by AA Lee
“Dear spirits.”
“What?” Kisig turned with concern on his face.
“I forgot the bowl.”
“Are you thirsty?” Hula asked. “I noticed that you’ve been carrying that bowl of water since you got here.”
“No, it’s my contact to the village. I have to go up. It’s just near the entrance to this underground.”
“I’ll be right back, High Priestess.” Arnau offered. “You need to stay to write. None of us can write except you and Datu Hula.”
“No, I’m slower than her. My spelling is terrible, so you go up instead.” Datu Hula motioned with his hand. “Be quick.”
Arnau gave a quick bow and disappeared with his torch.
“I’m sure everything’s fine in Daa.” Datu Hula stepped back, letting Kenda move closer to Kisig. “Idja and ten other magicians are there, plus Mani’s gifted people. One evil man will not surely defeat them.”
“I hope so,” Kenda said as though praying. “It’s just that my grandma said he would be stronger whenever he comes back. The more he inflicts pain and terror, the stronger he becomes.”
Kisig continued reading the words etched on the wall. He was headed to the right, tracing each word with his finger. Kenda scanned the drawings Kisig was headed toward, and she stopped at a particular drawing, brows furrowed. It was smaller than the previous ones she had seen, easy to miss. A short-haired girl stood in the middle, wearing a simple dress. Surrounding her were men and women, lines from each of their hands connected to the girl as though they were attacking her.
Her hand reached up to touch the detailed drawing involuntarily. A lump formed in her throat as if she could feel the girl’s pain of betrayal and hatred. “I think I found it,” she said, more to herself than to her companions. Her fingers followed the lines forming the drawing, a sudden rush of emotions overtaking her.
Flashes of events flooded Kenda’s mind. Her surroundings shifted, the scene so vivid that she couldn’t distinguish the past from the present. A wail of agony made her turn. A girl with cropped hair and dark skin floated in the air as bolts of magic from magicians and priestesses hit her. Tala. I’m seeing High Priestess Tala. Kenda’s surroundings shifted again. This time, she and Tala were one. She writhed in pain as she looked up at Kisig while he pleaded with the magicians to stop. Words escaped her mouth with venom, condemning them all. The fire within her erupted with rage as her eyes met those of Kisig—the one who had broken her the most.
“Kenda, wake up! Wake up!” The panicked voice seemed so far.
Kenda’s whole body shook as she tried to remember who she was. A torch pulled her in, clinging onto her with a viselike grip. Kenda refused the madness. She pushed, fighting to return to the present.
“Get Idja, quick!” a man said, and she struggled to remember who it was.
“He’s in Daa to help Datu Goni,” said someone else.
“Kenda, wake up.”
Kenda knew that voice. The man was in both the past and the present.
“Tala needs you to stay strong. You have to free her, but first, you must wake up."
“I know.” Kenda’s voice came as a whisper. Her throat felt dry from the terror of what she had just witnessed. She took a deep breath and swallowed hard. “I know how she did it, and I know how to get her out.”
“High Priestess, Datu Goni is here! He said that he had been calling you for a long time.” Arnau was running, a bowl of water in one hand, a torch in the other. “It’s bad.”
“Kenda, can you hear me?” Goni’s voice came from the bowl of water.
“Yes, Datu Goni.” When Kisig offered his hand, Kenda took it, not trusting her wobbly legs.
“I know you’re about a day away from here, but this is getting out of control. Romu has returned frequently, and he’s blowing our ward spells like they are nothing. We’re battling him without rest, and I don’t know how long we’re going to last. What happens if we lose the battle?”
“I don’t know, but I will ask Grandma.” Kenda closed her eyes. “Grandma, can you hear me?”
Nora appeared as if she had been there all along. “You can’t lose a battle. You simply can’t. If you do, Romu will take one of you and turn him into his own. You can’t handle two evil souls. You’re already struggling with one.”
