L'uomo del ghiaccio

Corvogrigio leads his men, all armed with maces and knives.

Among them an ARCHER stands out, painted in war colours and armed with a long bow.

The men exchange some silent signs and are arranged in the shape of a fan a to scout the forest.

One of them loses contact with his partner and prepares to raise the alarm. But the other one turns up in the jungle of trunks and gets near, just as if he wanted to help him in the hunt. It’s Otzi, his knife cuts the warrior’s throat open, and he falls without a cry.

Otzi is hiding in the undergrowth, a warrior runs close to him and he prepares to attack him, but an arrow goes past him and sticks into a nearby trunk. Otzi bends to avoid the shot from the warrior he has made an ambush for, stretches his arm armed with a knife and wounds him mortally. He grasps the arrow stuck in the wood with a quick move and disappears, while the Archer shoots a second arrow that goes lost into the thick wood.

The Archer moves forward with a pointed weapon, he can see some drops of blood on a stone. Even his second arrow has disappeared.

The Princess and Orsobruno rest, sheltered by a protrusion of the rock . Nobody can be seen and no noise can be heard, but for the wind blowing.

- They have killed him – says Orsobruno.

She gazes into the half-darkness and can see a man walking up the hillside.

- It’s him!

- No, look!

Behind the man some other men turn up, they are Corvogrigio’s warriors.

They start to run again and they get to a chasm covered with vegetation, a sudden abyss forces them to draw back and a shadow cuts in their way.

- Stay low and follow me!

A look of relief on the young people’s face, Otzi is alive, he is ahead of them and is guiding them through a frail path between the two sides of the chasm.

- Help me - orders Otzi, leaning against a boulder. © Giuseppe Zironi