WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:03.000 Now one of your pudding. I got a string going 2 00:00:03.040 --> 00:00:06.120 on here, something just because my dog. Something killed your dog. 3 00:00:06.919 --> 00:00:08.960 My dog. We're flying through the air over the tree. 4 00:00:09.039 --> 00:00:13.640 I don't know how it did it, Okay, Damn, I'm 5 00:00:13.640 --> 00:00:16.120 really confused. All I saw was my dog coming over 6 00:00:16.199 --> 00:00:17.800 the fence and he was dead. And once you hit 7 00:00:17.839 --> 00:00:19.679 the ground like, I didn't see any cars. All I 8 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:38.320 saw was my dog coming over the fence. Sat, what 9 00:00:38.359 --> 00:00:42.960 are you putting? We got some wonder or something crawling 10 00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:51.759 around out here? Did you see what it was? Or 11 00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:54.159 was it was? Standing enough? I'm out here looking through 12 00:00:54.159 --> 00:00:55.920 the window now and I don't see anything. I don't 13 00:00:55.960 --> 00:01:03.880 want to go outside, Jesus, Quice, you better hello. Hit 14 00:01:03.960 --> 00:01:06.480 thebody out here, Quen, I'm out there. I thought of 15 00:01:06.560 --> 00:01:09.480 a bet about Tech forty nine. I don't know. Easy 16 00:01:09.560 --> 00:01:13.159 him out there. Yeah, I'm walking right head June twentieth 17 00:01:13.280 --> 00:01:16.920 through twenty eighth, seventeen ninety nine. The night of June 18 00:01:16.959 --> 00:01:20.400 twentieth will haunt me until I die and perhaps beyond. 19 00:01:21.319 --> 00:01:25.239 Jim's mental state had been deteriorating for weeks. The confrontation 20 00:01:25.400 --> 00:01:28.159 with the aggressive mail had broken something in him, and 21 00:01:28.200 --> 00:01:30.920 while he functioned well enough during the day. The nights 22 00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:35.280 were another matter. He drank. We all knew it. He'd 23 00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:37.640 found a way to distill some of our grain supplies 24 00:01:37.640 --> 00:01:40.439 into a rough whiskey, and he'd been consuming it in 25 00:01:40.519 --> 00:01:43.879 quantities that would have killed a lesser man. His eyes 26 00:01:43.879 --> 00:01:47.640 were red rimmed, his hands unsteady, his temper frayed to 27 00:01:47.719 --> 00:01:51.159 the breaking point. I should have taken him off watch rotation. 28 00:01:51.760 --> 00:01:53.879 I should have confined him to his bedroll and kept 29 00:01:53.920 --> 00:01:56.280 him away from his rifle. I should have done one 30 00:01:56.319 --> 00:02:01.599 hundred things differently, But I didn't. And so on the 31 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:04.799 night of June twentieth, Jim McAllister was on watch when 32 00:02:04.799 --> 00:02:07.200 one of the creatures appeared at the edge of our firelight. 33 00:02:08.039 --> 00:02:10.680 I didn't see what happened next. None of us did. 34 00:02:11.439 --> 00:02:14.000 We were asleep, trusting our lives to a man who 35 00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:17.080 had lost the ability to trust anything. What I do 36 00:02:17.240 --> 00:02:19.960 know is this, The crack of a rifle shot tore 37 00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:22.919 through the darkness like the end of the world. I 38 00:02:23.039 --> 00:02:25.719 was on my feet before the echo faded, my own 39 00:02:25.759 --> 00:02:29.680 weapon in hand, searching for the threat. The others scrambled 40 00:02:29.759 --> 00:02:33.560 up around me, voices raised in confusion and fear, and 41 00:02:33.599 --> 00:02:37.879 then we heard it. A scream, not human, not a 42 00:02:37.879 --> 00:02:40.800 sound that any earthly throat should be capable of producing. 43 00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:45.719 It was rage and pain and something else, something that 44 00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:49.840 I can only describe as betrayal. The creature had been shot. 45 00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:54.800 Crashing sounds erupted in the underbrush, something large and wounded, 46 00:02:54.840 --> 00:02:57.919 fleeing into the night, leaving a trail of destruction in 47 00:02:57.919 --> 00:03:02.639 its wake. Jim outed, what the hell have you done? 48 00:03:02.759 --> 00:03:05.960 He stood by the fire, his rifle still raised, his 49 00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:09.800 eyes wild and unfocused. It was coming for us, he said. 50 00:03:10.280 --> 00:03:14.439 His voice was slurred, distant, coming to kill us. I 51 00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:18.280 saw it, I saw the words died in his throat 52 00:03:18.280 --> 00:03:21.800 as the forest came alive around us. The knocking started 53 00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:25.199 within minutes, not the measured rhythm we'd grown accustomed to, 54 00:03:25.759 --> 00:03:29.879 but rapid, frantic, like a thousand hammers striking in unison. 