Wey-Leya was furious.
“Shape-shift,” the master calmly repeated his demand.
For some time, Wey-Leya just stood still, until she lifted her head upwards and her face stretched forward, becoming a red, furry face. The Vedich girl’s reddish hair color was passed on to her body, which in a moment was covered with fur. From under the hem of a linen shirt, a fluffy red tail popped out. A few moments later, a large fox was standing on the clothes that had fallen on the ground. At that moment, representatives of all the three schools gasped at once.
“It’s true!”
“Incredible!”
“What an inexplicable power!”
Men, women, children – everyone whispered in surprise. Ulari, as though still not believing what had just happened, looked around at the faces of the Masters, who were also staring at the fox. And only one person seemed unperturbed – Master Nao, of course.
The fox looked into the master’s eyes, then sniffed loudly. She stood still for a while, and then rose to her hind legs. Then her features began to change again. The limbs became human hands and feet, and the muzzle became a face again. A girlish, attractive face.
Ulari regretted that the master treated Wey-Leya so severely. However, he understood the necessity.
A sage said that one should not yield to temptations of appearance. External beauty could be deceiving. Before you trusted a person, you need to know his inner world, look into his thoughts, look into his heart.
The Vedich girl was standing in the clearing, covering her nakedness with clothes picked up from the ground, and she was shaking, either from fear, or from anger.
“Shape-shift once more!” the master told Wey-Leya again.
“Enough!” she snapped.
“Shape-shift!”
“What for? I won’t!”
“Shape-shift…” The master continued to insist on this, slightly lifting his right palm up.
Wey-Leya clenched her teeth even harder, but still obeyed. She raised her head again. She strained all the muscles and her body continued to tremble. Finally, she collapsed on her knees.
“I can’t!” almost in tears, the Vedich girl cried out.
Master Nao calmly let his hand down.
“They are not dangerous!” he declared to his people. “You can lower your swords!”
Ulari drew attention to the gaze of his master. Though not a single muscle twitched on his face, that gaze expressed a bit of compassion. However, the teacher had made his discovery! Not all the Ulutau had realized this yet, but the master was able to understand that the unusual gift of the Vedichs was not magic, and that the strength of Tau was enough to stop the shape-shifting.
Master Nao did it! So, the Vedichian people are the same people who have flesh and blood, body and soul, and not at all beings of any other race unknown to people.
The Ulutau warriors lowered their weapons.
The two Vedich girls who first ran to the shore now rushed to Wey-Leya to help her stand up and cover her nakedness. The anger and pride that just overwhelmed the fox disappeared dramatically. Wey-Leya looked broken and depressed. Tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Who are you? And what will happen to us?” she asked the Master.
“If you have no bad intentions, nothing will happen to you,” the teacher replied. “My name is Master Nao. I am the new ruler of the Valley!”
2
The Ulutau rarely left their native land. There was no point, as their country supplied their every need. Blue sky, blooming glades, fresh mountain air, deep water rivers and lakes, forests full of game, and fertile fields.
This region was awarded to the ancestors of the Ulutau, who came from the lands of the Itoshins. The country of the mountain people was peaceful, beautiful, and plentiful, while every day we fought for survival in the Ito empire. Terrible demons came from the fog, bringing death and destruction from the most sinister place of the Dead Land the Path of Horror.
There was a legend that one day, a young man named Tau fell crazy in love with the Emperor’s daughter, who was called Tsvetsho. Myth says that Tosho’s daughter was the most beautiful woman in the world, and Tau was an entrusted Emperor’s udoğan who often visited his palace. He asked the Emperor for Tsvetsho’s hand, but the Emperor became furious. Despite the fact that he was a very brave udoğan, he did not want his immortal daughter to be given to a simpleton. Since then, the Emperor forbade the men of the Itoshin people from looking at her.
He was going to execute Tau, but the brave young man admitted his guilt for betraying the empire and its sacred Code. Tau asked the Emperor to spare his life in order to try to pass through the Path of the Horror, which had not yet been conquered by anyone. Either perish there or atone for his crime by a great feat. Touched by the nobility of the young man, the Emperor granted him forgiveness and ordered him to find a settlement if he found suitable land beyond the Path of Horror. Several brave, young, strong men and women decided to support Tau, for they were also impressed by his noble impulses and brave heart.
Tau and his comrades went through the Path of Horror and found themselves in a beautiful land, which they called Ulu (Mountain, Majestic Mountains). In the mountain canyons, he managed to repel an ancient relic called the Demon Flesh, which gave the pioneers on the Path an unprecedented power and helped them not to go mad with fear.
Now a mature man who had seen and experienced a lot, Tau rethought his life. He realized everything that happened to him was not an accident. Unrequited feelings, his fall from grace, forgiveness, a path to nowhere, a sense of fear and the attainment of fearlessness, comprehension of power and, finally, a mountain valley made for life.
Even as an Itoshin, Tau heard stories about the Valley of the Ancestors and the morals that reigned there. The stories were about people who lived in contentment and welfare, and were primarily concerned with prosperity instead of their souls. They lived in freedom, not knowing that in the north, the Itoshins were defending the right to this life with a weapon.
Tau did not want his country to follow this same path. Therefore, for the sake of the life of his people, he laid a special teaching of the eternal path, aimed at improving their inner world. The sage Tau himself pondered the Flesh of the Demon and the power inherent in the relic. And he asked himself: can one gain power and absolute fearlessness in oneself without using the artifacts of antiquity? After all, if such artifacts stored true power in themselves, then this power could be obtained from outside as well! The people of Ulutau have since given themselves to eternal self-development and gaining power through constant meditation, tempering body and spirit, and self-contemplation.
Once, a huge bird flew into the mountain country. When she approached Tau, he saw a letter attached to the bird’s foot. Much to Tau’s surprise, the message was written by Tosho! The Emperor wrote that he had a wonderful dream where Tau created a city in beautiful fertile lands, and Tosho sent his birds out to find this land. The Emperor blessed the work of Tau as correspondence began between the Emperor and Tau, and, later, his successors.
Sage Tau died in deep, deep old age. His body was burned and ashes scattered all over his land, so that the soul of the sage became part of this country. Eventually, new sages began to interpret the teachings of Tau in their own ways. They did not deviate from the foundations laid by their great teacher, but began to build their own schools, each of which became separate settlements. And it was masters who led the schools.
The people of Ulutau started families, raised children, plowed the land, and engaged themselves in hunting and fishing, but devoted all their spare time to self-development. Each school lived as a separate community led by a master who was responsible not only for the spiritual development of his pupils, but