Children of tribal chiefs always have a hard life. They are expected to set an example for the entire tribe, to be fitter, smarter, more thoughtful, and just overall better than any other kid in the tribe. If someone does not reach the level that is expected of them, they becomes a shame for the family. This is why an heir must train more than anyone else. And it was no different with Benkó.
"Close your legs! Straighten up! Don't let your hand down!" He kept saying these sentences, the arms of the barely seven-year-old boy were already shaking from fatigue, but he couldn't do anything else, the task had to be completed, because his father said so. Above his palm, the small blue flame, which goes by the name of cold fire, flickered slowly, as if the life had been drained from it.
"The cold fire feeds off you, if you give it too much it rages, if it flickers too little! Again!" His father reprimanded him, and the boy repeated the task and did not stop until the task went perfectly.
Fortunately, even the children of the chiefs have days off when they don't have to train for hours and can do whatever they want. However, their life is not easy at this time either, because what child would want to play with the chieftain's child. Of course, no one said it that way, but Benkó was not a stupid child. He immediately noticed that the other children would stop playing when he appeared, or even if he didn't, they would either always let him win, or not at all and even make fun of him.
That is why little Benkó quickly got used to the fact that instead of playing with the other children, he traveled the world. As much as possible. His favorite place for the tours was the border, the place where the icy region dominated by the Bokló tribe met the barren geyser world of the Motumisz.
A child's nature is such that he is always curious about what is forbidden to him. The Bokló and Motumisz tribes have been at odds with each other for centuries, but if you asked about the reason for the conflict, no one would be able to give you an answer. Still, the ban only encouraged little Benkó to explore the border.
On that day, he was walking along the border with an ice pick made of honey water in his hand. He usually didn't find anything interesting on his trips like this, but the view always made him smile. This was his secret place where no one in the world could disturb him...
"Who is that?" He blinked at the other side of the border, where a boy was crouching next to a large pile of pebbleat the base of one of the rocks. Benkó just looked at him for a while, he didn't understand what the other found so interesting about the pebbles, when the boy looked up. He cocked his head to the side, then stood up and hurried over to him curiously, but instead of looking at him, the boy looked at the icicle in his hand.
"What is this?" The boy asked without hesitation, pointing to the icicle. Benkó looked down at the icicle in his hand.
"Ice cream." He declared, then broke it in half and held it towards the boy. "You can eat it. Do you want some?" The stranger looked at him suspiciously, but slowly took the piece of ice. "What's that?" Benkó pointed to the pile.
"Gravel! I usually play with it. Shall I teach you?" He asked, then turned up his nose. "Just for the candy." Benkó smiled at that.
"I don't want you to be my debtor! Show me how!" He nodded, and the other dragged him across the border to the small pile, which wasn't a pile at all, but many, many round pebbles next to a six-by-six square sign drawn in the ground.
"That's the jack. There are two piles of stones, the brown one and the white one. The white pile will be yours. Stones can be placed at every intersection. The winner is the one who gets six stones in a row first." The foreign boy explained. "I'll start, then I'll show you how to do it." He said enthusiastically and started playing.
In the end, they were so engrossed that they played several rounds and only stopped when the sun started to set. They didn't discuss whether they would meet again, but they both knew that it wasn't the last time they saw each other and that they actually met again a week later.
"Morning, Ice cream! What's that thing in your hand?" The stranger asked him.
"What, Ice cream?" Benkó blinked at him.
"That's you!" The other grinned.
"I have a name, Gravel!" He growled at the other.
"But you didn't tell me." The stranger stuck out his tongue at him.
"Benkó." The boy rolled his eyes. "And this is honey water, I thought I'd show you how to make ice cream." He shrugged.
"I am Achilleus!" Said the other one, and then he stomped one and the ground rose in three places at the bottom of the rock, forming a small table and two chairs. "You can put it down there." The boy nodded towards the freshly made table.
"How did you do that?" Benkó's eyes widened.
"You are curious, aren't you, Ice cream?" The other put his hands on his hips.
"Me, yes. I just don't think you can repeat it Gravel!" Benkó folded his arms in front of him. And with this, he managed to make the other show his ability again and again as proof. And later he did the ice cream from a whole container of honey water, which was consumed by the two.
After that, the couple often met in their secret place, and when both of them were among the Athamanas, they continued their constant teasing. However, both of them were aware that their friendship was particularly close despite the quibbles. Tighter than any of them thought.
Maybe that's why one day Benkó started thinking about how he could protect his friend, if it were his turn to make their pair stronger. During the side-by-side moonwalks, he realized that although the Bokló and Motumisz tribes are very much against each other, their abilities are based on the same methodology. Their movements are almost identical. Then the question came to his mind.
"Why would it be difficult, they do the same thing as us, only with earth, don't they?" Encouraged by this, he decided to give it a try. Which become a long and arduous attempt. He failed the first few times, and not just a few times. However, a lot of time and energy and unsurpassed stubbornness paid off and one day it was successful. He was also able to control the earth.
Of course, he kept his discovery a secret from everyone, it was his trump card, his secret weapon, which even the boss didn't know about. Not that the boy who had given him the inspiration and with whom they had just played party checkers, in their usual secret place on a beautiful summer afternoon, in the shadow of the rock, just as they had done when they first met.
"You know Ice cream, I actually like spending time with you." Said Achilleus before taking another step.
"Oh, I know. That's why we're best friends." Benkó said to him without thinking, but his hand stopped in the movement, then he looked up with narrowed eyes at the one sitting across from him and in the next moment he pressed the other boy against the wall with his double-edged weapon. "Who the hell are you?! There is no daimon for whose sake Achilleus would say this!" He growled at him, and the nailed-down boy laughed and disappeared with a big bang and a huge white light, only to be replaced by a simple cave.
"Benkó is here!" He heard Citar's voice, then he blinked and looked around to see the Bolacsuk boy, Wandi and...
"Gravel! Is that really you?" He caught the other by his vest, and he just laughed.
"Didn't you notice that they pushed you into a dream?! Seriously, sometimes I don't understand how you can even survive Ice cream!" The Motumisz boy wiped his eyes from the tears.
"Shut up, very quickly!" Benkó raised his hand to hit him.
"Enough boys! Even our minor problems are bigger than this." Wandi scolded them. "We have to get out of here."
"Where is here by the way?" Benkó asked as he looked around the strange cave.