Threads of Fate

Chapter 7: The Witch and the King

She came into an island, an island hidden by fog in the middle of the ocean, an island where she have hidden the creatures close to her heart. She feels the excitement while she waves her hands to move the fog that veiled the area, she's thinking of the creatures that she's been longing to be with... But her emotion suddenly changed when she saw in front of her the miserable condition of the island. This is not how it was the last time she came to visit. It used to be a paradise, but now all can be seen is in ruins.

An intense sadness welled up inside her as she walked onto the ruins of the island. She couldn't stop a tear from falling from her eyes as she looks at the pitiful condition of the place. She continued to walk until she found herself on top of a hill. There is a wooden slab sticking out from the ground, she approached it and noticed the ancient writings engraved into the slab.

Dito nakahimlay ang mga biktima ng kapangyarihan

This is where the victims of power lie... This is where the victims of power lie... A sudden change of emotion stirred within her, from sadness to hatred. "Bathala!" she hissed as she thought about it. She turned around and quickly fled from the island to the kingdom where she thinks the culprit is, the only one responsible for the destruction of the place she loved.

---==O==---

Roan took her way to the West Forest. She's thinking of meeting the witch who lives there, hoping to get any information about something she's been searching for.

While walking, she felt as if someone or something's been following her. She stopped and turned to look behind her, but she found nothing. She shook her head. She shrugged and continued walking.

Her steps suddenly stopped when she heard some noise on her right. She looked at the shrub with bright yellow flowers, some of its leaves are moving. Goosebumps suddenly felt from her feet to her head, "Something's moving there" she thought.

She slowly walked near the plant, she gulped dry as she approaches it. She took a deep breath when the shrub is finally in front of her, she slowly moved the leaves with her gentle hands. She was amazed of what she saw, a young mouse deer−−or pilandok as the locals call them.

"Is it you that follows me?" she asked smiling at the young pilandok.

"Eeeeehhh" it answered as if pleading for her.

Roan sat and tried to free the pilandok from the branches that trapped its hind leg. "Why were you following me? See what happened to you..." she chuckled while talking to the young animal.

She finally broke the branch that caught the young pilandok's leg, she rubbed its head, "There, you can now go back to your mother."

The young pilandok licked her face and cried, "Eeeeeehh!" as if saying 'thanks' before galloping away from her. She smiled as she watched it run freely.

She stood up and continued walking through the forest until she reached a hut made of bamboo and palm leaves. There is a huge tamarind tree beside it, smoked by the burning dried leaves underneath. "Maybe this is where the witch lives." she thought as she walks near.

She stepped at the bamboo stairs and found the door was open. Every step she takes creates a creaking sound on the bamboo stairs and flooring which adds a mysterious and eerie feeling to the place. As soon as she entered the hut, an intense smell crept into her nostrils, the stench of rotting flesh. She covered her nose and looked around, it's pitch black, she couldn't see anything.

"Anybody here?!" she yelled, but she got no response.

"Hello?" she shouted again but again, no one answered her call.