vignette: ser lardizaval's engkanto

He was searching for a wife when he fell into the trap, the cruel ironshod teeth of the device bit deep into the soft part of his leg. He did notscream then, despite the brilliant pain that threatened to engulf his senses; instead, he set about working free of the cold metal. So deep was his concentration that he did not hear the footfalls on the forest floor nor notice the men who had gathered around him. Not until one of them spoke did he raise his impossibly handsome face (though crossed with pain and surprise and horror) and forced his features into a scowl.

"Engkanto," one of the men said, quickly making the sign of the Tres Hermanas to avert evil.

Another man, their leader, gestured for silence. He spat into his hands and took a length of rope from his tubao.