Animism: A Magic System (The Kinship)

The smell of the stew stirred me from sleep, but it was the light and the heat that came from the torch Renne held that woke me up. 

He loomed over me, torch in hand, and said, "It sounded like you were having a bad dream."

My hand still shielded my face when I said, "Bad dream it is."

I stood up and stretched, patted Brub on the side of his head, and sat next to Renne in front of the pot. We were in a cave, much like the one we have at home where the elders prayed, but it was quite spacious. It had more headroom, as the one back home sends you on all fours as you go deeper into the cave. There were also passages that possibly led to different areas within the mountain, but it was too dark to see what lay beyond them. 

Renne brought the torch under the pot and said, "The stew is almost ready. Can you hand me the bowl beside you?"

I obliged and handed him a couple, and followed with one more for Brub.

"I've heard stories of 'The Kinship' when I was a kid," He started as he poured some stew on a makeshift bowl made from a coconut shell. 

He handed it to me and continued, "Our elder told stories about how deities, and warrior spirits that roamed our land, possess the body of a person and grant it its abilities."

Brub also had his share of the stew and dove into his bowl before Renne could even bring it to the ground, "But not all spirits are capable of that, mind you. Only the ones that are of the highest order. At least, that's what the elder had said."

He poured some for himself, and then sat next to me, so we both faced the pot by the fire. 

"I've never heard of such stories," I said as I blew on the hot stew, its aroma filling my nose, and making me salivate. 

"But I've heard of people communicating with spirits," I followed. "Where I was from, we had an elder, she had two apprentices, and they speak with spirits."

"And what do they talk about?" Renne asked. 

"Who?" I looked at him. 

"I mean, your elder, her apprentices," He clarified. "What do they talk about when they talk with spirits?"

"Ow, that," Somehow that made me laugh. "I honestly don't know," I tried to remember if I had ever heard of talk about spirits. 

"But they do speak with spirits when someone falls ill in our tribe," I remember my sister getting sick one time, and my parents brought her to the cave where the elder prayed. Father brought along a bottle of rum, a gift he got from Datu Ino, and gave it to the elder as an offering. He also had a couple of his soldiers brought in a dead pig. 

"We also do that back home." He said, his eyes fixed on the bonfire. 

"I took my wife to our elder one time when she had a miscarriage." He shook his head but kept looking at the fire. "It was her third miscarriage."

"After she was treated, the elder spoke to me." He paused, and sipped from his bowl, "The elder said my wife had the gift of kin. And that she can never continue living a normal life."

"What's that supposed to mean, I asked." My thoughts too. But I didn't interrupt him.

"The miscarriage may well be a coincidence, the elder said. But with that, 'The Kinship' was set in motion." 

I sipped at my bowl, and nodded to him, urging him to go on. 

"Such tragedies could result in a break in a person's spiritual fabric. And when that happens, a spirit will try to penetrate the person. But if the break isn't too great, and the spirit is unsuccessful in its attempt, it would then feed the mind of the person, plaguing them with visions and dreams of their tragedy. The most common is through dreams when the mind is at its weakest. My wife told me she had recurring dreams of our stillborn child speaking to her, crying out to her, telling her not to abandon her," He seemed distraught, his voice almost broke for a moment.

"I thought it ridiculous at the time," He seemed so deep in thought as if it was all happening in front of him as he spoke. 

"She even told me of voices, she said she heard voices." Tears must have fallen on his face, as I saw in my peripheral vision that he rubbed at his eyes, one after the other.

"I tried to comfort my wife the best I could, but it must have been too much for her. And it only got worse after that. Some of our relatives thought she lost it and had gone crazy," He stared out for a moment and checked if the others were back. Not seeing anyone, he then went on, "The elder said to leave my wife in her care, so that she can assist her, perhaps guide her."

"Did you?"

"The day I brought my wife to the elder was the day our village was attacked." 

He went back to the pot and poured himself some more. Brub also had another serving. He offered to pour some into my bowl, but I refused politely. 

"Where were you?" I asked as he settled back from where he sat. 

"I was out hunting boars," He said as he slurped the last of his stew. "It was close to noon time when I returned. And when I saw what was happening, I immediately ran into the village."

He took his bowl aside and stared into the fire. "I was too late," He said and shook his head. 

"Tunyi grabbed me and brought me aside, as he hid at the edge of the village. He kept shaking his head, his hands covering my mouth. There's nothing we can do, he kept saying in my ear." He then heaved out a massive sigh and brought his knees close to his body. 

"It was mind-numbing to see people get slaughtered like cattle. And there wasn't anything I could-"

"I know," I didn't mean to interrupt, but somehow I blurted it out. And I said, "I know that kind of helplessness. 'Cause I was also there, and stood to watch my entire tribe get eradicated by those painted men."

We were silent for a little while, then he said, "And somehow we managed to survive."

"That we did," It was my turn to sigh. 

"And you will continue to. If you trust me." A voice said. 

"What?" I asked as I looked around in search of the source of the voice. 

"Huh?" Renne asked, seemingly surprised. 

"Didn't you hear?" 

Then it dawned on him before it did on me. 

"That is why I wanted to speak with you," He then said. "I wanted to know how you did what you did, how you managed to control it."

"But I didn't, that's the thing," I shook my head, trying to recall the experience. "Everything was a blur to me, and there was just a line. It glowed, and I somehow just followed it."

He nodded but didn't say anything.

"I remember being cold. Like being out in the rain during a storm, or underwater. But the cold was on the inside. It's hard to explain."

Another silence. 

"I am sorry, Renne," I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples.  

"For what? You saved our lives. And that is a debt I would be willing to pay with my life."