Chapter 5

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It felt like I was in the middle of a safari with all these animals and beasts around. I knew I also had a mythical guardian but seeing an extinct one still felt unbelievable.
 
The vulture was still eyeing us despite Lily’s presence. Then, I remembered its nature: it rarely attacks healthy beings, but they could kill the sick, injured or maybe the weak.
 
“Two Spirit Masters and four amateur Divians,” a rough, deep voice said. “What should we do?”
 
A woman with long locks of jet-black hair appeared atop the trees, her dress fluttering like a black fire as the wind blew.
 
“One Spirit Master at a time,” another voice replied.
 
A man emerged from the forest and it was almost like looking at a hybrid of a human and a beast. His rugged face was covered in thick hair and it complemented his muscular body. But what intimidated me the most were his wild and raging eyes.
 
“Aren’t you Amos?” Gavin queried. He looked at the woman above. “Then you must be Bridgette.”
 
“Ah. The Sky and Land pair,” Master remarked.
 
They knew them? But why did they address them as Spirit Masters? From what I know, Spirit Masters reside in the heart of the Capital, along with the Divine General. Gavin might be one. However, Master was living here in the woods for a long time and she didn’t tell us anything about her status. 
 
“What do you want?” asked Master.

“Your head, Amazon Divian.”
 
Lexi and I exchanged looks upon hearing that moniker. The Amazon Divian was a hero in our village. According to rumors from the Capital, she was an uncontrollable Divian and warrior, exterminating Exorcists after Exorcists. She was promoted as a Spirit Master but nobody knew her face and her background. She was always wearing a black cloth over her face and nobody had seen her guardians because she every fight ended within a short period of time. She was known by many monikers and had been labeled as one of the strongest and fastest Spirit Masters but she suddenly disappeared seven years ago, without any trace or notice.
 
“Oh my god,” Lexi mumbled as she gawked at Master. “She’s . . . she’s the Amazon Divian.” 

“Sorry, lady, but her head is in my care,” Gavin said.
 
The tyrannosaurus rex bolted toward where the enemies were and smashed its head and body against the trees, destroying everything on its path.
 
“Es hyva fe vies diaz. Morien alav sativa chroina il piero mergus. Comvien han!”
 
I heard Master chanting an incantation and Lily was suddenly surrounded by a high concentration of spirit particles, blinding us with their illumination. The bright light vanished and when I looked at their direction, I let out a gasp as Master flew by herself.
 
She had Lily’s wings.
 
Her action made Gavin and the enemies recite the same incantation. All of them were enveloped by blinding lights and the next thing I knew, they had already transformed into some kind of hybrid with their respective guardians.
 
Gavin had the dinosaur’s eyes, sharp claws and tail, which looked odd yet terrifying. Bridgette looked similar to Master, but with the wings of a vulture instead. On the other hand, Amos’ body became bulkier, just like that of a gorilla. 
 
Their presence were dominating and that was when I realized how insignificant I was.
 
Bridgette suddenly landed beside Amos as she adjusted something on her ear.
 
“Yes, my lord,” she said while looking intently at Master and Gavin. “You’ve been spared for now, but your heads will be rolling on the ground the next time we see you.”
“Try us, Bridgette,” Master retaliated. “That is, if you’re strong enough to challenge us in a battle.”
 
Bridgette scoffed at her but didn’t say anything in return. They stepped back in the forest and disappeared into the trees’ shadows, leaving us bewildered.
 
“Cies kai,” Master and Gavin simultaneously chanted and they were released from their half-animal forms.

“Okay lang ba kayo?” asked Master and that was when I realized I had been holding my breath for a while.

“Kayo?” rinig kong tanong ni Gavin kina Ryleigh at Yano.

“Sir, who are they?” tanong ni Yano.
 
Master and Gavin exchanged suspicious looks.
 
“Let’s talk inside,” Master said. “Dismiss your guardians back in the spirit dimension.”
 
We chanted the incantation and the four guardians disintegrated into spirit particles. Naramdaman ko naman ang panghihina ng katawan ko matapos ang mga nangyari. For a second, I was tempted to jump back in the lake.
 
Pagpasok namin sa bahay ay dumiretso kami sa sala.
 
“Bridgette and Amos are Exorcists,” Master explained.
 