“Thank you, Grandma. Did you hear her, Uncle? We can’t lose because she’s going to take one of you to the afterlife and turn that person into an evil soul like him.”
“High Priestess,” Datu Goni called her by her title, reminding her that she must act as a responsible adult despite her age, “I know that you really need to free High Priestess Tala, but you must defend the village now. If he takes one of us tonight, we need you to be here to help us when two evil spirits show up.”
“I will be there tonight, Datu Goni.”
“Call forth High Priestess Mutya instead. Her soul can help Daa while we’re here.” Kisig grabbed her hand.
“No.” With resolve, Kenda faced Kisig. “Our village comes first. I know I need to free Tala, but now that the combined forces of our magicians aren’t enough, I can’t prioritize Tala. We’ve been through this curse for hundreds of years, but the evil soul is more dangerous.”
Kisig let go of her hand and, without a word, walked back toward the entrance of the underground.
“It doesn’t mean that I’m abandoning Tala.” Kenda followed him. “I can command water. It’s easy to go anywhere with it. As soon as I’m sure that the high priestess can fight Romu, we’ll come back here to free Tala.”
“Let’s get out of this underground first. It will be hard for the water to flow in here.”
Relieved that Kisig didn’t insist on staying, Kenda jogged to keep up with him. As soon as they were aboveground, she raised her hand to call forth water. Months had passed since she first discovered her ability, and she didn’t need to concentrate much to summon the water. It enveloped their feet.
Torches appearing on the riverbank made her stop. She thought she heard a child’s voice rising above the sound of the raging current.
Datu Hula held his torch away from his face to look at the approaching crowd. “I can hear the town’s language.”
“We need to hurry.” Kisig held on to Kenda’s staff.
She directed the water closer to the group from the river.
“Kenda!” Daniel called.
“Why are you here?” Kenda shouted in her broken town’s language.
“I want to see you.” Daniel ran toward her, raising his arms. The eight-year-old boy had gained weight in just a few weeks since she’d last seen him. “Lita didn’t give me more money.”
“I told you to stay at Lita’s. It’s dangerous here.”
“She’s all better now. She can move on her own.” The boy looked up at Kenda and lifted his foot as though he was about to climb the water holding her and Kisig.
Lita, the fruit vendor in town who’d taken in Kenda when she escaped her marriage, had been unable to move after her feet were injured in a fire that consumed her store. Kenda regretted using money to make Daniel help Lita, but she’d had no other choice at that time. Lita and Daniel were the only two people she knew in town, and she had to leave when war broke out between Nayon and Daa.
“Look, there’s something really important for me to do. Stay here, and I’ll get you later.”
“So this isn’t your village yet? Wow! I could have reached heaven with the number of mountains I climbed to get here.”
Kenda raised her arm. If she brought the boy to Daa, he could be in danger from Romu. It didn’t matter if the boy thought she was abandoning him here. As soon as the water moved, Daniel started shouting her name. Datu Hula grabbed the boy’s arm to stop him from running after them.
Forcing herself to face forward instead of turning back to the screaming boy, she willed the water to move faster. The moon and stars hid behind thick clouds. Despite the darkness, she was confident the water was going in the right direction.
When they reached Datu Goni’s house, Kenda could feel the presence of evil so strongly that the hair on the back of her neck stood up. Romu had become very powerful in just a day.
“I don’t like this,” Kisig whispered. “I don’t want to admit it, but I’m scared.”
“Me too, but we have to face this head-on.” Kenda tightened her grip on her staff.
“Kenda. Thank the spirits you’re here.” Pilly chewed her lower lip and held her hands together so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Kenda’s aunt had never looked so vulnerable before. With nine children, she had always shown strength and sometimes coldness when facing struggles.
The lamp near the door went out, prompting gasps of terror. Kenda swallowed her terror, grabbed the lamp, and lit it using a torch in the center of the living room.
