by AA Lee
“Talk to me,” Kenda called to the flame.
Her skin was an inch away from touching it. The agitated villagers talking about the tayho and the kapre’s appearance made her lose her concentration, but she didn’t want to simply tell them to flee, or panic would grip them. When they panicked, villagers had the tendency to make unpredictable and dangerous decisions.
She tried hard to block the noise and focused on the flickering flame. “I fed you my blood. How dare you forget me!”
The flame grew bigger, waiting to taste her blood. But instead of letting herself burn, she raised her hand. The flame became smaller in disappointment. Kenda looked around and saw a teenager with a bolo knife. She asked the boy if she could borrow the knife, and he undid the rope tied around his waist and handed her the knife in its sheath. He then followed her, acting like her bodyguard as she went back to Tala.
Kenda pulled out the blade from its sheath, closed her hand over it, and pulled. The boy behind her gasped. She held her hand up, letting the blood drip over the flame. The torch swallowed her blood as if dying of thirst.
Kenda let the flame lick her hand and gritted her teeth to endure the pain of the wound and the flame. “Now, tell me.”
No speech was needed. In an instant, Kenda knew what was happening as if she and the torch shared the same mind. With her release, a door had opened, and now that the high priestesses’ hair was binding it, the torch’s power to heal itself was weak. The door remained open, and the creatures consumed by the torch would be free. But for now, Kenda’s blood lent power to the torch to keep the door closed. The only way to keep the prisoners inside was to remove the locks of hair, but that would surely mean that Kenda and Tala would die.
Kenda was ready to die to end the curse, but the village needed her, and she wanted Tala to live longer and enjoy life. The girl had a horrible past of abuse, and the only two people she’d trusted betrayed her. She wanted to be there for the girl. When she met Tala, her jealousy vanished, and it became clear that she should forget about her feelings for Kisig. That was the best way for her and Tala to serve the village as the two most powerful priestesses.
With finality, she shared her solution. “The only way to keep them imprisoned temporarily is to keep feeding them our blood. Only until we undo the curse, and that means that we have to hurry.”
Chapter 23
Tala
Kenda raised a hand and summoned water. It came slowly and lifted them off the ground. For some strange reason, the water supported their weight. Kisig pushed through the crowd and asked to go with them to “guard” them. Tala thought that sounded ridiculous but then realized he wasn’t a datu anymore. Sometimes, she simply could not shake her view of him as the village leader. Kenda declined Kisig’s offer, insisting that they—two powerful women—didn’t need his protection.
“Priestess Pasi!” Kenda shouted. “We’re going to The Great Fall to undo the curse and return the torch. While I’m gone, I leave Daa in your hands.”
“Y-yes. I will take care… of the village,” Priestess Pasi said. If the villagers hadn’t been silent in awe at Kenda’s gift, hearing the priestess’s low voice would’ve been impossible. “B-but the staff… is here. You will need it… I think.”
The water moved forward, and Tala had to hold Kenda to keep her balance. Kenda bent forward to accept the staff from Priestess Pasi and gave Tala the torch.
“You will be back… will you?”
Tala could see the hesitation in Kenda’s face. If she had seen what happened in the past, Tala was sure Kenda knew what Tala needed to do to undo it.
“We will try our best. But I am leaving you in charge in front of the villagers just in case… Well, they won’t question your authority after this.”
Tala looked at Kenda in a new light. The girl knew how to play the political game. Tala knew only how to instill fear but not how to show authority or play mind games. She concluded that perhaps Kenda had learned that from her grandmother, who was a high priestess.
“Just make sure that you come back,” the priestess pleaded, and she bowed deeply.
“Hold on,” Kenda said.
Tala circled her free hand around Kenda’s waist and grabbed her shirt. She was thankful that Kenda was taller, as holding on to her would have been harder otherwise.
The huts, trees, and mountains became blurry as they sped by. Tala’s eyes watered, and she blinked her eyes rapidly. Their speed was too fast, and the wind hitting her made her feel like her face was contorting into a weird shape. She closed her eyes, praying to the good spirits that they would not hit something so hard that they would die.
She opened her eyes when the harsh sound of the wind was replaced by the thunder of the waterfall. The water carrying them gently put them down on the big rock in the middle of the river at the top of the waterfall. It was the perfect place to undo the curse.
Tala’s knees felt weak. The thought of dying invaded her mind as she sat. She felt like begging Kenda to give her time to live longer, but that was outside of Kenda’s power. And even though Kenda had brought her here, she knew Kenda would take her back to the village if she asked her to. The decision was entirely hers.
She watched helplessly as Kenda laid her staff on the ground and pulled the bolo knife from its sheath, tied around her waist. Is she going to kill me? But she needed to utter the right words when she offered her life to The Great Fall to undo the curse.
“Give me your hand,” Kenda ordered.
She held out her hand in surrender. In one swift motion, Kenda pulled the knife against her palm, and sharp pain made Tala wince and grit her teeth. Kenda sheathed the knife and pulled her closer to the edge of the rock, letting the blood drip into the water.
“Now, give me the torch and undo the curse.” Kenda held the torch forward, close to Tala’s bleeding palm. Every drop of her blood intensified the flame. “Hurry now,” Kenda urged.
