Red Ice Part 1

Northern Greenland, 1831

Anak finished loading the last of his equipment into his dog sled. All of his dogs were barking loudly with excitement. They knew what time it was, they knew what was about to happen. It's the middle of March and ice covers the entire region. Around this time of year, Anak and the other hunters head out for their seasonal walrus hunt. He checked his sled one final time to ensure he had everything they needed. Then he went to check on the other hunters to see of they were ready.

"How many do you think we'll get this season?" Asked Samik.

"Hopefully we have another good season like last year." Anak responded. The group consisted of six hunters with 4 dog sleds. Among the group was Ausaf, the oldest and most experienced of the group. Minik, the second oldest and uncle of Anak. Stene and Ime, twin brothers who always hunted together. Anak, a man in his mid thirties. And Samik, the youngest hunter in the group. These six represented half of their hunting party. The other half had left a couple weeks prior to scout the hunting grounds and set up a camp.

Once everything had been packed and secured, Anak walked back down into his home, said goodbye to his wife and made sure to grab his talisman. A piece of walrus tusk that had a prayer of protection carved into it. It was given to him by his grandfather and Anak made sure to take it with him on every hunt. The talisman hung on a strip of caribou leather and worn as a necklace. He went outside and placed it around the neck of his lead sled dog, Siku meaning ice. She was a Greenland dog named for her white coat and blue eyes. Of all the dogs he had, Siku was his favorite.

With everyone ready to go, the group began their ride to the hunting grounds. The journey would take two days to get there. They would take breaks periodically to tend to the dogs and rest. During these breaks they would snack on dried meat from musk ox or caribou they had hunted. The group traveled as quickly as they could but a patch of dense fog halted their progress. They could not continue traveling until the fog had cleared.

The fog didn't clear for another two days. This put a strain on the group as they had only brought enough food for a two day journey as they wanted to travel as light as possible. They were now on day four and they had to ration whatever food was left. Not just for themselves but the dogs as well. Once the fog cleared, Ausaf could tell that they were only a day's ride away from the hunting grounds. He proposed that the remaining food go to the dogs so they would have enough strength for the final push. The others, though hungry themselves, agreed and gave the rest of the meat to the dogs. Anak had managed to stash some extra meat and gave it Siku without the others noticing.

After the dogs were fed and fog cleared enough to see, the group started the final leg of their journey. A couple hours passed and then Ausaf, who was leading the group, pointed out to the right. The remnants of an old viking ship lay halfway buried in the snow and ice. Nobody knows when or how it got there but it had always served as marker for the walrus hunting grounds. They had finally reached their destination, now they had to locate the rest of their hunting party.

Everyone scanned the area looking for any signs of the rest of their group. Samik noticed some mounds of ice that looked too organized for them to occur naturally. "I think they're over there!" He shouted to the group. They headed towards the mounds and could start to see the other hunters as they approached. Everyone was relieved to have finally found them. When the other hunters saw the group coming, they waved over to them and directed them to the spot where the other dog sleds were stationed. The dogs in the hunting camp began barking and howling with excitement.

"We expected you all days ago." Said Ikila, the leader of the scouting party. Ausaf told him how they got delayed by heavy fog and had run out of food trying to get there. Ikila said that they were running low as well but had just enough for everyone to eat that day. A couple of other hunters spotted some ptarmigan as they went out scouting for walrus. So Ikila recommended they hunt some before going after walrus in order to build up their strength. Ausaf and the others agreed.

Later in the day, as they ate the last of their food, Anak asked if they had seen any walrus while scouting. Ikila said that they found some but they were not on the mainland. All the ones they saw were on the rocky islands just offshore. They had set up their hunting camp just over mile from shore just in case some decided to come onto the mainland, they would be far enough away to keep them from getting spotted. The plan was for a small group of hunters to go after ptarmigan while the others prepped the kayaks and weapons for the upcoming walrus hunt.

They finished eating and began to tell stories of past hunts while they waited for it get dark enough to sleep. At this time the days were getting longer with more and more sunlight each day. Fortunately the igloos the first group built did a good job at blocking out sunlight, though light was still visible from the entrance. Anak managed to get 6 hours of sleep before awaking the next day. By the time he exited the igloo, the twins Stene and Ime, were already prepping to go hunt ptarmigan. "You coming with us, Anak?" Asked Ime. "Sure, why not." Anak grabbed his bow and joined the brothers.

