They travelled the nights and slept over the light of days, the Vikings from the shelter were crossing the flat greens, reaching a river they chose to stop for the night
They decided to spend the rest of the night there and cross by dawn, placing their tents they sat beside a little flame of theirs, big enough to give them heat, small enough to not lead to their place
Using it to make their food they sat in a circle, each group talking with each other spending the night, some chose to sleep over the dark, others wanted to stood guard
Ramo sat beside the children, for he was their teacher, he let them make their own food while watching over it all
"So… Mr Ramo" said Jason getting his attention "How long were you a teacher? Like, what did you do beforehand"
The other kids were curios as well, placing the pot upon the red flower of the night, they seated themselves in comfort with interested faces
"I have been a teacher for the last 20 years; half my life was spent at the main shelter" said Ramo
"Half?" said Seryon, brother of the new chief "Where did you spend the rest?"
"Did your brother never tell you that?" said Ramo
Seryon shacked his head sideways in reply
"I spent most of it in the shelter that fell around 15-14 years ago" said Ramo "I managed to flee with my head intact, unlike most"
"How did the shelter fall? "Asked Doryon, a brown-haired boy who's a close friend for Jason
"Yeh and What about the other 5 years? Where did you go then?" asked Jason
"The story is long, and you need some sleep" said Ramo
"Sleep? We won't be getting that with how long is left for it to shine" replied Jason
They stared at him, some other kids from a nearby group were curios as well, he decided to just spit it out
"Sigh… don't expect any heroic stories" said Ramo "Our wooden castle was implanted by the river, right beside where the 4 splits were at, trying to stop any connections between them and the great market"
"The commander of our shelter decided that our numbers are enough for theirs, and once they reached us, seeing that kid, the commander got more excited" said Ramo
"What did the commander look like?" said Seryon
"And who is 'that kid'?" said Jason
"I don't really remember what he looked like, it is all blurry. But I remember the kid for sure, I believe he is now the ruler of the Varish kingdom, his name is Arthur" said Ramo
"Although he wasn't the king at the time, merely and aspiring commander, although aspiring is a downgrade for him" said Ramo staring into the fire
"We had the same numbers, and not much difference in both skilled warriors and equipment, it was all the fault of that Arthur, he went through our lines as if cutting grass, he needed no armour, nor did he need a shield"
He stared right into Seryon's eyes and spoke
"He was the one to kill the commander, that is what I heard fleeing the scene with the few survivors, blood and fire everywhere, although the sun was bright, the smoke created it own night"
"And where did you and the others go?" asked Seryon
"We went into two different paths, my team went toward the southern forest's camp, it is now a slavery camp, the place where Jason came from" Ramo said looking up at Jason
"The others decided to spread info faster by going to the western forest camp, sadly they were tracked not too long after, that camp fell the next year, mine lasted a couple more before it followed"
"I was lucky enough to live these two times and get back to the shelter, I wish that luck lasts more until the end of all of this" said Ramo
"The end? How do you think this fight will end sir Ramo" said Seryon
"Obviously by one side disappearing for good, there is no middle grounds. But this is not the answer that you're waiting for, is it?" said Ramo
"Maybe, a miracle will happen saving us, maybe the true blood will appear and takes lead towards victory, flattening the Varish's capital" he continued with
"Have you ever seen a miracle Mr Ramo?" asked Jason
Ramo stared the ground under his feet for a moment, he seemed deep in thought reminding himself about the past, he spoke a single word out of his mouth
"No."
bloop-bloop, the pot wish was on fire was boiling right before their eyes,
"I guess it is time for food" said Ramo, he gave each one of the kids in his circle their share of the meal, other groups waited theirs to finish, some were already eating
I have a question, we are backed by the sea, but why is the shelter going hungry even though it must be full of fish" said Doryon
Ramo swallowed a spoon of his soup and replied
"We have a single time in the year to hunt as much as we can it is when the fish gets ashore, sadly it doesn't last long, and with us not having any high-quality ships we can't risk going deeper" said Ramo
"Why don't we build more then we do have a forest nearby the mountain range," said Jason
"But these rocks we inhabit do not hold the required minerals, and with us not having the man for it we decided not to waste time or strength on it for a failed attempt, who knows, maybe Pharam will figure it out, unlike the past chief" said Ramo
As they continued to eat the black of the sky with its little drops of white shifted into orange slowly, the sun reached with is arms across the horizon
"It is time, get ready fast, and save any leftovers, they will be your next dinner" said Ramo standing up and pouring what he had left into the boiling pot
They went into groups of 3 and 4 crossing the running river, with the sunlight to aid them they made sure none went messing
Continuing their march forward they spotted the forest
"That is the western forest camp used to be, Luckily the Varish kingdom decided they did not want it and left it as is" said Ramo
They reached through the dark forest, the light blinded their eyes as they saw it clear, the camp was big, too big for them, but they were all excited about it, most of them never experience the outside world, other awaited this moment for more than 15 years, however old it looked, it was all worth it