"You two may leave now."
Solvhar ordered the two guards who had escorted him to his abode after the ritual had finished.
The two quickly bowed and then left as they also wanted to go back and discuss what had happened during the ritual with their fellow tribesmen.
Solvhar entered his hut and closed the door behind him. He was very tired, and his old body screamed for rest, but his mind was reeling in search of answers.
He couldn't sleep even if he wanted to so he went back to his desk and started skimming through the old texts left by their ancestors.
Soon, he found himself reading one text after another, trying to figure out any clue about what had happened today.
He, just like the other tribesmen, was also shocked when the flaming giant appeared out of nowhere, and as far as he knew, something like this had never happened before.
Moreover, the flames had changed colors multiple times, which only confused him further.
He looked and looked, but alas the world was too cruel to him for he did not find any answers.
*sigh*
An exhausted and helpless sigh escaped his mouth as he looked up at the ceiling in resignation.
After a while of looking at the ceiling, he looked straight and stood up.
He walked towards one of the shelves located in the room and moved his index finger along the books made out of beast skin.
Soon, he arrived near the end and took one of the oldest looking beast skin books.
He held it in his hands very carefully as if he were carrying something very precious and fragile, then he sat down once again and placed the book onto the table.
The first page of the book clearly implicated what the book contained,
"Ignisar tribe, fiery flame branch 39th priest records."
Solvhar muttered the words slowly as he turned the pages and started reading the contents of it,
.
.
.
.
Dark blue clouds floated up in the sky as the moon shone upon the vast forests beneath it.
The five guards, like their fellow tribesmen, unaware of what thoughts were going through their priest's mind, accompanied the recently awakend children through the forest.
Sundrin was also among these kids, walking beside Torvyn quietly.
According to what he had heard from his parents and relatives, he knew that the third elder and his wife resided outside of the village, living a secluded life, only appearing during special occasions.
As he slowly walked, he looked around in curiosity as he had never been this deep in the forest before.
The moon's scarce light illuminated the place as he saw the large trees around him.
Some animals would, from time to time pop up but would run away immediately after seeing the fire on the stick held by the guards.
They had been walking for quite a while now, and coupled with the ritual that had already drained them, they were thoroughly exhausted.
Just when some of the kids were about to faint from exhaustion, they saw a clearing in front of them.
A huge field lay before them as they walked forward. The most noticeable thing about the field was a huge tree in the middle of it, and it was also the only tree present in the field.
Sundrin and the others were soon led by the guards towards some of the big houses present near the edges of the field.
The houses only had one floor but was a long rectangular structure. It was made purely out of wood.
As they got closer and closer to the house, they could see someone waiting for them in front of it at its entrance.
It was a guard who worked under the third elder.
The guards that were accompanying them stopped before the other guard and, quickly after exchanging some pleasantries, left the kids there and returned.
The guard at the front of the door looked at the kids with a stern expression and opened his mouth to talk,
"Now listen carefully! My name is Valior, and I am the head guard under the third elder."
Valior stopped in the middle and sternly gazed through the kids as if to see if he had everyone's attention,
"There are some rules here that you all need to follow. It does not matter who you are or what your background is, as long as you wish to remain here, you need to follow the rules."
"First! No one is allowed to fight each other unless when in a duel or event."
"Second! You all will be responsible for all the chores in the place, that means you all will wash your own clothes, make your own food and take care of all your daily necessities by yourself."
"Finally third! You all must follow the third elder's orders like the law."
Valior's eyes skimmed through the kids, and after seeing that no one was protesting or saying anything, he nodded with satisfaction and finally said,
"From now on, you all will be staying in these cottages, the boys inside the first two and the girls inside the last two. Go make your bed and get to sleep, when the morning bell rings you all should be present in the field to greet the third elder."
After saying this, he started walking away.
The kids, although confused were quite tired so they quickly made their way into the houses to get some sleep.
The inside of the house was quite simple with only some stone beds arranged neatly in two rows, and beside every stone bed was a window.
Quickly picking one bed after another, the kids went to sleep, covering themselves with the beast skin provided with the bed.
"Goodbye, my beloved bed."
Sundrin sighed with exhaustion and uttered these words in profound sadness as he too got on a bed and covered himself with a beast skin to get some sleep.
The coming three years won't be comfortable, this was the thought going through all the minds of the kids.
.
.
.
.
Dawn had just broken out, and the birds were chirping away.
The guards working under the third elder were already up and making their way to their posts.
The sunlight had yet to reach these parts, and a thin veil of mist shrouded the place.
*dong!**dong!*
Sundrin and the other kids were sleeping soundly when suddenly they were all jolted awake due to a dinging sound,
"Who wants to steal my leg piece! I will slaughter you!"
Torvyn sheepishly spoke with half-opened eyes.
Sundrin smiled at Torvyn with drowsiness in his eyes, his back hurt due to sleeping on a rocky surface for so long,
'Welp, better get up'
He thought to himself as he got up from his bed and shook his friend's shoulder to awaken him, after a while, Torvyn woke up and cursed at his back pain.
Soon, many of them got up from their beds and rubbed their eyes to drive away the sleep.
One by one, they started to head out of the house.
As Sundrin, along with Torvyn stepped outside the house, he felt the chilly winds caress his face.
Torvyn shivered while Sundrin looked around. As far as he could see, everything was covered in the mists.
It wasn't too thick but also wasn't too transparent, so he was able to see the children coming out of the other three houses.
All of them stared outside in wonder, and some of them had even made some groups with the large ones being led by the previously mentioned four kids who had prominent backgrounds.
After they had all gathered together they started walking forward with the four kids at the front.
Sundrin also knew from his father that the place where the third elder gave his lectures was under the huge tree that they saw last night and right now they were all headed there.
As they walked through the mists, they felt the cool morning winds against there skin, They still wore nothing on their upper parts of the body as this was the standard outfit that they had to wear for the next three years.
The guards would provide similar clothes to them, and they would have to take care of them by themselves.
Soon, the first rays of sun fell upon the lands as the mists began to dissipate.
They could finally see the figure of the huge tree they had seen last night. Hastening their steps, they quickly approached the place.
Those with keen eyesight could see from far away that there was a figure sitting beneath the tree in lotus position, and the closer they approached, the more apparent the details of the figure became.
It was an old man with flowing white hair down up to his waist and a trimmed white beard. Although he looked old, bulging muscles could be seen all over his huge frame.
He also wore nothing on his upper body, and only a pair of white pants made out of beast skin was on his body.
The old man opened his eyes which shone with a profound look.
All the kids came towards him and bent their backs to bow together before opening their mouths to greet him in unison,
"We greet the third elder! Please guide us! "
This was the third elder of the tribe, Survath.