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2024-10-29 19:42:56“Who are you?” Aden’s voice echoed against the hushed wind as he looked at the child kneeling before the deer statue. “Ailan…” he whispered under his breath as if it would make a difference. As if it would help him recognize him. “Accept the Ledanai’i,” the woman’s voice once again resounded across the scene he was looking at.
“What?” said Aden, as he tried to make sense of what was happening.
“Serve me, child…” there it was again.
The boy’s eyes were filled with nothing but determination and solemn resolve. “I will,” he said.
Then the statue burned. Bright red fire, bursting from its eyes, then it rapidly crawled to the figure’s antlers. It blinded Aden; his vision suddenly consumed by the flash.
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Aden walked—seemingly endlessly—across the red, empty sky. His only companion, he had just killed a few hours ago. The man. The god who attacked him. Yes, he was alone now. No Ramu. No thunderous voice. Not even the memories… have come back. Just him, on that endless, red desert. His only comfort was the sound he made as he paced across the solemn sands. Where was he supposed to go now? He thought. And how was this supposed to end? He had lost the energy. And he had almost lost any emotion. After what he had just seen, after what he had just heard. After seeing himself in that last, manifesting picture. After seeing himself… as Ailan. After that last manifestation of a memory. Nothing else had come up. The void had become increasingly barren. Without the voices that led him, and the scenes they showed him. What was he going to do now? He asked himself. Was this what Ramu was talking about? Before the void continued to show more of itself and his stories, did
God Hounds Chapter 25: The Cost, part 1
Aden watched as if everything happened in almost a frozen pace. It was just that his mind could not register—after everything he had just gone through—what he was then seeing. The first round of bullets came from the front door. Rifles, spitting and mowing down the hallways, the corridors, and the rooms. Blood; spilled across great distances as ammunition pierced through the guards’ bodies. Men in dark suits, charged through the entrance. Some rained fire through the windows with their pistols and their submachine guns. Slices of wood and shattered glass spewed and spilled beyond Ramu and Aden, who stared fixedly at the door. The dark orchestra of guns and bullets. It eventually died down. But still, through that closed door, Aden could hear the occasional resounding of guns shooting again as their empty shells drop to the floor. Aden could hear it. The Kadlum wouldn’t give up. Some of the guards, even through bullet holes in their chests, would scream and roar, hoping to ju
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“Take care of him,” Alice said, as he pleaded for one of the villagers to take Matthew in for the night—and the time being, while they go through the bloodshed of the evening. They had just received word that Ramu’s house was attacked by a gang, and they couldn’t call anyone inside to get in touch with them. “What about my family?” Matthew wheezed through his startled and exhausted breaths. He took all of the pain the void caused while they were in the sea of memories. So Lyle wouldn’t need to be damaged by any of it. It rendered him almost motionless. “They’ll be safe,” Alice said. “Don’t worry.” She placed her hand on his chest. “If you wanna get out of this and stay alive, you gotta hide. We’ll protect your family.” Although, in Alice’s head, she wasn’t as confident as the way she said it. After all, Ramu’s place had just been overtaken. There was only one thought that kept creeping in his brain. Aden. “Come on, Al,” Miko chimed. “We gotta go…”
God Hounds Chapter 26: The Start
The forest was thick. And the darkness was all over him, too. All Aden had as a guide was the gleaming, white dog that seemed to have absorbed the presence of the night with its glow. He had wondered, outside the woods, was time still stopping? Had the world still remained frozen?In those dark and dusky clutter of trees were the only two beings that could pass through the frozen night. Aden grunted as he tried to run behind the dog as fast as he could, while occasionally being hurt by the branches and the bushes he was passing.The quiet dog—to no surprise—would not give any sign or acknowledgement of anything except for a quick glance to watch him then back to the run again. The dog expected Aden to keep the same pace.Aden continued to wheeze through the bushes and the shrubberies, the shining moon—covered by the cape of grove—absent through all of it. He wanted to ask the dog to stop for a moment, or to wait. But he knew, somehow, the
God Hounds Chapter 27: The Guides
Aden and Abel sat on the quiet wooden stairs overlooking the backyard. Overlooking the guarding woods around them in that forest. Aden remembered, this was also the last place where they both talked before Aden received his name and his calling. Abel gestured towards the white dog, sleeping silently on the grass floor. “How long has he been sleeping?” Abel asked.“He slept the whole trip,” Aden said. Tired from all the recent mess.Abel nodded and chapped his lips. “Must’ve been tired,” he replied.Aden continued to look on, staring at it intently through pondering eyes. “It stopped time…” he said.“What?” Abel said.“The dog, man. It… stopped time,” Aden replied. “When we were escaping. I mean, I don’t even think it’s just a dog at all…”Abel squinted his eyes at him, smirking. He nodded subtly, then stared back a
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God Hounds Chapter 29: Kastrel
“Ailan,” whispers seized Aden from an unknown dimension. As if the voices had breached some sort of barrier and has now filled his ears with hisses and sneers. “Ailan,” and other words he could not recognize anymore; it just kept going. His eyes had not recovered from the flash. But he knew anyway, that he wasn’t there with Agapito and the others anymore. This was one of those… memories.The air around him had begun to change. And the voices drew closer. Whispers… of women. Or just one. Repeating his name. Ailan. The bright flash from the torch had now turned into a darker shade. Now a burning orange, as his vision dazed from the watching himself be sucked in to another… vision.Then there he was… in another space and time. In another state. He felt like the wind. Just passing through the plane invisibly, but seeing all. Aden saw—and was now witnessing—some sort of ritual. A far away place, he knew.
