After a moment's hesitation, hovering in the air against a black sky with many stars, the weapon began to move down. Ahani stared at the point in fascination.
It took only a moment for the sword to shoot up into the black sky and plunge into Ahani's chest, but for the intoxicated and drugged youth, that moment stretched into minutes.
The blade sank easily into the flesh, ripping through the young man's wolf cloak, shirt, and skin, breaking his ribs.
Then came a sharp pain, and Ahani gasped. Along with the air, small drops of blood splashed out of his mouth and fell on his ruddy and clean skin. The young man's face was contorted with suffering, and an agonizing heat and unbearable pain spread in his chest.
The boy screamed. Hot tears involuntarily flowed from his eyes.
Immediately, a swift black bolt of lightning whizzed over him. The knobby stick in the unknown skilled hands threw the sword and its owner to a distance of three steps and with such force that the air seemed to groan from this sudden movement.
Ahani saw a short, hard-faced old man wrapped in dark furs. Long gray hair spilled out from under his wolf cap, and a beard of the same color fell over his chest. The old man's face was as dark as the bark of an oak, deeply lined, his brows drawn together sternly, and his dark pupils swirled with stern rage.
"Rudra, what do you care about him? Martan cried, rising from one knee.
Instead of answering, the old man held the crude staff out in front of him, gripping it tightly in his right hand. The air swirled around his clenched fist at a furious speed, its jets gaining visibility and intertwining with each other like a tangle of snakes.
After a moment, the old man abruptly lowered his hand with the staff in it, plunging its end into the ground.Released from that blow, concentrated into a ball around the old man's fist, the air burst out and rushed in a wave towards Martan, kicking up dust, small stones and grass as it went.
Martan tried to somehow stop this wave with his sword, holding it out in front of him, but it was useless, like trying to stop a river wave with a twig. He was thrown a good five paces again, and this time the warrior lost his balance.
Getting up from the ground and spitting sand, Martan swore obscenely. Then he whistled to a nearby steed and jumped on its back.
"Bring your brother, Ahani! he shouted menacingly. "If he comes, he'll get his women!" Time you have before the Catfish will lose weight twice!
Martan pointed to the moon, then spat viciously on the ground, turning the black steed around and tugging at its mane. The horse took off and disappeared over the crest of the hill. And the girl was gone, as if she had never been there. If it hadn't been for the bag of food that lay nearby, Ahani would have thought he'd imagined it, too.
Tears of pain blurred his vision and he bit his lower lip, hissing until it bled. The young man still felt suspended and floating in the air, the brightening sky also swirled before his eyes, but now an unbearable pain in his chest was added to his sensations.
Meanwhile, the old man, leaning on a crooked staff, turned to Ahani and bowed his head, looking appraisingly into his eyes. It was the first time he had ever seen God in front of him, unless it was just another vision. He realized that the old man who had driven Martan away was Rudra, the God of wild animals who lived high in the mountains. A rare person managed to see a living deity in his life.
Bending down to the ground, the God plucked a blade of grass from there, crushed it with his fingers and put it in his mouth, chewing it carefully and thoughtfully, without taking his eyes off the pale young man.
Then he took it out and applied it to the boy's wound. Ahani's pain flared up again, rippling through his body, but only for a moment, making him cry out. And immediately began to retreat. The old God covered the wound with his hand and the pain subsided.
Ahani came to his senses. He was looking at Rudra's face, framed by white hair. He stared into the boy's blue eyes for a moment, then looked sharply toward the mountains. Ahani also looked in that direction. And the world went out.