With dawn approaching elder Qez took out several objects from his waiste pouch. .
One was a golden mallet, true to it's appearance it was made of pure gold.
The second item was a small broach box made of red wood painted matcha green.
He tossed the mallet to the side creating a small indent in the ground and opened the small box.
Inside the box an assortment of rainbow stones no larger then three centimeters lay bundled up fifty in total.
The elder nodded his head initially but after a momemt of thought looked into his bag once more and took out another pair of rainbow stones slightly larger then the rest and tossed them into the box.
He then recited some words and closed the box.
"All of you get ready, when I toss this box into the lake I want you all to enter the water"
The children looked at the elder then at the lake.
"Don't worry you won't need to swim"
That was one worry yes but it was also cold, the air itself seemed to almost form ice crystals, wouldn't the water be freezing?
At the side the group to the east looked at the sky.
One of the old man spoke to the others.
"It is time, bring the offerings"
Four of the larger kids picked up a bag walking it over to the old man.
The old man opened the bag taking out a smaller leather bag, he recited some words much like elder Qez and stood up ready to toss the bag into the lake.
"All of you, know that this day will be the day we rise once more!" The old man launched the bag eyes filled with determination.
The amazonians noticing both the groups to their sides had started to move, decided that now was the time to act.
"Present your stone to the lake, let the waters take what it needs" an old woman gazed to her side.
The girls sitting down stood up in unison grabbing the quivers to their sides, each took out a stone from small pouches at the side of said quivers and tossed it into the air.
The old woman clasped their hands and screamed to the wind.
The group to the west took action last, the old man sitting among the young clenched his teeth with a darkened face.
"Thieves! This is our holy site and you come here without our asking!?" Enraged he grabbed a pouch from one of the men standing to the side without shame.
The man was taken aback by the sudden outburst of the old man.
The old man recited a spell "To you we seek guidance, to you we give these young ones, grant us a stage to show our worth!" The mist twisted as his voice traveled across the caldera.
The old man tossed the pouch into the water cutting the bottom so it's contents spilled out.
The spaniars took notice of the change in the surroundings.
"What is happening?"
Some of the men among the group looked in the direction of elder Qez's group, to be exact they looked at the golden mallet that lay on the ground.
"Gold!" One exclaimed in shock.
"Where?!" Another scanned the horizon.
The group to the east took out several more items from the large bag, a golden mask, a golden dagger and a gold medallion.
The amazonians took out raw gold nuggets from several small bags lifting them up into the sky.
The monk on his way to talk to the group in the west had arrived just at the time this was happening.
A man among the western group uncovered a large golden statue that took two men to carry.
The monk with shock in his face took a step back "My lord! Where did you men find such a thing? You are men from the fields are you not?"
He knew one among these men, he knew they could not have such wealth.
If one had that much gold to simply lug around, they could have changed the social status of their family with ease.
These men or at least the one he knew had no such social standing, living in near poverty why would he hide such wealth instead of feeding his family?
"Have you stolen this? Where did you obtain this gold?!" The monk questioned.
Over a hundred years had passed since the conquistadors had finished the conquest of south america with the last of the incan strongholds falling while places like new granada had long been under spanish rule, under spanish law it dictated the treatment of the natives to be nealry as equal to their own.
While it may be a little difficult to gain acceptance into a higher social class it could be done nonetheless, however it was seldom done.
The group of spaniards wanted to rush over and ask about the source of the gold unconsciously grabbing at their rifles.
One of the spaniards looked at the man in charge of their expedition "Remember Acosta we are not here for treasure, not this treasure at least".
His words seemed to calm down the group of spaniards "You are right, what we are here for is something with much more value then a few mere trinkets".
The men calmed their tense shoulders.
Elder Qez sat down, he didn't need to do anything from this point on.
The stones tossed into the lake sank to the bottom, some had been tossed further into the deeper parts usure if it mattered.
From the peak of the hill facing the sun, a ray of light skimmed the air creating a perfectly clear path of light from one side of the caldera to the other.
The children got closer to the lake just as the elder had said, they hesitated for a momemt to dip their feet into the water but eventually a brave one took the first step.
The other groups to the west, south and east watched each other not knowing who was going to be the first to test the waters.
It did not have to be said that the water of the lake was basically freezing at this time of the day.
The lake was isolated from other water sources being higher up the land then general had it's own mirco climate making it colder then one might be used to even under the same elevation, to enter it's waters was asking for a bad time.
Splash*
The children and elder figures turned in the direction of elder Qez's group.
One of the children marched forward without any sign of fear left.
