by A A Lee
“I have heard stories about guiding a spirit back before they completely cross to the underworld, but I never actually seen it done. I don’t even know how to initiate the process, so I can’t help you. I’m so sorry.”
Kenda did not answer. She knew that her uncle had received limited training as his father had passed away early. The only experience that she herself had had with souls was summoning her grandmother, but she did not have the staff she needed to contact her.
Taking a chance, she closed her eyes and called forth her grandmother. She felt herself getting dizzy, as though she was being sucked into a void.
“Kenda. You haven’t called me in a long time.”
“Grandma, I am sorry, but there is no time. I need help.”
“I suppose it is because of your cat.”
“Yes.” Kenda was a little surprised that her grandma knew about it, but she assumed that, now that she was a soul, Nora had been watching over them all along.
“I am sorry. The soul is not with us yet. I cannot let you talk to it as it has yet to cross over.”
“Is there a way for me to get it back?”
Her grandmother’s soul appeared to be thinking. “There was once a great healer in our village, a long time ago, but I never met him and I don’t know his name, so I wouldn’t know how to contact him in the afterlife.”
“What did he do?” Kenda was getting impatient.
“He went out of his body. His soul guided the sick person’s soul back to the living, much like other souls guiding the soul of the dead to the underworld.”
“I’ve traveled outside of my body already.”
“This is different. This time, you will have to endure the pain of the animal. I am sorry, but because I don’t know the exact details, I don’t know how. I will try to find that healer and ask for you.”
“Please do, Grandma. I don’t want to lose my cat.”
“Be careful. You might not be able to—”
Kenda opened her eyes, and her grandmother disappeared instantly.
“Uncle, my grandmother mentioned a healer who was able to guide souls back to the living, but I can’t wait for her to find him. I need your help. I will lay down like I did when you helped me get out of my body, but this time, please place Lucy on top of me carefully.”
Goni nodded, and Kenda lay down on the dry earth. He placed the cat gently on her stomach. Kenda stroked the cat’s head, thinking about all the things they had been through together. She thought about the time when she had first met the cat, their struggles by the river eating fish together, and the time when they had found the bridge. She focused her mind on what the cat might be thinking, begging it to open its mind to hers.
Lucy was on top of her, yet it felt like it was beyond a wall. The animal’s thoughts seemed to be hindered by the wall, and no matter how strong Kenda tried to push, it was not coming down. Frustrated, she punched the wall, and it came crashing down. She saw Lucy inside, glowing like her grandmother.
“Lucy,” Kenda said. “Come back. Come home.”
Lucy replied lazily.
“But you have to come with me. We are friends.”
The cat looked away and, in a small voice, it said,
“Is that what this is? Are you mad at me for not spending time with you?”
The cat licked its paws.
Before Kenda could say anything, the cat walked away, and the room became an open field of flowers. The warm sunshine and the scent of flowers calmed her soul. It was paradise. The cat started running like the wind, its fur moving slightly with the breeze. Wanting more, Kenda followed the cat. She touched the rapeseed flowers and they felt soft to her hands. She wanted to sit down, and a bench suddenly appeared. Thankful that her wish was granted right away, she sat on it and looked at the beautiful blue sky decorated with clouds of different shapes and colors.
Kenda smiled in agreement. She hadn’t noticed that the cat had stopped running. Lucy climbed onto her lap, and she stroked the cat’s head. There was something lingering in her mind that she needed to do, but as she could not remember it, she stopped thinking and just enjoyed the view.
She looked to her right and saw the fine grass and the stalks of tulips rising between the blades. She walked to it and laid down on the grass. Dimly aware of the flower field turning into a hill, she inhaled the sweet air as she felt Lucy’s smooth fur move against her fingers. She had never felt so good before, and even though she wanted to sleep under the soft glow of the afternoon sun, she was afraid that the scene would disappear, so she kept her eyes open. The sun wasn’t harsh, and she looked at it directly without her eyes getting hurt.
A sudden sound in the quiet afternoon startled her. It was faint, but someone was definitely talking. “Did you say something?” She nudged the cat.
Kenda ignored it, but she heard the faint voice again.
“Wake up,” said the faint voice.
“I am awake,” she replied with a frown.
“You have to wake up!” The voice was louder now. Kenda was sure that she had heard the voice before, but she didn’t know where it was coming from.
“Kenda, you have to wake up or you will die.”
“Uncle Goni?” The serene scene disappeared as her memory flooded back to her. She stood, realization hitting her of what might have happened if Goni hadn’t intervened. She remembered that she was supposed to be here to retrieve Lucy’s soul. With that thought, everything became dark.
“Lucy, we have to get out of here.”
“Lucy, listen to me. We have to go back. You need to live. I need you.”
