Thirteen years ago, a war broke out between the Aswangs* of the northern mountains and the Babaylans of the Human Realm.
The Aswangs, fearful creatures of the night, sought to reclaim the land that the humans had taken from them. The creatures, previously divided by four sects of the different species, formed an alliance formally known as the Council of Lang'it which comprised the Elders of the different sects.
Each Elder was the most experienced within their group- the masters of their own race. But although they were powerful on their own, each of them fell short to the Council's most formidable leader, the Chieftain of all the Aswangs- the Datu Dayao.
The other Elders respected their leader and would not hesitate to obey his orders. This was not because of fear of his physical prowess but because they knew this was a man who will do whatever life brings him to achieve what he wanted.
Dayao, despite his outstanding abilities in both strategy and combat, came not from the most revered Maginoo clans of the Aswangs. Rather, he was born as an unholy offspring between a humble farmer and a female aswang in a small rural human barangay. * His mother was merely an unknown low-level ghoul and had died upon his birth; and his father, who truly loved the creature, raised him as best as he could as if he was a regular human child.
The father and the son moved to the outskirts of the barangay and lived in seclusion for years to avoid contact with other humans as much as possible. But no matter how hard his father tried to hide, it did not take long before the barangay captain found out about the man's affair and issued his death- leaving his poor boy orphaned and abandoned in woods to starve. *
Luckily for him, a group of traveling Diwata's- creatures of the night that were neither human nor ghoul- took pity on the child and made a deal with him. That in exchange for their hospitality, the boy must do them a favor. It did not matter how long it took for the favor to be completed if he did it before he died. The child, blinded by hunger and his will to survive, quickly agreed to it. And thus, the creatures nurtured him and taught him everything they knew, until the day he was old enough to live alone.
Then he was alone again.
From that day forward, the young demon child- now an adolescent young man- crawled his way up to the Northern mountains with nothing but three days' worth of food on his back and a small sayoc kali knife. *
On his way, he fought creatures and demons alike who wished to eat and sell him for his half-blood. What was supposed to be a few days-long journey had turned into a weeks' worth of bloodbath.
Because of this incident, word spread throughout the tribes about the man who painted the forest red as fast as a forest fire. And for that week, no one dared travel through the woods. Those who lived there had either hid or fled away.
The leaders of the barangays heard the commotion and quickly hurried to the forest border to see what was going on and to greet the demon who suddenly appeared and murdered everything in his path. But each of them knew that they only wanted to use him.
As the young man trudged up the stone staircase, each of the Elders had put on a welcoming smile. Some, if not most, were showing their hidden intents.
But as the young man took the last step, a chilly breeze swept by, and the Elders, who were planning to greet him with open arms, froze. Perhaps it was because of the rotting smell akin to a fish that came from him or the trail of blood he had left behind as he climbed up the stairs, or it could be the pair of malicious eyes that sent shivers down their spines despite the innocent smile on his face- each of the Elders' original plans flew out of the window as the young man walked past them and entered the barangay.
Since then, the man had become the Chieftain of the creatures. Nobody announced it, of course. Nobody needed to. After all, it only took a quick look at his face to know that he was not someone who would let you off easily.
Dayao was eventually called Datu*, even though he had no riches, no land. But what he did not have, he made up for on the battlefield. In just a short amount of time, the warriors of the mountain doubled in strength and numbers.
And despite the large number of aswangs under his command, he showed no sign of overwhelm. Dayao handled almost everything on the battlefield- from training to strategy- and only ever consulting with one person, his most trusted right hand, an orphan he found who he delegated as the only General and bore the curse of the thousand-year-old god.
Years passed, the ghouls of the Northern Mountains became more fortified than the humans, and then it was time for the Datu to return his favor to the Diwatas that saved him.
'A land where we can live peacefully without struggling to survive and take back what was ours,' was what they had told him. And so such a land Dayao will give them.
It took months of preparation before the half-blood met with the human realm's own Five Maginoos in the capital city of the land, Mabu'ay. The Five Maginoos were the most influential Babaylans- spiritual healers- of the human barangays, and Dayao knew that no matter how much he tried, they would not agree to a peace treaty. Therefore, right after being ridiculed and threatened by the Babaylans on the court for his outrageous demand, the most trusted General had launched a coup on the human barangays that took the land that was originally the aswangs', as planned.
This was the start of the War of the Five Folks.
The Babaylans who knew nothing of the attack quickly sent armies of warriors to defend their land. They did their best to fend off the creatures, but to no avail- they had already lost this turn.
Before dark, half of the human barangays were captured by the aswangs, and the Datu, who was and thrown into jail, laughed at their faces. All was going according to his plan, he thought. Now he waited for the humans' move.
The Five Maginoo were humiliated. To think those bastards could trick them. Curses echoed through the halls of the Mabu'ay Palace as they frantically thought of ways to counter the attacks. But each of their suggestions were shot down as they realized that all their resources- all their artillery and troops- had all been accounted for in the demons' attack, and they could not risk moving without compromising their people.
It was a checkmate for the humans. And the only way out was to surrender to the Aswangs.
The atmosphere in the meeting chamber was tense, and each of the healers was silent as the thought of defeat sank in.
