8 The SHRINE of BAKUNAWA (1/2)

The misty cool breeze blew intermittently, bringing forth the cold salty ocean smell of the western shores as the sunlight started to engulf the horizon of Nagozul. The travelling group, heading northwest from the Palace, started to blush as soon as the dawn light touched their cheeks with the refreshing wind extinguishing the heat that the morning sun brings. They all travelled by foot - all six of them. They were led by the beautiful Grand Princess Prodea with her cohort of loyal followers following at the back - three handmaidens led by Zeba and two sword-bearing Daomagarians who are known to be her loyal bodyguards. They tread without stopping and they continued to march on as quickly and as silently as possible. They wore hoods to conceal their eyes that would mystify any suspecting individuals they passed by on the roads, only privy to witness their silent serious mouths.

No one dared to bother them in their fast pace. People passing around the streets to the northwestern shores stopped and backed away to the side roads as the intimidating party was seen in plain sight. Anyone can immediately identify the Grand Princess of Nagozul, with her glamorous red silk gown together paired with her expensive hand-made gem-embroidered cloak.

It is a known fact that this princess exudes arrogance unlike any other known Nagozulian Royalty that ever lived. Anyone who disturbs their strides would be forcefully thrown to the sides by her huge Daomagarian guards without hesitation - and they knew this by experience remembering her latest victim who is a Daomagarian peddler new to the area. No one in their right mind would want to experience that kind of embarrassment so everyone committed this idea to memory, steering clear from their paths, staying on the side roads avoiding any chance of encounter as if fearing for a frightful stampede.

It took the ever-swift party five hours to arrive at their destination - the Shrine of Bakunawa. The sun is now shining directly on top of them burning with its hot bright glow. From the road they were in, they can see the shrine that stands along the coastline to the sea known to commoners as the Docks of the Holy Lands - the only access point to the foreign lands.

A dome lay prominently at the base with a thousand-year old paint almost eaten away by time, revealing a charcoal cement finish with portions of revealing bricks on the sides. You can quickly asses its ancient heritage by just looking at its grayish foundations layered with moss and vines. It has a spire stretching through the center of the dome scaling hundreds of feet high. The topmost chamber of this spire is where the guardian Bakunawa is said to reside, ever so watchful of the sea. The field all around the shrine is filled with long sharp grass that stretched far as the eye can see. The road leading to the shrine is the only thing visible at the grounds. Huge debris of shattered moss-infested stone monuments lay waste indicating a destructive battle that happened generations ago - a history well forgotten by many.

The place is no longer maintained by the Nagozulian people - and no one even tried to attempt to do so. No one goes near the fields before the shrine fearing for the reclusive Guardian's curse upon its fields.

The party finally stopped at the fields directly in front of the gates to the grounds of the shrine. It is a well-known fact that only a Prince or Princess of Nagozul are expected to take on a quest for their rite of passage to the other lands so commoners are not expected to show themselves at the lot, much so to enter the shrine and witness the fabled immortal Bakunawa.

”Zeba, tell the men to wait here for me,” ordered Prodea as she removed her cloak revealing her angelic face to the sun. ”Stand firm on this point and whatever you hear do not follow me.” The three Amplifyers at her forehead began to glow that the light radiating from her red, green, and blue gems began to mix different hues creating an astonishing beam of colors.

”But your highness?” interrupted Zeba throwing her hood at the back to reveal her face to Prodea. Her long wavy black hair manages to follow the wind that is blowing from the sea. ”Can you let me come with? I wanted to see Bakunawa too.”

Prodea's face began to ooze a hint of irritation as Zeba pursued droning, stating her case. She persisted further touching her left arm to get her attention, disrupting her concentration, which annoyed her even further. Prodea gently shoved her hands to be free of her hold forcing a smile yet revealing a serious eye.

”...I mean, I haven't heard his voice,” Zeba followed enthusiastically continuing on with her blather, ”let alone his face. He is one of the three legendary immortals.”

”Hush,” she interjected. ”Do you not tire to reveal what an INCOMPETENT FOOL you are?! Honestly, Zeba, are insults not enough? The mockery? Every time? Do you have the need to collect it every single day!?”

