The World of the Spirits, spiraled like a man breathing smokes as it came into their full view...
I am one of the Shaman Apprentices who just recently joined.
At first, I didn't have any expectations. Shamans had been regarded as mysterious revered people in our tribe. Since I was a kid, I've been constantly told by my parents to respect the Shaman's words. But I thought, maybe they just exaggerated their stories to scare us.
Never have I expected to witness something as disturbing as the incident of Dara. I've never seen someone like Dara who downright disrespected a Shaman. Much worse, it's an Elder.
But after witnessing Dara died just like it was nothing, I have confirmed why my parents always told me to respect them. And that Dara deserved what happened to her.
Still trembling and horrified by the earlier incident, I noticed Argus. Unlike everyone, he appeared really calm as if unbothered by any of the things that happened. Perhaps, because he is a man himself. The first boy to be allowed to join the Shamans...I've heard many rumors about him, and I learned that he was a former Ranoan.
Somehow through the ghost quiet surroundings, except for the occasional cracklings of twigs we have stepped on, in the greenery trail, whenever I looked at his calm presence I felt at ease. It helped me overcome my looming fear of this unknown place we are headed.
The sky had been darkening, coupled with these tall trees... I felt even more anxious as time went by. Unconsciously I found myself coming close to Argus whenever I remember that scary scene.
I don't know why but he is like a tall mountain that offered a sense of protection... But this feeling of ease didn't take long before it was replaced by shock. No, it was more apt to call it frightened when the Elder suddenly halted and said something. We seemed to have reached our destination.
Her hoarse voice echoed along with her yellow teeth that shined amidst the darkness of the night "Then... this is the part where your third eyes had awakened! Starting tonight, you will be able to communicate and see supernatural beings, even those who hide."
"Welcome, To The Realm Of Spirits..."
I was taken aback. I had no idea what she is blabbering about but at that moment... I felt all my hair standing. A cold breeze enveloped my entire being, lulling a foreboding eerily sense at the back of my head. I found myself staring at Argus who seemed equally surprised as I was.
Just when I'm about to depend on his calming presence again, my hands trembled. A terrifying shadow erupted that covered Argus from head to toe.
Something which only I was able to see. Since that day, I never wanted Argus to breathe the same air as mine. As much as possible I don't want to be near him!
That's what Marikit thought. She thought that it's only her who saw that figure overlapping with Argus... But that was not the case.
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...
Alone in the dark, in the strange place where he became accustomed to. Argus aimlessly walked and walked, tiring himself in the process.
"Trapped here again!" Stomping his feet as he let out all of his boredom. "What might be that Old man is doing with my body again?!" Slumping as his butt hit the cobbled stone flooring he thought of the possible things Miguel had been doing outside.
"Alright! That's it! I'm tired of this place! I'll try to walk around once more! Maybe I can find a way to leave this place." Yelling at every spouted word he said, his voice echoed through the void.
Just then... Argus while ruffling his hair—a habit he formed after he became an Alipin, he saw a wisp of white blinding light at the distance.
Instantly overjoyed with his new founding, he repeatedly jumped and skipped as he approached the light.
"What's this blinding white light? Would this lead me out of here?" Asking a rhetorical question to himself. Argus fixed his wrinkled clothes and headed to the light.
As his fingertips touched the light, he felt all of his senses numbing, gradually having a sense of getting sucked.
The light swallowed him fully, taking his spirit somewhere else...
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...
"Just like what I thought..." Eyes widening like the full moon, Elder Shana gasped. Unable to contain her bewilderment. "Such a wicked entity had been living inside of him, all this time?" swallowing her own saliva she muttered, "No wonder he had been acting differently, that figure... why does it look like that of an old man?"
The peak of the mountain forest near the Lumin's Tribe was named Kaphon. Here is where newborn tribesmen are anointed with coconut oil. It is similar to a baptism. It is also the place where Apprentice Shamans receives a new name under an Elder Shaman.
Once Apprentice Shamans come in the peak during the eve, while a special ritual had been cast to surround the place... they go with a transitioning phase where they leave their mortal body behind, wandering at the peak as spirits.
While Elder Shana and Marikit had a different focus, the others were simply horrified by the numerous eyes that stared at them from the distance.
The eyelids fully white which surrounds the dark pupil. Many eyes could be seen beside the trees. After which, white teeth were also seen arching... Similar to someone who is smiling.
"What is this place!!! We are surrounded!" Among the ones who remained, an Apprentice Shaman could not take it anymore as she screamed.
Affected by her scream, a shrill sound also followed. Those who easily got scared flocked together and formed a small circle. Only, Miguel, Marikit, and Elder Shana were excluded from the circle.
"Did... did anyone from you received any instructions from those Shamans who recommended you?" With almost incoherent words and a broken, timid voice, another Apprentice Shaman yelped and asked the group for clarity.
"None... They simply warned me to follow the Elder." a small girl with her black hair tightly tied into a ponytail answered.
"Huh! What if this strange Elder is up to something? Remember how she made Dara die?!" And a suspicious girl voiced out her concern. Tightly kempt beside the girl in a ponytail, you can visibly see her hands trembling as they clutch them together.
When she said those lines, everyone turned their gaze back at Elder Shana. Waiting for any word of explanation from her.
Elder Shana who became the sole focus of their stares, kept her eyes shifting between the others to Miguel repeatedly.
Marikit on the other hand blinked her eyes... the blurry figure of an old man was gone. She turned her eyes to her fellow Apprentice Shamans and came to them. Through the whole process, she only stared at the ground and nothing else.
But immediately after a brief silence, Elder Shana clapped her hands once, stating the first lesson these Apprentices shall receive.
"Fear is wisdom in the face of danger."
While trying to ignore what she is currently seeing beside Miguel.
It shall become a mystery for the Shaman to solve.