The priestesses were holding hands, sitting on the floor in silence and deep concentration. Magicians were standing around them and holding hands. Datu Goni looked up and stopped midsentence in his ceremony. Relief washed over his face upon seeing Kenda.
A sinister laugh pierced through the silent village. Romu had somehow managed to break through the barrier to wreak havoc, but Kenda stood her ground even as the house was plunged into darkness. Raw anger pushed away her fear.
“How dare you mock us! You belong in the afterlife! We are not going to cower. You’re nothing!” Kenda’s hand moved to the top of the staff and touched the lowest lock of hair—Priestess Mutya’s. “We need you in the world of the living.”
A glowing green light emerged, covering an old woman with long white hair and a beautiful, kind face, just how Kenda had imagined Priestess Mutya. Then she touched her grandmother’s hair.
“We can’t interfere with the lives of the living.” Nora shook her head.
“Why do we have to be afraid of nothingness if we have served our purpose? As high priestesses, we have promised to dedicate our lives to the village. We are the protectors. That does not change even if we have already crossed to the afterlife,” High Priestess Mutya said.
As the two debated, Kenda continued summoning each of the high priestesses, pausing only to take deep breaths.
“If I disappear forever, I won’t be able to see my relatives,” a curly-haired high priestess said.
“High Priestess Adi, I cast a spell on this staff before my death so that the Bringer of Equality could summon us if needed. Now is the time.” High Priestess Mutya held High Priestess Adi’s hand, pleading. “Besides, you should know that your relatives who know you crossed into the afterlife a long time ago.”
“Welcome to the world of the living!” Romu laughed again with his eerie voice. His body was so dark that it consumed all the light in the room.
“How did you cross here without anyone calling you?” Nora asked.
“If you join hands with me, I’ll tell you, High Priestess.” Romu bent over in what looked like a bow of mockery, his fiery eyes looking straight into Nora’s. “Together, we can find a way to remain here forever.”
Nora clucked her tongue and shook her head. “What a pity.”
“Let’s see who’s going to be more pitiful.” His hands reached out ever so slowly and closed in on Idja’s throat.
“That’s it. Romu, boy, you need a good beating.” In a blink, Priestess Mutya flew to Romu’s side. Her hand rose to Romu’s throat and choked him, but he flung her to the side like a rag doll.
The rest of the high priestesses circled Romu. His dark aura grew smaller and smaller as they held his hands, his feet, and other parts of his body that they could touch. Kenda put one hand on her grandmother’s, and Nora’s green glow brightened. The positive energy traveled to each of their touching hands until no corner of the house was left in the dark.
“Leave it to us, child.” Priestess Mutya put a hand on Kenda’s shoulder. “Go on and undo the curse. We will handle this evil soul because it’s our responsibility. You take care of the living.”
“Will you still answer when I call?”
“I answered after four hundred years. Anytime… anytime at all.”
Chapter 10
Kisig
The village was quiet the following day. Kenda and Datu Goni visited each of the houses known to have sick villagers. When Kenda came back to Datu Goni’s house, she had an uneasy look on her face.
“What is it?” Kisig asked.
“High Priestess Mutya told me last night that they put the torch back underground, back where it was before the last priestess trials. I didn’t get the chance to ask more because they had to bring Romu back to the underworld. You must know where that was because you were the datu back then.”
“I wasn’t there during the final trial, but I know the contenders started their journey in the shrine.”
“Then we have to return to Nayon at once. Also…” Kenda looked away and fiddled with her hair. “I need you to make sure that High Priestess Tala”—in a lower voice, she added—“or me… won’t be consumed by the torch. You should know what to do by now.”
“You…” Kisig felt heat rise into his face. Kenda needing him to stop the torch from corrupting her meant that she had feelings for him. He had no idea what to do. Fear gripped him again, just as it had four hundred years before.
