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 loosened the strings that tied the entrance and stared intently at his fellow tribesmen.
– Well? Should we wait for the leader or start without him? the craftsman asked smiling.
«I’m here, Varn!» Roshan exclaimed as he descended the path. – Come on already! Show us the totem in action!
One-Eyed finally loosened the liana ropes and lifted the canopy. Heat surged from the tent in an instant, and Varnus barely had time to jump back. Everyone gasped at what was happening: on the other side of the entrance, something that looked like a fiery cloud of an infinite number of burning particles tried to escape from the building, but a through stream of air, rushing to the chimney, prevented this from happening.
Varnus lifted the veil of the entrance even more. The red-hot club leaned back. It was so dense that neither the Fireplace itself nor the slightest space inside the building could be seen behind it. The craftsman lowered the canopy and secured it almost to the very ground, leaving a small gap for traction. Under a light stream of blowing wind, the shining particles began to slowly exit through the chimney.
Women, elders, teenagers – everyone froze, watching what was happening. Rising to the sky, many lights created a continuous flow of light, a luminous whirlpool formed above the roof of the Flame Tent, and the higher the whirlwind rose, the wider its edge became. It seemed that the red-hot resin would not cease to go out and the whirlwind of glow would reach the stars. But already somewhere there, high up, the coals turned into ashes and dissolved into the night heights…
– Here it is, yes!
– Look, look! They fly to the stars!
The juveniles made a delighted noise, emotions overwhelmed the future hunters. Children enthusiastically looked at the circulation of shining grains, and their amazement and joy knew no bounds!
A light breeze blew. The pillar of the fiery vortex twisted slightly, but did not lose its shape. Only now the leader noticed that the edge of the luminous whirlpool looked like the glow of a stake in the sky, which, like particles of hot resin, flickered white. Roshan was struck by this incomparable resemblance. But suddenly the center of the stake lit up, so brightly that for a moment it blinded the first people: teenagers, women, old people – everyone who admired the fiery whirlwind at that moment – saw lightning. Covering their eyes and faces with their hands, the tribesmen groaned and groaned in shock, but immediately the dazzling glare in the gaze of each subsided, and fuss began among the relatives.
– Have you seen the light?
– What was it?
– Flash!
Teenagers began to fill up the elders with questions, trying to find out about what had happened. The adults tried to calm down the growing farce, but the juveniles, not responding to the calls, unrestrainedly asked everyone in a row who and what they saw and whether they saw something, until one of the youngsters cried out:
– Look!
Everyone looked up at the sky again. The accumulation of light in the middle of the star ring was gradually fading away, and it was noticeable how the glow measuredly moved away from the center of the circle. Soon it completely dissolved, and in place of the once shining stake, a bright, bizarre star lit up. Blazing with a red flame, it clearly stood out among other stars. An incomparable luminary, unseen before, as if alive, shimmering with shades of scarlet light, adorned the night sky.
Young people, women and sentinel hunters began to vigorously discuss the strange star, and only the leader and the elders thoughtfully exchanged glances.
Where the Great Fire was incinerated and the cold Moon hid, something unknown, visible and at the same time inaccessible, happened. And the spirits of Zavrini themselves warned the first people about this!
* eye – in the language of the first people means «eyes».
***
When the future hunters