55 00:03:30.599 --> 00:03:33.919 It came from every direction, building in intensity, until the 56 00:03:33.960 --> 00:03:37.800 sound became physical, a vibration that reached into our chest 57 00:03:37.879 --> 00:03:43.960 and squeezed our hearts. Then the howls began, multiple voices, dozens, 58 00:03:43.960 --> 00:03:48.280 perhaps layering on each other, harmonizing in ways that shouldn't 59 00:03:48.280 --> 00:03:52.400 be possible. The sound wasn't just loud, It was invasive, 60 00:03:52.960 --> 00:03:55.719 reaching into the primal parts of our brains and triggering 61 00:03:55.759 --> 00:04:00.840 responses we couldn't control. Will Harper began to scream. Solomon 62 00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:04.360 had to knock him unconscious to silence him. Josiah fell 63 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:09.479 to his knees, his prayers reduced to incomprehensible babbling. Even 64 00:04:09.560 --> 00:04:13.199 Sam steady Sam, who had faced these creatures before, went 65 00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:17.439 pale and reached for his knife. The assault began moments later. 66 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:21.560 Rocks crashed into our camp, thrown with force and accuracy 67 00:04:21.600 --> 00:04:25.480 that spoke of intelligence and rage. Branches torn from trees 68 00:04:25.560 --> 00:04:29.639 came hurtling out of the darkness, heavy enough to shatter bone. 69 00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:32.040 One struck Thomas in the head, and he went down 70 00:04:32.040 --> 00:04:35.560 in a spray of blood. The horses broke free. We 71 00:04:35.720 --> 00:04:39.079 tied them securely, but their terror gave them strength beyond 72 00:04:39.160 --> 00:04:43.560 anything rope could contain. They fled into the darkness, screaming 73 00:04:43.560 --> 00:04:46.120 in that horrible way that horses scream when they know 74 00:04:46.279 --> 00:04:51.000 death is close. Henri ran after them, brave, foolish Henery. 75 00:04:51.839 --> 00:04:53.839 He was gone for nearly an hour while the rest 76 00:04:53.920 --> 00:04:56.800 of us huddled in the center of camp, weapons pointed 77 00:04:56.839 --> 00:04:59.720 at a darkness that seemed to press in from every side. 78 00:05:00.439 --> 00:05:03.920 When he came back. His face was white as bone. 79 00:05:04.040 --> 00:05:06.959 They let me go, he whispered. They were all around me. 80 00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:10.879 I could feel them, hear them breathing, but they didn't 81 00:05:10.879 --> 00:05:14.680 touch me. They just let me walk back. The horses 82 00:05:15.439 --> 00:05:21.000 most scattered, some he swallowed hard. Some didn't scatter. We 83 00:05:21.040 --> 00:05:24.560 didn't ask for details. The siege continued through the night. 84 00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:28.040 They could have come in. We all knew it. There 85 00:05:28.079 --> 00:05:31.480 was nothing stopping them. Our weapons were useless against their 86 00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:34.600 speed and strength, and they outnumbered us by factors we 87 00:05:34.639 --> 00:05:38.399 couldn't calculate. But they didn't come in. They stayed at 88 00:05:38.439 --> 00:05:41.920 the perimeter, making their presence felt in every possible way 89 00:05:42.040 --> 00:05:46.360 short of direct assault. Heavy breathing, close enough that we 90 00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:49.000 could feel the heat of their exhalation on our skin. 91 00:05:49.959 --> 00:05:53.800 Shadows moving just beyond the firelight, shapes too large and 92 00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:57.519 too wrong to look at directly, faces appearing for split 93 00:05:57.560 --> 00:06:00.680 seconds in the darkness, there and gone before we could 94 00:06:00.680 --> 00:06:04.800 be sure what we'd seen. They were demonstrating, showing us 95 00:06:04.839 --> 00:06:08.399 exactly what they could do if they chose, making it 96 00:06:08.480 --> 00:06:12.000 absolutely clear that we lived because they permitted it. And 97 00:06:12.120 --> 00:06:15.600 underneath it all a single sound, repeated over and over, 98 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:22.199 a mournful cry, not rage, not threat, grief. The creature 99 00:06:22.240 --> 00:06:25.079 Jim had shot was dead or dying, and its family 100 00:06:25.160 --> 00:06:28.480 was mourning it. We had killed one of them, and 101 00:06:28.519 --> 00:06:30.959 the price for that killing was yet to be determined. 