Letruce reacted to the hunters with a smile. Although he thought that some of them were belittling him with their jokes about his age, his desire to join the alliance, and his white hair, he was not offended by these jokes. Indeed, he cared about the words of Leader Yak-Pab; the others’ thoughts and words were petty for Letruce.

  Luckily, before the commotion could go on for too long, Leader Yak-Pab came with more hunters than were at the camp.

  “Prepare the fire!” he said aloud. “We will eat.”

  Now, there were around twenty men in the camp, and apart from those who moved for the fire and the meal, everybody was watching Yak-Pab. Besides his sui generis nature, Leader Yak-Pab was an arresting man with his tall stature, broad shoulders, shaved head, and shapely dark face. When he saw Letruce, his brows rose slightly, his stern face softened, and he smiled at the boy.

  “Long time, Letruce?”

  Letruce greeted the leader by bowing. “I was with my master, Leader Yak-Pab.” He said respectfully, then glanced briefly at the people around. “I brought the greetings of my master, Manhu the Wise, to all of you.”

  The hunters reacted with a slight nod; while Yak-Pab was here, none of them could dare make jokes. Letruce’s wish was to be like him when he grew up. Although a voice from within was saying that they were very different natures, he still wanted to be like him at least in some respects.

  He handed the bowl to Yak-Pab.

  “My master ordered to deliver this to you,” he said. “He didn’t say what it is for; I just know that it is a medicine.”

  Yak-Pab took the bowl and handed it to a hunter near him. “Deliver this to Sergeant quickly. The medicine of Manhu the Wise will cure him.” He turned to Letruce. “Thank you, Letruce.”

  “Is Sergeant ill?” Letruce asked, surprisedly. Sergeant was one of the seniors of The Hunters Alliance. He was older than most of the men here; usually silent. Although his age is quite advanced, the others have been afraid of him to death and waiting hand and foot. His edge, the leader’s trust in him, and his oppressive spirit were efficient in this situation. Letruce also had great respect for Sergeant, even though he could not talk to him much because of fear.

  “Sergeant was injured.” Leader Yak-Pab said. “A wolf attacked.” He looked into the boy’s eyes. “One of the rare kinds… A dangerous one.”

  When their eyes had met, Yak-Pab had felt an urge to add details. Although Letruce thought that lying was not suited to Yak-Pab, he could easily understand that this was a lie. Something else had happened, and Leader Yak-Pab didn’t want him to know. Letruce confirmed this by briefly looking into the eyes of the surrounding hunters. At that moment, the hunter instructed by Yak-Pab left quickly to take the medicine to Sergeant.

  Yak-Pab turned to Letruce again and put his hand on the boy’s shoulder.

  “Give my thanks to Manhu the Wise, Letruce,” he said. “Now, if you don’t have anything else to say, I have some work to do. You can stay in the camp as long as you want. You may also eat with the hunters.”

  “Ummm…” Letruce said in a hurry; he wouldn’t want to miss the chance to talk with Leader Yak-Pab. “There are things I want to tell you. It won’t take long, but it will be better if we talk alone.”

  Yak-Pab turned to the hunters around him; though some of them looked at each other with curiosity, they walked away before a second implication came from Yak-Pab. Now, in the middle of the grove, only Letruce and Yak-Pab were standing.

  “I am listening, Letruce.” The man’s usual harshness had come back. “What is so important that you want to hide from other hunters?” Letruce even sensed a certain tone of anger in the man’s voice.

  “I saw a man,” he said in a low voice. “In the store of Master Rantem.”

  Letruce noticed that the leader became all ears. Although the boy did not say anything about the stranger yet, his mention of someone had drawn Yak-Pab’s attention. The leader’s appearance and stance were the same, but Letruce could feel the man’s intense focus.

