A Serpent's Revenge: Bakunawa's Bloodline

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

[Maya]

From the vision that she got from her dream, the location of the cave should be somewhere near the sea. But where she, Lobo, Janella, and Adonis got teleported is somewhere in the mountains.

Queen Diya wasn't kidding when she said that they needed to hike to get to the cave.

On the bright side, Lobo seems to be enjoying the new scenery. She's been busy running in and out, smelling every scent that catches her attention. Maya is just glad that her wolf friend is no longer trying to make her spear into a chew toy.

"So, Maya, which way should we go?" Adonis turns to her with an expectant gaze.

"We should be heading to the cave, but I am not so sure which direction to head to." Maya is hoping that they will know where to go. She did not expect that the siblings would turn to her for that very question.

"You have a connection with the stone, Maya." Janella tells her. "It has consumed your energy all this time. Surely, if you reach out to it, it will reveal itself."

Now this is turning into some kind of fantasy novel by the minute, Maya wants to laugh at how silly it all sounds, but with the situation at hand, the others might think that she is crazy.

"I don't really know how to do that." She admits, trying to look away out of embarrassment. Her combat abilities and powers were mostly supervised by the academy, but trying to connect with the stone is something that's definitely not in their curriculum.

"You did it before when you connected with the stone when you were attached to the balete." Adonis tells her. "Why don't you think about how you connected with Lobo? Maybe that will work." As soon as Adonis mentioned Lobo's name, the wolf thought that he was calling her to play. Lobo abruptly stops running and tackles Adonis. Janella burst out laughing while Lobo smothered Adonis with her kisses.

Maya is glad for the temporary distraction that Lobo has given them. It gives her enough time to slip into the forest so she can be temporarily alone and focus on what Adonis has advised her. She bonded with Lobo a long time ago, and ever since then, she has not bonded with another creature of the night, so she can only vaguely remember how it works.

She starts to squat on the floor and close her eyes, welcoming the tidbit of silence from her surroundings. She can still see Lobo and the others at a distance, but that is not enough for her to lose her focus. She starts to picture in her mind what the moonstone looks like. Maya doesn't remember exactly what it looks like because she was fighting with Sigren at the time.

Nothing happened. There was only silence.

So much for being Mayari's daughter, who was prophesied to be the key to this war. Maybe the prophecy was wrong.

Something cold touches her cheeks, and Maya jumps in surprise when she sees Lobo standing before her with a worried expression. Behind her are Adonis and Janella, who look kind of awkward standing there with no clue what to say, or maybe they are waiting for her to say something.

"Sorry." She gives them an apologetic smile. "I don't think that I can connect with the stone anymore. I could try, but I don't think that I can focus enough, especially since we are in a hurry."

It's already afternoon. Spending time in the realm of the Engkantos sure can trick you about the time. They only have a few hours left before the sun begins to set. Still, she wouldn't have known where they would head if it weren't for the guidance of Diya.

Janella and Adonis turn to each other like they are conversing silently with their gazes.

"Well," Adonis starts. "Since we know that the cave should be near a body of water, why don't we go somewhere where there's...water...?" He suggests.

Honestly, it wasn't a bad idea.

Adonis's idea is good, but Lobo may have another. She starts sniffing the air before letting out a low howl. It's her way of telling Maya that she has caught a scent. Maya smiles, turning to Janella and Adonis.

"Get on her back." She tells them while getting on her feet. "She can carry two people."

"What about you?" Adonis asks, furrowing his brows. "Why don't you and Janella go first? I can catch up on my own."

"No!" Janella protests. "Adonis, you are better at fighting than me. If anyone can give her proper support, it would be you."

"You really think I would leave my sister alone in the forest?" Adonis raises a brow at her. "Get on. I will catch up as soon as I can."

Maya admits that she envies the two for their relationship. It reminded her of how Ingko used to treat her.

"Janella, Adonis, I will be fine. I am a demigod. And while the moonstone isn't with me, I have more energy than I can exhaust." She assures them. "Plus, not that I am bragging, but when I am at full strength, even Lobo can't keep up with me." She shoots a teasing smirk at Lobo. The wolf lets out a gruff and stomps its foot on the ground.

Maya chuckles. She reaches out and ruffles Lobo's head. "Well, girl? What do you say about a race?"

Lobo snorts, looking dedicated. The wolf turns to the Engkanto siblings and barks at them to get on.

After hearing and witnessing Maya and Lobo's interaction, the twins can only smile as they ride on Lobo's back. Lobo did not even waste a second before running off and not bothering to turn back to see if Maya was following.

Maya chuckles. It would seem like the wolf is a little mad at her for telling the others how it looses to her from time to time. Feeling light on her feet, Maya carefully follows Lobo, making sure that she lets the wolf win this round as an apology.

[SIGREN]

Sigren and the rest of the aswangs arrive at the cave, but they do not go any further when Sigren starts to notice an ominous presence inside. He can sense that someone is inside, but he can't tell who. It doesn't appear to be one of his minions, nor does it have a pure aura like the diwatas. It might be a demigod, but then again, despite how wicked they are, their presence should not be this strong.

He initially thought about his father, the Bakunawa, but this presence doesn't belong to him. His father's aura is overlapping the one that he is currently sensing.

"Aman, Sabath, get back for a bit. It seems like we have some unwanted guests." As the leader of the troupe, he takes it upon himself to face the foe that's starting to emerge. The presence is intense that it is enough to make him flinch. He has never sensed this before. In fact, it feels so powerful that he has to fight every instinct in him to flee.

"Unwanted guest? Ouch." The man says. When Sigren hears the voice, he is frozen stiff. He did not expect that the person that he had been looking for for a long time would appear right before him. The last time he saw him was when he was in the academy, but still, he could never forget his face.

Over the years, he aged, but the mannerism and arrogance were still the same. Dressed in traditional Katitipan clothing—a brown woven vest paired with shorts—that exposes a lot of scars all over his body, Axel grins wildly. His smile and eyes remind Sigren of a predator setting its eyes on its prey.

"It has been a while, isn't it, Sigren? I heard you were looking for me." Axel teases. The others could sense how dangerous the man standing before Sigren is since they started to back off.

Sigren returns Axel's malicious grin. "Of course." He doesn't deny Axel's claims and flashes his fangs at him. "After all, out of all the demigods in the academy, you're the one that I personally wanted to kill!" Sigren makes the first move and charges at Axel.

*~*~*~END OF CHAPTER~*~*~*