The Tales of Tikum Kadlum

1 SNAKE ROADS SLITHERING

3.1 LONE DOG AND THE PUP: In which Tikum sees bad omens along the snaking roads of Buglas but ignores them- A warm campfire is shared - And a fight with a fiend arise

In the forest floor, not far from a ruined temple, a predator observed its prey with outmost patience.

The hungry civet cat had been wandering the area near the ruins for a meal for quiet a time when fortune finally smiled. Like most of predator, it began its hunt before the sun started to climb the horizon, and now it was biding its time, well-hidden in a cover of thick cogon grass, waiting for the moment to strike as the sun dove back from whence it came. Its prey, a horned beetle of considerable size, was climbing a leafless branch just above it, pausing every minute or so to clean the sticky sap on its legs, all while the civet cat licked its lips and extended its claws below. It had been days since the civet cat had a worthy meal and this one was actually good eating. Intentional or not, the beetle also seemed to tease the civet cat as it dangled itself on the edge of the branch.

As the winds changed, the clumsy prey noticed the lurking observer and was about to take flight when the predator took its chance. The civet cat lunged in a blur of fur and fangs, snatching the insect off its perch. The beetle struggled, but it was no match for the agile and very hungry civet cat. Using its claws, it pinned it in place, thwarting its feeble escape. Then the predator claimed its victory, munching on the insect heartily. With its hunger abated, the civet cat climbed atop an old carven figure made and abandoned by the very humans who inhabited this area of the deep jungle. The predator sniffed the air, and from it realized that the fine weather would continue, good enough for a few a hours of finding more food. But its search was cut short as a sonorous song of warning filled the cold air.

Alerted by its instincts, the civet cat began to make its escape. It knew of more dangerous predators on the area, and it would not take a chance. After darting between huge blocks of cut stone and debris, it found a dark hole in one of the ruined walls of the forsaken temple. Seeing it as its sanctuary, the civet cat crawled inside, swimming in the shadows to reach the innermost heart of the sanctum. It felt warm inside the hole with all the dried up cogon. Though it was a bit cramped in the entrance with all the dried up bones scattered all over.

Slowly, the civet cat's vigilance waned as it explored the cavern that unfolded before it, sniffing for any familiar scent along the way. The hole was musky and the air was dry inside, but it seemed safer there than out in the open. But unbeknownst to the poor creature, a more formidable fiend was waiting at the heart of darkness. It had been there since the people who built the temple laid the first stones. It was the reason why they left the place to rot.

And now, it was ready to hunt again.

The abomination from the shadows made itself known as it slithered behind the cowering civet cat, lurching above the puny creature in an almost hypnotic sway. The civet cat bared its sharp teeth against the fiend, but it did not know where to strike in the darkness. Sensing its fear, the scaled-monster sang a most sibilant song, ghostly and unnerving- paralyzing its victim in place. The last thing the civet cat saw before its demise were great slitted eyes, hanging in the darkness like yellow ghostly orbs. It was followed by the flash of venom-laden fangs sinking on soft fur.

***

On the year of the Timid Tamaraw, on the month of the Tilted Tarsier and on the day of the Tongueless Toad, Ukok and Tikum's journey on the road home began. But the path was fraught with peril and they would soon find out that the manghihiwit stalking their steps was only one of the many things to worry about in Buglas.