CHAPTER FOURTEEN – BATS AND SINGERS

“I don’t believe any of this!”
Vincent strained to keep his voice at a level. His fingers clenched in a fist of frustration as he glared at Anrhu. Bulagao, Dong and Beatrice sat silently, watching the proceedings with anxiety. They knew that a false impression of their purpose might lead them to be taken prisoners or worse to be killed by this band of men who seem to blindly follow the boy who rode the tikbalang; the boy coincidentally, according to the goddess, is a key they needed.
“I…I…ne...never meant to kill him,” stammered the trembling boy, he was seated on a blanket placed on the sand, in front of him stood Vincent, flanked by some of the men. Off to the side, near the entrance of the sizable tent were the rest of the companions. Outside, Bantay barked as if it too felt the fright that the boy felt. “I though it wanted to kill Beatrice.”
The boy leader looked at the younger boy. The mention of the girl acted as a catalyst for Vincent to look towards the rest of the companions. A pondering thought crossed his face. One by one, he rested his eyes on the kapre, the demigod and finally to the girl.
“D’yu remember what I told you years ago? When I showed myself to you in the church,” there was a sad look on his face. “Remember the warning I told you, did you forget? Did you tell mama the warning?” There was a forlorn look behind Vincent’s look, a mask that showed a deep sadness. “Because nobody was ready when we were much too tired to keep the fire away.”
No one spoke but a hushed silence filled the tent. Even the dog was silent outside. Vincent sighed.
“So, you are here because you want to know of prophecy?” a false calm tinted Vincent’s words. He gave the companions a long hard look, no one as much as coughed, then sat down in front of the boy waker.
“When I died, I woke up and found myself inside the volcano. It’s so much bigger there than you might think. There were so many of us, taken from this life and into the mountain that was more than a city inside. Years, my family thought of me dead but I was alive inside that accursed enchanted realm within Kanlaon,” Vincent’s voice took on a storytelling quality, his eyes glazed as he remembered.
“We had to stop volcano from erupting. A deeper, darker spirit wanted to let loose the fire that boiled within the caverns of the volcano. For decades when I was there, we were able to stop it. But finally, something changed. The scale tipped to the evil’s favor and the quake came. The fire is soon to follow.”
“The prophecy is written on a slab of granite. It has existed since the birth of Kanlaon and talks about the quake that devastated all and how the fire could be stopped. It also speaks of five companions that will be the instruments to find the seven keys to the seven gates of Kanlaon. These gates must be shut for the fires to be stopped.”
“You have this prophecy,” unable to stop himself, Dong voiced out. Everyone else’s interest piqued, evidenced by the companion’s posture; upper bodies trained to the direction of Vincent.
“No, I don’t.”
“But you just said…,” Bulagao exclaimed.
“I never said I had it,” Vincent interrupted even before the kapre finished what he wanted to say. “Besides, it spoke of four companions; there is only four of you. The dog does not count, and he has to drown in boiling water for killing the tikbalang.” The boy leader’s finger pointed towards Anrhu.
Bulagao and Dong stood up, both their hands clutching daggers from their persons. Beatrice sat wide eyed and unmoving in mute shock. Anrhu trembled with fear at the pronouncement of the boy leader.
“You shall not kill, neither shall you steal, neither shall you do harm to the aged, lest you incur the danger of death. All those who infringe this order shall be condemned to death by being drowned in the river, or in boiling water,” Vincent intoned, pointing the accusing finger to the boy. “Such is the Code of Kalantiaw, the code that commands us all.”
A pause. No one dared to speak.
A shrill cry of a dying man cut through the tension, it was followed by screams and the sound of panic.
“Kabog, kabogs have attacked,” a man’s voice pierced through the frozen atmosphere of inside the tent and awakened everyone into movement. A large dark shaped swooped and with sharp claws tore at the thick rubber material of the tent like a warm knife on butter. A cacophony of high-pitched screeches told everyone that there were dozens if not hundreds of the nocturnal hunters. Everyone scattered.
More by instinct, Anrhu ducked and rolled when one of the pungent smelling bats swooped near his head. He felt the rush of air and the sharp zing of the claws mere centimeters from his face. Running bowed, he grabbed Beatrice’s arm and ran towards where he saw Vincent disappear a few moments passed. A few feet away, Bulagao had one of the bloodsucking critters in a grip, a bloody dagger half plunged in the chest of the squirming attacker. Dong was a ways off; a soft glow surrounded his body, none of the kabog anywhere near him.
“Run towards the demigod,” Bulagao shouted amidst the din of the attack, Anrhu not thinking ran with his hands around Beatrice’s arm and followed Vincent to the river, oblivious even to the loud barking of Bantay as a kabog’s claws bit into its back and carried it struggling towards the night skies.
Everywhere was chaos and panic. The men, caught off guard struggled to save themselves. Most ran to find the nearest hiding place. The tikbalang fought with three of the flying beasts but the horse creature was no match for the airborne beings, each with a fifteen-foot wingspan and clawed feet. It was a bloodbath; most of the men fell during the first minutes.
Anrhu and Beatrice never looked back. Using the back of Vincent as their beacon they ran half blindly into the darkness. Soon they felt the gentle and cold lap of water at their ankles. They were in the Hilawod.
Rain fell down from the dark skies in a torrent and an eerie sound of singing rose from the waters. Anrhu felt strong fingers grab at his ankle as he felt Beatrice pulled from his hold and swept away. Her screams filled the night darkness with pain and fear.