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2024-10-29 19:42:56The forest seemed to breathe around them. The green panorama vibrated and exhaled itself onto Miko and Lyle as they trekked up the monumental mountain. It seemed to watch them every step of the way. It seemed to welcome their entrance. Their appearance. After many years.
“How long has it been since we came back here?” Lyle asked. The way up felt like an escalator to them. Like a path opened up just for the two. And they wore their suits, in case the locals would ask.
“Too long,” said Miko. “I miss this place.” He spun around slowly as he let himself be consumed by the little frames and systems that synchronously made the forest. Its curved trees grew in a way that represented movement. Like a shockwave at the center had just blew them all away and now they’re frozen in time. Its moss populated it enough to make everything colored green. For a moment, the two felt peace. “Your sister would’ve liked this,” Miko
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God Hounds Chapter 7: The Path
There was a ray of light at first, but it was more of just a blurry smudge of brightness in his eyes. But it gradually grew. He blinked repeatedly, until he got the sense of his own surroundings. Until he got the sense of his own state. He was looking up at the trees above. They covered him from the perfectly-risen sun and its light, but a few beams of the full morning had still managed to get through. Tickles of heat played around his skin like yellow insects, but overall, it was a perfect shade of phosphorescent green in the daytime. His head felt hard. He felt like he was lying down in a rough and itchy asphalt road. His body wasn’t in any kind of pain, but it felt like it finally moved for the first time after a hundred thousand years. It was dizzying, and nauseating, just to sit up straight. His eyes took in even more of what was around him. Right in front of him was just enough space for him to see a majestic, solid bluff, that overlooked an illuminated skyline. He felt
God Hounds Chapter 8: The Three
To Alice, everything was all about the cafes in San Pedro. Every street. Every road. Every corner. The seven-year-old city was Laguna’s beating heart for food and coffee. The kids grew up watching coffee shops and restaurants come and go while family businesses and startup companies eat each other and fluctuate against even more. Alice was never a big fan of coffee. But that never really stopped her. Jumping from one café to another remained one of her biggest hobbies, if she wasn't in one of the safehouses brutally interrogating her prisoner. Cafes just felt right, to her. It was essentially the most important human innovation in all of economic history. Maybe it was the people. Or the menu. Or the interiors. But Alice always felt at home, in the best ones. There was a novel sense of privacy that came with coffee shops. Everyone would just mind their own business. Civilized customers knew how to respect the silence. And the café enthusiasts always had thei
God Hounds Chapter 9: The Guide
“The what?” he asked Nanay Wang to repeat herself. He furrowed his brows and glanced at Nanay Wang perplexedly.“The Kadlum.” Nanay said. She walked towards him and looked back as well. “It’s a group, kid.”“What kind of group?” he asked.“The kind of group that’ll give you your memories back,” she sneered. She looked away, slowly being pulled into her thoughts, and nodded confidently. “After that,” she gazed back at him. “You’re one step closer,” she added as she gave off a tiny smile. “You want to know why this is happening and why the world’s doing this to you?” she dared. “You’ll find out in the Kadlum.”“They’re… like you.” he said.“Well…” She shrugged, and chuckled. “You’ll see…” She walked past him and headed towards the doorway. “
God Hounds Chapter 10: The Name
Villa Urrutia was a white, gilded castle of silence and memory. A beacon, fortress mansion promising both solace and invulnerability. A marble tower resting on top of a hill, overlooking the rest of the neighborhood below it. It was a family palace. An old, retreating place for Alice, her brother, and her father. As a child, Alice used to soar across the pristine halls towards the dining room. She had always reminisced about it every time she got there.It was always just Alice and her father when she was just a kid. She never saw her mother. She died giving birth to her. But she had always heard stories about her mother. The trailblazer. A perfect example and a guiding light to the community. The funniest, smartest, queenliest, and kindest, bestest person in all the land, as Alice used to summarize growing up.Following her footsteps. She had always done it. Or at least tried too. But it had always brought her down. The expectations. Expectations, from herself. To her
God Hounds Chapter 11: The God
There was a cave. In Laguna. Where only the gods could dwell. A temple. A house. A solitude. Alice. Only Alice, Miko, and Lyle knew where. It was a long drive. In Alice’s black Mazda. She drove past and across highway to highway. City to city. And village to village. She had eventually reached the isolation. In a forest. A labyrinth only those of the guided knew. Only those of the Kadlum’s batok. She had never imagined herself back into the place again. But it felt like she needed to. To rest. And think. And pray. Kadlum had not shown himself to Alice yet, ever since the dream. She felt like, maybe, maybe he was waiting. And maybe, he was just as afraid as Alice.The gods were powerful and wise. But they weren’t omnipresent.Especially……since there were only just so few of them. Especially since the ones who have been abandoned after the genocide… have barely been surviving.Kadlum. The god of ascendence. T
God Hounds Chapter 12: The Mistake
Aden had come a long way. This was the path, he thought. The road to memory. Somehow, some way, Aden knew how to drive. Abel let him borrow his old pickup truck that could barely even brake. He had remembered, when the white dog gazed at his eyes during the family’s ritual. There was a flash in it. Some kind of map. The next step. That was all he had to go on as he left the family and the yellow house. As he left the forest. He was now in Laguna, as the signs read. And he knew nothing but the map in his head. Just a map. And a vision. A cave. Inside it, a temple. Abel had given him enough food for the travel. And clothes, too. Along with his final promise. “Continue the path,” Abel had said. “You will reach the promise.” Those were the last words. That was the end of Aden’s time in the forest. He had left the sanctuary. And now the path had led him elsewhere. Beyond. Specifically, the Kadlum. His guide was nothing but a dog. Soundless and strict. The white, r
God Hounds Chapter 13: The Witch
“Lyle,” Alice said. “That’s enough.” She strode towards Aden as Lyle and Miko backed away. She gazed down at Aden’s pathetic body and listened to him cry. “Why?” Alice asked. Kadlum had already told her, but she just wanted to ask once again. “Why kill Dante?”It was still a pressing question in her head. And the question was more personal. There was still one. One secret. That they didn’t even know the answer to.Alice’s eyes started to well up and tears began to stream down her cheeks. She sniffed and tried to push it back. But she was already sobbing. The secret. It wasn’t that the Datus were dead. It wasn’t that they were – whoever they were – going for the throne. It was something else and it dug deeply in her heart. She wheezed back any sign of pain. But it was already there. Everyone knew that the Datus were dead. And everyone knew they’d just
God Hounds Chapter 14: The Kadlum
“So,” Alice said. Her arms crossed protectively around her as she stood in the orange-kissed, over-natured room of sad quiet and ill meditation. Everyone looked at her and waited. In the messed-up silence, she was the beacon of either mercy, or death. She was lady justice if lady justice had a gun and pointed wherever she liked. “He’s really lost his frickin’ brain, huh?”“How many times do I have to tell you?” Ramu said. Her voice was like an old, crackling radio sitting dignifiedly inside the room. She was in that phase for old women where everything they said had to be carefully listened to. She grunted. Her sound of peace and thinking was an ugly and unwelcome hum in the otherwise tranquil space. “No twenty-year-old could react to poison like that,” she said. “Unless the guy’s been sleeping all his life.”Thirty minutes ago, Aden ate the fruit everyone thought would kill him. Now
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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
