The Spirit Martial

Spirit 51

“Thanks Nieve,” I whispered at nagpatuloy sa pagtakbo papunta sa higanteng gagamba. “I’m your opponent, you ugly monster!” I shouted and I swayed the two swords at the spider. The spider stopped moving.

“Natalo mo ba, iho?” my adviser asked at ngumiti ako.

Hindi ako sumagot at tumalon ako. I landed on the spider’s huge body and the moment my feet touched its body- the broke down into pieces. Hindi na ako nag-aksaya ng oras para tinginan ang kung ano man ang magiging reaction nila, my priority right now is to get rid of these monsters.

Napatingin ako saglit kay Kailani na isa-isang pinatay ang mga halimaw. It only took one attack per monster and I’d love to try that also. My hear started beating fast habang hinahabol ang paghinga ko. Tumakbo ako ng tumakbo at tuwing may aattake- I just swayed my sword and that’s it. May ibang monster naman na hindi tinatablan ng isang attake lang so I had to sway once again or jump upward and pierced the sword at their backs. Alam ko kung ano ang tumatakbo sa isip ni Kailani and I can say that we’re thinking the same thing.

The biggest and strongest monster here is the turtle pero hindi ito mabilis maglakad at kalalabas niya lang sa lungga niya so it cannot attack for this time. We have to make use of the remaining time bago pa ito makakaattake because we can;t handle many of them tapos nandiyan pa siya. We have to get rid of the weaker ones to destroy the strong one. Sabi nga nila, the strong never exists without the weak.

I took a quick glance again and Kailani has only 2 monsters left on his side habang ako ay may tatlo pa. I have to finish this quickly. The first monster, a snake, crawled into my direction. Hinigpitan ko ang hawak ko sa aking mga sandata and the moment we were close enough, I summoned my vines and held onto the tree trunks. I used it as a base and pulled myself forward. As I moved in circular pattern, hawak ko ang sandata ko and I knew I was slicing up that huge snake. Tumigil ako sa tail ng ahas at lumingon sa likod. Napangiti ako habang nakatingin sa ahas na wala ng buhay. Ramdam ko ang presensya ng natitirang halimaw sa likoran ko so I threw my swords backward. I heard how the swords pieced into them at may tumalsik na dugo sa uniform at mukha ko.

I took the swords and the monsters laid on the ground, dead. Lumingon ulit ako para makita si Kailani and I saw him sitting on a bear’s dead body habang nakatingin sa akin. There were blood staind all over his foot and arms. He also had one on his face mula pa ito kanina which made him more attractive and strong.

“S-S-Si Cygnus ba talaga yan?” rinig ko mula sa gilid ko and I glanced at that dirction. I saw my my mom’s friend who raised me also, it’s my aunt. She was shocked and scared at the same time while watching me. Her fear is visible and I know why.

My mother raised me on her own so she had to help. Technically, she’s my second mother and she’s used to my sweet self. I guess she never knew that this kind of self is sleeping within me- as if I also knew. Kagaya nga ng sabi ni Nieve, a beast is sleeping inside so I guess what he means by beast is somewhat like this.

“Diyos ko, ito ba ang tinuturo sa mainland? Alam ko namang dapat patayin ang mga halimaw na iyan pero sobra naman ang ginagawa nila. Siguro kaya nilang gawin iyan sa tao,” a woman beside her said at hindi siya umimik habang nakatingin pa rin sa akin.

That depends on our mission, lady. In my case, I will never do such thing to a human being.

Umiwas na ako ng tingin sa kanila nang biglang gumalaw ang lupa. The next thing I knew, the turtle was out. The crowd froze as if they were watching death. Maybe they are unfortunately nandito kami kaya hindi mangyayari iyon.

“M-M-Mamamatay naba tayo?!” a man exclaimed.

“Huwag aman sana!!” a woman shouted and the place were filled with crying, shouting, panicking at even running footsteps habang ang iba aya napatunganga lang sa lugar nila as if tanggap na nila ang kamatayan nila. One of them is my mom, my aunt and some of my mother’s friends, the principal of our school, advisers at iba pang mahahalagang authorities- even Aaron’s dad is here.

Tumayo si Kailani sa tinatayoan niya and he started twisting his neck as an exercise. Sinunod naman niya ang mga kamay niya at ang bewang niya. He’s getting ready huh. Sino ba namang hindi eh di hamak mas malaki ang turtle na ito kung ikokompara sa nakalaban namin dati. It has more spikes too at ang masaklap pa, may electric current ang spikes niya. Paano ko nalaman? Hindi ko rin alam, I just felt it somehow.

“Kailani! That thing is dangerous! It has electricity!” sigaw ko at napatigil siya sa pag galaw at tumingin sa akin.

“It has?” he asked.

“It has.” sagot ko

“How did you know?” he asked.

“W-Well, I-I just know. Is that a big deal?” I asked at kumunot ang noo niya. Why? Hindi ba pwedeng malaman ko?

“I think not. Let’s finish this anyway,” he said at tumango ako.