But it did not take long before the silence was broken as one of the Maginoos by the name of Bighani suggested something they never would have thought of in years- the release of the cursed human, the Kaka. * The rest were hesitant with the decision. For them, using the Kaka was like opening your windows during a typhoon- although it will avoid the wind from toppling the house's structure, it will still do more harm than good.
But they were running out of options, and their pride would not allow them to surrender. And so they agreed and ordered for the sly human's release.
Meanwhile, as the Datu was patiently waiting in his cell, the General silently intruded the Palace to release their Chieftain. Coincidentally, it was then that Kaka was released, and a fight was brought out between the two cursed creatures.
They were evenly matched, that much could be said- with the General, only armed with a bolo knife and her martial skills, and the Kaka, with her cursed braided locks and deadly precision. Each of them took turns at each other, looking for their weak spots, and the fight felt like it went on for years.
However, as the clouds parted and allowed the moonlight to shine through a window in the hallway they fought, the Kaka suddenly doubled over, coughing out blood- the scent of metal and spring blossoms wafting through the air. The General paused to look at her opponent in confusion. It was strange. She was so sure that she had not landed a hit on any vital part yet, but the body on the floor in front of her shuddered with fingernails scratching marks on the wooden panels. The Kaka panted deep labored breaths.
If the situation were different, perhaps the General would have taken mercy on the lady. But for now, the only thought in the General's mind was to continue with the mission.
The General looked at the other cursed woman once again, whose bloodied lips formed a smile as if she were taunting her. Then the General raised her weapon and swung.
The blood on the floor was disregarded as if it were merely spilled water; and as quick as she had done the deed, the woman ran to the cellars to free her leader.
The pitter-patter of bare feet on concrete made Dayao's ear twitch and his eyes immediately darted to the cell's metal bars. His wrists were shackled, so were his feet. If they were only normal shackles, he could leave, but engraved on the metal objects were scripts of spells that were meant to repel demons- thus he was no different to a paralyzed man.
The barred metal door swung opened with a large groan and in came his General who broke the chains in one swift motion. Dayao asked for the status of their troops and his General updated him that they nearly had all the human tribes hostage as she carried the still him up to the chamber where the Maginoos were. The Datu gave a satisfied smile.
Only one more push and the land would be theirs, was what he thought.
But as they traveled down the hallway a few meters away from the Chamber, little did they know someone had been following them in the shadows. It wasn't until the whirring sound of a whip that the General knew something was wrong. She quickly turned around hoping to dodge the attack and shielding her disabled companion, but she was a few seconds too late, and the thorned whip had latched onto her right arm, digging through the skin.
A stinging sensation slowly crept up to her shoulder, and she saw her veins beginning to flood purple. Poison, she had thought. Panicking, she instinctively touched her other hand to her stomach and shot a look of dread to Dayao.
But before the man could react, their assailant withdrew the whip, bringing along the General, smashing her onto the wall at the left side of the hallway.
The woman choked as the air in her body was slammed out of her. Black spots danced in her vision and she could feel nothing from her back. She heard her name being called, but the ringing in her ears and pain on her head distracted her from what was going on.
'Get up,' a voice at the back of her head snarled. 'Pathetic,' it continued with more malice.
Slowly, the woman shifted her back from the wall. A stinging ache went up to her spine and she couldn't help but muffle a pain-filled groan. A warm droplet was dripping down her legs and for the first time in a long while, she was terrified.
A pair of loud footsteps thudded over to the place she stood before she was thrown away like a rag doll. With a wincing eye, the General saw Dayao on the floor, still paralyzed, and their assailant towering over him, hand still gripping the whip. Her vision still blurred, and she could barely see the person's face. But engraved in her mind was their left hand-decorated with an intricate tattoo that didn't look like traditional maharlika's.*
Her eyes went back to Dayao.
The spells from the shackles were still in effect, and the woman was about to go after him when his loud voice echoed through the hallway.
"Run!" he yelled.
The woman froze, her eyes going wide at the unfamiliar panic in his voice.
"Forget about me and run! Hurry!"
The General hesitated- it was the first time he had ever told her to retreat. To leave him. She opened her mouth to say something- to tell him she would not run- that she'll think of a way to help him. But she knew that all of that was useless because there was something else far more important than the two of them right now.
With clenched teeth, she mustered up the strength in her legs and began her escape.
And that was the last time anyone had ever seen the General.
The War had ended as quickly as it had started. The Elders were in utter disarray as the humans sent in reinforcements and neither could get in touch with the General. They did not know what had happened and quickly retreated their forces back to the mountains.
In a shocking turn of events, they had learned that the humans had brutally murdered their leader just moments after the humans proclaimed their victory against them. Eventually, the aswang race had become the pinnacle of ridicule for the humans. They went from being feared and rejected by society to hunting prey and slaves.
They were being treated lesser than the worst scum.
Although many of the aswangs had mourned for the death of their Chief and General, there were even more who resented them for abandoning their people.
Thus, since then, the aswangs were once again divided. Those who resented their leaders moved from the mountains to the unknown forests, while the rest had stayed in their barangays, waiting for their General to come back.
However, none of them knew that in a small little town miles away from the capital, a bloodied young woman had just given birth to a child who had the same eyes as the late Chieftain.