The Athamana group was finally shown around the small island by Llyr and the nyiumgyis. During this tour, it turned out that the island has only salt water, which surprised the hegins a little, but since they had a Bokló with them, who could easily extract minerals from the water, they didn't have to worry about dying of thirst. To the team's greatest surprise, the nyiumgyis actually managed to get them food, and Llyr shared a lot of interesting information with them about the daily lives of the slime creatures.
By the end of the day, the team was so tired that they didn't need anyone to put them to sleep at all, almost all of them fell asleep the moment their heads touched the ground and they closed their eyes. Even Tele Tete began to breathe so quickly in his sleep that the danovus woman had never seen her companion so exhausted. However, this did not stop Physalis Alkekengi from deciding to spend the evening on the top of the mountain in the middle of the island.
The nyiumgyis had already dispersed at sunset. According to the undersea-walker foreign minister, they retreat to their protected nests, be they in rock crevices, in tree hollows, or simply under the bushes. Thus, the rest of the group was left alone in the small hut in complete peace. And this peace might have lasted all night if the leader of the Athamana had not sat up in the middle of the night.
One would say that he had only had a bad dream and therefore could not fall back asleep. However, Razvan had specific plans. Silently, so as not to disturb anyone, he got up from his sleeping place and approached the newest member of the Athamana with light, noiseless steps. Rahul slept with his mouth open and even his eyes moved under his eyelashes. A faint smile crossed Razvan's lips at the sight of the boy, but he quickly gathered himself and shook his head to look at the boy with a cold gaze.
He did nothing for a long moment, then slowly and carefully, as if he was not sure that what he was doing was right, he extended his hand towards Rahul. His fingertips had almost touched the forehead of the hegin who had grown up in the west, when an icy hand gripped the wrists of the Athamana leader and to the boy's greatest surprise, the ghost belonging to the hand began to pull him out of the hut.
"What the Fene are you doing?" Etele finally asked the question outside the hut, as he released Razvan and folded his arms in front of him.
"It has nothing to do with you, Svihák."/The young man snapped at him immediately.
"Don't be harsh! It's written on your face that something is bothering you. Out with it, what were you trying to do?" The ghost repeated the question in a slightly nicer way. Razvan first sighed, then ruffled his hair and leaned against the wall of the hut.
"He's been with us for more than two years, but I still feel like he's hiding something from me. I don't like secrets." The Athamana leader grumbled, as he also folded his arms in front of him. "I thought I'd find out what it is that he doesn't want to tell." The young man shrugged.
"You good ancestors! It's not true that you can't get over this." Etele lowered his hands to his side and rolled his ghost's eyes.
"I can't! What if he's going to betray me?" Razvan looked at the ghost with an angry look.
"Just because he doesn't tell you everything doesn't mean he's going to betray you. The others won't either." Etele shrugged and looked towards the sea.
"The others don't have secrets that I don't know about." Razvan grimaced, but this only made Etele laugh out loud.
"Of course they don't! If you really think so, then tell me what the two arguing ones did on the night of the fire of Floating Barracks, or the Bolacsuk boy? Oh, but if you don't want to go that far back, what did the youngest Teike actually do last night?" Etele asked the questions, his gaze becoming more and more serious with each word.
"What do you know that I don't, Svihák?" Razvan asked in an icy voice, but the ghost just shook his head.
"Trust is not about knowing everything about someone, but about believing in them despite knowing that they don't tell you everything." Etele sighed. "Your little team is loyal not to you, but to your goal." The ghost said seriously.
"It has never been otherwise." Razvan closed his eyes and turned away from Etele. The ghost sighed so big that even the leaves of the trees trembled.
"Okay, it will be better to pull out the arrow than to smear it with medicinal ointment." Etele said slowly, which made Razvan turn towards him.
"What do you mean by that?" The leader of the Athamanas grimaced again, and the ghost looked straight into his eyes.
"I know what you are doing!" He announced, which made Razvan's eyes widen and he swallowed a huge one.
"And what exactly am I doing?" The leader of the Athamanas tried to save what could be saved, assuming the seriousness that remained from his previous life.
"You are looking for the pieces of your previous life in the present. You play the game well, not even Kamu would notice that something is wrong with you, but I know that you do not remember everything." This statement left the ghost's mouth in such an incontrovertible tone that Razvan's breath stopped for a moment. "It's no big deal, I wouldn't have even said it. You can keep your secret as far as I care." The ghost continued.
"Svihá..." Razvan began, when Etele raised his hand to stop him.
"But!" He said seriously. "I see you looking for me in Rahul. This is a foolish undertaking. He is my successor, my blood, I have been by his side almost his entire life, of course you will find similarities with the person you remember from your previous life." The ghost explained with a faint smile, then became serious again. "But that doesn't mean you should live in the past. Rahul is not me, no matter what you imagine or think. A thousand years have passed, the world is no longer the same. I am dead, Athira is dead. And no matter how many memories you have in your head, you are no longer General Csito." Etele told the unpleasant truth.
"I..." The Zaukán boy lowered his head, and then Etele stepped next to him and placed his hand on his shoulder.
"It would be time for you to start living in the present and think about what you want to do with your little team before they go their separate ways and leave you alone." He said. "I hope you really consider what I just said. Good night, Razvan." The ghost finished his monologue and stepped past the boy, releasing his shoulder. Razvan immediately turned on his heel and shouted after the fading ghost.
"Etele!" However, his call didn't reach it's intended. The ghost disappeared, the door of the small hut opened and Teveli appeared inside.
"Boss, is everything okay? I heard a shout." Said the Tele boy, and Razvan looked down at his feet. The runes that protected the small house had been tampered with. And only Etele is capable of changing a summoning circle in a way that no one would notice. The ghost didn't want anyone to know what he had talked to Razvan about and now he left him here alone.
"It's okay Tev. I'll go and take a walk." Razvan noted as he walked towards the sea with tears on his face, as far away from everyone as possible.