59. Let's go to the Fene

Although the Athamanas didn't like the idea, they finally realized that Etele was right, if they wanted to save Teveli, they had to go to the Fene. That's why the next morning, the team gathered their stuff and took on the roads of Madüjawr. The transparent had been following them closely since last night, sometimes hovering in front of them, sometimes next to them.

The team soon noticed that for some reason the creature from the world of the dead was always trying to stay close to Razvan and avoid Rahul as far as possible. So it is no wonder that the chief of the Athamanas was always close to Rahul so that the floating creature would not always be in his steps. Teveli's condition was stable for now, he was still warm, but he was able to walk on his own two feet, even if he tired more quickly than usual.

They had already been walking for a few days on the more hidden forest paths, which according to Rahul, no one had been on for decades, when the chüvigh boy noticed that the group was avoiding places where people could be near, whether they were mountains or simple plows. .

"By the way, how do you know where to go so that we don't meet anyone?" Asked Rahul one evening, before Achilleus pulled out a folded piece of paper from his sleeve, which he shook in the air.

"I have a map with every village and every existing road on it." He grinned, but didn't provide more explanations to the curious Rahul, so the boy decided to start on another topic.

"So, if we're going to go to the gods knows where, then maybe someone can enlighten me, not knowing what I've gotten myself into again? What is the Shadow World and that daimon thing?" The boy scratched his head, but all he managed to do was make the team look serious and everyone turned away from him.

"The Shadow World is what it sounds like. A world where shadows live." Etele appeared next to Rahul, but the ghost just stared at the fire. "The place is like the world you see here, everything is the same. The only difference is that ghosts live there. Take the current situation for example. You are camping here now. In the Shadow World, in the same place, there may be a city, the streets of which ghost children are running. They don't see you if they don't focus on you, but they see you as a faint mist."

"I think I understand, but then how can you be here?" Rahul looked suspiciously at his relative.

"I came away from there." Etele shrugged. "There is a passage between the two worlds. Souls only exist in that world until they decide to return to life if they choose to." The ghost waved. "As for the daimons." Etele sighed.

"The Shadow World was not originally the home of ghosts." The transparent who led the team floated closer to the fire. With its statement, however, he managed to make several members of the Athamana look at it in surprise. "Originally we lived there. We the transparents are at the very bottom of the system of Shadow World's beings. We have existed since the beginning of time, the other beings that populate the Shadow World came later and all became the ghost of people. We transparents cannot evolve unlike demons. Demons are power-hungry souls that devour other souls, so they become stronger than an average ghosts and their abilities are enhanced." The little creature explained, and all members of the team listened to its words with curiosity.

"And what is the difference between a demon and a daimon?" Rahul asked.

"A daimon has a physical body, just like you a human. Daimons are at the top of our system. They are the most powerful beings in the Shadow World. Some of them are wild and bloodthirsty, but there are also cunning and tricky ones. And at the head of the daimons is the daimon king. He is the most powerful of all the beings of the Shadow World, possessing unimaginable knowledge and power, thanks to whom order was established in the Shadow World. It is thanks to him that we transparents can live peacefully again, even in the Shadow World, and the other demons don't hurt us." The floating creature explained.

"He seems nice." Rahul smiled.

"Nice? You're kidding!" Benkó snorted. "They say that when he came to power, he murdered dozens of people. No one dared to go near the forest caves." The boy folded his arms in front of him.

"Why?" Rahul blinked.

"Because the border between the Shadow World and our world is the thinnest in the caves. If you're not careful, you will wake up with a demon bite on your leg in the morning." Achilleus leaned closer to the fire.

"I heard that the daimon king personally visited the cities at night. If someone was out too long and didn't have a weapon, they were found dead the next morning, headless." Suk emphasized the last part of what he had to say.

"Why is it important that they had no head?" Rahul shivered.

"That is the center of your kí, if you get a person's skull, you can control their spirit." Etele noted.

"Right grandpa!" Citar was enthusiastic. "You are already a ghost, have you seen the daimon king? I heard that that he is so powerful that he can crush a person with one hand and that his gaze burns you to dust if you look directly into his eyes." The boy pulled his shoulders into his neck.

"I did not." The grandfather waved. "I died, I was transferred to the Shadow World and I come back as soon as possible. Nothing exciting there." He shrugged. "But of course I heard stories."

"What ones?" The members of the Athamana drew closer to the campfire and looked at the ghost with shining eyes.

"I heard that he gained power over all daimons by force. No one knows how he got to the top, but suddenly he appeared and announced that he was the lord and king of all daimons, demons, transparents and spirits. It is said that several ancient daimons, who had been feared for thousands of years, stood up against the daimon king. The weaker ones were burned alive at a touch and only a single flower remained in their place. And of the stronger ones, after they stood up against him, only a pile of bloody bones remained, and he sent their souls back to life so that he could kill them again later." The ghost told them.

"He is that strong?" Achilleus whispered in surprise.

"Oh, it's not even close to his strength. I heard from a wandering daimon that he saw that once when the daimon king came over to this world, the sun darkened and a great storm arose, when he was chasing a sinful daimon. Finally, he found him and dragged him back to the Shadow World, where he skinned him in front of everyone, threw his flesh into a lava pit, and polished his bones and made the gate of the Shadow World out of them." He said thoughtfully. "I don't know how much of the story is true, but in front of the cave leading to the Shadow World, there really is a gate made of bones, with a skull above the person's head in the middle, which calls out to anyone who dares to walk in there." Etele rolled the ghost's eyes.

"Did you see the gate?" Rahul asked, and his relative nodded.

"Once upon a time." He shrugged. "I don't even know where it was exactly, I just remember that damned skull that asked what a ghost was looking for in the world of the living." Etele grumbled.

"And what did you answer?" Suk asked, making the ghost smile widely.

"I'm haunting, what else would I do?" Etele giggled.

"And what happened after that?" The next question came from Citar.

"I have no idea." Etele grabbed his chin and waved. "Back then, I became just a ghost, those years have mixed up a little." Here he slapped his knee, which of course made no sound. "Well, you should go to bed, the Fene isn't here. You still have a long way to go. Just sleep peacefully, and we'll keep watch with the transparent." He nodded towards the creature already hovering at the edge of the camp, then stood up and turned his back on the team, who then had a hard time falling asleep after the night's terrifying tale.