Chapter 79 - The Return Of Ansgar
Ansgar, who was resting in a small cave.
He opened his eyes slowly because he was extremely tired.
Since at night he had had a fever, so he knew that if he did not come to the tribe today, he might die.
So doing his best, he got up from the cold ground where he was resting and approached the remains of the fire he had lit.
Where did he get the only piece of meat he had left?
Looking at him, he could feel a feeling of sadness because if he did not reach the tribe that would be his last meal.
After finishing eating, Ansgar left the small cave and supporting his aching body walked following the line of silver.
Every step he took was painful, but despite this, he kept walking.
After a few minutes influenced by the sunlight that dazzled his eyes, he blinked and it was at that moment that he could hear Galder\'s voice.
"Ansgar we must hurry, don\'t just stand there!"
Ansgar, quite surprised to hear the voice of his late friend Galder, turned his head in a desperate attempt to want to know where his voice was coming from.
But no matter how hard he looked, he couldn\'t find the place where his voice came from, so he decided to continue on his way.
For the next few minutes everything continued without any problem, but feeling a bit dizzy he closed his eyes for a moment.
When he opened them again, he saw that he was no longer on the beach but in the forest.
"Ansgar, you have to move faster or I will win the race and keep your sweet honey candy."
Ansgar looked at his hands and realized that they were small, but at that moment he did not pay attention, since he thought that perhaps all he remembered was a dream.
So he started running, trying to catch up with his friend Galder, who was way ahead of him.
"Galder, don\'t run too fast I can\'t catch up with you!"
Galder\'s silhouette did not stop and ran harder, so Ansgar had no choice but to follow her silently.
In that forest, Ansgar continued running, trying to avoid hitting the trees there.
But no matter how much Galder\'s silhouette progressed, it became less and less visible.
"Galder, please don\'t leave me in this place!"
Ansgar shouted with all his might, but his screams seemed not to be heard. He could no longer see the silhouette of his friend.
Ansgar closed his eyes with all his might and when he opened them he realized that he had been running on the beach for quite some time and what he considered being trees were just some stones that would have made him fall.
Feeling desperate and exhausted, Ansgar took a brief rest on one of those big rocks on the beach.
As he sat down, he looked melancholy at the sea and realized that in the distance there was a fishing boat.
Using the last of his strength, he rose from the rock and searched his garments for the horn he carried.
When he found it, he blew with all his might, trying to get the attention of the fishermen on that boat.
Lars, who was looking for a seal to hunt on his boat, heard the sound of a war horn, so with some fear, he took his atlatl.
Preparing to fight anything that could ram into the sea, but luckily there was nothing around him so he looked towards the coast looking for the cause of the noise.
Although he did not have the same eyesight as when he was young, he could see on the coast the small silhouette of what appeared to be a person waving at him.
Lars knew that there could not be an enemy on the island, so he assumed that this person was a member of the tribe who was asking him for help.
Without wasting time he used the ropes on his little fishing boat to change course towards the coast, Ansgar seeing that the boat was approaching where he was could feel a sense of peace in his mind.
When Lars was able to reach the coast, he realized that the person making those signs was one of the missing members of the expedition.
This due to the clothing he had, when the boat docked on the beach, Lars had to run to where that member of the expedition was because he had lost consciousness.
Making a great effort, he dragged Ansgar\'s body towards his boat after raising it; he used a rope that tied his boat and got into the sea to be able to remove it from the sand on the beach.
After putting his boat afloat, Lars got on his boat and looked towards the shore for the last time, it\'s just that to his surprise he could see a little boy who seemed to be saying goodbye to him.
He would have thought it was a real child, but when he blinked it had already disappeared.
So he guessed it must be some member of the expedition\'s guardian elf.
\'This young man is very lucky that there is an elf who cares for him, I am almost certain that if he had not had the elf, he might have died.\'
During the course of the trip to the tribe, Lars did his best to keep Ansgar warm, as he was too cold so he could get a cold if he left him alone.
Upon reaching the port, Lars made a few signs to Peder and his partner, who were standing guard because he needed help to get down to Ansgar.
Felipa, who was cleaning a child\'s wound, was scared when Peder and another warrior entered her infirmary carrying what appeared to be a member of the expedition.
"Felipa!
We need your help, as one of the fishermen found Ansgar on a beach to the north.
We do not know what is happening, but according to the description of the fisherman, when he found it he was extremely frozen.
So he warmed it up using some furs he had on his ship. "
Felipa motioned for the boy to remain seated, while she went to the bed where Ansgar had been placed.
"Peder, I want you to go find my mother and Einar, as for you warrior I would like you to pass me the alcohol that is in that jug and the skins that are under that furniture."
In the great hall, Einar was eating, he was listening to some Skald Per stories.
"So if what you say is correct, our ancestors encountered an explorer from a land to the south named Piteas."
The Skald nodded "Your grandfather said that this man exchanged knowledge for food, although his language was too strange he showed that he knew a lot because of the things he did.
Unfortunately, according to your grandfather, many of the things were lost in some generations, because of the war and the climate change that occurred at that time.
That is the oldest story I can remember of your grandfather, although Elin may know more about that story. "
Elin shook her head somewhat sadly. "Although my father talked a lot, he rarely told me stories about his adventures or anything about our ancestors.
I always felt that maybe he had a certain hatred towards me because my brother died when I was very young, as did my mother.
So my father, wanting to honor his memory, decided not to get together with some other woman, and since I was a woman, maybe I was never good enough for him.
Fortunately, Sven proved to my father that he could take care of the tribe and that he would take care of me too. "
Sven who was sitting next to Elin took her by the waist and brought her to his chest "Eero was an outstanding leader, an excellent warrior, and a great explorer, but he always had problems with his family.
But fortunately, everything he knew about our past he told Per in another way, maybe we only know a few things about our ancestors ... "
Sven was interrupted when Peder ran into the great hall "Jarl Sven, one of the fishermen found Ansgar.
He is currently with Felipa, but she requires Einar and Kassia to go quickly as she needs her help. "
Everyone at the table was silent for a few seconds and when they processed the information they got up to go to where Felipa was.
While this was happening, Ansgar who was asleep could see Galder, who was throwing some snowballs into the void.
"Ansgar, you are very lucky that you followed me, but you should let me go.
You don\'t have to blame yourself for what happened when we were children, no one could have changed my destiny. "
Ansgar with tears in his eyes tried to get closer to Galder but stopped midway "Thanks for saving my life, if it hadn\'t been for you I might already be dead."
Galder shook his head "It was you who saved yourself, I just tried to give you the boost you needed to hold on to life."
Calmly Galder walked to the edge of the cliff and turned to give Ansgar a smile "I\'d like to keep talking to you but I have to go, this time forever.
But remember to stay close to who you call Herald Einar as there is something within him that allows souls like mine to rest.
I hope we can meet in the afterlife ... "
When he finished saying those words, a girl in very strange clothes appeared and took Galder\'s hand.
"Thank you for allowing me to say goodbye to Ansgar, Erika."
The girl just nodded, and at that moment Ansgar who was sleeping opened his eyes.