The Priestess Trials Trilogy Box Set: An Asian Myth and Legend Series

by AA Lee

  Three rapid drumbeats signaling an attack silenced the room.

  Kisig shot to his feet. He could hear his own heartbeat as his guards surrounded him. “Is it Daa?”

  “We don’t know yet, Datu,” Bantay, his head guard, answered.

  Kisig snatched his spear from the corner of the living room and rushed outside. Men dragged the older villagers. Women carried their children. Some villagers ran to the north without even looking back at those who had fallen to the ground. Their direction of flight only meant that the attackers weren’t from Daa.

  Perhaps Mani warriors?

  The sound of hooves thundering in the distance negated his initial guess. Mani and Daa people didn’t raise horses. They raised pigs, goats, and cattle for food. Horses were raised by the rich villages in the lowlands for transport where the river was more peaceful.

  Nayon warriors raced to the south gate. Their spears and arrows glistened under the afternoon sun. Kisig jogged to join them. The sound of hooves grew louder.

  “Protect the datu!” Head Warrior Bagsik roared to his guards. “Escort him to the north!”

  “I am the datu!” Kisig planted his spear in the ground in protest. “I should be protecting the village. I will not hide!”

  The head warrior put his hand against Kisig’s chest. “The survivors will need a leader. Leave the protection of the village to us.”

  Kisig stood his ground in defiance.

  “Look at the Españols! Once they cross the river, you won’t have time to escape.”

  Kisig’s eyes followed the head warrior’s hand pointing to the river. They glistened—not only their weapons but the men themselves were covered in metal. They wore metal hats that looked impossible to penetrate, and with the river at an all-time low due to the drought, they would be on Nayon in a matter of minutes.

  How are we going to defend our village with such powerful enemies?

  “We’ll hold them off. Go to Daa and the land of leeches. They will not follow you there. Some of my men gathered tobacco. You can’t use fire. Go now, Datu. Go!”

  Kisig looked at the remaining warriors running to the gate. He couldn’t just leave them to die. Then he looked at the villagers running north. “You have to live,” he said to Head Warrior Bagsik.

  “As you commanded, Datu.”

  Kisig ran north but stopped as he thought about Tala and the high priestess.

  He dashed to Tala’s room. He put his arm around her back and under the bend in her knees and lifted her up. The girl asked him a question, but it didn’t register in his mind. A guard lifted the high priestess, and they fled to the north gate, surrounded by attendants and his best guards.

  Tala wrapped her arm around his shoulders, making it easier for him to balance her. Just before they reached the north gate, the guards surrounding him stopped.

  Something’s wrong.

  The villagers were running back. Pandemonium broke out as the horrified people from the north and the terrified villagers from the south bumped into each other. Those who fell down were stepped on. The guards tightened their circle around Kisig.

  “What happened?” Bantay shouted among the chaos. He grabbed a man running from the south.

  “Magicians. Powerful magicians are at the south gate. And they’re burning the people.” The man pried Bantay’s hand free and fled to the west.

  “But I killed all their gifted people,” Tala said.

  “No. Someone powerful was left in Daa, perhaps more than one person, who can hold illusions for hours,” the high priestess said.

  “Hours?” Tala shook her head. “Bring me to the shrine.”

  “No!” the high priestess shouted. “You’re not ready.”

  “I can’t let the villagers die because of me. They’re here because of what I did. They’re here for revenge and gold.” Tala clutched Kisig’s shoulder tightly. “I’m begging you.” She looked him in the eyes. “Please let me help.”

  Chapter 35

  Tala

  “Please,” Tala begged one more time. “Look at the villagers. They have nowhere to go. I’m sure the Españols worked with Daa and Mani’s gifted people. They knew they couldn’t defeat us without magic.”

  For an instant, she thought she saw fear in the datu’s eyes. Does he fear the invaders or me?

  He lifted his head and ordered his guards, “Protect us. We need to get to the shrine as fast as we can.”

  “Priestess Tala!” the high priestess shouted. “Take out only the strongest magicians. Let go of the torch after that. Do you understand me? The torch will consume your mind the longer you hold it. Remember that.”

  Tala nodded, not even knowing if the high priestess could see her. The sound of the horses’ hooves drummed in her ears. The clang of metal followed. Most of the villagers were coming back from the south, choosing the quick death of an enemy’s weapon over fire.

  Their group moved slower as the number of villagers caught up to them. She could see the shrine. If only she had the energy, she could dash inside instead of hanging limp in the datu’s arms.

  A gigantic black horse galloped toward them. The circle surrounding the datu broke as the horse charged them. Instead of using his long, thin knife strapped to his waist, the rider held up a barrel. Datu Kisig rushed to the side before the horse could run them over.

  “Put me down!” Tala shouted.

  The guards hurled their spears at the rider, but the horse was so fast that they might as well have been throwing spears at the air.

  “Watch out!” Tala cried as the rider aimed his barrel at the datu. A thunderous explosion rocked the village, followed by a burning smell. A clean hole in the ground gaped where Kisig had been standing just a moment earlier. She pushed at the datu with all her might, trying to make him let go and fight, but the datu held her close.

