"I came home." Wandi straightened himself out as he led the team into a fancy house. In the room, there were two figures who were talking quietly.
"Welcome home my son." The man nodded.
"I brought my friends, as I said." Wandi continued, but he didn't take a step closer to his parents. Rahul had the feeling that the boy was keeping his distance. He didn't really understand the situation. The chieftain's son just arrived home and he didn't receive a warm welcome, not even a pat on the shoulder. "You do know about the children of the chiefs, right? And the others, Tele Teveli." He gestured to the blue-clad hegin, who bowed. "Motumis Achilleus." He pointed to the brown claded boy, who also bowed. "Bolacsuk Citar." He said, but he didn't point at the boy, he didn't even look away from his parents, but Citar bowed without thinking. "And the another winner of this years Heginjülin, Chüvigh Rahul." When Wandi indtroduced him, Rahul also repeated the greeting.
"Welcome to Éjifény. You are all our guests. My tribe is at your service for everything, just ask." The chief nodded, when a bell rang. "Dinner is starting. I ask our guests to stay with us." Wandi's father suggested, and then he started towards the door of the hall, with a lady next to him, who was probably Wandi's mother. And their son only followed them when they left the room, after which the Athamanas left in silence.
Rahul felt as if he had gone to a funeral as they made their way through the streets of Éjifény to a huge hall. There was a single long table in the hall, surrounded by chairs, most of which were already occupied. Wandi led the group in the direction of chairs closer to the head of the table on the other side of the room and after his parents sat down, he also took a seat. The team followed his example, so the eight Athamanas sat nicely next to each other.
"Athira's blessing on the sun, earth and tribe. Praised be his name." The chief of the tribe spoke, getting everyone at the table to shut up.
"And may his fame never fade." All present members of the Vojk tribe answered at the same time.
"Warmly welcome the guests of our tribe, my son's friends." He pointed to the team members. "They enjoy our hospitality for a while, treat them like that." He looked seriously at everyone present. "Bon appetit." He nodded, and then the gathered could finally start eating. Quiet conversations began while eating, but even that was as if they were holding themselves back with an iron fist. And this finding made Rahul very uncomfortable, who silently stared at his plate and tried to eat as decently as possible.
"Rahul... Don't squeeze it so hard. All is well." He hears Razvan, who was sitting next to him, and when he spoke, he grabbed the hand with which Rahul held the spoon.
"If you say so Tapló boss, you don't have to worry." He rolled his eyes, but if he wanted to be honest, he would have been happy now even if Etele appeared and started clowning around, no matter how this cold mood passed.
"Have you thought what we talked about last time?" Came the sudden question from the mouth of the tribal chief, which made Rahul look at him curiously. The question was addressed to Wandi, and the boy began to squeeze the spoon in his hand until it cracked. "It's almost time to..."
"I know!" The boy growled at his father, but his eyes immediately widened and he swallowed, then put down the spoon and lowered his head. "Forgive me, father. I was carried away. It won't happen anymore." The boy muttered.
"I recommend it, son." The harsh voice was heard. "You know what happens to those who break the laws of Athira." Even Rahul heared the threat in this one sentence.
"You do not decide what kind of punishment your son deserves for his actions." Razvan's voice filled the room, but the boy was still calmly eating.
"Just because you are the son of the chief of an allied tribe, you don't have the right to..." The chief began, and Razvan just smiled.
"He pledged allegiance to me." He stated. "The Vojk rules may be strong, but they are not stronger than this."
"What did he do?" The chieftain whispered.
"He pledged allegiance." Razvan repeated the words.
"Why are you being hard on them now boss?" Suk spoke up suddenly. "It's not like they're some kind of supernatural being, so the oath of loyalty would mean a lot." As he said this sentence, the Vojks all froze as if they were made of stone. And Razvan laughed out loud.
"Danovus." He pointed to the chieftain. "Danovus." He then pointed to Wandi's mother. "Danovus." Then to Wanda. "Man, man." Then Citara and Rahul. "Man, man, man, man." He pointed to the rest of their team. "Danovus." He pointed to the man sitting next to Teveli. "And the rest too." He shrugged.
"Boss, you're just kidding, aren't you?" Suk looked at Razvan with ashen face.
"Me? Come on. Didn't you know? All members of the Vojk tribe are danovuses." The head of the Athamanas smiled. The room was silent, the tension could almost be cut.
"The chüvigh missed something again!" Rahul frowned and raised his left hand, then turned his head around to look at everyone. "Would you explain what made the atmosphere so frosty, like the sea wind in winter, and what the hell is that dad... dan... thing is?" His words were followed by silence, then Razvan pulled down his raised hand.
"Danovus." He repeated the name. "Human-looking creatures with superhuman strength, speed, and reflexes. They live much longer than humans and drink blood." He explained, and Rahul made a recognizable "oh" sound, then spoke triumphantly.
"So vampires!" He snapped his fjngers.
"Vampire... What?" The question was heard from somewhere on the other end of the table.
"Ah, that's what the chüvighs call them. They use them to scare the children so that they don't leave the house at night." Rahul shrugged.
"Are there wild danovuses among the chüvighs?" The chieftain's gaze hardened. "How could our species escape our defenses?"
"No, no. No, there aren't. It's just goship, the weakest kind. The scariest one I know is about the Godwhip." Rahul held his chin thoughtfully.
"Why is that scary? The Godwhip is the most powerful magic item." Achilleus said enthusiasticly, and Rahul shivered.
"They say it burns anything to dust at a touch. I don't know about you, but for a five-year-old child, when they tell this story and show the painting it's on, it's really scary." Rahul hugged himself.
"Is there a painting of it?" Achilleus asked.
"Yes, in the church." Rahul nodded.
"And why didn't we see that?" Suk exclamed.
"Only the blessed can see it." The chüvigh traveler shrugged his shoulders.
"Then how did you see it?" Suk countered.
"You did not notice? I'm an exception." The person asked smiled and even pulled himself out.
"Well! Let's drop what's with the chüvighs. Can we get back to the important question?" Citar spoke, then turned to Wandi, who was sitting next to him, with a look of hurt on his face. "Wandi, you are a danovus and you didn't tell me?" The boy asked his friend in an offended voice. And the room fell silent as they stared at the couple looking at each other.