknown, might see me. And I'd feel awkward putting you in an uncomfortable position."
"Good," the leader said with evident relief. "Now that you are no longer a stranger to us, I would like to tell you our names. I am called..."
And then he uttered either a word or a phrase in a language completely alien to my ears. The stone translated ordinary speech for me, but proper names, it seemed, came through directly, without translation. I couldn't remember or pronounce that—not right away, at least.
"Okay, stop. It seems our introductions will have to wait until the training period. It will be difficult for me to remember that, let alone pronounce it."
"Alright, we'll do that," the elder with the unpronounceable name readily agreed. Then he looked around. "But why aren't you eating? I've been talking your ear off."
"It's fine, I was eating practically all night, so don't worry. But I will have some more of this compote, I really liked it," I said, pulling the jug closer. "Oh, and what about the boy who was possessed? How is he? Has he come to his senses?"
"Him... I don't even know," the elder darkened. "He may have regained consciousness, but it seems to me he's not very happy about it. After all, he, well, you understand..."
"Yeah, surviving something like that—not everyone can handle it. But if he does handle it and doesn't break, you should definitely keep an eye on him. After being possessed by the div and having it drain energy through him, the boy has the potential to become a very powerful shaman. And if he truly doesn't break, a strong leader as well. Such shocks either destroy a personality or make it stronger. And if you consider what he's been through and if he can cope with it..."
"Hmm, you think so?" The elder scratched his chin thoughtfully. "I hadn't even considered that possibility."
"If he's already come around, even if in shock, I think he has a good chance."
"Hmm..." The elder continued thoughtfully tugging at his chin.
"But it's too early to talk about that. He'll need time to process what happened. By the way, it would be good if someone kept a constant eye on him—just in case. Especially since, I recall, someone placed a wreath on his head."
"Oh, that's true," said the elder, glancing at the circle of women sitting nearby. "We'll have to think about this, discuss it... So, you say he could be a strong shaman and leader?"
"Yes, very strong. The main thing is not to let things drift; start training him as soon as he recovers. And a stone wouldn't hurt the boy—to prevent the possibility of re-possession while he's still weak."
"Thank you for the advice. I will definitely take control of this."
We talked about various other trifles; others present joined the conversation. We recalled yesterday's events, the funny moments—who ran where, what they did. With the spirit situation resolved, the people had clearly relaxed: laughter, jokes, and teasing could be heard from all around. If not for their appearance, one could mistake them for ordinary people. They asked me about the fight, about spirits, about the outer world. But, probably due to the presence of the elder and other respected tribesmen, they didn't pester me with questions—just casually. So we sat and talked. Then the elder asked when I planned to leave. I said it would be good to set off right in the morning, meaning now—I still had a pass to cross. He even wanted to send everyone about their business immediately, but I said it was fine, there was still time. Nevertheless, we didn't linger; soon the women briskly cleared away the hides and treats, and the people began to disperse. Everyone, as they left, piled gifts on me, wished me a good journey, said they would wait for my return, that I was now like family and always welcome here. Yes, it was simple, unpretentious, but their words warmed my heart. It's always nice to know that somewhere, you're not a stranger and you're awaited.
So, everyone dispersed, and I set about sorting through the gifts. What hadn't they given me! Good thing I'd brought the large backpack. There was so much that I couldn't take it all. But now I had a dwelling here, so it was fine: I'd take what I could and leave the rest for now. I'd be back anyway—I needed to learn how to handle this stone. Among the gifts were some delicacies (by local standards), and even a full set of local clothing made from fine, skillfully tanned leather, quality no worse than the elder's. In short, lots of interesting things. I packed the most unusual items into the backpack, leaving almost all my own things behind: sleeping bag, small backpack, tea/coffee paraphernalia. I could make it home like this, and I'd need all that here later—wouldn't have to carry it back. I stored the remaining gifts: some in the pantry in the local kitchen, some just neatly stacked in the main hall. I got ready, dressed, and sat for a moment before the journey, looking over my new, now permanent dwelling. Well, in the sense that it's reserved for me. Obviously, I don't plan to live here permanently. But one shouldn't swear off anything—who knows how life will turn, especially in my case. Now I have a place to hide if needed. Well, sat for a moment—time to set off.
As I walked through the settlement, it seemed all its inhabitants came out to see me off. Everyone waved, wished me a good road, told me to come back soon. Turns out these snow people are really quite soulful. So I walked through the entire settlement, waving back to everyone, smiling, and thanking them for their wishes. Then came the ascent. My thoughts were still back in the settlement, so I hardly noticed how I covered almost the entire Sangold Gorge (translating to our geography).
By the stream at the start of the ascent to the pass, Uga was sitting on a stone, as usual, staring into nothingness.
"Oh, hello! What are you doing here?" I asked.
"I wanted to see you before you left," he replied, rising from the stone. He was, by the way, in his camouflage that mimicked animal skin.
"Great. I didn't see you in the settlement."
"Yes, with guests from other tribes arriving soon, there's a lot of walking to do. But I'm glad I caught you. And I'm glad you were here and did what you did."
"I'm glad too that everything was resolved successfully. And although these were sad events, they led me to you."
"We will meet again, human. And you can always count on my help. Now I must go, and may your paths be easy," he said and headed towards the settlement.
I, watching him go, continued towards the pass. As I walked, I reflected. So, one could say this whole epic with the ice witch, the jondor, and the div was over. And it ended quite successfully. Overall, I came out ahead. And considering the div's energy overflowing within me, I was downright in clover. Here I am, climbing the pass with an overloaded backpack, yet it feels like I'm strolling lightly through a park. Plus, I made acquaintances with the snow people, acquired a powerful amulet—which, by the way, now preserves all my belongings during transformation into the bear. Speaking of which, this upcoming training with the snow people should be a priority in the near future. As soon as their guests leave, I need to start immediately. Who knows how long it will take. These stones are fascinating things. Although if they're somewhat sentient, they aren't quite "things." Well, I suppose the training will sort everything out.
Regarding my training in general, a heap of questions for my teacher had accumulated, needing resolution as soon as possible. For example, about the fact that I now have a raven. And the transformation into the raven isn't complete, but it's permanent. I could see right now what was happening in my dream enclave, and I felt I could summon him to me at any moment. Hmm, what's stopping me from doing it now? Especially since, while lost in thought, I'd already crossed the pass and left the snow people's enclave—the perfect time for experiments. I focused on the raven and simply wished for him to appear on my shoulder. Which he did, immediately declaring, "Don Juan is great." I agreed with him and sent him flying around with a mental command. What can I say? Seems convenient, but very unusual. Hopefully for now. When he was in the enclave, I just sort of *knew* what he was doing and what was happening around him, like memories. But like this, with him here, my consciousness seemed to split, and I saw two pictures simultaneously—a very strange sensation. So this skill will require training, and I need to delve into it more deeply to figure it all out.
So I'll have to talk with Luka—though that's inevitable anyway. In any case, he should show up soon to find out how it all ended. And to mock me, of course; can't do without that. He'll surely find a reason—it's for pedagogical purposes, I understand. Well, alright, we'll manage. I sent the raven back to the enclave—he was too distracting. And proper training wasn't feasible right now: too many events had happened, and I was somewhat scattered. My thoughts kept jumping from one thing to another, no concentration. Of course, I could have forced it, but I just didn't feel like it today—rest is necessary too. So I just walked, thinking and reminiscing about this and that... It was simply pleasant to walk like this, not rushing anywhere. It was just... good. One thing bothered me: everything was a bit *too* good. I just hoped no new nastiness would occur. Though... well, we'll manage.
