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which slowly moved closer when the morning went on. Arriving to the lean-to, Vierra saw the fire still burning joyfully. She realized she was relieved at seeing Vaaja in good strength, improving the fire.
    “Vi-er-ra, Vi-er-ra,” the man tried to pronounce her name when she arrived. Vierra dropped her carryings beside the lean-to, and a smile forced its way onto her tired face.
    “Let’s see your leg. After that, I must go immediately. The chieftain is dead, and I have to bid farewell. You will do nicely with this food.” Vierra knew that the man might not have understood what she said, but she felt that she had to give a reason for her departure nonetheless.
    “Chieftain, big chieftain-man,” the man tried. It seemed that chieftain, as a word, was familiar to him.
    Vierra laughed wholeheartedly, a deed she hadn’t done for a long time. “The chieftain is not a man. She is a woman. Wouldn’t that be odd, a man as a leader? Now, let us look at the wound and get you some more firewood.”
    While working on the wound, Vierra tried to figure out why she didn’t grieve the old chieftain’s death. She didn’t hate her foster mother, not really. She had taken Vierra under her wing and done her duty. She had, however, given all her strength and energy to Aure, whom she wanted to be the tribe’s next chieftain. After passing to adulthood, Vierra hadn’t wanted to compete for the attention. The hurried chores disrupted her thoughts and forced her to focus on the job at hand.
    Vaaja’s injury had started to heal well, the skin around it was only slightly red. Vierra washed the plant wrapping away and replaced it with a new one. She chopped more firewood from the dead tree she had found the day before, and with a wave to Vaaja she hurried back to join the ceremony with the rest of the tribe.
    In the insipid light of the dawn, the Seita stone glowed reddish-brown, as if foreshadowing the scene that would soon follow. The stone was human-shaped and human-sized. It leaned toward the east, as if bowing to the rising sun. For some reason, no trees grew around it; there was just a circle-shaped area covered with an even carpet of moss. The tribe members silently arrived one after another from the forest. First came Aure with her two men carrying her mother on an ornate carriage. Behind them walked Eera. The night’s effort had exhausted her, and as she walked, she leaned on her red-haired apprentice Rika.
    Behind them came the rest of the tribe with their children. Vierra was among the last. She had made it back from her early trip in the morning, but only after a brisk run through the forest. Every tribe member had firewood with them. Small children just had one branch, but men and women carried hefty armfuls. They approached the Seita stone and placed the wood on the ground, piece by piece. An even pile of wood formed near the stone, and the chieftain was placed on top of it, on her bunk. She was clothed in her best deerskin, and on her arms and face were painted beautiful, spiral-shaped patterns. Graceful was the leader in her dying dress, even though she had been old and sick. The torch that Rika had in her other hand was given to Aure, and she lit it using her tinderbox. Made of wood, skin greased in deer fat, and dry grass, the torch lit easily and burned with a large flame, fluttering in the wind. Eera sang with a clear voice as Aure lit the pyre from different spots with the torch:
    Fade away in Kainu heartland
Pretty is the day to die
Beautiful to burn to ashes
Windy air with whom to fly
    Start the fires down below
Keep your torches lighted
Guide your daughters, guide your sisters
Keep us all united
    Until the last day will arrive
Setting of the final sun
All of Kainu then are with you
All of Kainu’s work is done
    The dry wood started to burn, and the pyre flamed up high, driven by the strong northern wind. The old features of the chieftain melted in the fire, and a strong stench of burning flesh was released in the