By the time the golden mammoth returned to the herd, the elder had finished assigning every mammoth a task.

"Ah, the herdleader's back! Let's set off!" The mammoth herd began making its way toward their new destination. 

The golden mammoth asked, "Elder, how far away are we headed?"

"It's not too far. A regular mammoth would be able to make the journey in three or four days, but for a large herd, we might take five or six days."

The golden mammoth relaxed. It wouldn't be a long trip, then.

The journey would be more dangerous the longer it was, especially for such a big herd. Many of the mammoths had packed enough food to eat for a week along the journey,...