«I don’t know… Maybe they didn’t leave, or maybe the soul isn’t Zavrini at all. Roshan will return – he will tell.
– Yes… Don’t you think that he has been gone for too long? There are underground creatures living in the tunnels. Maybe go check? Bard suggested.
– Check? I wouldn’t do it, brother. Valan taught that unity must not be interrupted. He said that once someone, being a child, interrupted the unity of one of the shamans. Having made his way into the tent, the kid, without realizing it, touched the vital threads of Pangea with his hands. Azis – that was how that shaman was called – went crazy from unconsciousness, and after a few moons he died altogether. What if we interfere with an alarming sound or our appearance? And the creatures… Barriers have been standing in the Temple for more than a dozen days. Strongly stand, and to this day have been motionless.
«Then you just have to wait. I wonder who this kid who broke the unity? Did he live to see our moons?
– No one knows. Some elders did, but no one ever talked about it… Better show your symbol, brother. Are you done with the engraving? Welles asked.
«Oh right, how did I forget?! – exclaimed Barda, in two jumps he reached the leather bag that lay near the smoldering fire, and instantly returned back. From the bag he took out the tip of the Verge.
Stone of the Edge – this is how the first people called a very rare and resistant to Her flame stone. The forms of the stone, whatever it was and wherever the hunters found it, were always composed of many regular measured faces, as if the stones were created and carved intentionally by Pangea herself and scattered in all corners of Her abode. It even happened that when butchering herbivorous giants in the hunt, the rangers found the Edge in their stomachs. How they got there, at first no one knew. But Viksha, the old shaman of the tribe, when the hunters found the Facets several times in the stomachs of reptiles, in unity he knew that the lizards had swallowed them on purpose, and suggested that they needed it so that it was easier to digest the tree bark!
For thousands of moons of nomadism, on the way to the Great Volcano, hunters encountered stones of the Verge of various sizes. And from the palm came across, and those that could not be carried away. And it hardly seemed possible to carve a stone of the Edge into the desired shape for a weapon! Therefore, if there was a stone with more rounded warehouses, then they adapted it for a club, and if with sharp ones, then for a cutting or piercing tool. It was possible to carve a symbol on the weapon of the Edge only with the same edge of the Edge. None of the people imagined what could be stronger than this stone!
The stones of the Edge were used mainly only by staunch trackers, and there were enough points and shock parts for many hunts. Unlike ordinary stone or bone fishing tips that crumbled into dust from the first manifestation of the creator’s flame, the stones of the Edge withstood hundreds of flames, so the hunters used mystical symbols only on these stones – there was no point in others. But the Edges were not eternal. Over time, they split from the flame, and these fragments were used for arrows. Such points served the first people for a very long time, until they turned into powder.
Do you see this ornament? It means «Split the Skull»! said Barda. «Glyph of Crushing Skulls!»
Veles took the workpiece Facets and began to examine the carved drawing. A skillfully engraved symbol of a flying spear was in contact with an equally finely carved rounded skull of a reptile – rounded forms of engraving of various limbs of lizards in the symbols and sketches of the first people always indicated the creature’s herbivory, and predators were indicated by pointed drawings.
– Well done! Welles praised. «And when will the flame ignite in it?»
«I figured it would exude prana after sticking my spear to death in two dozen herbivore heads in a row without a single miss!» Barda confidently hit himself in the chest with his fist, showing his younger brother the mood and seriousness of his intentions.
«That is an imposing symbol, brother!» Welles said in amazement. You are a worthy hunter!
Thank you, Veles. Someday the symbol will awaken the flame, and this ornament will be carved on the tablets of the Temple of the Creator.
– If a flame is born in your gaze in the engraving, then it will definitely be carved, and more than once! All hunters will walk with such an engraving,» Veles declared convincingly.
«You know,» Barda thought for a moment, «I want to be a leader one day.
The young hunter looked proudly at his elder brother.
«It’s a difficult path, Barda… probably. Although, how would I know? Veles patted Barda on the shoulder and smiled. «You’ll have to grow a braid longer than Roshan’s and bring back just a little – two heads of a Gigantosaurus!» The watchman laughed. – Do you remember? When we were very young, did Roshan return from hunting with the head of a giant?
Barda broke into a smile.
– Yes Yes! Then everyone in the tribe only talked about it.
«And Hord that evening at the fire told us that Roshan the night before, for the first time in unity, turned the prana of Pangea into flame, and then he carved the first symbol of the first people on the tip of his spear.
– Aha! Bard confirmed. – And when he knew the flame, he promised his relatives that he would defeat the indestructible lizard and the carved symbol would reveal prana. And that this prana will unite the strength and spirit of every hunter and shaman.
The watchmen were silent for a moment.
«The Gigantosaurus was defeated, and at the moment of the fatal blow, people saw through the eyes of their ancestors how Roshan’s body acquired incredible power, and the tip of the spear blazed with a green glow,» with solemn faces in one voice, the brothers retold the story of Hord, who every three or four hundred moons to youngsters the fire broadcast the same story about the feat of the leader. – That’s how Roshan became the first leader of the first people! – the brothers again immediately blurted out the words of an experienced huntsman, imitating his own manner of speaking, and burst out laughing in unison.
Raising their spirits and laughing enough, the relatives fell silent for a moment. Everyone thought about something of their own.
Suddenly, something rustled behind a ledge at the path that led down to other caves. The watchmen pricked up their ears.
«Someone can’t sleep…» whispered Barda, listening.
«Yeah… Stop!» Who goes? Veles jokingly ordered in a voice.
But in response, apart from gusts of wind and the snoring of the elders, nothing followed.
– Hey! Who’s there? asked Barda louder.
The answer is nothing. The brothers looked at each other. A sound was heard again. As if something heavy hit the ground. Then there was a distinct crackling of the bushes.
«I’ll go and see who it got in the middle of the night.» Barda jumped off the ledge and headed down the path. Soon his call was heard: – Veles, come here!
– What else is there? – Veles lazily wandered to the request.
Barda turned to his younger brother. Barda’s eyeballs were turned into reptilian ones, and he held a spear at the ready.
– What happened, brother? Veles took out a huge knife from his belt.
– There’s no one here! No one answers the call and the call, but some noise was again at the lower cliffs.
– Raise the alarm? – With these words, the sentinel took the bugle out of the bag.
– No, Veles, wait. We’ll handle it ourselves! The Lazoons must have sneaked into the village again to feed on supplies. Lead me!
And