When everyone was seated, one of the youths – Ronin, the son of the shaman Vall, the leader of one of the detachments of the Great Hunt – pointed to the sky with his hand and turned to the leader:
«Chief, the hunter Hord does not know why the stars were full of colors and what kind of rounded glow in the sky is!» Wasn’t he there before?
Everyone raised their heads and gasped in surprise, and whispering began among the elders. Roshan noticed the fuss of the old people and immediately replied:
«And you are observant, young man. Today is indeed an extraordinary night,» the shaman looked up at the luminous stake. «Look at the glow,» he turned to his fellow tribesmen. – The stars in it clung to each other and shine like never before!
The Kindred, who were in the Pavilion of Flame and helped build the Fireplace, did not see the shining stake at the moment when it was noticed by Roshan and Hord. Therefore, most of those sitting by the fire did not even suspect that it had managed to transform: the ring of light became much brighter, and the cluster of lights in its middle merged almost into a complete ball, as if a new luminary was born in the heights! Roshan did not show that he was surprised by the celestial manifestation, and while the juveniles, women and sentinel hunters, opening their mouths, looked at the glow in amazement, the leader glanced at the elders. Hord and a few old trackers caught the leader’s gaze. Shrugging their shoulders and shaking their heads in bewilderment, they made it clear that the wisest men of the tribe were also confused and did not know what this phenomenon was.
Roshan did not want to stir up confusion among his relatives, so he deliberately withheld the warning message whispered by the spirits.
«Zavrinis are asked to learn the secret of the radiance of heavenly fires. And when the hunters return, I will definitely do it! Have you heard the spirits of Zavrini yet? the chieftain asked Ronin, trying to distract the young from the strange appearance.
The green-eyed fellow was confused:
– No, chief. I didn’t hear… I…
«Tell us about the spirits, chief!» a black-haired girl sitting next to him interrupted the teenager.
– Yes, yes, leader, tell me about Zavrin! roared the rest of the children, immediately forgetting about the bizarre glow.
Some of the boys have already heard the story of the origin of Zavrini from the lips of relatives, but the young descendants really wanted the leader himself to tell the truth.
Roshan looked around at his Clanmates. The adults nodded approvingly, and the young froze in anticipation of the leader’s tale.
– Well… Listen carefully, future hunters, and remember my every word in order to retell to your sons, as my ancestors retelled to me! Roshan exclaimed. «Once Pangea, the giver of life, whose name means everything around that does not carry a soul in itself, created Zavrini in her own image – to think and create in the likeness! Razavr became the womb of Zavrini’s life, because She wanted Her intelligent children to be both fast and strong! So that they could survive and protect themselves in Her abode,» the leader spread his hands. «The reptile hatched eight eggs, and they hatched into creatures different from their parent. These creatures were like you and me. Four Zavrinis were larger than the rest. Two of them wore dark scales, almost black as night. Others in red skins were born – the color of their body was like the Great Fire at sunset. And those Zavrinis, which are smaller, had skin similar to the skin of sandy Rasaurs!..
«Roshan, were they reptiles or humans?» Ronin asked.
«Neither one nor the other,» the leader replied, frowning. – Their heads were human, but a little elongated, and their eyes* were like those of reptiles, yes! – at this tale, Roshan instantly embodied his vision in the eyes of a hunter – the whites of his eyes turned yellow, and the pupils narrowed and became one in one like a lizard. The young gasped in surprise, and the adults laughed. Returning his eyes to his ordinary appearance, Roshan continued: «Zavrini’s hind legs were similar to ours, but with large claws and strong, like those of their ancestors, the Rasaurs. Forelimbs – hands, only instead of five fingers sticking out three!
Suddenly, Roshan waved his hands and put his palms forward. With a brisk movement, he spread his fingers, so much so that the ring fingers pressed against the little fingers, and the middle ones pressed against the index fingers. In the semi-darkness, it seemed to the teenagers that the leader really had three fingers, and they groaned at the unexpected display.
«Climbing trees like we do is dexterous, they didn’t know how, but they ran faster than any carnivore. Not even the Vultures could catch up! Roshan exclaimed. – Other lizards in the flock did not recognize the offspring and tried to eat the ugly cubs, but the female stood up for her children. She could not resist for a long time, and the stupid Razaurs tore her apart!
The chief threw his arms up again, as if tearing a piece of leather in two. His story was so exciting that the future hunters were imbued in earnest. And the leader’s daughter was completely frightened. Covering her face with her hands, she pressed herself against her mother. There was a sob.
«Omi, Omi…» Ana tried to calm the child.
Roshan waved his hand to the fair-haired huntress, and she, wrapping the child in a leather blanket, went to the araucaria.
«Tell them, Hord,» the leader of the old man asked. – I’ll be right back.
The leader followed Ana, and the teenagers sitting by the fire instantly stared at the old man. Hord scratched his beard with a bone comb and picked up the story:
«Zavrini’s skin wasn’t all scaly. Once, at the Bolshoi Okhota, near the lime swamps, I found their petrified trace. How many moons does he have? I don’t know. But the footprint is larger than the human one. And it became clear from him that the skin of Zavrini on the feet was smooth, like mine.
Khord deftly threw off his sandal and put his foot in front of the seated ones. The bare heel of the old man shone from the glow of the fire. The tribesmen laughed in unison.
«So,» Hord continued, «the Rasaurs tried to eat the little Zavrinis, but they, frightened, rushed to their heels. They managed to hide among the roots and thickets of the liana forest. What happened next – we do not know, but we know for sure that two fair-skinned cubs survived.
«Hord, how do you know about light-skinned cubs?» the black-haired girl asked.
«My ancestor, Alak, told me, as his ancestor told him, and his ancestor, great-grandfather, that our tribe once stood near the banks of raging waters at a time when the last white-skinned Zavrini was alive,» the elder replied. – And that the first people appeared in the monastery of Pangea from the first feeling of Zavrin – not from an egg, like reptiles, but from a womb, like you, Elna! Hord added.
Sighs and gasps of surprise were again heard among the young listeners.
«And what is that feeling?» Elna asked timidly.
«Love, my child!
The teens giggled softly.
«So there are other tribes, right? Ronin asked. – After all, Zavrini was eight!
«That we do not know, young man. We can only guess…
«Can’t you ask Pangea?» Ronin spread his hands.
«Unfortunately, Pangea does not see through the past like shamans do the path of herbivores,» Hord replied sadly. – And her real eyes…
«Look, the lights are rising above the tent!» one of the teenagers suddenly shouted.
Everyone jumped! A small clot of grains of hot tar escaped from the building’s chimney. Circling like field butterflies, the luminous particles began to rotate randomly, striving upwards.
«Calm, my friends! – Varnus pacified his relatives and rushed to the building at a run.
One-eyed