closer to his gaze, and then began to rotate his brush, examining its disgusting articulation. Salas’s hand – both one and the other – was devoid of skin!
Bare bones of the phalanges of the fingers protruded from the red sinewy palm and from its back side, and their beginnings grew into plexuses of muscles, meat and blood vessels of the hand. Hand combinations were hidden under leather windings up to the elbow. Raising his arm slightly, the beater could see the bone on his elbow. And intricately woven, like a twist of liana twine, the red-blue muscles of the arm above the elbow went under the robe on the torso. All this naked horror shone under the glow of torches! A chill ran through his body and a cold sweat broke out. As soon as Salas realized that there was not a piece of human skin on him, he almost vomited.
The teenager looked at his fingers once more, and then looked at the uncovered leg muscles. A red pile of the same plexuses as on the muscles of the upper limbs, like the fresh flesh of a tenderloin from Polosun’s thigh, shone before his eyes. White bones, similar to lime bowls, which Varnus invented for lights in the camp, stuck out at the knees, and from under the flaps below the shin in sandals one could see white phalanxes with claws.
Salas rose from the ground, and it dawned on him. He touched his face hesitantly. Feeling the presence of the skin on it, the youth breathed a sigh of relief. Then he slowly reached out with his right hand to the palm of his left. Afraid to feel pain due to lack of skin, the teenager, holding his breath and narrowing his eyes, touched the bones of his fingers. Feeling nothing unusual, Salas opened his eyes and, already looking at the action, repeated the movement and was stunned again. He moved his bare hand over the bare places of the other hand, and in his eyes it seemed that his fingers were not touching bare flesh, but were touching an invisible, but tangible emptiness. The teenager, having grown bolder, squeezed the muscle above the elbow on the left limb. The combination of muscles tightened disgustingly and took on a bluish tint where the muscle touched. But even squeezing the limb, Salas could not penetrate the invisible shell, and the young beater realized at that hour that his skin was on him and it had not gone anywhere! It is his eyes that contemplate so! That the eyes of Zavrini appeared to him, which Varn taught and which all the hunters of the tribe knew, but for some reason the wrong eyes turned out to be, and Salas should not have seen human flesh. Realizing all this, the young man closed his eyelids and shook his head, trying to free his eyes, but nothing came of it. He furrowed his brows, trying to master concentration, but again nothing worked. «What to do? How to return human vision? Salas began to think.
Suddenly the canopy of the tent flew open, and an alarmed Tyrant flew into the building. He started rummaging around in his bags and pulling out lights. Gathering them in an armful, the Tyrant removed the burning torches that hung under the chimney and, again ordering Salas to remain in the tent and not stick out anywhere, jumped out.
***
Far away on the outskirts of the Bennettite field, on a sloping hill, the top of which bordered only on the starry sky, the Kindred saw the outlines of reptiles. The dark figures of the lizards were illuminated by the full moon, and the sight that appeared before the hunters was breathtaking. The long-necks humbly walked along the elevated plateau, and in front of them, judging by their excellent size and spiked back and neck, the Gigantosaurus walked majestically. The huge reptile, compared to the good-natured herbivores, was so solid even from a long distance that all the lizards behind it seemed to be its own brood. The hunters watched in amazement. Either five (it was hard to see exactly, since the black silhouettes merged with each other), or six Long-necks dutifully followed the ancient lizard.
On the eastern edge of the same hill, the outlines of the same Long Necks appeared. And with them, smaller individuals, apparently cubs. And even when the silhouette of the Gigantosaurus mingled with the outlines of palm trees, and the mighty reptile disappeared into the night against the background of other hills, the Longnecks did not stop appearing from behind the slope of the hill.
– I can’t believe my eyes! Kuhn was delighted. – Why so many of them? Gigantosaurus ahead?
The hunters stood with their mouths open.
«Yes, Kun, it’s him!» Iris replied.
«I’ve never seen a Gigantosaurus!» Rylan wondered.
«In all my moons I have lived, I have not seen so many giants as I see now,» said Taro.
«That’s what I told you about,» Vall said. – Flock!
– Where did they come from? Tris asked.
«I don’t know, my friend,» the leader replied. «Only Pangea knows. There is no need for unity here.
«It was as if all the giants of all the lands of the Great Volcano were gathered in one place,» Iris introduced. «And I haven’t seen a Gigantosaurus since Roshan was declared chieftain.
«They came from the direction of the liana forest,» said Vall. – But why did they gather in a herd?..
– Val, could you comprehend unity in a tent? Arwen asked.
The tribesmen muttered, disapproving of the young hunter’s idea.
Are you out of your mind, young man? I still lacked unity here! the shaman was outraged. – Salas, there, already visited the unity! We should get to the Great Volcano, but quickly. There have been too many disturbing events lately.
Experienced trackers roared, supporting the leader’s indignation, and then they looked at the outlines of reptiles on the horizon for a long time, suggesting the reasons for the possible accumulation of lizards. And when the last Longneck disappeared from sight on the hill, Taro offered to finally crawl into a lodging for the night and sleep. The hunters were about to go to the tent, but the groaning and roaring near the camp took the relatives by surprise.
– Bring it to life! Wall ordered. The rangers readied their weapons and turned their eyes.
To the right, ten or fifteen paces from the goads, the silhouette of Sharpthorn appeared, followed by several more similar lizards. And then more, and more! A huge flock of herbivores, which were bypassed not only by the Rasaurs, but even the lords of heaven did not dare to disturb, slowly approached the camp.
The tribesmen froze.
– Only Ostroshipov were not enough for us! Taro whispered.
Very unfriendly reptiles, almost up to the hips of an adult and five to seven steps in length, including the tail, lived in small families – seven to eight lizards. They moved, like all herbivores, except for the Thick Skins and Feathered jumpers, on four legs, and Pangea herself created strong growths on the wide backs of the reptiles. Shells – so the hunters called the growths. And these shells were completely strewn with sharp protrusions.
But the lizardmen were not called Razorthorns because of these appendages. At the beginning of the neck, from the shell of any Sharpthorn, even a newly hatched cub, sticking out in both directions – both to the left and to the right – two huge pointed spikes. And the thorns were shunned by every reptile that the Razorthorns had ever encountered along the way! By the way, the detachments of the Great Hunt did not deny themselves the risky business of poisoning these lizards. With hunting tricks, the beaters taunted the Sharpthorns, thereby forcing the herbivores to follow in the right direction and rush at the taunters. And other trackers at that moment were killing one of the lizards that had strayed from the flock. Razorthorn armor and spears were made to perfection not only from bones and spikes, but also from the spiked hide from the back!
