It was in the spring in Yakutia. I had just graduated from high school, and my three friends and I decided to have a good rest before the upcoming student life. It was just the time of the duck hunt.
And so we got together one evening. Everyone brought some food in their backpacks, and we hit the road. It wasn't that far to the destination. We walked for about an hour and a half. As soon as we got to the shelter (the dugda is a small shelter made of sticks, covered with rags and grass), we settled down well and left our backpacks. By the way, my father and I built this shelter near the river, which ran in the middle of the field.
We hunted ducks in the vicinity until dusk and returned to the collection point when it got dark. After eating, we chatted for a long time about this and that. About an hour passed, and the sky finally darkened, the moon was shining in full force. Our friend fell asleep, and we continued our conversation, when suddenly we were interrupted by noise from the forest. We decided that the horses were making noise in the forest, and did not pay attention to it. A few seconds later the noise was repeated. It felt like a huge creature was breaking branches. My friend and I looked at each other, when suddenly there was a shrill cry from the edge of the forest. We almost kicked our pants when we heard a scream. The cry did not look like any animal. Yes, and there were no people in the vicinity, and even on such a deep night. Plucking up the courage, we decided to take a look at what was there. I stuck my head out of the hiding place, looked towards the forest. Just the moon was blocked by a cloud, and because of this, nothing was visible. I just heard that an unknown creature goes deep into the forest, breaking branches. Waking up in the morning, we stomped home.
I don't know what it was, but it was very scary. I guess it was the patron saint of hunting - Bayanay. By the way, we were very unlucky that day. There were a lot of ducks, but we missed all the time. Now I think that I should have treated Bayanai to appease him. It was necessary, but did not. After this incident, I do not hesitate to believe in forces unknown to man.