7. Heginjülin level measuring

The journey to the Heginjülin began much more uneventfully than Rahul had expected. When he set out on his big journey, he thought that the countryside beyond the Karrabata Mountains would be completely different from what he was used to, but he was wrong. Although the mountains were a novelty in the distance, they looked the same everywhere, the forests here were just forests, the rivers and streams were the same as beyond the mountains. And the people, although they lived in yurts instead of houses, still looked like ordinary people, like those among whom the boy grew up.

So it's no wonder that he quickly lost his initial enthusiasm and then spent his days trying to get on Citar's nerves as much as possible, which he succeeded in most of the cases. Although the Bolacsuk boy seemed very good-natured and light-hearted at first glance, Rahul soon realized that there are things that even he easily gets excited about and things that even he cannot joke about.

"I know that the Motumiszes will win again this year, they have been in the lead for four years already." Rahul heard one of the hegins who started talking to his friends when they stopped for a rest in the middle of the day.

"Out of the question! Did you see the Boklós last year? I think they are being beaten this year." Says another.

"Fight me, we will win." Topped a third one.

"What are they fighting about now?" Rahul asked Citar who was happily chewing a straw next to him.

"About who will win the most competitions among the tribes." He shrugged.

"You say it as if you don't care." Rahul tilted his head to the side.

"You can't know this in advance." He rolled his eyes and Rahul laughed.

"Of course you can." He stated.

"As if you knew." The Bolacsuk boy stuck out his tongue at him.

"Give me a minute." Rahul grinned and raised his hand to his forehead, then slowly moved it in front of his face. And the straw literally fell out of Citar's mouth, when the boy's eyes, which were not normal in pale color anyway, became misty. "The two new stars of the hegins will take all the victories." Came the hoarse voice out of the boy's throat, as if he was standing on a mountain and the peaks reflected his voice. He then pulled his hand back in front of his face and shook himself. "It's strange, I don't remember what I said, usually I know." He scratched his neck.

"Did you seriously gave a prophecy just now?" The Bolacsuk boy leaned closer to him.

"Yes. When I was little I used it to tell what will be for dinner." Rahul shrugged.

"How did you do it?" His friend asked, and the boy laughed.

"It's not a big deal, you can do it too." He told him. "Put your hand in front of your forehead, close your eyes, concentrate your soul magic in your palm, I'll do the rest."

"It's called kí." Citar chuckled.

"What?" Rahul tilted his head to the side.

"Soul magic. We call it "kí" for short." Citar explained, then put his hand in front of his forehead and closed his eyes. And Rahul grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand down. "There will be roast rabbit for dinner." The strange voice spoke, this time from Citar's mouth, and after Rahul raised his hand, the boy opened his eyes. "It will be roast rabbit for dinner?" He blinked and then repeated the hand gesture. "Why can't I do it alone?" He asked.

"I don't know." Rahul answered honestly and shook his head. "But, you said that it will be, then it will be. Now you can wait until the evening to find out if you predicted the truth." He patted his friend on the shoulder, but before they could talk further, the team started heading east again.

To the Bolacsuk boy's greatest surprise, his prediction came true and the team really had roast rabbit for dinner. However, their journey soon came to an end after they crossed the wide Delivolgjag and reached the abode of the Koál tribe among the rivers covered with sky-high trees, where the hegins of Madüjawr hold the annual Heginjülin. In this place, trees grew so tall that Rahul had never seen any tree like them before in his life, now it was a place like what he imagined the land of legendary mountains to be. The crowns of the trees stretched a good arrow's height above their heads, forming a sort of roof for the travelers.

Rahul followed the members of the Bolocsuk tribe and they reached the place where a crowd of people had gathered. There were yurts all around, and in the distance, among the trees, one could see the multitude of unloading counters, to where Citar took Rahul after they packed out in a yurt. The boy from the west looked at everything with sparkling eyes and tried to follow his guide in the large crowd and at the same time, he also tried to remember everything and not to rush at every second person.

He succeeded in the latter so well that he suddenly found himself losing his friend and wandering into a larger clearing-like place, where a crowd of young people stood in front of a platform, on which a smiling man dressed in blue was raising his hand to speak. The crowd fell silent almost immediately, thanks to which the man began to speak.

"I welcome you young people to the level measurement ceremony. As you all know, today is the day, that the turul bird of the Táltoses will tell you what level you are able to reach in your studies." He started, then continued his speech with a serious face. "You mustn't forget that no matter where you end up, you are all equally important and special. Most of you will probably only achieve the shaman's apprentice level or one of the seven stars of the shaman, but you should appreciate that you have been given the opportunity to develop yourself. To those who can reach one of the solonomar stars, I congratulate them in advance and wish them perseverance for the long road ahead. Do not be discouraged if there is no one among you who can reach the level of a táltos, although the táltoses are powerful, only a few reach this level. No matter what level you have reached, you will still be important members of the nation of the hegins. Let the celebration begin!" He spread his arms wide.

"A big-faced figure." Rahul heard the voice of his ghost relative from beside him, who was standing next to him with folded arms and grimacing at the man standing on the platform.

"Say welcome to the turul bird of the Táltoses!" As the man said this, there was a huge brightness, from which a large turul bird flew out, which approached the young people in line.

"We'll talk after this!" The ghost waved to the bird from a distance, and Rahul watched curiously as the bird flew around the field. Soon, the crowd of young people left the clearing. Rahul was also about to leave when the bird flew in front of him.

"Táltos seven stars." The bird spoke, causing Rahul's eyes to widen.

"Riki, you traitor!" The ghost relative gave a thump before Rahul turned to him. The ghost stood with hands on hips and glared at the turul. "I saw you poke your ugly head out of your egg. I was the first one you saw and what did you say?" He leaned over to the bird. "Táltos four stars." He tilted his head to the side. "That wouldn't have been a problem, but then you turned to the boss and said "Táltos seven stars"! Now you say the same to my offspring, traitorous bird." The ghost argued with him.

"You never change." The bird spoke again.

"Why is it wrong that you said táltos seven stars?" Rahul asked the bird.

"Hey! Are you going to ignore me now?" The spirit relative grumbled.

"Because the biggest star of the táltos can achieve immortality, they are the strongest among the hegins and your relative is jealous." The bird commented at the end.

"Riki!" The ghost reached towards the turul, but it moved away from him.

"Your friend is already looking for you young hegin. You come, you wanted to talk to me." The bird spoke again turning to the ghost at the end of his speach.

"I'm coming. See you later Rahul." The ghost waved to Rahul, who was thus left alone in the clearing.

"Finally there you are! Where have you been? I looked for you everywhere." Citar suddenly grabbed Rahul's shoulder, with which he managed to make him draw his sword, but let it go when he realized who was approaching him.

"You left me!" He stuck out his tongue at him. "What will your chief say about this?" He put his hands on his hips before Citar put his arms around his shoulders.

"Nothing, because he won't know about it, right?" He asked, hitting Rahul in the side with his other hand, who just smiled and shook his head.

"You are very lucky that I like you." Rahul closed his eyes for a moment.

"Because I'm adorable. Well, come on, you pearl of travelers, I'll take you on a tour of the most important places." Citar said and didn't even wait for Rahul to answer, Citar just pulled him after himself to show him the most important places on the Heginjülin.