Darkness filled everything, a complete void with nothing in sight. The shadows seems to span off into infinity until a voice emerged from nowhere, a familliar note that sang through the vacuum.
People of today treated his legacy as legends, but what they didn't know is that it was his downfall.
The words plucked a few chords in his memory and everything began to shine with clarity. Irong followed the direction of the voice where his eyes were bathed in light and he found himself alone with the datu in his hut, everything was the same as he remembered. It filled him with dread and remorse, it was a memory he tried to forget long ago.
"But wasn't his umalagad supposed to guide him?" Irong asked reluctantly, he tried to play along with the scene no matter how much he hated it. He could feel there was something he needed to remember.
"Yes but that is what separates the agimat from regular weapons. A sword would bite where you swing and an arrow would fly where you aim but an umalagad has a will of its own. Once it deems you unworthy or weak it would strike against you."
"You mean the aswangs were agimat wielders corrupted by their umalagads?" Irong felt a trap was patiently waiting for him to be triggered.
"To be specific, it was their ancestors who was corrupted but the curse was passed on to their kin. For the Kubots it was a bat while for the Wakwaks it was an eagle." The datu looked Irong straight in the eye looking for fear if ever there was any "Their ancestor desired power and sought it from those beasts but they were too weak and was corrupted."
Irong tried to stop himself from asking but everything continued to play with or without his permission "What was for the Tiktik? What beast corrupted them?"
"It was a dog who betrayed his master. But worry not lakan for every animal that usurped control of their masters has been cleansed from my balanggay."
Irong’s hair stood on one end but before he could fully digest what the datu has said he was greeted by another scene. Whereas before the datu was lecturing him is now glaring at him while holding out a blade and behind Irong was a bluff. Irong felt paralyzed with fear that he could not muster the will to even run away but he could feel something shivering beside him and only did he realize that his right arm was wrapped around a growling beast covered in coarse white fur stained with mud.
It was Bantay and he was alive just like the last time that he saw him but Irong’s sudden spark of joy was swiftly replaced by a painful thug on his heart by a sudden realization: this was the last day that he saw him. It began to drizzle, just like before, and the wind began to grow colder and it made the both of them shiver even more. Bantay bared his teeth at the man in front of him in a futile attempt to drivehim away but his fear was as plain as the mud on his coat.
“Lakan Irong, I beg of you, we need to do this. This is for your own good.” Datu Diwas’ voice felt empty, not even a hint of anger nor any emotion at all.
“No! I... I can’t!” Bantay began to bark madly trying to keep the datu at bay but Irong knows that this was nothing but futile.
“Yes you can, lakan. You must. This is for our people, for our land, for our future.”
“But he’s my friend-“
“He is your pet! Is the life of one dog worth the future of an entire generation? You are a lakan, Irong, and your duty is for the people... even if it means to make sacrifices.” For the first time, Irong felt a tinge of sadness in the datu’s voice.
