The children had been kept awake by the elder though the night, whenever a childs head started to fall he would hit them awake.
While the elder was obviously bad at teaching, he was dedicated to teach them right even if he had to take more drastic measures.
Every question they asked he answered, even if it was not on topic.
In the end as long as the child does as he said that would be enough to please him.
The children also compromised, while the elder may seem very unpleasant to be around he had entertained as many of their questions as possible, no other adult had done this for any of them before this.
The only negative so far was the lack of rest, around seven hours had passed since the children had awoken earlier in the day or night in this case.
From waking up to eat too walking towards the western gate an hour had passed, the test itself took two more hours and they didn't even get to stay for the entire duration and now they were forced to cultivate non-stop for another four hours.
They are mentally tired.
"Times up, lets go"
Elder Qez lifted the barrier he set and encased the children in protective light balls.
The children given no other choice were dragged along for the ride.
Flying once more through the air the kids took this moment to close their eyes for a moment.
Elder Qez looked back at them and sighed.
'In the end I'm going to have to wake them anyway'
The elder hurried to his destination, he would still need to wait another twenty minutes or so for dawn but wanted to arrive early just in case.
It did not take long for the elder to arrive at his destination, the elder looked with surprise.
'Seems we won't be the only one's attempting to enter today, these kids sure are lucky' he called the children lucky but was cursing them in reality.
This entire mission thus far was mentally exhauting.
One had to know that the elder had been working towards this day for years, he stressed on the finner details and any anomalies felt like it would induce a headache.
Looking at his destination it was just as he remembered from all the previous years he visited.
'This time I will get in!'
Lake Guatavita, a small body of water that lays in the remains of a now dead volcano was the location of his goal.
At the edges of this caldera four groups separated by distrust awaited for the moment the darkness of night would lift.
Elder Qez flew down before those below had a chance to see him, releasing the children from the light spheres he took out a bundle of dried plants and set them on fire.
The children that had managed to stay awake moved to the sides away from those asleep.
Faning the smoke in the direction of the children he waited until they woke up.
Eyes closed shut, breath calm, body relaxed Bran Ai had entered a deep sleep where not even dreams formed.
The smell of smoke reached his nose and his mind instantly reacted, a dream made of memories of the past resurfaced.
Bran Ai stood next to a boiling pot of water waiting for someone <"Is it boiling?" "Mm" "Why didn't you say anything then?" No answer came "If you leave the water too long it will burn!" "Water burn?" "YES! Can't you see the steam? That is the water burning away" Bran Ai did not know if it true, "Fire! Fire!"> The voice started screaming.
From a sleep that one could asume he had died to his eyes opening in panic, Bran Ai took in his surroundings.
The elder was faning the flame in their direction, the children were waking up slighly panicked or dead eyed, the area they stood on was on the side of a small mountain above a low laying area covered in feilds.
The mountain seemed to be isolated, away from other mountains viewable from the distance.
To his sides children awoke having had dreams of smoke and fire, while the sky had started to brighten from a black blue to a more dark blue that allowed for the sky and earth to split into two.
Elder Qez noticed Bran Ai's eyes scanning his surroundings 'He has sharp eyes huh' a small smile appeared barely perceptible in the dark.
"All of you get up we have work to do" the elder stood up not waiting for the children.
The children already standing simply looked at those struggling to stand up and turned away to follow the elder.
Bran Ai got up, he took a moment to slow his breath and calm his heart.
Once that was done he caught up to the group closest to the elder.
An old man with brown skin sixty to sevety years old in the western direction of the caldera was surrounded by a group of twenty young boy's around seven to eight years old, to his side a few older man in their twenties and thirties conversed about the soon to come event.
Looking in front and to the other side of the lake in the eastern direction the elder watched another group of thirty young boys around six to eight years old awaiting behind a group of elder men similar to himself, he didnt know what tribe they hailed from as such he was cautious.
