Everything around them blurred and they found themselves back on top of the large stone block but this time, Indrapatra and Sulayman are with them.
They made short work of the Igaaws around them now that they have two more warriors with them.
After they cleared the vicious creatures near the center, they can now see the Kampilan embedded blade first on the rock.
The rock showed cracks all around and the sword was trembling violently.
Lam-ang held it to steady it. Vince joined in and the moment he did, it was like the Kampilan cloned itself for a second but then it became one again.
"Ready?" Lam-ang looked at Vince. The young man nodded.
They simultaneously twisted the sword and the Bakunawa let out a terrible scream. The cracks on the stone vanished and the trembling subsided.
"Farewell, my friends," Lam-ang simply said as he began to vanish as well.
Indarapatra and Sulayman sadly lifted their swords in salute to the fading hero while John and his group turned towards Vince with a sinking feeling in their guts.
Nothing happened.
Vince was still there.
"What just happened?" he asked Indarapatra.
"Huh?" Indarapatra blinked.
"Only Lam-ang faded. Why am I still here?" Vince shouted.
"Who?" it was Sulayman who expressed bafflement this time.
"Your friend! Lam-ang! What happened? We were supposed to go to the river together because the two of us locked the Bakunawa forever!"
"River? You mean the Great River of History? The one guarded by the Aeta Guardians?" Indarapatra sounded confused.
"Yes! YES!!! Lam-ang is headed there. He was your friend! He sacrificed himself to defeat the Bakunawa for good." Vince screamed at them.
"Don't raise your voice young man. That is a king you are speaking to," said Sulayman.
"We did defeat the Bakunawa but it was only my brother and I," replied Indarapatra.
"Wait. There is a shadow within my memory. It seems like you are speaking the truth. However, I can't see his face," the young king added.
"You are starting to forget about him completely," Vince said with desperation.
"Bring him back!" Vince demanded.
"We are but memories, ourselves. We cannot do anything now," said Sulayman softly.
"If I remember correctly, he said memories have a way of changing. Just like your memory of him. If you are really unchangeable, you wouldn't have forgotten him. There must be a way." Vince urged the brothers.
"If what you are saying is true, then the way has to be with your own memory of him. There must be a reason you remember him but we don't." he looked at the rest of the group.
"Do you remember this Lam-ang?"
Everyone stared at him blankly and mutely shook their heads.
"Only you remember him now. Only you can bring him back. Hurry up. The river waits for no one," Sulayman told him and handed him an old rope.
"Tie it around your waist. Yank it when you find him," he said then he turned to his brother.
"Give me your sword."
Indarapatra handed Sulayman a strange looking sword. The latter chanted something and cut the end of the rope with it. Instead of getting shorter, the rope grew longer and it was still growing.
"Go now. I don't know how far this can go," Sulayman said.
Vince thought hard about Lam-ang and his last memory of him and he suddenly found himself along the bank of a river. The water is very colorful and it took him a moment to realize that it was not water he was seeing but tiny threads. Beside him is a red thread mingled with gold stretching as far back as where he came from.
He gave it a tug and it resisted his hand.
He pulled harder and he heard a gasp as if from someone drowning. Then a small and muffled voice said:
"Why did you come? It is not yet your time."
"I came for you. You lied to me," he said.
"I did not lie. I do NOT lie."
"You said we will head to the Great River when we lock the Bakunawa for good. Why was I left?"
"Because it was not your time! It was not you who turned the Kampilan, it was me. You have not inherited it yet."
"I know it trusted me. I felt it. It was already reborn. I held it and it held me."
"I asked it to leave you there. That was why I said I was sorry. I never deceived you. I said I might have shortchanged you. Because I denied you the right to wield the new Kampilan."
"What about the sunset?"
"Forget it boy, there is no way to change what was doomed to happen."
"No, I realized something back there. It was something you said. It was not just a figure of speech. Memories can be changed. I know it now."
"No one has the strength to go against history."
"Watch me."
Vince pulled again with all his being. Not all his might. All of him.
The red and gold thread yielded.
"Alright, boy. Let's see you change history," Lam-ang whispered.
Vince yanked the rope tied at his waist. In an instant, they were back holding the Kampilan.
It was the moment before they both turned it.
Vince turned it the other way. The sword came free but at the same time, the Bakunawa came roaring out of the stone.
Sulayman caught its tail before it could fly away. Indarapatra let his sword extend and wrap itself around the dragon's neck. It screamed and fire came out of his mouth.
The volcano rumbled violently as a mighty struggle was happening inside it.
All of them tried to hold the moon-swallowing dragon in place. It clawed at the rocks around it and tried to bite them. For hours, they were locked in a futile battle against an unyielding foe.
"Are you sure?" Lam-ang is still holding one Kampilan while the other is with Vince.
"Yes."
"Once I let go, the Bakunawa and I will head to a new prison. You. You think you are up for it?"
"You talk too much, old man. Let go of the sword. You are no longer its owner!"
Lam-ang let go of the Kampilan. The sword spoke only one word to Vince's mind.
"Hello."
The sword started absorbing the Bakunawa against its will.
It struggled mightily at first but the sword proved equal to its strength and it slowly surrendered until it was just a wisp of smoke.
Once the struggle ceased, the pommel of the Kampilan changed. It now bore the likeness of the Bakunawa.
Vince hefted the sword above his head and the others looked at him with awe. When he lowered it, it disappeared and the tattoo on his hand changed color into a golden one.
Lam-ang stood in front of the young man who inherited his legendary sword.
"Why am I still here?" he said slowly.
"I told you, you are no longer the owner of the Kampilan. You are no longer tied to it. Let me bear the weight for you. Go see your sunset."
Gratitude was in the forgotten hero's eyes. He bowed deeply before he vanished in thin air.
The rumbling around them grew stronger. Rocks were falling everywhere. They looked at the cave's roof with alarm.
"We still have enough power to see you out," said Sulayman and he proceeded to bring out an umbrella. As he hoisted it up and opened it, it disappeared but the falling rocks seemed to be repelled by an invisible force.
They quietly moved out from the heart of Mount Pinatubo.
When they came out, it was evident that it wouldn't be long before it erupted. They looked with pity at the village at the foot of the mountain.
"There are some things we cannot change," Sulayman said cryptically.
The sun was almost out. The colors were a splash of red and gold. They looked at the horizon with mixed feelings.
"I am wondering. Do you know why sunset is very important to Lam-ang?" Vince asked Indarapatra.
"I think he was not talking about the sunset but 'A' sunset."
"He did mention that," remembered Vince.
"I remember him talking about how Ines Kannoyan's eyes were like the sunset," Sulayman smiled and gazed at the fading colors of the day.
"Who is Ines Kannoyan?"
"His wife…" the brothers said with tears in their eyes.
They saluted the group as they disappeared amidst the growing sound of the crickets signalling that the sun had already set.