5.1 BONELESS DOG: In which the Black Dog utterly fails- An old friend visits him- Something of his gets stolen- And things go from bad to burning bridges

  In the middle of the forest, a few leagues from the town of Ulay, light rain fell incessantly on the nipa roof of the rickety hut where Tikum, Ukok and their acquaintances hid.

  The abandoned abode itself wasn't the nicest place to stay after what they've gone through for the past few days. After all, it was cramped and leaking all over, a few mice had made it their cozy home and some birds had already made use of the roof for their nests. Only a miracle from the devatas left the the whole thing intact and standing from the typhoons that ravaged the Great Archipelago all year long. But Tikum and company had no other choice, of course, there was the option of staying out in the open but after their serpentine encounter it was not ideal– for in some of the regions of Buglas it was a death sentence by itself.

  "Hey, hey... be careful with that." Tikum grimaced in pain as Jurah tightened the bandage on his waist.

  Jurah sighed. "Do not make it any more harder than it is, Tikum."

  "Easy for you to say..."

  "If you want this to heal up fast then please, heed my words."

  "Wait, where exactly did you learn to do all of these?" he asked the ati. "And are you sure this is all good?"

  "In your tribe... I'm what you call a mananambal, tasked to cure all ails and maladies." Jurah adjusted the cloth again, making Tikum wince. "But I don't really use herbs that much. I focused more on healing the spirit, so the word should be puyang."

  "A puyang? Hey, I've heard of that before." He rubbed his chin. "A couple of years back when I did business with an ati elder named Hurong up north, we faced a batibat spirit." He shook his head. "Gi-atay, it still is one of the scariest things I've come upon. Well, if you think about it, most things that you can't kill with a knife often are ghastlier. So, yeah, we were smuggling rare gems out of Buglas to a port in Zubu and this Hurong told his men to cut down the ancient forest around the mines. All was well, until the nightmare-fiend began killing some of his men while we were all asleep. You see the batibat dwell on the old trees like the enkantos and the moment it was displaced, it did what any creature who can hold a grudge would do." Tikum shook his head. "So, the next couple of days it did its fare share of killing. Men died, drained of their kalag, left like a dried up husk all while they slept. Only in their sleep. So, the miners stopped working after that. I mean, you can't work without any sleep for days, right? And when we were on our last straws, we decided to call a puyang. Wait, am I even saying the name right?"

  Jurah just nodded.

  Tikum continued, "It really cost us a lot of gold to convince her to help us. Well, we mostly convinced her clan leader to allow her. And a sack of rough gemstones finally did it." Tikum smiled. "They say, compared to other spirit-healers, puyangs are hard to come by in other lands except Buglas. They say, your lot are very rare because your art of summoning is close to impossible to study and do."

  "Yes, we are scarce." The ati nodded. "Only few are taught and only fewer learn the true ways of a puyang."

  "Sounds like a chore already."

  "Well, to be honest, it is. And I am somehow glad I no longer hold all the responsibilities of one. I used to be a puyang a long... long time ago in our village. But a great time has passed since then."

  "The past always seemed too uncomplicated compare to the present." Tikum gave an uncharacteristic smile as though a memory popped up to remind him of something. "How long ago was it?"

  She paused. "Too long ago that I think I am a bit rusty already. Now, I'm just a wanderer like you. A humble vagabond."

  Tikum smiled and nodded. "Was healing good business for you?" he said, testing the bind around his waist.

  The wound on his back from the macupo's bite was not as raw anymore, but the pain still lingered. It would take time to fully heal, he thought. The talisman he borrowed from the babaylan in Raguet healed and arrested the venom in time to lessen the damage it caused, but it could not undo it all. The ordeal with the vile serpent still unnerved him too... more so than his treacherous trek in Handuman and the fight with the flying menace, the minokawa. He prayed to the gods he'll never encounter such a thing again in his life. But with his luck?

  He shook his head. Any normal man would've gone insane from the experiences his been through in the past months but Tikum still had a mission. He still had to go home to Ananipay and bring his Ukok with him. And no one, not even Amburukay, can stop him.

  He sighed, the prospect of waiting here in the middle of nowhere and Amburukay catching them did not sit well on him. They still had to pass through the city-state of Buglas and then Sarijayha far north. Then, they'll have to cross the raging sea to Ananipay. Imagining the journey strained him, but he and Ukok had to move. It was the only way to save his daughter from his wife.

  He paused for a moment. He was thankful for Jurah and Milong for all their help but they were slowing them down. And it was clear that they were having a hard time themselves. Jurah still nursed a nasty purple bruise on her chin from the Toad King's mercenary awhile back. While Milong looked as though he was having a tough time sleeping these last couple of days. And who wouldn't have a bad time?

  Tikum sighed and thought of something else.