102 00:06:31.800 --> 00:06:35.439 Dawn came. Eventually, the sounds faded as the sky lightened, 103 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:39.560 the howls giving way to silence, the knocking diminishing until 104 00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:42.839 it was just a memory. We emerged from our huddle 105 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:49.600 to survey the damage. The camp was destroyed, equipment, smashed, supplies, scattered, blood, 106 00:06:49.639 --> 00:06:53.160 trail leading from the perimeter into the forest. Jim's shot 107 00:06:53.199 --> 00:06:55.959 had found its mark, and whatever he'd hit had bled 108 00:06:56.000 --> 00:07:00.399 heavily before escaping. Seven horses returned over the following hours, 109 00:07:00.680 --> 00:07:03.879 wandering back in ones and twos. The rest were gone, 110 00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:08.160 whether dead or simply scattered too far to find. Thomas's 111 00:07:08.199 --> 00:07:12.720 head injury was serious, but not fatal. Solomon stitched it closed, 112 00:07:12.759 --> 00:07:15.680 while Thomas gritted his teeth and refused to cry out. 113 00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:20.000 Will Harper remained unconscious until mid morning, and when he 114 00:07:20.079 --> 00:07:23.600 woke something had changed in his eyes. He looked at 115 00:07:23.639 --> 00:07:26.079 each of us in turn, then looked at the forest 116 00:07:26.480 --> 00:07:30.720 and began to laugh. They're angry, he said, so angry, 117 00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:35.040 can't you feel it? None of us answered. Jim sat 118 00:07:35.079 --> 00:07:38.319 apart from the group, his rifle across his knees, his 119 00:07:38.439 --> 00:07:41.680 face blank. When I approached him, he looked up at 120 00:07:41.759 --> 00:07:45.000 me with eyes that held nothing. It was coming for us, 121 00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:48.319 he said again. I saw it in the firelight, coming 122 00:07:48.319 --> 00:07:51.959 to kill us. It wasn't attacking, Jim. It was just 123 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:55.839 standing there like they've done every night for weeks. But 124 00:07:55.920 --> 00:07:59.240 it could have attacked, it could have his voice broke. 125 00:08:00.040 --> 00:08:03.000 Couldn't wait anymore, Captain, I couldn't just sit there waiting 126 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:05.800 for them to decide to kill us. I didn't have 127 00:08:05.839 --> 00:08:08.639 the energy to argue. I just turned away and began 128 00:08:08.680 --> 00:08:13.800 assessing our situation. We were alive, barely, but we were 129 00:08:13.879 --> 00:08:17.959 still alive, and the creatures, the creatures were waiting to 130 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:20.920 see what we would do next. We have to make 131 00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:25.199 this right, Sam said, appearing at my shoulder. Whatever Jim did, 132 00:08:25.519 --> 00:08:29.759 we have to answer for it, all of us. How 133 00:08:30.600 --> 00:08:33.320 I don't know. He looked at the blood trail leading 134 00:08:33.320 --> 00:08:35.879 into the forest. But if we don't find a way, 135 00:08:36.399 --> 00:08:40.360 they'll answer for us. I followed his gaze. The trail 136 00:08:40.480 --> 00:08:44.120 was dark and ominous, a pathway into consequences we couldn't 137 00:08:44.159 --> 00:08:47.639 predict one of them was dead or dying because of us, 138 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:51.360 and something told me that the creature's judgment when it came, 139 00:08:51.919 --> 00:08:55.639 would be terrible. Indeed, Marcus's hands were trembling as he 140 00:08:55.679 --> 00:08:58.519 set down the journal. The narrative had taken a turn. 141 00:08:58.559 --> 00:09:04.200 He hadn't expected. Violence, blood, the fragile peace shattered by 142 00:09:04.200 --> 00:09:07.480 one man's fear and too much whiskey. He thought about 143 00:09:07.559 --> 00:09:11.759 Jim McAllister, the war veteran, the fierce friend, the man 144 00:09:11.759 --> 00:09:15.559 who'd lost everything and then lost himself. Marcus had grown 145 00:09:15.600 --> 00:09:19.799 to like him through Elijah's descriptions, his loyalty, his skill, 146 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:24.960 his wounded courage. Now Jim had become the instrument of catastrophe, 147 00:09:25.399 --> 00:09:28.960 and the expedition would pay the price. Marcus looked at 148 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:31.799 the stack of remaining journals. There was so much more 149 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:35.960 to come. The atonement Elijah had mentioned the two deaths 150 00:09:36.120 --> 00:09:39.679 the outline promised. He wasn't sure he wanted to keep reading, 151 00:09:40.200 --> 00:09:43.639 but he picked up the journal anyway, because some truths, 152 00:09:43.840 --> 00:09:48.519 once started, demanded to be finished. June twenty eighth through 153 00:09:48.600 --> 00:09:52.919 July tenth, seventeen ninety nine, Sam insisted that we returned 154 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:55.519 to the place where the shooting had occurred. That we 155 00:09:55.600 --> 00:09:58.559 make our atonement there where the blood had been spilled. 