The Phoenix's Maiden

The Path Ahead

“I just want to tell you, about her,” she pointed to Kamandag then she begins to tell Arthur the whole story and Mang Tonyo promised to keep it as a secret. She told them everything upon meeting Amaya and their private conversation and the identity of the snake. Amber can tell that she can see a little bit of surprise in the face of the knight and the geezer is just enjoying the story. After that it’s Kamandag’s turn to introduce herself and why she is kept hidden for a long time from others. Arthur quickly understood her reason and begins to learn about her. He is quite happy that he decided to grab the snake because it really saves him time but there is no more rest for him as the sun is peeking at the forest edge. After that Amber took a nap while Kamandag is beside her, Mang Tonyo prepared the carriage, and Arthur packs their things.

“Mang is a Filipino term used for addressing elderly men in the Philippines as a sign of respect.”

When they are fully ready, Arthur told Kamandag who is barely awake to wake Amber because they will continue their journey and by night time they are expected to reach the land of the blazing souls. This time in the carriage the tension is gone since there are no more hate going on in each side and there are no more secrets or so we thought.

“Mang Tonyo,” Amber called on the geezer who is busy guiding the unicorns on their way towards the lands.

“What is it milady?” he responded to her call.

“I just want to ask about that forest,” she said and Mang Tonyo just smile at her curiosity. A tough girl, he thought. It literally made her cry because her friend was abducted by one of those creatures.

“Sure, go ahead,” he wanted to entertain the maiden with stories.

“Except for kapres what other creatures live in that forest?” she asked.

“Hmmm,” he thinks because it’s been long since he came back in this part of the kingdom. “This place is famous for being the most confusing place sine the wanderers are getting lost easily thanks to those giant creatures,” he started. “But there are rumors going around that this forest is also the home of many wild mystics that live in harmony,” he added. “I think that the kapres serves as the guard of their haven to prevent anyone on reaching their place,” he speculated and on the other side Arthur felt guilty on killing that Kapre earlier.

“Wow, I want to reach that place,” she said with excitement and Mang Tonyo just laugh at her.

“Well, that was just rumors going around in my city,” he said letting Amber’s excitement into ruins and Arthur was at ease. “But the late king Friggs, claimed that he reached that haven and explained everything to us,” he added. “From the looks of it, that place sure is wonderful, full of wild diwatas and green engkantos living there,” he said and Amber scratch her head upon hearing the “green engkantos” in his mouth.

“I though engkantos like you build a village,” she doubted.

“Yes, we are called white engkantos because of the color of our skin and unlike our cousins we are just gifted with intelligence like the humans,” he explained it to him.

“Cousins?” Amber asked in confusion.

“Yes, hmmm what word do humans use in this kind of situation?” he wondered. “Ahh species!” he shouted. “Like humans define the animals in their world we are also divided into different species, for example we the white engkantos are known for being the most intelligent in our family and the green engkantos are the ones who can manipulate plants, there are also engkantos scattered around the mystic world and in this kingdom, there are only two known species in my family,” he explained and Amber is very amazed. She didn’t know that mystics are very diverse creatures.

“That’s wonderful,” she commented, not knowing what to respond to him.

“Is there anything you want to know milady?” he said and Amber can’t think of anything because she is busy thinking how can she get into that haven and meet different mystics on her way.

“That’s all Mang Tonyo and I am very glad that you told me this thing,” she said with gratitude in her voice.

“It’s my pleasure,” he said and he focused on the road.

.               .               .

“Let’s take a break,” Arthur announced after their 5 hours of travel and it’s almost noon and they need to eat their lunch to regain their strength. Unlike in the human realm, the sun here isn’t that hot in this time and area because of the trees.

“Hey sleeping beauty it’s time to eat,” Kamandag tries to wake Amber up while slapping her cheeks with her small tail.

“Hmmm,” she retorted and shove Kamandag’s tail but the snake is very persisted and she kept slapping the maiden until she wakes up.

“You need to eat on time,” the snake reminded her while she gets up and Kamandag crawl up on her shoulders.

“The food is ready milady,” Mang Tonyo invited her over in their temporary tent to cover the food from the falling leaves and to protect themselves from the sunrays penetrating from the tree tops.

“Coming!” she shouted. Upon reaching them Mang Tonyo gave Amber a red fruit with a rounded shape. She observed how the old mystic eats it and he just bites through it without peeling of its skin, so she tried to mimic him and she bites on the rounded red fruit. “Wow,” she shouted, not expecting how delicious the fruit is. It’s refreshing and very sweet. “What is this?” she asked.

“Candy fruit,” Arthur answered her question.

“Candy? Well, that explains it sweetness but it also quenched my thirst, where can I get more of this?” she asked and her sweet tooth is demanding for more.

“Here milady,” Mang Tonyo gave her an additional two candy fruit and the maiden enjoyed it from the first bite to it’s last bite.

“I’m full,” she announced after finishing her meal and the knight just finished his meal. “Thanks, Mang Tonyo she said to the geezer giving him a smile. That warms his heart and they cooperated, helping each other out cleaning their mess. It’s to show respect to the nature. They also cleaned their temporary camp and after that they continue again on their journey and the maiden just went right at it. She sleeps again and expecting that when she wakes, they already reached the place. Instead of being nervous why not just sleep it off, one of her logics that learned in battling her mental illness back then.

.               .               .

Hours passed and the green forest slowly turned into a wasteland and burned trees are scattered all over the place. The wailing of souls can be heard inside the carriage but this does not scare the knight and not enough waking Amber from her deep slumber. Mang Tonyo is not fazed upon hearing those wails since he is certain that this place is still safe from those Santelmos wandering in the land of blazing souls.

From afar thick black smokes can be seen and it comes from the fiery creatures living there. When they reach their destination the two will just use their legs to find the goddess Amaterasu which hides in this area as the kings said.

It’s not that far, and the two will leave the carriage for the safety of Mang Tonyo and Arthur is enough to fend off those vengeful creatures coming for them. Kamandag felt the pressure of something big from afar. A very strong aura, and she thinks that it might be Amaterasu, but what confuses her is that she senses another one and the two of them are not that far from each other.

The snake prepared herself on waking Amber again and the knight cleans his sword. He wants his sword as clean as possible when fighting since he uses its reflection when fighting multiple enemies and since there are only two of them, the chances of them being ganged up is pretty high. He also prepares his thoughts, and when it comes to his physical attributes it doesn’t concern him.

He also prepares his talismans that he will be using in case something bad might happen to them that will call the twin king to back them up. It’s also ensuring their safety from the goddess in case she plots something that may break their treaty in exchange of her stay in this kingdom.

-The Phoenix’s Maiden-