The next morning, the Athamanas woke up with much more energy than the day before. The group sat around the fire laughing and talking loudly. The mood was much more pleasant than the day before, even if the group had no idea what awaited them in the coming hours. However, this did not stop them from having a good time.
After breakfast, they all got ready, not really knowing for what reason, since they were not sure that the ghosts would be very happy with their company. However, the young people had an overwhelming desire for adventure, so anyone could have told them anything, they would have done the same thing.
Unlike the young people, Kamu and Ajtony seemed a little more withdrawn today than the day before. Several of the group even remarked among themselves that perhaps the two Immortal Misty Assassins had received some bad news that they had withdrawn so much from the group, when before they could not be scratched off the Athamanas. There were some members of the team who didn't mind this change at all, most notably Suk and Teveli, but they didn't show any sign of noticing the change.
"So what are we going to do today?" Citar asked with a grin, when the team stopped at the edge of their small camp. The boy's hands, as usual when he was so enthusiastic, were clenched into fists at his sides.
"Now, listen up, Bolacsuk! I'll tell you what's going to happen." Etele clapped his hands, who, unlike his grumpy mood yesterday, was as bright as a rose today. Razvan had been looking at him suspiciously all morning. It wasn't typical of the great Athira's former táltos to swing from one extreme to the other so quickly.
"Out with it grandpa? What's making you so enthusiastic?" Rahul asked, arms folded in front of him, rolling his eyes.
"Now we'll go to the troops. We'll attack the danovuses one last time. Then my army will retreat to Chájna. We'll get packed and go back to our business." The Koál ghost ancestor explained, not really paying attention to the tone of voice Rahul spoke to him in. Even though this was a really surprising thing, since Etele usually took note of such things.
"What do you mean, for the last time?" Physalis Alkekengi asked with a grimace.
"What do you mean, they're going back to Chájna?" Teveli asked at the same moment, blinking hugely.
"For the last time and going back." Svihák rolled his eyes, still smiling, then put his hands on his hips. "So..."
"Hey! That's not an answer, ghost! I want an explanation." The danovus lady narrowed her eyes and although she was aware that she would not be able to harm a dead soul, she still spread her fingers wide, as when she was preparing to introduce someone to the power of her nails.
"What is not clear about this? This war is already starting to get boring. Now the children are here, who are much more exciting. But Tame, for the sake of the ancestors, will not let me go until this war is over. So there is only one solution." Etele shrugged his shoulders, then continued with a grin. "End it all. One more big bang, because if I am already here, then why not. And that's it." The ghost waved a hand.
"And what about going back to Chájna?" Teveli asked his question again.
"They will return to where we usually are." Rahul's ghost relative spread his arms, not understanding why no one could understand what he was saying.
"Is their headquarters in Chájna?" Suk tilted his head to the side and blinked at the ghost.
"Yeah." Etele nodded. "It was always there. After all, that's where my original home is." The ghost looked to the side, as if remembering old times. "If I remember correctly, the cháns even gave the place a name." He thought about it, which resulted in him narrowing his eyes and then holding his chin. "What was it?" He was asking no one, really.
"Deadworld trench." Tame answered, who appeared in front of the team at that moment out of nowhere, causing the undersea-walker stuck to them to jump so high that even a frog would have envied it.
"Calm down Llyr, it's just a ghost." Tele Tete patted the man on the shoulder.
"Just a ghost?" The ex-foreign minister grimaced.
"If you travel with hegins, you better get used to them. They can appear around us at any time. Especially around me, Teveli and Rahul." He nodded towards the two boys. "I don't know how much they appear around the assassin, now that he's alive again." He looked at Kamu.
"Not at all. I'm a ghost king still, they'll avoid me like fire." Kamu shrugged, then started poking at his armguard, as if he didn't want to deal with the matter.
"Why do ghosts just appear around you?" Llyr pulled away from the elder Teveli and looked suspiciously at Rahul and Tev.
"Because they're Koáls." Etele and Razvan said at the same time.
"And why does that mean they're haunted?" The undersea-walker's face turned pale. However, his words made all his companions present laugh.
"You misunderstood, dear undersea-walker." Ajtony began, then put his elbow on Kamu's shoulder, thanks to which he moved away from the ground by about a step.
"How?" The undersea-walker blinked.
"They are not haunted by ghosts. My friend Kamu's relatives and members of his tribe attract ghosts. They are Koáls, they are the ghost-summoning tribe. They have a sense for ghosts. Most of them walk around with a ghost alliance on their bodies from a very young age." The poison-mixing ghost explained.
"You attract ghosts?" Llyr shrieked.
"Why did you think grandpa was here?" Rahul asked, pointing his index finger at Etele.
"I don't know. I thought you were just the ghost of an ancestor who stucked to you." The undersea-walker confessed.
"The ghost summoners of our team are special. Usually there is no family relationship between the summoner and the ghost, but in our case, both are. However, this is just a coincidence, not the norm." Razvan noted.
"I understand, I think." Llyr pulled himself together a little.
"It might be smarter if the undersea-walker stays close to you. I didn't think he was so afraid of ghosts. You didn't have any problems with them yesterday." Etele scratched his head.
"I was with them yesterday." The undersea-walker pointed at the team.
"Then stay with them today too." Etele waved a hand, then turned his back on the living. "Tame, how are the troops doing?" He asked in a serious voice, which made his right hand in war straighten.
"Everyone is ready to fight, they are just waiting for your order, boss." The strangely dressed ghost snapped.
"Right! Then let's go to war." Etele's eyes sparkled as he walked past Tame towards his troops, ignoring the hegins.
"There will be a big fight." Razvan noted.
"Why?" Achilles asked curiously.
"Svihák looked like this when he was clearing battlefields." The leader of the Athamanas sighed before following Etele and Tame towards the battlefield.