"Indeed. I found myself in two places at once, an intriguing experience that left me pondering."
Enchantment, mysticism, and wonder all come together.
Step into a world where the boundaries of the real and the imagined blur as the fabric of time and...
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It did not take long for me to spot Tokoh. The fact that he and his fellow warriors were rowdy as they lingered around attracted my attention.
As an adolescent, he had grown from the surly brat that I saw in the past to a robust, stocky-built, heavily tattooed young man with a dark complexion and long, curly hair.
He normally wore a smug, arrogant expression, but he is currently scowling in reaction to his peers' taunting remarks. As they teased him about his betrothed, he would look over his shoulder and sneak leering glances at Ayu Indah.
Notorious for his drinking sprees and reckless hunting methods, he often got away with lying and deceit. Given that he was the favorite son among all his brothers, the chieftain turned a blind eye to his errant behaviors and habits.
Walking behind Ayu Indah, I saw her look right through him as she passed. Her face was sullen as she held up the anahaw, a large round-leaf fan palm, like an umbrella over her head to protect her from the afternoon glare.
Like a star that fell from the sky, everyone gaped at the sight of the slender young girl who stood by Inang and Tatang, her parents's side, as they had come to discuss her dowry for the kasabotan, her betrothment, with the Kepala Suku.
The lanky preteen wearing only a bark skirt around her hips, bare, stark, untainted whiteness, golden hair, and perky, pink-tipped breasts was a striking contrast and stood out like a vision of light against the dark-skinned crowd of tattooed bodies gathered around in the open square to witness her betrothal.
Not once did she smile or glance in Tokoh's direction.
In the past, as children, whenever they did cross paths, which was not often as she avoided the sight of him, she would haughtily dare to insult him by calling him "sigbin," to mean a creature of the night, shaped like a dog that sucks blood in mythology, to his face.
Tokoh was outraged by her attitude, but he still treated her with caution. Instead, he retaliated by calling her an ugis na 'ongo" or "kas-kas," a white witch.
His peers would laugh and follow suit in teasing her, stopping only from fear when she gave them a dagger stare with her purple eyes.
Much later, he would brag to everyone that her beauty made up for her insolence, that she belonged to him, and that he would "tame" this witch soon after they were wed.
Anyone who knew Tokoh knows that it wasn't a joke but a real threat.
