by AA Lee
Tala looked at the shadows of trees and shrubs surrounding the huts, but those two evil souls were nowhere to be found. She thought they must have returned to Datu Goni’s house or hidden in the forest, but she couldn’t feel their presence.
The magicians slumped in exhaustion when Tala reached Datu Goni’s house.
“We have a problem,” she said. “I heard Romu’s voice, but his evil soul was nowhere to be found. They weren’t caught either.”
“We have combed the forests nearby without luck,” High Priestess Nora said. “Perhaps it would be best for us to bring these souls to the underworld, and then we will return to look for those two.”
“No,” Tala protested. “If you send them, they will come back again and haunt this village. It would be best to imprison them here.” She raised her torch.
“But that would make the torch more powerful,” High Priestess Mutya said, yanking her prisoner back when the soul tried to get away. “At least in the underworld, we are sure that they would eventually disappear.”
“What if some of you disappear first, before they do?” Datu Goni was collecting his white powder from the stone floor. “I agree with Tala’s proposal. It might be temporary, but we are sure they won’t be out until someone knows how to pull them out.”
“I have a bad feeling about this,” High Priestess Nora said. “The more powerful the torch gets, the easier it is for it to control its master. I don’t care if it’s listening to us right now. That is the truth. A tool should aid its master, not control it.”
“High Priestess, we already saw how easy it is for souls to cross the boundary between the living and the dead. We can’t spend our lives worrying when the next attack will be. If we imprison them instead, we can plan what to do with them while they’re inside.”
The magicians nodded in agreement.
“Our number may be small, but we can work on a solution if we have time,” Datu Goni continued. “And it looks like Nayon had gifted children that could help us later, right Idja?”
“Yes, we have about ten kids who need further training.”
“Ten? I thought you said five last time,” said a plump magician from Nayon. His name was unknown to Tala, but she had seen him help Idja with some chores that involved spells.
“Did I?” Idja said, tilting his head. “There were more discovered last year.”
“Oh, then I must have misheard you a few months ago. I thought you said five were recently discovered.”
“You definitely did not hear it right,” Idja said dismissively. “Anyway, that’s not important right now.” He smiled.
“Yes, Idja’s right,” Datu Goni said.
Datu Goni’s voice faded from Tala’s attention. Something about Idja was odd. His smile creeped her out, as though she had seen the smile on someone else’s face. Perhaps someone smiled the same way he did? But no, his smile was too similar to have been on a different face. When Tala looked him straight in the eyes, she knew Idja wasn’t who he was.
Tala crossed the living room in a leap, her hand circling Idja’s throat in an instant. Even with her iron grip, Idja’s lips broke into a smile. He was Romu. The reason they could not find Romu was that he had hidden inside a living body. She had no choice. She didn’t want to destroy Idja, but she would never let go of the only chance she had to catch Romu. Her hands felt Idja’s skin, getting to know him, his past, and his thoughts. Tala wanted something beyond that—she wanted the soul.
“Yes, Priestess,” Idja said, barely able to form the words.
“Not you. I want Romu. Romu, come out!”
Smoke rose from Idja’s open mouth. Tala moved the torch near it, feeding the flame with the evil soul. Romu produced an unearthly sound, and Tala couldn’t tell whether he was laughing or crying. The flame sucked the dark smoke from Idja’s mouth like it was hungry.
“I told you that they will not accept you. They will betray you.” Romu laughed. “Remember that when the girl returns and you are forgotten. By then, you will realize that you have made a mistake. By then, you will wish that you just helped us.”
“Shut up!” Tala shouted, but in her mind, she was pleading for him to stop, afraid he was speaking the truth. She wanted the torch to hurry and swallow all of Romu, but despite its hunger, something seemed to be restricting it.
“Do not free Kenda, or you will be tossed like garbage.”
When Idja finally went limp in her grasp, Tala breathed in relief, not because she was tired but because she didn’t want to listen to Romu’s words.
