88. Fifth nail

The next two days in the Vojks' hospitality were completely uneventful for the members of the Athamana. Wandi, as he said, left on the evening of their conversation and the team didn't even see him after that. Thanks to this, they really only left the house designated for them as a place to sleep when it was time for meals. They never spoke to anyone outside of the team and always bowed politely when they met someone.

They had to play a good guest, and the team knew how to accomplish this task. Etele didn't even have to appear again, the summoning circle drawn the first night worked just as well the next day. The Athamanas could walk in and out of the protective circle without any problems, but no one else could enter their sleeping quarters. Encouraged by this, Teveli copied the pattern from the ground onto a small piece of paper, so that he could try the summoning circle when he had the chance.

To pass the time, the team busied themselves with planning what route they would take in the west. Although they didn't get very far, since Rahul could only recall one map from his childhood, which only marked the places near his village, and which direction there were big cities beyond the borders of the map. However, with the description of the map, Achilleus was able to draw the routes and they were able to come up with a plan that was considered to be roughly accurate.

Teveli even suggested that Etele or Kele could go find Tele Tete to ask where they should go and where they could meet. However, Rahul immediately dismissed the idea of entrusting this task to grandpa. According to him, 'That ghost doesn't even find the end of the village if he's bored! Judging by what it is, it's a boring task for him.'

So in the end, they decided that it would be best if the team, after collecting Suk, went to Rahul's village, and from there they would send Kele ahead to ask Tele Tete where he was, and until then the team would visit the knight academy where the children of the west were constantly recruited. Then, if everything goes well, they will meet Tele Tete somewhere halfway, if not, then only after their research.

The day after they hatched their plan was Wandi's big day. The danovuses were much more excited than usual at breakfast, although their faces showed almost none of this, yet a certain restless energy pervaded the city of Éjifény. After breakfast, the Athamanas, although Wandi did not mention it to them, still decided that, given their situation, they would give way and show their best form at their friend's celebration.

For most of them, it just meant retying or straightening their hair. Although the chieftain's children, Razvan and Benkó, pulled out two extra bracelets from somewhere deep in their bags, which they put on nicely. Encouraged by this, Rahul also started searching in his little bag and pulled out a ribbon.

"That..." Razvan's eyes widened when he saw the strap that Rahul tied on his forehead.

"Yes, just like grandpa's." Rahul shrugged.

"Not just like that, that was exsactly mine." Etele appeared, sprawled out on one of the beds.

"How did you get it?" Teveli asked.

"Heritage." Etele and Rahul answered at the same time, then they laughed.

"It looks good on you, kid." The ghost relative nodded before disappearing again.

"Look at that. Citar, where did you get that?" Rahul blinked widely when he saw the strange hair ornament that the Bolacsuk boy had just placed in his hair.

"From an ötandi." He shrugged his shoulders and then turned around, so Rahul could properly look at the object, which was not one thing, but two. A white glittering comb decorated with pale pink flowers, and attached to it was a long brown wand, with two small red tassels hanging from the end, under two green pebbles.

Both headdresses looked surprisingly good in the boy's hair, even though Rahul had only seen similar ones on girls so far, and he even remembered that his mother had a similar headdress in one of her fancy little boxes, not the one that Rahul always keeps with himself these days, that is for something else, but in an equally beautifully carved chest. However, before Rahul could get more lost in his memories, there was a knock on the door of the team's quarters.

A danovus led the Athamanas to the clearing next to the spring, where they attended the funeral of a danovus half a year ago. Even now, the clearing looked untouched. The flowers looked the same now as last time. The crowd gathered in the same way and surrounded the clearing from the lake to the path leading to the houses. Shortly before sunset, Wandi also appeared. A silver cloak covered his body and he only looked straight ahead as he carefully walked through the white flowers to the edge of the lake.

The Athamanas even held their breath as they waited for the events to unfold. The chief of the Vojk tribe, wearing a black silver-embroidered dress and holding a small chest, stepped among the white flowers. His eyes are serious he had the look of a man who had gone through the ritual he was performing countless times. Wandi turned his back to the lake and took off the silver cloak and spread it on the ground in front of him. The boy's chest was uncovered and his legs were covered by silver pants.

"Today you become an adult and enter the circle of real danuvuses. May your soul be as pure as the moonlight, your consciousness as the water of the lake. Wandi, according to our customs, you can choose someone who will stand by you in front of mother earth. Do you want someone?" He asked the question.

"He never wanted anyone. There is no need to ask this question." One of the danovuses standing next to the Athamanas rolled his eyes and folded his arms in front of him, as if he had had enough of wasting time.

"Yes." The Vojk heir smiled faintly, and with this he achieved that the mouths of half of the danovuses standing in the clearing literally fell open, and the other half looked at him with wide-open eyes. However, the boy did not care about the crowd, he simply stepped over the silver cloak and walked towards the Athamanas with measured steps. "Would you do me the honor of standing by my side?" Wandi tilted his head slightly to the side and held out his hand to Citar, who just blinked at him friend for a few moments.

"Go!" Rahul hit Citar in the side, thereby making the Bolacsuk boy take the hand extended to him and smile.

"The honor is mine." He whispered with great difficulty, then let Wandi lead him to the edge of the lake. For a moment, some inexplicable emotion appeared in the chieftain's eyes as he looked at the boy dressed in green, but in the end he just cleared his throat.

"Step into the lake." The man said seriously and it seemed that he was holding the box tighter when Wandi helped Citar in next to him.

"What should I do?" Whispered the Bolacsuk boy, feeling a little embarrassed that a bunch of danovuses were staring at him. Otherwise, he wouldn't have minded being watched, but they usually don't look at him like they want to flay him alive.

"Just hold my shoulder, please." He got the answer from Wandi, but the boy didn't look at him, instead he clenched his fists. "I am ready to accept the fifth nail."

"May the power of our ancestors be with you, protect you and bring peace to your life." Said his father as he opened the box and took out the nail. It was all just a moment. One minute the nail was still in the chieftain's hand, then in a blink of an eye and it was already drilled into Wandi's pelvis. Sweat dripped from the boy's forehead and his eyes were closed, his face twisted into a grimace.

Under Citar's hand, the muscles twitched as if his friend had received a life-threatening wound. The Bolacsuk boy moved on instinct and placed his hand on the back of Wandi's neck, which he slowly began to press, all while only his hand moved. He was still afraid that the Vojks would jump on his neck if he did something wrong.

Long silent minutes passed. Wandi clenched his teeth and sometimes let out a painful moan, sometimes his whole body trembled, or only his hands twitched. They stood in the ice-cold lake until Citar slowly could no longer feel his legs, he was already thinking that no matter how bad a move could make him die, he would still move his legs when Wandi's muscles relaxed and he sighed hugely. He reached for Citar's hand with one hand to remove it from the back of his neck, then looked at his friend with a faint smile.

"Thank you." He said honestly, but Citar just smiled kindly at him and hoped that his friend understood what he was thinking.

"Vojk Wandi, let's hear your impression!" Vojk chief spread out his arms with a broad smile on his face. The asked slowly raised his head and spoke with a serious face.

"My impression is..." As these there words left the boy's lips, the air in the clearing seemed to freeze, everyone was waiting for the next words, and even the Athamanas although they had no idea why the words were important. "Danovus Holden."