"Did you guys hear that?" Gerrard asked as he looked up and around.
"Hear what?" Jeanne asked with her eyebrows furrowed.
"A distinct scream," Gerrard asked as he kept looking around and started to feel frustrated by the sound that he could only hear. "I will ignore it for now," Gerrard said with the bow ready in his hands.
The group thought Gerrard was imagining things or maybe experiencing some sort of hallucination of black magic. When they got deeper into the forest, they all finally heard what Gerrard had heard. It was as he said. It was the sound of a scream, a scream as if someone was being tortured badly.
"What is that?!" Rozan started to feel uncomfortable when hearing that non-stop scream that came from the distance.
"Oh, that's a whistler. They called it the death whistle," Manna answered as he looked in the direction of the distinct scream of pain.
"Death whistle? So it's not an actual person screaming in pain?" Gunnar asked.
"It's an instrument that the Ahucte tribe used for death ceremonies or to scare the other tribe. Right now, I'm not sure why they're using that death whistle now, it may be because they're doing the death ceremony," Citall answered as he walked to the front.
They followed Citall from behind and the death whistle instrument is getting louder and louder. Citall suddenly stopped moving and raised his spear up in the air, for no reason, but then the sound of the scream stopped.
A young man hiding in the bushes came out with leaves all over his body to camouflage himself with his surroundings.
"Ung tribe?" The young man asked as he stood in the bushes and glared at them.
"Citall," Citall patted himself on the chest as he introduced himself. "We came from Coachel," Citall said as he pointed at the mountain far behind him.
"The shaman is dead?" The young man asked.
"The shaman is dead," Citall nodded. "We came here to meet Ohnen, our saviors are here to kill the shamans," Citall explained as he pointed his hand at Manna.
The man stared at Manna and the others with a weird look. He was curious about the armor, and the outfits Manna and the others wore since he had never seen something like that before. He looked like he had no idea who Manna was, but since he looked so young, it could be that he was still a baby when Manna and Rami went to save his world.
"Chieftain Ohnen is currently bedridden, if you want to see him, you need the witch doctor's permission first," The young man said as he pointed at the village.
"What's your name?" Citall asked.
"Nimai," The young man answered.
"Nimai, what are you doing with the death whistle? Is there a death ceremony in the village?" Citall asked with curiosity.
"Ah!" Nimai looked surprised and immediately blew the death whistle so hard that it was deafening because of how loud it was from up close. He put down the death whistle and looked at Citall. "The witch doctor will answer it, right now I need to keep blowing this," Nimai said hurriedly, and then started blowing the death whistle again.
They looked at Nimai sitting down in the bushes as he kept blowing the death whistle. They left him be and went to Ahucte's village.
The village was so quiet and seemed peaceful. It was so peaceful that it made Citall suspicious about how carefree they were even after knowing the current situation.
"Citall?" A woman called Citall from inside one of the houses.
They all looked to their right and saw a gray-haired woman with an accessory of goat horns tied to her bun. She only wore a piece of cloth that covered her breast and a skirt to cover her back but exposed her thighs with a belt made from leather and a baby goat skull to cover her crotch. The woman looked pretty and maybe because she wore some kind of makeup and a feather earring on each ear.
"Taya!" Citall said with his eyebrows raised and eyes wide open.
Taya ran toward Citall and jumped into his arms, they both were so happy to be able to see each other again. The others were just staring at them on the side and let him be happy for a moment. She also recognized Manna and Rami, she didn't hesitate to approach them and hug them so tightly.
"So you're here in Ahucte's village. I'm glad that you're safe," Citall said as his hand held Taya's hand.
"Yes, I was lucky to be alive if it's not because of the death whistle, everyone here would be ended up like those people in Coachel," Taya answered.
"The death whistle? What does that have to do with the situation we are in?" Citall asked with a puzzled look on his face.
"It's going to be a long story and I have to take care of the Chieftain," Taya said as she grabbed a pot filled with herbs.
It turned out that Taya was the witch doctor who had taken care of Ohnen for years. It was just a coincidence, but it was a great opportunity for them to find out the reason why the shaman had not invaded Ahucte's village.
Ohnen was laying down on the comfy stack of leathers with his body covered with a blanket made from thick cloth and leather. Citall, Manna, Asmond, and Mykel were the only ones Taya allowed to enter Ohnen's house. They were asking Ohnen if he saw a shaman, but then he gave an answer that nobody would have expected.
"So there was a shaman that came here and decided to help you instead of taking you?" Citall asked Ohnen who was chewing the herbs that Taya gave him.
"Yes, the shaman knew the truth behind the God that we worship or at least the God that they worship. He decided to betray the demon and he was killed the moment he revealed the truth to us," Ohnen answered as he coughed blood. "Hundreds of evil spirits came out from the totem and took the shaman with them into the totem,"
"The God that we used to worship, he turned out to be the demon himself. We have been lied to and now we are being punished by the real Gods by abandoning us to the demons," Taya said as she prepared the medicine.
"How did you all survive after the shaman died?" Citall asked.
"The dead whistle," Taya answered. "It's not only to scare people, but it also repels the evil spirit from entering the village. The shaman told Ohnen about it and now every day, they have to blow the whistle so we can live peacefully in the village," Taya explained and gave the medicine to Ohnen.
Citall nodded his head as he looked outside the window and listened to the death whistle around the village.
"Then what happened to the totem?" Citall asked.
"We buried it deep inside the Yakal Lake," Ohnen answered. "We lost so many people from just moving that evil thing to the lake. I'm the only survivor and here I am, fighting against the curse," Ohnen continued as he slowly laid down after he took his medicine.
Manna looked at Mykel and looked at his response, but Mykel shook his head because Ohnen wasn't important to the story at all. He didn't want to waste his time and influence on those people since all the Awakeners from Eagers World were all dead already.
"Yakal Lake, it's quite far from here. If we go there right now, we will be able to reach it before the night time comes," Manna said as she looked at Mykel.
"Alright, lead us there," Mykel said as he nodded his head.
"You can stay here, Citall. We will take care of the totem on our own. You have been helping us so much and without you, things might have gotten worse," Manna said with a smile as she gently shook Citall's shoulder. "Taya missed you so much, so don't make her wait again," Manna chuckled softly as she stared at Taya.
"Ohnen, rest well," Manna said with a concerned look because she knew Ohnen wouldn't be able to survive the curse and he was just waiting for his moment to come.
Ohnen nodded his head and closed his eyes to rest.
"The evil spirits that possessed his body are weakened by the sound of the death whistle, and they dragged him down with them as well. So, there's nothing we can do about it," Taya said after they all left Ohnen house.
"I notice that," Manna nodded her head with understanding.
"We will be back at night, and I will try to find deers or boars on our way back," Manna said and looked at Citall and Taya.
"Be careful, Manna. We will be waiting for you to come back," Taya said as she hugged Manna.
Mykel walked toward his team while Asmond went back to his team and told them about what he heard. Gunnar looked at him with his eyebrows raised. "Where to next, boss?" Gunnar asked.
"Yakal Lake, it's the last totem that we need to destroy," Mykel answered.
"You heard him, let's get moving," Agnez said as she stretched her arms.