I knew it. Their presence screamed danger. Despite also using guardians, they kill those that are owned by Divians. Even though guardians are immortal, once they are killed in this dimension, it would take hundreds of years for them to regenerate their spiritual force in the spirit dimension.
 
“Dahil nakita na nila kayo ay paniguradong gagamitin nila kayo laban sa amin,” dagdag ni Master at nagkatinginan kaming apat. “You know what happened seven years ago, right?”
 
That moment, I felt like I was a kid again. Everything was still so vivid; my heart sank as memories flooded my mind. That was the same day my parents died.
 
Lexi’s hand squeezed mine and it made the heart-wrenching memories disappear.
 
“That havoc started because some Exorcists wanted to have the ancient seal,” Gavin said.

“Iyan din ang spider lady noon na nasa Capital,” sabay tingin ni Lexi sa akin. I remembered the lady and the huge spider hanging on the building the first time we stepped in the Capital.

“Spider lady?” singit ni Yano.

“Long story,” Lexi retorted. “Anyway, ano po ba ang ancient seal?”
 
Master and Gavin glanced at each other again, hesitant to say anything, but they knew they had to tell us about it after what happened earlier.
 
“It’s an old seal that can grant immortality.”
 
Gavin’s statement was followed by an almost suffocating silence. I thought I just heard it wrong but their expressions said otherwise. 
 
“I-immortality?” Ryleigh stammered. “Is that possible?”

“Yes,” answered Master. “But they failed to get it seven years ago. However, protecting the seal cost us dearly.” 
 
My parents left me eight years ago to stay in the Capital. Hindi nila sinabi kung bakit o kung para saan pero halos isang taon silang nawala, hanggang sa ibinalita na lang sa akin na namatay sila. Master glanced at my direction and I knew that she was talking about them.
 
“And now, it seems like they want to steal it again.”

“Pero bakit po kayo ang sinugod nila?” asked Lexi. “Nasa inyo ba ang ancient seal?”

“Wala,” Master replied. “The ancient seal is protected by the assigned Spirit Master, which changes every general assembly. Now, the Exorcists seem desperate. They plan to kill every single Spirit Master until they arrive at the right one.”

“Does that mean you’re a Spirit Master?” tanong ko naman.

“Not anymore,” she said, a pained expression came over her face. Hindi na ulit ako nagtanong dahil sa mukha niya ay alam kong tapos na ang usapan.
 
Napatingin naman ako kay Gavin dahil bigla siyang tumayo at sumunod din sina Ryleigh at Yano.
 
“I need to report this to the Divine General,” he said, looking at Master. “We’ll go ahead, Ariah. And about what I said earlier . . .”
 
Master’s expression hardened. “Yeah. Fine.”
 
Tumayo na rin kami para ihatid sila sa labas at huminto naman sila nang nakarating na kami sa may pintuan.
 
“Nice meeting you,” Yano bowed as he adjusted his glasses.

“See you soon,” Ryleigh added.
 
When they disappeared from our view, Master gestured at us to get back in the living room. Umupo ulit kami sa harapan niya at lalong naging seryoso ang mukha niya.
 
“Now that I’m a target, I really need to train you fast. I need both of you. My skills might not be enough to deal with a lot of them.”

“Yes, Master!” sabay naming sagot.

“Pero Master, hindi po namin akalaing ikaw pala ang Amazon Divian,” Lexi added, her eyes twinkling as she looked at her with admiration.

“Oh. That’s really an embarrassing moniker,” sabi niya. “Sina Leon at Kass ang nagbigay no’n . . . oh, sorry,” sabay tingin niya sa akin nang mabanggit niya ang pangalan ni Mama.

“O-okay lang po.”

​“Mabuti pa, lumabas na tayo,” pag-iba niya sa topic. “The Exorcists have already retreated. Let’s just hope they would not return anymore.”
 
The three of us went outside and Master started training us. Pero sa totoo lang, napa-paranoid pa rin ako at napapatingin sa gubat dahil baka bigla na lang may sumugod ulit. However, my focus shifted to Master when she changed our regimen. She was serious about training us the hard way that I wished I could just go back to being thrown in the lake.
 
It was a tiring day. I hope tomorrow would be a bit better.

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