“Listen, you are my friend. Whether you do something for me or not doesn’t really matter. I want you and I to be together.”
Kenda inhaled deeply, letting go of her anger and her frustration. “Lucy, if I do not fight against the oppressors, many people will suffer. I used to think that I should just focus on myself. I was determined to break free from a forced marriage because it would have suppressed my freedom. I don’t want to live my life as someone else’s puppet. I thought that if I escaped, everything would be okay, but I was fooling myself. I can’t turn away from those who are suppressed, especially when I have the chance of freeing them, too. I was destined to be the Bringer of Equality, and I will not turn away from that. I will not stop and just pretend that everything is okay, because it is not. Right now, you are dying, and I will, too, if we fail to go back. I came here to save you. When you die, this pretense will end, and you will cross the underworld where all the other souls go.”
“If I don’t accept this responsibility, mankind will be in danger. Women will not be born, and there will be no one to bear children.”
“We have to try.” Kenda picked the cat up and held it tightly against her chest. She walked straight into the darkness, not caring where she was headed. She felt like walking in circles and was about to give up when she remembered that this was all in her mind. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on picturing the room where she had entered.
When she opened her eyes, she wa
s back in the room, but the wall that she had punched through had become whole again. Holding Lucy in her left hand, she put her right hand against the wall and pushed it. A sharp pain in her shoulder paralyzed her. As soon as she removed her hand, the pain went away. Understanding dawned on her. Her grandmother had said that the healer took on the pain that the wounded was feeling. She held Lucy with her right hand and used her left hand to push. As soon as she pushed, her right shoulder burned with pain, causing her to drop Lucy.
She fell to her knees, sweating. “I’m sorry,” she wept.
Lucy said.
“Kenda, you have to wake up.” It was Goni’s voice again.
“I’m trying.”
There was no response, and Kenda realized that Goni could not hear what she was saying.
“Lucy, I need you to climb on my shoulders so that I can use both hands.”
Lucy did as she was told. Kenda braced herself for the pain and pushed the wall with both hands. The pain shocked her again, and this time, the wall wasn’t budging. She removed her hand and she slumped to the floor, tears and sweat combining across her face. Summoning her anger, she stood and punched the wall. The wall moved, but she was unable to make a hole.
She waited for Lucy to sit properly on her shoulders before getting ready to punch the wall again. Gritting her teeth, she punched the same spot. Her knuckles stung, and her eyes burned with tears. Her energy was draining, but she planted her hands on the wall, pushed outward, and used her legs to create momentum. Her body shook with the pain, and she wasn’t sure if she was still pushing or just enduring the pain. She released a cry that shook the room. Lucy joined her cry and put its paws against the wall to help Kenda.
Chapter 20
Falling Down
Kenda opened her eyes and heard Lucy gasp.
“Dear spirits! I thought you were going to die.” Kenda blinked to clear her vision and saw that Goni was sweating. His magic bottles were strewn across the prison floor. “You were barely breathing!”
With shaky hands, Kenda pushed herself into a sitting position. She looked at the cat and was relieved that it had opened its eyes. “Lucy?”
Goni moved the water closer to the cat, and the cat started lapping it up. He also moved the food closer to its mouth.
“Slowly, Lucy,” Kenda warned. “You haven’t eaten in days. It will upset your stomach if you eat quickly.”
“The High Priestess could’ve warned you. I was scared out of my wits there. I really thought that you were about to die.”
“Thanks, Uncle. I couldn’t have made it back without you. I heard you. And she did try to warn me, but I was in a hurry, so…”
“So you didn’t listen to the whole warning, right?”
Kenda nodded sheepishly.
“Your impatience will be the death of you!” Goni shook his head.
“But thanks to you, I—” Kenda stopped speaking when she saw Pasi running toward them. Despite her old age, she appeared to be running as though there were demons chasing her. Kenda tried to stand, but her knees wobbled with the exhaustion of getting Lucy back. She held the prison bars to steady herself.
Pasi was out of breath when she reached their cell. “This is bad. It is really bad.”
“What happened?” Kenda asked, feeling the exhaustion going away little by little.
“There will be a war. A bloody, great war!”
“What?” This time, it was Goni who was shocked.
“People began to gather at the Great Fall. Men, women, and children were there. The villagers from Daa, Taa and Mani have gathered against the townspeople. I am afraid that the three villages will be wiped out if this doesn’t stop.”
“What are they fighting about?”
“That fool, Romu sold the three villages. He received money from town in exchange for the land on which the villages are built. As a result, the miners will own all of the gold that they find.”
Both Kenda and Goni clenched their fists.