  "What do you mean by good business?" Jurah suddenly said.

  "You know, with people getting sick left and right and them paying you. Healing and a firm grip in the philosophy of enlightened self-interest is a reasonable combination."

  "Enlightened self-interest?"

  "Doing things for the gold. For the loot."

  "No. Healing is a sacred art for my clan and tribe." Jurah sighed as she stood to get herself a drink from the clay jar at the corner of the hut, black skin glistening in sweat. "Healing is its own reward."

  "What? Don't say, you actually like what you're doing. Do you really like it?" Tikum shook his head in mild dismay. He walked pass by the ati and went towards the crooked door. The gray skies outside bled rain and there was no sign that it would let up any time soon.

  "Oh, yes. I like the deed itself... not the rewards it would bring. Not all people do it for lesser things."

  "After all the effort?"

  "Good preparation is a reward in itself, Tikum. My grandma lived by it. And I guess, I as well."

  "Why is it folks like you don't smarten up? You know, if I was you I'd have a datu's bahandi healing people. I'll charge them nobles with so much loot I'll rival Uray Kang Dayang in wealth!"

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  "It is not everything."

  "Wealth gives you power. And power gets you what you want. Gods! Thinking about it, by a year's time I'll be able to own half of Buglas with your talent."

  "My patron god, the great taglugar, Talonon sang Lasang, does not allow mere wealth to corrupt his devout believers. We gather, we hunt and we live simple lives. Wealth only complicates things. Does your datu sleep sound when his coffers are full? Or does it keep him up all night worrying that some thief like you would steal it?"

  Tikum rolled his eyes, standing at the threshold of the nipa hut. "Well, he may not sleep all night, but he sure won't be hungry like us..."

  Jurah smiled at Tikum's comment. "And you?"

  "Huh, what about me?"

  "You told me you're a thief by profession but there's more to it. You're different."

  "How so?"

  "Well, it's not like I'll meet someone who just made his way back from the Dream realm all on his own again. I was mid-way through my preparations to fetch you when you came back here. What you did was not easy to do without magic. I've been around but I haven't yet met a man like you. "

  "Better you don't find more men like me. Better for Ukok that way."

  "Your daughter, Ukok... How do I put it?" Jurah paused to find the right words. "Ukok sees you as a good man... No. She sees you as a good father would be far more accurate. And the young ones rarely lie."

  Tikum laughed. "If you put it that way..." He paused, looking at the distance, way pass where shrub grew like a thick wall. "Well, she's special. Always has been."

  "Ukok's really smart for her age, learns really fast with as little to no instructions. Smiles like there was no tomorrow too."

  "And I'd do everything to keep her smiling that way." Tikum nodded. His voice turned to a whisper a breath later, "I'll even do the worst of things to keep it that way." If Jurah heard, she did not reply.

  Tikum stretched a bit and tested every step as he walked inside the hut, but agony came everytime he moved. He sighed. This was not good. Not with his former wife still out there. Ukok might be put in peril if he couldn't protect her. "By the way, what's taking Milong and the children so long?"

  "He said, they'll check his traps and see if he caught us some wild pigs or fowls," Jurah answered. "Don't worry about the children. They'll be here before noon. And you know, they've been cooped-up here for a while. They need something to do and little rain won't do them no harm. I made sure they had their grass coats on."

  Tikum didn't like the idea of him and Ukok being separated even just for a while. But they already left with the uripon, Milong, before he woke up this morning. Jurah assured him for the thousandth time that she made the proper precautions to safeguard the children but how can she be so sure? Tikum was itching to go out and find his daughter. But the ati took her time in binding his injuries. Now, that it was finished he felt a bit foolish. Even if he wanted to look for her daughter... blinding pain all over his body kept him from exerting too much effort. He'd collapsed from the agony itself if he went out in the forest right now. Tikum had no other choice but to trust the ati's word. He just hoped it was the right decision. He turned to Jurah. "What do you think of him?"

  Jurah gave him a confused look. "What do you mean? Milong's a decent man. I think he's very protective of his daughter. Just like someone I know, why?"

  "Nothing. How about her daughter, then? Did you notice something peculiar about her?"

  "She's having a hard time moving around. I think Mendang has a weak heart. And his father is spoiling her like a princess, giving in to her wants. Milong needs to say no to her sometimes."

  Tikum snorted at her comment. "Or maybe she's just not ready for traveling the roads of Buglas. She looks too fragile for her age too."

  The ati nodded. "But she does her best. She knows all of the chanter's songs, even chanted some of them while you were still in a deep cataleptic state. I think she'll be an excellent chanter when she grows up. I often wondered why your people value that art of singing and chanting... Now, I know that it is a beautiful talent. Why do you ask all of this?"

  "Huh, I just notice something about her I didn't give much attention to when we first met."