“Is he dead?” Datu Goni asked, kneeling in front of Idja. He held the magician’s head and tried to find his pulse.
Tala looked down at Idja, wishing she could undo what she had done. “He’s not, but he might as well be.”
Chapter 18
Kisig
“Nobody’s going out of this room,” Tala ordered. “I’m sure that Hagibis is here, looking at me through someone else’s eyes.”
“Priestess Tala, what can I do for you?” Idja opened his eyes and kneeled in front of Tala.
“Stop moving!” Datu Goni held Idja down, but the magician was fighting him with the little strength he had. “What’s going on? What is wrong with you?”
“For now, help me,” Tala ordered. “We need to capture Hagibis. We need to know in whose body he is hiding.”
“Why is he acting like he doesn’t have a mind of his own?” Datu Goni looked around, bewildered.
“That’s because he doesn’t have one, starting now,” Kisig answered. “He will follow whatever Tala orders him to do.”
Appalled, Datu Goni moved back. Lips parting, he looked at Tala as if he had never seen her before. “You should have never done that. You should’ve killed him instead.”
“We don’t know if that’s what he wanted,” Tala said calmly.
Kisig stood and walked close to her, but Tala had no private words for him.
She spoke clearly, intending for all to hear. “If we had let Romu rule his body, he’s not the only one who would’ve suffered. I know that the villagers don’t want that. Let’s focus on catching Hagibis first, then let’s handle Idja after.”
“Are you going to strip the humanity from whoever Hagibis has right now?” Datu Goni asked, his voice accusatory.
He was angry, but Kisig knew he should not be provoking Tala, not when she had been holding the torch for such a long time. She needed to be calm to protect herself from the torch. He wanted to tell Datu Goni to stop and be calm, but Datu Goni was focused on Tala.
Tala did not answer Datu Goni. She continued walking slowly and steadily, meeting each of the villagers’ eyes. She reached the door without stopping or touching anyone. Kisig thought Hagibis might not have been in the house after all.
“I’m giving you one last chance to go back to the underworld.” Unmoving, Tala stood by the door, her back to the people inside, facing the warm glow of the afternoon sun.
Complete silence filled the house as the villagers looked at each other, distrust brewing in their faces.
“Fine. Let’s do it my way.” Tala whirled to face them, exuding confidence and power.
Something in her had changed. Again. She became the high priestess she’d been four hundred years before, when villagers, magicians, and other priestesses bowed to her. That was when people worshipped her, and that was also when they all cowered in fear, including Kisig.
“Perhaps you should rest for a while. You know it’s not okay for you to hold the torch for a long time.” Kisig tried to meet Tala’s eyes.
“Not until I catch the evil soul.” She walked back, but instead of looking at the remaining magicians’ faces, she headed to where the nine boys were seated in the corner, Pilly still bent over like a hen protecting her chicks.
“Clever. You thought that I wouldn’t know, didn’t you?” Tala said in a low voice.
The corners of Boboy’s lips turned upward. His shoulders relaxed from a pretense of fear. “I knew that you would, but…
I know that you won’t be able to do anything about it.”
Tala knelt in front of the boy and grabbed his throat. “You’re wrong.” She angled the torch forward, illuminating the boy’s face.
“You know that I’m not. I’ve always been right. I was right when I was alive, and I will be right today.” With Tala’s hand around Boboy’s throat, the voice that wasn’t his came out sounded strangled. He even managed to laugh.
Tala moved the torch forward ever so slightly near Boboy’s mouth. The boy did not move his arms. They simply hung at his sides like he had no control over his body.
“Tala! Not my boy. Please. There has to be another way.” Datu Goni scrambled to his feet and tried to snatch the torch away. When Tala didn’t flinch, he knelt, tears flowing down his face.
Pilly stood frozen in place.
“I told you that you were wrong, dear,” Hagibis said. He lifted one hand, but it fell right back to his side.
“You can’t kill my boy. Give us time. Let go of him!” Datu Goni pleaded.
