MINDAZA

10. ON THE CLIFF

"Mindaza, take more time to practice your skills at handling the sword. Khallel stays on the upper front, I'm going to visit the back side. I want to make sure we are safe," Sulaya ordered the two.
And so Khallel nodded and jumped to the upper part for monitoring. Mindaza returned to her room, to follow what her mother said. She gets the sword and tries to raise it in front of the mirror. She looked at herself in the mirror holding the sword. At first, she gasped, but because of the incident of a sudden attack from underwater, she realized she had to learn how to use the sword.
And now, Mindaza makes the first move in front of the mirror, as she imagined an enemy in her front. "I can do this!" she reminds herself.
When Sulaya was young, her mother herself never taught her to fight. Her mother trained her early in the morning for housework and livelihood. Sulaya does this to prepare herself, so Sulaya grows up normally but has her own skills that are shaped as she grows.
Unlike Mindaza, she only needs to study and practice sword fighting since she has her own sword now. But, Sulaya's husband didn't like this kind of thing for his daughter.
During the dinner time of spiral warriors;
"They are not coming to raid," Mindaza lifted her sword and felt the thrill of battle run from her hand to her whole body, "they are coming to conquer. It was the meaning of the song they sing." Mindaza added.
"But we are no longer enemies," Khallel said.
"And these groups of men are under the king's supervision. They are also living somewhere in the kingdom."
Ganadara nodded, as she agreed to what Khallel said.
"But not the same blood," Sulaya reminded him.
Khallel stood in the stern of the skimmer and put a hand on his sword's hilt.
"We have to be careful, we can't trust them" Sulaya murmured gently.
"Then the almighty and most powerful one may save this land of Mindanao," he said.
"He will, I believe in him" Sulaya said.
"What happened then? Why did you choose to live on a small island?" a confusing question of Khallel. Politeness had restrained her curiosity until now.
"The Black warriors destroyed my village," Sulaya said quietly. "And I was the only survivor."
The boom of surf on the cliff foot alerted them to danger, and the gleam of silver foam showed them where it lay. High above, stars glittered in the dark abyss of the sky.
"After everyone has eaten, get ready while resting, because tonight we will not sleep,"
Sulaya ordered. She moved aft and took control of the steering-oar.
"I remember this cost," she said, "So obey my orders when I give them."
Mindaza saw the dark break in between two lines of surf and knew there must be a gap in the cliff wall.
"Up the oars, lower the mast," Sulaya ordered.
The wave Skimmer surged from the cliffs as the other crew unfastened the stays that held the mast secure and positioned it back in the bottom of the boat. Mindaza watched, unable to help, as she admired this newly-revealed skill of these middle-aged men and women.
"The oars!" Sulaya said quietly. "Quarter speed."
Wave Skimmer barely made headway against the receding tide as Sulaya beat the time and the oarsmen grunted with effort.
Mindaza watched as the stars suddenly vanished. "Where are we going?" she asked. Mindaza touched solid rock.
"We are going on the best route", Sulaya said.
"So strange, there are so many unseen caves in the ocean. But this cave looks different."
"We are not in a cave," Sulaya said. We are in a tunnel."
Sulaya explained to her daughter. Mindaza didn't answer, instead she just focused on what she was seeing, and she was amazed. After 10 minutes of cautious groping, with the oars on either side scraping on the rock. And now, they saw the bright sky with its shining notes, and they were refreshed and welcomed by the open air.
"Steer starboard," Sulaya ordered, "take it as hard against the rock-face."
The Skimmer eased toward a granite cliff, smoothed by the constant caress of the sea.
The crew of spiral warriors lifted their oars exactly as the ship touched something hard and Sulaya looped a rope over a jutting outcrop of rock. That will overhang shields from view and the narrow opening ensures that there are no rough seas to damage the ship.
Mindaza touched the hilt of the sword that already seemed so natural for her to carry across her back.
"Mindaza, it's time for you to get some sleep."
"Ah..okay mother.." her daughter responded immediately.
Mindaza struggled to fall asleep as she lay on deck, looking at the familiar stars in this strangest of surroundings. She had a lot of questions racing through her head, about what would happen the next day. She turned to the left, thinking about what to do.
Now she gets up and stands to touch the blade. She immediately felt a rush of strength, yet, as soon as she removed her hand, the feeling would vanish. And she believed that the sword had its own power. As she stared at it, she saw a letter engraved on the side of the handle: "Spiral Queen".
"What is the meaning of this?" Mindaza asked herself. Thinking of who it is, the "spiral queen"
In the morning,
All the crew were busy preparing a meal of newly caught fish cooking on hot stones and cold water flavored with rowan berries.
"How's your sleeping?" Sulaya asked her daughter when she turned to bite an apple.
"I got a good sleep mother, thank you" Sulaya smiled at her daughter.
"Mindaza, come and join us!" Ganadara said, and passed across a pewter mug. "Let's drink and eat, little girl!"

In the morning;

The boat were in the center of an unknown place, surrounded by the tallest cliffs, and the only way in or out was through the tunnel made of rock. Trees clung to unsteady nooks and tiny ledges of the rock as a disguise for all eyes above.

Mindaza never remove her gazed as she scanned the surrounding cliff.