it a star? Why was she on fire? What’s wrong with her?
«I don’t know… That’s why I’m going to Her… The Zavrinis want us to leave this house. They are warning us about something, and this star appeared for a reason. We need to find out what is troubling Zavrini and what we can expect,» said the shaman and hugged Ana.
Ana hugged her husband tightly.
– I’m scared!
«Well, it will be for you,» the leader soothed. – I’ll be back soon!
The huntress freed herself from the embrace and jokingly threatened:
«If my leader doesn’t return, then I won’t hunt with him anymore!»
The shaman broke into a smile and, pushing back the curtain of the hut, began to get out.
So long, Pa! Omi waved.
– Bye, dear! Ana, lookouts! Roshan noted again.
The smell of dew, mixed with the pine scent of araucaria, rose over the settlement. The shaman went to the story and breathed in the freshness of the coming morning. Everywhere there was a drowsy calm, and the barely audible murmur of the stream was dissolved in the streams of the restless breath of the wind. The chirping of nocturnal insects has long ceased, and the chirping of daytime living creatures has not yet rang in succession, as if the primitive townsfolk, replacing each other on patrol, have not had time to take their posts. Among the branches on nearby trees, smoke flickered from the extinguished fires of the huts. The camp and the nature around it were immersed in slumber.
Somewhere beyond the horizon, the light of the Great Fire woke up. The ascending rays gradually awakened the ordinary world, and their enlightenments in the sky looked forward to an unfamiliar day. Roshan glanced around the settlement, and then fixed his gaze on the watchtowers: everything and everything, as before, was in its place. The leader grabbed the vine rope, deftly descended to the ground and headed towards the caves.
Soon the shaman was high above the village and, stopping at the edge of the cliff, once again looked around the monastery, untouched by predators. Deep inside, Roshan was troubled. His premonition – Zavrini’s premonition – for some reason caused excitement and a feeling of something irreparable. The leader took a closer look: several teenagers came out of the huts in the Hunters’ House. Someone made a fire, it was visible how someone’s women drew water from wells, children came out of halabuds on araucaria. Roshan tried to look for his daughter and Ana, but from the heights near the caves of the settlement, the first people looked tiny. It was hard to distinguish anyone by appearance or attire. The leader saw only silhouettes and could assume that there, at the hut he had abandoned, among the undergrowth of the trunk, Omi was playing with the child of a relative, or at the armory mansion, it seemed, the one-eyed Varn was spinning…
The shaman drew attention to the loopholes of the camp. Everything was calm. The cool morning breeze ruffled the leader’s hair with a sharp gust, and distracted by the wind from his thoughts, Roshan headed for the Temple of the Creator.
Before the pass to the entrance to the cave, the shaman was met by an elderly healer. She was dressed in a long hoodie made of the thinnest green leather, tattered in places by everyday life. Over the skin, in the area of the shoulders and the edge of the hoodie, hung decorations in the form of resinous colored leaves of outlandish plants.
Hello, Inga! Roshan greeted.
The old woman, grimacing and straightening her sparse gray hair, showed a toothless, but still fanged smile, and, spreading her arms and quickly moving her legs, went to the leader.
«Roshan, son, you haven’t gone up to the caves of the elders for a long time!» she greeted warmly.
– Inga, you know – the time of the Great Hunt has come. It was necessary to prepare the detachments for departure,» the shaman answered with sadness in his voice. – I hope you missed you?
The woman’s trembling hands touched the leader’s shoulders. Warm hugs followed. After a moment, Inga looked at Roshan’s face and jokingly patted the braid of his beard.
«And you’re already an adult!» the old woman joked, and, groaning, laughed at the top of her voice.
The smile on her face deepened the scaly wrinkles and aged the healer. It seemed that if no one knew her age, then it would be completely impossible to guess her lived moons.
«I have prepared a potion, my boy,» Inga said, laughing, and grabbed the leader by the arm. It will help you calm down and collect your thoughts faster. Hord said that spirits turned to many that night. This hasn’t happened before, has it? Do they want us to leave here? And what is this strange star that Radon told me about in the morning?
– Yes, Inga, it was so, the Zavrinis are warning us about something. And this star is also not without reason. I will definitely find out about everything! Did you hear the call yourself? Have you seen the flash in the night sky?
«No, my dear, I didn’t hear the call. But I saw how the heavenly lights were full of. Watched as the swirl of glow from the Pavilion of Flame rose above the settlement. And Varn is my smart one, right? I just didn’t see the flash… I apparently dozed off at that moment. I didn’t see the star either. Oh, old me, I’m completely blind, – the woman sighed, – and Zavrini’s eyes are no longer subject to me. Old me. I will leave you soon! Quite old…
Stop Inga! You talk more. For eternity, let the moon shine on you! Where are we without you? Who will heal us all?
«Ana will heal, son. She is already ready for the unity of the shaman.
After this conversation, the leader and the healer reached the cave. At the entrance, near the habitable places around the fire, sat Hord, Radon, and several other elders and hunters. The tribesmen were having a meal.
Hello Roshan! Radon greeted. «Would you like to eat with us?»
Radon was one of the few experienced hunters who often stayed in the settlement with his detachment even during the Great Hunt. The watchman’s curly dark hair, gathered in a ponytail, stuck out untidy at the back of his head and lay on his broad back. The fangs of lizards were woven along the entire length of the tail. An earring sat in the humpbacked nose of the hunter. The lower jaw of the man protruded slightly forward, and rough spiked growths flaunted above the eyebrows. On the chest of Radon, a scar from the fin of the Chameleon was visible, and on the right leg two fingers were missing – the tricks of the same predator. The second thousand moons shone on the hunter, and his strength was at its peak. In addition, behind the wide shoulders of the sentinel lay almost three dozen carcasses and trophies from herbivorous and carnivorous reptiles. Radon has more than enough experience in protecting the village! In the previous places of camps on the way to the Great Volcano, hunters from his squad, together with Valla’s squad, drove the Rasaurs away from the fences of the settlement twice! And the young relatives, led by Radon, constantly stood at the posts of watchtowers and bypassed the paths. Of course, Roshan did not doubt the skills and resourcefulness of this hunter, so he decided that he would be able to adequately assume the role of leader temporarily.
– Greetings to all! – honored the leader and answered the senior sentinel: – Thank you, my friend, I’m full. And I ask you to be careful. Ana, Varn and Hord will help you.
Hord nodded affirmatively.
«Yes, sir, everything will be all right!» – chewing, mumbled the hunter. Don’t worry about the village! As long as I live, not a single lizard will set foot in our abode.
«May the spirits of Zavrini help you,» the leader patted the senior watchman on the shoulder and immediately headed towards the entrance to the cave. Hord and Inga followed him.
– Roshan! – turned after the hunter. «I’m very worried about the hunting parties, Roshan. And Salas is there. Do you think what happened last night did not disturb the reptiles?
«Hmm…»