came out of hiding a little and held out his hand to her. Elna timidly looked at the youth. In the darkness, she could see his green eyes glittering. Peering into the features of a teenager, she thought for a moment about something of her own and froze.
– Do you trust me? Ronin suddenly blurted out.
– I? Umm…» Elna hesitated, and the young man immediately grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into the thickets.
Unga chuckled.
– Can we go to the Temple of the Creator? the girl asked, frowning.
– Well, you already! They say you can’t, but we’ll go quietly and no one will know,» suggested Ronin. «Aren’t you interested in yourself?»
Interesting, but I’m afraid.
– We are not afraid! Let’s go see the leader! – Unga’s eyes burned with anticipation of a trip to the caves.
«And if one of the elders notices us?» Elna hesitated.
– They won’t notice. Most of the elders are in the Hunters’ House, and those left by the caves are most likely asleep, Ronin assured. «We’ll just see what the chief is doing there and then we’ll go back.» Nobody will notice!
«But what about the watchmen?»
We are future hunters! Unga exclaimed. «Let’s imagine that the sentinels are reptiles, and go around them!»
Elna asked a dozen more questions, but the young men had answers for all occasions, and they still persuaded the girl to go to the Temple.
The teenagers, making their way through the paths and vegetation, returned to the Pavilion of Flame, and soon came to the araucaria.
– Shh! Ronin hissed, crouching behind a rock. – Look – the lights are on the wires. Maybe there are some adults there?
Unga and Elna hid nearby, examining the branches of coniferous trees.
«Yes, everything seems to be quiet,» Unga said. – There is no one there. Everyone heard the horn. Just went to the House of Hunters.
«Then the main thing is not to wake the kids,» Elna whispered. Otherwise, they will get scared and start calling for help. Don’t get stretch marks!
«Let’s follow me,» commanded Ronin, resolutely jumped over the boulders, passed on tiptoe under the araucaria, deftly bending between the stretched rattles, and again jumped into the thicket.
The youths followed him.
The quieter the children tried to walk, the louder, it seemed, was the crackling of dry leaves, twigs, stones and the rustle of grass under their feet. Even the chirping and clatter of nocturnal cicadas and other living creatures was not as audible at that hour as the crunch of vegetation under the sandals of future hunters, as if the night itself listened and followed every step of the young relatives, illuminating the untouched by torches surroundings with the moon.
So – from one tree to another, from ledges to thickets, from huts to huts – the children made their way through the village. Miraculously, they bypassed two sentinel detachments, and this was a real test! After all, no one has yet managed to sneak past the sentinels unnoticed! True, no one has ever tried to do this before…
Elna was very frightened when the hunters met on the way. She had no idea what would happen if they were discovered, and a premonition, which adults called the feeling of Zavrini, at that hour seemed to speak to her for the first time. As if an inner voice whispered to the young maiden that all this was not good. But Unga and Ronin constantly encouraged her and assured her that there was nothing shameful in their journey.
Soon a cheerful mood picked up Elna. Teenagers thought up a game of hunters and imagined that someone was following them. Children were fooling around, giggling softly, pretending to be reptiles and trackers, hiding among boulders and thickets. The youths pursued each other, hiding in the bushes and setting up the expected ambushes. And after a while, the young relatives reached the very path at which the ledges and the ascent to the caves of the elders began. The path uphill was illuminated by hammered torches, and it seemed impossible to go unnoticed.
The young hid in the thickets.
– And how next? What we shall do? Elna wondered.
«Hmm… If we crawl through the bushes along the path near the cliff, then we won’t be particularly noticeable,» Ronin realized.
What if someone falls?
– Come on, Elna! See how much space. Let’s crawl carefully. If so, let’s help each other. Let’s go, – Ronin answered confidently and took Elna by the hand.
Suddenly there was a rustle behind the children. The teenagers jumped in surprise! Terribly frightened, they slowly turned around.
The Watchmen was the first thing that flashed through Ronin’s mind. And Unga even thought it was a reptile. But from the thickets of ferns, shaking off the clinging twigs and leaves, a little girl looked out.
Elna, take me with you! I want with you! – the leader’s daughter looked plaintively at her older relatives.
– Omi? In the name of Pangea, how did you end up here? The young girl ran up to the child and hugged him.
Ronin and Unga looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief.
«In the name of Pangea, I was so scared!» Unga breathed, and his eyes nearly filled with tears.
«Omi, why aren’t you in the hut?» How did you get here? Ronin asked.
«I had a terrible dream, and then I started thinking about Pa. And then I heard someone walking downstairs, and I saw you. I was scared to call you in the dark, and I just followed you,» Omi rattled, almost crying.
– What a news! Ronin was delighted. – You came from the most araucaria? Omi, you are a real hunter!
«It’s good that it happened and we didn’t reach the caves,» Elna said, looking at the youths. – It is not known how it would all end. Need to come back!
«Hey, what about the Temple of the Maker?» How is the leader? Ronin was outraged.
– I want to go to Pa, let’s go to the leader! the girl exclaimed.
«Hush, hush, Omi, don’t scream!» Ronin, don’t tell me we’ll take her with us.» Elna stared at the teenager, waiting for a clear answer.
– Why not? She is already an adult. She followed us from the very araucaria, bypassed the sentinels. Nobody heard her, not even us! Let her go, especially since her leader, her father, is there. We’ll take a look at the leader and we’ll be right back!
«Yes, yes, I want to go with you,» Omi rejoiced.
«Yes, yes, Omi will come with us!» Unga picked it up.
Elna frowned and reluctantly agreed:
– Well, okay… But only there and back. Promise, Ronin? She looked humbly at the teenager.
– I promise!