156 00:09:59.399 --> 00:10:03.720 They understand ritual, he said, they understand exchange. If we're 157 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:06.320 going to have any chance of surviving this, we have 158 00:10:06.440 --> 00:10:09.559 to show them that we understand it too. I didn't 159 00:10:09.559 --> 00:10:11.879 know if he was right. I didn't know if anything 160 00:10:11.919 --> 00:10:14.960 we could do would matter. But I had no better ideas, 161 00:10:15.320 --> 00:10:18.320 and Sam had more experience with these creatures than any 162 00:10:18.360 --> 00:10:22.720 of us. We made the journey in silence. The forest 163 00:10:22.759 --> 00:10:26.120 felt different, now, hostile in a way it hadn't been before. 164 00:10:26.919 --> 00:10:30.360 The watching eyes were still there, but their quality had changed. 165 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:35.919 They weren't evaluating us anymore. They were judging us, condemning us. 166 00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:38.840 We reached the side of the shooting in the late afternoon. 167 00:10:39.480 --> 00:10:42.120 The blood had dried to dark stains on the ground, 168 00:10:42.480 --> 00:10:45.240 and the underbrush was trampled and broken from the wounded 169 00:10:45.240 --> 00:10:49.720 creature's flight. We'll make our offering here, Sam said, each 170 00:10:49.720 --> 00:10:54.720 of us, something personal, something that matters. Will that be enough? 171 00:10:55.480 --> 00:10:58.960 I don't know, but it's all we have. We gathered 172 00:10:58.960 --> 00:11:03.279 our offerings in silncellance. Thomas gave his surgical instruments, the 173 00:11:03.320 --> 00:11:06.159 ones that had belonged to his mentor that he'd carried 174 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:09.360 through thirty years of practice. His hand shook as he 175 00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:12.919 laid them on the ground. Josiah gave his wife's bible, 176 00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:16.000 the one he'd carried since her death, the one that 177 00:11:16.039 --> 00:11:19.600 had sustained his faith, and then watched it crumble. Tears 178 00:11:19.639 --> 00:11:22.879 streamed down his face as he placed it beside Thomas's instruments. 179 00:11:23.720 --> 00:11:26.919 Henry gave his survival knife, the blade that had saved 180 00:11:26.919 --> 00:11:30.440 his life more times than he could count, fifteen years 181 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:33.919 of wilderness travel, condensed into a single piece of steel. 182 00:11:34.840 --> 00:11:38.279 Solomon gave his carved figures, the wooden sculptures he'd been 183 00:11:38.279 --> 00:11:42.759 making since we entered this territory, Humans and creatures standing 184 00:11:42.799 --> 00:11:47.840 side by side, his grandmother's stories made tangible. Will Harper 185 00:11:48.120 --> 00:11:52.000 barely Lucid gave a sketch, the best he'd ever done, 186 00:11:52.039 --> 00:11:55.679 he said, A portrait of the juvenile that had befriended Zeke, 187 00:11:56.240 --> 00:12:00.240 rendered with a tenderness that made my heart Acheke gave 188 00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:03.200 the pressed flower he'd been keeping in his journal, a 189 00:12:03.240 --> 00:12:06.279 gift from his creature friend, now returned to the forest. 190 00:12:07.320 --> 00:12:10.840 I gave my commission papers from the Continental Army. Everything 191 00:12:10.840 --> 00:12:14.759 I'd been, everything I'd fought for, condensed into a single 192 00:12:14.799 --> 00:12:19.799 document and Jim. Jim walked forward slowly, his face a 193 00:12:19.799 --> 00:12:23.039 mask of grief and shame. In his hands, he held 194 00:12:23.039 --> 00:12:25.799 his father's dirk, the only link he had left to 195 00:12:25.840 --> 00:12:29.000 the family the war had taken from him. I'm sorry, 196 00:12:29.039 --> 00:12:33.279 he said, his voice breaking. I was afraid. I've been 197 00:12:33.320 --> 00:12:37.519 afraid since the war, and I couldn't. I couldn't. He 198 00:12:37.559 --> 00:12:40.639 couldn't finish. He just placed the dirt with the other 199 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:44.720 offerings and stepped back, his shoulders shaking with silent sobs. 200 00:12:45.679 --> 00:12:47.919 We retreated to the edge of the clearing and waited. 