17 Real Hun (1/2)

Back in the village of the Mal'it Clan, inside one of the rooms in the council hall, a woman was crying while a man was standing beside her, comforting her.

Bobo was devastated with what happened that afternoon. Right after they realized that Ling was really missing, he commanded some of his men to search in a few farther surrounding areas while he went back to the village to ask for more help and explain everything to his wife since she will worry more if it was not him telling her the whole story. The group got back to the village in only around two hours compared to half the morning when they set out for the hunt.

”It was my fault.” The woman kept saying even though the man was admitting it was his mistake.

”Hu-hu.. No... It was mine... I-I should have reminded you how to t-take care of my Ling...”

”No, it was my stupid brain's fault. I should have known what to do to properly take care of your Ling.”

The twelve elders watching this scene were exasperated. Before the two started again, an old man with long white hair interrupted their argument, ”Bobo, Mahina, this talk of yours will not help us so please explain to us properly what happened, Bobo.”

”Yes, Shaman Matnaad.” He gathered his thoughts first based on what he practiced to say with his men while they were running back to the village. ”We left all the children in one of the safe groves in the forest for their nap after lunch but we didn't hunt too far from there so we could hear them if there was a problem. However, I forgot that Ling was a restless sleeper and didn't put any obstacle to keep him from moving while sleeping. He probably rolled outside the grove but we didn't see him near the place so I don't know what happened. Could he have rolled too far?”

Rolled?! What kind of restless sleeping is that?!

Upon hearing this, some of the elders were skeptical. However, Shaman Matnaad was sure the child would not leave on his own despite his craving for more 'adventures'. With the few months he spent training the boy, he knew Ling was smart and knows his powers' limits.

Several discussions among the elders started, speculating what really happened.

Suddenly, their discussion was interrupted when the door opened and a man entered, panting. It looked like he rushed here because of something urgent, not minding that he was intruding in a room full of men with higher status than him.

”Elder, I have news.”