"But seriously, Rahul, what do you do when you're angry? We've been trying to figure it out for days!" Citar whined as the team slowly approached the Vojk tribe's territory between the mountains.
"Do you still talking about that?" Rahul rolled his eyes. "You could really drop it now." He frowned.
"Alright! Grandpa! What does Rahul do when he is angry?" Citar turned to the ghost walking beside them.
"I have no idea! I've never seen it before. I always missed it somehow." The ghost raised his hands defensively, then clasped them behind his neck.
"Then it's a lost cause. Even grandpa doesn't know." Benkó shook his head.
"Am I the only one wondering why we still see this ghost?" Wandi spoke up suddenly.
"No! I'm also curious about that." Razvan agreed with him. "So, why are you still here?"
" Isn't it clear?" The ghost grinned. "I like to get in your nerves." He laughed.
"Are you sure you're not a hungry ghost?" Razvan said angrily.
"Hungry ghost?" Rahul raised his eyebrows.
"A ghost that has committed a crime in its life and cannot be reborn until it repents of its crime. Most ghosts go mad and start harassing the living." Etele explained. "But I'm not. I know one and I don't look like him at all." He shook his head smiling.
"You know a hungry ghost?" Teveli asked surprised.
"Do I know one? He made an alliance with me when he was still alive." The ghost waved.
"Now already understand why he became a hungry ghost." Rahul commented, which made Razvan laugh out loud.
"Hey! That was evil!" Grumpy features appeared on Etele's face and he folded his arms in front of him.
"Don't act like you're offended. I've said worse things to you." Rahul stuck out his tongue in the direction of the ghost relative.
"Boss, rock at your feet." Wandi spoke suddenly, which made the team turn towards their leader, who had just dodged the rock in front of his feet.
"Thank you." He said matter-of-factly, and then, as if nothing had happened, he straightened himself out and moved on. Rahul just shook his head and hurried to the boy's side, leaving the team behind.
"I'll help." He whispered as he caught the boy's elbow. "Now you can't see anything, and these bastards are only interested in grandpa." Rahul glanced back at the blinking team.
"There's no need for that..." Razvan smiled kindly, but Rahul just shook his head.
"You don't have to play the strong leader in front of me." He rolled his eyes. "But anyway, if you really don't need my help, then you could do me the favor of pretending that you need it. The team is at least as strong-headed as grandpa and they are starting to get on my nerves with their questions." Rahul whispered leaning closer to Razvan's ear.
"Oh, the boss is one step closer to his goal." Citar put his hand in front of his mouth to hold back his laughter.
"What?" Etele blinked.
"To Rahul." Achilleus noted, also grinning.
_Wait... Your blind boss, what does he want from Rahul?" Etele looked over the team.
"Well, he forbade us to get close to him, so he's probably courting him." Citar shrugged his shoulders. The ghost, on the other hand, just looked at the couple walking in front of them with his mouth open for a while.
"Yes, and it seems to be going pretty well. Rahul is especially close to him." Suk pointed out.
"He's in the same place as when you met him." Etele finally announced.
"How?" Several members of the team were surprised.
"Didn't you notice?" The ghost smiled faintly. "We went on Rahul's nerves, now he is only there so that we don't go near him and continue to harass him." Etele shrugged.
"We will soon reach our borders." Wandi spoke again, which made Razvan and Rahul stop, so the team also stopped.
"How close are we?" Razvan asked as he grabbed Rahul's hand holding his elbow with his free hand.
"Less than an arrow shot and we reach the territory of our internal border guard." The boy Vojk looked at me in the distance.
"After the swamp boats of the Zovárds, the Vojk border guard is one of the tribes' best ideas." Benkó sighed.
"If we didn't have that than we should fish all the lost fools out of our swamp all the time. It's better to move them over instead." Suk folded his arms in front of him. "What are you looking at now? Do you have any idea how heavy a wet and muddy corpse is?" The boy frowned. "We can't just leave them lying there in the swamp without a proper farewell. It would be disrespectful to the soul." He rolled his eyes.
"And that's why I avoid your areas." Citar shivered.
"Why do you need a border guard?" Rahul turned to Wandi curiously.
"Only we know where the lava comes to the surface, it is safer if someone from the tribe guides the guests through the place. The unwary get into trouble easily." Wandi explained with a serious look.
"Alright guys, enough talking. We better keep going, dawn is near and in the end we have to travel at night too and no one wants that." Razvan spoke, then turned around, still holding Rahul's hand.
"You can let go now!" Rahul and Etele spoke at the same time, which caused a faint blush to appear on the face of the leader of the Athamanas and let go of Rahul's hand. And the rest of the team just exchanged a knowing look among themselves.
The team's journey was then filled with quiet conversations as they got closer and closer to the borders of the Vojks. And when they entered the border region, Wandi stood at the head of the team and took the lead so that they continued on their way to the tribe's headquarters. Based on the previous day's discussions, the team planned to spend today's dinner at Vojk's. True, this meant that they had to cover a slightly longer distance than usual in one day, but the promise of a nice place to sleep and food had an effect and proved to be enough motivation for the Athamanas to make the long journey with all their strength.
"And we are here." A faint smile appeared on Wandi's snow-white face, as the team reached the border of a city under the first rays of the moon. "I welcome you to our place. This is Éjifény. The center of the Vojk tribe." The boy looked at the team. "We better find my parents. Dinner is about to start and I'd better introduce you all to them before then." He explained, then turned away from the team again.
"This is my first time in Éjifény." Achilleus said enthusiastically.
"I think it's the first time for all of us mudbrain! Even among the chieftains, only a few can come to Éjifény." Benkó rolled his eyes.
"No big deal." Etele also spoke. "I, on the other hand, will step down for a while. The energy here gives me chills." His whole body trembled, and then, true to his words, he disappeared.
"Well, he finally left." Rahul sighed. "I'll have some peace now."
" I don't know what's wrong with the place. I like it." Citar shrugged as he glanced around.
"All right Athamana. Enough of the stupidity. Pull yourselves together, we have an audience." Razvan announced, which was enough for the team to get serious and follow Wandi, who led them deeper and deeper into the city of Éjifény.