He jumped towards my direction at tumayo sa tabi ko. He combed his hair with his hands and stared at the turtle. Why is he doing that? And why is he looking good like that? His cold eyes stared at the turtle and I can;t take my eyes off of his dark cold eyes that turned purple in a second. He looked like a villain. Tumingin siya sa akin and he smirked.

“Shall we?” he asked at napangiti ako.

“Right,” I said at tumango ako. I should focus.

We both ran in one direction with our magic. Kailani’s flames on his body, my vines from my back and swords in my hand. A perfect combination. The turtle’s tail slammed in our direction pero buti nalang nakailag kami. I jumped upward at napatingin ako saglit sa forest. I saw Nieve na medyo malayo sa amin and he was aiming multiple arrows in different directions. In just a second, nagulat na lang ako na nakalutang na sila ni Gin kasama si Nieve. It gave me goosebumps when I saw all of their power were activated.

Umiwas na ako ng tingin at ibinaling ang attention sa kalaban namin ngayon. I tried my best to injure the turtle’s foot pero hindi kaya ng sandata ko so I backed down. Kailani on the other hand was attacking the turtle’s head with so much fun. Watching him getting excited makes me excite too kaya sinubukan ko ulit ang paa pero masyadong matibay. I jumped away, close enough to the people and far enough to see the entire view while Kailani was dealing with the turtle.

“Cygnus,” Aaron called. “I mean, Your Highness,” he added at napatingin ako sa kanya. “I think Prince Kailani is in danger,” he said pointing at the turtle so I hurriedly glanced back. at our opponent. The turtle had another tail?! We only noticed the first one at ang masaklap dito, the second tail had the strongest electric current among its body.

“Kailani!!” I shouted. “Jump away!!!!” I shouted but I was too late. The tail was above him already and he was not prepared. I cannot summone some of my vines, it’s too late. I have to go there personally. He saved me a lot times already!! I HAVE TO SAVE HIM NO MATTER WHAT!

“Cygnus! Do not even think about going- CYGNUS!! YOU’LL DIE! NOT WITH THAT KIND OF ELECTRIC CURRENT!!!” rinig kong sigaw ni Aaron pero hindi ako tumigil. Hinding-hindi ako titigil.

“Kailani!!!” I shouted and tried my best to grab his arm but I can’t. This time, I summoned my vines at inilayo siya. I landed on his previous position at napatingin ako sa itaas. The tail is close to me.

“CYGNUS!!!” Kailani shouted.

The moment the tail landed on me, hinarangan ko it gamit ng iba kong vines but they are breaking apart. I gritted my teeth out of frustration habang pinipigilan ko ang nasa harapan ko. This feels familiar- ganito rin ang nangyari sa akin when I first saw and fought with the boss.

Dahil sa lakas ng turtle at bigat ng tail nito, napaluhod ako habang pinoprotektahan ko ang sarili ko.

“CYGNUS! LET ME GO!!!” I heard Kailani shouted pero hindi ko siya binitawan kasi pag bibitawan ko siya, I know he’ll do what I did for him. “GOD DAMMIT CYGNUS!!!!!” he shouted once more and tried burning up my vines but he can’t hurt me or my vines. Why? We’re compatible after all.

Tuloyan na akong napahiga at nararamdaman ko na rin ang daloy ng electricity sa katawan ko. This is bad.

“KALI!!!! NIEVE!!!!!!” he shouted. “GIN!!!!! TEMPEST!!!!” he shouted again at napapikit ako when I felt a prick in my finger. My fingers started going numb and seriously kinakabahan na ako dito. Am I gonna die here?

“Please,” I heard Kailani whispered. “Someone help,” he added. He never asked anyone for help. HE NEVER DID SOMETHING LIKE THAT. I used my remaining strength to look at him and our eyes met. He’s not crying but he’s panicking. His hands were trembling trying to reach me. “Don’t you dare abandon me Cygnus,” he said with a shaky voice at kumunot ang noo niya. “DON’T YOU DARE LEAVING!!!!” he shouted with frustration and for some reason, something inside me activated.

His expression.

His words.

His trembling.

His eyes.

His fear.

His trauma.

… I don’t wanna see this kind of situation again. I don’t wanna see this again!!

Hindi ko alam kung anong nangyayari but my fingers started to feel something again. It was jsut a split second but my vision did not turn purple but it turned into blue. I glanced back at my arms and my eyes widened when I saw electric currents surrounding it. The turtle’s electric current is green but I have blue in my arms.

Bago ko pa nakayang bumangon, biglang dumating si Kali sa gilid ko. He looked frustrated and he hit the tail with his fist. The tail flew away at napahinga ako ng malalim. My arms went back to normal and I saw nothing again. Nabitawan ko si Kailani sa pagod at agad siyang tumakbo sa akin.

“Thanks for covering,” Gin said and he tapped our heads- mine and Kailani’s and just like the first time, it felt like home.

“Leave the rest to us,” Tempest said and my vision started to get blurry.

“Cygnus,” Kailani called at napatingin ako sa kanya. “I’m supposed to ask if you’re okay but I saw something else,” he added at kumunot ang noo niya. “What was that electric current?” he asked. Hindi ko rin alam Kailani. Hindi ko rin alam.