Hammer of the Gods

Chapter 14

Following the river in a north easterly direction they eventually came to the foot of the mountains. The marshy tundra finally ended in rocky scree where the great stone monoliths slowly decayed. At the back of the valley the mountains stood shoulder to shoulder forming a sort of bowl and it was in this area that Uncle Tok and Konosak had encountered gnomes all those years ago. They hiked all day, heading into the rising terrain. They came to a lake with some permafrost spruce which were short and dark compared to their cousins in southcentral or southeast Alaska. Finding an area of somewhat level ground they decided this is where they would camp for the night. They were all in good shape, but they were exhausted by dinner. It was growing dark as they pitched their tents and built a fire.

They had seen no sign of gnomes. A clattering came from the far side of the hill as a bull caribou ran perhaps a hundred yards in front of them and over the ridge line at the foot of the mountain, only to be followed about ten minutes later by a white wolf, hot on its tracks. Where the caribou had crossed the creek, the wolf circled several times before picking up the scent again and took off in the direction the caribou had fled to. The cry of wolves echoed in the distance as others joined the hunt.

Lorne started to walk in the direction the wolf had gone, but her uncle grabbed her by the arm and shook his head. She looked back almost longingly in the direction the caribou and wolf had gone then returned to her tent.

Angelica was not sure what that was all about but pulled out her ground pad and sleeping bag and placed them in the tent. They boiled water on their small camp stoves and added noodles and bouillon cubes for flavor. They ate a hasty meal then turned in for bed.

As Jonah drifted off into dreams, Angelica was lying awake in another tent with Lorne who was sound asleep. The young woman pulled herself down inside her sleeping bag and turned on her head lamp so she could see Solomon’s Ring. Her brother still did not know about the magical talisman, as they were never alone since the angel had given it to her. She wanted to show it to him when they were in private.

Concentrating, she tried to make it do something, anything. Afriel had said she had to repent and have faith in God…perhaps to make the ring work? She struggled with letting go of her anger towards God, if he in fact existed. If there were a supreme being, how could he have let something so terrible happen to her parents who were such good people? Why didn’t God send an angel to help her mom and dad the way he had rescued Jonah and herself? She rubbed the raised symbol on the ring which appeared like a circle surrounding a six pointed star, made of two pyramids one inverted. Angelica felt nothing, no feeling of power, no blue light, nothing. She turned off her headlamp and quickly fell asleep.

The next morning at dawn they heard a whistle outside their tents. They slowly awoke and the high pitched chirp was repeated. Nanuk and Lorne carefully unzipped the door and vestibules of their tents as the cold crisp air hit them in the face. They were thinking it was one of the others in their group and were shocked to see a short bearded three foot high gnome staring at them. He was dressed in fur lined caribou skins, a beaver fur hat and mittens as well as caribou boots. He looked a bit frightened and motioned for something to eat. Angelica had a granola bar in her tent and threw it to the gnome.

Lorne looked at Angelica and said wide eyed, “You had food in the tent? You never keep food, tooth paste, or deodorant in a tent in Alaska, not unless you want to have a bear eat you that is!”

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t know!” Angelica said embarrassingly.

The party made no attempt to come out. The gnome hesitated, then pulled off his mittens and opened the wrapper of the granola bar and started to eat it. He was focused on the food as he backed up to sit on a stone, but he tripped in the attempt and fell awkwardly backwards over the stone with his feet sticking up in the air. He rolled over and embarrassingly sat on the rock. He spoke first in Inupiaq and then in English, “Well come on now, come out, I need your help and you may need mine.”

They each pulled on their boots and jackets and came outside towering over the tiny gnome.

Uncle Tok seemed to recognize the gnome and said, “Atungitok is that you?”

The gnome looked intently at Uncle Tok and squinted until recognition dawned in his wrinkled face and a grin came smiling through his white beard. “Awarumtok, it is you, but you are old now.” He exclaimed as he hopped up and hugged Tok’s leg and Tok patted him on the head.

“You look exactly the same as I remember,” Uncle Tok said excitedly.

“You know we gnomes are long lived. Where is your brother,” the gnome asked.

“Konosak is back at our hunting camp on the Sinrock River. He is lame, from…an accident.” Uncle Tok said rather sheepishly.

The gnome replied knowingly, “These two are his children and his son looks very much like his father. Nanuk and Alornerk are their names.”

Lorne and Nanuk looked at each other in surprise.

“But who are these two naluagniu?” (white people) The gnome asked.

“Tok introduced Jonah and Angelica, and explained their quest to find Chief Aternerk Sangliak and to request the rod of God to be returned, and that they were sent by the Archangel Gabriel.

The gnome’s eyes grew wide. He slowly shook his head and looked down as he explained, “First we would have to find the entrance. I have sort of…er, well I have gotten lost and I dropped my sun stone! The second problem is Lorne and Jonah are Christians, and the girl, well she seems undecided. You know we do not like to be around Christians, so judgmental and pushy about their religion and all. Besides we worship Poseidon as you know.” Atungitok continued to ramble on under his breath, scowling. He looked down stomping his foot and clenched his little fists.

Uncle Tok finally interrupted him saying, “I can vouch for them, but how does a gnome loose the entrance to the gnome kingdom?” Tok asked with a smile on his face.

“You know how I am, things just go wrong. It’s the old Atungitok bad luck. The stone must have fallen out of my pocket when I chased down that caribou last night. I tried to fight off a white wolf who wanted the meat, but then his pack arrived. You know I could’ve beaten off the whole group, but they looked hungry, so I left,” The gnome said as he looked off to one side, obviously lying.

“Um, yea right, well it’s good of you to share your dinner like that rather than kill a whole pack of wolves by yourself Atungitok,” Uncle Tok said mockingly with a grin.

