A Para-fable (Complete Version)

Calmando shook his head. He did not like shouting of any kind which was why he so admired Matang Lawin; the master could command respect, loyalty and awe without raising his voice. The young man was about to step over a rock when,

"Hey, has the storm passed? I thought I told you to wake me up when it did!" The hermit's voice cut into Calmando's musings like a rusty hatchet into a log.

The hermit stood on a ledge above Calmando. He was bleary eyed still and was rubbing his belly.

"Is there any stew left?" he asked the young man.

"I'm afraid not. We finished it all." Calmando eyed the hermit a little suspiciously as the old man made his way down to where the farmer's son was standing.

"Don't look at me like that, sonny," the hermit said, as he bent down and looked inside the now-empty pot, "it's not my fault that you're stuck in the middle of the Medero. I didn't send you on some wild goose chase. If you want someone to blame, blame the high and mighty Matang Lawin."

This was too much for the farmer's son. He was used to being treated with contempt; he and the rest of the students in the school had often been treated shabbily by Laoakan and they had never complained. It was part of their training, the assistant had said, it was a way to learn humility. But Matang Lawin himself had always treated each of the students in his school with respect and kindness. Now to hear this dirty, smelly creature speak so disrespectfully of the master was intolerable. Calmando grabbed the hermit by the scruff of his shabby coat and almost lifted him off the ground.

"I will not have anyone, especially a miserable creature like you, disrespect Matang Lawin. Believe me, hermit, I may have learned patience and tolerance from him, but he also told me that there is a limit to everything, and I have reached mine with you. Now, tell me who you are and how you came to know about me," Calmando's voice was soft but his eyes had turned the color of coal.

The hermit put up his hands.

"Alright, alright," he cajoled, "I was just teasing you, Calmando. I've been on my own for so long, I've forgotten how to be civil. Come on, put me down, I'll even apologize to your master when I see him again."

"You've seen the master recently?" Calmando was surprised.

"Not recently, but yes, I have seen him," the old man sighed in relief as the young man let go of him, "I told you, we go a long way back."

As Calmando put him down, the hermit made a great show of straightening his tattered coat; he pulled the sleeves down and adjusted the worn-out cuffs.

"Magdalo, at your service," he said, holding out a thin and dirty hand to the farmer's son, "abject recluse, unwilling hermit and weaver of intrigue."

"Those are despicable traits to boast about, Master Magdalo," Calmando replied, shaking the hermit's hand, "have you nothing more noble to be proud of?"

"Oh yes. I am also brother to Matang Lawin," Magdalo answered.

---------

It was a full hour after the evening meal when Matang Lawin heard a knock on his study door. He put the parchment he had been reading down and made his way to the door.

"Master," Laoakan bowed slightly when the older man opened the door, "I know I'm late but I couldn't get away from all the chores, you know, the cooking, the cleaning up, the..."

The old teacher raised a hand.

"All of which you hand down to the students to do, leaving you with plenty of time to pursue other interests, Laoakan. No..." as the assistant was about to speak, "I know it is true. I may be old and my eyes may be tired, but I am not blind."

"We need more hands to do the chores, Matang Lawin," the assistant interjected, "there is only so much that I can do and as I said this morning, I'm not as young anymore."

"I know we are short-handed, and I am aware that the school needs more funding."

"We wouldn't be counting each and every penny if you had listened to me and taken the handsome offer of the Lakan's son."

"And be beholden to him?"

"We needed that money, Matang Lawin. There are servants and bills that must be paid, food that must be bought, livestock to feed, grains that must be planted, why the roof of this old building must be replaced, it is rotting away. All of these cost money. You may not worry about it, but I do." Laoakan blurted out.

"Do you think I am not aware of what you have been forced to do these past few years, Laoakan?" the master asked quietly.

The assistant took a small step back. He felt a sudden twinge of fear as his thoughts began to race -- there was a tone to Matang Lawin's voice that made him uneasy; had the old fool found out? Had something or someone given him away?

He cleared his throat and swallowed his anger.

"Forgive me, master...many things have been weighing on me, especially the stock of rice and corn, there might not be enough to last us till the next harvest."

