There was noise in the forest, to any sensible person this statement would be obvious. But not here, not on this island. It was one of many that formed one of the largest archipelago in the north seas, also due to its remoteness due to extremely poor weather condition the only people to be found generally where seal hunters.
Jonathan was not a seal hunter, not to say he didn't know how it just didn't put food on his family's table. By trade he was a whale hunter, not that he harpooned the great beasts himself, he was just another deckhand. But after weeks at sea the Captain had decided to start hunting the Archipelago waters hoping for better luck, as well to improve the crew's morale with shore leave to sleep on solid ground and hunt boar meat for fresh food.
He walked as quietly as he could through the dense woods and silently cursed every time his foot landed on a dry twig or pile of leaves. But it didn't matter for the woods were silent, no birds could be heard singing their songs, nor the bugs or anything. The silence had almost an eerie haunted quality to it. He shook his head in vain trying to ward off the cold feel that crawled up his spine.
He fingered the hammer of his musket idly as he walked further inland in hope of game. To his dismay there wasn't a damn thing on this rock, not even signs of seagulls or rats. he neared a clearing and he shouldered his gun to inspect the bay expecting another fabulous view of the sea, what he saw only filled his soul with dread.
An ancient crumbling ruin had occupied the space, he could only ponder the former inhabitants and their fates as he walked from one building to the next. Great huge humanoid statues towered over him, their faces long eroded away, many missing limbs. But perhaps the strangest thing of all was the ice near the bay, it was not beached icebergs nor where it formed in any fashion seen in nature. it did not even remind him of the artificial cold his queen created just weeks before. This was something else, and he wanted nothing more than turn around and run back as fast as his legs could carry him. Yet when asked later he would not be able to tell you what drew him to the ice formation in the center of the ruin.
He reached for his belt axe and chopped off a piece and examined it closely. At this point he had fully intended to show the piece of ice to Virgil, whose father had been an ice harvester when he turned something in the ice caught his eye. he shifted so that the sun were directly opposite of him and provide some light into the cold material. in the center a large black shape lie and his eyes widened to the size of saucers as it began to take shape.