Atnas and Retsbrew were the last to leave the valley, and as they traveled the old path that led across the moors that night, Atnas sensed that Retsbrew was troubled.
“You are not yourself, my friend, this eve. Are you taken ill?”
Retsbrew replied, “No master, I’m not ill, but have doubt within myself that eats at my spirit.”
“What doubt is this, Retsbrew?”
“Well, there seems to be much that is amiss and I fear for us. The stones of the bluff are now in jeopardy; you have told us you will be leaving to meet the great one; the giants are surrounding us, making our travel, like this night, always at the time of darkness. I fear these things, Atnas, and doubt that faith alone can overcome them. We have never moved the stones… And the giants… What is their purpose in entering every woodland and valley?”
“Ah, you may be the youngest of the lodge brothers, but you are the most perceptive. Your curiosity is generated by what you witness. I can only tell you that there are many things which you will learn in time; but as for the stones, there has been one occasion when we were called upon to vote and then to move them. Many years ago, long before you were born to Lady Charlin, the giants decided to build a massive guide light for their seaman. The site chosen was high on the great clay cliffs of the north, and to our dismay it came to pass that when they dug the foundation, a stone monument much like the one at the bluff was found. The earth that covered it was witness to the fact that our ancients placed it there, likely just after the great ice retreated."
"Now to that day we did not know of its existence, but as soon as it was uncovered we could sense it being there. We felt its presence even at great distance. The elders feared the giants having possession of such a powerful formation and voted to move the stones upon nightfall the next day; and it was so done. The stones were taken to a site further south and after a guidance ceremony, were reburied to the depth where they were found. They remain there to this day. Like the bluff stones, we know they had a meaning and held strong special powers. But unlike the bluff stones, these were found by the giants, so our vote to move them was less troublesome. The bluff stones are only imperiled by the sea, which is part of this place and who we are. There lays the difference in what to do; and the question of moving them becomes more difficult."
“Yes, Atnas, I understand, and I know that the giants found other stones near the lodges at the valley of great trees; and recall that you were only able to retrieve one of them.”
“This is true, Retsbrew. The giants were making their path wider near the range of their great cannons and came upon the monument. Their master had the others leave the stones in place for the night, and that is when I found them. Knowing I could not wait till morning, I took the stones one by one and so placed them upon their path to cause them confusion and wonder. The crows stayed with them until the next morning and have told us that the stones were then taken up by these tall ones. But the bottom sacred stone I was able to carry back with me to a holding lodge, where we thought it would remain safe."
"As to the purpose of the giants, it is not ours to decide or wonder, for the great one continues to send them. Their children are born in nine moons, but few births among our own have been seen in so many seasons. I, like you, wonder upon all of this, but I know the spring eagle told us to trust in one of them, and this we must do, for our place here may well depend upon that faith."
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