by AA Lee
“Well done, Priestess Tala.” The priestess looked at her as if she could see her.
Tala looked at her own hands to confirm she was invisible.
“You will learn how to sense the spirits of living people later. For now, return to your body.”
They continued training to leave their bodies the following day, both with the help of the priestesses through a ceremony and by eating the mushrooms. Tala hated the feeling she got when she ingested the nasty mushroom and wished she could train to do it without its aid.
By the fourth day, the high priestess came to see them. She distributed hats with cloth covers in front that Tala assumed were to shield their faces from the sun when they went out. But the covers were all black, and when Tala wore hers, she could see nothing but the thick cloth.
“Today you will learn how to summon and communicate with souls. That will be your very essence as a priestess if you manage to make it to the top ten this year, and even if you don’t succeed, the knowledge will be useful if a priestess is not available to aid you or your family,” the high priestess said before leaving them to the five priestesses.
If it was that important, Tala wondered why the lesson wasn’t taught in the first week, but she didn’t dare question the design of the trials.
“Wear your hats, and do exactly as I tell you.” Priestess Dula took over the lesson. “Don’t slouch!”
Tala straightened as the tip of the staff touched her back.
“Inhale,” the priestess instructed quietly. “Hold… and exhale.” Tala thought she smelled something. When Priestess Dula told them to inhale again, she was sure the priestesses were burning something. It was a mixture of scents she could not distinguish except for one—lemongrass.
“Summoning souls is the complete opposite of leaving your body. Today, you need full concentration.” The priestess’s voice turned quiet and slow, like she was whispering to each of them. “Abandon your fears, lock away your worries, and smell only the sweet scent surrounding you.”
Even without instruction, Tala found herself breathing evenly. With her eyes covered, she felt alone, yet not afraid. The priestess’s voice guided her.
“Think of one person who has crossed to the other side that you badly want to see, a name, a face, a memory with them.”
Tala shook her head. She had no memory of her parents. She didn’t even know their names. Luning… She thought she said it out loud, but no words came out.
Her eyes flew open. In front of her, Luning glowed green and sat without touching the floor.
“I knew you would be the first to summon me.” The girl smiled. She was no longer thin. Her skin wasn’t pale from malnutrition. She genuinely looked happy.
“Look at me.” Tala sniffed. “I even know how to talk to you now. And… I have friends. If only you were alive to experience it.”
Luning shook her head. “I have no power. Had I not died, I would’ve suffered longer.”
Tala nodded in agreement. “So, listen, I have to ask you something. Master said we’re both orphans, but we really don’t know, right? Maybe my parents are still alive, and our master just stole us to save money. You know, slaves are expensive, and we couldn’t just go to Daa and ask who our parents are and, and…”
“You want to talk to your parents?”
“Yes…”
“Since I didn’t know them when I was alive, it’s harder for me to look for them, but I’ll ask around. I also have friends now.” Luning smiled again, her teeth perfectly white against the green glow. “You have to let me go now. When you summon me, I travel past the veil between the living and the dead. The underworld is constantly calling us back, and when you hold me too long, you risk being pulled back with me.”
“Yes, I can feel it.” Fully aware that magic had limits, Tala closed her eyes and let Luning return to the afterlife. When she opened her eyes again, she felt as though she hadn’t opened her eyes at all when she’d talked to Luning.
First, she heard Nimfa sobbing to her left. When she removed her hat, the rest of the contenders were in emotional turmoil. Tala watched as the priestesses walked among them, making sure that each was far from the afterlife’s clutch.
On their second day of talking to souls, Tala tried to call someone she didn’t know. She had no idea how, but instead of focusing on her memory of someone, she reached out with her spirit. She focused on the energy that had pulled Luning yesterday, until she couldn’t feel her own body anymore.
“Hey, anyone? Does anyone know me?” She thought she said it loudly into the dark, but she couldn’t hear her own voice.
She braced herself for failure, but to her astonishment, a flowy dress filled her vision. It was as white as a cloud on a sunny day. When she looked up, her own face looked back at her, but the face was older, and the woman had no star on her chest. She was as elegant as a datu’s wife, and her delicate hands looked like she hadn’t worked a day in her life.
Puzzled, Tala tried to touch the woman only to pass through her like she was nothing but air. “I can’t be seeing my future spirit.”
“No, you’re not. I’m your mother.”
Tala gasped. The woman in front of her looked so solid and alive. Her resemblance made sense. Yet, the way she talked and the way she moved was nothing like Tala. She thought she would feel something more. She thought she would cry when she saw her mother, perhaps smile with happiness, but questions flooded her mind and demanded urgent answers.
“Why didn’t you show yourself to me before? Why now?”
“There is a veil between the living and the spirits. We cannot simply cross it at will, or the balance would be in danger, and the veil would be torn. You only called me today.”
“I did not…” But Tala remembered that she had indeed summoned anyone who knew her.