  “I had gone there to ask my bow,” he continued. “Master Rantem told me not to enter the store with the medicine bowl. Then I said I am taking the bowl to The Hunters Alliance.” Letruce paused for a moment. “At that moment, I noticed a man looking at me. His face was barely visible, almost invisible. But I saw his eyes, very hostile…”

  “When did you notice he was looking at you?” Yak-Pab intervened. “Was he looking before you mentioned about us, or did he concentrate after he heard the alliance?”

  Leader Yak-Pab seemed enraged, so Letruce was about to forget the question because of panic.

  “I don’t remember clearly,” he said then. “But I think it was later. Well… When I noticed him, I was about to leave the store. If he had been looking at me before I noticed him, I don’t know if I would have noticed.”

  Yak-Pab signaled to a hunter not far away to come. Letruce had seen the approaching hunter many times, yet he didn’t know his name. He was a blond, long-haired, and handsome man. Despite his genial face, he was quite mysterious and secretive. Letruce had been thinking that this man is very close to Leader Yak-Pab; he might even be the leader’s right-hand man. The man has come near them with slow but long steps and greeted them both. He turned to Yak-Pab then.

  “My leader, I am listening to you.”

  Yak-Pab turned to Letruce. “Letruce saw a man in the shop of weaponsmith Rantem…” After saying the sentence calmly, he turned to the blond hunter. “Pilano, this might be the man we are seeking for.”

  The leader pointed to a place far away, the forest area, and Pilano nodded.

  “Go there and investigate it…” Yak-Pab said, he has been saying sentences one by one, as if emphasizing each one. Almost a completely different meaning was hidden under each sentence. “If he’s still there, Letruce will recognize him.” His eyes narrowed as his eyebrows furrowed. “And you will…”

  “My leader, this is quite a low possibility,” Pilano said. “Because…”

  Before Pilano could start his sentence, Yak-Pab raised his hand.

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  “Pilano, Pilano…” he said, closing his eyes. “Sometimes, I need an assistant who doesn’t have a desire to discuss every topic as if we are alone.” Yak-Pab gritted his teeth. “I hope you understand what I said, Pilano.”

  “Alright, my leader,” Pilano said calmly. “As you wish.”

  Letruce wouldn’t even suppose that this event would be an opportunity to make him closer to The Hunters Alliance. Although Leader Yak-Pab was a bit nervous at this moment, this was the most suitable time to make his request to join. Besides, the other hunters weren’t around.

  “Leader Yak-Pab,” he said with a little excitement. “I w…”

  “You can’t be attached to two places at once, Letruce.” Yak-Pab cut his word off. “You are the apprentice of Manhu the Wise. What the old man taught you is probably much better than anything you could learn here.”

  “But my bow is ready,” Letruce objected. “Master Rantem finished my bow. After all, my master said that there won’t be any problem if I don’t neglect my duties.”

  Yak-Pab sighed and turned to the boy. He was about to say a sentence to end the topic completely, but he noticed the sparkling alacrity and fragile excitement in the boy’s black eyes. Even if Yak-Pab were to break this child’s spirit now, that spirit would eventually take Letruce to where he wants to go. So why would he break the boy’s spirit when he could make him happy? It was also apparent how much he cared about Yak-Pab’s words and how he was dying to join the alliance. The boy’s one foot was always here, and if Manhu let him go, he might not even visit the old healer. So in this short moment, Yak-Pab decided not to break his spirit, to make the boy happy, and take him under the alliance’s roof.

  “Okay, Letruce,” he said seriously. “When Sergeant gets better, you come here every day, you will start your training with him.”

  For a moment, Letruce became astonished; he was accepted into the alliance. He was accepted into ‘The Hunters Alliance’!

  This event, this change, this day was a milestone in his life. In fact, it was as if he had just broken one of the most vital legs of the devil. He smiled so reflexively, almost with a big grin.

  “Thank you very much, Leader Yak-Pab,” he half-stammered then. “I won’t disappoint you.” He had told the last sentence with greater force and conviction.

