"If you'll continue like that, you will consume it with your eyes"

Neytiri turned her head and saw her teacher Mo'at enter the door. She jumped to her feet: as an apprentice she should have welcomed her teacher with honor. "Forgive me, master, I was..."

"... lost in your thoughts, I know. You are lost in your thoughts every day now". Mo'at smiled. "Far from me to criticize your devotion, but you shouldn't let you get distracted by material things. Honoring the entities that rule this world is important, but so are your obligations. You are my apprentice and as such you have homework. You can't stay all the day staring at that tapestry"

Neytiri could not help but bow her head blushing like a child scolded by her mother. She glanced out of the corner of her eye at what Mo'at was pointing to: it was a canvas featuring the image of a giant reptile with a sail.

After returning from her journey out of the city with the khel'valarts, Neytiri devoted her body and soul to completing the tapestry depicting the Great King of the Forest. During the mid-autumn festival the work had been shown to all the people and had been hung in the main hall of the palace where it still stands today. However, in the following months Sisna had embroidered a second, much smaller image that she kept in her room.

Coming face to face with a god was not an easy experience to forget or bear. Although technically Sobek wasn't a true god to Neytiri it was as if he were. Looking him in the eyes had marked her deeply: she had looked death in the face and then she had been pardoned. As a result, Neytiri had now become obsessed with the Great King of the Forest, like a religious fanatic.

None of the Manas had tried to dissuade her: after all, such behavior was a must for a future matriarch. Being also priestesses, the Manas needed to establish deep contact and reverence with the deities. The problem was that Neytiri was exaggerating: she often ended up staring at the small tapestry that she kept in her quarters for hours. This was inadmissible: the Manas also had other duties besides the religious functions, consequently Neytiri as the future matriarch was obliged to participate in those duties. Neytiri knew she was wrong, but for some reason she couldn't stop acting that way.

Seeing her guilty expression, the teacher Mo'at sighed. "Neytiri, soon you will take my place among the Manas, do you know?"

Neytiri opened her eyes: "Master..."

"Don't make that face. I'm seventy years old. Look, I can hardly stand up. Very soon will come the time when my life force will leave this body and my soul will rise to the stars. The gods have blessed me with a long life, but like all things in this world it will have to come to an end one day". It was already difficult for the modern man to reach seventy years with his clarity and body intact. For Neanderthals who had no medical care or retirement, such a milestone was literally a blessing. "When I die, you will have to take your place. Which means you will have huge responsibilities on your shoulders. If you keep getting distracted, it will affect many people"

The unwritten law of politics of all ages was that if just one powerful person made a mistake then countless individuals paid the price. Neytiri knew this well. "I know, master. I'm sorry, I shouldn't be acting like this"

"I see you understand" Mo'at said, and then she took her hand. "Neytiri, you have a bright future ahead of you. When I chose you as an apprentice it was the last day of winter, and this is a good omen, because after winter comes spring. You never let me down. You are smart, shrewd, crafty, respectful and humble. You learn fast and you think even faster. No one is better at weaving or arithmetic than you. I couldn't find a better person to succeed me, I want you to understand this well"

Neytiri felt flattered at that cascade of compliments. Despite the earlier reproach he could not suppress a smile. But Mo'at wasn't done yet. "You are the only person in the last two hundred years that has seen the Great King of the Forest. You admired him in all his magnificence and even talked to him, and he chose for you to live. This is a great sign, Neytiri". The old woman sighed. "I think... no, sorry, I expressed myself badly. I KNOW that you will be a Mana a thousand times better than me, and you will reach heights that neither I nor my current sisters could ever dream of"

"You flatters me" Neytiri murmured.

"No, I don't think so" Mo'at replied. She nodded her head to indicate the door: "So, do you want to get out of here? You have a lot of things left unfinished"

The speech had been convincing. Neytiri nodded vigorously and followed her teacher out of her room.

But as soon as they were in the corridor a guard rushed to them. "My ladies!" he yelled. "You must come immediately to the door of the palace!"

*****************

The guards were patrolling the Manas' palace as usual when the huge shadow had fallen over them. The shadow then quickly condensed into a giant figure that landed in front of the palace door.

