– Hey! Look! What is this star? Arwen pointed to the vault.
Rylan, Iris, Kun, Taro and the others raised their heads and began to look at the mysterious phenomenon with curiosity.
«I see it for the first time,» said Kuhn, puzzled.
«Yes… I’ve never seen such a star either,» Rylan said.
The tribesmen were distracted from the gouges and began to discuss the unfamiliar phenomenon in a lively manner.
«We should call Valla,» Taro suggested. Maybe he saw?
Wall at that moment left the tent to hurry his relatives:
– What are you doing there? Do you want a wild night?
Val, look! Some strange star near the moon,» said Kuhn.
The shaman anxiously looked at the sky and at the star discovered by the hunters, which was born last night. The star still shimmered with shades of scarlet, and it seemed to the leader that it approached the Moon and increased – became larger than its yesterday’s appearance. Wall frowned.
– Yes, I saw it. Finish off the goats and into the tent until the reptiles go hunting! We will refresh ourselves, and I will tell you about the star and about harmony with the Long-necked, and about the Fireplace.
The Kindred looked at each other and, intrigued by the shaman’s call, hurried to deliver the remaining stakes.
The portable camp tent was similar to the usual tents that were built in the camp in the Hunters’ House: the same chimney, the same rounded walls and the same coverage on the ground. Only now this building was covered with skin twice so that the light from the flame of the fire did not shine through, and its walls were not coated with lime, and the piles were not so powerful and were not driven in tightly, and the beams – thinner – and were not tied at all. The tent was collapsible! And every hunting detachment that went to the Great Hunt always had one. If you had to stop in a field, as this night, or in swamps, or in some coniferous forest, like an araucaria grove near the current settlement, or in another place where there is no liana tree, then they put this building on the ground and ten steps along goads were driven in a circle. And if the tent in the House of Hunters was designed for a close family – four or five relatives, among whom there were children – then in the portable tent the hunters slept crowded one to one. Twenty tribesmen – exactly a hunting detachment – fit close to each other in a lying position, and not one more!
After the meal, Vall lit two torches and tied them to a beam under the chimney to better illuminate the sleeping area. The shaman extinguished the fire and stirred up the fire, making room for gatherings. The relatives settled in a tighter circle, and the leader took out a parchment from his bosom and threw it on the ground in front of the tribesmen.
«This is our shortest route to the Great Volcano,» Vall pointed with the tip of his arrow at the marked path. «Last night I climbed the crowns and saw the light of the Bonfire.
«Risky,» Kun scolded, and took the card.
«It’s better at night than during the day,» the shaman objected, and pointed to his scar on his face. The hunters nodded in agreement.
Having studied the path, the shaggy kinsman handed the parchment to Arwen, who was sitting next to him. Taking turns examining the inscriptions made by Wall, and passing the painted patch to each other, the tribesmen got acquainted with the upcoming road.
«What do you think, Val, will we get there in three Fires?» Taro asked.
«Let’s try,» the leader replied. – If no adventures come along the way.
What about Salas? Is he even alive? Did you come to your senses? Taro turned to the Tyrant.
Breathing, alive. I never woke up,» the thin youth reported. «Maybe you should try to shake him up?» Or splash with water?
– No! Val objected. – Let him. Only Pangea and the spirits of Zavrini know what’s wrong with him. Let’s start to disturb, and then he, like Azis, will end up… What will I say to Radon?
The steadfast trackers murmured, supporting the leader’s decision.
«Vall, do you even know who violated the unity of Azis?» No one knows…» Without finishing, Arwen caught the frown of not only the leader, but also other experienced hunters.
– Don’t know! The shaman answered, raising his voice. And I don’t want to know! Who ever violated something there… Found something to think about on the Big Hunt – about the tales of the sentinels!
The senior rangers grumbled grumblingly, supporting the indignation of the leader, and the young ones, annoyed, looked at Arwen – they were very curious to know who it was that once entered the Tent of Unity.
Everyone in the tribe, by the way, being a beater heard, and more than once, instructions about unity around the fire. Whether those instructions were from an old man or a healer, from an experienced hunter or the leader himself – it doesn’t matter, but every beater learned that unity, whether it was the first or any other, should occur in peace, and it must not be violated! And many youths and maidens listened to those instructions about the mysterious unity of Azis, an old shaman who lived in those times when the current elders and wise men were not yet elders and wise men. It was as if someone interrupted Azis harmony, and who exactly – the mentors never said. And few of the young knew what really happened that night. And time after time, when the teachings around the fire about the first unity began, not only the beaters became curious to know who the violator was, but also the young sentinel who had grown up with the moons. But the wise tribesmen cherished the secret like the apple of their eye, tried in every possible way to avoid questions and quickly changed the subject of the conversation.
«What about the herbivore, Val? asked Iris, a black-haired hunter with a burn on his right cheek.
«Yes, unity with a lizard…» Vall scratched his beard. «In harmony with the reptile, I saw other Longnecks,» the shaman began to broadcast. «Eight or ten – I didn’t have time to count.
– Wow! What’s the output? Kuhn was surprised.
– And the brood too. There was a flock of them! exclaimed the leader.
– A flock? the relatives asked in unison.
Longnecks were by nature loners. And usually, not counting the male during the laying period, only her cubs were near the female. When the cubs grew up, the female drove them to an independent flock. And of course, the rangers, hearing about the brood and the pack of Longnecks at the same time, were very surprised.
«I’ve never seen giants gather in packs,» said Iris.
«Yes, yes, that’s the whole point – there was a flock of them, and they walked across the field, which is between our lands and the liana forest, along with this lizard,» Val pointed to the sacks with slaughter. – And recently they passed there – about five days ago. Then the downpour was heavy, remember? The relatives nodded. «In the vision, I heard the roar of another brat at the edge of the grove,» Vall continued to broadcast. «Maybe the Raptors or some other lizards attacked the cub, and this Long-necked one, having fought off the pack, went after him.
«But the cub was torn apart,» Arwen suggested.
«Yes,» Wall agreed. «So it is, since we tracked down a lone lizard. But! We tracked him down in the liana forest. And in the direction of the forest in the vision, other Longnecks were also heading!
«That is, this reptile followed the flock,» Kun concluded.
«You think right, old one,» the shaman nodded.
«And Longneck went out into the Bennettite field too,» Taro picked up, «and we didn’t lure him out. The flock went west across this field!
Yes,