God Hounds Chapter 30: Nukasuni
There was chanting at first. Voices from tribal choirs seemed to circle him invisibly. Hallucinations of the forest. An illusion; and he hoped that the rat was too. But they were nonetheless there. And their chorus had demanded a fight. Had demanded an end.Gradually, the choir grew. Accompanying the humming voices were progressive drums that echoed across the air. All that, but Aden knew he was alone.The darkness continued to worry him. If the beast was going to pounce, he knew he wouldn’t be ready. He didn’t know where. But Aden could feel it. Waiting. Stalking. Looking for the right time.He had stopped shouting for Agapito’s name or Edgar’s. They weren’t going to come. This was his fight. So he gripped his blade tightly, leveling it to his head—preparing enough force and angle to cut through the rat’s eye with just one push.He wheezed through the process, the beating of the drums and the humming of the
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Epilogue
Alice was back in her home in the town of Urrutia. It was still too early to come out of hiding. Their enemies, the other clans that Ledanai’i stirred to war, were still waiting for them. She missed Cavite, and the other places she used to freely go to. The silence in the room she was in was able to push her to that remembrance. Dante, she sat there on her bed thinking. Are you happy? Was this what we wanted? A crash before the growth of something else? Did I do it? Was I successful? It had completely been a year since his death.Alice buried her face in her palms. She was tired, but now she had rest waiting for her. A little break before a few more. Where does this lead to?She lifted her head from her palms, and checked the tattoo on her arm. It was still burning: the new one. She recognized the symbols immediately. There was a dragon, a hound, and a deer… fighting. It was the first new tattoo the Void had given her sin
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Chapter 68 – Blood
The village deep in the forest had not taken lightly to the news that Nukasuni was dead. To pay respects, and even more than that, they were silent and inside their homes. A great bonfire was lit just outside the village.Aden stood on top of the cliff, as always. Maria wasn’t there with him. Instead, it was Alice who he saw and he heard the footsteps.“Are you finally here to kill me?” Aden asked.Alice stared back in silence, but her eyes did not show surprise. She narrowed her eyes on him. “I find that you’re of better use to us alive. Besides, I know there’s still one more thing you need to do. I know that’ll benefit us.”Aden nodded. “My family. They’re alive.”Alice nodded back, with a slight smile. “Are you really going there?”“They’re alive,” Aden replied. “And I have questions.”Alice scoffed, then shook her head.