“Only when the townspeople came here to look at the land did the villagers found out about this. The townspeople thought that the money had been divided equally among the villagers, but Romu had kept it all. The villagers were furious and tied him to a tree near the ants’ nest, and he was left there to die.” Pasi’s eyes bulged, and each of her sentences were accompanied by hand gestures. “If it only affected the Daa villagers, they would have kept him here in prison, but the people of Mani and Taa wouldn’t hear of it.” Pasi couldn’t seem to stop the retelling of what had happened.
“Serves him right that he was caught,” Kenda said. She thought that the villagers had been too harsh on Romu, but she was relieved that his evil deeds had been exposed.
“But now our village is in danger,” Pasi replied. “People went to the Great Fall. I know the townspeople have machines that we cannot even begin to imagine. The villagers have limited weapons. Even though the powerful warriors of Taa will fight beside us, I know that we are no match for the townspeople. They are going to bring down the Great Fall first. Once it is down, they will be able to ride their cars to come here. Kenda, you have to become high priestess and save us.”
“But I am a prisoner. I don’t know if the villagers will appreciate my help.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. Now that Romu has been caught, people believe that what he said about you wasn’t true.”
Kenda hesitated, but Pasi handed the staff over to her. “I am no high priestess. Please take this, I beg you. Please be the high priestess and protect our village. I saw how you protected our village when Taa tried to invade us. You can do so again.”
“But you were named,” Kenda protested.
“It has nothing to do with being named. I have no capabilities to rule as high priestess. I was happy following rule of your grandmother before. I knew that Romu only chose me because he wanted to order me around.”
“I will help, but I don’t know if the villagers will be okay with it. For now, I will take the staff so we can protect the village.” Kenda reached out to accept the staff and her body swayed. She hadn’t fully recovered from using too much of her mind to rescue Lucy. As soon as her hand touched the wood, power surged through her and renewed energy filled her body. Her mind reached out to call forth water without speaking. In her mind, she saw it coming.
Pasi smiled with resolution, tears of happiness falling down her cheeks. “You don’t know how happy I am to finally be free of the staff. I abhorred using it according to Romu’s orders.”
Kenda looked down at the cat. “Lucy, you have to stay here. You are too weak.”
Lucy meowed in response for others to hear. Lucy said, looking in Jinja’s direction.
“I will trust you with that,” Kenda said, smiling.
Clear water snaked along the gate and through the prison bars. When Kenda opened the cell door, the water allowed them to step on it without falling. The water raised them above the ground, higher than the prison gate. The guards looked at them, but they did not try to stop them, nor shoot them with their arrows.
“News must have reached the guards,” Kenda concluded.
“People didn’t really want you to be imprisoned. They just didn’t have the courage to speak up against Romu.”
The water sped up after passing the village. The trees and mountains became a blur in her vision. When the water stopped, Kenda gasped upon seeing the staggering number of people stood atop the Great Fall. Children were last in line. Next, she saw women holding sharpened wood. Following them were the men from Daa. People looked back in amazement as they saw Kenda getting carried by the water. Mani warriors were next in line, holding the same kind of weapons. Kenda dropped Goni and Pasi near the Daa villagers, and a deafening cheer boosted he
r energy.
Some people clapped and others chanted her name. She circled the villagers and saw Taa’s magicians hiding in the woods, not in line with the formation. As she drew closer to the fall, she saw that the first line of defense was the warriors of Taa. Kenda was amazed at their formation. They had put children at the back to protect them. Kenda assumed that whoever had thought of this formation was not expecting the kids to fight, and her respect grew for the strategy.
Increasing her speed, Kenda moved closer to the mouth of the Great Fall and saw Hula. He bowed to her, and Kenda bowed back. The rest of the people bowed to her after seeing Hula’s example.
Her heart thumped as she looked at the sea of people armed with guns below the Great Fall. Their number was almost twice that of the villagers. They also had enormous excavators for digging and breaking the ground.
With a blinding speed, she drew closer to the townspeople. She heard a swoosh as a bullet flew past her. The water was quick enough to dodge it, and Kenda crested the wave to avoid being shot. She thought that her best bet for not getting hit was to move constantly.
“Everyone, please listen! Do not invade the village. We will give you your money back.”
A tall pale man came out of the excavator. He looked like he was not from the town because his skin was paler than anyone she had seen and his height was extraordinary. “We don’t need the money back.”
Kenda was surprised to hear the man talking in the language of the villages.
“If you just let us pass, we will share some of what we will find with you,” the tall man continued.
“No!” Kenda shouted. “The villagers don’t want that. They want to be left in peace. They don’t want your intervention.”
“A deal is a deal. We have come to an agreement with your leader.”
“He is not our leader anymore.”
“That doesn’t matter to us. Why would you want to keep the riches of the earth to yourselves? Don’t we deserve to have some, too?”