Kenda turned her back but in a stern voice said, “You have to face this head-on.” When he didn’t answer, she faced him with a steady gaze. “If you let fear stop you from facing this challenge, we might as well give up the idea of freeing Tala. No matter how powerful High Priestess Tala is—or me—you must not flee like you did four hundred years ago.”
Kisig swallowed hard, overwhelmed by the sudden shift in Kenda’s personality. “H-how did you know about the hate?”
“I felt it when I saw the memories in High Priestess Mutya’s underground.”
Kisig was thankful for the whooshing of air that filled his ears and hit his face. Without it, their trip to Nayon would’ve been filled with uncomfortable silence. The water had a great way of announcing their arrival. Kids flocked to them, including Daniel, who had picked up a few words of the village language. Kisig was amazed at how the children played together even without fully understanding each other.
After a short talk with Datu Hula, Kisig and Kenda headed to the shrine, their awkwardness slowly disappearing.
“A well inside the shrine?” Kenda looked at him in disbelief.
“Yes. The villagers said the contenders jumped into the well, but when they returned, they did not come out of it.”
“That means there is another way.”
“But we don’t know where.”
“All right. Let’s take the well, then.” Kenda shrugged and walked briskly into the shrine. Wild plants covered the stone floor, but none of them reached their knees. A rotting coconut broomstick lay next to the wall. “I didn’t notice it before, but how come these candles are still lit?” she asked.
“This is the shrine, home to the greatest priestesses of Nayon,” explained Kisig, but deep inside, he was also astonished that the candles still looked the same, burning but never melting.
The biggest one in the middle was unlit. Tala had lit it four hundred years before, but the fire went out when she disappeared in the torch. In the center, unblemished by the wild plants, was the well. Water shot up a few feet above, but it never overflowed.
“Hold on,” he said almost to himself as he stared at the biggest candle. “High Priestess Mutya said that only the most powerful could hold the torch.”
“The torch where High Priestess Tala is imprisoned now?” Kenda asked.
Kisig nodded. “And she knew Tala’s power was extraordinary through this candle.”
Kenda cocked her head, looking too eager to hear his next words.
“She said that Tala lit this candle.”
“That’s it?” Kenda raised her eyebrows.
“But it isn’t powerful. The torch is. This is just to see if—"
“If I can hold it,” Kenda completed his sentence. “Fi
ne. I’ll do it.” She yanked out the candle holder next to the biggest candle and without hesitation lit the biggest candle. “Happy?” she asked as she put the small candle back on the ground.
“Uh…” was all Kisig managed to say.
Kenda hurried past the candles, squatted, and touched the water. The water was pushed aside, making a hole in the middle of the well. “We can’t jump this high.”
“Wait!”
Something was nagging at the back of his mind. It wasn’t the fear of the well, because he already knew how deep it was, and Kenda could control water. It was something about the past when Tala and other contenders entered the well. But try as he might, he could not remember.
“When you had the vision, you said that you knew what needed to be done. Was there any warning before you held the torch?”
“You already know it. It is powerful and will consume me.” Kenda did not bother to look at him. She looked eager to swim.
“What else?”
“That I will need you to preserve my humanity,” Kenda said absently, “so I won’t be tempted and tainted by the power the torch will offer.”
Tempted… That’s it! “Kenda, listen, when Tala and other contenders took this path on the final trial, Priestess Mutya warned them about evil souls on their journey to the torch. She said that those souls were evil and jealous of the living, so they would try to tempt them to the afterlife.”
“What?” Kenda shot to her feet and jumped back.
“What if they’re as strong as Romu?” Saying his name made him shudder. He didn’t want to accidentally summon the evil soul.
“I can fight them.”
“What if there’s more than one? I remember that Priestess Mutya said evil souls. We might not be able to get out alive.”
“We can’t go back now.”
“How about asking Priestess Mutya?” he suggested.
“She might be busy taking care of Romu now. We should handle this on our own.” Kenda said, scratching the side of her face in annoyance.