MAHARLIKA and the Cursed Descendants of the Orient

A Sanctuary Cached from the Naked Eyes

The hard smooth surface beneath my feet changes to a moist and bumpy one. The stale warm air that cuddles my skin becomes woodsy cool. Around us are aged trees with branches screeching alongside the hoot of an owl.

“Why didn’t we ask the man to take us exactly where we need to be?”

Gasol eyes are glued at the compass in her hand. “No one should know where we’re heading.”

‘I bet she also doesn’t know it herself.’

As we continue walking, something tiny jumps at me and goes under my cape.

“Hey! What is this?!”

Gasol and Sinag are baffled looking at me while I take off my cape, grope it repeatedly then shake it off as forcefully as I can. Next, I tap my palms against my body as I twirl and when my hand reach the pocket of my pants, panic varnishes my face.

“It’s gone!”

Sinag crosses his arms. “What?”

A high-pitched sound catches our attention. In one of the tree branches is a small fury creature, about the same size as my index finger. It’s bordering between a rat and a bat. It has a long tail and entangles on it, is my butterfly knife.

I walk slowly and extend my hand to it. “Give it back.”

Its disproportionately large amber eyes stare at me and its tail with scale on the underside wags lazily. When I attempt to climb the tree, it immediately leaps to another branch of another tree. It tosses my knife to the air and easily catches it with its tail as if the knife’s weight doesn’t bother its small body. He does it again, and again, and again.

“What in the world?” Sinag lowers his arms.

For the second time, I walk closer to it and extend my arm. “You can’t eat it. So give it back.”

“Hoping it can understand you?” Sinag asks.

I suddenly remember the sweet egg yolk based treats wrapped in a thin transparent sheet that are given to me by Tala earlier. Taking some out of my pocket and offering it to the weird looking creature, it laughs – the same sound that we heard earlier.

My mouth slightly opens. “What are you?”

“It depends on who you are!” it responds.

“Did it just talk!?” Sinag exclaims.

The three of us step back. Sinag and I draw our swords and point them at it.

“Wait!” Gasol shouts, making us lower our weapons. “We’re lost. It’s not our intention to disturb you. But can you hear us out?”

A brief silence coats the surrounding.

“Your purpose?” its voice is small and its tone is perky.

“We are sent by someone,” Gasol replies.

“Who?” it asks.

Gasol hesitates for a moment before answering. “The sun.”

The tiny creature throws the knife to me in which I catch with one hand.

“Forgive me for my hostility,” it closes its eyes and places its hands over its chest. “We’ve been waiting for you for a very long time. I am an ally.”

A sigh slips from my mouth as I rest my hands on my hips. Then it leaps to my shoulder causing me to jerk and raise an eyebrow.

“Follow me! Off to the enchanted mountain of Tago. Woohoo!” it thrusts its hands up and down happily.

Sinag and I look at each other and shrug.

We then proceed to the deepest part of the forest following the direction the wingless bat is giving us. It still doesn’t leave my shoulder so everytime it speaks or laughs, I feel like a nail is getting hammered down to my ear.

“So..,” I speak since my curiosity still bothering me. “What are you?”

“Eh?” it peeks its head to the side of my face but I pretend not to notice. “I told you, I’m a friend.”

Sinag walks backward to get closer to my side and mirrors my pace. He doesn’t look at the creature and just looks ahead. “I guess what he meant was,.. are you a,..”

“Oh! I haven’t tell you my name yet. You can call me Kulit.”

I smirk. “That suits you.”

“Hey, that’s not very nice of you,” it says.

“Kulit, I’m Sinag, this is Liyab,” he pats my back. “And that’s Gasol,” then points to Gasol who’s in front of us.

Gasol glances back and gives Kulit a small nod.

“Since we’re all associates now, we should memorialize this special day once we arrive to our home!”

“Hn. How much longer before we can get in there?”

“We are actually here," it says then jumps down to the muddy ground.

I look around with intensity in my eyes, there’s nothing. It’s just the same forest we’ve been roaming around with ancient trees and rotting logs and buzzing of the flies.

“I assume you have the key to unlock the passageway through our humble home,” Kulit says.

“Of course, I do,” Gasol answers with conviction.

“Now, prove that you are the saviors we’ve been waiting for.”

Gasol stands straight and does a gesture that is engraved in our hearts then speaks with pride. “Bravery against the gods, allegiance to the great Apolaki and liberty for the Haribons!”

