Nightfalls mountains

[Furlanìe]

Valsantîr, Central-Eastern Friuli
It was raining in the country town of Valsantîr, in the interior courtyard of a large rustic farmhouse a group of people was standing silent, and some speaking at a low tone.
Fiâr was having a conversation with some people when his sister, Galiane Sancaval arrived "better late than never, as they say..." Galiane's heart skipped a beat, her seemingly calm face couldn't hide the watery eyes "I'm sorry Fiarùt" she said with a broken voice, a tear slowly run down her cheek. Fiâr's anger vanquished the very moment she spoke "it's ok Linùte..." as they hugged each other, both started crying.

Jermàn Sancaval's body was lying in an open coffin, in an empty room, surrounded by some flowers. Galiane looked at her father and made the sign of the cross; "say hi to mom" she whispered. "are you staying for the night?" asked her brother "sure, I took some time off" she answered, while looking at the body.

After being lost in her childhood memories for a while, looking at all those familiar faces in the courtyard, an old priest got close to her "Galiane, you've grown a lot since last time I saw you"
"father Marcù" she said "are you going to perform the funeral?"
"I'm afraid not, father Bertòlt will come from Servegnûl to do it on my stead, I need to attend to a meeting this evening, I'm sorry"
Galiane wasn't shy to express her disappointment "is it that important? you and father were friends, what is it about?"
"It's an order from the Patriarch office, I need to comply"
"and where is it?"
"we'll meet in Davour-da-mont"
"up north on the Calagnòt mountains? that's pretty far away... well... I hope it's important"
"seems to be, I'd better get going now, my deepest sympathy Linùte, mandi"

Ûdin
The officer put down the receiver "no victim reported sir, the bomb was successfully defused"
prime minister Jusèp Bardassin breathe a sigh of relief "good"
"I've spoken with deputy prime minister Luišìn Rôs, we agree that an increase in security is necessary at this point, although the Occitanian rebels have only managed to attack the border, it doesn't mean Udin is completely safe, we can keep a low profile"
"you really think that's necessary?"
"absolutely sir, the presidential residence has already increased the number of guards" insisted the officer
"alright, just try not to alarm anyone, the situation is under control, the fact that nobody was hurt in Saulàn means we're doing a good job at the border"
"yes sir"

 

[Furlanìe]

Davour-da-mont
Father Marcù, an old, mostly hairless priest, was sitting on a chair, waiting, in the corridor of a fancy Aquileian-Tiburan style building. from the narrow window in front of him all he could see was clouds and indistinct shadows.
from the door at the end of the corridor a group of five Friulian soldiers appeared, accompanied by an old and slim man "father Marcù, please, follow me" he said, while the soldiers were leaving the room.
"your excellency" said Marcù, with a quivering voice, as he entered the room, and found the Patriarch of Aquileia himself "I did not know... you... I wasn't expect-"
"please, sit with me" said Adelmo Galfiâr
"yes, your excellency"
"tell me about the parish of Valsantîr"
"oh there's not much to say, it's a peaceful community, I'm happy to look after those souls in your name... and God's too"
"not much to say, yes, that's quite a common answer, time has eroded the Patriarchy influence over these lands. I'm convinced that, to save our land from falling under the yoke of the many enemies of God, we need to reclaim our historical influence over Friuli. I find that the serenêrs are a good example of moral authority and strong governance, much different to the unstable and clueless 'democracy' our nation has been stuck in for decades, we are but a shadow of the heroes of the past, and we have the duty to change this, do you agree?"
"certainly your excellency"
"good, because this is not the time for leniency, it's the time for action; you served God diligently, guided the people of Christ in these times of heresy, and I want you to be rewarded, it would be a tremendous loss if you were to fall at the dawn of a better tomorrow, setu?" asked Galfiâr, with a very grave voice. Marcù licked away a drop of sweat that fell on his lips and nodded to the Patriarch "your excellency can count on my total support, my faith is in God and the Patriarchy"
"excellent, I hoped to count on such a learned individual. now, I just need you to support the benandans for as long as it is required, with all the means at your disposal, we need them, but most importantly, they need us. and give this letter to major Sartìns, in the Valsantîr air base, don't open it, and destroy it if need be"

 

[Furlanìe]

Few days had passed since her father's funeral, when the shocking news came from the television as Galiane and her brother were in the living room, a bomb exploded in the government offices, another was allegedly defused in extremis at the headquarters of the Cjantarins, and the following bestowal of emergency powers to the last major political leader, Giuliana Marghèri.
Galiane was sorting out the few things she had brought with her in her suitcase, she would have to go back to Aquileia soon, as her vacation period was ending.
at 7.36pm all the TV channels stopped transmitting, followed swiftly by the radio, and then the internet, the latest news reported that a group of fighters were sent to the north of the country to quickly monitor the situation at the Circivènt airbase, where a column of smoke was seen.
few minutes passed and Fiâr's cell phone rang
"they want me to arrest Marcù"
"for what reason?" said Galiane, confused
"they didn't tell me"
Galiane decided to follow Fiâr to the priest's home, in an attempt to distract herself from the recent passing of her father, and hoping for a good story to take back home to the ValTôr newspaper, where she worked as an editor.


"Father Marcù left," said the neighbor
"When did he leave? Did he tell you anything?" asked Galiane, obscuring her brother in uniform
"no, nothing, I saw him from the window hurrying off at noon, as I called Aunt Duìne she told me she saw him on a car that took cueldaborc street"
"that road leads to the mountains, perhaps it has returned to davour-da-mont?" Galiane said
"true, he went there a few days ago, maybe he has other things to do"
"thank you very much ma'am... well, I'll warn the captain, I'm going to look around in Pronô, if he's not there it's out of our jurisdiction," said Fiâr
"can you take me home? I'm going to go to davour-da-mont" Galiane asked.


A couple of kilometers from Davour-da-mont, Galiane had to stop at a checkpoint, the soldiers carefully checked her and the car before letting her pass, without giving explanations, this seemed normal, given the recent events, but she quickly understood the gravity of the situation when, having reached the mountain town, she saw an old anti-aircraft machine gun fire warning shots in the direction of a Friulian fighter that passed at a low altitude nearby, forcing it to retreat.
"it comes from the Valsantîr air base, why are you shooting?" he asked an officer, pulling the car over and showing his journalist card
"after the televisions went off, soldiers from the San Gjâl division came to arrest Agnul Fabrìs and the patriarch, if we had not arrived they would have taken them, you should go back from where you come from, we are evacuating, it won't be safe"
"evacuating to where?"
"it's better for you to go back miss, and see if you can make the news spread, Friuli is in the dark, but part of the army is still loyal to the republic and the people"