- 6 -

Capitolul 6

My phone is vibrating in my trouser pocket. I set down the buckets filled with water from the river that are hanging from my elbows so that I can get at it more easily. What am I doing outside in the middle of the night, muffled in a blanket, lost in my pain?

Unable to sleep, I got up before dawn to fetch water for my family’s morning tea and give them a pleasant start to the day. Then I will leave for Ulan Bator. I think that’s where I belong rather than in the steppe, despite the strong attachment I will always have for this place. I was hoping to be able to speak to my father, but he already had left the yurt to check on the mares close to foaling. I don’t know what I can do to win his approval, if not his pride. Since I started university, I have been worthless in his eyes for not following in his footsteps. That’s enough, I stop dwelling on bitter thoughts and answer my phone; it must be my brother Gambat worrying where I am. When will he stop feeling responsible for me?

“I’m coming,” I say tersely.

But it’s not Gambat’s voice on the other end. It’s someone I don’t know, a confident voice, rather hoarse, with a strong American accent.

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Capitolul 6

“Mr Battushig, this is John Fitzgerald Hannibal, from Hannibal Corp. I have been following your university progress very closely. Congratulations on being accepted into MIT...”

I almost drop my phone. The American company Hannibal Corp., which made its fortune thanks to its pioneering work in the field of scientific innovation, is the main sponsor of the Ulan Bator Academy of Sciences at the University of Mongolia. Almost all of our scientific and IT equipment was financed through generous donations from this company which helps students from a number of disadvantaged countries thus. The brightest students sometimes have a chance of being hired by Hannibal Corp. I know that this has happened to a few former students from our university, and Professor Temudjin always talks about Khubilai, now the head of networks and IT security for the company. I cannot even imagine being one of those chosen few! I am so stunned that I can only stammer like an idiot,

“Haha...”

“Mr Battushig, I’m not going to beat around the bush.”

This is it, my heart is going to stop. I can already see myself on the path to glory, and my joy is mixed with a nameless dread; I will never be able to live up to Mr Hannibal’s expectations!

39

Capitolul 6

“When you fell in the Altai Mountains, did you happen to come across a cylindrical object?”

Ah. I come down to earth with a bump. It’s not my potential as a future scientist that he’s interested in after all. He just wants the metal cylinder I used as a climbing axe. What with my deel catching on fire and my father’s return, I had completely forgotten about the mysterious cylinder.

“Yes sir,” I manage to mumble. “I was going to give it over to the staff at the temporary laboratory.”

“Excellent. But I’ll save you the trouble. In less than an hour, a helicopter will be landing near your camp. You can give the object to the pilot. Get well soon!”

The line goes dead. He didn’t even ask where our camp was. The GPS in my telephone has obviously already given him all of the details. Or maybe a secret drone is watching me from the sky. And all for a stupid metal tube. I feel so stupid, thinking for a second that I could touch the stars...

The stars! Of course! Why didn’t I think of it before? As though struck by lightning, I drop the buckets and run like the wind back to the yurt. I throw the blanket over my bed and

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Capitolul 6

open my chest, trying to make as little noise as possible. My mother must have put the cylinder there. Yes! I carry it outside the yurt and run up a rocky knoll so that I can look at the mysterious object by the light of the stars. Before handing it over to the pilot, I really want a souvenir of it. My hands still rather clumsy, I manage to take some photos with my phone from every angle, before taking it in my hands and rolling it slowly in front of me. I think I can make out a star from the mass of symbols engraved on it...

It’s a very peculiar star – a five-pointed star – right in the middle of the cylinder. And it has a twin, in perfect symmetry, half a turn around the cylinder. As though magnetised by these two ancestral symbols, I take the cylinder carefully between my thumb and forefinger, the tips of my fingers on the stars. I position the cylinder horizontally; it balances perfectly. And, as I will forever be a child at heart, I wave my hand up and down to create that famous optical illusion – the rubber magic wand. The wand dances, causing me to grin like a kid. I almost forget why I’m sitting there on a pile of snow.

Suddenly, a warm breath on the nape of my neck yanks me out my self-hypnotised trance. In my surprise, I jump and squeeze the cylinder tightly to stop it from falling. I’d recognise that breathing anywhere; it’s my Altaïr! I

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Capitolul 6

start to turn happily towards him, but at that moment my hand begins to shake and it draws my attention away. Altaïr butts me gently with his head – his way of giving a hug – but I push him away with one hand and focus on the strange phenomenon that just happened. As though controlled by some inner workings, one of the two “caps” lifts up. My hands trembling, I pull off the cap and look to see what is inside.

In addition to the opening mechanism, constructed of delicate gears with slender metal rods and latches, there is a second cylindrical object inside!

42

- When does the Treasure Hunt Start?
- Are there more future promo's known? If the answer is Yes: Which horse can be found in the promo?
- If you have all of the items in one scene, do you have all of the needed points for the clue/Next scene? Cause the scenes with items can be found on google, and I think a lot of people will use them. (Yeahh, I already found them. Not that I'm gonna use them)
- When you have all of the needed points... will the clue comes up in the screen or do you have to play it another time or.. how does that work?
- How/When do you get the Legendary horse Amira?

- We don't know.

- We don't know.

- No, you have to play the scene many times to collect enough points to get the clue. And you can use the list of items you've found to help, if you like, nothing wrong with that.

- The clue appears as another item you need to find when you have enough points.

- You get Amira's tack by collecting the clues on all the scenes, then you put it on a horse and it turns to Amira.

may I ask what the sellers will look like ? I assume like all jump breeds...

Same image as the Trakehner.