“Your father also wanted to talk to you, but you’re a mere baby learning the ways of magic. You need more practice to handle multiple souls at once. Even now, I can see death pulling you.”
“But there are too many things I want to know. Is it true that we’re from Daa? Were we slaves before? Can I go back to Daa? We must have relatives there. I need to know their names so I can find them. Were you able to wield magic? And… what’s your name?”
“You have gone through so much, child. I’m sorry you had to bear it alone, but you must go back now. Tomorrow… call me again tomorrow.” Her mother’s face was desperate.
“Just answer one thing, m-mother.” The word felt alien in her mouth. “Please!”
“We were not slaves, child. You were born from great and powerful magicians. You are the star that gives light in the darkness. Now wake up, child. Wake up, or you will die!”
“I don’t understand what you mean. What star? If we’re not a family of slaves, what is my father’s name? What’s your name?”
“Go back! What’s the use of knowledge if you die?”
Tala felt her head touch the stone floor. The high priestess’s face looked blurry, but she could slightly make out her furrowed brows and her lips calling Tala’s name. She felt as if she were underwater, and the voices around her were muted. Tala closed her eyes and tried to breathe deeply. When she opened her eyes, she saw priestesses carrying her on a mat back to her hut.
“I specifically told you to pull them out if they go too far.” The high priestess’s voice became clearer.
“But she looked fine, High Priestess.” The voice belonged to Priestess Mayumi.
“I didn’t train you to be blind.” The high priestess’s voice was like a whip. “I only needed Priestess Dula for an hour, and you already failed to keep your eye on them.” The younger priestesses kept their silence.
Tala’s strength returned quicker than she thought it would. When the priestesses laid her down in her hut, her vision didn’t swim anymore. She put her hand against the floor to sit up, but the high priestess looked at her like she’d done something wrong, so she lay back down.
“You’re always losing conscious
ness. You should have some sense of when to stop. What’s the use of winning if you die?”
Tala wanted to tell the high priestess about her mother. She wanted to tell the high priestess that her family hadn’t been slaves, but the high priestess turned around and climbed down the stairs.
“Stay in your hut for the rest of the day. You’re in no condition to train now.”
The rest of the priestesses left her hut.
Malaya entered their hut before dinner, looking like she could barely walk. The girl sat at the door, her hands visibly shaking. “The high priestess said she needs to see you in her hut today.”
“Me? She didn’t say anything this morning.”
“I don’t know. Perhaps she’s going to tell you how to win the final trial.”
Tala didn’t bother wasting her energy. “Make way,” she said as she stood to leave the hut.
“And if I don’t want to?”
“I’ll kick your tired butt out the door.”
Malaya moved aside but moaned in protest. Tala prepared herself, just in case the girl tripped her, but she exited the hut without a trick from Malaya.
“High Priestess, it’s Tala!” she banged at the high priestess’s door. Her fist did not aid her call because the bamboo door muted her knock. “High Priestess!” she called again but received no answer. There was no way the high priestess couldn’t hear her. The bamboo walls had enough spaces between them to allow her voice to carry inside. Did something happen to her? Or is she not home yet? Tala stood for a moment before calling to the high priestess again.
Tala couldn’t stand waiting at the door. The high priestess had powers she may not know, but the woman was old and frail too. If someone had heard about the money she used to pay back the dowry, some thief could have easily knocked her over physically.
Slowly, Tala pushed the door inward, careful not to make a sound. To her surprise, it wasn’t locked. Tala opened the door wide and closed it behind her. The hut was only good for one person, so it would have been impossible to miss someone inside. The only thing hidden from her sight was the kitchen, which was divided from the living room by a wall. The floor was the ground itself covered carelessly by stones.
Tala’s eyes widened as she spotted a hole in the ground. Could the high priestess have fallen into the hole? It was dark enough she couldn’t see the hole’s bottom. She was about to go out to ask for help when her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She recognized what looked like stairs going down into the hole. She kneeled in front of it and lowered her head to get a better view. Sure enough, there were stairs going down.
Tala looked around for a torch but couldn’t find one. Her curiosity wouldn’t let her walk away, so she took the steps down, her hands on the wall to guide herself. The opening was just large enough to accommodate her size. Her mind lingered for a while on how the high priestess must have descended into the hole. After a few steps, she felt the ground levelling, and she was no longer going down but rather walking straight forward. The path wasn’t smooth, but no stones tripped her either.
Tala was glad the tunnel had no intersections, or she would have gotten lost underground. She found herself walking for a long time and stopped for a moment, wondering if she had been a fool to go underground without anyone knowing where she was. She wasn’t even sure the high priestess was there, but she’d come a long way to simply turn back. She took a deep breath and continued walking. The tunnel became wider and wider.
Tala thought momentarily that she saw a light ahead. When she blinked, it disappeared. She rubbed her eyes with her hands and looked again. It was still pitch-black. Tala continued forward. She could no longer touch both sides of the tunnel, so she walked along the right side and touched the wall with her right hand. She thought she heard footsteps, but when she stopped to listen, there was only silence.
