Everything had been prepared for their march on Italy to defend the Pope from the attacks of the Lombards, but not all were so ready to do the will of their commanders.

Although many believed in him, more were sure that King Charles lied to hide far deeper purposes.

Everyone knew the difficulties of that journey from the regions of Alemannia to the Italian peninsula and therefore they had supplied themselves with anything that could serve, even at the cost of doubling the weight of their bags.

Arranged in the plain like so many ordered ants, the French troops were finally ordered to leave and with songs of joy-which hid nostalgia - they greeted the inhabitants of the nearby village of Columbaria, who rushed that day to the camp to witness their departure.

After two days of travel, forced to accept all the climate changes as they approached Italy, the commanders decided to camp at the village of Augusta to give rest to the troops, before reaching the Alps and from here enter Lombard territory.

That first night of stopping was lit by a thousand fires, whose flames, moved by the wind, seemed to bounce here and there in the camp together with the roar of the soldiers who gathered around it.

There was, among these men, a young warrior named Jonk, who had just decided to flee the camp: he had therefore set out on his own to the nearby mountain to spend the night there and wait for his companions to leave, and then return undisturbed to his country.

Unfortunately for him, just before reaching the top, a bad foot resting on the muddy terrain forced him to move away from the path that he had decided to follow, making it rolling down the flanks of the mountain until it fell, knocked out and bruised, on what seemed to be an immense expanse of ice.

The next morning, his eyes opened dazzled by the intense glow reflected from the surface of that ice, which made him awaken in fear.

But his fear was nothing compared to that of those in front of him: little beings covered with white skins who were watching him frightened and intrigued; they seemed prey to a strange wonder, as if they already expected the arrival of that strange individual in their land.

A cry arose:

“THAT'S HIM! THE CHOSEN ONE BY GOD! HE WHO CAME TO SAVE US FROM OUR OPPRESSORS”.

And they pulled him up, almost forcibly, and surrounded him, brought him to their site.

Jonk could not help but indulge them; he thought that being in many, his eventual attempt to escape could almost certainly cost him his life.

Upon arrival in the village, all the inhabitants seemed to have already been warned of that unexpected arrival and never so long-awaited, so much so that they rushed outside the doors of their homes to see it arrive.

Jonk, once accompanied in front of the leader of what seemed to him to be a tribe out of time, asked to rest; the latter then housed him in one of the huts adjacent to his own.

Jonk needed time to think about what happened.

“I will behave as they wish, until I find a way home” - thought the young prisoner.

He was walking nervously when, in the hut where he had been settled, IK, the King of the Iandics, suddenly entered, inviting him to go outside to allow him to have a first contact with the entire population.

According to IK, Jonk should have instilled in the people ardor and hope for the arduous mission that would be accomplished shortly thereafter. And to have as the leader himself, the warrior who came from the mountain.

Unfortunately, Jonk did not know the history of those people, nor did he know anything about that mission. He then asked the king against whom and for what it was necessary to act.

The King, troubled by that unexpected request, waited before answering, then burst forth: "you must know that long, but long ago, our people lived in a great valley full of sun and all that nature could offer. We had never seen a white and solid surface like the Earth on which we are now forced to survive, but one day we heard a great noise, like thunder, that rumbled upon our heads. From the high mountains we saw then come down an endless myriad of dark and well-armed beings: they wanted to exterminate us to take possession of our territory and our resistance could do little against their strange and deadly weapons. They pushed us out of our borders until we were relegated here, to this expanse of ice. There was a pause in his words, in the hope that Jonk would propose.

But it was not so, and so he continued: " since then, according to the prophecy of Alino, we are waiting for a man - a warrior-from the mountain to lead us back to the lost lands!”.

Hearing these words, Jonk immediately realized that at that point it would be even riskier to escape from the village, so he thought well to indulge the king in his reasoning and wait for a better chance to escape.

"And be it: I am the man of the mountain!"- he hastened therefore to specify heading out of the hut where many were waiting for him...

”I will give you the strength and courage to win your battles!"- he proclaimed forcefully to the people.

That hope repressed in the heart of that people for a long time then had its way. Therefore, proms and propitiatory celebrations began, which continued throughout the night.

Jonk did not partake in their joy but preferred to remain aloof, only with his thoughts.

The next morning he was awakened by King Ik and invited to the nearby hut, where the elders of the people were gathered with whom he would discuss the strategies to be adopted in the upcoming battle.

After hearing the different opinions of the village leaders, Jonk decided in his heart that the time had come to activate the escape plan he had in mind. He promptly intervened, saying, " representatives of the Iandic people, what strategy can be more effective than what the mild Eauvin of the talking Forest might suggest? Who better than he can know the weakness of your oppressors?”. That said, he waited for that buzz to explode into a chorus of questions.

"Who is this being?", "Where is the Forest you mentioned?", were the most recurring questions.

"When you found me I was right on the edge of the forest and not far from where Eauvin is. I can go to him for advice and return to your village, ready to lead you to certain victory!".

"If that's where you have to go, you certainly won't go alone!" the King answered, after a quick nod of agreement with the leaders of the people...

"Our most valiant and trusted warrior, Vastan, will accompany you. He will watch you from the pitfalls of the great expanse that stands between us and the forest that you must reach”.

Jonk felt struck by those words and retreated bewildered. He could not help but accept that company which, however, risked compromising his plan: he thought that in due course he would drive away that kind of bodyguard and run away.

Ik continued: “ Jonk, our leader, will issue orders for departure to the forest and everyone is bound to obey him.”

"I think we'll leave tomorrow!"- added Jonk speaking aloof to the king as they were about to go out, " Vastan! Found you in my hut from the early hours of Dawn."

