A Serpent's Revenge: Bakunawa's Bloodline

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

[MAYA]

"Who's there?!" Alarm sets off in every fiber of Maya's body. Sigren, though he is still recovering, is also looking around them frantically for the voice that just spoke. After a while of not getting a response, Maya turns dubiously toward Sigren. "That wasn't your stomach now, is it?"

"Carefully explain to me how a stomach could produce words, Maya. I'll be waiting." Sigren begrudgingly responds to her and crosses his arms. Maya could just make out a frown on his face through the bioluminecense's limited glow.

She opens her mouth to respond, but is cut off when they hear the voice once again.

'I have taken great effort to bring you children here, and yet, you two just can't seem to stop arguing.' The way that the individual delivers the words sounds a lot like they are trying to exert patience. 'Normally, I wouldn't mind, but as we don't have the liberty of time, I would have to intervene.'

"If you want to continue to speak, show yourself first." Maya steals a glance at Sigren, expecting to see him wearing a stiff stance just like her. What she did not expect to see was Sigren looking pale and nervous. "Sigren, what's wrong with you. Are your wounds still hurting?"

'Ah, it seems like you have finally recognized me, haven't you?'

It takes Maya a second to realize that the voice is addressing Sigren, making her turn to him for answers.

"Sigren?" Maya waits for her friend's response.

With a frightened and nervous look, Sigren turns to Maya. "Maya, that voice...that's Bakunawa."

Maya stammers before quickly regaining her balance. There's no way that the voice belongs to Bakunawa, right? But looking at Sigren, she knows that he is not joking, and he is not one for fooling around either. It was only then that Maya starts to decipher where the voice was coming from. Before them is a huge boulder carved with symbols—ᜊᜃᜓᜓᜈᜏ(Bakunawa). Right below those carvings is an image of a serpent. Whenever the serpent speaks, the carvings would glow.

'I am a little disappointed that it took you a while to recognize me.' The voice whispers again, and Sigren falls to the floor in a hunched position like he's bowing—his tail curled beside him.

"I apologize. I was ignorant!"

Seeing Sigren lowering his ego and bowing makes Maya wonder if she should do the same. In the end, she figured that it would be the safest option at the moment and was about to do the same when Bakunawa's voice stopped her.

'Stop right there. There would be no need for such pleasantries, child of Mayari. If you want to do something for me, then I will ask you for something else.' Bakunawa's ominous voice asking her for a favor is giving her chills.

"What kind of favor are we talking about?" She throws out her question cautiously.

'Free me.'

"What?"

'With the spear handed down to you by your mother, free me.'

"Do you take me for some kind of fool?" The words just flowed automatically out of her mouth long before she could think about it.

"Maya." Sigren calls out for her with fear etched into his eyes after hearing her strong objection to the Bakunawa's request.

Maya then realizes her mistake and is reminded why she was acting docile a while ago. She and Sigren are in an unknown underwater cave and are probably at the mercy of the great sea serpent. She could not believe that she let her temper get the best of her and speak so rudely to the creature that has the potential to kill her before she could blink.