There had obviously been a lot of panic. Even though they had a positive role in their culture, giant flying reptiles were still very dangerous: they could easily tear a man to pieces.

What landed was a hatzegopteryx, one of the most bigger flying creatures that ever exist, but obviously the Neanderthals didn't call it by that name. Giant pterosaurs were called kaiakas, without any distinction of species. They literally meant 'guardians of the sky'.

Contrary to everyone's expectations, however, hatzegopteryx hadn't attacked anyone. It just sat down in front of the building and remained motionless, as if waiting for something. Even when the guards had approached with their spears and bows, it hadn't made any movement. It hadn't even deigned to look at them: its eyes were fixed on the door of the palace.

The guards could have taken advantage of his stillness to attack him, but it would have been a huge risk. Even if they would have probably managed to kill him eventually, many people would have died. The hatzegopteryx was however a reptile taller than a giraffe and had a sharp beak that could easily chew a human. Even if he wasn't flying he was a terrifying enemy.

So the guards had chosen to accept the stalemate and had sent a messenger to inform the Manas of the situation. They would know what to do.

When Neytiri reached the door and saw the huge creature waiting for her, she felt a chill on her spine. The sight of hatzegopteryx alone was enough to frighten anyone. On the contrary, however, his teacher continued without batting an eyelid, bravely going to meet the animal. The other Manas also showed no hesitation.

Neytiri took a deep breath and scolded herself. As future Mana it was her duty to not be afraid. Or at least it was her duty to not show it. Although the hatzegopteryx was dangerous, she could not afford to be intimidated: it would make her teacher look bad. She was tempted to slap herself and she didn't do it just because she was in public. "Come on, girl! You have admired the magnificence of the Great King of the Forest, how can you be intimidated by a common kaiakas?" she thought trying to calm down.

When the Manas were all out of the palace, the pterosaur finally moved. It walked confidently towards the matriarchs, paying no attention to the spears that were continually pointed at its body. Then, when it was about five meters from them, it lowered its head as if it were bowing, and spoke: "Forgive my intrusion, but I could not act otherwise. I bring a message on behalf of the Lord of Lightning"

There was obviously dismay among the Neanderthals, but much less than someone might have imagined. In fact, apart from the initial surprise, no one was particularly frightened. This is because Neanderthals, like all ancient peoples, were superstitious and easily believed in the supernatural, and since kaiakas were often messengers in their myths, no one doubted that what was happening was normal.

In the mythological imagination of the Neanderthals, the Lord of Lightning was a spirit who unleashed storms by moving his immense wings; for obvious reasons, it was represented as a giant pterosaur. His powers could be equivalent to Thor's in Norse mythology. However, the Lord of Lightning did not only have this role: he was also the messenger of all the other deities, a bit like Hermes in Greek mythology or Mercury in Roman one. This is because the wings were the fastest way to move, so it was normal that this role belonged to him. And the Lord of Lightning didn't operate alone: Neanderthal legends described the kaiakas (like quetzalcoatlus, arambourgiania, etc.) as the messengers of the god, who carried his commands to the mortal plane. A bit like Zeus's eagle or Odin's ravens, in short. The only difference was that the kaiakas were described as very easy to anger to justify the fact that they occasionally swooped down from the sky and killed people.

Therefore, the fact that a hatzegopteryx showed up in the city and spoke up claiming to be a messenger of the Lightning Lord was quite normal in the Neanderthal mentality. This was the beauty of the ancient peoples: knowing nothing of science they believed in anything.

The Manas weren't even surprised. Being practically priestesses, and therefore having to deal with myths all day, they had already imagined after being informed that this would have been the situation. Mo'at was the first to come forward. "You are welcome, noble knight of the clouds. What message do you bring?"

The hatzegopteryx raised its head. "The Lord of Lightning has sent me to inform you that a great battle is about to take place. Not here, but to the west, beyond the lake and hills. The Great King of the Forest is bringing together all the creatures of heaven and earth and those of rivers and lakes will soon join him as well. He now wants to confer with one of you, so he asked the Lightning Lord to warn you. I don't know what his thought is and I don't even dare to try to question myself about it, but he said this exact words: 'The one who has already seen and spoken to me is the one that must come'. That's all what I have to say"

A murmur of dismay spread among all present. Then all eyes were on Neytiri.