The rain mysteriously ceased the moment Maria Elena and Padre Itsi left the
church. He insisted that he take her home as she was visibly shaken. Butuan was
under water now. People were moving their stuff from the first floor to the
second floor or roofs of their houses as the flood came without much warning.
They transferred their livestock to higher ground. The priest and the girl got
on a dug out wooden canoe with two paddlers who exerted little effort as if
the canoe had a mind of its own, drifting with the current across the river.
They got off the canoe close to the path to her home. No Name was waiting for
her near the river edge. Custan, the mananambal, knife in hand, was there ,
too. Padre Itsi could not explain their presence but Maria Elena knew why they
were there. She had summoned them with her mind. Now it seems she could see
things with greater clarity. Upon knowing her real nature, she began to
discover the extent of her own power. Her mind had suddenly been opened to the
unimaginable knowledge of both worlds. I am what I am! There was a stirring in
her blood that demanded satisfaction.
Padre, I have made up my mind. You are right. I am ready to do what I must. My
mother was right. But I shall not wait until the last day of my seventeenth
year. Confrontation is inevitable. I want to do it on my own terms. I have to
choose and I have chosen. The color of her eyes were almost ebony. I have
chosen the day and it is now. Looking in the direction of the tower, she
muttered, You killed my mother. You killed my mother. The skies have grown
darker again. Miles away, across the ocean, the rumbling Vulcan Daan was
spewing out lava. There was no wind now and the leaves of all the trees were
still. They seemed to be bracing for an onslaught. One could smell the calm
before the storm. We shall not go to my home, she declared with a firm
unwavering voice. We shall go directly to the tower. The four turned left in
the tower's direction. An unlikely force of four, a cat, a drunk, a priest, and
a beautiful girl.
The modern day scientists write of an unusual solar eclipse on August 18, 1868.
It was a rare one, starting out as an annular eclipse that later became total.
The moon's umbral shadow dominated as it moved across the sun. But the
survivors of that day would swear that it was Maria Elena's anger that brought
it about. Why else these other things, the flood, the storm, the earthquake?
What more is there ? Until this day, the legend lives, parents passing the tale
to their children, generation after generation. Was it just a legend?
No one knew what time of the day it was. The four got to the tower quickly. No
Name in front of Maria Elena, Custan, with his long knife, in front of Padre
Itsi.
Their back was to the river. The river was beginning to churn in large eddy
currents, sea water and fresh water mixing, boiling, steam rising up to the
air. But a circle around the tower, about twenty meters in radius, was
absolutely calm, as if it were in another world. Every inch of Maria Elena's
garment was dry, not a strand of hair out of place.
Padre Itsi tried to move Custan out of the way. Why do you stay in front of
me? I can hold my own. I am not afraid.
Padre, you should be, Custan answered. Padre Itsi could smell the alcoholic
breath and concluded that in this man's case, inebriation preceded bravado.
Custan read his mind. Padre, think what you like. I have many faults but
cowardice is not one of them. You might be a priest and a holy man but you are
still only human. I am not. This body that you see is just a shell. I was
created to be a guardian.
Maria Elena did not pay attention to this exchange as she concentrated on
calling the spirit of the tree. He started out as a small light, like that of a
firefly, rising from that opening on the ground at the north side base of the
balete tree. It grew bigger and bigger until it became a large rotating ball of
fire. Faster than anything Padre Itsi had ever seen, No Name, with hair
standing on end, nostrils flaring, fangs bared, nails sticking out like razor
blades, gnarling, attacked. The ball swallowed him, the only trace of him a
wisp of smoke. The remaining three could smell the strong sickening odor of
burnt fur and meat. Before Padre Itsi could blink, Custan changed suddenly into
a big black bat the size of a big goat, with hooks in his wings, and a wing
span three meters wide, carrying the knife, hacking and biting into the vines
of the balete tree, the most fearsome creature Padre Itsi had ever seen. Padre
Itsi quivered at the sight. Custan made a frightening sound that could be heard
across the river. A liquid substance like dark green blood oozed from the
severed vines. Then a bolt of flame flew from the ball and tongues of fire
entered Custan's nose, ears, and mouth, insinuating into every cell of his
body. This was followed by a fiery implosion, reducing Custan to a small gray
mound of cinder, the knife dropping helplessly to the ground in front of Maria
Elena's feet.
Arturo and Diego landed almost simultaneously on their own wooden canoes, both
worried about Maria Elena, both deciding to cross the river from Butuan to take
her to safety. Their paths crossed near Manoy Tomas' house. No one was home.
Arturo agreed with Diego when he said that they should join forces. The young
men ran around the village but no one knew where Maria Elena was. Manoy Tomas
had gone to Butuan, also looking for her. The ground shook under their feet,
and broke into linear fissures parallel to the river edge, some gaping
fissures five feet wide, swallowing trees and water. There was total chaos.
Rain was falling in seething torrents. They had to hang on to the base of
coconut trees to keep from being blown away. The wind tore at their shirts and
face. Almost blinded by the rain and flying debris, one hand tied to the other
one's hand by an abaca rope, they crawled to the river where they thought they
left their canoes. They were lost.
Padre Itsi had memorized the words. He had studied exorcism all these years,
knowing it could come to this. He had a flask of holy water when he left the
church.
"Exorciso te, omnis spiritus immunde, en nomine Dei" he made the sign of the
cross, "Patris Omnipotentis"! Pale and haggard, no longer the picture of one
with complete control but unwilling to be cowed by this demonic entity, he
continued to say the prayers of exorcism. I shall exorcise the devil from this
girl and destroy the demon in that tree. I exorcise thee, every unclean spirit,
in the name of God the Father Almighty! He sprinkled the holy water on the
tree, and the ball of light, and finally on Maria Elena's forehead. She was
standing there, not moving, just watching them, her eyes alive, taking in
everything.
He continued the ritual, "Ephpheta, quod est, Adaperire", Be opened!
Previous Chapter - Chapter 8
Next Chapter - Chapter 10
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