Zeba was taken aback, slowly losing her smile.

”Do you know what happens to people entering his territory, hmm?!” Prodea continued.

”Uh - No? Your highness?”

Prodea pressed her fingers at her forehead with a sharp sigh clearly suggesting a headache building up because of her disappointment with Zeba's inept knowledge about Bakunawa's shrine.

”Karr?!” yelled Prodea to call on the huge guard behind them carrying a big broadsword on his back as long as he is.

”Yes, your excellence?”

”You have finished your primary education, correct?”

”Yes, your highness,” he snappily replied.

”And is your training, above par? Or just average in quality?”

”I am not a scholar, your excellence, so my history is not as good as those provided at the Royal Academy thus, I am to conclude that my lecture on this topic is only of an average quality.”

”So, one might suppose, everyone knows what you know? In a sense...”

”Y-yes, your highness, but...” He hesitated in answering, pitying Zeba as Prodea made him an instrument of her insult.

”Would you please humor us and tell us what happens if I bring you all inside Bakunawa's domain?”

”We will be burned immediately upon entering the premises, your highness. We will not die for about a day, but we will be entangled on the grounds, being slowly burned until sunset. The Magicks inside will prevent people from dying, sustaining the body while it burns all throughout. The skin and flesh will melt till it drip from the bone and the curse will let you experience this nightmare till the sun is not visible in the sky. It is almost noon so it will be an excruciating torture if we were to enter this very minute.”

Prodea gave a stern look to Zeba - eyes wide with much smugness while Zeba carried a shocking reaction with her face.

”And why is that so?” Prodea continued to prod, now almost gloating.

”The Shrine of Bakunawa is layered with powerful Magicks made by Bakunawa that only recognizes the blood of the Nagozulian lineage. It acts to defend the only opening to the foreign realm from any malicious creature entering it without his authorization, defending the Holy Lands both from the inside and out.”

Prodea continued to walk at the entrance to the grounds of the shrine - ignoring her ever loyal Zeba at the back who appears to be mumbling something out of spite which she ultimately disregarded being fed up with her nonsense.

There is a small brick fence before them and an opening in a form of an arc holding an old rusty metal gate scribbled with rune symbols in an archaic design which appears to be unreadable. Two scaly snake bronze sculptures that have glowing fiery red eyes are placed parallel to each other in front of the metallic entrance. It is some sort of a warning to those people - or animals - having the urge to go near the grounds. There is an engraved statement at the arc saying ”The Holy Grounds of Bakunawa” which is in its very old design, possibly thousands of years ago - or more looking at the decaying Daomagarian ironwork.

Prodea went near and intensified her concentration leading for her to emit a blinding light from her Amplifyers that shines all throughout the gates. Suddenly, it began to move and opened its way creakily on its own to let Prodea enter. She returned her hood in its place to cover her head and marched on inside. After which, the gate immediately closed with a bang and silence was all there is for the surprised servants to hear.

-------ooO0Ooo-------

Prodea walked along the grounds of Bakunawa with much haste. She unleashed a fire spell that looks like a big burning boa that floats and circles around her. It incinerated everything that went at least three feet close to her solving her misdirected frustration to the gentle greetings of the tall grasses all around her. Every pace turned the ground charcoal black leaving some flying cinders which resulted to slivers of black fumes one step after another accumulating into a smoke signal that marks her pace to Bakunawa's Shrine.

”Glad to see that you haven't changed one bit, Prodea,” echoed a deep voice of a man. ”You're always the one to find new ways to hog the attention.”

His voice isn't ordinary - it's special, not like any man's voice. His words echoed in the air every time a syllable is enunciated that can be thought to as a voice of a ghost or some enchanted being that could easily scare anyone that hears it - but not Prodea.

”You always have your problems with your grass. I thought I'd be helpful enough to create a wide path for you, Bakunawa.”