The hesitation in Laoakan's voice was not lost on the old teacher. He closed his eyes briefly then turned back to his desk. He picked up the parchment he had been reading and held it out to his assistant. Laoakan reached for the letter.

"What do you make of that?"

The assistant quickly scanned the document. Maybe there was something in this letter that had given him away. But it seemed innocent enough. True, it was an official document with all the seals and signatures of the Lakan, but nothing mysterious or revealing seemed to be written on it. He handed the parchment back to the master.

"It's a letter from the Lakan, informing us that he has decided to step down earlier, but this is not news, he is quite old and his son has been groomed to take his place for quite some time."

"And in three months, Lemuel will be leaving us, is that not so?" Matang Lawin was looking at the assistant rather intently.

"Yes, but I don't see what this letter has to do with that."

"You did not read the end of the document, the Lakan wants us to release Lemuel earlier, in a month's time, to be exact. He wants his nephew to succeed him -- as ruler of the Eastern Lands."

Laoakan stared at Matang Lawin, not wanting to believe what he had heard.

"But what about his own son...I thought he would take over..."

"The Lakan's son, Reynante, was killed in a hunting accident three days ago."

---------

Lemuel was stuffing clothes into a small rucksack when he heard a soft knocking at his door. He threw the bag under his bed and hastily covered the garments on his bed with a sheet. He opened the door nervously but breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Mariquita standing by the door.

"Why do you look worried, Lemuel?"

He did not answer, instead he reached under the bed, pulled out the bag and started putting clothes in it again. Mariquita watched him with growing fear.

"Do you intend to go after Calmando?"

"You know I must, Mariquita, after what I heard at the stables this morning..."

"But what did you hear, Lemuel? You may have misheard it all."

"Oh no, Mariquita, I did not. Laoakan was talking to Bagwis, I'm sure it was him, and they intend to hunt Calmando down. I have to warn him."

Mariquita knew she could not stop Lemuel. When the three of them first arrived at the school, Lemuel was just a boy. True, he had been tall for his age and being the Lakan's nephew, one might think that the title would have given him certain privileges or at least a little respect, but the young Lemuel was retiring and painfully shy and some of the older boys began to pick on him. And Laoakan, the assistant, had encouraged the bullies. One day, they overpowered the boy, tied him up and threw him down the unused well at the back of the stables. Lemuel spent the whole day, chest deep in the dirty fetid water and would have spent the night there, too, had Calmando not heard his cries for help. Mariquita helped the farmer's son to get Lemuel out of the well.

The next morning, Calmando challenged the ring leader to a fight and the bully was so badly beaten that he spent two days in bed. Matang Lawin started an inquiry into the matter and the truth was soon revealed. The unfortunate ring leader, Bagwis, was expelled and the other boys severely reprimanded. It was only his skillful lying that saved Laoakan, but Mariquita knew that Calmando suspected the assistant was behind it all.

"Wait for me," Mariquita said, "I'm coming with you."

---------

Blackness had once again descended on the Medero, but this time it was the dark of night that surrounded Calmando as he made his way up the cliffside. When he reached the top, he saw the vast horizon of the plains before him. He suddenly remembered the times when he, Mariquita and Lemuel had looked out at the same expanse from the school balcony; how each of them would talk of what they would do when they left Matang Lawin's care, their dreams of making the world -- what was Mariquita's favorite phrase? Ah, yes, making the world not better -- but theirs. He smiled at the thought.

"Hey, I need help here!" Magdalo's voice broke the quiet of the night, "my knees are shot and I can't see a thing!"

Calmando helped the hermit up the ledge.

"Thanks, sonny. I thought you were going to leave me back there."

The thought had entered Calamando's mind several times that afternoon. He could not fully understand why the hermit had insisted on coming along, but the old man reminded him that Matang Lawin would have never turned away a willing companion, so the farmer's son had agreed.

Magdalo rubbed his knees then sat on a nearby rock.

"If you ask me, this is a good place to camp out for the night. This cliffside behind us keeps us safe from the fury of the hagibis, though it is too early for the monsoon, and the ledge above us will keep us dry, not that there's a lot of dampness in the Medero at this time, eh?" he said, winking at the young man.