One step, two steps, three, four one foot after the other he walked on the water without falling through.
If he fell in... Well he can just blame the elder.
The rest of the children seeing him walk on water slammed their feet on the water in an attempt to test it's depths.
The water splashed slighty as it was kicked around yet none of their feet dropped more then two centimeters into the water.
Another child took this chance to jump on the water, seeing as he did not fall into the lake the rest of the group gained courage.
"The younger they are the more curious, I really thought you would be the first into the water" an elder of the eastern group spoke to the kids hesitating to enter the water.
The kids feeling reprimanded took a deep breath and gritted their teeth.
One among them stepped ahead slamming the base of the spear in his hands down.
"Follow me, we must not let them take the lead again"
The rest of the boys looked at him lifting their spirits as they marched forward.
"Good, good, take the lead Nand, do not let others look down on us!"
The boys followed the lead of the one named Nand and Nand took the it with pride.
The amazonians not to be outdone turned to their elders bows to their chest in salute of them, then they walked to the lake.
The old man to the west "Go! Go! Don't let them win!"
The group of boys walked into the lake feeling rushed.
One of the man besides the old man felt something was off, he seemed to recognize one of the boys or recognized something different about them "Huitaca?"
As if the boy didn't want to be caught he rushed into the lake before the man could catch him.
"Huitaca! Why are you here?! Where is your brother!?" The man screamed going after the boy in anger.
The rest of the boys covered for the one running blocking the man while retreating themselves.
"Huitaca?"
"Isn't that his daughter?"
"Where is the boy?"
The group of man watched the children trying to enter the lake, then they noticed the one the man called out, indeed it was a girl.
The man rushed after the girl hidden among the boys but the moment his foot stepped into the lake the water below turned sharp as a blade slicing off his leg.
The man shocked and unable to catch his balance began to fall forward, his eyes opening wide as the sudden injury left him in a dire situation.
The group of men nearest rushed in grabbing onto his arm before he could fall into the lake.
The man having been saved screamed in anger "Huitaca!!!"
The girl seeing her father injured turned back panicked.
"Don't die stupid girl" her father calming his anger lifted his arm gesturing to stop her steps.
If she stepped out now he would have lost not just his leg but also whatever pride he had.
The spaniards having seen the commotion once more began panicking at the sight of the man losing his foot.
"Witch magic!"
"The lake is cursed by the devil!"
"God save our souls!"
The leader of the group took note of something else "Himenez take the boys with you, enter the lake"
A taller man grabbed his musket a little more firmly as he took a step closer to the lake.
Himenez "Are you sure boss?"
The two boys looked at their leader Acosta wanting to speak, unsure about stepping foot on the lake.
This was surely witchcraft or fhe work of the devil, how could he ask them to enter the lake like so.
The elders of each group looked on at the actions of the spaniards wishing to see the result.
"They did not offer a medium nor cast the spell needed" one of the eastern old man explained.
"Maybe they carry something to allow them entry by chance" another said half sarcastically.
The light of dawn had yet to reach the lakes water, as only the glimmer of light reflected on its surface.
The closer the light got to the surface the heavier the air became giving rise to a white mist surrounding the outer perimeter of the caldera.
The tall spaniard last named Himenez inched closer to the lake, he lowered his body closer to the lakes surface while widening his stance so as not to fall.
Having reached close enough he used his musket to test the waters surface.
Thump* Thump*
The musket hit something solid, Himenez could not see anything in the water and the water itself splashed without barriers.
The fact that the muskets bottom couldn't touch the lakes bottom scared him.
"Nothing unusual Sir! Maybe it was just a freak accident and we are seening things!" Not willing to test further Himenez backed away.
"Dip your fingers in Himenez, don't let some water scare you" Acosta asked for another test, he needed to make sure it was safe first.
Himenez had visible sweat forming on his forehead, he inched closer to the water chest to the ground.
Fighting off his nerves he slammed his hand down.
The water splashed up, his hand had sunk into the water slightly without any problems.
Noticing his hand was still part of his body Himenez breathed in a sigh of relief.
The rest of the group unable to see clearly waited with abated breath
"Nothing happened Sir! My hand fell through" not noticing that his hand had in fact not fallen through.
"Fell through? Then how are they walking on the water Himenez?" Acosta asked beginning to get irritated.
Remembering what happened earlier Himenez spoke up "Sir my hand fell through the water but the tip of my musket was stopped by something"
As if to show proff Himenez grabbed the barrel of his musket and slammed the base on the water for all too see.
The group of spaniards stepped closer to see for themselves.