The Igaaws continued feeding the creature inside the stone while the group stood by helplessly. John looked at his hand, the one he dipped into the lava, and saw that it was already healed. There was still some visible tissue damage but a large part already looked whole again.
Ora kept a mental note of what she just saw and said nothing.
Vince started walking towards the stone despite John's urgings to reconsider. It was as if he was hearing another voice.
When they saw that Vince was implacable, Ora and Ash took their position at his flanks, ready to repel any attack.
Ice tugged at John's hand and they followed the three towards the stone block.
Zone and Grace also followed with their weapons at the ready.
When they were dangerously close, some of the Igaaws took notice and attacked immediately. The two warriors at his side moved in perfect unison and no one was able to touch Vince who was moving as if in trance.
With lightning-fast sword strokes, Ora and Ash carved a path for Vince and the rest to take. It was as if they were perfect mirror images, matching the other move per move.
None of the Igaaws paid attention to the rest; almost as if they only wanted to attack Vince who seemed to be having a conversation with somebody they cannot see.
Then the air around him shimmered, and a being of light appeared. They can barely see its outline but they can all tell that it was a man. A tall, large man who spoke in a very compelling manner.
"Are you ready?" It apparently asked Vince and the previously awkward and indecisive youth nodded resolutely.
"Do you promise with all your heart to bind yourself to my cause?" the being of light asked in a voice full of authority and power.
In response, Vince took hold of Ash's sword arm and pulled the blade against his forearm. Before anyone could do anything, he slid his arm across the blade, drawing blood. The blood then drenched the small tattoo-like image of a sword at the back of his hand.
"Done!" the light creature exclaimed triumphantly and the tattoo in Vince's hand glowed brightly.
The Igaaws at the top of the stone block screamed viciously and redoubled their efforts to swarm that part.
The creature of light leaped to the air towards the center of the swarm.
However, he took them all with him and in an instant, before anyone could scream from being so suddenly yanked through the air, they found themselves flying across the night sky.
"Whoa!" exclaimed Vince as he found himself clutching at very smooth but very strong feathers while streaking across the starlit sky.
Everyone seemed disoriented at first but they soon steadied themselves and looked at the purple horizon.
The sky looked vividly surreal. It was filled with swirling lights of various hues. The stars looked impossibly large and close. Below are reflections of the luminous sky.
They are flying above an amazingly calm body of water that the sky is reflected flawlessly.
The silence is pierced by the cry of the flying creature that carried them. It was a giant bird with shiny feathers.
The creature of light that kidnapped them dimmed a lot and they now see facial features. After the glow had completely disappeared, they saw a smiling gentleman with a flowing short beard and wavy hair. He was taller than any of them and so muscular that he dwarfed John and Vince combined.
"Where are we and who are you?" asked Ora.
The tall man inclined his head as if in salute.
"Greetings, Lady Alab, daughter of the flame. You are inside a forgotten memory and I am called Lam-Ang of the North. I only intended to bring this young man," he pointed at Vince.
"...but his strong connection with all of you could not be severed. I apologize."
"You kidnapped us?" Ash hissed at Vince between clenched teeth.
"Hey, I don't know what you are talking about but this is infinitely better than hacking and slashing at those toothy little monsters back at the volcano, right?" Vince grinned sheepishly.
"This is not over, Wetpants," she said and she sat crossed-legged on the back of the giant bird.
"We are inside the memory of the Kampilan," Lam-ang informed them further.
"In order for this young man, Vince, to inherit the sword, he has to form a bond with it. This is the sword's last battle. It was unfortunate that you had to be here against your will but I guess we'll just have to make the best of this situation," he said with a twinkle in his eyes and John's stomach gave a small lurch. He did not trust that look.
Before anyone could ask any question, a roar issued around them. Startled, they looked around for the source of that evil roar.
"That, my friends, is the Bakunawa before it was finally imprisoned," explained Lam-ang.
"We have been fighting it for 8 straight days now."
"We?" asked John.
He pointed in a direction slightly ahead to their right and to their astonishment, what wasn't there before suddenly appeared.
It was a dragon writhing and spinning in the air and on each of his talons are two men in colorful clothes. One is hacking at the dragon's claws with a large sword. It's what's causing the dragon great discomfort. The other one appeared to be dead, clutched loosely by the dragon.
"Those two are my closest friends. King and prince of a legendary kingdom, Indarapatra and his brother Sulayman," Lam-ang said, sounding unconcerned that one of his so-called friends lay unconscious or dead at the hands of the dragon.
"Hooo...Lam-ang my friend!" waved the one hacking at the dragon's foot.
"What happened to Sulayman?" shouted Lam-ang.
"He said he is a bit tired so he slept!" answered Indarapatra.
"He is sleeping? At a time like this?" Zone exclaimed in mixed awe and incredulity.
"Yeah, well… that's Sulayman for you. He will even sleep in the middle of a thunderstorm," Lam-ang shrugged.
"I can do that!" said Vince.
"In the MIDDLE, literally, of a thunderstorm. While lightning strikes within a hair's breadth from his beard."
Vince shuddered at the thought.
"So you are fighting that thing for sport." Ash declared.
"Oh no, no, my little Shadow Warrior. This was serious. You see, the Bakunawa wanted to swallow the moon. That could spell disaster for all sorts of creatures across the land. Not to mention giving the night dwellers tremendous boost in strength. The moon, if you don't know it yet, serves as a representative, if you will, of Apolaki. She oversees order during the night so if she is eaten," he jerked his enormous hands violently apart.
"Chaos."
As if to accentuate the words, the bird veered suddenly to follow the writhing dragon ahead. They all grabbed some feathers to keep from falling.
"But if this is a memory, it means you defeated it right?" Ash pointed out.
"Memories sometimes have ways of changing," Lam-ang said cryptically.
"...but yeah, we did defeat it at a great cost."
"What did you have to pay?" Vince asked with worry in his voice.
"The Bakunawa is a great creature. To hold it in place, we needed something of equal weight. Such is the law of the universe," Lam-ang answered solemnly.
"Woooooo Lam-ang my dear friend!" shouted the just woken up Sulayman, interrupting Lam-ang's explanation.
The Bakunawa tightened its grip on Sulayman but the man straightened his arms to shove away the dragon's claws with little effort.
The great dragon roared in frustration while the wind carried Sulayman's laughter towards the pursuing bird.