She found him standing behind the large metal door entrance to the shrine. He wore his sacred robe which is old and seemingly dusty. There are traces of brown shades indicating its original color in the past but it's way too old now that one might pursue to argue that it is gray, and it wouldn't be anything remotely close to any other color. It is filled with unreadable texts and runes a scholar might be curious of. The robe's left arm sleeve can be seen swinging because Bakunawa is known to have a single arm. It was cut in an intensive battle from the past - or at least that's what he tells everyone on record. He's wearing the hood, that is connected to his old coat, hiding his mysterious face underneath the shadow it creates but you can always notice his never blinking eye. An eye that is brightly illuminated and is red with yellow iris.

This eye would make someone uncomfortable for it would take real concentration to take someone's vision away from it. It's inviting and captivating, but it feels like it pierces through your soul using an unknown ominous energy that would make you weak if you let yourself be vulnerable. They call this the Yagisivian Stare - a skill he has perfected and transcended to the next level, torturing one's soul with its deadly striking gaze.

”Always hiding in your hood, I see,” mocked Prodea.

”I think you appreciate it that much seeing you look lovely copying my mysterious impression.”

”Well I think it is fashionable enough to work, minus Of course, the old reeking garb you're wearing.”

”Does your mother know that you're out?”

”Well she knows... enough... I don't really want to trouble her so. I think it is mainly because she gets really annoying when she's all worked up with something.”

”It's comforting to see you're still scheming, being so arrogant and frightfully annoying to listen to,” he continued. ”I'd say congratulations, if I was still your master, for setting a plan that took years to set in motion and executing it right under our noses. Even I didn't know that you're using me in your whole demented act.” He stopped for a second to step a few paces away from the door and near the steps to the shrine entrance and continued. ”Does lying to your mother and brothers about this whole masquerade worth the throne? Is it that important that you'd endanger our brothers and sisters from the other islands just for your ambition as Queen?”

”You're wrong... as always,” Prodea answered. ”But then again, what do you know?”

Bakunawa just smiled as he took a pace closer.

”Now, now. It's not good to read my mind,” warned Prodea now agitated as she stepped back. ”I know how your mind trick operates. It's a maze in mine and one would be too careful if one wouldn't like to be trapped inside for all eternity - after all you're the one who taught me those safeguards, remember?”

Prodea noticed his eyes shining brighter than before. This disturbed her as she felt his head being pressed on by an invisible pressure that is crushing her head.

She concentrated her energy on her eyes that it created a bright red luminescence and that made her eyes sparkle like a red ruby. She saw at an instant a gas in a form of a hand, ghostly in figure coming from Bakunawa's swinging left sleeve, pressing firmly on her head. This startled her and made her instantly conjure a blast around her body, jumping a few feet back at a safe distance - heavily frightened as she is. This made Bakunawa's ghostly arm to disperse in the air for a few seconds, but it immediately reconstructed afterwards and that made Bakunawa chuckle in delight.

”Ah, yes! The All-Seing-Eye. I didn't know that you have learned that. Kudos for attaining level one, but that won't help your predicament here.”

She didn't know that Bakunawa can recreate his arm in a ghost-like state and this really surprised her.

”Oh! I forgot to tell you that I have my Ethereal Arm with me always. You never know when you might need a helping hand. After all, having one arm is rather difficult.”

She saw Bakunawa's Ethereal Arm glowing with circle runes enveloping every finger. She was forced to step away for a couple of paces as he saw him channeling all earthly energies into the palm of his ghostly hand. She felt fear because the imminent summoning that Bakunawa is preparing cannot be quantified by experience alone. The surging energies made it very hard for her to breathe. This magic is nowhere near what she anticipated, and this astonishing act created a twisted sense of excitement on her part. On the other hand, she was feeling a big hole of regret for she never had known such a unique and handy skill in Bakunawa's tutelage - a skill she might have to undertake alone to learn which she thought to be inconvenient and troublesome.

Prodea now has to act fast before Bakunawa finishes his ritual. She maintained a stance and gave a loud stomp on the ground with her right foot. With a loud roaring echo below, weird runes came rushing to the ground as if the earth is writing on itself. Multiple sphere-shaped images and lines appeared before her making it look like she was standing in a middle of the circular work-of-art.