201 00:12:48.600 --> 00:12:52.080 The first night, nothing happened. We sat around a fire 202 00:12:52.120 --> 00:12:55.720 that seemed too small, watching the darkness, listening for any 203 00:12:55.799 --> 00:12:59.919 sound that might tell us whether our atonement had been accepted. Silent, 204 00:13:00.759 --> 00:13:05.240 complete silence. The second night, we heard movement shapes in 205 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:09.120 the darkness, circling our camp, examining the offering pile from 206 00:13:09.159 --> 00:13:13.399 a distance, but they didn't approach. They didn't interact, They 207 00:13:13.519 --> 00:13:17.919 just watched. The third night they came. There were three 208 00:13:17.960 --> 00:13:21.120 of them. They emerged from the forest just after midnight, 209 00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:26.559 moving slowly deliberately. Their eyes reflected our firelight like lanterns. 210 00:13:27.320 --> 00:13:30.159 I recognized the gray elder the one who had made 211 00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:33.559 first contact at the stream. He walked at the front, 212 00:13:33.919 --> 00:13:38.840 his scarred face unreadable, and behind him, limping heavily favoring 213 00:13:38.919 --> 00:13:43.039 his left leg. The wounded creature Jim shot had found 214 00:13:43.080 --> 00:13:47.879 its mark, but it hadn't been fatal. The creature was alive, injured, 215 00:13:48.279 --> 00:13:52.639 clearly in pain, but alive. My breath caught in my throat. 216 00:13:53.320 --> 00:13:56.960 They approached the offering pile and stopped. The Gray Elder 217 00:13:57.039 --> 00:14:00.879 examined each item, carefully, picking them up, turning them over 218 00:14:00.919 --> 00:14:04.159 in his enormous hands. He spent the longest time with 219 00:14:04.240 --> 00:14:08.120 Jim's dirk, holding it up to the moonlight, studying the blade. 220 00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:12.320 Then he looked at us. At Jim, Jim stood frozen, 221 00:14:12.639 --> 00:14:16.440 his face pale, his hands trembling at his sides. But 222 00:14:16.519 --> 00:14:19.879 he didn't run, didn't reach for his weapon. He just 223 00:14:19.919 --> 00:14:23.279 stood there, waiting for whatever judgment the creatures had decided 224 00:14:23.320 --> 00:14:27.480 to render. The Gray Elder walked toward him, Each step 225 00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:31.480 seemed to take an eternity. The creature was massive, easily 226 00:14:31.519 --> 00:14:34.360 seven feet tall, with shoulders that could have blocked out 227 00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:38.279 the moon. Its face was a mask of shadows, only 228 00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:41.960 those ancient eyes visible in the darkness. It stopped in 229 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:45.679 front of Jim, close enough to touch, close enough to 230 00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:49.440 kill with a single sweep of those enormous hands. Jim 231 00:14:49.480 --> 00:14:54.039 didn't move, didn't speak, just stood there, tears streaming down 232 00:14:54.039 --> 00:14:58.720 his face, waiting and stay tuned for more sasquatch ott 233 00:14:58.720 --> 00:15:05.279 to see. We'll be right back after these messages. The 234 00:15:05.320 --> 00:15:09.440 gray Elder reached out one massive hand descended towards Jim's shoulder. 235 00:15:10.039 --> 00:15:13.639 My finger tightened on my rifle, every instinct screaming at 236 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:17.480 me to intervene. But the hand didn't strike. It simply 237 00:15:18.240 --> 00:15:21.879 rested a weight on Jim's shoulder, heavy and warm and 238 00:15:21.919 --> 00:15:26.919 somehow gentle. I'm sorry, Jim whispered, I was afraid. I'm 239 00:15:26.919 --> 00:15:32.080 so sorry. The creature made a sound, low rumbling, almost 240 00:15:32.159 --> 00:15:35.440 like a sigh. Then it squeezed Jim's shoulder once and 241 00:15:35.480 --> 00:15:39.840 stepped back. It walked to the offering pile, selected Jim's dirk, 242 00:15:40.200 --> 00:15:43.840 and turned back to face us. It held up the blade, 243 00:15:43.879 --> 00:15:48.039 not threateningly, but deliberately, making sure we all saw what 244 00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:51.879 it was doing. Then it carved something into a nearby tree, 245 00:15:52.360 --> 00:15:58.120 a symbol an open hand, gift for gift, offering for offering, 246 00:15:58.840 --> 00:16:02.639 exchange for EXE. The other creatures took the rest of 247 00:16:02.679 --> 00:16:06.600 our offerings. We watched them examine each item, handling them 248 00:16:06.600 --> 00:16:10.320 with what seemed almost like reverence, And then in the 249 00:16:10.320 --> 00:16:13.399 place where our things had been, they left something new, 250 00:16:14.200 --> 00:16:18.799 a single object, gleaming in the firelight. A stone knife, 251 00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:23.320 beautifully crafted, the edge sharp enough to shave, with cymbols 252 00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:26.159 carved along the handle that matched the ones on my pendant. 