“Do you know when the water is frozen after the body is submerged?”
“The body is in the water for a week or two before the water is frozen. Élivágar stays in the area for that length of time before it moves elsewhere in the forest. It freezes the water just before it leaves the area. Élivágar uses the anchors to spread ice throughout the water and the frozen stream keeps the bodies from discovery.”
Diego knew this from speaking with the water, but he feels the group needs to know as well. “The water told me you unfroze the stream to display the body, correct? Then you asked the birds to alert the forest ranger. Why?”
“Yes, we did. We discovered that like us, Élivágar uses water as its main element. We prefer the running water of rivers and streams, but ice is Élivágar’s true state and if you encounter it, you will notice its cold nature. It is difficult for us to prevent this and it takes time to change water from ice to liquid. We waited for an opportune moment to defrost the ice and the wind carried your presence as you were flying in. As for the birds, birds are one of our most trusted ways to communicate with people as we do not often appear in the flesh.”
“Is Élivágar’s cold nature causing the unusually frigid winter weather?”
“Initially, yes. It likes the cold, so it made it colder. We are helping spread the cold and sustaining it. The colder weather keeps animals and humans away from here, depriving Élivágar of easy prey. It likes to create ice spears coated with venom that it hunts animals with. That is why the children are an anomaly. Élivágar did not lure them here and breathe the poison mist as with other humans, nor did it injure them with the tip of a poisoned ice spear.”
“Hogun, can you or your people take us to Élivágar?” Diego hopes Wendy didn’t ask this question thinking they will take care of Élivágar today. Though mid-afternoon, the already weak winter sun is slowly setting, and half the group’s been in the bitter cold for hours. He doesn’t think they’re up to the task now, better tomorrow after resting for the night.
Hogun turns to confer with this people. The wind keeps their words from the group, though Diego doubts they are speaking in a language that anyone of their group can understand. Hogun turns back to answer Wendy.
“We can, but you must do something first.”
“What?”
“Our distant Haudenosaunee kin had an enemy tribe in this area. Many, many years ago, the tribe died off from disease and conflict. However, their shaman was powerful enough to place a curse upon the area, triggered by the death of the last of the tribe. It was to keep these lands free of the enemy’s taint and punish their enemies. The curse was strong enough to preserve the forests, waters, and land, but it requires the energy of the lost tribe, trapping their spirits in the in-between world. The wind carried their despair to us as far away as we originally were, which is why we relocated here. We eventually found a way to communicate with them and learned they wish to move to beyond the in-between as now we, the Jo-gä-oh, can serve as guardians. However, we cannot lift the curse or free their spirits, we do not share in their ceremonies or rituals. We can break the curse, but the backlash would harm the area, which defeats the purpose. And breaking the curse would not guarantee the dead would rest, some may continue to linger here even without the curse to tie them. We propose that we work together to free the lost tribe and lift the curse.”
“Not that the purpose isn’t admirable, but why would you want to help your enemies? And why must this be done before we go after Élivágar?”
“The lost tribe is not our enemy. The Haudenosaunee are our kin because of our history, not because of a blood relation. We inhabited the areas surrounding the chain of lakes, what your kind call The Great Lakes. The Haudenosaunee are several tribes of many that moved to our area centuries ago. We taught them some of nature, they taught us their languages. We were friendly neighbors and we participated in ceremonies, rituals, and stories together. But they left, and we remained as we are of nature, not humans. Human habitation and industry led to smaller forests around the lakes and meant that many of us needed to move farther out and we chose this uninhabited area.
“Élivágar is not the only creature that has been drawn to this area by the tribe’s despair, though it is the most recent. Over the decades, we have dealt with several such threats. However, with Élivágar, we are equally matched. Its poison affects the water and the land, and we Jo-gä-oh cannot cleanse the land faster than Élivágar can corrupt it. We must work around the lost tribe’s curse which takes time. Though we do not consider ourselves enemies, the curse is not as discerning and entangles our powers as if they come from an enemy. The only benefit is the curse affects Élivágar too, preserving plants and water longer against the poison. Thus, we are at a stalemate, as you say.”
“Let me confer with my group members, give us a moment.” Wendy pulls the group to stand near Sully and nods at Tiko. Tiko closes his eyes and activates the bone wards he cast earlier. Diego feels the humming of the wards beneath his feet and even the air is still inside the circle.
“The wards are temporary, we have about ten minutes of protected conversation until they dissolve. Hogun is correct, there is a curse working against the wards. But
