The Songs of Strife

3 TRESPASSERS

A lone ship, its sails tied to its mast, rose up and down with the ebb and flow of the blue waves under the noon sun. While half a league away, seven balangays pierced and cleaved the same waters, avoiding the rocky outcrops of Opon Matan's pristine shallows and closing in on their target in cruising speed.

The seven war boats' arrow formation split apart. Three balangays approached from the right while the others moved to mirror their counterpart on the left, flanking the lone ship like a pack of hungry witch dogs. Salip Pulaco's boat on the other hand, kept its course and went straight towards the target. The datu himself, sat at the center of the deck with his kampilan sword nestled on his lap and his kalasag on his shoulder. While his companions, Mingming and Lam stood on his side, one armed with a spear the other with an oversized sword.

Mingming pounded the deck with the dull end of his spear. "Brother, I think they see us!" He turned to Pulaco.

"Good, let them know we're coming for them," replied the chieftain. He eyed their visitors warily. He could see movement on the ship's deck as one of the crew tried to lower the sail and another one tried to raise the ship's anchor. It's futile, Pulaco thought. The wind was against them and even if they managed to deploy their sails the balangays could outrun them in the familiar waters around Opon Matan. The only choice was to fight or surrender.

"Prepare your shields!" Mingming ordered as Pulaco raised a fist.

All kalasags rose up in unison, all painted with Pulaco's standard; a red bird of prey frozen in mid-flight. They were held together with as little space between them, making the mass of shield look like a bakunawa's interlocking scale. But not a minute passed when arrows began to fall towards the balangays like rain. Some of Pulaco's men shouted in pain as a couple of them went down, struck by the initial volley. But the rest stood with their kalasag raised high, deflecting the sharp projectiles with ease. And slowly, the balangays narrowed the gap between them and the ship.

All the while, the shield wall stood strong giving enough time for one of the warrior serf's hook to gain purchase on the ship's wide deck. The taut rope tied to the hook tensed as the warriors on the balangays began to pull, inching their way to the ship's side. The others had similar success, roping their balangays to the ship. And so, they boarded the junk ship, screaming their war cries at the archers who killed their fellow warriors.

Mingming was one of the few who boarded the ship first. He raised his kalasag, catching a couple of arrow bolts with it. "I thought I was going to be late," he said, making his Daragangan warriors nervously laughed. He then stood at the middle of the line, side by side with his dauntless men as they pushed the Chi'ns towards the other end of the ship with their lacquered shields.

Salip Pulaco and Lam joined them a moment later, directing the lagging timawas from their balangays to spread and occupy the deck. But a contingent of their foes stayed firm, resisting their advance. They were ready to defend their vessel, threatening the warrior serfs with a variety crescent shape blades. A majority of them, were hardy scarred men, conscripted to fight for their master's wares while the rest looked like they were underfeed peasants, plucked by force and made to do the menial chores on the junk.

As they stared each other down, one of the narrow-eyed crewman panicked and drew his blade at Mingming. But it was a mistake he would not do again. As he drew close to the line of Daragangans, they reacted with speed and mastery, sending him bouncing off their shield wall. As he fell, he was quickly dealt with, igniting the battle between the two factions. As their clash began, blood flowed, bones broke and flesh tore apart. Dreams were hastily dashed as blades bowed men equally.