Among the 12 hunters in the group, Stene and Ime were two of the very best. Being twin brothers, they had an almost natural sibling rivalry and were always in competition with one another. This caused them to develop their skills faster than most of the other hunters. And despite being a few years younger than Anak, they were far more versatile and could hunt a wide variety of animals. While Anak primarily hunted large game. Knowing this, Stene decided to poke fun at Anak.

"You think you'll actually hit one?"

"Of course. I wouldn't be joining you if I didn't think I could."

"When's the last time you've hunted anything smaller than a caribou?" Anak had to think about it for a moment. "See? You can't even remember can you?"

"I'm still a good shot with a bow." He responded.

"You know how hard ptarmigan are to hit right?" Said Ime. "If you haven't hunted them in a long while, I don't think you'll be able to get one."

"Well let's make it interesting." Stene interjected. "If you're able to hit one ptarmigan, I will give you my bow." Stene's bow wasn't much different than any of the others. Except his was wrapped in ringed seal fur, giving it distinct look. Anak accepted Stene's challenge and was determined to prove the brothers wrong.

The three hunters walked east of their camp towards a rise in the distance. Beyond the rise was a large area of flat land where they spotted the ptarmigan a couple days ago. After making it to the top of the rise, they slowly crept down to the other side. Before they reached the bottom, they started to hear the clicks and coo's of the ptarmigans. Each of them readied their bows and scanned the ground for the birds. The ptarmigans, still possessing their all white winter plumage, proved difficult for Anak to see. But Stene and Ime knew exactly what to look for.

Before Anak could even locate one, the twins both fired their arrows. Anak gave an almost confused look, but when they went to retrieve their arrows, each one had a ptarmigan on the end them.

"How did you even see them?" Anak asked. Ime simply said,

"Because we know what to look for." They removed the birds from their arrows and told Anak how to spot them as they continued their hunt. "You will hear the ptarmigans long before you see them. So make sure to walk slowly so your footsteps don't drown out their calls. Once you hear them, stop and slowly scan the ground. You want to look for spots of red near the ground because of the red feathers they have above their eyes. They may be hard to see against the snow so just aim your arrow just below the red feathers."

The hunters continued across the flat, stopping every few minutes to hear their calls. Knowing that the ptarmigans feed heavily on twigs during this time of year, they stopped near every group of twigs and sprigs they could find. Some held birds and some didn't. Stene and Ime, as expected, had no problem taking down the birds whenever they found some. But Anak couldn't hit a single bird. No matter how hard he tried or how steady his aim was, he just couldn't manage to hit one. After his last miss, Stene walked up to him and whispered, "I guess I'll be keeping my bow."

The 3 men hunted for several hours and managed to kill 13 ptarmigan. They had enough for each of the hunters but they still needed meat for the dogs. They pushed further across the flat but only managed to get a few more before deciding to head back to their camp. Ime mentioned that some of the other hunters dropped a longline and were expecting them to catch some fish. They figured that between all the ptarmigan they got and possibly some fish that they would have enough meat to feed everyone and the dogs.

They climbed back over the hill and made the final push toward camp. The fact that they had been walking all day, combined with carrying all the ptarmigan and their equipment, had worn them out and they couldn't wait to get back. When the igloos came into view, a sense of relief came over all the men, especially Anak. He was a bit embarrassed that he couldn't manage to kill a single ptarmigan and just wanted the day to be over. But they still had work to do.

After returning to the camp, the three men immediately began removing the feathers and taking out the organs from the ptarmigans. While they processed the birds, they took the livers from each one and placed them in a small bowl. After all the livers had been collected, Stene called the other hunters over to have an end of the hunt snack. Two of the other hunters who had went to retrieve the longline returned to camp just before all the liver had been eaten. They grabbed some before it was all gone before unloading their catch. They managed to get some cod and a couple small halibut. Once the fish had been unloaded, everyone helped prepare the food.

Some men cut the ptarmigan, others cut the fish while the rest of them got the fire ready. They fetched the firewood and the cauldron from the dog sleds and set up their cooking area. They started a fire and began melting snow and ice. Once enough had been melted, they threw in some sea salt in the water for flavor. Then they put all the cuts of meat into the now boiling water and waited. While they did, Stene took the opportunity to tell the others how Anak struggled with the ptarmigans. Some laughed but Ausaf, the eldest of the group, interjected saying, "He may have struggled with small prey but we all know he's one of the best when it comes to larger prey. How many of us has he fed throughout the years? His time will come, soon."