As it had been established, the next day the two departed; Jonk was desperately trying to remember the exact place where he had fallen into those lands and at the same time was looking for a way to implement his escape plan: to direct Vastan into a rock abyss and then to escape undisturbed.

It took about two hours before they got to the point where rocks emerged from the ice. With great joy Jonk realized that he had come to a familiar place and began to explore it in search of any memory connected to it.

Vastan noticed this strange curiosity and asked: "Are we close to something you know?”.

"Yes, and I think that tomorrow I will also be able to meet with Eauvin: I will go there alone otherwise he will never show up!"- answered Jonk resolutely, thinking that in this way he would finally get rid of that uncomfortable presence.

“I will always be behind you: you are too important to my people! I don't think this can bother your friend... "- replied Vastan promptly.

So they walked for a few hours to the limits of the icy blanket then Jonk, realizing that he was right near the place where he had fallen days ago, communicated to his traveling companion that they had reached the entrance of the talking Forest and that now they would have to look for the mild Eauvin to submit to him the strategy to be adopted in battle.

"Isn't there a specific place to find the track? "- asked Vastan suddenly, interrupting the march through the forest.

"It's never in the same place! Yours is rare merchandise!"- replied Jonk seraphically - " and not everyone is allowed to speak to him!”.

Jonk and his companion were exhausted when the light of the sunset crossed the bush so as to make visible, on the other side, a promontory rising a few meters from them. Jonk immediately sensed that he had already been to that place just when, fleeing the camp, he had rolled down.

The fear of approaching the camp area again, with the risk of being able to meet someone who was looking for him, prevailed over him.

He said, " Well, this is the place. We'll wait here for the night and tomorrow at dawn I'll talk to Eauvin! “.

"Remember that I will not lose sight of you: these are the orders! So it makes everything happen in the simplest way, " replied Vastan suspiciously, who could not explain the reason for that sudden and peremptory stop.

The night was rather quiet, and sleep took over the Warrior Vastan: that was what Jonk hoped would happen.

So he took his things and headed for the Promontory, looking for traces that could lead him away from that illusory people and from a mission that he never dreamed of facing.

The Little Torch he had brought with him was almost exhausted when Vastan's voice behind him rattled him:

"Hey, Jonk, can I continue this search with you? I see that your torch is running out” " said the warrior sarcastically.

“You shouldn't have come at this time. I heard Eauvin's voice play one of his lullabies a little while ago, and I thought I'd take this opportunity to talk to him. Since you have arrived, I must change the plan in the hope that the Wise Man Of The Talking Forest will come alive again!"- replied Jonk promptly.

“What should I do?" Vastan therefore asked.

"Enter this little cave and listen carefully... if you hear something or someone pass by the entrance cries: "stop, O wise Eauvin!", and wait for his answer. Then go out and try to track me down."

This was Jonk's response, which was part of the plan he had devised instantly: to keep his guardian busy waiting for something that could never happen, while he would set out to return to his village.

Vastan then entered that cave and found a good position to observe its entrance.

Jonk, meanwhile, had managed to climb the slopes of the small Promontory.

The Dawn had already risen for a while, and Jonk found himself squished in a ravine of the Promontory, tired from the searches of that long night; he had not yet reached the extreme north of the forest and, from where he was, found that he was not very far from the goal.

Even there were steep areas, where the Promontory seemed better to draw a possible way out, but the fatigue that he had accumulated did not allow him to advance much.

But his mind had already devised a ploy to reach those areas: he decided to return to the place where he had left Vastan, near the cave.

'I will behave as they will until I find my way home!', thought Jonk, as he slowly walked the road to return to Vastan.

Meanwhile, the sun had risen and lit up the thick bush. He glimpsed again the campsite he had spotted the day before and noticed that Vastan was not far from him, perhaps in search of food. He called him several times, but there was no answer.

He stopped for a while leaning on a large tree, then continued his march to the place where he had left his companion.

As soon as he got there, he attacked him violently asking him why he had been absent for a long time.

Jonk replied, “Let me rest! I walked in the Great Valley, alone and met Eauvin. Now I know the weakness of your oppressors!”.

Having said this, exhausted, he lay on the ground and fell into a deep sleep.

Vastan, repressed the primitive anger, set out to gather something to eat in the woods, waiting to be able to return to his village and then prepare the army for weapons.

Awake and refreshed, the road back seemed to the two less long than expected: to one because anxious to fight for freedom and to the other because he would command-despite himself - for the first time a real army.

When they had reached their destination, they informed the whole village of their events. The Iandics were in turmoil: they had always waited for the right moment to take back what had been unfairly taken from them.

So everyone was waiting! Jonk then went to the hut where the leaders of the people were waiting for him to baste the battle plan.

When asked about the outcome of his meeting with the wise Eauvin, Jonk proclaimed: " in the light of my magical meeting, I therefore propose to cross the entire ice plateau, until we reach its limit... then we will pass through the chain of mountains that rises to the extreme border of the talking Forest. We will then think about what to do!”.

He planned to reach the mountain range hoping to find traces of the passage of his old Army and so resume, at last, the opposite road to reach his village.

The proposal was therefore approved and The King of the Iandics ordered Vastan and other valiant warriors to prepare the people and the army for the imminent departure.

In fact, the next day at dawn the whole village was already at work: some carried the necessary supplies for the trip, others took care of the cattle. Jonk, on the other hand, hoped that everything would be smooth, at least for him: “they leave me no choice: I will have to lead them to glory or more likely to death", thought that new commander.

Of course, the fate of the Iandics was not very close to his heart: he had no feelings for the people who had indeed welcomed him so lovingly; he would have wanted to be at the edge of the ice expanse as soon as possible to implement his escape plan.

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A Trick Of The Tales

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