Cradle of the Valiant (Duyan ng Magiting)

CH 3 - LIFE AFTER DEATH

The echo of water dropping on water is filling her senses. It adds to the claustrophobia in this damp and dark sewer. She breathed deeply to steady her heartbeat but the rank smell stopped her short.

She leaned on the wet stones leaking with God knows what and she slowly let her whole body sink to the floor.

It was not just exhaustion of the body; her whole being is tired.

She tried peering into the far end of the tunnel and she couldn't see light at all.

She looked at her hand; astonished that it was glowing a subdued greenish light.

"Great. On top of my problems, I have turned radioactive," She bitterly thought.

She isn't panicking. Harmful isotopes are the least of her worries at this moment. Not that she believes the glow was from the wastes around her.

She lowered her glowing hand on the floor and saw that the water receded from where she touched the floor. It was like the dirty water was being repulsed by her hand.

Interesting.

She wiped her arms and just like the floor, dampness disappeared from where she touched.

She can make a fortune with a dry cleaning business.

She chuckled, surprised at the sound. It was an alien sound to her. All her life, she barely knew how to laugh.

It is surprising that as soon as she decided to leave, the ability to be happy returned to her.

She heard a dull thud and she immediately moved.

She knew they were close.

She didn't have any illusions of getting away cleanly. The team that was after her was probably one of the best if not the best her father can send.

The walls bulged and shadows suddenly exploded.

She knew these scouts. It was too late to try to hide.

She ran.

They shot arrows that look like ink and stuck to whatever part of the walls they hit.

One struck the floor near her feet and the splash - one tiny tendril, stuck to her heel like elastic glue.

It pulled at her foot.

She tried pulling the foot with her hand and as soon as her hand got near the stuck foot, the inky glue melted away.

Hmmm...useful, she thought as she ran away from the shadowy pursuers.

These are the Dragon Scales. The Claw would not be far away.

They did send the best.

Luckily, she trained with them. She was one of the best.

She grimly pushed forward as she steeled her heart from the inevitable encounter.

Images of her father suddenly flashed in her head. He was always strict but the past few months showed changes that bordered on outright cruelty.

Her father was stern but never cold. She felt a chill inside as she recalled his awful eyes on that last moment she got to speak with him.

There was no love in them. That last thought brought forth tears she was holding back.

The walls ahead burst out Dragon Scales.

She wanted to plead to them to stop; that she doesn't want any of them to get hurt but she understood the reality.

No one can defy the Dragon's Call. Especially not the Eastern White Dragon.

She sighed and drew her blade regretfully.

These are scouts. These are not killers. She drew the pattern in the air with the tip of her sword.

The air around them seemed to solidify before a roaring fire shot as if from a giant cannon. It exploded against the far wall and caused that part of the tunnel to shake upon impact.

The concrete construct groaned under the force of the blast and dust fell to the damp floor like a waterfall.

"Consider that your only warning," she bluffed.

"Never bluff the Dragonkin, my Lady."

She gasped audibly as the Claw stepped over the rubble.

The shadows melted away like the darkness recedes from the light.

They did their part.

"I should have known..." she casually remarked to the deadliest assassin that walked the earth.

"The Eastern White Dragon, your father, doesn't take chances as well you know, my Lady."

He slowly drew his sword as he walked towards her.

"Yeah, I know," she answered sadly.

"No one defies the Dragon's Call. By order of the supreme council of the First Clan, I hereby deliver your divine punishment. My Lady Aurora, Keeper of the Frozen Flame, submit to the will of the Heaven," he intoned formally.

His eyes betrayed no emotion. His hands sure.

She screamed defiantly and slashed at the air before he could react.

The blade could not quite reach him but blood spurted from his chest nonetheless.

The bastard did not even flinch, she admiringly reflected.

"The Phantom Swallow. Impressive," he briefly touched his wound.

"You should not have hesitated. Hesitation means death. You also know that."

She let her sword do the talking and he had to respond.

Their fight was savage and messy. He knows not to take her lightly. Every blow carried this intent.

They really want me dead, she coldly lamented.

Deep inside, she didn't want to believe that until one heavy slash sent her flying against the wall. She coughed blood into the back of her hand.

She quickly parried the one aimed at her neck and in the space between the blink of an eye, she turned into a being of light and passed through him; sword extended forward.

"You shouldn't have hesitated," she reminded him.

He lied on the floor, his blood mixing with the dirty water. He smiled.

The pride in those eyes made her misty-eyed as she remembered it was him who taught her that last move.

"The Dragon Tail," he smiled and slowly closed his eyes.

She couldn't bear to look at him. It was terrible enough that she had to kill for the first time but she didn't want it to be someone she knew so well.

The image of him smiling sadly as he slowly soaked on his own blood will always haunt her for as long as she lives.

She sobbed as she gave her master the last sword salute.

She turned before she completely broke down.

She didn't see the little glowing threads envelop his whole body as she made her way towards the light at the end of the tunnel.