Once the food was ready, everyone grabbed their bowl and filled it to the brim. The smell of it made the dogs begin to whimper with anticipation. After everyone had filled their bowls, Anak took out the feeding trough and filled it with the soup. They all ate their fill within minutes. Anak returned to fire and ate his portion. He thought about tomorrow's hunt as he finished his food. Once he was done he asked Ikila and Ausaf what the plan was for tomorrow. Ikila said it would be best to row up to the islands and scout the situation to decide the best plan of attack. There would be 2 hunters in each of the 3 kayaks and they would circle the islands to scout the group until they were ready to go after them. With the plan set and everyone's belly full, they settled into their igloos and rested for the next days hunt.

The next day came with much anticipation as all the hunters were looking forward to going after walrus. One of the hunters started the fire back up as there was some broth left over from last night's dinner, though by then it had frozen. After it had been thawed and heated everyone took some intothere bowls and sipped it slowly before starting their day. The plan was for 6 hunters to go out and target walrus while the other six stayed behind to gather sea water in order to make salt. The hunters going after walrus would be Anak, Ikila, Stene and Ime, Ausaf and Samik. Minik would stay behind to help the remaining hunters gather sea water. After they finished with their broth, they got dogs ready, loaded up their sleds and made their way to the coastline.

Three of the six sleds pulled the kayaks behind them, along with weapons and equipment used to hunt walrus. The other three carried supplies for gathering sea water and making salt. Once everyone reached the coastline, they detached the kayaks from the sleds and pushed them onto the rocky shoreline. They all gathered together to pray for safe waters and a successful hunt. The prayer was led by the group's Angakut, a term meaning shaman. Once they finished praying, the hunters got in the kayaks, two by two, and started rowing towards the islands.

The islands were located a few miles from shore and were visible from where they launched the kayaks. There were three of them in total with the largest of the three being in the middle. This is where Ikila's group had spotted the walrus before. There weren't that many located on the smaller two islands. Ikila led the group towards the big island. The waters were manageable, not smooth but not rough either. Just enough to provide a decent challenge as they rowed. When they got within a quarter of a mile of the island, Ikila stopped the group to scout the island. From a distance he could see a group of walruses resting on a large sheet of ice that surrounded the edge of the island. Ikila decided to take the group around the island to see just how many there were. As they made there way around. They came across a section of empty shoreline. After seeing this, Anak came up with a plan. He and Ikila would beach their kayak on the empty shoreline and flank the group of walrus from the land, while the other hunters would rush the group from the water. Everyone agreed to the plan and the other hunters went back around to wait for Anak and Ikila.

The two hunters made their way to the shoreline, beached the kayak and grabbed their weapons. With spears and clubs in hand, they began the walk up the hill towards the other side of the island where the walruses were. When they reached the top, they could see the other hunters approaching and waited for them to get close enough to begin the attack. The timing had to be precise. Going too soon or too late would cause the walruses to flee into the water. And once they did, there would be nothing the hunters could do to them.

The kayak hunters approached the island slowly, waiting for any signal from Anak or Ikila to start the attack. Ikila looked over at Anak and told him to make the call. Anak stood up, raised his spear and ran down the hill towards the walruses with Ikila following close behind. Once the kayak hunters saw this, they began to row furiously towards island. It took a moment for the walruses to notice what was happening but once they did, they all scrambled towards the water. However their sheer numbers, large size and and relative clumsiness out of water prevented them from reaching the water before the hunters got to them. Each duo concentrated their attack on a single walrus. Every walrus they targeted were males since they were considerably larger than the females.

Once they got within striking distance, they hurled their spears at the walrus they each targeted. Though this did little to slow then down as their thick skin and layers of blubber helped protect their vital organs. After the spears landed, one hunter would take his club and bash the walrus in the head continuously while the other retrieved the spears and jabbed away at the walrus side, causing heavy bleeding. Blood loss, fatigue and disorientation would be the walruses downfall. At the end of all the chaos, two walruses were killed. The third one that Ausaf and Samik were targeting managed to escape into the water, despite its injuries.

