Amazon Challenge-Tribe Wahine 3/5

On the fourth day, Hanale is still very much alive. Elue’s heart flutters. What if Adda went free? What would happen to Hanale? She asks her creator about this.

“The Reaper will take Hanale’s soul as payment,” Abra says. “I’ve promised him two souls. Do you think he will allow us to leave without at least one?” Goose pimples ripple over Abra’s body at the thought. No. The Grim Reaper already had taken many Suns away from their lives just being here for a few days. He would not leave empty handed.



Elue sighs. “I do not like the idea of Adda going free, Creator. She is a despicable creature. The most dishonorable soul I’ve met.”

Abra cocks her head. “How can you say that, Elue? Adda fell in love with a slave. That has been happening through the ages. It is traitorous, yes, but if she truly repents, why not save her? She can live out her days here. The Maker knows the temple needs a curator. Adda was my best gatherer. No offense to your sister, but Ekewaka is really not gifted in that area.”

Looking straight ahead, Elue wishes Hanale would somehow give up his life. And soon. She could not confess what she knows to the creator for fear of banishment. She saw Adda receiving Hanale’s attention right in front of her. She never once stopped him. Adda is the betrayer—not only to her tribe but to her husband. She deserved death.



All at once, Elue pops up from her lunch. “I will check on Hanale, Creator.” She bows and leaves. But instead of going to the Pillar of Death, she seeks out The Grim Reaper.

“Reaper, I need a word with you,” Elue says, holding her breath. She hated being near the immortal. It was unnatural for him to be misting about on the temple grounds.



“Words are valuable. Time is valuable.” His dark, cavernous head draws near to her. Elue can smell the stench of death. She shivers. “It will cost you ten suns.” His echoing voice reverberates into her bones.

A generation! Elue would be an elder way before her time. Was Adda worth this?

“I’m waiting,” Grim whispers, menacingly.

With a large breath, Elue speaks, “What if I offered you two souls? As it is, Hanale is very strong and will survive the four days, freeing Adda. She will live out her long life taking care of this temple.”

Grim scratched his chin. “Go on…”

Swallowing, Elue feels her life force draining out of her by being so close to the Reaper. She needs to hurry. “Hanale may wish to die. Give him this option. Once you take his soul, he will be dead by the setting sun on the fourth day. Then Adda is yours!”

“Done!” Grim shouts.



Instantly, Elue’s body shakes as ten suns leave her body all at once. Her back groans and her knees throb. She is an adult now. Her youth is just a whisper of the past. Elue runs to the upstairs bedroom on the temple grounds to mourn. She harbors resentment against Adda and vows to release Adda’s soul so she could no longer feel the taste of life.

Elue’s plan works. Grim takes Hanale’s soul from him as he is willing to give it, and now it is time for Adda to die.



Adda makes the trek up the temple steps to the pit.



Slowly, she walks which frustrates Elue. She wants her gone. Why does Adda delay? Could she be planning an escape? Not likely with the Reaper in their midst.



Abra speaks a few words to Adda that Elue cannot make out. Adda nods and moves toward the gate of the pit.



With an air of dignity that Elue knows Adda does not have, the traitorous woman glides into the pit's pool.



Once Abra leaves, Elue tears into Adda. "Hanale is a very strong slave," Elue says, arms crossed.

"Not strong enough, the weasel." Adda looks around the pool at her doom. "I should have left him in that wood to rot."

"He was strong enough, but he asked the Reaper to take his soul so you would not be saved." Elue feels her blood pumping throughout her body in rage. "And I asked the Reaper to tempt him."

Adda blinks back tears. "But sister, why would you do such a thing?"

"You're no sister to me," Elue says. "I saw with my own eyes how you were with Hanale and then you spoke lies to our creator. You are not worthy to even haunt these grounds. I will release your soul to the vapors once this is finished."



Elue does not hear Adda's response. She is finished with death and souls and sadness.

Adda does not last long.



In only a few hours, Grim receives his second soul.



True to her word, Elue releases Adda's spirit. But it does not make her happy as she once thought. It only left her with a stone in her stomach and years off her life.



Abra mourns for Adda's tortured soul. The afterlife is not a nice place for those who receive a dishonored death.



"Come," Abra says, "It is time to get the twins ready for the choosing."

Ekewaka's eyes grow. "The choosing? So, they will fight to see who is heiress? I cannot believe it is time already."

Abra pats Elue's sister on the shoulder. "We are not getting any younger, my dear friend. I need an heiress. This business has aged me beyond what a life potion will cure. I will be an elder soon."

Elue nods and smiles at Ekewaka and Abra with a hopeful flutter in her heart. One of the twins will be the next creator. But who?