“You have no respect for your elders! I told you that thirty years ago, and you haven’t changed. I have wandered in circles all night and I ran out of food yesterday despite my wasted efforts. I try to be generous with the locals and what appreciation do you show?” Atungitok shouted in his high pitched voice as he wagged his little finger at the native man, who tried not to laugh.

The gnome continued, “I was heading towards the river when I came across your tents. Like I said we could help each other. If you assist me in finding the entrance, I will lead you in, but the Chief will not be happy to have Christians in his kingdom, I will tell you that. There is, a third problem…,” the gnome said slowly and he began to grumble under his breath again. Only a few words could be understood. Something about staff, and Sangliak. He held his hands to his head his eyes closed tight as he stomped around in circles.

“What’s that? Uncle Tok asked. “We couldn’t hear you.”

Atungitok sighed, “The Chief has grown quite attached to the staff. He will not let anyone go near it. He keeps it locked in his vault. After you and Konosak brought it to him, we found several new veins of gold. He believes that is a result of the rod being in his possession, a good luck charm if you will. Also, the dwarves fear its power. So long as Aternerk Sangliak possesses the rod the dwarves will not dare to attack the gnomes. The Chief will not give it up I fear.

“Filthy, loud, obnoxious, smelly, good for nothin dwarves!” Atungitok shouted to himself as he spit on the ground. He waved his little fists at the air and continued to mutter under his breath stomping in a circle.

Finally composing himself he continued. “We barter with them now at the Great Divide. We offer gold, caribou and musk ox meat and skins in exchange for armor and weapons,” the gnome replied solemnly.

“Well we must try!” Jonah interrupted.

The little gnome scrunched up his face, pursing his lips and shook his head, his hands on his waist, “You will see, it will not be well for you I fear. First we must find the entrance.”

They packed up, ate a granola bar for breakfast and began hiking.

“Have you noticed Atungitok is a bit, well, different?” Angelica asked Lorne.

“That’s putting it nicely.” Lorne joked. “I mean he is nice enough, and seems harmless, but boy if anyone mentions dwarves, he goes off on a ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ audition,” Angelica said with a big grin.

If the word dwarf were mentioned, Atungitok would grow angry, stomp, curse, spit, kick the ground and flail at the air. This was a direct contrast to his usual cheerful demeanor of hopping, dancing, and joking while singing or humming a tune.

On occasion the gnome would trip and fall, but he could sprint very quickly like a darting humming bird and he liked to play jokes by turning invisible and tripping someone or moving their things if they set them down. Giggling from the little gnome could be heard sometimes and they learned that he was about to play a joke on someone or had just done so when they would hear high-pitched giggles coming from thin air.

Jonah and Angelica were completely entertained watching Atungitok and still in awe over seeing an actual gnome!

Angelica asked Lorne, “What does his name Atungitok mean?”

Lorne replied smiling, “Good for nothing.”

Atungitok and Tok consulted as they approached the arms of the mountains ahead. They could go straight which would take them in the valley eventually reaching the bowl at the end where Konosak and Tok had met the gnomes thirty years ago. In the light, the gnome could tell where they were. He told them they needed to head up the ridge line to their left.

The two brothers had been blindfolded by gnome hunters when they had camped in the bowl at the end of the valley all those years ago. They had been told by Gabriel to follow the musk ox herd and that the gnomes would find them. They were instructed by the archangel to tell the Gnome King to keep the staff safe, but under no cicumstances was he to use the staff of Moses.

The musk ox had wandered up this valley in the Kigluaik Mountains and this is where the gnomes waylaid them. Atungitok met Uncle Tok and Konosak later in Tunnel Town, where most of the gnomes reside.

As they began to climb the spine of the mountain, they decided to tie themselves together with a rope in case one fell. By doing so, the others could grab the line or even jump off the opposite side to prevent the individual from falling. From the peak they had an amazing view of Nome to the south with the ocean beyond, the valleys on both sides of the ridge line, and the bowl at the end of the valley to the north. A pair of eagles circled overhead.

Using his binoculars, Nanuk spotted a brown bear on the ridge line to the east. The scenery was truly magnificent. Patches of snow were still present in any shadowed areas. The wind howled on the ridgeline and the cold air bit into any exposed skin. Angelica tightened the strings of her parka, cinching in the opening around her head. They came to a spot where there was an overhang facing the bowl of the valley.

Atungitok stopped and pointed to a ledge below the overhang and said, “This is it!”

They untied the rope and then climbed down onto the ledge below the overhang. On one wall there was a marking. It appeared as an hour glass shape on the bottom and it had four circles above.

Atungitok smiled and said, “I will lie here and rest while you giants try and figure out how to open the door.”

After setting their packs down and drinking some water, they debated at length over any ideas as to the meaning of the symbol. Angelica suggested that the hour glass meant what time the door could be opened and that the four circles might mean four o’clock. It was 3:30 pm so they would not have to wait too long to try her idea. Each party member took turns running their hands over the image and the surrounding stone. Nanuk tried putting the tips of his fingers of one hand over the carvings then pushed with his other hand without luck before finally giving up. Meanwhile, Atungitok chuckled from under his fur cap as they were growing irritated. He wiggled his toes in obvious glee at their failed attempts. The afternoon turned to evening but the door did not open.

Finally, Tok lost his temper, “Alright, we give up Atungitok, out with it, what is the meaning of the symbol?!” The gnome pulled his cap off, revealing his bald head as he sat up smiling. He started to pull off his right boot as the others looked on.

Uncle Tok exclaimed, “Surely you are not planning on napping right here?”

The gnome looked up at the Inupiaq man with a grin on his face and pulled off his sock, wiggling his four little toes. The group exchanged glances of understanding as the solution to the symbol presented itself.