Argus left alone at the tail of the trail thought about the Shaman's words, followed by an eerie silence...
He could not help but shudder.
At the end of the path, at his feet, the trail fades. It leads into the darkness of the woods, a narrow strip of naked earth among the curdling roots like nerves and leaves that sways through the cold breeze of the air.
He had underestimated the utter darkening of the sky and the blackness of nighttime after sunset.
In the woods, the trees would turn black trunks against the bluish charcoal sky, the path would become the deepest brown in hue and the moonlight would bleach the stones as if they are alive and whispering.
Added to that, currently, there is no moon to illuminate his path. After he had switched with Miguel, the moon has phased into the New moon. Only a torch planted beneath the ground at the side of a large boulder of rock from where the Shaman has previously stood has illuminated his sight.
He can't help but remember the stories of those elders from his own tribe.
"Death of day, when daybreak starts. Shadows will creep beyond the dark. Gasps from silhouettes unknown shall make its appearance and pear among those who dare venture alone in this lush forests"
Looking around, his shoulders gave in realizing how really scary the place was.
According to legends, many beings spotted by tribesmen have lurked here at the forest in the death of day. One of which is the Tikbalangs...
A Tikbalang is a bizarre, shape-shifting, trickster spirit that haunts certain places in the wildlands of the whole of Danao. It is said to be a tall humanoid creature that dwells in the forests and mountains during the night.
And if described, it is like a reverse form of a centaur.
It is a tall, bony humanoid creature with the head and hooves of a horse and disproportionately long limbs, to the point that its knees reach above its head when it squats down.
Legend has it that whoever can ride the Tikbalang and pluck the golden hair from its nape can tame the beast and make it a willing slave.
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Argus as brave as he is, he is still a kid after all! It is natural for him to be scared, but armed with determination and cry for vengeance he resolved himself while chanting in his head...
"I am a Ranoan and a warrior! Proud and brave! I won't get scared by those silly stories those Old foggers use to scare little children into submission."
And with that, he took the torch and ventured inside the forest.
Since he is probably the last one to arrive, he needs to reach the next destination where another trial has been prepared.
As he was walking he glanced at the broken bamboo stalk, split into half, and reads the message.
"If you received this message, you must arrive below this mountain forest and prepare your hunting tools. You are to hunt fishes while crossing the sacred river of the Boryaan river."
After reading it, Argus tossed the bamboo stalk at the ground as he raised the torch in his hand to illuminate his path when suddenly he heard a noise...
"TIKA! TIKA! TIKA!"
"Phew, it's just a gecko lizard rattling..." Argus heaved a sigh of relief, his heart almost jumped out of being scared.
He continued to walk unto the fading trail while occasionally gathering some materials he needs so he can hunt fishes later.
"I better get going..." Argus said after crafting his own fishing tool.
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Quite some time have passed, yet Argus found himself trekking the same path.
The light in his torch is gradually fading, he is becoming more nervous as time passes.
He can't help but recall the Legends about Tikbalangs.
"Am I being played by this spirit right now?" He thought.
One of the tricks of the Tikbalang is to change its physical form and voice into that of a relative, friend, or someone closely associated with any traveler that it may come across in the wilds.
It then appears to the victim in this familiar form pretending to know the way, deceiving them into being led through the dark woods or along remote mountain paths to a place far from the help of others.
When the time comes the for the Tikbalang to reveal itself the victim may experience the smell of tobacco before the face and the body of their guide blurs as it changes from that of the victim's, relative or friend, into its own true monstrous form.
When Argus recalled this piece of information the Legend says, his hairs stood uncontrollably.
He looks around to see if there are any figure who is closely following him.
And from there, his eyes widened!
He saw a blurry figure that swiftly vanished at the moment he looked around.
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Now scared and nervous, Argus recalled his previous talk with the Shaman...
"What if that shaman is that Tikbalang himself?" Argus shuddered by the thought.
He stopped his tracks and immediately returned from where he came from, but after quite some time of walking, he still could not find any signs of a huge boulder that marked as his landmark.
He sweated profusely, his hands are trembling and he found himself getting thirsty for water.
When he touched his thigh to see if there are any jug of water hanging, he found nothing.
This became an added worry to his well being.
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Argus recalled what those victims have foretold according to the elders and Shamans.
Those few victims unlucky enough to experience such an encounter have been known to stumble into villages or towns muttering or raving incoherently.
People who have tried to help them said that the unfortunate person will tell how they were pushed, struck and knocked to the ground repeatedly.
All through this ordeal all they could do was giggle nervously like they were children. The more they resisted the more they were abused but once they stopped resisting they found themselves alone in the forest in the night completely disoriented.
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And right at this moment! Soon the familiar face of the Shaman, Elder Shana have greeted him!
"Elder Shana?!" Argus yelled, trying to confirm if he is hallucinating or if it was the Shaman herself or if the Tikbalang appeared.
But when he found that the figure in front of him, suddenly smiled, he could not help but utter an almost inaudible tone, haunted by the thoughts from the legends...
"Tikbalang..."