253 00:16:27.039 --> 00:16:30.240 The gray elder looked at us one final time, then 254 00:16:30.279 --> 00:16:33.679 he turned and walked back into the forest, the wounded 255 00:16:33.720 --> 00:16:38.000 creature limping behind him. They were gone. We stood in 256 00:16:38.039 --> 00:16:40.639 silence for a long time, none of us willing to 257 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:43.720 be the first to move. Finally, Sam walked to the 258 00:16:43.799 --> 00:16:46.480 rock and picked up the stone knife. He turned it 259 00:16:46.519 --> 00:16:50.879 over in his hands, examining the craftsmanship forgiveness. I asked, 260 00:16:51.519 --> 00:16:54.840 Maybe he looked at me and there was something in 261 00:16:54.879 --> 00:16:59.679 his eyes that I couldn't quite read. Or maybe just acknowledgment. 262 00:17:00.480 --> 00:17:03.720 They understand that Jim was afraid. That fear makes people 263 00:17:03.720 --> 00:17:07.640 do terrible things. They've seen it before, they'll see it again. 264 00:17:08.599 --> 00:17:11.039 But they're not going to kill us, not for this. 265 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:14.960 He handed me the knife. But Captain, this is a 266 00:17:14.960 --> 00:17:18.519 second chance. There won't be a third I took the 267 00:17:18.599 --> 00:17:21.519 knife and felt its weight in my hand, A gift 268 00:17:21.519 --> 00:17:24.960 from creatures that could have destroyed us, a symbol of mercy, 269 00:17:24.960 --> 00:17:28.279 from beings that owed us nothing. The siege was over, 270 00:17:28.759 --> 00:17:32.279 but the expedition was changed forever. And as we gathered 271 00:17:32.319 --> 00:17:35.559 our remaining supplies and prepared to press on, I knew 272 00:17:35.559 --> 00:17:38.119 that whatever came next would test us in ways we 273 00:17:38.160 --> 00:17:41.960 couldn't imagine. We had been forgiven. Now we had to 274 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:46.440 prove ourselves worthy of that forgiveness. Marcus looked up from 275 00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:49.440 the journal. The fire had burned down to coals, and 276 00:17:49.480 --> 00:17:52.920 the cabin was cold. Outside, the first hints of dawn 277 00:17:52.960 --> 00:17:56.079 were coloring the sky, painting the mountains in shades of 278 00:17:56.119 --> 00:18:00.880 gray and gold. He'd been reading for hours. Day he'd 279 00:18:00.880 --> 00:18:05.200 lost track, but he was starting to understand his ancestor 280 00:18:05.240 --> 00:18:08.559 had been given something precious in that wilderness. Not just 281 00:18:08.680 --> 00:18:12.119 knowledge of the creature's existence, but an understanding of what 282 00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:18.279 they were. Intelligent beings, ancient watchers, something that existed alongside 283 00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:23.759 humanity but apart from it, and that understanding came with responsibility. 284 00:18:23.839 --> 00:18:27.279 The creatures had shown mercy, they'd forgiven a transgression that 285 00:18:27.319 --> 00:18:30.799 could have ended the entire expedition, but they'd also made 286 00:18:30.839 --> 00:18:34.680 clear that mercy had limits. Marcus thought about his father, 287 00:18:35.319 --> 00:18:38.559 all those years of watching the mountains, all those years 288 00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:42.160 of carrying a secret that no one would believe. Had 289 00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:45.160 his father been given a similar chance, a moment of 290 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:47.640 mercy that he'd spent his life trying to be worthy 291 00:18:47.640 --> 00:18:52.160 of the journals would tell him. Eventually. There were still 292 00:18:52.200 --> 00:18:56.240 so many pages to read, but for now, Marcus needed sleep, 293 00:18:56.720 --> 00:19:00.160 needed food, needed a few hours away from his ancestory's 294 00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:03.720 voice and the weight of two centuries of secrets. He 295 00:19:03.759 --> 00:19:06.759 closed the journal and said it carefully aside. Then he 296 00:19:06.799 --> 00:19:08.960 walked to the window and looked out at the mountains, 297 00:19:09.440 --> 00:19:12.640 watching the sun rise over peaks that had witnessed things 298 00:19:12.680 --> 00:19:17.440 no human should know about. Somewhere out there, they were watching, too, 299 00:19:17.640 --> 00:19:23.279 They were always watching. July tenth through twentieth, seventeen ninety nine. 300 00:19:23.319 --> 00:19:26.160 We could not continue as we were. That much was 301 00:19:26.200 --> 00:19:29.960 clear to everyone. Seven horses remained of the fifteen we'd 302 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:34.960 started with. Our equipment lay in ruins, specimen jars, shattered 303 00:19:35.200 --> 00:19:41.480 notebooks scattered, Thomas's precious camera apparatus smashed beyond repair. Will 304 00:19:41.519 --> 00:19:45.960 Harper could barely walk without assistance. His mind fractured by horrors. 