To the south a group made up entirely of woman ranging from twenty to sixty sized the competition, standing to the sides around twenty-five young girls ages five to eight sat down quietly, amazonians.
These three groups brown of skin and dark of hair, wearing clothes made of animal skin and painted cloths waited for night to turn into dawn as they discussed about the potential threats around them.
The old man wore no shirt on this ocasion chosing to simply cover himself with a thin cloth made of cotton to cover his shoulders while his torso was covered with a simple animal skin breechcloth.
On his neck hanged severl necklaces made of animal bones carved into the shape of a crescent moon.
The children in his group dressed the same as he did, they simply covered themselves more above the waist as it was rather cold out.
The group to the east wore nothing but animal skin breechcloths to cover their bits below their waists and sandals made of wood, they did not cover their bodies with anything else allowing for the cold air to directly touch their bodies.
The amazonians to the south were a mix of both groups, the old woman did not bother to cover their chests simply their lower halfs in animal skin and cotton dresses, those that seemed to be in their twenties to thirties had bound their chests tightly while they wore breechcloths just like the men.
The young girls were more covered having a layer of cloth underneath the animal skin skirts they wore from chest to knee's.
The amazonians foot wear seemed to be a mixture of cloth and leather as it was tightly bound like vines around their feet and calves.
To the north the last group stood staring at the lake intensely, they did not care about any of these tribal people.
They were Spaniards seeking the treasure of a certain city, although the crown had officially ended the spanish conquest of south america over 140 years ago, stories of the past still inspired many adventurers to seek the unknown or that which was never found.
The group did not have any children among the thirty or so people among them, the closest one's were a couple of teenagers ages twelve and fifteen.
At this moment Elder Qez calmly walked over the hilltop followed closely by the children.
The old man to the west looked unhappy at the arrival of yet another group of outsiders.
The amazonians looked but didn't seem to care, more competition wouldn't make a difference at this point.
The eastern group saw the ages of the children following elder Qez, they looked at each other wondering why someone would risk bringing in such young children.
The Spaniards to the east did not care but they did start to wonder why so many children below the age of ten had been gathered here.
Notably the new group was dressed more conservatively then the rest, ignoring the clothing it was clear as day that the children did not all come from the same place.
"Alvaro, take a native, ask them why they have come and why did they bring so many children" a light skinned man with a mustache ordered one of the men amongst his party, he pointed at one of the natives with them and then at the closest group of natives.
"Sir Acosta, let me go and ask I recognize that man over there, he is a townsmen from the area" a monk wearing a dark brown wool robe with a partially shaved head asked for permission.
The mustached man with the last name of Acosta nodded "Go, take one of my men with you"
"Very well" the monk looked at one of the men in the group signalling to come with and walked towards the natives on the west bank.
Elder Qez and the children had settled between those on the west and those on the south occupying the south-western bank of the small lake.
While the adults feigned ignorance to the presence of multiple groups, the children of all present parties looked toward each other.
The amazonian girls carried short daggers at their waists while they carried short bow's in their hands, to their sides small quivers containing arrows lay on the ground.
The boy's on the west bank carried spears from what seemed to be bronze and hatchets made of iron at their sides, several of them had arm tattoos with unknown meanings.
The group to the east carried a variety of weaponry from porra estrellas (similar to morning star mace) as main weaponry, to spears and what what seemed to be a club sword called a tuccina.
Some of lf them carried colorful sheilds on their offhand while all of them without exception carried some form of short daggers.
The only group that seemed to lack noticable close combat weaponry was the northen group, the spaniards.
While half the group seemed to be unarmed the other half carried beyonets and flint locks to their side, some swords could be seen on the waist of some but most simply loaded their guns expecting a scuffle.
Bran Ai had seen such weapons before but never had he seen one used or had the option to use one, many of the children in their group had the same experience with guns as he did.
The native groups however knew full well what those items could do.