Outside the Encanto

Burned

"What do you mean, your Encanto? What's it like?" You question, grinning at the thought of a new world.

"Our Encanto? Oh dearest, our Encanto is the most beautiful place you'll ever see. Thousands of years ago, a young Tairona woman had been chosen to be sacrificed to Gaulcovang, the goddess of her religion. She was chosen as punishment for having a child before marriage, and so she ran. Without a proper sacrifice, the chiefs decided to use her newborn child as the sacrifice in the mothers place."

"That's awful! Who would sacrifice a child?" You shudder at the thought, imagining a babies head being split open.

"The baby got lucky. A man of 16 was distraught over the thought of letting a child die, so he volunteered to step in. When he was to be sacrificed, the club turned to red Mariposas, and Deity came forth. She shamed the village, before taking both the man and the baby. She made Encanto based on fire. Everything of ours is fire. Our clothes, our hair, our homes are of dried Magma. When you enter, you too will become fire. It is not permanent, as you can see I am just as human as you."

"How did the Encanto grow? If it was just the boy and the baby.." You wonder.

"Ah. The man took care of the child until she grew, and eventually they fell in love. When the child was of 14, they married, and had many children together. In fact, they were the first true Fire people. We have a monument with their fires still burning."

"But.. they were all siblings."

"There are more ways to create our people then human birth. Eternal Fire will spit out Fire children, and families will adopt them. In fact, more than half of our children are adopted."

"That's amazing! Back in my Encanto, the kids in the adoption homes are shamed. It's so nice to know there are places in the world where children without parents can be loved."

"Yes dear, they can be. Boys!" Renata turns around, looking at the men.

"That is Kurruk, my eldest son. He was born of Eternal Fire. You can tell because his human form has brown eyes." Renata explains, gesturing to her son.

"That is Ruit, my second eldest. He was born of me. His human form has Green and Yellow eyes."

"Interesting. What about in, uhm.. flame form?" You look at her, wondering just how different they could appear.

"In our True form, our eyes are red and white mixed. Our hair can be any color flame, though most common is the Primary's, Red, Yellow, and Blue. Closely followed by orange."

"So strange."

"Yes. Do you have any questions, Friend." Renata looks at Camilo, who is loosely following your tracks.

"When we turn to Flame, will it hurt?"

"It'll feel.. wet, in some ironic way. Like you become water, and then return to a normal feeling just the same. Oh! And you'll see something from your past."

Renata continues walking through the jungle, her sons behind you and Camilo. You sneak a "is this girl for real?" glance at your "friend."

Camilo returns the same glance, both aware that they don't have any choice but to follow them. You're not afraid.

One of the boys, (men, really) start to shiver. The oldest, Kurruk, just wraps his arm around him, and the shivering stops.

"Those born of birth can't survive in human form for too long, until they reach age to possess Eternal Flame." Renata explains, not worried about her son. "It is a Rite of Passage."

"Mama, we're coming up on it now." Ruit reminds her, pointing to an obscure path in the jungle wood.

"Of course." Renata remembers, placing her hands on a stone with a curious burn mark in the shape of a handprint.

A flame bursts from her palm, the handprint now glowing, shooting our embers, which you and Camilo dodge, but the rest of them allow the fire to burn their human skin. It doesn't seem to faze them.

Renata suddenly falls downwards, mosses and dirt following her in a vast tundra of darkness.

You and Camilo peer over the hole, waiting for a sound.

Thump.

Flame erupts on the floor, illuminating Renatas skin, which radiated clear heat from below.

Two of her sons jump after her, sparking the same flame as Renata as they land.

Kurruk looks to you and Camilo. "Do you want us to jump with you? You're not going to have a safe landing like us."

"Why not?" Camilo asks, narrowing his eyes.

"You are not of Fire." Kurruk rolls his eyes, as if the answer was obvious.

"Then sure, thank you."

Kurruk swiftly picks you up, bridal style, and leaps downwards. As you decend, the heat seems to crank up 10 degrees, and so does Kurruk.

Camilo is more hesitant to let the Fire Son hold him, but does it anyway.

Renata goes down the tunnel, the heat increasing tremendously each step. You're sweating buckets compared to only an hour ago, when buckets of freeze seemed to seep into your skin.

You take off the top layer of your jacket, and tie it around your waist. You put your hair into a tight bun instead of ponytail, in an effort to keep the sweat from your hair.

Your feet seem to be burning. Renatas feet are bare, but yours seem to burn with every step. Camilo leans his hand against the wall, before yelping in pains and jumping away.

A large welt rises on Camilo's palm, his face contouring in pain. White-hot blisters shoot up from his skin, and you make a mental note not to touch the walls.

Just as you're about to pass out from exhaustion, a veil of smoke appears in front of you, no indication to what's on the other side.

Kurruk leads the way, his brothers following in succession by age. Renata goes last, but gestured for you to follow.

You're about to enter the smoke, but Camilo stops you.

"Let me go first." He says, disappearing into the veil without another word.

You see five faint explosions of light, then after about twenty seconds, a sixth.

Camilo made it. You exhale, before carefully touching the veil. First your hand, then once deemed safe, the other hand, the arms, and then the body.

And so begins the transformation.