The castle of Hegyfok, as its name suggests, is located on top of a mountain, but unlike to what Rahul and those who wander there expect, it is not on the highest mountain to be seen from afar, on the contrary. The castle stands more on a hill compared to the other mountains, and the high mountains surround it on all sides, thus hiding it from prying eyes. And the road there is very dangerous, due to the narrow paths and deep ravines.
Hegyfok was built in the time of the clan founder Bulcsu, its foundation was from stone and its houses were made of wood, the towers stretch high above the valley. Thanks to these, one always feels as if being watched, yet the people in the valley only feel the positive side of this. It is the safest place in the whole tribes territory, so many wandering peasants try to go to Hegyfok's valley.
This place is also the center of the hegins of the Bolacsuk tribe, where the best hegins are trained, the tribal chief and his family are also stationed here, when they don't have to visit any of the other big cities. Those are the cities where the hegin training centers are located, from where the most skillful hegins are sent to Hegyfok, most of Citar's team came from such smaller centers, only one from the five hegins has lived in Hegyfok in his whole life and applied as a hegin here as well.
Walking on the serpentin roads between the mountains, Rahul tried to see everything as best as he could. This was no wonder, as he also saw a mountain for the first time in his life when he approached the Karrabata ranges. So now the mountain roads and ravines completely impressed the young boy. He couldn't even be bothered by his ghost relative who painted such a bored image next to him that even the average person would lose his will for life as he kept whining about why the Bolacsuks had to live in such a damn hard-to-reach place.
"We'll be there shortly." Citar spoke enthusiastically to Rahul. "Do you see that big building there?" He pointed into the distance. The boy nodded beside him. "Well, that's Hegyfok. We are going there." He explained further, while Rahul observed the building for himself.
However, it was not long before he wasn't able to observe the place from this perspective as the team began to descend into the valley. Where, following another path, they passed between white circular tents, surrounded by a multitude of people, all waving with happy faces and greeting the approaching team, but of the hegins, only Citar returned these greetings in any form, sometimes with a gesture, sometimes with laughter, sometimes with words, for which his companions gave him disapproving glares more than once.
"Why is it not okay for you to be polite?" Rahul asked as softly as he could when they reached the foot of the hill and began to climb up to Hegyfok castle.
"Because, in theory, hegins shouldn't descend to the leeches. We protect them, they respect us, but we should not have a direct relationship with them." Citar rolled his eyes and even waved one hand, as if he didn't see the point of the rule that comes with the lifestyle he chose.
"Citar!" The team leader shouted and the boy blew a little air out grimly, but nodded and then they went on in complete silence again, even the area was calm and quiet, that is, until they reached the gate. Stepping through the huge wooden gate was as if entering a whole new world, the silence disappeared in an instant, the noise of people's bustle hit Rahul's ears and when he looked sideways he saw a group of young people, some dueling with swords, others arching, again others sat in a circle on a grassy area and read something.
"This way." Citar grabbed Rahul's arm so the boy could no longer look at the young people dressed in the same green clothes. "I'll explain everything after we introduce you to the tribal chief." Citar encouraged when he saw Rahul glancing back toward the courtyard from which they had now entered a corridor. After just ten steps, their path led to a huge room where the team, dressed in black, stopped in front of a smiling-faced man sitting on a small platform. The boys dressed in black straithened themselves and bowed in front of the man at the same time, then the team leader stepped forward.
"Tribe chief! I report to you that the border is safe, everything was fine during the check. And we found this boy on the border." Here, Taks turned to Rahul and nodded at him to step forward. The boy slowly stepped in front of the black-clad team, and as he had seen from the team earlier, he bowed to the tribe chief.
"I'm Tiburc, leader of the Bolacsuk tribe. And you entered my territory. I guess since my hegins brought you here you entered without permission. What is your name and what are you doing here?" The tribe chief asked in a stiff voice and the smile disappeared from his eyes too. Rahul would have just answered when his ghost relative appeared again beside him and grabbed his shoulder.
