It was dark in the small village near the sea, the moon had already risen in the sky. The stars shone brightly, the night bugs hummed softly. In the small house on the edge of the village, a lady rushed excitedly into the smallest room of the cottage, where a little boy was lying in a bed.
"Rahul, little sandstorm, it's time, you know what day it is today." The woman whispered, and six-year-old Rahul, who was hiding under the blankets, immediately threw off the blanket and looked at the woman with sparkling eyes, then started jumping on the bed.
"I'm learning from mommy, I'm learning from mommy!" He jumped happily and repeated the words. By which time the woman started laughing loudly and then picked up the boy.
"As you say, the apple of my eye. Well, let's go find your father and his friend." She stroked the boy's head before putting him on the ground and the two of them set off to find the other two men.
"Uncle Tete!" Rahul ran to the man, who jumped in surprise as a result of the attack.
"Hello little ghost!" The hegin still laughed.
"Honey, are you sure this is a good idea?" Rahul's father stepped next to the woman and looked worriedly at the lady, whose smile froze on her face and looked at her husband with a serious look.
"First you taught him those things, then you both taught him how to fight like a hegin, now I'm coming." The woman stated.
"I don't want to interfere, you..." Rahul didn't understand what Uncle Tete called his mother, but it wasn't important, since no one reacted to it. "But I don't think he'll ever meet such things. By the way, don't you think he's a little young for that?"
"Why, isn't he young for those hegin jumpigs?" The woman put her hands on her hips, and Tele Tete straightened and covered his mouth.
"Not to mention that it is not even certain that he has the talent for it." Rahul's father countered, with which he achieved that the woman's icy gaze was directed at him.
"It's better if we don't get into this discussion, okay?" A grin appeared on the woman's face that made the two men shiver.
"Mommy is funny." Rahul chuckled. "What am I learning?" He asked and tugged at his mother's dress.
"I'll teach you how to fight mammias. However, we have to go to the cemetery first." With that, she took the little boy's hand and winked at the two men. "Let's go to hegins, it won't work without you. Mammias don't just walk around here." She chuckled as she started towards the cemetery with little Rahul by her side.
In the middle of the night, the village cemetery was silent, even the sounds of nocturnal animals could hardly be heard. Since the cemetery was further from the edge of the village, they couldn't accidentally run into anyone. Rahul didn't quite understand what they were doing in that place, but he knew that his mother had a good reason for coming here, so he didn't think much of it.
"Okay, then Tete, would you bring me back some?" The woman let go of little Rahul's hand and turned to Tele Tete, putting her hands on her hips and smiling broadly.
"Are you asking for a ghost or just a corpse? Just because I can't do more than three ghosts at a time." The man folded his arms in front of him.
"I think the corpses will be enough, right dear?" Rahul's father turned to the woman, who nodded.
"It's pointless to disturb the souls, I just want to send the corpses back to the ground anyway." She shrugged as if it was the most obvious thing to do.
"Are you saying that I have to summon a bunch of undead just so you can beat them up?" Tele Tete frowned and lowered his hands.
"No, you're summoning a bunch of undead so I can show Rahul how to beat them up." The woman corrected and stroked Rahul's head.
"You better not argue with her, Teveli." Rahul's father shook his head.
"You, shut your mouth." The hegin muttered under his breath. "You owe me really much for this." He sighed before sitting down on the ground and closing his eyes.
"What is Uncle Tete doing?" Asked Rahul, when the man just sat in one place even after a few minutes.
"Raises the dead." Rahul's father declared and at the same moment the ground on the edge of the cemetery began to move and figures covered in torn rags crawled out from under the ground.
Rahul cocked his head to the side. He had seen many strange things in his life and was not easily frightened, so these undead were more of a strange sight to him than scary. Besides, his parents were just watching the scene calmly, so Rahul knew that he had nothing to fear, even if the creatures had been dangerous, his mother, father and Uncle Tete were by his side, as long as they were there he was safe.
"I'm finished." Tele Tete sighed and got up from the ground. -"The honor is yours." He gestured towards the undead, but looking at the woman, who nodded.
"So mammias. These are desert undead, they are one of the strongest enemies that are not even affected by hegin abilities. Summoners can influence them, but not destroy them." The woman explained and stepped closer to the mammias limping slowly towards them. "It's usually better to have sand around you to defeat them, but here the ground is quite loose." Rahul's mother stamped the ground with her foot. "Now listen carefully Rahul. This is how to defeat mammias."
As she said this, she turned her back to the team, raised her hands to her sides, and black smoke rose from the box on her waist. She pushed her left leg forward, her right leg back, then rotated her outstretched arms so that one was pointing forward and the other was pointing back. She slowly took a deep breath, the size of the black smoke doubled. When she blew out the air, she dropped to one knee and pulled her front hand back, pointing backwards, and slapped the other one on the ground with the same movement.
"And that's how mammias die." She stood up and dusted off her hands, then turned to the boys. The black smoke cleared and in place of the undead, there was only the undisturbed earth. "Do you understand my little twinkle?" She stroked the boy's head.
"Yes, mommy." Rahul grinned and nodded at the same time, but before they could say anything else, a huge roar broke the silence of the night. The three adults turned towards the forest at the same time.
"It will be a ghost." Rahul's father narrowed his eyes.
"Listen, baby. Stay here, don't move. We'll take care of the ghost and we'll be here, okay?" His mother grabbed Rahul's shoulders, and the boy nodded.
As he did this, the three adults started towards the forest at the same time and disappeared among the trees. Little Rahul obediently stood still and looked at the sky, when a familiar figure with white hair appeared from the direction of the village, the little boy happily turned towards him and started waving.
"Imagine, imagine, mommy taught me to kill a mammia!" Rahul said enthusiastically when the man came close to him.
"I'm glad you're improving your knowledge, little Rahul." The man stroked the boy's head.
"When I grow up, I want to be as strong as you." Rahul enthused, and the man laughed.
"You will be so strong, I have no doubt about that." The answer came, then the man stood behind Rahul and held his shoulder. "Now you know what you have to do, don't you?" He asked the question, and the boy furrowed his brows.
"What should I do?" He asked back, not understanding what the man was referring to.
"With them!" The voice whispered, when the darkness of the night disappeared and Rahul broke away from the world of memories right in the middle of the desert in front of a large mammia army.