Life was not easy within the ranges of Karrabata, especially not if one lived not in the big cities, but in one of the yurt villages. Days can quickly become monotonous for those who aren't hegins. Getting up in the morning, working in the fields, or going hunting, or processing what was grown from sowing and what the hunters brought back, then in the afternoon running into the neighbors and finally going to bed to sleep. Then the next day it started all over again.
Young people, while their parents toiled in the fields, were busy dreaming of becoming a hegin one day. Their parents and adult relatives also supported them in such plans. Thus, all the young people of the yurt villages, whether they are children of better-off families, or little slobs on the side of the road, with neither father nor mother, all longed to be discovered by one of the recruiting hegin teams.
Yet, despite the fact that everyone longed for such a life, little Citar, who was barely five years old, had no family and ever since he could remember he would talk to a headstone if he wanted to be with his mother, this little boy did not want such a life at all. In fact, the exact opposite. He didn't want to be a hegin for all the ghosts' wealth.
He hated hegins. This hatred of his developed sometime when one of these recruitment teams robbed his village of almost everything. The little boy couldn't understand why the strong hegins could allow themselves to live well on the food that the people of the village worked hard for in return for doing nothing but shouting.
Moreover, if that wasn't enough, these recruiting hegins always appeared on the day of the year that was little Citar's birthday. Maybe that's why he decided that day that instead of watching what was being done in the city, he would rather explore the world. By the world he meant the forest next to his yurt village.
When the sun rose on the horizon, little Citar already took the paths and set off into the unknown. His journey of discovery began where it always did, on the banks of the gurgling stream next to his yurt village. The little boy ran away and hurried along the stream into the forest, although he himself didn't know why he was in a hurry. On the way, he saw fish swimming down the stream. And how the deer and the stags, disturbed by the boy's voice, run away in the forest. And as the highlight of the day, he even found a wild boar.
The sun was already descending towards the horizon by the time Citar reached the source of the stream. In the clearing, the stream quietly gurgled from a rock face. The little Citar sat down by the spring and dangled his legs in the water, supported himself on his arms and closed his eyes and threw his head back. The afternoon sun caressed his face warmly.
"Are you lost?* At the sudden question, the little boy jumped so much that he fell into the stream. Then he began to look around, dripping wet, to see if he could find the source of the sound. "Look up, little man." At that, Citar already turned in the right direction and saw a lynx on top of the rock of the spring.
His little eyes opened wide and he slowly began to back away in the stream. He's been in the woods enough times to know that you don't want to come face to face with a wild animal, especially not if that wild animal is a predator.
"I won't hurt you." Citar literally froze, and his mouth fell open when the lynx opened its mouth and spoke in a human voice.
"You, can you talk?" He asked in a trembling voice, but he only got a nod in response. "Don't you want to eat me?" He inquired, before a sound similar to a strange laugh left the lynx's mouth.
"I didn't even thought about it. I'm here to take care of you." Said the animal, then jumped down from the rock with a graceful movement and sat down on the bank of the stream.
"Then let's be friends! Do you have a name?" Citar forgot his previous fear as he climbed out of the stream and sat down next to the lynx.
"Something you can say? No, but..."
"Then I'll give one to you. From now on, you will be, Lynx, my best friend." Citar interrupted him and smiled broadly at him.
"Why Lynx?" Came the question.
"Because Aunt Attyia told me that there is a big and powerful creature living in the mountains who looks after the children and its name is Lynx. Will you really take care of me?" The little boy asked.
"Yes." He got the answer.
"I should go back to my village, I don't like being alone in the forest at night. But I'll get back to you tomorrow, I promise." Said the little Citar, then waved and left the small clearing, where the soul creature looked after him with a serious look.
"He is very strong. He didn't even notice that he signed a contract with me. He's strong, but he's a jerk, like that bitch of a father of his." The lynx shook its head and then stepped into the shadow world.
As Citar promised, he really went to the forest the next day, and the next day and the day after that. Eventually, he realized that his new friend was not bound to the forest, so he slowly took him with him to his yurt village. The villagers looked at him with suspicion at first, but soon the lynx, who listened to noone but Citar, who became famous as the 'orphan of the village', became part of the town. The days passed quickly and the little boy didn't really realize it yet, but a year had already passed.
"Citar?" The barely six-year-old boy was addressed by his soul creature, the day before his birthday.
"Yes?" Citar tilted his head to the side.
"Do you want to be a hegin?" The question caused an unexpected reaction from the little boy. Because he first laughed and then simply stated.
"I won't be a hegin." And with that, he turned around and continued chasing the ducklings.
The next afternoon, the hegin recruiters came. This time, however, a larger group arrived than usual, as the chieftain also traveled with them. However, the small yurt village could not host the hegins this year, as the harvest was so bad that the village barely had enough to eat. And when the village chief humbly informed the guests of this, one of the younger hegins stepped in front of him ans raised his hand at the village chief.
"Don't you dare hurt him!" Citar announced himself and stood with his six-year-old self in front of the village chief.
"Stinky! Don't stand in my way! I will teach you how people like you should behave." The hegin pounced on him and raised his hand to slap Citar, but the hand no time to reach the boy, instead it ended up in the jaws of a lynx.
"Lynx!" Citar called out, before the lynx let go of the wrist and turned its back, sitting next to the feet of its owner. "Lynx?" The boy asked, but instead of an answer, the world around him changed. He was in the main yurt of the village, facing the tribe chieftain.
"Come with me to Hegyfok. I will give you a new life and you will become a real hegin. What do you think?" He heard the question.
"But am I not in trouble?" He muttered, while the chieftain laughed.
"Of course not. Only the hegins can summon soul creatures. And that lynx at your feet is a soul creature. It's rare for someone to sign a contract at such a young age. Be proud of yourself." Citar didn't know how to react to these words, but before he could think much, the world changed again in the blink of an eye. He already knew this place. This was Hegyfok's main hall, the place where the chief received his guests.
"This is my son. He's as old as you. I hope you have a good time. Son, show Citar around." Said the tribal chief, then left the two boys alone.
"Hi, I'm Wasardi! I hope that we will be good freinds. Come, I'll show you everything and take you to my secret places." The child said enthusiastically and grabbed Citar's wrist to pull the boy behind him, but the village boy did not go, he just stood still and looked at the person in front of him with narrowed eyes. "Is there something wrong..." He started the question, but he couldn't finish it, because the next moment a red stripe appeared on his neck, and Citar was three steps away from him, holding a green, opened paper fan, the edge of which was now stained with red blood .
"Yes! You are nice to me!" Citar said and closed his fan. "There is no daemon for whose sake Wasardi would be nice to me." The hegin announced and hung the fan on his belt. "And that means someone is messing with me. But I'll not stand it!" He said, and the walls of Hegyfok's main hall shook and disappeared with a huge noise, and their place was taken by a cave, where daylight reigned. Citar looked around the place with a confused face.
"Where the fene am I?"