– Thank you, Ma! What did you bring us this time? Elixir of the Great Hunt? Will one of the trackers now become more agile and faster?
The old woman broke into a smile.
– Oh, and you’re a joker, Varn! Maybe I’ll bring it tomorrow. You can check with Ana whether he is good for the Great Hunt or not at all, «she answered, laughing.
After talking with her relatives about this and that, about the events of the previous night, Inga undertook to help Anya and Varna with the Fireplace. And soon the fire totem was erected. When the moon reached its peak, Radon, Hord and several sentinels arrived in the tent. Under gracious speeches and parting words to the detachments of the Great Hunt, Radon set fire to the Fireplace. And when it became very hot in the Pavilion of Flame, the tribesmen left the building. Like last night, they settled side by side, in a clearing near the fire.
A warm monsoon descended to the foot of the Great Volcano. The wind, with a sudden gust, stirred up the lights of the lanterns that illuminated the bypass paths, posts and huts of the settlement. From the breaths of the winds, the silhouettes of the shadows of the way of the village danced on the hills and sheer ledges of the mountain pedestal. The flickering of light under the power of the windy element seized the midnight spirit of the camp with mystery, and the newborn star on the eastern side of the sky assured this mystery with its bizarre scarlet radiance. She riveted the attention of the first people. Kindred, while eating half-eaten dinner in the Pavilion of Flame, stared intently at the night sky. And not everyone noticed at that hour that the star changed its stay among other luminaries and became a little more than its manifestation last night. And those who noticed thought they thought it was. Everyone thought so, but not Hord.
When the heat reached its limit, Varnus released particles of hot tar into the chimney, and the Totem of Flame with its glow touched the sky. In anticipation of another miracle, the tribesmen, sitting by the fire, looked either at the fiery swirls or at the red star, but nothing surprising happened in the night sky. For some time, the elders-shamans listened intently to their inner urges in order to catch the voices of their ancestors again. Each time, shuddering from the sudden crackle of a fire or gusts of wind, the relatives perked up their ears even more, but the spirits were silent… Very soon the elders calmed down, and the wonder of the manifested star and the light of the incandescent particles became commonplace for the gaze – and then the time for cognitive stories came.
***
Amidst the booth of juveniles and the dialect of adult tribesmen, Unga, the younger relative of Taro, turned to the senior sentinel. The future hunter or shaman, the smart youngster has not yet decided what path he will take, but his interest in the unity of the leader drew attention to the conversation with Radon and other relatives.
– Radon, when will the leader return? Why has he been in unity for so long?
– Yes! Yes! When? the youngsters cried out.
– Why is it so long? Not long at all,» the watchman replied. «I’m sure Roshan will come down from the caves in the morning,» Radon said convincingly, looking at his older fellow tribesmen.
The teenagers nodded in agreement.
– And what is there, in the unity of the leader, Radon? Unga continued to pry.
«Ask the sage Valan, my friend,» Radon waved his hand towards the seated elders. «He was most united. I chose a different element. I like hunting.
The young descendants immediately turned their eyes to the elderly relatives, located opposite. The youth tried to look out who Radon called Valan, but the light from the flame of the fire was too dim, and it was impossible to see who among the elders was the sage of unity. Besides, teenagers might not have seen Valan before. Few people met him in the settlement – the old shaman preferred to spend his moons in caves. And even during heavy rains, he retired to the Temple of the Creator. But the building of Varna and its Fireplace aroused curiosity in the ancestor last night, and he and other elders went down here – to the Pavilion of Flame.
Khord and several of his relatives sitting in front turned towards his tribesman – his dark silhouette in a hoodie. Puffing, the mysterious old man reluctantly got up from his seat and, barely moving his legs, moved closer to the fire. Teenagers closely watched the stranger. His green robe dangled to the very ground, and the hood of his hoodie was fairly pulled over his head and hid the face of the old shaman. The ancestor, while walking around his fellow tribesmen, accidentally caught on his own cape and almost collapsed to the ground – he was held by other elders. Having got out of the crowd into the front rows of gatherings, Valan sat down on his cloak and, slightly raising his headband, turned his gaze to Unga. The light of the fire touched the dark face of the shaman and revealed his appearance: long gray hairs protruded from under the hood of the old man, into which the fangs of lizards were woven, the shadows in the pits of the wrinkles of his face in the dim glow of the fire sharpened the features and darkened the skin even more, and the hooked spiked nose and brown eyes shone from the radiance of the flame.
«No one knows, my young friend,» began Valan. «No one has seen the stars with Her eyes before. Now, if Roshan of the earth knew the far-lying diseases of our flesh and poisonous or life-giving streams, then unity could be assumed. Any vision through Her eyes, even the first unity of the hunter, is similar to one another.
The youths tensed, trying to understand the meaning of what they heard, and for a moment silence reigned around the fire. Ronin broke the silence.
– And what is there, in the first unity of the hunter?
– Yes! Yes! What? The other children immediately murmured.
Haven’t you been taught yet? Valan was surprised.
– Yes, where are they going, – Varnus entered into the conversation. It’s too early for them to think about it.
– It’s not too early! Let them listen to the wise man while his head is reasonable! – the old shaman exclaimed and turned to the young relatives: – In the first unity – in the unity of the hunter – the prana of Pangea is known, which is called a flame on a carved engraving and that gives unprecedented strength, – Valan began teaching. – Until you know prana, you will be beaters on the Great Hunt or lookouts until the end of the moons allotted to you. You can hunt. You will go to the freestyle – to drive all sorts of trifles, Piskunov, for example, which is faster than smart ones, which is one tooth, and then it will get stuck – until you get some Chameleon for dinner. And in order to ignite a flame on a carved engraving and strike a steadfast giant with a flame, you will have, at the very least, to walk the path through Her eyes in unity.
Adult relatives roared*, supporting the tale of the old shaman.
– In any unity, whether it be the first or the other, Pangea grants her eyes so that you can see with the gaze of Her expanses created by Her! exclaimed the old man, spreading his arms. – And She leads through Her expanses every hunter who wishes to know unity. And among these expanses, particles of light of primordial life dwell. And each of Her creations consists of these particles. From one particle, a seed grows into a tree, from another, the element of wind incarnates into a storm. In the third, an unprecedented disease lives, and in the tenth, a reptile is formed from a reptile’s egg. And many such particles are contained in unity. It is from them that prana must be withdrawn and turned into a flame!
The young were fascinated by Valan’s story and, opening their mouths, heeded every word.
«Each hunter has his own path in unity,» continued the sage. – As Azis said, the starry sky is his soul, unity is in our heads and in our thoughts. What you imagine in oblivion, you will see with Her eyes. And the path through Her abode and the elements presented and creations will appear before the eyes … – Valan thought for a moment, and the sentinels, having heard speeches about Azis, stared inquiringly at the old