She continued, walking faster, determined to see the end of the underground. A rope caught her legs, and she fell facedown. She swallowed a yelp of surprise, not wanting anyone to hear her. What’s a rope doing here?
She heard stones striking each other, sending streaks of light into the dark. She needed to move fast, yet panic won, and her hands failed to move accurately in the darkness.
She watched helplessly as the sparks made it to the torch, and the blinding fire assaulted her vision, involuntarily making her close her eyes. When she opened them again, bulging muscles with angry scars greeted her.
Chapter 28
Kisig
“You’re dead!” Kisig shouted and let out a hearty laugh.
“Stop scaring the girl.” The high priestess crouched to untie the rope but stopped and groaned, putting her hands on her back. “My back is killing me.”
“If I were a bad person, she surely would have been dead. Who goes into an unknown place without weapons?”
“I told you she would make her way here. I won.” The high priestess raised her brows then smiled.
“Fine, you won. It was your money anyway.”
“You made a bet on me?” Tala’s eye widened.
Kisig moved the torch away, and the girl looked back at the high priestess. He couldn’t determine whether the girl was angry or simply surprised, but she started working on freeing herself.
“Ah, yes, we did, and I won. While waiting for you, we thought we should get to know you better, how you react to things and such.”
Tala stood and flung the rope aside. Kisig thought she would shout in anger, but her voice was low when she spoke. “Malaya told me you needed to see me.”
“Yes.”
Tala cocked her head. “This is… unexpected, and this place is… hard to reach just to talk.”
“I called you here because… we need your help. This is the perfect place to test your talent without disturbing the villagers. That’s what I’m hoping anyway.”
Kisig shook his head at how the high priestess was beating around the bush when she had always been too direct while speaking to him. “In short, we need your valuable talent when we attack Daa.”
“Attack? Is there going to be a war? But I don’t see anyone preparing. What about the children and the elderly?”
“The head warrior is strategizing to inflict the least damage to them.” Kisig knew he wasn’t telling her the whole truth, but he wasn’t lying either. “And we need your help to make sure that it stays that way.”
“How? I’m just a contender.”
“You’re more than that.” The high priestess stepped closer to Tala. “You’ve shown that you’re capable of doing a lot of things no one has ever been able to do before. Remember when you made that illusion in the second trial? I need you to do that during the battle to distract the Daa warriors.”
“But… Daa people are also my people. Why do we need to attack them? Can’t we just find a way to gather food? Hunt? Fish perhaps?”
“It’s more complicated than that.” Kisig sighed.
“It’s not. You’re the leader. You just have to order your people to attack or to not attack.”
“The Daa warriors are getting ready to attack us. When that happens, I don’t know how many people will die, but with your help…”
The girl’s face brightened, as if understanding her purpose. “I am but a subject who should follow your command. What can I do then to help attack peacefully?”
Peacefully? Dear spirits, Kisig prayed, but he hoped the girl wouldn’t change her mind. What could have happened to make her act nothing like a slave? She was eager, far from the cowering slave he’d met last time. The only time she’d been like that before was when she’d gotten drunk, but the girl didn’t appear to have had a sip of wine.
“We need to test your talent here first, child. We can’t go into battle blind.” The high priestess looked around and picked up a stone the size of her thumb. “Here. I believe this stone has never left this tunnel, so let’s hope its memories stay here. Find its memory of how this tunnel was built and show it to us.”
Tala closed her hand around
the stone and furrowed her brows in concentration. It didn’t take long for their surroundings to change. Streaks of light came out of the priestesses’ hands, cutting through rocks and soil. The high priestess in the illusion walked near Kisig, sweat beading on her forehead. He saw her so clearly that he could have touched her. She continued boring through the ground and evening out rough edges.
“That’s enough, Contender Tala,” the high priestess commanded.
The stone dropped to the floor, and before Tala could fall down, Kisig stepped forward and caught her arm.
“I’m fine. I could hold it longer. It’s just… it’s easier to see the memory on my own but hard to project it so others can see.” The girl bowed her head and tried to pull his hand from her shoulder.
“Let me help you just until we get out of here.”
“You can go. I just need a little time to regain my strength.” The girl avoided his eyes.
“The girl is right. Using magic is exhausting, and she has done too much in a day. She’ll be fine in no time.” The high priestess planted the torch in the ground. “But I should go now. I simply have too many things to do.”
“I don’t want to leave her here alone. She’s too weak. I’ll stay with her.”
“No!” the girl protested. “I’m fine. I can walk.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You can barely stand.” Kisig squatted. “I’ll give you a piggyback.”
“No, Datu. That… that—”
“You kids are tiring me. Let’s get out of here.” The high priestess walked ahead of them.
Tala refused again when Kisig bent to offer his back. She didn’t let him break custom either when he suggested she go first. Determined, she followed behind him with wobbly legs.
Chapter 29
Tala