The Stranger, Part 6

Previously: Ubal woke up in Madlus, a strange world with three suns, where he met Stok who transfused him with his blood. Ubal also noticed a strange organ growing out of his chest.

On their way to Mt. Kirkir, while the suns were in a showdown, the mysteriform Yanggaw appeared to them to warn against Kriyum. Stok told Ubal the story of his encounter with Kriyum Lastik who had the ability to grow extra limbs.

Kriyum had quizzed Stok about love and things that are greater than love. In exchange for Stok’s story, Ubal told his own story about gaining his sexual identity, and the question that led him in his search for Wuting.

Stok and Ubal were joined by Yanggaw in their climb to Mt. Kirkir where they finally met Wuting who demanded a sacrifice in exchange for the answers to Ubal’s existential questions.

***

WUTING roared, his laughter thundered. Everything around them seemed to shake at the sound of his sneering laughter. “What shall I do with your life, stranger? That is not what I need. Tell me what you want, and I will tell you what I need in return.”

Ubal’s orbis reached its full erection, and the fear and caution he felt earlier for Wuting has vanished. “What did Pokis mean when he said that even the wise are sometimes mistaken in their judgments?”

“The answer to that question demands the life of Stok.”

Ubal looked at Stok and Yanggaw. “That, I cannot give. These two have come with me on this journey as my friends.”

Wuting laughed even more diabolically. “You are in no position to negotiate the payment that has been set for your question, stranger.”

Ubal felt his orbis go limp.

“But you are supposed to be omnipotent,” Ubal shouted. “They say that you reward the just, that you are a god worthy of worship.”

“A good reason why you should do as I say,” Wuting countered. “Kill Stok.”

“What wrong did Stok do? He is a good person. He recognizes you… He transfused me with his own blood so I could stay in Madlus.”

“All the more reason why you should kill him. He clouded your mind. He deceived you with his manners. He has poisoned your blood. Do you know what Stok really believes in? Isn’t that the question you asked him, a question he evaded and refused to answer?”

Ubal once again glanced at Stok and Yanggaw.

“Don’t trust him, Ubal,” Yanggaw warned him.

“How can I know that you are not the one who is deceiving me?” Ubal shot back at Wuting.

“For me to answer that, I demand the life of Yanggaw. Remember, stranger, that in this world, not everything that the eyes see is true. In Madlus, you cannot trust even your own experiences. There are events that seem real, but they end a little differently.”

For the third time, Ubal looked at Stok and Yanggaw. His orbis was no help in making him know or understand anything.

From a distance, the swarinoks cried their mournful shrieks. The red Pintas was about to break dawn.

“We are your friends, Ubal,” Yanggaw said, almost pleading.

“What have you to say, Stok?” asked Ubal.

“Do what you have to do, Ubal. Listen to the promptings of Pintas.”

The things Stok and Yanggaw had said about the sacrifice needed to end the journey, or the feeling of being cornered and trapped came back running in Ubal’s mind.

For a while he ruminated, What is the real answer to the puzzle that Pokis had left him? Could he live after betraying his friends? Could he face life knowing that he turned his back on the one chance that he could extract from Wuting himself the answer to the question that has set him on this journey and adventure in the first place?

For a second, the world of Madlus seemed to come to a full stop. The light and brightness from the three dueling suns started to dance. Ubal felt a restlessness within him. His blood was being pulled in all directions, and he was falling out of control. The orbis in his chest started to move, snake-like.

Suddenly, Ubal snatched Stok’s sanduko. He raised the sword, and pushed Stok to the ground.

Yanggaw screamed.

Wuting’s laughter thundered.

Ubal raised the sharp-edged sanduko and slashed…

…the orbis in his chest.

As he laid weak and dying, Ubal got a glimpse of Pintas exploding into a brighter red. He understood light, and remembered the word ‘sacrifice.’ Like, he understood what Pokis meant.

Sometimes, even the so-called wise men make mistakes in their judgments because Pokis himself made a mistake in judging Ubal’s sex. Between Ubal and his twin sister that was born with him in the same body, there was no struggle; it only happened that respect for Life prevented them from killing to conquer the other. The female twin was powerful enough to sacrifice – even without knowing it – her life for Ubal.

Where the orbis fell off, the wound healed, and Ubal smiled. [The End]/PN