Just then, there was a loud crash from up on the mountain.
“What was that?” asked Rinka.
“Avalanche?” asked Gwenla.
“Not enough snow for it,” said Strelka.
And then the footsteps began.THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD…
“What’s going on?” asked Weyland. The enormous human man entered the forge from his shop bearing another box of oversized ornaments, his pale brow drenched with sweat.
“I think that’s our tree,” said Alison. The thudding footsteps continued, growing closer by the minute.
Everyone put down whatever they were carrying and went out to see.
“Up there!” said Finnli. He pointed off the road up the mountain to where the trees were shaking, dropping the snow on their branches to the ground in an unmistakable path.
“Oh my Gods. It’s enormous,” said Gwenla once the tree finally came into view.
It spoke to the awe of everyone involved that they let the statement pass without comment.
“It has to be at least thirty feet,” said Alison.
“At least,” said Strelka. “Maybe forty.”
The spriggan itself was nearly as tall as the tree now. He carried the Solstice tree over his shoulder like it was nothing. The tree itself was an incredible fir with hundreds of delicately thin branches that would be just perfect for the ornaments and ‘lectric lights.
“This way!” said Gwenla as the spriggan made it to the forge. She marched out in front of him without fear, leading the spriggan into the market square where the vendors had just cleared their stalls for the week. The others trailed behind, with Weyland dragging the cart full of ornaments.
The spriggan lowered the giant fir into the tree stand. Strelka, Rinka, and Weyland tightened the bolts, while Alison and Gwenla filled buckets of water from the pump.
“Are these the ornaments?” asked the spriggan. He leaned over the cart, lifting a silver ball which looked small in his enormous wooden hands.
“Would you like to help us decorate?” asked Alison.
Gwenla nodded enthusiastically. “We’d appreciate it very much.”
“I would like to give the tree its jewelry. Where does this one go?”
“Anywhere!” said Finnli. “We’re going to cover it up so it shines when the lights are on.”
“The lights should go on first,” said Weyland, gesturing to the boxes that had been delivered earlier in the week.
“These lights do not shine,” said the spriggan.
Alison nodded. “Not yet. They will soon, once they finish connecting the ‘lectrics. Lightning will flow through these cords, and then the light will shine.”
“A tree glowing with lightning. How strange people are.”
The spriggan lifted the end of the cord of lights from the box that contained them. There were hundreds of light bulbs hanging from the cord of the size that Alison used in her lamps back in Arcas Dyrne.
“They’ll see this tree from Sudport,” said Rinka.
Following Gwenla’s shouted directions, the spriggan wrapped the lights around the tree. The tree was a bit bigger than the original plan, so they had to use a string of lights intended for the market square to reach the bottom.
“I think we’re going to need more ornaments,” said Strelka. “I’ll get started on them.”
“Alison, would you join us back at the forge? I had a question for you,” asked Weyland.
