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 the relatives began to descend down the illuminated path, peering into every bush, checking every rocky nook.
Having outwitted the sentinels, in the meantime, the young, having passed the sleeping elders, slipped into the cave leading to the Temple of the Creator. In the middle of the way, in the place where the corridor forked into three channels, the teenagers and the leader’s daughter stopped. In a dispute about whether it is worth going along the illuminated path or is it better to climb over the barriers and go through the dark corridors, where the likelihood of running into the next sentinels was reduced to a small one, Ronin won. As if he once heard from the hunters that all three moves lead to the Temple. The teenager pulled out a blazing light from the wall and led the young relatives along the narrowed tunnel to the right channel.
***
As soon as the detachment returned to the camp, the sentinels immediately informed Brun about the events of the previous night: about the flash and the newborn star, about the leader’s campaign to the Temple of the Creator, about what the tribesmen had heard, how the elders had spoken about the premonition of Zavrini. As if the spirits of the ancestors suddenly turned to the elders and shamans.
The news of the star did not surprise Brun. He and the hunters also spotted a star and lightning. But the rumor about the mysterious urge was very strange. What the spirits were talking about, none of the sentinels knew. The watchmen only heard out of the corner of their ear how the elders talked about the spirits. In addition, something strange happened to Illy, the young beater, during the persecution of the Polosuns: she was suddenly overtaken by unity and insight at the same time. At least that’s how Brun and the other hunters in the squad took it.
How are you, Illy? – the