With two walruses down, it was time for the real work to begin, getting them back to the mainland. All of the hunters discussed the best way to go about it. Some felt it would be best to cut each walrus into large pieces and transport it back in the kayaks. The problem with that is the kayaks had very little room to hold all that meat. Plus the added weight could make the kayaks unstable and potentially sink. The other method was to leave the walrus whole and use ropes to essentially tow the walruses back and cut them up on the mainland. The salty ocean water would help the walruses stay buoyant while being pulled by the kayaks and they would have more help cutting up the meat from the hunters who remained on the shoreline. The only problem with this would be moving the walruses close enough to the water in order to be towed. Each one weighed over a ton and moving them to the water would take a lot of time and effort. Meaning they may not have the time or strength left to make it back to the mainland before it got dark. Despite those circumstances, it was the safer option of the two, so that's what did.

Ikila and Anak walked back up and over the hill to their kayak and rowed back around to where the others were. When they got back, the other four hunters had managed to get one of the walruses halfway to the shore. They parked the kayak on the ice sheet with the others and helped push the massive walrus to the water. There was no way they could lift it, even with all six of them working together. After a few hours of slow progress, the group managed to get both walruses close enough to the shore. They tied ropes around each one's neck and then tied the other end of the rope to the back of their kayaks. The plan was to have each kayak pull a rope and tow both walruses behind them. But they would have to wait until the next day as the light began to fade. The hunters slept in their kayaks, gathering their strength for what would be a difficult day ahead.

They didn't get much time to rest. Ausaf was the first to wake up and saw a thick sheet of clouds forming on the horizon. He woke everyone up and told them that they had to get moving if they wanted to make back before the weather got bad. Everyone got up, still tired from the day before but determined to reach the mainland. They pushed the kayaks into the water and started to row, pulling the walruses as they did. They struggled at first because the combined weight of the walruses prevented them from getting very far. But once they were synchronized and got their momentum going, they started to pull them off the ice. But when the walruses hit the water, their weight caused the back of the kayaks to dip and forced the front towards the sky. Ausaf lost his balance and fell into the icy water. He managed to grab hold of the kayaks edge as he went over. Samik rushed over and helped him back in but now they all had to hurry to get back to the mainland before Ausaf became hypothermic.

Though Ausaf's clothes were made of seal hide, which is water resistant, this did not prevent water from getting inside his clothes. So though he wasn't completely drenched, his skin was still made contact with the freezing cold water. Samik gave him an oar and told him to row as fast as he could to help generate heat and prevent his body temperature from dropping too low. Ausaf did what he could but he was already starting to get weak. The cold, wet skin, combined with the heavy wind was too much for his body to handle. Fortunately for the hunters, the wind was blowing in the direction of the mainland and helped push them towards the shore. But that also meant the clouds and fog was fast approaching as well, as if it were some giant predator chasing down its prey.

As the hunters got closer to the mainland, so too did the weather get closer to them. By now Ausaf's attempts at rowing were of little help. They needed to reach land as fast as they could, for everyone's sake. Everyone rowed as hard as they could but the physical toll was wearing them down. Anak spotted the fire from the other hunters on shore and this gave the group extra motivation to keep pushing, though they were all very tired. When the hunters on the shoreline saw them approaching, they stopped what they were doing and got prepared to help the others. When they finally got close enough, the hunters from shore walked into the water and pulled the kayaks onto land. The men exited the kayaks and together helped pull the walruses onto the shore.

They immediately started the process of skinning and butchering the walruses. Everyone took a turn at it, with the exception of Ausaf, who was sitting by the fire to get warm. With all the others helping out, the process went by rather quickly. They managed to finish just as the weather reached the shore. They had just enough time to load up the meat, skin and bones into the sleds, along with rest of their equipment and make it back to their camp. They left The kayaks behind as the weight of everything else, plus the kayaks, would be too much for the dogs to pull. They would come back for them later.

They got back to camp and offloaded everything from the dog sleds. Ausaf was still weak from everything that happened, so they quickly created another fire for him to warm himself. Ime had brought a blanket made from musk ox and gave it to him. Everyone else began the task of preserving everything from the walruses. Most of the meat was salted, some of it was smoked over the fire and a good portion was cooked that very evening. The meat was cooked along with some of the blubber, enhancing its flavor. After a long and brutal day, it was a meal that was well deserved. Even the dogs enjoyed it and ate their fill.

Once they finished eating, the tired hunters settled in and got ready to sleep. Each of them slept longer than they usually did. Anak was the first to rise. When he poked his head out the entrance to the igloo, all he saw was white. Yesterday's weather had brought heavy winds and caused a whiteout. Similar to what happened before but worse. He could only see about 20 feet in front of him and the sleds were just barely visible. He woke the other men in his igloo and asked for their help to move the sleds and dogs closer so they could see them. The others rose and helped him move everything towards the middle of camp so it could be easily seen.