  Banta’s spear pierced the horse’s shoulder. The horse let out a loud neigh, and the rider fell to the ground. Kisig moved toward the shrine. Tala looked back as the guards pinned the rider to the ground and removed his armor.

  Datu Kisig entered the shrine without waiting for his guards. He stopped in the middle, looked at the torch, then looked at Tala.

  “Put me down. You could get hurt if you go closer.”

  The datu gently put her down. Knees shaking, Tala walked toward the torch. The clang of metal prompted her to run. Energy surged into her body as her hand gripped the torch.

  Knowing that she had to let go of the torch as soon as she could, she jumped next to the man fighting the datu. She stopped. The man, frozen by the sight of her torch, looked nothing like any person she had seen before. She had been so scared of the horse rider earlier that only his weapon had registered in her mind. The man before her was a head taller than the datu. He had extraordinarily pale skin, and rosy blood rushed to his face in anger. It wasn’t the same porcelain skin of the binukot daughters who had stayed indoors all their lives or of someone who had been sick for days. He had a nose so high, he could have been sculpted by the priestesses for ceremonies.

  Tala hesitated. His big brown eyes stared back at her and made her wonder if he was one of the spirits she didn’t know. But when he raised his sword to strike, Tala burned him to the ground.

  Datu Kisig held her hand and pulled her toward his guards. She thought the flames dimmed, but when he let go of her arm, the roaring flames returned.

  “I have to do this alone,” she said.

  The torch pulled her to the south. It wanted a strong power, but as she exited the shrine, villagers flocked north. Nayon’s defense had fallen, and horses stepped on the villagers like they were nothing but sand.

  She gripped the torch as if letting it know that she was the one in control. She detected gifted people but not strong. Torch held high, she sauntered amid the chaos. Enemies and villagers alike fled.

  First, she hunted the cavalry. They turned into ashes while the animals were spared. Thunder exploded from their barrels. Spears and arrows flew her way, but the fire consumed
anything that was out to harm her. She lost count of the number of strangers she burned, but she didn’t stop until the last two.

  “You”—she pointed to the Español on the ground— “will make sure that what happened today is known by all generations to come. Go and spread the word to your people and let them know that my fire awaits them always.”

  A young warrior translated Tala’s words. The foreign man stood, bowed, and said what Tala thought could only be gratitude for sparing his life. Then he bolted like he didn’t trust Tala’s mercy.

  “Him.” Tala examined the man held by Head Warrior Bagsik. “I need him.”

  “I don’t take orders from you,” the head warrior said without a hint of insult, but he didn’t show gratitude either.

  “I will not forgive you if you kill that man. I needed answers. I need to know what’s out there.”

  “Priestess Tala!” Priestess Dula yelled. “Enough. You have to let go now. Remember what the high priestess told you.”

  “I know what I needed to do,” she replied in a sharp tone. “but I need to catch the powerful one in the south.” She turned before the older priestess could say more. She wasn’t lying, but that wasn’t the whole truth. She didn’t want to let go of the torch because she knew she would be helpless without it. What if another attack happens while I’m unconscious?

  She gripped the torch tighter. She needed direction, but the torch failed to show her the way. When she reached the south gate, all that was left were charred bodies. Some were covered with dirt, probably from rolling in an effort to quell the fire, while some had collapsed on the way down to the river.

  She combed the forest but found no hint of magic. It was as if the force she’d felt before had just been an illusion. It didn’t stop her from moving south until she reached Daa, but she found only terrified people. They didn’t even have warriors to protect them.

  The longer she searched, the stronger her will to suppress the fire magician grew. She vowed never to be weak again until that magic was captured in her torch.

  Chapter 36

  Kisig

  “We need to stop the girl. The longer she holds the torch, the harder it will be to defeat her.” The high priestess anxiously walked back and forth. The underground passage was lit by a single torch. Smoke slowly exited back at the high priestess’s hut and the entrance of the underground. The high priestess had locked the entrance after going down and laid a trap that would make a sound if Tala tried to enter.

  “I understand, High Priestess, but how? And honestly, she’s made things better than before. Now, I don’t have to worry about the villagers going hungry or us getting attacked again.”

  “You don’t understand. The torch will eat away her soul. She should not hold it for a long time. She should only hold it when absolutely necessary then let go of it to free herself from its magic. She must be calm when she holds it to counter the torch’s magic. When she’s angry or afraid, the torch takes advantage of that.” The high priestess was speaking so fast that Kisig could not interrupt her. “I made a grave mistake. I became greedy. The moment she lit the great candle in the shrine, I knew she could command the torch, so I changed the final trial to see for myself that she could indeed do it. Your mother also confirmed it when I sent you to the spirit world to talk to her. I knew she would use her spirit to hold it. I was planning to teach her how to let go of it until she could overcome its power.”

  “So, she was the star my mother spoke of. What should we do now? The girl never sleeps. The warriors are no match, and no priestess is stronger than she is. What about combining the priestesses’ forces? Maybe then you would stand a chance.”