Tala couldn’t do anything but face what she must do. She reached down to the water, letting her magic flow. She imagined every smallest part of the water and opened herself. She knew she might pass out, like what had happened last time, during the priestess trials, when she used her magic to control the earth, but she had to try. She had to gain access to the water’s mind for the curse to be undone. In her mind, the gates opened. The creation of The Great Fall was displayed before her, her creation. She was ready.
“I, Tala, cursed these lands. Take my blood, as I promised, to undo the curse. You are no longer needed. The villagers have learned their lesson, and so have I.” Eyes closed, she leaped forward. She plunged for what seemed like forever. Time slowed. When she opened her eyes, she was still falling. Something had happened. Even though she seemed to have fallen a great distance, her distance from the top of the waterfall remained the same. She looked down and confirmed that only death waited for her below.
She closed her eyes again and waited, but she never hit the base of the waterfall. She opened her eyes to see the serene water. The Great Fall was gone, and Kenda was still standing on the rock just a few yards away. Something was wrong. She was standing on something. When she looked down, water was supporting her weight just as when she and Kenda had traveled there.
“Impossible.” She shook her head.
“You did it!” Kenda flashed a big smile.
“But I’m still alive.” She swayed as the water moved her toward Kenda. “The torch should’ve sucked me in after I undid the curse. How can I still be alive?”
“I tricked it. I let it believe it could have you. Then I commanded it.”
“But The Great Fall is gone. That means the curse is undone. I… I don’t understand.” Kenda held both the torch and the staff in one hand and helped Tala climb up the rock.
“When you cursed the village, you promised your blood to destroy the waterfall, and you fulfilled that. You didn’t say you would offer your life. That was enough to satisfy the requirement to undo the curse. I just made you leap for good measure.”
Tala stared at Kenda, dumbfounded. The girl was young, just as old as she, not counting the time she was stuck in the torch, yet she seemed to have a solution to every problem. Her method of solving things had never occurred to Tala. She recalled the time when she made the curse. She remembered clearly that she had been angry, but she hadn’t promised her life. Her words were “Taste this. This is my payment” as she fed her blood to the torch. Perhaps she had believed that the powerful curse was equal to her life and nothing else. And perhaps the torch had led her to believe that she needed to die. It was greedy, and after all, it was the thing that had helped her create such an unprecedented curse.
With tears in her eyes, she hugged Kenda. “Thank you. I could have never done it without you. Without you commanding it, it would’ve gobbled me.”
“Whoa, whoa. Be careful. I don’t want to get wet,” Kenda said as she tried to keep her balance against Tala’s weight.
“I might have been blinded by desperation. Thank you. Thank you, Kenda. You don’t know how happy I am to live in this world, which is a lot better than when I was born. And I’m sorry… sorry for being jealous and hesitating to free you. I never thought… I thought you would hate me.”
“Give me your hand.”
“What?”
“Give me your hand. Fast.” Kenda looked awkward, clearly not used to talking about feelings.
Tala held out her hand.
“You’re still bleeding. Good.”
Tala understood what Kenda needed. The flame flickered, and they knew something or someone was about to get out of the torch. She braced herself and put her hand over the flame. It didn’t hurt as she expected. The flame shot up quickly to lick her wound then returned to its original state. The flickering was gone, and the two girls sighed in relief.
“We have to destroy the torch before it frees the evil creatures inside,” Tala said with conviction.
“But how? The flame does not go out even if we pour water on it. I doubt if we can hack it into pieces. We can’t keep feeding it our blood. It’s going to be a slow death sentence for the two of us. Maybe… maybe we can hide it where magic doesn’t work.”
Tala shook her head. “I don’t know if such a place exists. Oh, how about the afterlife? Can it be taken to the afterlife?” Tala suggested. “But then,” she continued, “that wouldn’t be good either, because Romu and other evil souls could cross here.”
The dilemma was harder than she had thought. Just when she thought of a solution, it turned out to be merely temporary.
“I think we both know what needs to be done.” Kenda sighed. “We’re only trying to delay the inevitable.”
Chapter 24
Kenda
“I don’t have tricks up my sleeve to avoid this,” Kenda said in defeat.
She knew Tala understood that they had to remove the high priestesses’ hair for the torch to regain its power and hold in all the souls, humans, and creatures it had sucked in. That also meant they would lose their lives, as Tala had promised. At least the curse was gone, and the village was safe from the evil souls.
“In that case, we need to do it where the torch should be—away from the hands of the greedy ones.” Tala circled an arm around Kenda’s waist.
“I was just about to tell you to brace yourself.” Kenda laughed.
Tala joined her laughter, and for the first time, the girl really seemed happy. Kenda could not believe they were laughing, knowing they were facing death. Just moments before, Tala had been looking forward to life free from slavery, but now, death was failing to make her miserable.
“Let’s enjoy our last water ride!” Kenda said.
“Wait. For good measure, let me just feed the torch one more time.”
“It’s my turn.” Kenda stopped Tala’s hand as she went to unsheathe the knife.
“No, I’m fine. You’re going to need your strength to command water.”