  Tikum shook his head. Something was bugging him, something about Milong and her daughter, Mendang. He didn't noticed it before but now it was becoming obvious to him. But he needed more information about them to make sense of things. He let the idea go, pressing questions needed to be answered. "You said you placed a spirit glamour around us? Won't the rain erase the wards that anchor the abog to our realm?"

  He wondered how strong she was to cover such a wide area with a spirit ward. Where did she get such power? Was it because her blood was that of a pure buruhisan? He himself could only make an asog ward on a very small area close to him. And it would be such an effort to do for someone coming from a muddled lineage. A mere mortal. With magic weakening each passing day, only the adepts could really make due. Experts like Amburukay and their master, Sri Kihod would make easy work of any spell known to a manghihiwit. But he was not them. He took the time to think things through. The two warding techniques were in principle the same. But a puyang's ward was just durable, meaning it could keep things from you a little longer while an asog ward was flexible, which was more useful for another purpose, it could alarm or hide you in plain sight, especially if you knew what you're hiding from. It was what save him from Amburukay's scrying spells. But it had some side effects...

  Jurah rummaged through her pack. "If it doesn't lighten up maybe it will erase the link. But the abog sang lasang I negotiated with are more forthcoming. They'll stay longer. Don't worry, the spirits will endure and when they are finally ready they will inform me and we'll be moving out of here when the time comes."

  Tikum was silent for a span before he spoke, "When?"

  "Why are you so anxious to leave?"

  "We have nothing here...not even enough drinkable water to last the week. And the rain is too gray to drink. And since its raining, firewood is also scarce... what we have will only last us for three days. With the well outside almost dry... we'll die in thirst if we do endure the cold nights. And all during the monsoon!"

  "The weather is not for travelling yet. You don't want to be caught in the middle of a storm in your condition. Is it Ukok's mother? Is it Amburukay that's worrying you?"

  "Who told you that name?" Tikum said, seething anger clear in his words. His calm face shifted, with brows crossed and jaws clenched, the broad-shouldered man with a black putong head-wrap took an intimidating aura in an instant. He pressed on, "Ukok couldn't have told you that. Who, then?"

  Outside, lightning flashed like the mangled roots of the balete tree and soon after, thunder boomed loud and low. With it, the soft drizzle gave way to heavy pattering rain, mercilessly hammering the hut's roof.

  The storm was coming for them.

  "I'm merely guessing," the ati said, "I did ask Ukok who Amburukay was and your daughter seemed to have forgotten her. I tried to ask if she new her mother and she also said she couldn't remember. She could only recount the past few months as though her memories were taken away. Very odd-"

  "Stop," Tikum growled the word. "Never asked Ukok that again. You don't want me as your enemy, Jurah. You really don't. It's for my daughter's own sake that she shouldn't remember."

  The ati's stoic face twisted in confusion. "I did not mean to offend you. Again, it was just a guess. Things led me into thinking that your strong need to go home was because a wife was waiting for you. My guess was that it was Amburukay but now I'm not really sure. Am I right?

  "No. That's not exactly it. And-" Tikum paused and let go of a big sigh. "I really don't need to explain things to you."

  Jurah nodded. "Fear. It's fear then. When you were asleep, poisoned by the giant serpent's venom you mentioned her... Amburukay. You kept on repeating her name as though you longed for her. At first, I thought it was that but it's not. It's fear. Why? Who is she?"

  "You don't mix words, do you?" Tikum shook his head. "She's an enemy of mine. A very dangerous rival who's adept in the arts of blood magic. I've been trying to avoid her since I set foot on the island of Buglas."

  "An enemy then... and she's a manghihiwit too?" She paused as though lost in thought. "If I may confess... I quite don't like their kind, playing with demons will only get you to hell."

  "Sure. You can tell that to her and see if she'll agree with you. "

  "How do you mean to defeat her?"

  "I'm planning to talk her to death."

  "Did that work for you before?"

  Tikum smiled. It didn't. It only got him thrown off a cliff. More or less. "You ask too many question, Jurah. Some people don't like too much curiosity."

  Jurah took a cup full of water and offered it to Tikum. "I am merely stating what I can glean from your reactions. You could clear it up by simply telling me."

  Tikum took the cup, studying the ati healer. Subtlety was not one of Jurah's talent. He emptied the cup and wiped his mouth with his forearm. "I'm sorry. You helped me with the macupo's bite and I'm glad you did. I am indebted to you. But you can't just pry open my life."

  He sighed. Well, I won't let you, simply because you have no right, thought the Black Dog.

  The ati was about to say something but their conversation was cut short by a shrill cry outside the hut. Instinct took over, and Tikum quickly took hold of his axe, Hutik. Warily, he went out in the rain to investigate the unwholesome noise as it grew louder and louder by the second, coming closer towards their abode.