Táltos of Godwhip

Rahul woke up to the sound of a fire crackling and a hand caressing his head. At first he only moaned softly, which resulted in the hand disappearing from his hair. Then he blinked slowly and found himself facing the already familiar red dress, thanks to which he knew that the leader of the team, Razvan, was next to him. Finally, he sat up with a big stretch.

"Where are the others?" He asked in a slightly sleepy voice, when he looked around the cave and saw noone but the Tapló boss.

"They are getting that particular boar, you mentioned." The other boy smiled at him, and Rahul nodded. "I'm sorry that they made you tired." He said, but the chüvigh boy just waved.

"No need, I've been worse!" He shrugged his shoulders, then turned to Razvan sitting in meditation pose. "By the way, Tapló boss, why does your team call me a newbie? And what the hell is that Athamana you call yourselves?" The boy leaned forward and supported one palm on one knee and the elbow of his other arm on the other knee.

"Because they already decided that they wanted you to be a member of our team when they met you at Heginjülin." Razvan began to explain. "And Athamana means leader. As Citar willingly exposed last time, our team's goal is to take the lead over Madüjawr. We want to change the society in which our people live." He explained.

"I understand." Rahul nodded. "Although it is still not clear why they call me a newbie when I am not a member of the team." He scratched his head before Razvan caught the wrist of his left hand and pressed his thumb on Rahul's vein.

"Remember what I'm telling you now." He whispered, then looked straight into Rahul's eyes as if he could see them. "Éjalana járin."

"Éjalana járin?" Rahul asked back, but then he heard a familiar voice.

"You motherfucker peeing boy! You just scared it!" Achilleus screamed and Rahul turned around in surprise but saw nothing.

"Shut up and concentrate, if we don't bring food back, the boss will kill us." Came Benkó's voice, and Rahul turned back to Razvan in surprise.

"What is this?" He groaned.

"This is the communication system of the Athamanas, welcome to our team Rahul." Razvan smiled at him. "What you are hearing now is what the idiots are saying to each other in their minds. If you don't want to hear it, just repeat the password." The boy waved in front of him.

"Éjalana járin." Rahul whispered. "Does this always have to be said?" He asked.

"It's enough if it's in your mind. The system is connected to your kí and is only activated if you want it to be." He got an explanation. "Give me your other hand." Razvan held out his hand to Rahul.

"Why?" The boy asked, but he already gave Razvan his hand.

"We will now create your own password for you." Said the other. "Each member of the team has their own, if you think of that password, you will only talk to the member of the team to whom the password belongs." Razvan explained.

"Is this such a hegin thing?" Rahul asked back curiously.

"No." Razvan smiled. "It's a táltos thing." He giggled. "Don't tense up. Yes, I'm a táltos." He smiled kindly. "But that's not important. Now we focus on you. Choose something for yourself to use as a password."

"How long should it be?" The boy asked.

"As long as you want. I heard of someone who had a five-sentence password." Razvan shrugged.

"What's yours?" Rahul frowned as he began to think.

"Huarim." The answer came, but Rahul did not get any smarter. He thought for a long time about what he could choose for himself, when he suddenly remembered the nickname his mother had given him.

"Gereltek." He said, causing Razvan's face to be surprised for a moment, but he quickly smiled.

"It suits you." He nodded and then closed his eyes.

"Do you hear me, Rahul?" The addressed boy flinched at the sudden voice, but quickly smiled.

"Yes, I hear you." He answered without speaking.

"Done. Now, if you want, you can join the team." Razvan smiled broadly and slowly let go of Rahul's hand, but the adventurous boy caught his other hand and squeezed it.

"I don't know how this thing is going yet. This makes me feel more confident." He muttered under his breath, and Razvan nodded wordlessly and intertwined their fingers. "Éjalana járin." Rahul said the password and the first thing he heard was the triumphant cry of the Citar.

"I shot it!" The Bolacsuk boy cried triumphant.

"Then bring it here, damn fast lynx boy, I'm getting hungry!" Rahul smiled, but then there was such a noise in his head that he had to hold it with his free hand.

"Enough!" Razvan's voice was loud enough for the team to fall silent. "Is this how you should welcome a new team member? Give him a headache right away? Shame on you! As a punishment, you all knelt motionless for half an hour before going to bed!" Much to Rahul's surprise, the team remained silent. "Now hurry back." Razvan gave the order, and then the others began to agree one by one. Rahul thought about the password again and there was a pleasant silence in his head.

"I'm sorry, maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all." Said Razvan finally, after long silent minutes, the person sitting next to him let go of Rahul's hand and scratched his head.

"It's not your fault that they're idiots." Said Rahul and sat a little closer to Razvan. "Just so you know, just because I became a team member, I won't treat you like the others." He looked away, then looked again at the leader, who turned towards him. Now they were as close to each other as the last time they were in a similar cave, but the atmosphere was different from then, now there was a pleasant tension.

"I don't want you to treat me like that." Rahul received the soft answer, which made him shiver. Razvan's voice was so sincere that he couldn't help it. He was in doubt, but some inexplicable force drew him closer and closer to Razvan.

"We're here!" At the voice of Achilleus, the pair sitting in the cave shuddered and moved away from each other. The team enthusiastically rushed into the cave and brought a large game with them, which they immediately began to prepare. While working, the team happily officially welcomed Rahul into their circle and enthusiastically told how they got the dinner. Although it took a while for the wild boar to become food, when they were ready everyone was happy to eat.

"Wandi, take the rest to the back of the cave, that will be our breakfast. It's time to go to sleep. Since the Karrabata shooting is about to end, it would be best if we were on guard tonight. I start, followed by Benkó, Wandi, Citar, Achilleus, Suk, Teveli and Rahul." Razvan issued the task.

"Why is the newbie last?" Benkó blinked in surprise.

"Because based on recent occasions, he can get up the fastest out of all of you." The boss grinned, with which he managed to get the team to agree to the matter. In the end, everyone slowly went to rest and Razvan was the only one who stayed awake next to their campfire. He watched silently as his team fell asleep. Slowly everyone's breathing became even. He then stood up and walked next to Rahul, where he crouched down. He looked straight at the red stone earring hanging from the Chüvigh boy's ear, then spoke softly. "I don't know what you want, but if you put us in danger." He started, then seriously added to it. "I will kill you."

"If you don't shut up and let me sleep, I will kill you." Rahul muttered barely intelligible and frowning, but he just rubbed his nose and didn't move again, as if he was talking in his sleep out of habit. Razvan's features softened.

"I wasn't talking to you, little fool." The leader of the Athamanas chuckled, then returned to his guard post to watch over the team's sleep.