305 00:19:46.200 --> 00:19:50.720 None of us could fully comprehend. Jim was improving, but fragile. 306 00:19:51.240 --> 00:19:53.880 The creature's touch on his shoulder had done something to him, 307 00:19:54.440 --> 00:19:57.319 healed something or broken something further, and none of us 308 00:19:57.400 --> 00:20:00.920 knew which our supplies would last part perhaps another month 309 00:20:00.920 --> 00:20:04.279 if we were careful. Winter was still months away, but 310 00:20:04.359 --> 00:20:07.119 in these mountains the weather could turn deadly without warning. 311 00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:11.000 We had traveled far beyond any territory known to white men, 312 00:20:11.480 --> 00:20:13.960 and the journey back would be arduous, even under the 313 00:20:13.960 --> 00:20:19.400 best circumstances. And through it all the creatures watched, always watching. 314 00:20:20.279 --> 00:20:22.200 We need to decide, I said on the morning of 315 00:20:22.279 --> 00:20:26.200 July tenth, gathering the men around our meager fire. We 316 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:30.200 cannot stay here indefinitely. We cannot press forward without resupply. 317 00:20:30.920 --> 00:20:34.400 We must choose our path. The debate that followed lasted 318 00:20:34.440 --> 00:20:37.799 most of the day. Thomas argued for a complete withdrawal. 319 00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:42.079 We have documentation, he said, gesturing at the notebooks he'd 320 00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:47.519 managed to salvage. We have observations, sketches, physical evidence. It's 321 00:20:47.640 --> 00:20:51.079 enough to prove the creatures exist, enough to change everything 322 00:20:51.160 --> 00:20:54.519 we thought we knew about the natural world. It's not 323 00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:59.240 enough Sam said quietly, not nearly enough. Two men nearly 324 00:20:59.240 --> 00:21:02.000 died in the sea, each will may never fully recover. 325 00:21:02.680 --> 00:21:04.720 How much more are you willing to sacrifice for this 326 00:21:04.839 --> 00:21:09.920 expedition as much as it takes. Sam's voice was flat certain. 327 00:21:10.680 --> 00:21:12.960 I didn't walk two hundred miles to turn back now. 328 00:21:13.480 --> 00:21:16.119 I didn't spend twenty years waiting for this moment just 329 00:21:16.160 --> 00:21:19.039 to leave before I understood what I came to understand, 330 00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:23.160 and what is that? What understanding could possibly be worth 331 00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:27.119 dying for. Sam didn't answer. He just looked at the 332 00:21:27.160 --> 00:21:30.319 forest around us, at the shapes that moved in the shadows, 333 00:21:30.720 --> 00:21:34.319 and shook his head. Zeke surprised me by speaking next, 334 00:21:35.079 --> 00:21:37.720 my nephew, who had seemed so young and eager when 335 00:21:37.759 --> 00:21:41.160 we departed. Richmond had aged a decade in the months since. 336 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:45.000 His face was thinner, his eyes harder, and when he 337 00:21:45.079 --> 00:21:47.799 spoke there was steel in his voice that hadn't been 338 00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:51.680 there before. I'm not leaving, he said, the young one, 339 00:21:52.119 --> 00:21:55.319 My friend, It's still out there. I can feel it 340 00:21:55.400 --> 00:21:59.160 watching me. There's something that wants me to understand, something 341 00:21:59.160 --> 00:22:01.480 it's been trying to show owe me. I need to 342 00:22:01.480 --> 00:22:04.960 know what that is. It's not your friend, Zeke, Thomas 343 00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:09.880 said gently, It's an animal. A highly intelligent animal, yes, 344 00:22:10.480 --> 00:22:14.920 but an animal. Nonetheless, it doesn't have friends. It has prey, 345 00:22:15.400 --> 00:22:18.240 and it has competitors, and it has whatever we are 346 00:22:18.319 --> 00:22:23.680 to it, curiosity perhaps, or territory markers. You don't know that. 347 00:22:24.480 --> 00:22:28.440 I don't know anything anymore. That's rather the point. In 348 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:31.519 the end, we reached a compromise that satisfied no one, 349 00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:38.119 but seemed the only viable path forward. The expedition would split. Thomas, Will, Henry, 350 00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:41.799 and Josiah would return east, carrying the journals written so far, 351 00:22:42.359 --> 00:22:45.680 the specimens Thomas had preserved, the sketches Will had made 352 00:22:45.720 --> 00:22:49.799 before his breakdown. They would resupply, rest, and wait at 353 00:22:49.799 --> 00:22:53.160 a rendezvous point on Ree would designate a spot in 354 00:22:53.240 --> 00:22:57.319 Shawnee Territory where we had cased supplies on our outward journey. 