The Heart of Naya

Chapter 047 - Aian

We are in the eastern area of Hiraya. Our weapons are gulok-a cutlass type of weapon—and a small knife. We also have bows this time. The only difference is, instead of gulok, Jade has her sword while Migo has his club—it's embarrassing to call it war hammer even if Migo insists that it is.

It's already dusk and I'm nervous about what type of monster will come out. Isagani said that it will come from the ocean so our focus is on it. I look at Cielo, she's pale with fright. Dakila did not approve of excluding her from the battle and just tasting the slain monster. Jade, on the other hand, is glancing at Rajah Sinagtala who is on his designated seat on top of the walls, together with the other Hirayans. For safety, as per Dakila says.

However, it's obvious that the Rajah is just controlling himself to not stop the challenge. Even if he doesn't want to, I am sure he knows that for us to become a full-fledged Hirayan, we need to complete this.

I walk closer to Jade. Last night, we weren't able to talk about any plans at all. Laki fetched me and Renz, Rosa takes Cielo away, and it's Bagwis who retrieves Jade and Migo.

"Are you able to conjure up any plan last night?" I ask her.

"No. Because I am not really sure what kind of monster, we will face. I have a couple of guesses, but we can never be sure," she answers.

I turn my attention to Migo. He's just recovered from that mental breakdown, and now this. I scratch my head in frustration. I hope we survive this.

Suddenly, the sound of a gong reverberated all around the area. I scour the beach but there doesn't seem to be any monster approaching us.

"Shit," Jade curses and I see the reason for it.

On the shore is a colossal crocodile who's come out from the ocean and is lying on the beach. I exclaim. I didn't know crocodiles lived on the ocean. Why?

In a few breathless moments, its attention goes to the sound of the gong and then to us. It crawls towards us and we back away. F*ck! Why is it getting bigger and bigger as it comes closer? It's bigger than any crocodiles I've seen before!

"Jade, if you have any plans, it's about time you tell us."

How are we going to run away from something like this? Crocodiles are not known to run from humans unless we do damage to it. And how the f*ck are we going to do it damage!

"Everyone, I think it's about time you start shooting your bows," Jade says. "Target its eyes."

I prepare my bow and arrow, but all the while, I am thinking that the plan is too shallow! That's all? Target the eyes? And if we don't hit it, what then?

Renz is the first to let his arrow fly. It hits the sandy beach beside the monster. Shit! Migo and Jade did the same, but they haven't practiced enough that theirs is further away than Renz. Then I hear Cielo whimper as she backs away.

I let my arrows fly and it hit right through the crocodile's left eye. I hear the audience cheering for me. I stretch out my bow again but prematurely; I let it go when the crocodile leaps towards us.

The five of us separate and I jump to the right, with Renz and Cielo. Renz hits it again, but it pierces its snout which it easily breaks. I sense Cielo falls on the ground in fright. But who would be? A few meters from us, the crocodile is already huge. Now that it's right in front of us, it is humongous! It's like the size of a jeepney!

With only its right eye working, it stands in its hind legs. What the actual f*ck! Now, it doesn't look like a crocodile, but rather an ostrich with the skin and teeth of a crocodile! My breathing stops. It's already hard to breathe when I am just watching Jade and Migo from safety. Now, that I am actually in a deathly challenge, it feels like my breathing will stop any time just because of fright alone.

"Aian, target its right eye!" Jade shouts at me.

As if being woken up from my slumber, I stretch out my bow. But now, its focus is on me. I can tell it's preparing to launch itself to me, when before its feet leave the ground, Jade uses her sword to pierce the back of the crocodile while Migo hits it with his club. I sense Renz passing over me while holding his gulok. He makes a mad cry and then rushes forward to help Jade and Migo.

"Stop..." I hear Cielo whispers behind me.

She's deathly scared which should be the natural reaction when in close proximity with an enormous monster. Those other three are the ones who are crazy.

I take steps back and say to Cielo, "Make your distance if you don't want it to target you."

Cielo crawls away, and I ready my bow again. Its right eye is the target. I let go of my bow and the arrow flies straight to the crocodile's eye. Suddenly, Migo screams and the crocodile thrashes around, making my arrow lose its supposed target.

I look at Migo, to see what the scream is about. "F*ck!" I exclaim. Migo's left arm is caught by the crocodile!

Swiftly, I put another arrow, and before I release it; I pray to all the gods–that I haven't prayed before–to answer my prayers and let it hit the crocodile's right eye.

I am about to celebrate when in my horror; the crocodile starts to drag Migo back to the ocean. Like me, Jade panics. She throws her sword on her side, unsheathes her knife and I watch her insert both her arms into the crocodile's mouth, including her f*cking head! That's millions ahead mad crazy!

Damn it, Jade! I run towards the three and prepare my gulok. But I am about to hit the crocodile when Jade releases the crocodile's mouth. There are exclaims at the audience and I notice what she has on her hand. It looks like a flap of tissue which I am not sure what is.

Abruptly, the crocodile lets go of Migo's arm and return to its habitat. It hasn't even swim very far when it thrashes around the water. It looks like a drowning human. In a few breathless moments, it stops moving and just floats in the ocean.

I stare at it dumbfounded. Did we just slay a crocodile in the shortest amount of time possible?