“No, the torch doesn’t need much.”
“Come on. Let me do this one last time, please?” Tala said. “We will have a big problem if you’re too exhausted to use your power.”
“Fine. But it’s going to be my turn next.”
Kenda handed her the torch and the staff and unsheathed the knife. She then tore more off her skirt to use as a bandage. Tala was quick and didn’t wince as she drew blood.
“Ready?” Kenda asked after Tala wrapped her palm with the cloth.
Tala nodded. The water rose and carried them upriver. This time, Kenda deliberately slowed down, her eyes feasting on the sights she would never see again. She’d never appreciated it before, but now that she had only this chance, she wanted more time to see the river again and again. She wanted the feel of the water against her feet, and she wanted to hold the staff longer.
She slowed down further when they passed Datu Hula’s house. She didn’t say anything when the datu came out of his house. She simply bowed with gratitude in her heart, and the datu bowed in return. Daniel was playing with the Nayon village kids and only looked at her for a brief moment. The boy, who’d cried desperately for Kenda to bring him with her before, looked just as though he’d been born in the village. According to a magician, Datu Hula had adopted Daniel, who was always in the datu’s house.
“You know,” Kenda said, “if we just had a chance to live longer, it would really be nice if you could teach me how to use my magic.”
Tala shook her head. “I was a new priestess before I was imprisoned in the staff. I only got a month of lessons. Judging by the way you handle things of magic, there’s nothing I could teach you.”
“Still, you lived in the time of great priestesses and magicians.”
“I was a slave. Truth be told, even if I lived again for just a very short time, it has felt like I always belonged here.”
When they reached the shrine, Kenda expected them to enter the well, but with the torch and the staff, swimming would be more challenging.
Tala shook her head before Kenda could command the water to take them in. “No, there is another way. I took it when I returned.” Tala pointed to the left from the entrance of the shrine. “There. I will tell you where to turn next. Let’s go lower so I can see where we’re going.”
Kenda followed Tala’s directions while making sure from time to time that the flame didn’t flicker. When Tala finally told her they had arrived, Kenda commanded the water to put them down. No entrance was visible anywhere, and the surroundings looked entirely different from what Kenda had expected. The forest wasn’t as thick as she’d expected, nor so terrifying that it would deter people from finding the torch. She looked for a rocky wall that could be an entrance, but there was no wall at all.
“There!” Tala said with excitement.
Kenda followed Tala and saw a white rock as tall as her waist. “Are you sure?” she asked.
But as soon as they got near, she could see an opening. It was so small that Kenda wouldn’t have suspected it led to another place. Tala crouched low and disappeared. Kenda followed and saw that the hole went downward. She had to crouch only at the very entrance before the path widened. They made a sharp turn then found themselves in the circle where the torch had been for years before.
As if reading Kenda’s expression, Tala said, “I wouldn’t have known it was the entrance either if I hadn’t taken the torch out here with my soul.”
“Wow! You carried the torch using your soul?”
“I almost died. I didn’t know back then that I could actually hold the torch. I thought it would reject me just like others who tried.” Tala shook her head as if trying to erase the memory. “Okay, how do we put back the torch? Its original position was too high.”
“I will carry you,” Kenda offered. “I’m bigger and taller, so I’m sure I can carry you.”
“What about if you use your power to elevate us?”
“Hadn’t thought of that! Silly me. I also forgot about my power the first time I came here.” Kenda blushed at the memory of Kisig trying to give
her a piggyback ride.
She moved her hand to summon the water, and she rose. Carefully, she undid the locks of hair tied to the torch and closed her eyes, but nothing happened. She’d thought it would snatch them off the moment the spell was removed.
She commanded the water to put her down. “Why isn’t the torch sucking us in?”
Tala was as confused as she. Tala handed her the high priestess staff, and Kenda slowly retied the locks of hair onto it. When she looked at the torch, the flame was as big as when she’d seen it the first time, but it was dancing as though it wanted to say something. The flame moved to and fro like it was excited, yet it couldn’t do anything.
“Take us now.” Defeated, Kenda let her hands hang limply at her sides.
The flame moved forward, much closer to them this time, but it didn’t suck them in.
“What are you waiting for?” Kenda heard anger in her own voice, and she realized that she was indeed angry. She was angry that she had to die this young. She was angry that she could not protect her village. And she was angry at the greediness of the torch.
Speak. Why aren’t you taking us? Kenda held out a hand and sought the torch’s thoughts. She didn’t expect a response because she shared its mind only when touching it. Now, it was hanging on the wall out of her reach.
Demands? the torch asked.
Chapter 25
Kisig
The night was dark when they reached Nayon. The raft was three times faster than traveling on foot, but he and the two villagers were thrown out several times when it turned dark and steering the raft away from rocks in the middle of the river became trickier. The time spent repairing their raft added to the delay, but they still reached Nayon more quickly than he ever had, except with Kenda and the fire woman in the shrine. He prayed to the good spirits that he wasn’t too late. He’d known from the look on Kenda’s face that she was about to do something dangerous. It was the same look he’d seen when she stabbed herself and offered her life to the torch to free Tala.