"Don't you tell him your real name!" He said this one sentence so seriously that Rahul inadvertently swallowed a big one.
"I'm Rahul, sir, and I just wanted to see the world, that's why I wondered here." He said honestly.
"What tribe are you from?" Came the next question, and Rahul looked at his ghost relative.
"Tell him, that you are from none." The ghost relative gave another order, and Rahul sighed a big one.
"I don't know, what do you call those who live beyond the Karrabata mountains?" He asked, and the tribe chief turned angrily to his hegins.
"Did you just bring a chüvigh into Hegyfok?" Rahul could only blink at the question.
"They call this those you grew up with because they only believe in one god." Came the explanation from the ghost relative, but before he could continue, Citar spoke behind Rahul.
"But boss, he can summon a creature!" As a result of the statement, the tribe chief looked at Rahul again, this time with curiosity.
"If you don't mind young man, I have a hard time believing that. Would you call your soul creature here?" The request seemed simple and innocent, but Rahul knew he was being put to a test, so he closed his eyes and shouted.
"Grifin." As the creature's name left his mouth, the door to the room opened and the griffin took slow steps toward Rahul, then stopped beside him and looked up at the tribe chief.
"So it's true." The tribe chief was deep in thought for a while, then nodded. "Thank you young man. I hope you don't take it as an offence if I offer you to stay here with us, for a hegin with such a special soul creature it is better off staying among his fellow men."
"You have no chance of saying no, if you do he will kill you." The ghost relative grimaced next to Rahul.
"I know." Rahul muttered and the tribe chief looked at him in surprise.
"Don't worry about it, boss, there's a little problem with his brain." Citar explained willingly.
"I see you quite like him, Citar." The tribe chief shook his head. "So young gentleman, what do you say to my offer?"
"I accept it, tribe chief." Rahul nodded and the man clapped his hands together, then stood up and turned to his hegins.
"Citar, I entrust the young gentleman to you, accommodate him, and then show him everything tomorrow. In the evening he will go on a moonwalk with you. You can go." He gestured, then walked toward the door, the hegins bowed to him at once, which Rahul repeated half a moment behind. When they were just the six of them again, Citar grabbed his arm and began to pull him out of the room, into another hallway somewhere even the gods didn't know where.
"Oh, your soul creature is gone." Citar remarked a little disappointed, but Rahul didn't even notice, Grifin always walks by himself and only shows up when he calls. "You know I've never seen a griffin in my life, only a dragon would be better than that, everyone wants a dragon to agree to be their soul creature." He explained with such excitement that Rahul could only smile at him, though he had not the faintest idea of what it was all about.
"What is moonwalk?" Rahul asked before Citar could start another round of storytelling.
"Oh, well it's hunting. It's called moonwalk because we do it in the evening, we go and cleanse a place of malicious creatures. Very exciting, you will definitely enjoy it." The boy grinned as he stopped at a door. "Well, this will be perfect. You can sleep here, we'll get you a moonwalking outfit tomorrow." As he said this, he pulled at the black clothe on his chest, indicating that this was that particular moonwalking outfit he was talking about.
"I don't have to dress in green, do I?" Rahul swallowed hard, and Citar laughed.
"No way! Only the hegins of our tribe need to, but since you are not a tribal member, you can keep your clothes. Well, run to sleep because we will have a long day tomorrow." Citar grinned as he ushered Rahul through the door, then after a "Good night!" he closed the door and left, leaving Rahult alone with his ghost relative who had just appeared.
"Why couldn't I tell my name?" Rahul finally asked what he wanted to know. The ghost relative, on the other hand, just sighed as he took a seat in the middle of the room with his legs crossed, right next to the straw bed.
"There are many things you still don't know about the world of hegins Rahul, until it changes it's better if no one knows your name." The ghost man closed his eyes, but Rahul just rolled his own and then lay down on the bed.
"You're still crazy, grandpa." He turned away from the man and closed his eyes so that after many weeks, he could finally sleep on a normal bed again for the first time.