  Yak-Pab smiled and put his hand on the boy’s shoulder.

  “You try not to neglect your master. If I hear even one complaint from the old healer about this, we have a falling out.”

  “There won’t be any complaint,” Letruce said. “I promise, Leader Yak-Pab.”

  Yak-Pab’s smile widened. “Then set off to your first mission, young hunter.” He threw an implied look at Pilano, then turned back to Letruce and winked. “I will be watching you.” He snapped his fingers and then walked away with quick steps.

  When Yak-Pab had gone, Pilano suddenly bent down and started tying the laces of the boy’s boots. Letruce looked at him in surprise but didn’t move. After the man tied the boots, he turned his back and walked; Letruce followed.

  “I wonder how Sergeant teaches something to a boy who doesn’t even know how to tie his laces. Already, he’s gotten quite old.”

  Pilano stared at Letruce’s face for a short time. “Don’t pout in vain.” He laughed as he saw that the expression on the boy’s face didn’t change.

  “Just a joke, son,” he said. “Do you think I haven’t ever seen that you ignore much worse jokes at the camp?”

  Letruce decided not to pursue the matter further; though, he hadn’t pouted his face on purpose.

  “Are you Leader Yak-Pab’s assistant, sir?” he asked.

  “Well, sort of,” Pilano answered. “But I’d rather you call me Pilano. All hunters call each other by their names. When you finish your training and become a hunter, you can call others by their names too.”

  “And how should I address them until my training is complete?” Letruce asked again.

  Pilano smoothed his hair with his hand. “You’re not to talk to anyone but Sergeant until he tells you. If there’s a problem, you can ask him.”

  Letruce nodded. Apparently, Pilano wasn’t one to like explaining things.

  “Okay,” he said, looking into the blond hunter’s eyes. “Thank you, Pilano.”

  Without talking anymore along the way, they walked to the weaponsmith. When they came close to the door, Pilano stopped and turned to Letruce.

  “Listen, boy,” he said. “We will enter inside as if we are not together.” He touched his chest with his thumb. “First, I will enter. Then, you will enter. If the man you had seen is inside, you will shout ‘hunter’. If he’s not inside, you will come to me.”

  Pilano slightly crouched down and got to the boy’s eye level; this was an odd sight to outside observers. “Did I explain it quite simply enough, didn’t I?”

  “Yes,” Letruce said. “I understand, I suppose…”

  “Nice,” Pilano said. “I hope he’s inside so I don’t have to go around the whole town to question people.”

  Letruce remained silent; even though the plan seemed a bit strange, he wouldn’t ask any more questions. Still, a tiny doubt had arisen in his mind as to whether this crouching blond hunter could defeat that man on his own. Then, it quickly disappeared when Letruce remembered the leader. He trusted Leader Yak-Pab; if the leader had assigned Pilano alone, Pilano must be capable of dealing with that man. Besides, despite his excessive interest in Letruce’s report, he had probably been expecting such news; perhaps he was already prepared for it.

  Pilano got up from the floor, closed the hood of his cloak, pulled up his cowhide trousers, and adjusted his belt. Then he walked in with a hunched posture and bowed head.

  Though Letruce was surprised by this preparation and disguise, he waited; Pilano hadn’t said how long he should wait. He decided to enter in about a minute. At that moment, he remembered the dark flame mushroom. It would not be good if he returned to his master late and without finding the mushroom. Maybe Pilano knew about the mushroom; after all, hunters always hunted in forests, they went to distant places where no one went, and traded. When he remembered that Usemil also had called him, he became even more anxious; perhaps he could postpone Usemil for today. While lost in thought again, he realized that he had exceeded the time he had set. Hoping that Pilano was not angry with him, he went inside.

  *

  The wind doesn’t know

  Inspire flows not from dreams

  But flows even into them,

  Into that barren desert called dreams

  The hearth he tries to put out

  Burns not on its surface,

  But burns in the heart,

  In the heart of the land

  *