FicWad

A short time later, I slung my cloth sack and a bamboo water cask on my back, picked up the gas lamp and closed the door of our house with a final-sounding clack. I was dressed in my sturdiest skirt and blouse, tied my shoulder-length hair back in a stubby ponytail and covered my head with a bandana. My sandaled feet made little puffs of dust on the ground, and the angled rays of the sun shone into my eyes, making me squint. I headed toward the path leading to the Diwata's shrine and turned to take one last look at the town.

Tia Isabel's prediction had proved accurate. For some reason, the townsfolk had latched onto the idea of a wedding, and everyone eagerly joined in the preparations. Only the bride and the groom were less than enthusiastic, and the murderous look Lawin sent me when I sought out my aunt for last-minute instructions was enough to send me running for the hills. Everyone was now gathered around the church debating what kind of flower arrangements could be made on such short notice, and there was nobody to see me go.

I smiled wistfully then squared my shoulders and headed into the forest. The shrine, I saw with some surprise, was exactly as I left it almost a week ago. The arch of paper flowers lay on the ground like a bedraggled animal, and the streamers were entangled among the leaves and dangling down from branches like odd vines. There was a roundish patch of scorched grass where the light from Skyblade's transformation had touched the ground. I looked around, lost in my memories. This was where I was standing, I thought. And then I heard him call my name, and I turned, and he caught me in a desperate embrace. This was where he told me he loved me. Skyblade. My beautiful, obsidian and gold dragon.

Before I knew it, tears were sliding down my cheeks and I bit my tongue to keep from summoning him just to see him again. I shook my head angrily. Tears would do me no good. In the past, he had come to me when I needed him most, but it was my turn now to show him that I was strong enough to do this on my own. I'd been telling myself and all who would listen that I wasn't a child anymore and now was my chance to prove it.

I fumbled in my pocket for a candle and matches. Only candles were allowed to be lit inside the Diwata's shrine, Tia Isabel had said, but that was all right as the cave provided its own illumination. Proud that the hand holding the candle aloft trembled only slightly, I took my first step into the cave of the Diwata of the Mountain.

The floor sloped downward in a natural stairway. The air grew sweet, and I followed the scent of roses to the large cavern with its tapering pillars of stalactites and stalagmites. In the center was the smooth, clear expanse of the lake. I found myself slowing down and gazing around the cavern in wonder and astonishment. Hundreds of tiny flames the size of my candlelight flickered in the air all around the cavern, their colors ranging from brilliant white to vibrant yellow-orange to delicate rose. They moved in graceful circles, like dancers waltzing around a ballroom, their reflections glinting upon the surface of the lake. I felt as if I'd walked into a cave only to stumble right into the star-strewn sky.

Across the lake, standing over an altar, was the image of the Diwata carved out of the cave's wall. The Diwata gazed benevolently across the lake, her hands outstretched toward her people. Around her curved the serpentine body of the Guardian, with its head and the tip of its tail almost touching above her head. The Guardian's jaws were wide open and reaching up to swallow the tiny sun, above which the large crescent moon poured its rays down upon the Diwata/. The image showed how the /Diwata's power waxed stronger in moonlight, while only a dragon, a race born of the sun, who claimed the stars as their ancestors, could contain the sun's light and heat to let the moon shine through.

Awestruck and nervous, I approached the edge of the lake. There was no raft or bridge or any other means of crossing the lake to get to the other side. But a true /babaylan/, my sister used to say, required no raft. I gazed doubtfully into the dark depths. Unlike my sister, I was no priestess and I had approximately an hour to learn how to walk on water.

Lying on the ground was a threadbare rug and an equally well-worn cushion where a priestess was supposed to kneel in prayer and meditation before traveling across the lake. Two clay oil lamps with spouts pointing downward into the lake sat on either side. I lit each wick and watched in amazement as the flames poured down the bowls, followed blazing trails across the surface of the lake, then snaked up the altar on the other side to set two similar lamps ablaze. The water, though, didn't look any more solid than it did before.

Now all I had to do was find that calm, peaceful place within myself, that place between dreaming and waking where I could draw out my power. I knelt on the cushion, untied the bandana around my head and used it to blindfold myself. It was the best I could do, as my sister had taken the special length of white silk embroidered with the words of the spell with her. I was supposed to chant the words of the spell while I meditated, but my aunt couldn't recall the exact words, so I had to make do with words of my own.