She knelt down, still wary of Bakunawa, and pressed her hands inside the two circles etched on the ground in front of her. The earth rumbled as another circle ten feet in diameter with different strange runic symbols appeared again before her only this time, it has a somewhat wall of fire inside. From that spot emerged a big roaring Fire dragon with scales shining bright like the sun and claws as dark as the night. The dragon flew upwards as if it sprouted like a tree from the earth leaving the ground where it is born scorching hot. The scaly fire dragon flew up above and circled all around to find its master. It is twenty feet long and four feet wide. The burning eyes of this dragon looks to Bakunawa while screeching to taunt him as it continuously exhale a jet of black smoke with traces of flying glowing embers leaving Bakunawa to assume that the dragon has an earthly form rather than her usual summoning of pure elemental fire.

She pressed her hands again on another circle on the ground at her sides. That act made another circle from the same spot to materialize, but this time, the hot scorched earth with a fire barricade around it now turned fast into a cold fountain with jets of water blasting to the skies like a wall. Another figure appeared rushing out of the earth in a form of dark blue water creature. It is a shape of a griffin displaying its majestic sharp wings flapping while shrieking up above her making it rain on her spot.

”A griffin and a dragon. My, my, I'm very impressed. With you lacking the ability to manipulate the Earth, I'm surprised that you got creative and used your summoning skills to fill those gaps.”

”I learned from the best but now I think I might be better.”

”Hahaha, you think that you can surpass me?!”he replied shouting. ”Do you honestly think you could defeat me with your brand-new little toys?! Do you honestly think that because you have summoned an elemental puppet that you can manipulate, you can easily defeat your master?! DO NOT FORGET THAT I AM THE MOST POWERFUL SUMMONER HERE IN THE HOLY LANDS!”

His voice created a loud resonance that created a huge wave from the sea. All of a sudden, a large Sea Dragon emerged roaring a high-pitched sound that veiled the bright sunny day. Its suffocating magic stole away the the brightness of the sky as it jumped and ate the sun away, revealing the moon to appear shining brightly in its murderous color of dark red as if it's tainted with blood. The blood moon has risen, and with it, the frightening Nanreben!

The dragon looks like a snake, but it has at least four layers of countless fangs that are long and razor sharp. It stretched for incalculably countless of feet high - possibly a thousand or more. It stretched so tall that one might ignore scaling the beast and start screaming at the sight of it. It is blue in color, but it reflects a greenish glow that makes it bluish green. It has two small arms that have three claws in each which landed at the shores that swiftly paced to slither coming closer to its master. The huge dragon encircled the whole field with its serpent-like green eyes glowing bright, anticipating Prodea's movements, echoing an unbearable wave of torturous hisses.

This wonderful display of power made by Bakunawa brought a cold shiver within Prodea. She didn't anticipate that he would summon his favorite dragon, and this complicated things, especially her plans. The chill Prodea was feeling had an accompanied delight and amazement for no one had ever laid eyes on the magnificent Nanreben of Bakunawa for nearly a thousand years.

Bakunawa is truly the most powerful Master Summoner there is, she thought, for he is the only one that can summon real beasts with real elemental powers that can think and act on its own for the benefit of its master. He is so powerful that he can communicate with the beast through mental telepathy. It seems as though that a bond was created within them the moment, he finished his ritual for summoning.

”I will kill you where you stand you pathetic fool!” laughed Bakunawa which snapped her from her thoughts of compliment and awe. Bakunawa continued, ”It is my duty to protect Bathala's Holy Lands! I have already seen your evil deeds and you will never be able to complete it. You can never cross the sea ever again. Not while I'm around! And believe me, I WILL be around for a countless thousand years more!”

The roaring Nanreben overwhelmed Prodea so much that her eyes followed the dragon's eye. She was having a battle in her mind trying hard not to let her growing fear be exposed to her enemy, so she maintained a strong and composed composure as she moved her summoned elemental beasts to her side.

”I never intend to ask if you would approve, you cretin, and I also wouldn't want to cross the sea either. As of now, preparations are being made and you can't do anything about it.”