Chapter 13: The Road Beyond Waliala
The night air in Waliala felt unyielding, dense, expectant, alive with the sense that something, somewhere, was shifting. By the campfire's unsteady glow, Jantaka watched the flames dance and recoil. Across from him, Sawerigading sat silent, the once-mighty hero of the Lagaligo sagging beneath a weight heavier than any battle. This was the shameful burden of longing, a grief not conquered with blade or courage.
Even with Walakina gone, her essence lingered, a gentle trace like the fragrance of a flower long since plucked. Every breath Sawerigading took seemed to carry the memory of her smile.
"She gave me a smile…" he whispered, voice broken and vulnerable. "Not the smile of reunion or victory. It was something else, a smile you give only when hope is slipping away, like she was trying to hide her own heartbreak." He paused, letting the words settle. "How can a soul shine so brightly and yet look so wounded?"
Jantaka remained quiet, letting the silence do the work of understanding. He too had seen it in Walakina, the way her love was tangled with acceptance of loss, as if she already knew the ending that neither of them could outrun.
"You can't stay," Jantaka finally said, pushing a smoldering branch with the toe of his boot. "She knows it. That's why her smile stings so much. Sometimes the bravest thing is to let go."
Sawerigading clenched his fists, grief simmering in silence. "I crossed oceans, fought storms, outwitted spirits, I came all this way. But the one fight I can't win is the one against fate itself."
Suddenly, the silence vanished and from beyond the camp's reach, horses reared and whinnied, alarmed by something they could sense. Then came the thunder of feet, a messenger or perhaps a warning spirit piercing the night with urgency and dread. Sawerigading was on his feet in an instant, fingers finding the hilt of his blade.
"They've found me," he said in a murmur, eyes darting toward the darkness. Whether his pursuers were men or spirits, he left unsaid. "I have to go. Now."
Jantaka sprang to his side with a sigh that was half a laugh. "You meet your soul's reflection, risk everything, and then run? What am I supposed to do, stew in my own boredom and tally crickets?"
Sawerigading managed the ghost of a smile. "If you're coming, know this, the road is hard by its very nature. This urgency, these trials, they belong to destiny's hand, not mine alone."
"That's exactly why I'm with you," Jantaka replied, brushing off his cloak and straightening with false bravado. "If destiny's going to test you, she might as well test me, too. Besides, " he tried for careless confidence, "life's too short to chase fireflies all night."
Together, they vanished into the restless gloom of the forest, their footprints swallowed almost instantly by the darkness. Behind them, the sacred grove of Waliala shed its glow, and for a heartbeat, even the spirits seemed to mourn what faith or courage alone could not reclaim.
And as Jantaka stole a glance at Sawerigading, moonlight casting sharp shadows on the hero's face, he wondered if the trials ahead were truly their fate, or if the deepest test would be learning how to leave the past behind.
Somewhere beyond the trees, something waited, watching the next chapter of their journey, still unwritten, waiting to reveal whether it would heal, or wound, the hearts of those bold enough to follow destiny's unyielding path.