"Sweet, adored Lady, Diwata of the Mountain, I your humble daughter beseech thee to grant me the eyes with which to see, the ears with which to hear, and the feet with which to walk the paths of the sister world, your kingdom and dominion forever and ever..."

Or something like that.

Chanting the words, I tried to clear my mind and find the peaceful state my aunt had described. After a while, a loose thread on my bandana tickled my nose, and I brushed it aside. The thread continued to make my nose itch, so I took my bandana off and retied it. Soon, my knees began to hurt from kneeling on a cushion that was already squashed flat. I shifted my weight and tried to ignore the discomfort, but when my joints began to scream, I sighed and sat down cross-legged on the cushion instead. I wasn't going to attain any kind of peaceful state, I reasoned, when my knees were at war with the rest of my body.

I took a deep breath and tried again. How long was I supposed to keep this up anyway? Oops, I forgot what I was supposed to say. I frowned and recalled the words. Soon, the annoying thread drifted down to my nose again and in a fit of pique I untied the bandana, deciding I'd just have to keep my eyes closed.

That was a mistake. Behind my closed eyelids, I could see the movement of light as the tiny flames waltzed above my head. Huffing in annoyance, I screwed my eyes tightly shut. Picture the Diwata, I ordered myself. Remember the words and think about the /Diwata/, with her Guardian swallowing the sun for her. Could Skyblade swallow the sun? Well, of course he could, he's a dragon, isn't he? Wouldn't that be a sight to see? But then, Skyblade doing nothing at all was a sight to see. Ack! I forgot the words again. I jogged my memory, but the lights were waltzing behind my eyelids, and if I didn't shut my mind up I was never going to open the doorway to the spirit world and I would never be able to find my brother and sister and the whole town would be destroyed and I would lose Skyblade forever and it would be all my fault, and oh by the gods, I messed up the words again and where was that stupid peaceful state when you needed it--

I opened my eyes and brushed away frustrated tears. I couldn't do it. I couldn't get my thoughts to quiet down and concentrate on the spell. How did Sinag ever manage it? Then again, maybe it came easier for her, which was why she was the priestess and I was the family maid. But just this once, why couldn't I do something right?

I stared up at the lights despairingly, wondering if they could provide me with some sort of magic I could use. But the lights were silent as they continued to circle as serenely as the stars in the heavens. How beautiful they were, I thought. How blessed. Towns and cities would rise and fall, and lives would be born and ended, but the stars would still be there, following their ancient paths. The cycle of life would go on. It was time set into the band of eternity.

I didn't know how long I sat there, simply gazing up at the moving lights. Then I noticed one of the rose-tinted points had begun moving erratically, breaking away from the grand promenade to dart lightly about then hover in mid-air as if it were beckoning me. Entranced, I rose to meet it, but it zipped on ahead before pausing playfully to wait for me to catch up. Before I knew it, I had followed the little flame to the altar of the /Diwata/. It fluttered above a wooden cup filled with deep red liquid, then the incense bowl from where the scent of roses drifted up, and finally the dagger lying beside it. Before I could wonder if the implements had been sitting on the altar when I came in, the light flew upward, drawing my attention.

/You know what to do/, the light said.

I do? I stared at the dagger, the bowl of fragrant ash and the cup of what could only be wine. And suddenly I did know what to do. Taking the dagger, I scooped up some ash from the bowl and sprinkled it into the cup, then used the dagger to stir the wine before setting the blade back down. I closed both hands around the cup and murmured a prayer of thanksgiving. Then I raised the cup to my lips, took a deep breath and drank it all up.

And burst into flames. At least that's how it felt like. The liquid burned! It didn't flow down my throat less than it exploded inside me, scorching me from my gut to the top of my head and then to my limbs until my fingertips and the ends of my hair seemed to glow red-hot. I felt as if I'd just swallowed Skyblade's jet of flame. I dropped the cup and doubled over, my mouth wide open as I took in frantic gulps of cool air. The fire soon subsided, pooling low in my belly. I straightened and looked up at the little light, which I realized had been floating nearby watching everything.

And watching was exactly the word for it, as my startled gaze met a pair of pink eyes in the tiniest face I had ever seen. The little light had a form. A naked, human-like body with perfect little arms and legs, and a bright, open face barely the size of my thumbnail. Rose-tinted light curled delicately from the top of its head, flowing downward to its back where it flared up in a pair of wings. My eyes widened, and I looked up at the sea of stars. Only they weren't stars at all. They were flocks and flocks of pixies dancing in mid-air. Every time they passed me they would smile and wave. Laughing in delighted wonder, I waved back at them before focusing on the pixie who had served as my guide.

