LITMIR.BIZ

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overtaken by some kind of element or even worse – in your absence, the settlement was attacked by lizards. Do not risk! You learn from Her what kind of radiance it is. Find out what disturbs the spirits and tell people, but first wait for the hunting parties. And remember, Roshan, no one has looked at the stars with Her eyes before!

      – I understood you. Ask which of the old shamans heard Zavrini and tell me, the leader urged convincingly.

      – All right, chief, – Khord, encouragingly, patted Roshan on the shoulder and added: – Ignite the Fireplace. I will call the elders. Let’s see what Varn promised, and what will come of it. Let’s make a fire at the tent – we will teach the young!

      ***

      The Pavilion of Flame was in disarray. Children ran everywhere with training weapons. Depicting a hunt to the joyful cries, the young descendants attacked the erected totem. Some were shooting at him with bows, others were beating him with sticks, others were arguing about the Great Hunt or about which of them was more agile and faster. There was a hum. In the midst of this bustle, women and elderly men sat in small groups near the refectory fires on the mats. Every now and then they shouted remarks about bad behavior to their offspring and immediately switched back to adult conversations.

      Varnus noticed the leader who had just arrived. A short, thin craftsman – the offspring of a seasoned hunter Hord – in a hurry gathered his short dark hair, secured it with a bone hairpin and headed towards Roshan. On his right eye, the artisan wore a bandage – it was said that Varn, when he was very young (the eighth dozen moons of his age), flopped with araucaria by accident, so much so that he ran into a bough with his eye!

      – Ah, Varn! I have no doubts about your work! exclaimed the leader, and, raising his hands, he pointed to the open spaces of the tent.

      Hello, Roshan! Today, our troops will see the light of the Bonfire, and no hunter will be lost in the lands of Pangea!

      The single brown eye of the resourceful Varn shone with anticipation. Varnus had no doubt that the Flame Totem would work.

      – Of course they will! Thanks to you, we built this tent,» the shaman proclaimed, giving even more confidence to his fellow tribesman. – Well, then. Let’s see how your Fireplace works?

      The one-eyed man nodded approvingly and went to his hearth for a torch, while the leader briefly examined those sitting in the tent and immediately noticed Anu. She settled down by the fire with the women at the other end of the building and squeezed her blue-eyed child. The child accidentally caught the gaze of his patron and, escaping from his mother’s arms, ran towards him.

      – Dad!

      Roshan smiled. The bustle in the tent subsided for a moment. Kindred paid attention to the child, and then to the leader.

      The leader has arrived! someone shouted. – Set fire to the totem!

      The first humans greeted Roshan by whistling and drumming their feet and clubs on the ground. The bongos and congos played. There was a joyful uproar!

      The fair-haired girl ran to her father, and he picked her up in his arms.

      «Pa, where were you?» We already want the Fireplace! she spoke loudly. – Come on, set it on fire!

      Omi’s curly hair was braided into many braids, and her features were similar to Ana’s. And only huge blue eyes and scales on the cheekbones indicated a resemblance to the head of the clan. In the child’s right ear was an earring made of Lazun’s claw, on the bone of which a red field butterfly impregnated with the same resin was glued with the help of the resin of coniferous trees. The baby’s loincloth, like many girlish attire, was decorated with green dragonfly wings. More than seventy moons from birth, the chief’s daughter already looked like a young maiden and was a little taller than her parent’s knees, but her childlike voice and behavior still betrayed such a young age.

      «Why aren’t you in the hut yet?!» Roshan asked playfully. «You should be dreaming by now!»

      I don’t want dreams! Ma gave me permission. Permission to burn the Bonfire! she answered, laughing, and with her small hands clutched at the scythe protruding from the leader’s chin.

      Roshan laughed. Suddenly he was surrounded by children:

      – Roshan, tell us about the spirits!

      «Chief, when will Zavrin’s eyes appear to us?!

      – Why do we…

      Many questions poured in from all sides.

      «Not all at once, young hunters! Roshan exclaimed.

      Immediately Varnus arrived and held out a light to the leader. The shaman softly whispered something in his daughter’s ear and, having received a portion of tickling in pursuit, the child, laughing loudly, rushed to his mother, and the leader took the torch and raised his fist. Silence reigned in the Pavilion of Flame. Everyone froze in anticipation of the speeches of the leader.

      «The Four Great Fires have circled the sky since our hunters set off in search of prey!» Roshan said. «Varnus promised us that thanks to this pavilion, our rangers and stalkers would see the light of the Flame Totem!» And now we will set fire to the creation of Varn, so that the troops can see the way home – to the Great Volcano!

      – Wu-u-u, Wa-a-arn! – there was an approving rumble of fellow tribesmen. – Set it on fire!

      – May the glow of the Great Fire abide in their hearts! And their hearts will not go out with his departure, neither during the Great Hunt today, nor with the dawns of the coming Great Fires! the shaman growled as he approached the Fireplace. – May the spirits of Zavrini protect their bodies and souls. May the flames of Pangea give them strength!

      «The spirits of Zavrini will protect their bodies and souls, may the flames of Pangea give them strength!» the others picked up.

      Roshan brought the torch to the totem, and the Fireplace blazed with a white rage!

      ***

      The Pavilion of Flame was the largest structure in the settlement. People covered the wooden structure of support posts and beams twice with dense reptile skin, and from the inside the leather cloth and wood were carefully smeared with limestone, which prevented accidental sparks and tongues of fire from burning through the skin and igniting the building. Outside, the tent, like ordinary huts, was decorated with bones, symbols and other drawings of life. The rounded shapes of the walls of the building gave the roof a peculiar look. Closer to the center of the tent, it was significantly extended upwards and looked like a bottomless quiver. Giant bottomless quiver! This part of the structure Varnus forced the tribesmen to re-tighten several times until they achieved the necessary elasticity and stability: sharp gusts of wind should not have shaken an important part of the structure. The elongated roof served as both a chimney and a source of light for the Flame Totem – the Fireplace. The entrance to the tent appeared overnight and blew.

      The Fireplace itself was erected inside, right under the chimney, from large logs, branches and pieces of hardened resin of liana trees. The Flame Totem was almost as tall as an adult Thickskin! The erected idol was poured with thick reptile fat, the stocks of which the tribe had plenty of. According to Varna’s calculations, the fat had to ignite first. Then – the wood will burn out and the resin will melt. And so it happened. When the heat reached its limit, it became unbearable to be in the Tent of Flame: white particles of hot resin rose into the air and gradually filled the space of the structure; getting on the skin, they burned unpleasantly and left traces of soot.

      «Let’s go faster, youngsters,» Varnus urged. «Otherwise, charred bones will go hunting instead of you!»

      Teenagers, noisy and giggling, hurried to the exit. As soon as everyone left the building, Varnus tightly tightened the entrance with liana twine. It remains to wait until the resin completely burns out, and release the red-hot grains into the chimney.

      A fire

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