The refugees' position in the end prevailed, although many called it foolhardy.
The boats kept going, leaving the burning mountain miles behind, following the many twists and turns of the river.
We soon arrived at the hills, lushly forested yet now covered in ash as everything else so far. The sky was still black and it was growing still colder.
Our scouts, ranging around the river, found some clean springs and we could replenish our stock of water and save some of the animals who were reaching the end of their resistance.
We kept pushing on, until finally we started seeing colors different from the omnipresent gray. We started again spotting green meadows.
We kept going then, after another turn of the river, the world opened up. And it was blue.
The river ran straight into a great body of water, its mouth enlarging only slightly allowing the flowing water to join the motionless one.
We rushed onward, both us and the animals eager to drink, while others started grabbing their fishing tools to replenish our food stock.
The water was sweet and clean, the upriver ravages not yet having any effect here. The shores ran on and on both left and right, slightly curved. Far to our right we could see a dark green line, a forest, coming right on the waterfront. In front of us, only water.
To the left our sight was blocked by yet more hills.
We made camp and stopped for a few days to replenish our strength, before the time came again to take decisions.
We had to decide wheter to make this a permanent camp or yet another stop before we moved farther.
A. Some elders spoke:
'This is a good spot. The water's drinkable, we still have the river and the hills will provide wood for shelter and fire. Let's stop here, we're tired of running.'
B. The warriors disagreed:
'This spot here is too close to the enemy that hunted down other tribes and destroyed them. We are strong, but I think we should follow the shore to the left for several days, to be safer.'
C. A few of the scouts made their own proposal:
'We are not safe here, yes, but staying right on the shore, although further from the enemy, wouldn't be much better. The hills at our backs are densely forested, giving good concealment, and higher ground would allow us to spot any trouble long before it can see us. We wouldn't have immediate access to water and fish, true, but it would be only a minor inconvenience.'