The little face grinned at me. "Well met, Chosen One. You are feeling better now, yes?"

I blinked at the sound of the tinkling voice. "Yes. My stomach still feels warm, but I'm all right. Thank you for your help." I glanced around at the flock of pixies again. "Um, this is going to sound stupid, but I'm in the spirit world, aren't I?"

The pixie's laugh sounded like tiny wind chimes. "Yes, Chosen One. We are most honored to welcome you here."

"Then--then I actually managed to get the spell right?"

"Well, yes and no," the pixie answered. "Although the spell you chanted was meant to open the gates to the spirit world, the ritual you just performed was an abbreviated version of a priestess' initiation rites, but it produced the same results. Also, there was little chance of you casting the spell successfully while sitting on that cushion and arguing with yourself," it added with a wink. "There is such a thing as trying too hard, Chosen One."

I flushed in embarrassment. "You're right," I admitted with a giggle. "Thank you again. I have to go now." I turned and froze. Right across me, on the opposite side of the lake, a girl sat slumped upon a cushion with her eyes closed. Her body glowed with silver and blue light, the silver cresting as shock filled my system. Strands of bright gold threaded through the silver and blue peaks. "By the Lady," I said faintly, my hands coming up to pat the seemingly solid me here while my eyes were riveted to the seemingly solid me way over there.

"There are layers and layers of reality, Chosen One," the pixie explained. "The spirit world is but one of these layers, as you will undoubtedly learn."

"Is this what my sister sees all the time?" I asked. "Can she see you all the time?"

"Yes, if she so chooses. It is her privilege as a /babaylan/."

I kept my eyes on my form across the lake, and noticed that my aura took on various hues and shades with every thought and emotion but the gold threads remained the same. The color seemed out of place among the silvers and blues yet at the same time felt as if it belonged there. Threads of gold. Skyblade's color. A warm feeling bloomed inside me, along with an answering flare of a lovely shade of pale blue from my body.

"His thought goes ever with you, Chosen One," my little companion murmured, noticing the sappy smile on my face. The soft emphasis on the words 'Chosen One' explained clearly why the pixie addressed me so.

I blushed, if temporarily disembodied spirits could properly blush, but the heat receded just as quickly. I shot the pixie an alarmed look. It was one thing for Tia Isabel to be correctly suspicious about Skyblade and me, but another thing for a pixie who dwelt in the Diwata's shrine to be quietly teasing about this forbidden bond between the Guardian and a mortal. The pixie's face was completely guileless, and coward that I was, I found myself unwilling to discuss it. "I need to get back," I said instead, feeling strange that I was pointing away from me at somebody who was also me. "I'm searching for my brother and sister and their companions. They were traveling to the realm of the /Diwata/. You don't by any chance know where they are, do you?" I added hopefully.

The pixie shook its head. "Sadly, no. I did not see which path they took when they left this place. They might have strayed into the territory of the maligno. In any case, take the cup and fill your cask before you go. The elixir will be useful in aiding your companions if you come upon them."

"Cup? But I drank it all--oh." The cup was on the altar, filled once again with wine. I took the cup and glided across the lake. So this was what my sister meant about not needing a raft, I thought. I set the cup down then stared down at my body with some surprise. Although I would never become a lush, voluptuous beauty like my sister, I had grown up some in the last two years and now sported a few more curves. In the glow of the pixies' light, my face looked elfin and delicate rather than classically beautiful. Even the annoyingly full lower lip that always made me look as if I were pouting didn't seem so bad. I smiled wryly. Maybe I should always arrange for dim lighting to make me look good.

Shaking my head at my vanity, I slipped back into my body and in the next instant my eyes flew open and breath rushed into my lungs. I patted myself again, grimacing when I realized that both my legs were numb. Beside me were my bamboo cask and the cup. I poured the water into the lake and replaced it with the wine, corking the cask tightly shut. Pushing myself up on tingling legs, I thanked the pixies again before making my tottering way out of the cave. Emerging into pitch-dark night, I gasped at the sight of the shimmering, semi-transparent dome rising above the tree line, glowing with a hazy purple light. It was the Diwata's curse, still covering the town although I couldn't see it before. It would remain there to mark us all until the Diwata came down to lay waste to the town.

I had only three days left.

Lighting the lamp, I headed into the forest, trusting my instincts to lead me along the spiral path to the Diwata's realm. From this point on, I was walking in the spirit world.