With dawn approaching elder Qez took out several objects from his spacial bag.
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 wood while its color was a 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 thought looked into his bag once more and took out another pair of rainbow stones slightly larger then the rest and tossed it 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"
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"
A group of children 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, remember that today 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"
The girls sitting down stood up in unison grabbing their 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 among his group.
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 old man tossed the pouch into the water.
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.
The group to the east took out several more items from their bags, 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 who had gone 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 shcok in his face took a step back "My lord! Where did you men find such a thing?"
He knew one of these men, he knew they did 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.
Over a hundred years had passed since the conquistadors had finished their conquest of south america with the last of the incan strongholds falling, now spanish law 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.
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.
All the stones tossed into the lake sank to the bottom of the lake, some tossed further then others 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 the first brave one took the 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.
This lake isolated from other water sources and higher up the land then general had its own mirco climate making it colder then one might be used too.
Splash*
The children 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 like this"
The rest of the boys looked at him lifting their spirits.
"Good, good, take the lead Nand, do not let others look down on us!"
The boys marched forward following the lead of the one named Nand.
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?"
The group of man watched the children trying to enter the lake, then they noticed the one the man called out.
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 unable to catch his balance began to fall forward, his eyes opening wide as the sudden injury left him in shock.
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 had seen the commotion once more 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.
The two boys looked at their leader wanting to speak to him unsure about stepping foot on the lake.
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.
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 ground so as not to fall headfirst.
Having reached close enough he used his musket to test the waters.
Thump* Thump*
The musket hit something solid, Himenez could not see anything in the waters and the water itself splashed without barriers.
"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.