All of the other hunters came out soon after. Realizing that the conditions would not allow them to retrieve the kayaks, they decided to take an inventory of their supplies and repair anything that may have been damaged. Anak took this opportunity to sharpen the edge on his spear. Once he finished that, he went to go check on Ausaf as he was still resting from the previous day. He had recovered some but was still not 100%. He said that he should be fully recovered in a couple of days. Their conversation was interrupted by the yelping and barking of the dogs, who had started roughhousing since they were now free from the binds of the sled. Anak walked over and saw the talisman he had placed around Siku's neck had fallen off. The strap had broken from all the play fighting. He tried to reattach it but Siku wouldn't stay still because of all the excitement. So he ended up placing it inside the igloo.

As he went back inside, Siku followed close behind. Anak sat down on a pile of blankets and Siku laid on his lap, just as she did when she was a puppy. It had been the first time either of them had gotten any meaningful rest and they both drifted off to sleep for a midday nap. The smell of cooked meat had woken Siku up and consequently Anak. Both of them came out of the igloo and joined the others as they waited for the food to finish cooking. After they finished eating, they spent the rest of the day sharing old hunting stories. Siku remained cuddled against Anak until they all turned it in for the night.

The whiteout conditions continued into the next day. After all the men had woken up, Ikila called a meeting to discuss what their plans would be if the conditions didn't improve. As they did, the dogs began barking and making noise like they did the day before. But this was not their typical playful barking, it was an agitated, defensive bark. Anak and a few others went to go see what had got their attention. But because of the conditions, none of them could see anything. They did their best to settle the dogs and for a while it worked. But they started up again moments later. Their barking growing more and more agitated. Everyone looked around but still did not see whatever it was that had the dogs attention. Assuming nothing was wrong, they went back to their discussion.

Then, out of nowhere, came this loud, angry roar followed by cries of pain from the dogs. All the men rushed over to see what was happening. A large polar bear had came into their camp and was attacking the dogs. A surprised panic hit the group and all of them rushed to get there weapons. The dogs greatly outnumbered the lone bear and did all they could to defend themselves and the hunters. But the bear's size and power proved problematic for them. Stene and Ime were the first to begin the attack, firing arrows into the bear while doing their best not to hit any of the dogs. The others hurled their spears at it, with some landing and some missing. Eventually, after taking enough damage, the angry bear retreated back into the white abyss.

Everyone was in shock at what had happened. Once they gathered themselves mentally, they all went to tend to the dogs. The scene was grim. Of the 30 dogs they had, 8 had been killed and another 9 were injured. The injuries ranged from non-threatening to severe. While others took care of the injured dogs, Anak looked for Siku as he did not see her among the remaining dogs. Eventually he saw exactly what was fearing most. He found Siku laying in the snow, her white fur now stained crimson. Anak grabbed her held her close to his chest. Her head slumped over his arm as her neck had been broken after taking a swipe from the bear's massive paw. Anak broke down and cried over the loss of his favorite dog. Others tried to console him but it didn't help one bit.

All the men gathered the dead dogs and started a fire to burn their bodies. Under normal circumstances, they would have buried the dogs but were concerned about the bear coming back. So they decided to burn them hoping that the smoke would be enough to keep it away. All of them grieved the loss of the dogs. They were not just animals used for work, they were parts of every man's family. Each one of them had been raised from puppies and grew up in their community. Their deaths were deeply personal to them.

Aside from the emotional toll it took on everyone, they now faced a new problem. With some dogs dead and more injured, they would not have enough dogs to be able to retrieve their kayaks, let alone make it back to the village. The only way for everyone to make it back would be to take the healthy dogs, send someone and get the others in the village to help bring the remaining members home. Anak offered to go back. After losing Siku, he just wanted to be alone for a while. But Ausaf volunteered to join him, saying that it would not be safe for him to travel alone. That's when Minik stepped in and said that Ausaf was still not strong enough for that kind of journey. He would go with Anak instead. With hesitation, Anak agreed and the two prepared to make the journey back to the village to get help.

Thank you for reading my story. If you enjoy hunting and fishing content, check out my other short stories that I have published on my profile. I also have a novel, Tale Of The Gamekeepers Book 1, available on Amazon Kindle. Follow my Instagram @stonecreekthehunter for photos of my personal hunting and fishing trips, along with updates on upcoming projects and other content.

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