Calmando wanted to say that he had not asked for any advice, but the old windbag was right. He nodded and sat down beside Magdalo.

"Now," the young man said quietly, "tell me the whole of your story, hermit."

Laoakan could not sleep. He had been pacing the worn floorboards of his room for the past two hours.

"The fool," he said under his breath, "the stupid, stupid fool!"

The assistant knew that his plan of getting rid of Calmando was in jeopardy, and even more importantly, so was his plan to take sole possession of the school, High Mountain, and ultimately Green Forest. But now, the untimely death of Reynante, the Lakan's son, had ruined it all.

It was to have been so easy, Reynante assured him; the farmer's son would not even last a day and a night out in the Medero: Bagwis, Reynante's henchman, would lie in wait for Calmando at the high cliffs that surrounded the plains and an ambush out in the wasteland could easily be made to look like an accident -- and without the strong arm and stout heart of the farmer's son, there was no one who could protect Matang Lawin and all the simpering students in this broken-down school with its antiquated ideas of love, wisdom, justice and equality, and once Reynante took over from the Lakan...

Laoakan snorted.

Matang Lawin had lived far too long and so had this school. Laoakan had tried many times, in the last three years, to persuade the master to sell the land, especially the acres at the foot of High Mountain, for these were adjacent to the ultimate prize which was Green Forest; many of the Maharlikas -- the nobles and wealthy families -- were very interested in it, not just for the amount of timber that could be taken from it, but also because there was rumored to be a great treasure hidden in its depths.

"We can still keep the school intact, Master," Laoakan had said, "they are not really interested in the school land, just the acres at the foot of High Mountain..."

"That border Green Forest. I know where their interest lies. They seem to have forgotten the agreement we have with the Lakan that has been in place since he started his reign: to stay away from all our lands, they will always remain under my protection, especially Green Forest."

"But can you not see that the future of the school is all that I am interested in?" Laoakan pleaded. "What we can get from this sale will ensure the survival of the school for many years."

"We? You are not head-master yet, Laoakan, and the contract can only be terminated by the Lakan and me."

That was the moment that Laoakan decided to accept Reynante's offer.

He sat on the edge of his bed. It had not been hard to plan the takeover with the Lakan's son and his friend, Bagwis, the assassin, who was also the same young man who had been expelled from the school. They both had their reasons: Reynante and the Maharlikas wanted Green Forest right away, and Bagwis hated both Calmando and Matang Lawin.

But the sudden storm had ruined the plan -- Bagwis lost sight of the farmer's son in the downpour and when the rains stopped, could not find him anywhere -- "swallowed by the cliff walls!" the idiot had said when they met at the stables.

The assistant stood up and began to pace back and forth again. No one knew of his plans, except Bagwis. Hmmm, it would not be difficult to convince that young man to fall in with a new plot. Bagwis' thirst for revenge would be fuel enough; but Laoakan now needed Lemuel's help and the Lakan's nephew despised him, the assistant needed leverage. Of course, there was Mariquita -- Lemuel had a soft spot for the lovely daughter of the mayoress, he wouldn't want her harmed in any way. He could move on with most of his original plan and still come out of the mess with some prize. If he could get Lemuel to sign some deeds, in exchange for Mariquita's "safety," then everything could be his.

For the first time that day, the assistant smiled; he walked to the small commode beside his bed, opened the last drawer and drew out a flask of whiskey. Alcohol was strictly forbidden in the school, of course, but Laoakan had managed to keep his drinking a secret for many years. He raised the flask to his lips. He had something to drink to after all.

---------

"We should have brought a torch, Lemuel," Mariquita's voice trembled as she and Lemuel made their way down the path that led to the high cliffs. She knew that path so well, she must have walked it a thousand times in her three years at the school, but those trips had been in broad daylight. Now, in the dark, the well-worn path was both unfamiliar and menacing.

When they were still new to the school, Laoakan delighted in frightening them with stories of the poor souls who had lost their way in the Medero, of how only pieces of their clothing were left on the path as evidence of their disappearance. She clutched Lemuel's arm even tighter when they heard the baying of a wolf. The Lakan's nephew drew her closer.

