Chapter 26 Ascension
The sound of her grandfather’s ax chopping wood made Klishei open her eyes.
Outside, the sun has just begun to peek, its yellow tendrils clawing through the dissipating night. Klishei stood and walked out of the room towards the kitchen.
Only when La Meiphi gawked at her from head to toe did Klishei realize that she was standing on both feet.
“How come?” Her grandmother asked.
“I-I also don’t know. But it's a good thing, right?” Klishei said. She immediately changed the topic. “Let me help you.”
Her grandmother just let her be. But while they were preparing, she noticed how La Meiphi kept on staring at her and then spacing away.
But La Meiphi’s thinking eyes made Klishei assume that she knows something.
When the table was ready, Klishei called out to her grandfather. “Lo, let’s eat.” Her Lo was also surprised to see her walking perfectly fine.
After their breakfast, La Meiphi unwrapped the bandages on her feet. Her skin was perfectly healthy with no sign of bruising. She twisted her foot. There was also no pain.
Klishei saw her grandparents looking at each other.
“You look like you want to say something,” she pointed out. “Come on, La and Lo. Ever since I came here, you never asked why I returned after all these years. It’s like you were expecting my return.”
La Meiphi tapped the shoulder of her husband lightly. “I told you it would come to this. There’s nothing to hide anymore. Eisa and Dairon did their part. It’s time we do ours.”
The mention of the name of her parents perked her ears. “My parents are involved?”
The couple sat beside her, flanking her on each side. La Meiphi took her hand. The feel of her wrinkled skin steadied spiraling thoughts.
“The Atcha Tribe is known as the only tribe whose deities are wolves. As a branch of such a peculiar tribe, our family, the Aizal, is part of a long history of wolf worshippers. We believe that we are descendants of people who had the ability to transform into wolves. Now, don’t you be scared. Everything was just fueled by tradition and belief. There has been no record of such transformation among our people.”
They are real, La, she wanted to say. I lived with one for a few days. I was kidnapped by one. And they are after me.
“No one actually saw a werewolf or believed any of those. Not until you were born.”
Klishei prepared herself. “Does it have something to do with me being born under the crimson moon?”
It was grandfather’s turn to answer. “Yes. When I was a child, we were forced to memorize and recite many chants in front of the elders. We thought they were just part of our tradition. It was only when you were born that we realized that they were prophecies and you fulfilled it. Out of the blood moon shall rise a flame, out of the flame shall come forth a crown for the void to claim.”
The words made Klishei feel goosebumps all over her body. Her grandmother brushed her hand, sensing her discomfort.
“Everyone of us thought it was just a coincidence. But as soon as your first cry sounded in this house, the forest was filled with the howls of wolves. We did not see it ourselves but your father fought a human who transformed into a wolf and suddenly barged into the house.”
The unsettling feeling only grew worse. She had been pursued ever since she was born.
“Your mother was in bed, cradling you in her arms and trying to keep you calm. The elders who were here that day only highlighted one thing—that your father killed a mere drunkard. Your parents told us the truth and we believed them. We were banished but it was a blessing in disguise. Because we were branded as unwanted, we lived in peace without the prying eyes of people and your parents were able to afford a life in the city where they raised you.”
Lo Garyan cleared his throat.
“Go and get us some water,” his wife instructed, to which his grandfather complied. They sat in silence until he returned with three glasses and a pitcher.
Her grandmother continued talking. “In the Atcha’s list of gods and goddesses, you fit the description as the Phoenix, the mother deity. Accordingly, you would possess extraordinary power such as the ability to heal faster. And that you have a mission to fulfill. Of what your mission entails, we already don’t know. Our knowledge ends there. Your parents did not want to burden you with an unknown goal and so they were against telling you. They wanted you to grow up ordinarily.”
La Meiphi sighed with a sad tone. “Which I kept on telling them was a bad idea. It would have been better that they guided you personally. Now that you are left, you are discovering things by yourself. It would have been easier if they told you everything.”
“Guide me into doing what exactly?”
“According to the ancient texts, it has been tradition that the Phoenix has the duty to be the bride of the strongest Alpha for the preservation of the race of the werewolves. Your parents hated that idea and so they found a way to spare you from that duty. They decoded the ascension ritual where the deity inside you would simply dissipate, who will return again after 500 hundred years. Many vessels have done this in the past. In fact, for the last 2000 years, there is no recorded vessel that has accepted her fate. And your parents were hoping that it would be the same for you.”
Klishei felt something tugging at her gut. Was it the Phoenix inside her squirming? Why did her grandmother’s last phrase not seem to sit well with her?
“So there is a way out for me without fulfilling my bridal duties,” she concluded. “And how should I do this ascension ritual?”
Klishei pushed away the hesitation that she was feeling. She could feel the Phoenix resisting.
I thought you had already accepted your fate, it seemed to say.
His grandfather tapped his finger on the arm of the bench that they were sitting on.“For that, you will need us. We will have to travel to the resting place of the goddess. We will chant some words. Thank goodness, all those rituals and recitals I did would come in handy.”
“And you are sure that you still know all the words?” His wife raised her brow.
“You may not know this but I was the best among my peers. I know every letter and even the perfect syllabication.” He changed his attention to Klishei.
“Don’t worry. It’s not a complicated ritual. It will be like a plea to the heavens to take the goddess back in the heavenly realms. And then you would be freed.”
Free.
The word made her somewhat excited. “So this resting place, you know where it is?”
“Why, of course. You also know where it is. It’s the favorite hiking spot of your parents.”