“High Priestess Tala, give the boy a chance,” High Priestess Mutya said. “The boy is fighting for his life. He can drive him away.”
Tala turned her head toward Priestess Mutya. “He’s just a boy. His strength is no match for Hagibis. Look at what happened to Idja.” Boboy’s hand reached up and tried to pry her hands from his throat, but it didn’t last. His hands fell right back down.
“Let me try.” Datu Goni hurriedly reached into his pockets and took out a white bottle. He opened it with shaky hands and cursed as the bottle dropped to the floor. “Hold him tight,” he said as he clumsily grabbed the bottle and finally opened it.
Boboy thrashed at seeing the powder, but he was no match to Tala’s strength. Datu Goni forced his mouth open by pressing his jaw down. Boboy thrashed harder and shook his head from side to side. Kisig walked behind the boy and held his head in place, allowing Datu Goni to feed him the ward spell.
“Let go of his throat now but hold his hands,” Datu Goni said.
Tala moved quickly. Datu Goni murmured some incomprehensible words and forced Boboy’s mouth open again. He then quickly put the powder in his mouth and held both his cheeks forcefully until he swallowed all the powder.
As Boboy’s eyes watered, Kisig looked away, unable to bear the boy’s suffering, but he didn’t want to let go either. The house was filled with Boboy’s inhuman cries between swallows of the powder. Pilly leaned over, hands on her knees, retching uncontrollably. Kisig wanted so much for the terror to be over. He could not stand the cruelty the evil soul was imposing on the young boy, but he could not do anything. All he could do was wait until the evil soul got out.
“Boboy, fight him. We know that you can.” As the boy inhaled sharply, Kisig realized he had said the words aloud, not just in his mind.
“Father.” The boy’s weak voice came out like a whisper, and then he laughed as though mocking Datu Goni for looking at the boy with hope.
Kisig met the boy’s eyes. In that instant, he thought he saw the boy in there and not the malicious eyes of an evil soul. After a blink, he again recognized Hagibis’s eyes, which he knew too well. He averted his gaze, afraid, then scolded himself. Even Boboy, a seven-year-old boy, was brave enough to fight. Steeling himself, Kisig forced himself to look straight into the boy’s eyes, which flickered from innocence to cold hatred. “Call your boy, Datu Goni. He is still in there. He needs some strength.”
Datu Goni let go of the boy’s chin and poured more powder on his own palm. Boboy laughed like he had just heard something hilarious. Datu Goni held the boy’s chin again and put the powder in his mouth. “Swallow it! Boboy, I know you can hear me. Fight, son! Fight him! This is your body. I know you can do it.”
The heat became so unbearable that Kisig looked up to tell Tala to move the torch away, but the girl had frozen, eyes wide in shock. The torch wasn’t close to Boboy, but the flame swayed so close that it was mere inches away from his mouth.
“No!” Boboy shouted. He shrieked so loudly that the hair on the back of Kisig’s neck rose. “You can’t!” He thrashed again, so forcefully that Kisig almost lost his grip.
“Fight it, son! Fight it!” Datu Goni shouted.
Boboy opened his mouth wide, and black smoke emerged, rising toward the flame. When the smoke was finally gone and the flame returned to its steady burn, his body went slack as his eyes closed.
Pilly hurried to his side, her skirt flowing as she moved. “Is he okay?”
Datu Goni nodded, but Kisig wasn’t sure. The boy wasn’t breathing. His soul seemed to have left his body. Datu Goni leaned over, opened the boy’s mouth, and blew a breath into his mouth.
Boboy gasped and fell into a coughing fit. He spat white powder onto the cold floor. Eyes wide, he looked around the house. The boy’s whole body was shaking. Pilly hugged him, prompting Kisig and Tala to let go of him.
“You’ll be fine. You were very brave,” Pilly said as she gently rubbed her hand on his back.
“It’s time for the souls to rest. They won’t feel pain or anything at all while inside the torch, so they don’t have to worry.” Tala faced the high priestesses holding the evil souls. No one argued. High Priestess Mutya moved forward first to feed an evil soul to the torch.
