Translated by Lesyt Team
Edited by Ilesyt
The snow on the ground began to melt quickly, and some places were no longer covered by the white snow.
In the Flaming Horns tribe, everyone was happy. Some were pleased by their success of planting the seeds, and some were glad because they found their lifelong partners. More importantly, they were looking forward to the forthcoming ritual ceremony.
Strength and sense of belonging were what the wanderers had been eager for.
For wanderers, becoming totem warriors had just been a distant dream, but now their dream was going to come true.
In the early morning, the warriors of the Flaming Horns tribe went to draw totem patterns on the faces of the wanderers who would become members of the tribe. This was a necessary part of the ceremony. Even those who would not awaken or who were the wanderers of other tribes had to be painted with the totem patterns on their faces. The latter would also be considered as the members of the tribe, for they were the relatives of tribe members.
Only those who attended the ritual ceremony became the members of the Flaming Horns tribe. Those who were not from the Flaming Horns tribe could not awaken, but could gain some strength from the fire seed. Even though they would not be as strong as the totem warriors, they could at least get stronger. That was still better.
It was the first time for the wanderers in taking part in such a ceremony. They were so excited that they wanted to touch the paintings on their faces. But they didn’t dare to do so, for fear that they would ruin them. It seemed that the paintings were a living creature.
Everyone had spent the whole winter preparing for the ceremony. Even when it was the coldest, they were not willing to wear animal skin coats, in order to preserve their coats. The ritual coats were also very important, which could show their good manner.
Shao Xuan was asked to go out in the early morning. This year he was told many details about the ceremony, like the ritual dancers, by the Shaman and the chief. In this way, they could make sure that everything would go on well.
When the Shaman came out, he glanced at Shao Xuan a few times. Though he did not show his emotions on the face, he felt disappointed.
It hadn’t changed. The ball on the bone ornament was as dim as before.
As Shao Xuan looked at the Shaman, he knew what he was thinking. He felt helpless, for he had no way to make it light up. Maybe it was because the first shaman looked down on him. After all, according to the records about the elders in the animal skin rolls, an elder must be at least as old as Ta, on the contrast, he was too young.
Many people had seen the bone ornament, especially those from the hunting teams, like Shao Xuan. They remembered the ornaments and weapons of the ancestors when they had brought their ancestors back to the tribe. Therefore, when many saw the bone ornament worn by Shao Xuan, they were surprised. They did not know the meaning of this bone ornament. Even if they knew, they would still believe in every decision made by the Shaman and the chief. Moreover, Shao Xuan really made great contributions to the tribe.
It was twilight.
All the people of the Flaming Horns tribe, including the original members, the wanderers and the relatives of wanderers, were brought to the place where the ceremony would be held. People who may awaken were also brought around the fire pit. There were a large number of people and they surrounded the fire pit in several circles. The youngest were the closest to the fire pit. The younger you were, the closer you got to it. Of course, those who made a significant contribution to the tribe, like those good at planting, raising animals and making pottery, could make a step forward to move closer to the fire pit.
Many people were aware that the closer they got to the fire pit, the more power they may get. However, no one opposed this arrangement. Even though some disliked it, they had to follow it.
Last time they had lit the fire seed, and today, it was the first ritual ceremony.
In the fire pit, a flame the size of a palm rose immediately. The first Flame of the three Flames of the fire pit, Soaring Flame, appeared.
As the Soaring Flame appeared, the totem also appeared!
With the appearance of the totem, the totem patterns also appeared on each totem warrior’s body. They were devoutly looking at the fire pit.
Flames were rising above the fire pit, higher than usual. It seemed that they would cover everything around. The two-horns totem was even much bigger than usual. Everything in the surrounding area looked as red as fire.
The Shaman was standing near the fire pit. He raised his arms, faced the fire pit, and read the spell which no one understood but felt excited about. As the Shaman was saying the spell, the tribal music resounded, which was created by bones, stones, and animal skin drums. The rhythm was fast and sometimes slow. The ritual dancers wearing horns began to dance to the music around the fire pit.
The second Flame, Flying Flame. Much denser than previous years. Part of the flames spread out of the fire pit, and extended in the air. They didn’t land. Six hot lines extended from the fire pit.
Shao Xuan concentrated on dancing, but suddenly he felt something strange. The totem in his mind was moving very violently, and the
shell
which wrapped the totem up became bright.
This was unusual.
In order to find out what happened, Shao Xuan glanced at his bone ornament while dancing. What he saw almost shocked him a lot and he almost forgot how to dance.
The bone ornament was bright. The ball left by the first Shaman after his death was lit up.
In the beginning, the ball seemed to reflect the light of the fire, but gradually, its dim surface began to become noticeably bright. In addition, the ball emitted a light as bright as the flames.
Shao Xuan paid attention to the ball and at the same time he danced to the music. He ignored the others. The people who were looking at the fire pit were shocked, especially those who had witnessed Shao Xuan’s awakening. If they could speak out at this moment, they would certainly shout out to Shao Xuan:
You are on fire!
The ritual dancers were surrounding the fire pit as planned. One of them was suddenly lighting up, it was very obvious. The Shaman and the chief did not say anything because he kept dancing happily. The others pretended that they didn’t see it.
The Shaman had noticed that something unusual had happened to Shao Xuan. Different from the others who saw his flames, he noticed Shao Xuan’s bone ornament at the first sight.
The Shaman’s hand shook and he could not wait to see if it was the ball that was lit up, or just reflecting the flames of the fire pit. However, the ceremony was going on and he couldn’t stop dancing.
He tried hard to control himself. The Shaman continued to say the spell, but the wrinkles on his face were trembling because of his excitement.
Was it lit up? Yes!
Even though we haven’t found the other half of the fire seed, the ancestors did not abandon us!
This was what the Shaman thought.
He had planned to keep calm and host the ceremony. However, with the disappearance of the second Flame, the third Flame, Spreading Flame began to spread from the sea of flames in the fire pit. A figure gradually emerged at the edge of the fire pit, where Shao Xuan was standing.
The huge figure gradually became clearer, like a giant rising in the sea of flames. He lowered his head to look at the people of the Flaming Horns tribe who were kowtowing on the ground.
No one could see his face, for he was a person wrapped in flames, exactly like the one in Shao Xuan’s dream.
Because of the sudden appearance of the giant, the Shaman was in a daze for a while. The people dancing around the fire pit could not help but stop. They knew that they should continue dancing. However, when they saw this giant, they could not help but stop and look over there in a daze.
Shao Xuan also raised his head to look to the giant in front of him.
Not only the people next to the fire pit, but also those unawakened wanderers far from it could clearly see the giant standing by the fire pit.
What is that? Who is it?
The Shaman came up with a possible answer, but he was not sure. After all, no information about it had been recorded by the ancestors. It was certain that such a situation didn’t mean a threat to the Flaming Horns tribe. On the contrary, it could protect the tribe better.
The third Flame extended far and out.
It had extended to the border of those gone by years.
No one paid any attention to whether the flame reached the border and or how far it was from the border. Everyone focused on the giant beside the fire pit. He was also raising his arms, like the Shaman , but he made no sound.
When the third Flame gradually retreated, the surrounding light faded. The giant standing up disappeared gradually, and finally returned to the fire pit with the flames.
Everything was as usual.