  “No.” The high priestess absently touched her staff. “The girl knows we could do that. It’s been done before. Long ago, another person held the torch. He happened to be a man, so he became the village datu. Tala is a lot stronger than he was. We need to do something different.”

  “Like what?”

  “The torch strips away its owner’s soul—in essence, the owner’s humanity. It leaves a hollow shell once it’s done. It was created for one purpose—to make gold—but when its creator was forced to work endlessly to satisfy a tyrant datu, the priestess rebelled. She was only one against many magicians, so she was forced to bend to the tyrant’s will until she discovered a dark magic by using a curse.”

  “So, the torch is cursed?”

  “No. Well… yes. It’s hard to explain, but basically it’s not the torch. It’s the creator who cursed herself and is now trapped in the torch. Her only way to escape the tyrant was to lock herself inside the torch through a curse. She couldn’t die because priestesses at that time would simply heal her if she tried to harm herself. I could not imagine her misery or hatred that she would rather be a spirit locked in there forever.”

  “So… you said we must do something different.”

  “Let me continue so you’ll understand. The creator of the staff was successful at locking herself away, but she hadn’t foreseen that because she had tapped into dark magic, it had altered her soul. It turned her into a vengeful soul who controls those who hold the torch. Her greed for power is endless. The curse can be undone, but she is hiding that option from Tala because the curse is the only thing keeping her vengeful soul somehow alive.”

  “How?” Kisig was starting to get impatient.

  “All right. I’ll get to the point. You have to free Hagibis.”

  “Absolutely not. That would free us of one problem only to put us in more trouble.”

  “He was the only one able to convince Daa officials. They have a powerful magician. If we don’t stop Tala before she becomes a monster, she will burn the world like hell. If she undoes the curse, the torch will go back to its original purpose, and the creator can cross to the afterlife peacefully.”

  “I can’t decide this one alone, High Priestess. The villagers who lost their loved ones would want to see him punished.”

  “That’s why this needs to be done secretly.”

  “And what if he uses this opportunity to bring us down by joining hands with the Daa?”

  The high priestess massaged her forehead. “I’ve thought about this countless times. I have thought about which is the lesser evil. With Hagibis, at least we stand a chance. We can have him monitored secretly through a trained spy.”

  “Give me some time to think.”

  “This is not a matter you need to think about. Every moment you waste thinking is another moment for the torch to reach its goal. And one more thing, you have a crucial role in this. You’re the one who will help keep her humanity.”

  Chapter 37

  Tala

  The priestesses looked anywhere but at her as Tala passed by. Most of them had their heads down.

  “Everyone to the shrine!”

  The priestesses followed her like ducklings would follow their mother. No one walked beside her. Even the high priestess kept silent as she stood in front of her hut.

  The priestesses took their seats on the stone floor inside the shrine. Tala walked to the front, the candles still lit behind her. The high priestess joined her side. A small part of her felt guilty for having made decisions against the high priestess’s wishes, but the strength coming from the torch was telling her that she was right and that the high priestess was simply weak.

  “Now that you’re all here, I have a very important decision to announce,” the high priestess said in a loud voice.

  Tala frowned. She was the one who had asked the priestesses to come, but the high priestess was taking advantage of it. She reasoned that the high priestess could call them anytime anyway, so there was no need to get angry.

  “As you all saw, Tala has made enormous changes to the village in the past couple of days. Because of her, all of us are still alive, and our warriors did not suffer a great loss. She is the most powerful priestess in my lifetime—more powerful than me. Therefore, I pronounce her the new high priestess.”

  Tala turned her head a
bruptly. She hadn’t expected the high priestess to make such a decision. Her mind raced to determine the high priestess’s goal, but she couldn’t find any. The high priestess should have been campaigning to relieve Tala of her position because she hadn’t obeyed the high priestess’s order to let go of the torch.

  “Even if you don’t speak, I know what you’re all thinking. You were expecting a new high priestess to be appointed after I passed away. There is no such rule. It was just the norm.”

  Tala didn’t refuse the opportunity. Once she was proclaimed officially as the high priestess, the people would acknowledge her more easily.

  “Moving forward, you should call me Priestess Mutya. The proclamation will be tomorrow night at the meeting hall. I expect you all to join the celebration. The village is now abundant with food, thanks to Priestess Tala, so tomorrow, we will enjoy the freedom of not having to think about what to eat the following day!”

  A smile ghosted on Tala’s lips. At last, she thought, the high priestess understands me.

  “I have to go now and meet the village datu so that the officials can prepare as well. Priestess Tala, I leave the priestesses to you. I trust that you want the proclamation to go your way. The priestesses will prepare according to your wishes.”

  “Thank you, High Priestess. I can’t wait for tomorrow.” She beamed.

  The high priestess left without looking back.

  “Okay, priestesses, it’s time to get busy. All the tenured priestesses will follow me to the datu’s house and get gold. Tomorrow we will exchange it for food. I don’t care whether you visit your neighbor or go to the Daa or Mani villages as long as you bring something back. There are many of you, so travel in pairs, or whatever. It’s up to you. You also have to spread the word about the celebration tomorrow. Make sure the whole village knows.”