In a bat of an eye, waves of shimmering hues of red, orange and yellow dance around us. I hold my breath for a long time as the intangible image of a mountainside sluggishly materializes before us. It becomes more and more visible as the warm hues start to diminish. The dense forest disappears and transforms into an astounding landscape of peaks and valleys hug by clouds. I take a couple of steps on a soft lushes grass then kneel down and scoop the crystal clear water from the stream that flows across the fields and splash it on my face and my arms. Sinag, on the other hand, takes off his boots and dabbles his feet in the stream.

“This way,” Kulit says while waving its hand and its tail.

We tag along to him and set foot on a concrete house braggingly standing at the center of a torch-lit greenery with bright colorful flowers that cover a great portion of the land. The floor and walls are white, the space is well lit and the windows are big.

“Finally! The day of our meeting has been fulfilled!” cries a voice from behind.

We turn around to see who is it. An old woman wearing a dress with long flowy sleeves and skirt. Animal teeth and bones ornamented her ears and neck and on her shoulder is Kulit.

“My name is Uda, but you can call me Lola Uda, I’m the eldest living shaman of Mt. Tago. It’s an honor to finally meet the descendants of Apolaki.”

We bow down and introduce ourselves to her. Water assembles in my eyes as I stretch my hands up and yawn.

“Liyab,” Sinag says in an almost soundless voice.

“You all look tired. Why don’t you sleep first then I’ll have you meet the others first thing in the morning? The ladies’ quarter is on the right side and the men’s on the left.”

“Thank you for your hospitality. Can we start our training tomorrow? We can’t afford to waste anymore time,” Gasol asks.

“Do anything you must do,” Lola Uda answers.

I wrap my arm around my brother’s shoulders for support as I wobble on my feet in tottering steps. Kulit escorts us to the last room on the men’s quarter. Inside, are two empty beds, a table, a cabinet and a round object with numbers on its border and two moving sticks on its center suspends on the wall. I remove the sword from my belt, the cape from my shoulders and the salakot from my head then toss them on the table at the bedside.

Flopping down on the bed, I hear Sinag’s voice. “You’re not planning to take off your boots?”

“Tomorrow…maybe.”

Then drowsiness completely conquers my entire being.

-----------------------------

The sunlight from the window smudging my face and knocks on the door flicking my ears prompt me to wake me up. I'm having a hard time getting up from a squashy fabric and pillow but Sinag makes it seems easy. He gets to the door, opens it and someone hands him some clothes.

“Please join us for breakfast after you change.”

“Breakfast?” Sinag asks.

“Yes, that’s the most important meal of the day.”

“Yeah. thank you,” Sinag replies then shuts the door close after the person leaves.

With new clothes in my hand, I head to the bathroom which is next to our room. Taking a bath is something I'm not able to do in the last three days. The lukewarm water against my skin rejuvenates my vitality. A few more pouring of water, rubbing of fragrant liquid and finally, wiping of the towel…and done. I feel clean and comfortable in a sleeveless shirt and a short pants.

I head down to join others with their meals. After eating a bread roll and drinking a cup of hot cocoa, we are introduced to the others as promised by Lola Uda. There are only more than thirty residents of Mt. Tago. They are people of different professions who despise the ruling class and find this place as a sanctuary after escaping the kingdom and all of them practice shamanism.

“I never lose faith that this day will come. I remember my great grandmother always told me stories about the Haribons to put me to sleep,” Lola Uda says with exaggerated gestures while trimming off some flowers. “You should do what you have to do, let’s not waste this opportunity. Train harder, know better and fight stronger.”

“That’s the goal,” Gasol answers. “We’ll start training now, please excuse us.”

Lola Uda nods. “By the way, I already sent the message to your Pinuno, confirming that the three of you successfully made it here. Expect a response from them within this day.”

“I appreciate that,” Gasol says.

“That fast?” I ask with creased eyes.

“We communicate through spirits,” she responds then puts her index finger over her lips.

Without anymore words, we make our way in an open field, not far from where the house is. The just-risen sun is crisp and it paints a yellowish tone across the sky where there are also strips of multi-colored shades that bend beyond the mountaintops. The earthiness of the green grass as it sways with the breeze and the burbling of the stream as it travels along its bed are compelling.

Gasol motion for us to take a seat. “We’ll do exactly what we did when we’re in the Haribon Island. Surrender yourself to the sun and learn to control its chi.”

I gasp and squeeze my eyes close then a hand tenderly slides up and down my back. I open my eyes after letting out a deep breath and glance at the person beside me. “Thank you, Sinag.”

