A Paradise Lost

The giants started uprooting the trees. They threw it towards the islanders. Some of them were enjoying a feeding frenzy eating the islanders alive. Some were slinging massive balls of fire made from molten rocks. They stepped on the islanders without mercy. They laughed like children while chasing the islanders before either stepping them or eating them alive.

The warriors fired their cannons as much as they could but cannon balls just bounced off from their armors. They were covered with thick metal armors from head to foot. The cannon balls could not penetrate their armors. It would only bounce off. Their only hope of defeating them is by hitting their eyes but they were so tall for the cannon balls to reach their eyes.

Queen Raya was so angry and desperate. She cried out to Yahweh to spare them from the giants. She prayed that Yahweh would send a Great Flood again to kill all the giants. She used all her might to throw a blazing spear into Mahlik’s eyes. The blazing spear hit his right eye. While he was occupied trying to remove the spear from his eyes, she threw another blazing spear into his other eye. He was so enrage that he wanted to pinch the person who threw the spears in his eyes with his thumbnail. He pulled the spears from his eyes and blood gushed out like waterfalls. He groped for humans below his knees. He wanted to take his revenge by eating them alive.

Queen Raya realized that if they would throw a blazing spear into each of the giants’ eyes, they would have a big chance of defeating them.

She instructed the spear throwers to aim at the eyes of the giants. The giants also noticed that they were aiming towards their eyes so they slapped the blazing spears with their hands. They didn’t want to have the same fate with their king who was already blind. Whenever they saw the islanders throwing blazing spears in their eyes, they ran towards them and step on them.

Queen Raya felt hopeless. She wanted to give up. She couldn’t take it anymore to see her people being killed and eaten alive by the giants. She wanted to raise her white handkerchief to inform them that they have surrendered and that they were willing to submit to Spain’s authority. She never thought that giants were also very smart even though they were childish. It seemed like they were enjoying the feeding frenzy and the killing spree. She already ran out of ideas on how to defeat the giants. They couldn’t hit the giants anywhere on their bodies since they were covered with metal armor from head to foot. She couldn’t do anything except trust Yahweh that He would save her people from complete devastation. She froze when a drooling giant ran towards her. She was certain that he was going to eat her alive and chew her body into tiny bits of pieces. She closed her eyes waiting for her gruesome fate to unfold. She heard the excruciating roar of the giant. She was thinking that she was already inside the giant’s mouth being chewed into tiny pieces. She wondered why she didn’t feel the pain nor smell the giant’s filthy mouth. She didn’t dare open her eyes from extreme fear when suddenly someone pulled her arms. She was forced to move to the side.

“Are you okay, my queen?” Queen Raya heard a familiar voice. When she opened her eyes, she saw Bayani holding her arms.

“What happened?”

“We need to stab the giants’ heels to paralyze them. They may not die immediately but we can buy time to kill them by slitting their throats. It is our only way to defeat them.” Felipe shouted standing on top of the giant’s throat.

“Yeah, the Achilles’ heels. Why didn’t I think of it before?”

Queen Raya pulled her bolo out from its sheath. She started to slit the giant’s heels with her bolo. She didn’t waste a single minute of her time. As soon as the giant fell, she climbed immediately on his throat and slit it. A giant hand suddenly picked her up and grip her so tightly. She felt like her body would burst from extreme tightness.

“Do you think you can get away from killing our king? Don’t worry, our king is the most stupid giant among us. He was only declared as a king because he was the tallest among us. It is either you will give up and submit yourselves to Spain’s authority or you will all die.” Sedhrik said.

Queen Raya felt like she hit a wall wherein it’s impossible for her to get out. She couldn’t move at all.

“Listen to me! I finally got your queen. Your future is now in my hands. My queen, are you willing to submit yourselves to Spain’s authority?”

Queen Raya looked down to the terrified faces of her people. She swallowed a giant lump before she opened her mouth to speak.

“Yes, we submit to Spain’s authority!” Queen Raya said hoarsely.

The giants and the Spaniards shouted and leaped from extreme joy. Felipe was so disappointed with Queen Raya’s decision. He didn’t want his queen to submit to Spain’s authority for he already knew what would happen next if they would give up their sovereignty. The opinions of the islanders were divided. Some of them agreed with their queen’s decision to stop the killing spree. They were also some who disagreed with her decision and would rather die fighting than give Spain the authority to rule them.

“To seal our deal, you need to sign an agreement with us.”

Sedhrik took the scroll from Fernando Magallanes. Queen Raya was disgusted to see the Spaniards standing on the side unscathed while they were fighting for their lives.

“Cowards!” Queen Raya hissed under her breath.

Sedhrik finally put Queen Raya down and handed the scroll to her. She opened the scroll slowly. She was too weak to move a muscle. It was either she was exhausted from fighting the giants or she dreaded the fate that was about to unfold before her and would change the lives of the Maharlikans forever.

“I don’t understand what’s on the scroll. It’s in Spanish. I need an interpreter!”

Ahmad ran towards her. He took the scroll and read it.

“My queen, it says on the scroll that if you will sign this agreement, everything in your kingdom including your people will belong to Spain. It means that the Spaniards can take everything in your land and your people as their slaves. You also need to disaffiliate yourself to whatever cult or religion you have and be baptized as Roman Catholic.”

“Nooooo!!!!!!” Queen Raya wailed.

“If you will not sign the agreement, we will kill all your people until your kingdom will be remove from the face of the earth and you will be forgotten for the rest of the generations to come.” Sedhrik warned.

“I cannot sign the deal. I don’t have a pen and ink.”

Sedhrik gave her a feather pen.

“Where’s the ink?”

“You need to seal the deal with your blood.”

Queen Raya slit her hand with her bolo and finally sealed the deal. From that time on, the lives of the Maharlikans were changed and they lost their paradise. Their country was no longer called Maharlika but Philippines. The Spaniards changed their country’s name as Philippines and called them Filipinos to indicate that they are already a slave to King Philip. They wondered when they could take their paradise back or would it be lost forever.