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Chapter 67, Part 3 – Throne
They coughed through the wave of dust and smoke. Alice and Lyle were closest to the crash. Lyle supported her sister while he tried to dispel the thick dust and smoke with his hand. Aden walked slowly along their direction. The last thing he saw were the antlers striking through Nukasuni’s body.Then, finally, the air’s curtains slowly withered. As if joining the thick layer’s erasure, the clouds from above had also moved past the island, allowing for the blue sky and the shining sun to strike through them.It was clear, now. And they were looking at Ledanai’i’s lifeless body, then to Nukasuni’s as well. The dragon was almost out of breath. The three stood beside the dragon, looking helplessly at the life-taking wounds in his body.Nukasuni, gasping for little air, still managed to lift his head not to look at that the three, but to stare back at Ledanai’i. The deer had no life in it left, not after the broken antler tha
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Chapter 67, Part 2 – Throne
“Hold the line! Remember the choke points! And wait for my signal!” Lyle exclaimed into the radio wrapped on his wrist, connected to his earpiece. There were stragglers, those who managed to avoid their ambushing force. Lyle and Aden made quick work of them. The rest of the Ledanai’i were pinned down, pushed away farther and farther from what now was the gods’ arena.“We’re not gonna hold much longer, Alice,” added Lyle. “This better work.”Alice heaved and raced for her breath. “It will.” She coughed, and closed her eyes. Sparks of lightning, little by little, gathered around her. Her tattoo glowed.Lyle watched the scene then focused back to the choke points. “Let’s give her more time,” he radioed again.“I’ll support the front,” Aden said, rushing to that direction. “You got this, Lyle?”There were three more stragglers in view, abou
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Chapter 67 – Throne
“Nukasuni!” Ledanai’i howled, her back on the ground while she struggled to stare at the burning images of Nukasuni and Kadlum. Compared to the form Ledanai’i took, Nukasuni and Kadlum seemed like giants to her. But…Come on, show yourself, Alice thought. She waited, as she untied the guards with her. Where’s that goddess?Lyle and Aden dashed towards Alice in the center while the Ledanai’i were pinned down by the attack. “How’s it feel to best a goddess in mind control?” Aden said.Alice chuckled. Before infiltrating the temple, Aden had taught her how to recognize when someone was trying to influence and corrupt the mind. Although it had almost overcome Alice, that slight second of recognition and preparation made it all possible. “The Ledanai’i at the port?” asked Alice.“Dead,” replied Aden. “All dead.”Alice nodded back as s
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Chapter 66 - Corruption
Three days ago…Replacing the ambient noise of the humming engine was the crackling of the large fire ahead. It was concentrated, far from harming the trees surrounding it. It was encircled by the forest, but it was just a little far enough so the leaves wouldn’t catch fire. It wasn’t a bonfire, no. Aden and Alice walked closer. The crackling was now matched with intense heat. It was a deep depression on the ground, almost like a freshly-dug mass grave. Only, the grave it was housing was that of the embers of the fire.Aden stepped closer to the fire, examining the concentrated flames bursting from within the ground. Alice had not followed him. Instead, she stood far behind Aden in the cover of the trees.A few more seconds, and then Aden heard more than just crackling in the fire. Left and right, from within the shrubbery… movement. Aden looked to the sound. He sighed, as the figures came to light. “We were never here fo
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Chapter 65 – Goddess
“You?” Alice said under her breath. She had had her fair share of meetings with gods and goddesses. But, this was different. She narrowed her eyes at her even more. “Ledanai’i?”The tall woman chuckled softly at her. “You were expecting something else?” Her eyes twinkled against the morning light.Alice remained silent. She gripped the jar of ashes tightly.Ledanai’i noticed the sudden shift in her grip. She looked down on the jar and looked at it with motherly glance. She chuckled. “Ailan’s eyes… you’ve finally come back to me, my child.” She tried to reach out to caress the jar, but Alice slightly jerked the jar away. They met eyes again.Ledanai’i smirked. “I understand.” She blinked softly, then sighed. “How is Kadlum?”“Alive,” Alice broke her silence. “But not so much as to give you his regards,” Alice cocked he
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Chapter 64, Part 2 – The Island
As Alice and Karel walked across the paved road towards the island’s centre, the temple, she felt more uneasy. Like the stone pillars from before, the structures that trailed beside the roads were of ancient origin. They were either built for shorter people, or just people with limited resources in an early civilization. They were ruins, traced with squarish patterns of demons and ill kind as engravings. The stone they used to make it was so old the color had seemed to fade. But the Ledanai’i didn’t stop using them. Instead of building newer buildings, they utilized the old ones and repaired them with their own resources. Still, looking at the mix of ancient and modern architecture in one building, Alice felt uncomfortable. She was looking at something new and strange to her, and she had no way of guessing how to understand it. The Ledanai’i, indeed, weren’t just people. Some of them… hardly blinked. All of them were harrowingly quiet ex
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Chapter 64, Part 1 – The Island
‘The Wanderer’s Pier’ was the what they called it. It was a small hidden docks detached so far from civilization that Alice and her men needed several local guides from the remote villages. When they arrived, a handful of Ledanai’i’s men were already waiting in the area. They sat on wooden boxes and crates, and some were inside the small hut stationed beside the pier. Beyond the pier, though, it was all just fog. It was a gassy curtain thickly obscuring whatever awaited across the water.One of Ledanai’i’s men—the one in charge—stood up from the rubble of crates and eyed Alice scrutinizingly. He frowned and raised an eyebrow at her, lifting his head upwards as if to match Alice’s postural aura, but Alice was naturally taller and more intimidating. “You must be Alice Buenaventura,” he said.“The fact that you’re asking that means the man I need to be talking to isn’t here,” A