He responds with a warm smile.

Gasol takes a seat, facing us. “This time, we’ll do it together. Ready?”

“Right!”

We cross our legs, rest our hands on our laps and straighten our backs. I close my eyes again and gradually allow the sun’s chi to tap my inner resonance. In just a short moment, the burning uproar starts to kick off. It seeps through my veins and clinches into my bones and muscles. This invisible flames amplify in every passing time.

‘What’s going on?’

The heat is incredibly extreme but my body is coping up, no sweats leak out from my pores and my heart is relaxed. The confidence within me emerges so I let the heat build up more until a strong unpleasant smell pinches my nose. I try to ignore it but it’s suffocating that I totally lose my focus. Opening my eyes to figure out where the odor comes from, the first thing I notice is the sun – it’s setting!

‘How long has it been?’ Is Mt. Tago the same as the Haribon Island?’

When I lower my head, a great shock overpowers my disappointment. Reddish scorches encrust my hands and arms. My eyes widen as I raise my arms to see them clearly. Then I twist my waist to my side to see Sinag being enclosed in a gigantic light. It has an unyielding luminance causing me to quickly turn my sight away from him. The foul odor sharpens so I stand up and walk towards a tree then lean my back on it and catch my breath before turning around. Then, I put my hand on the tree to hold up. My heart triples its beat as my palm produces steam and sinks into the surface of the tree trunk. I remove my hand from it, the part that I touched doesn’t burn but it melts like metal.

‘What is this?’ I stare at my hands with puzzlement as the steam doesn't go away.

I move my gaze back to the others, crinkling my eyes a little when my vision snares Sinag. His light is still prominence but fading. He’s staring at and standing a bit far from Gasol while covering his nose. I shift my gaze to Gasol who’s still sitting down with eyes close and seems relax. Walking back, the reeks of a rotten-cabbage is still swirling in the air though not as bad as before.

“Gasol.” I walk a little closer. “Gasol.”

She slowly folds her eyelids open and lifts her chin to face me then turns her neck from left to right. “Looks like I overdid it.” She stands up and shakes off some of the dirt on her pants and legs, does a little stretching before straightening her body. “We’ll do this everyday until you become more comfortable and in control.”

“Alright!” Sinag and I reply.

“Let’s head back. I promise Lola Uda that we’ll be the ones preparing the ingredients for tonight’s meal.”

“Funny how hungry I am now when I just ate a lot earlier,” Sinag says while kneading his belly.

Slowly, the heat inside me subsides. Before we get to the vegetable farm, it completely wears off and so do Sinag’s light and the unpleasant smell.

Out of nowhere, Kulit leaps on my shoulder. “Goodness gracious! What happened to you hands?”

I try to hide my arms behind my back but Sinag grabs them. His fingers trail the reddish and black patches on my skin. “Does it hurt?”

“No. I don’t feel anything.”

“You should cover it with bandage first. Then come back here and help us gather some crops and herbs,” Gasol says.

“And before you harvest some crops and herbs, why don’t you eat first? You haven’t consumed your lunch yet and it will be dinner time soon,” Kulit says.

“Lunch? Dinner? What do you mean?” I ask.

Kulit scratches its head. “Hold on, you bemuse me. You haven’t ingest anything since breakfast, haven’t you?”

“You mean…meals?”

“What else?” it asks.

“You’re right. We should eat first,” Gasol says then looks at me. “We’ll wait for you.”

I nod then Kulit accompanies me to a modest clinic located at the back of the house. After rubbing some ointment on my skin, I wrap my hands and arms with a clean gauge. While returning the things I used back to the cabinet, two shamans enter the clinic.

“Mom, can you ask someone else to do it instead, please?” says the boy who seems younger than me.

“If only I could do it, I will,” the mother replies. “But Lola Uda needs me here.”

Tears stream down the boy’s cheeks. His mother hugs him and he buries his face on his mother’s chest.

“What’s the matter?” Kulit asks.

“We run out of textiles. Everyone is busy since we’re expecting more visitors to come in a week or two. So my son is the only one I can ask to go out of the sanctuary.”

“But I’m scared. The people in the kingdom are bad,” the boy weeps.

In a hearbeat, I speak. “I’ll do it.”

The boy stops crying and sniffles his nose while Kulit and the mother gape at me with surprise.

“Do you even know the roundabout routes of the kingdom?” Kulit asks.

“I’ll figure out,” my lips curve from ear to ear and my heart titters in excitement.