Chapter 19
Tala
“You need to let go of the torch now,” Kisig declared, fear evident in his eyes.
“You also think that I’m weak, right? That I can’t control the torch.” A long silence followed as Kisig hesitated, not saying anything she could use against him.
Finally, he said, “You knew from the start that the torch should only be used for emergency purposes. We’re no longer in a critical situation. Holding the torch now will only bring harm.”
That was the truth and also her confirmation that Romu was right. The villagers did think she was weak, including Kisig. She would prove she was strong. She would prove she could handle the torch. Only then would they believe she could defeat it and follow her wishes.
“And what if I could bend the torch to my will? What then?” she asked.
“That is not important, High Priestess!” High Priestess Mutya said. “What’s important is for you to find a way to free Kenda so she can return to her family. Let go of the torch before it consumes you.”
“Right, because Kenda is important and I’m not.”
“You are,” Pilly said. “But we also want her back. You can stay with us even after she returns.”
“Yes, Tala.” Datu Goni nodded. “We have nine kids. Two more will not bother us at all. We’re used to a big family.”
Tala looked at the only two people staring back at her without pretense. She had no guarantee that they would be true to their word once Kenda returned, but she found herself believing them anyway. Quietly, she entered her room and planted the torch on the ground.
As soon as her hand separated from the handle, her body slumped to the floor. Sleep came like she hadn’t had in days.
The room was completely dark when she woke up. Just like before, plates had been placed by the door. This time, Tala moved slowly and ate her cold dinner without waking anyone up.
When she entered the kitchen, Datu Goni and Kisig were sitting in silence, facing each other. They both looked up and stared at her, their eyes red as though they had been crying.
“Did… did something happen?” she asked.
“Why don’t you take a seat here?” Datu Goni motioned to the pillow next to him on the floor.
Tala put her empty plate on the sink made of bamboo and hurried to take a seat, thinking something must have been wrong with Boboy.
After an agonizing moment, Datu Goni opened his mouth. “So… we talked while you were sleeping—not just us but the high priestesses—and… and we decided to give up on Kenda.”
His words felt like a stab to her heart. She hadn’t expected that. She thought they would do anything to save the girl. Kenda had done so much for them. She’d saved the village
from Nayon and from townspeople.
“B-but… that also means that I…” She looked at the two men, unable to finish.
They already knew she would die. The high priestesses also knew. Yet they’d decided to let go of her and Kenda. Kenda had a chance to be alive again, but she would not. She had promised her blood.
“But I’m not ready,” she blurted. “I can’t die now. I’ve been a slave most of my life, and this... this world is better. Can we wait a little more before I offer my life to the torch?” She knew she was being selfish, and she hated herself for it, but she reasoned another way must exist for both her and Kenda to live.
“I’m sorry,” Datu Goni replied. “You know that this is a hard decision for us too. Kenda is my niece, and I’ve been watching over her since she was born. This is like a death sentence to me too. This also means my goal in life, to protect her, is over. But the longer we wait, the more powerful the torch will be. You already know that, and Kenda would choose death over people suffering.”
“But I can control it! Why are you so afraid of its power? I now understand its power. Just… trust me.”
“Tala, this decision wasn’t ours alone. The high priestesses also agreed.”
“So giving up on Kenda and letting me die is the best solution you have? I will show you that I can control the torch. I will show you that you’re wrong!” Tala marched back to her room, oblivious to the magicians waking up at her outburst.
Tala grabbed the torch as soon as she got near it. She wouldn’t let go of it again, or they would make her undo the curse against her will. Aware that the torch could poison her mind, she convinced herself that she would let go once she found a way to free Kenda. She sat there until morning, relying on the power of the torch to keep up her energy.
The house was unusually quiet when the sun rose. Even Pilly, who normally shouted at her sons when preparing breakfast, worked in silence. Some of the magicians had left the house and didn’t return to eat.
