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2024-10-29 19:42:56Brushed up against the gleam of the soft, morning light, Aden laid unconscious on a white clinic bed. Only the sound of the single air-conditioning unit could be heard. The rays of the sun had sprinkled some warmth to him, and some striking light. But only the tension growing inside his head was waking him up. Aden heard fire. The sound one would hear from the crackling of wood and the falling of the roof. Then he heard an explosion. A single one. Meant to silence. Meant to take away. Meant as one final spark to make it all end. The feeling of dirt and soil rubbing against his cheeks, as he felt his body flying across a few more meters before going limp. Gunfire. Around him. Things were starting to manifest in the darkness of his head. The recent. And then, the voice of Miko. “Aden!” shouted Miko, as if he could sense the man rushing towards him to help.
Aden gasped as he bolted up from the clinic bed. He heaved and sweated, eyes widened and looking for a threat o
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God Hounds Chapter 53: Next of Kin
There was a growing source of chitter and chatter as another group came, from just outside the town. With them were black cars, a few vans, and whatever else they could salvage. Outside the town, The Kadlum were pretty much in disarray. They arrived one day after another, some hours after the previous group came. But, soon, Alice suspected they were going to be complete. Like caravans from the outside world, the scattered members of the clan would come in and meet with Alice and the others and share a drink or two. Some have left for the other safehouses around Manila, making sure they could still operate. But, this town, was ultimately the rendezvous point. A place where they could build, after everything that has happened. If the town was this generous to them, then Alice and her family must’ve had an incredible mark with its people. In fact, Aden wondered if it was a town at all. It seemed more like a splinter community hidden from the outside world. A society the
God Hounds Chapter 54: After All This
Aden blinked at the little ray of the sun that had been lingering inside his room. He was quite surprised at the revealing possibility that a light could still actually enter his ‘totally-decent’ room. He was up in the attic, and he had learned to just call it that. The light of the sun came from the small round window pane fixed just above his head, raised just a few inches from his bed. He blinked and stared at the specks of dust flying around. This was worse than Nanay Wang’s place, he thought to himself. At least Nanay Wang’s claustrophobic space was kawayan and had air inside it. In here, Aden was barely breathing.He lied on his small bed with the first sign of sunrise. In his view, the sun had only risen just a few inches rom the horizon. He couldn’t tell the time, but he figured it must already be time for him to get up and go downstairs. He could smell the food in the kitchen. Breakfast.Aden walked towards the small spac
God Hounds Chapter 55: Aurora
“Her name’s Aurora,” Alice said. Aden had already taken off from the small town, riding in one of the cars the Kadlum had prepared in the place. He had his phone up to his ear, listening to Alice speak while he drove to the main road. “I’ll send you the location. She lives in a girl’s dormitory right beside her college in Manila,” Alice said.“What should I say?” asked Aden. He hated being the harbinger of grave news, and it creeped up on him quite distastefully. No one should just knock on someone’s door and tell them their father is dead. He knew the police had not identified most of the man caught up in the fire. And Mark had decided not to contact Alice, yet. He knew they were in hiding.He figured that maybe Alice knew how to do it. But they couldn’t risk bringing Alice out in the open. Not yet. It was better if Aden did the job for them.“What do you mean ‘What should I say&rsquo
God Hounds Chapter 55: Aurora (cont'd)
“Her name’s Aurora,” Alice said. Aden had already taken off from the small town, riding in one of the cars the Kadlum had prepared in the place. He had his phone up to his ear, listening to Alice speak while he drove to the main road. “I’ll send you the location. She lives in a girl’s dormitory right beside her college in Manila,” Alice said.“What should I say?” asked Aden. He hated being the harbinger of grave news, and it creeped up on him quite distastefully. No one should just knock on someone’s door and tell them their father is dead. He knew the police had not identified most of the man caught up in the fire. And Mark had decided not to contact Alice, yet. He knew they were in hiding.He figured that maybe Alice knew how to do it. But they couldn’t risk bringing Alice out in the open. Not yet. It was better if Aden did the job for them.“What do you mean ‘What should I say&rsquo
God Hounds Chapter 56: What They Were Willing To Die For
Nuvali was a place Alice was very familiar with, but she never thought she’d be there for work and business. “Is it?” she asked herself in her head. “Is the daughter of your dead friend still called work?”Aurora leaned against the railing beneath the darkening sky as she watched Nuvali’s koi fishes swim and twirl in the water. Like a messy cluster, the fishes would come rushing towards the edge of the railings when one of the crowds would throw bread onto them. The water would splash and gently hit the faces of those looking too closely.Aurora giggled at the sight. Then simply stared.“We used to come here when I was little,” she said.“Your father never told me he liked fishes…” Alice replied.“I liked the fishes. He only came here because of me. He was like that, you know?”Aden and Alice thought they should at least have her speak like this for a while. In si
God Hounds Chapter 57: The Glint In Her Eyes
“Woah.” Her words bounced off the walls of the cave in an echo across the dark abyss. Accompanying her sudden sound was the rushing streams of the spirited waterfalls dropping down into the deep unknown chasm below them. Briefly, Aurora tried to make sense of the place as she took it all in and distinguished which was magic and which was pure nature. The torches continued to flare gracefully while they gave the newcomer some time to overwhelm herself at the newfound discovery. The cave wasn’t black, albeit dark. It was green. Moss and nature had overgrown from it. Although the torches had an orange sense of the cavity, Aurora examined the plants and the moss climbing across the walls as if a coat of protection from anything else. Through it all, the air was fresh and welcoming. She took another deep breath. And she closed her eyes. She exhaled, and it was as if the fires joined her in this meditation. There was an odd chime across the venue. Like ringing, ambient a
God Hounds Chapter 58: Once More
Brilliant daybreak had once again dominated the color of the place. Sunbeams and shafts, glowing above the yellow sky while everyone in the town was still either sleeping or just preparing breakfast. Everyone, that is, except for the noiseless few donned in onyx black suits that almost seemed to reflect like the black gem itself—glinting against the mild sunbite. Within the trees surrounding them, there were chirping birds few and far between. It was a lonely, quiet day with only the chosen Kadlum that had accompanied Alice, standing beside two to three raven cars ready to go. Alice, hardly squinting from the radiance of the sun, crossed her arms as she gave a long sigh. “What’s taking him so long?” she asked.Inside the café, Aden was staring at the mirror—his eyes cutting deep into the windows of his own soul. It was, however, admittedly a bit strange to him. He was staring at his own face, but he could have sworn there was a feeling tha
God Hounds Chapter 59 - Part 1: The Deepest Moons
…a wound… Cut black and deep right in the middle of the dark desert. Starless skies had hovered above him, but the white glow had caused the sands to glint and reflect quite enough. Atop a hill of sand, Aden gazed beyond the black dunes and caught himself staring at the infinite sinkhole fixed at the center of the hollow dream. No, not a sinkhole, corrected Aden. He stepped closer, but made sure he wouldn’t slide away from the sands. It was a vacuum. A fall. A pit. A fissure that dug deeper than what Aden could possibly see. The trench was as big as a town. You could throw in a whole village in there, he said to himself. There were signs of the sand, some sparkling against the lowly-gleaming white, being sucked in. But ultimately, they stopped. No movement. A frozen picture of the terrain going down into the black hole. Aden gripped his handgun and blinked wildly. He did not expect the sinking rift to go away, but he expected to calm down. Regaining his breat
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- God Hounds
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
- God Hounds
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
- God Hounds
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
- God Hounds
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
- God Hounds
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
- God Hounds
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
