The wind blew louder here, on the upper part of the mountains. As they got closer and closer to their destination, so did the air now feel a little cooler. They could see the evidence in the dancing of the trees and the bending of the shrubbery around them. Steps were taken lightly and slowly, their feet treading on reverent soil that was still—like the temple—familiar to them at least. They would occasionally stop, look ahead of them to see what kind of scenery had now been summoned by the mountains for them.
Alice would stay the longest, while Miko and Lyle would walk past here and continue the flow of the breeze towards the village in the mountain. She’d take a few seconds, to breathe it all in while she was in the mountain. It was quite something that she had always been proud of with herself. She’d gone through her titans of sins, and her mistakes have led to the deaths of the innocents. And many have wronged her in the past. But she never failed
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God Hounds Chapter 43: Unworthy
“I remember… pain,” Matthew’s eyes flashed back to a memory he thought he would never unlock again. “I was… being held captive, I think. Or maybe I was just too tired, to helpless to do anything. But I remember, that I didn’t really feel good about the place and just wanted to go out.” In Matthew’s head, he was remembering a scene of him being dragged by two people on a narrow road. Or a path, most likely, only used for human feet. “I think I had the strangest feeling. Like I was there but my body was being sucked out of the place. My breath, being drained out of me. I don’t know how to explain it.”Alice looked to Miko and Lyle within the humble presence of the low light. Her eyes tell them of the familiarity of the story. Like Alice had felt the same thing before, and Miko and Lyle did too.Alice placed her hand on Matthew’s aching shoulder. Not to comfort, but to encourage. “
God Hounds Chapter 44: Alice's War
Cardona, Rizal.For generations, the Bayi and the Kadlum have been in good terms with each other. Seeing as how close their territories were with each other, they ought to be. But still, there was a time—now only described through stories spoken by the loyal families of the clans—when the two tribes had still drawn a strict line between each other. Between the territories. Between Quezon City and Cavite. When one side would need to meet the other, they used certain places neither clan owned. Islands, mountains, and even small towns. There was a place such as this right at the center of Laguna Lake.Cardona, Rizal. More specifically, Talim Island.And Alice was about to be the first to use it in decades.“Look,” Lyle pointed down at the foot of the hill. “They’re right over there…”Miko tried a spark with his lighter, his lips already pressed together to hold the cigarette stick, but ultimately failed
God Hounds Chapter 45: Reunion
Aden wasn’t sure about which of the lonely sounds he wanted to focus on: the gentle rain tapping against the few and far windows across the place, the irregular footsteps—and Aden could sense the fear and caution in it—walking to and fro behind him, or the senseless bubbling and streaming of the wine giving its essence to a glass. The air still smelled of a fading bubblegum flavor from some customer who vaped too much in the room. The fog it created was still there. Pretty soon, the bartender felt too awkward to just keep playing and tasting the bottles while waiting for him to leave. So he moved away from the counter, turned the TV on and watched a replay of a basketball game that was airing on the channel. The bar was closing at 2:30AM. If they were gracious enough, they could make it 3 for him. That was always the time. And that was also the time when he beat up the bar’s owner so many months ago: Dave Rosales. One of the first jobs he did to gain his plac
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Alice had realized, they were going to need to stay longer in the room than expected. She though it was going to be over quick. But Aden had more than she had imagined. Killing him, she realized, was farther and farther away from being an option now.Alice watched as Lyle pulled Aden’s suit jacket down to reveal a complete batok tattoo on his arm. As Lyle carefully examined the ink, Miko came out of the shadows as well.Alice moved closer to see the tattoo clearly. There was no doubt about it. As she read the symbols marked across his skin, she tried her best not to show any intrigue in the tattoo. After everything he told them, she still felt disapproving of the help he was offering. She had not forgotten one bit. This was her husband’s assassin. Unless they wanted a replay of what happened months ago, she was going to keep him here.“Nukasuni,” she read. Her sight crawled up to the symbol just next to it. Like a subtitle. &ldqu
God Hounds Chapter 47: And Here I Thought You Were Dead
“I swear,” Miko said to the place as they walk down the temple’s hallway. His head was perked up to the ceiling to watch the cracks and the loneliness of the place. Where birds once were, and where the light of the sun would usually shine… There was nothing there anymore. “This place just gets weaker and weaker while we linger,” he said. Alice had noticed as well. While they were asked to be patient, to procrastinate was another thing. No, she thought. Not procrastinate. But doubt. Kadlum wasn’t getting any better. He wasn’t going to be able to name a Datu until next year: the day after Dante’s death. And all the deaths of both sides: the Kadlum clan and the others, wasn’t helping anything. It was only making Kadlum worry even more. But he wasn’t going to give up, she thought. It almost seemed that he didn’t really have the right to. It was a responsibility, or something as such, to hold out to the end. Else, a god would never be god. Alice tried to imagi
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The air was calling. Like whispers upon whispers, beckoning them to come closer. Aden had heard this before. The wind’s call. And he had understood it for far too long. With the flow of the air came the soft rising of drums in his ears. Although, he knew, they weren’t really there. The light from the early morning outside lighted the first few steps for them. But after that, they were on their own.Aden and Nukasuni stood, at the mouth of the cave, staring into the god hound’s solemn abyss. Nukasuni took the first step. Aden watched him, no doubt the god was eager. The dragon. They had been here before, he knew. But this was far more different. Like all things that had recently happened, this was feeling like another beginning.Soon, Nukasuni walked past the final inch of the light touching the farthest point it can inside the cave. Nukasuni and Aden stepped their first step into the cave darkness.But, as expected, the torches lit. In his left
God Hounds Chapter 49: The Goddess
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God Hounds Chapter 49 (Part 2): Only The Beginning
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