"Help." A screech dashes through the ears of the townspeople.
Ezekiel jumped out of his bed and suited up. Loud steps came by as Danilo and his wife rushed downstairs.
"What was that?!" Danilo shouted.
"Seems like Magbato is not as safe as you said," Ezekiel replied while strapping on his belt. "Whatever that is it's surely not the fault of a human."
Eeya noticed Ezekiel packing up. "Village Magbato may not be as safe as we imagine, but running away from here is even more dangerous."
Without paying a look, Ezekiel replied. "I'm not going to run away." He slammed the door open and ran outside, leaving all his things except for the sorcerers stone inside.
"Kid come back here!" Danilo shouted.
"That boy is insane..." Eeya trembled in the mix of fear and confusion.
As Ezekiel sprinted his way through the village he sees the villagers out of their houses, gossiping with each other about the current situation.
"What the hell just happened?!"
"Did you see it?"
"If it gets any worse I'm moving far away from Magbato."
The village guard protected the tattletale, villagers, from getting outside the gate.
"Come on let me see!"
"Sir I have my rights!"
"No ma'am please step away from the gate or else we will have to use force."
"What are you hiding from us?!"
A kid whose terrified out of his mind came running unto the guards. "I-It was big. It smiled as he captured her. We're all gonna die!"
His worried mother came chasing after him shortly after, crying. The protectors of the gate shook in fear as they heard the description of the kid.
"Hey, it's just his imagination right?" The first guard let out a nervous chuckle.
"Yeah, kids you know..." The second guard proceeds to chuckle nervously as well.
Ezekiel noticed the commotion on the gate. He looked and walked towards it. The house of Malaya was nearby, Ezekiel turned his head and looked towards it. There stood Noah, reeking of sweat. He gritted his teeth as he stood there frozen by anger and fear.
"Why..." Noah whispered to himself.
Ezekiel continued to walk down the path towards the gate.
"Sir, stop!" One of the guards warned him.
Ezekiel glared at him with confidence. His eyes shined a yellow glaze as small bolts of lightning swirled over his body. The people, terrified, moved away. The guard while scared out of their souls as well, stood stiffly due to their job. Eyes popping out, the urge to cower away fueled even more. Noah looked at Ezekiel with complete and utter fear.
"I knew it..." He muttered to himself. He forced himself to move and tell the guard to let him through. Every step he took felt like a suicidal move. The first step and his soul moved downwards to an endless cliff. The second felt like stepping out into a battlefield. The third a trial that results in death. Each step as worse as the other, Noah trembled in fear, his legs felt like they were going to fall out, his heartbeat rapidly pumped, and the constant grumbling of his stomach ordering him to let it all out and barf.
"Open it," Ezekiel ordered the ones guarding the gate. "I'm not asking again."
"W-We can't let you." The first guard stutters as he breathed heavily. He pinches himself as he tries to prevent himself from crying.
"Let him through!" Noah shouted from the distance.
"The past chief!" One of the guards remarked. They obeyed Malaya and opened it only for Ezekiel.
The villager somewhat forgot the monster and gossiped about Ezekiel.
"Who was that boy?"
"Scary."
"Why is he inside here?"
"Yeah, I think I'll move away."
Ezekiel quickly sprinted inside the dark forest in search of the missing person. His past flashed back to him.
"Help!" A child of Village Magisa and Ezekiel's friend screamed at his memory. The beasts eating children, half-cut bodies with wings flying around and assaulting the villagers, farm animals shapeshifting back into an Aswang further spilling the blood of the innocent people. Ezekiel was disgraced upon himself upon knowing there was nothing he or anyone could do to stop the rampaging monsters before.
"Mark my words whoever you are, I will save you!" Ezekiel shouted.
Ezekiel stopped on his tracks as a sound filled the surrounding. Coos of crows deafened him as he stood still. His armed glowed as he charged up the sorcerers stone connected to his belt. The electricity quickly surges up toward his arm, the tingling sensation was there once again. Ezekiel walked slowly with his arm charged up. The glowing arm served as a light for him through the pitch-black forest. The sound of leaves blew in the cold night as he hunted down the monster. A loud cracking sound was heard from the branches. Ezekiel instantly turned and shot his bolt in the sound's direction. A powerful strike of lightning came rushing out his palm. The crow turned into an Aswang and tried to jump on Ezekiel with an open jaw. The bolt came dashing through its mouth piercing through its flesh and blowing up each organ on its body. All the crows nearby began to scream.
"Shoot." Ezekiel panicked as the cooldown starts. He quickly started to run as fast as he can. Tens of crows transformed into Aswangs, chasing Ezekiel and lashing out their tongues in order to try and grab him. "Thirty, twenty-nine, twenty-eight, twenty-seven..." Ezekiel started to count down.
"Come here." An Aswang grazed his arm by its claw.
Ezekiel kept on running, the Aswangs kept on relentlessly chasing him. "Five, four, three, two..." He continued to count.
"One!" Ezekiel turned around with his bolt ready for firing. "Huh?" He questioned himself. The group of Aswangs disappeared into thin air. Making it seems like they never existed in the first place. Ezekiel looked around in doubt but found no tracks of said creature. He continued to look for the victim with his charged arm serving as a lantern. As he went through the bushes, snapping every tiny branch along the way, Ezekiel found a field with no trees. In the middle lied the victim. A middle-aged woman with jet-black hair crawled weakly on the grass. Ezekiel rushed down to her.
"Are you okay?" Ezekiel worriedly asked. He grabbed her arm and helped her to walk.
They came back to they walked back towards the path to the village. The howls of Aswangs filled the surroundings as they noticed the two passing by. "Run!" Ezekiel shouted. The race stuck their eyes on Ezekiel and ignored the woman. Ezekiel followed to her direction, running with a charged bolt in his arm, Ezekiel strategized whilst running for his life. His eyes widened as he thought of an idea. He started to run in a zigzag line.
"Dumb kid." One of the Aswang stated. "Running in zigzag never works especially for humans. That is one of the laws in hunting."
They continued to chase the young man as he tried his best to outspeed the savages. "Not yet," Ezekiel whispered to himself. "Come on..."
One of the creatures lashed its tongue out and grazed Ezekiel's arm, making a cut in the process. Ezekiel noticed a huge stone in the distance. He decided to use his remaining energy to run behind it.
"We got him." One of the monsters stated. "Come on out! You nowhere to go kid! Can't run, can't hide, can't live. What are you gonna do?" The Aswangs lined up to kill the exhausted boy.
Ezekiel then rolled on the sight of the enemies. In his hand was a very powerful charge of lightning. "Ru-" the leader of the monsters tried to warn his group.
"Udom." Ezekiel weaved the hand sign on his other hand.
"No..." The leader of the Aswangs could only think for himself.
The lightning charge came blasting out of the young man's arm. Piercing through the line of Aswangs and killing them all.
Ezekiel sat there, exhausted with no power to move whatsoever. A flock of crows came and transformed into beasts once again.
"Well, that was a quick journey." Ezekiel thought to himself. A loud stomp suddenly shook the ground behind him. The Group of savages transformed back into their crow forms and flew away. "Bulawan?..."
Ezekiel, with all his remaining strength, stood up and look. His eyes widened in shock.
"Well... Crap."