particles to turn into a flame, it is necessary in the unity of each particle of the incarnation of the one who looks closely, whether it be a blade of grass or a whole bush, or maybe a flower or a primitive creature, a dragonfly, for example, remove prana. Remove from all the particles of the incarnation, to the last! Don’t leave a single grain! And so the element of flame will gather from them into one whole – into the flame. And the one who knows the flame in unity and called it with an impressive engraving, will see the flame through the eyes of Zavrini. And all the steadfast trackers,» the elder waved towards Khord and some experienced ones sitting at a distance, «who once seized prana, can see one flame alone! The unity sage raised his index finger to signify the importance of the next clarification. – But if the engraving does not belong to you, but to another hunter, then in order to embody the flame in it, you need to perceive the message carved and important of that hunter with both mind and spirit! Valan finished his explanations, and the fry immediately began to whisper, trying to catch the truth from all this string of ambiguities said by the sage.
«And why is it possible to see the flame only through the eyes of Zavrini, but not through human eyes?» asked Renri, the offspring of one of the leaders of the Great Hunt.
The old shaman’s cheekbones stretched into a barely perceptible smile, and he replied:
«Because Pangea created Zavrini in her own image, to think and create in her image. And in order to think and create, She imprinted her element of primordial life into the belly of a lizard – the soulless Razaurus. And she didn’t just capture it, but lived in her eye, so that Zavrinis were connected with Her by Her eyes, so that they were reasonable and saw the truth, and could create life. So you can see the flame that your leader Roshan obtained with her gaze, with the hunter’s vision – the incarnation of Zavrini! – explained the old sage. – So our ancestors knew our ancestors, and I’m telling you now, so that the truth does not go away – it does not dissolve in being.
The children understood little of what they heard, but their faces showed delight.
– What do her eyes look like? one of the youths shouted, and grins were heard among the older relatives.
You can’t see her eyes! Valan responded promptly. «It’s only given to look at them…» Valan thought for a moment. – And remember! he immediately added. «When you undertake to withdraw prana in your first unity and incarnate it into a flame, the main thing is not to confuse the particles with the transformations of other particles that are alien to them!»
– What happens if you mess up? Unga asked casually.
Yes, yes, but what will happen? – shouted the young descendants.
Valan frowned.
«Otherwise, the prana of alien incarnations will mix and dissolve in the wastelands of the presented. And you will have to collect new particles and withdraw prana from them. AND…
– And if you can’t collect it at all? interrupted Ronin.
– What do you mean – at all? the old shaman frowned even more. – There has never been a hunter who, having surrendered to the first unity, could not turn prana into a flame. Is it really a matter of repeating this flame on a carved engraving in reality, and making the symbol incarnate into the true element…
«It’s too early for you, Valan, to know about it,» Radon interrupted. – First, let them learn how to hold hunting tools correctly.
«Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuum,» the children hummed, disapproving of the head watchman’s talk.
Radon smiled.
– It’s not too early! the old shaman continued to insist. – Let them know! What is there. Who else can teach them? Varna will not teach unity! Taught already – now he walks without an eye!
Varnus looked at the old shaman in bewilderment, while adults and juveniles looked at each other.
– Well, you will, Valan! – Hord stood up for the offspring. – An old grumbler. Look, your tongue will dry up!
– All right, all right, – the shaman calmed down and turned to Unge: – Here you are, young man, which path did you choose? Shaman or hunter?
«Um…» Unga thought.
– Here! the sage hastily exclaimed. – To become a shaman, you need to understand what you want. What do you want to know from Pangea? What do you want to see? And it’s not so easy, my young friend,» said the old man. – The time will come – be a hunter and do not be afraid. Accept the first unity and remember what I said that night. You look – you will get stronger, and you will be a shaman.
The teenagers whispered among themselves, discussing the parting words of the old sage.
«Why didn’t you go to the Temple to look at the stars?» Unga suddenly asked.
Valan frowned and looked at the other elders.
«I have not been young for a long time, my boy, and unity takes a lot of strength. And what is going on among the stars? No one knows… I’m afraid if I look there, my consciousness will not come back, and I will become a burden for the tribe…
*shuffled – made a noise.
***
«Valan, tell me,» Elna timidly sat down closer to the sage, «why?.. Why don’t we have Zavrini’s eyes,» the girl pointed to herself and other children, «do adults have them?»
– Yes, Valan, why is that?
«We also want to see with the eyes of the hunters!»
The youngsters and maidens made an offended noise, and the adult relatives laughed in unison. The genuine feeling of annoyance of young people due to the inability to embody the eyes of Zavrin could not but cause a smile among experienced tribesmen. But this shortcoming had its beginning, and many remembered this beginning.
«It was in ancient times, when my and your ancestor, Alak, the last one, who adopted the eyes of reptiles by his kind, by origin, could still hunt and admire the Moons,» the old shaman suddenly began to say. «The eyes of Zavrini were passed on to Alak and his relatives by blood from the ancestors, and to the ancestors from the great-grandfathers, and to the great-grandfathers from Zavrini, and relatives and Alak could embody the eyes of reptiles from birth. But our blood and flesh change with the lived moons, like the stars in the skies. In some ways we become better and stronger, but in some ways we become weaker. So then blind hunters were born from the descendants of Alak, and I am among them. And the eyes of our ancestors were unknown to us.
You didn’t see anything at all, did you? Ronin asked, confused.
– No! Blind means we never had Zavrini’s eyes. So we saw, as you see now, young man, and the rest.
Ronin nodded.
«And no one then knew why this happened,» Valan continued. – And our relatives thought that we had an unprecedented disease, and old Alak went to Pangea to look for answers. For a long time he was in unity with Her, and when he came out, he weakened greatly and plunged into weakness from a slender month to the full moon. Then everyone was upset about it. They thought it would die. And in those days, only the children of Alak and his brothers hunted, who ran with the eyes of Zavrini from birth, and some relatives who did not lose their strength for the moons lived. Youths, boys, and I was among them, were sitting in the settlement. And young hunters, too – with a stern human look guarded the camp from lizards. Yes, Hord? – the sage turned to the experienced hunter.
«Yes, I remember that time,» Hord confirmed. – Then the relatives were afraid to go fishing without eyes. Any lizard far away from the ravines was noticed by people, herbivores did not let them near at all, and predators and Rasaurs with open mouths in those days lurked everywhere in the thickets – crawl in, do not be afraid!
– Where do you crawl?