"Laoakan might have discovered us, Mariquita, if I'd gone to the stables for a torch. Don't worry, I remember enough of the master's lessons in astronomy to find our way through the dark tonight."

Lemuel hoped he sounded convincing, but he could not help feeling more lost with each step they took away from the school.

---------

"So, where do you want me to start?" Magdalo asked, stoking the small fire with his walking stick.

"Start at the beginning, hermit," Calmando answered, breaking off a piece of the stale bread Magdalo had packed -- provisions, the old man said -- bit into it and stared at the fire.

"You say you are the master's brother, but I have never heard Matang Lawin mention you, or any other kin."

"No, your master would not have mentioned me, we've had our -- differences -- over the years. Take our blood-bond, I've never had any problems with it, but your Matang Lawin was always uneasy about our...relationship, seeing as we had different fathers."

Calmando swallowed the bread then turned to the hermit. Magdalo gave a soft chuckle.

"Now, don't worry -- Magdangal, as your master once called himself, is the legitimate one. His father was married to our mutual mother, but she was not to mine, of course; it seems she was often left alone to amuse herself, so she did, with the gamekeeper of their estate, my father. It was not hard to pass me off as a second son, though. Magdangal's father never found out and died thinking he had two sons. It was only at our mother's deathbed was the truth finally revealed. Your...teacher was devastated."

"And you, Magdalo, how did you take the truth?" Calmando asked.

"I think I took it rather well," the hermit chuckled again, but there was sadness in his eyes.

"I think you are more troubled by that than you let on, Magdalo, and if you deny it, then you are only lying to yourself. Here, let me do that," the young man said softly, taking the walking stick the hermit had been using to stoke the fire, "you had better get some sleep, we must make an early start tomorrow."

---------

Bagwis had been dreading meeting with Laoakan again. In fact, he had been afraid of the assistant since he was a student at the school. But he had no choice now, he was in too deep.

He had been excited when Laoakan and the Lakan's son had first approached him. Their plan, had it worked, would have solved all of their problems: he would have gotten his revenge on Calmando, the assistant would have been headmaster and Reynante would have had the land. Unfortunately, Reynante was killed, Calmando had been saved by the freak storm and now both Mariquita and Lemuel were missing. Bagwis took a deep breath and knocked on the door of Laoakan's room.

"Well?" the assistant asked as soon as the door was opened.

"They're gone, master," Bagwis answered.

"Gone? I told you to get to them right after evening meal, that's why I made sure that neither of them would be assigned to kitchen duty, so that they would have gone straight to their rooms."

"I had to wait for the halls and the staircase to clear, Laoakan, or someone would have seen me," Bagwis answered, "when I got to the girl's room, Mariquita wasn't there; and when I crossed over to the boys' dormitory, Lemuel's room was empty, too."

Laoakan tried to hide his impatience. It was clear Lemuel and Mariquita were together and had left the sanctuary of the school. Now, why would they venture out into the Medero in the middle of the night? Could they have gone after the farmer's son? And if so, why? Had they somehow discovered his intentions? And if they had left to find Calmando...

Laoakan pulled Bagwis into the room. The henchman was not an intelligent fellow; that much had been evident when the lad was still a student, but he had a vicious streak that the assistant liked, and which he now needed.

"They've probably gone to find Calmando to warn him. Do you think you can find them before they find the farmer's son?"

"If it were not for the storm, I would have Calmando's head before you right now, master. Don't worry, I will not fail this time," Bagwis said.

The assistant nodded.

"I want Lemuel and Mariquita alive, Bagwis, remember that."

The assassin nodded and left.

---------

Calmando was awake long before sunrise. He sat up and saw the hermit still asleep beside the fire. He rose and shook Magdalo's shoulder.

"Wake up, old man. We have to go."

Magdalo stirred, sat up and yawned.

"There's still a good four hours, at least, before sunrise, Calmando. Traversing these cliffs in the dark is foolhardy, if you ask me."

"I am not asking you, hermit," Calmando replied, "I'm telling you..."

A woman's scream shattered the silence. Then a wolf howled in the distance. Calmando opened his coat and drew out the long blade tucked beneath it. Then he and Magdalo ran to the cliff edge.