355 00:22:58.079 --> 00:23:02.599 The rest of us, myself, Sam, Jim, Solomon, and Zeke 356 00:23:03.160 --> 00:23:07.839 would press on deeper into the creature's territory, toward whatever 357 00:23:07.920 --> 00:23:11.559 lay beyond these mountains, whatever it was the creatures seemed 358 00:23:11.559 --> 00:23:14.640 to be guiding us toward. We would reunite in the 359 00:23:14.640 --> 00:23:18.799 spring God, willing share what we had learned, decide together 360 00:23:18.880 --> 00:23:22.559 what to do with our knowledge. If we survived. The 361 00:23:22.640 --> 00:23:27.279 preparations took three days. We redistributed supplies, giving the returning 362 00:23:27.319 --> 00:23:30.160 party enough to make the journey safely, while keeping enough 363 00:23:30.200 --> 00:23:34.920 for ourselves to continue. Thomas protested vigorously. He wanted to 364 00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:37.960 leave us more certain we would need it, but I 365 00:23:38.039 --> 00:23:42.359 overruled him. If something happens to us, the journals must survive, 366 00:23:42.519 --> 00:23:46.359 I said, That's all that matters now. Everything we've seen, 367 00:23:46.960 --> 00:23:51.240 everything we've documented, it cannot be lost. Do you understand? 368 00:23:52.240 --> 00:23:56.279 Thomas nodded slowly. His face was gray with exhaustion and 369 00:23:56.319 --> 00:24:00.799 something else, grief, perhaps for the scientist fix certainty that 370 00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:05.119 had died somewhere in these mountains. I understand, Captain. I'll 371 00:24:05.160 --> 00:24:08.519 guard them with my life. See that you do. And 372 00:24:08.599 --> 00:24:12.880 Thomas I hesitated, uncertain how to say what needed to 373 00:24:12.920 --> 00:24:16.640 be said. If we don't return, the journals must be hidden, 374 00:24:17.160 --> 00:24:20.359 not published, not shared with anyone who might use them 375 00:24:20.359 --> 00:24:23.480 to find this place. The creatures have shown us mercy. 376 00:24:24.079 --> 00:24:26.519 I won't repay that mercy by leading hunters to their 377 00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:32.039 doorstep hidden. But the scientific value is nothing compared to 378 00:24:32.039 --> 00:24:34.359 what would happen if the wrong people learned about this. 379 00:24:35.200 --> 00:24:38.759 Imagine it Thomas. An army of settlers armed to the 380 00:24:38.799 --> 00:24:44.640 teeth invading this valley, hunters seeking trophies, scientists wanting specimens. 381 00:24:45.240 --> 00:24:48.400 How long would the creatures survive? How long before this 382 00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:52.240 place became a slaughter house? Thomas was silent for a 383 00:24:52.279 --> 00:24:56.079 long moment. Then he nodded again, more firmly, this time. 384 00:24:56.799 --> 00:25:02.920 I understand hidden until humanity ready, if it's ever ready. 385 00:25:03.480 --> 00:25:06.559 The morning of departure was clear and cold, the sky 386 00:25:06.680 --> 00:25:10.599 a deep blue, unmarked by clouds. The creatures were visible 387 00:25:10.640 --> 00:25:13.640 on the ridgeline above our camp, five or six of them, 388 00:25:14.039 --> 00:25:18.039 their shapes dark against the pale sky, watching as always. 389 00:25:18.920 --> 00:25:22.759 The farewells were brief but heavy with emotion. Aunt Re 390 00:25:22.839 --> 00:25:26.279 embraced me, his usual charming smile nowhere to be seen. 391 00:25:27.240 --> 00:25:30.160 If you survived this, Captain, i'll see you in the spring. 392 00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:34.920 If not, he shrugged, a gesture that somehow conveyed both 393 00:25:34.920 --> 00:25:38.559 fatalism and hope. Then I'll drink to your memory until 394 00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:42.640 I join you. Josiah took my hands in his. The 395 00:25:42.720 --> 00:25:45.880 former reverend had found something in these mountains, not the 396 00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:49.480 faith he'd lost, but perhaps something to replace it, a 397 00:25:49.519 --> 00:25:53.519 sense of purpose, or at least of acceptance. God go 398 00:25:53.599 --> 00:25:57.039 with you, he said, Whatever God watches over places like this. 399 00:25:58.240 --> 00:26:02.160 Thomas shook my hand formally, the scientist maintaining his composure 400 00:26:02.200 --> 00:26:05.440 even now, but his eyes were wet when he turned away. 401 00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:10.240