As usual, Roman sat in the bay window of his room and looked out the window into the distance in the evening light, just as Alea had always done. Raen knew his father had made a patrol ride east of the choir to the river early this morning. He looked tired but smiled when he walked in the door.
"Come to me and sit down, Raen," he said. "Today there is a special supper in your honor and your favorite meal, I made sure of that." He winked at Raen.
"Thank you, father!" Raen's mouth watered at the thought of braised rabbit meat from the cauldron with freshly harvested vegetables.
“Don't just thank me, but also in the kitchen. I just gave them a little hint and they got down to it right away. ”
“ Yes, I will, ”said Raen.
They were silent for a while and looked out the open window. It had stopped raining and the low sun sent its rays through the cracked cloud cover. The air was mild. Father and son took a deep breath.
Raen was silent because he didn't want to ask another stupid question."You can now ask where we are." The voice looked amused again.“Yes, but ...”“Not but! The question is, where? ”The hand let go of his, and it felt like a great loss. Raen kept reaching into the void to find the hand again.“No, please stay here. Don't go away! ”He shouted fearfully."I'm right here. Sit down, ”said the voice, and Raen sat down on the hard floor."Where am I?" He finally asked, expecting to be mocked again, but nothing like that happened."You have arrived. Now you are on your way “, the voice answered calmly and seriously. "On the right way. Didn't you notice You're lost! ”Silence.“Admittedly, you weren't very lost, but I still felt it was necessary to lead you back. Now you are on your way to the right destination again. But please promise me that from now on you will ne
Rise up!" Gahin's voice echoed sharply through the room and betrayed nothing of the otherwise silky sound.Slowly those present raised their eyes.“I expect an explanation for this matter on the spot! It's really unheard of! ”He underscored his demand with a brief but sweeping gesture that made the men in front of him even more awe-inspiring.They hesitated. But then Loenka fearlessly spoke up and freed everyone else from the burden of this responsibility: “Venerable Gahin, it seems that the young person named Raen was called to him by His Majesty Hyaun last night to take his place to be taken over in the community of warriors after all. ”One could hardly express what happened more formally. There was a serious and thoughtful silence."But he has already made his choice and he has been examined!" Replied the high priest, and the others suddenly realized how delicate the situation actually was, because it put the high priest in an e
'Are women and men separated here?' He asked himself and it occurred to him that he was actually only surrounded by men. He surreptitiously watched as one of the novice priests filled a second basin with hot water and then poured something into it from a glazed clay bottle. Immediately a pleasant scent of pine needles rose with the steam and spread throughout the room. Raen continued to look around uncertainly. A small table was set up next to him and several objects were placed on it with great grace. A folded yellow cloth, a very sharp-looking knife without a point, a bunch of those strange herbs that had been used once before during his mishap while cutting onions, and a leather band with line-by-line markings.Suddenly the activity froze, and from the crowd of assembled men Gahin stepped out together with clan chief Lako, who was also the head of the warrior caste. Raen also saw his father, who was waiting silently with the others while Lako began to speak: “Raen, s
Raen spent the next four weeks in the temple without exception, and the only visit he was allowed to receive was from his father. Despite the many new things he learned, he felt lonely. Even Loenka was hardly seen, although he lived in the temple. At first Raen didn't know why he saw him so seldom, but then he learned that his priestly friend was no longer responsible for him. Everything in the temple was strictly divided, and the training of the young warriors was the responsibility of other priests. Raen didn't know any of them. His future spiritual teacher was called Hyaunset Chodan and was already approaching his sixtieth year. The boy was very sad about this change because he would have loved to continue studying with Loenka. He found it difficult to accept the cycle of things. Everything was constantly changing. He was now a chosen one and under new laws, he was now living a completely different life.In addition to the daily prayers and the first lessons in Alt-Hy, Rae
It hurts a little and afterwards you get very confused. Setna's voice is very strong. I was out of the way for almost five days, ”he said, inadvertently answering Raven's mental question. "But they'll help you make itthrough ." Raen nodded and looked at the bowl of his untouched food."It was the same for me," admitted Kaera, who had followed his gaze.Raen looked at him questioningly.“I mean, I couldn't get a bite out of the excitement back then. Everything is really different here than it was before. A completely different life. ”Raen nodded again, today Kaera was really particularly talkative, but so far he hadn't been able to hear from his statements whether he was really happy with his warrior status.Even then, when they were in the same class, he hadn't had much to do with Kaera. Because Raen's best friend lived outside the chort and had always spent a lot of time there, they had only met while eating. But he reme
Meanwhile, a black cloth had been spread out behind him and he had to lie down on it. The golden face of Hyaun hovered above him, and even from this position He seemed to be looking straight into his eyes. He waited anxiously. One of the priests handed him what looked like a small ball of dried leaves and asked him to chew it.'That's the Zhangha!' Raen thought excitedly. It was the first time he took it. Willingly he opened his mouth and bit it up. The stuff tasted bitter, but he chewed on it for a long time and swallowed the resulting juice. At first he did not feel anything of the supposed miraculous effect, which was one of the greatest secrets of the warriors. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the priest's shadow kneeling next to him, and that the shadow was holding a knife. Raen wanted to open his eyes and sit up, but felt strangely lazy. The contours blurred, only to emerge even more clearly afterwards. The light grew bright and Raen seemed to be able to hear every s
Roman answered with a pained expression. “Actually, I never wanted him to be a warrior. I even prayed to Hyaun for it sometimes! And now it has happened! I don't know what I'll do if something happens to him, Loenka! I am afraid for him. Warrior life is dangerous. ”“ I understand your fatherly concerns. But I am convinced that Raen need not be too worried. He's strong, and we both know: He can't be anything but a warrior! If anyone has what it takes, then it is him. There's a fire burning inside him that none of us can put out. ”Loenka smiled, probably to cheer Roman up. “It is very important for him to get your approval now, Roman. He has longed for that for a long time. Every son and daughter longs for that. ”Roman looked up. "Yes, you are right.""Well, well." Loenka looked around and lowered his voice. “That stays between us now: I know that your son is special. And I mean that in a positive sense. After careful co
Kaera, who had lost his shyness towards Raen and regarded him as a friend, continued to talk cheerfully. He didn't seem to notice that the older one didn't feel the need to talk.“Your father chased me around a lot.Is he doing the same to you? ” Raen still didn't answer. He continued to look at his burning hands. Kaera persevered.“Your father is very good! I wish I could fight like him one day. Oh, that was pretty good today. In fact, it was fun even though it was so tough. In the rain everything is very different. You hear differently, you see differently, you move differently. ”Kaera was downright euphoric.Raen rolled his eyes. Such was his comrade, either he was deeply saddened and afraid of his own shadow, or he was in an overly good mood. Kaera was very exhausting, and he clung to Raen like a burdock. And since they also shared a common compartment in the room of the young warriors in the south tower, he had almost no rest