A woman stood before me, her scarred face carved by years of survival. Muscle and discipline shaped her body; callouses marked her palms like quiet warnings.
She was already in her mid-twenties—faint wrinkles visible, yet irrelevant. Age had done nothing to dull her purpose, nor her ability to fight back.
And that was when I found myself admiring her.
She was a threat to my existence.
My enemy.
The one whose sole purpose was to kill me.
And yet here I was, carefully proving to her why sparing me would not be a regret.
…Was this what they called Stockholm syndrome?
Nope.
If it were, I'd already be barking at her feet, doing whatever she told me.
> "Staring at me with that hideous face won't make me change my mind," she snapped. "Get up, slacker—before I remove that head of yours."
Damn.
Hindi ko namalayan na kanina pa pala akong nakatitig sa kaniya. And yes, you heard it right—ganyan siya kalala simula pa ng paglalakbay namin.
But right now, ang importante ay makaalis kami nang buhay sa teritoryong ito.
Yes! You heard that correctly. We were both running—este, hiding—from a dangerous creature.
Bakit? Anong akala niyo—kaya naming labanan ang isang artificially mutated werewolf with poisonous fangs na kayang kang dakmain in a second?
Heck, no.
Kahit sabihin nating magaling kang lumaban, talo ka pa rin ng isang iyon. Duh.
This isn't a fantasy world where bravery magically saves you.
Given the circumstances, the only goal here is to survive.
Not to impress her.
So for now, we were equal.
Unless, of course, I died early.
Which—I decided—was not happening.
Tatayo na sana ako upang magsalita ng bigla niya akong hilahin pababa at sabay takip ng may lagitik ang aking labi.
Ouch! Hindi naman masakit.
"Sshh"
Napakunot ako ng noo ng bigla ko ding napakinggan ang tinutukoy niya.
The sound came first.
Not a howl—
that would've been merciful.
It was the wet drag of claws against stone, slow and deliberate, as if whatever it was enjoyed being heard.
Syempre pinagmasdan ko din ang reaction niya and to my surprise nagbigay siya ng warning as if nasa likod lang namin siya.
So pinigilan ko muna saglit ang aking paghinga at dahang-dahang bumaling sa likod ko na kasalukuyan kaming tinatakpan ng puno na tila hindi din naman kapanipaniwala ang natural na laki.
That's when I saw it.
Too tall to be natural.
Too thin in places it shouldn't be.
Its spine bent at an angle that made my teeth ache just looking at it.
It resembled a werewolf only in the way a corpse resembles a human.
Its fur clung to its body in uneven patches, stretched over muscle that twitched unnaturally beneath the skin. Its limbs were elongated, joints bending the wrong way when it moved—as if it hadn't fully decided what shape it wanted to keep.
And then there were its fangs.
Not just sharp—
venomous.
Thick saliva dripped from its mouth, sizzling faintly when it hit the ground, eating through leaves and soil alike. Every breath it took sounded labored, wet, like its lungs were failing but refusing to give up.
Artificially failed nga lang siya.
You know why? It was blind and both ears are missing. So nagbabase siya sa smell.
Damn.
That was the worst part.
The metal embedded along its ribs gleamed dully beneath torn flesh. Wires pulsed in time with its heartbeat, feeding something into it—rage, maybe. Hunger. Control.
Someone made this.
Someone let it loose.
The creature sniffed the air.
And smiled.
I grabbed her arm before I could think better of it.
> "Don't move," I whispered.
Because if it saw us—
No.
Correction.
When it saw us.
It wouldn't chase.
It would play.
We froze. It was closer than we thought. And this… was just the beginning.
----
Both of us stayed frozen, eyes locked on the creature. Then, suddenly, my companion ran.
Reflex kicked in—I ran too, instantly setting off the creature's alarm.
All of us were running.
Then she shouted:
> "Do you want to die that badly? I run because I need to do something to fight this monster, and here you are—ruining my plan!"
Shit.
I wasn't stupid. I knew her plan.
But staying put and doing nothing? Not happening.
So I let her words slide and kept running, my mind racing over ways to survive—and maybe slip past this thing alive.
Think, Zanny, think.
Aha! I knew it.
> "Ah—"
I started to speak, but she shouted again, facing the creature head-on. Not content with that, she shoved me na gamuntik na akong mapasungasob.
Luh ang harsh naman! Do-or-die talaga ba ang gusto niya?
While they tangled aggressively, I grabbed an elixir from my bag and tossed it at the creature's path, masking our scent and tracks.
Then I shouted:
"Aim for the feet!"
You know why I didn't tell her to target the heart—or any other part of that thing?
Because I wanted to test whether my logical deduction from the invitation I'd received earlier would work.
Which, by the way, is why we ended up in
this mess.
I still remember waking up that morning and finding an invitation from Cardinal University. Honestly, I didn't think I deserved it.
First, only the skilled got in.
Second, the influence there was massive.
Third, it was far from home.
And finally, I couldn't think of any reason they'd want me.
Then she barged in, bloodied, swinging her spada. To cut it short, I'm still alive because she saw some worth in me.
Our blood accidentally combined, dropped onto the invitation, and that… welcomed us in. So technically, she's keeping me alive because now we're connected.
Back in the present, I let her aim for the feet—not the heart—because after everything we'd survived together, I wasn't bowing to her.
Maybe that's exactly why Cardinal chose us: to see what we could do and if we failed try again-kung buhay pa kami ng mga time na yun.
------
"Shit!"
For the first time, she missed the werewolf's ankle.
It was hard to defeat the creature even though we were already covered by the mist of the elixir for half an hour. It just wouldn't give up.
As if it had been built to be indestructible - even when parts of it were already destroyed. A reminder that we should never underestimate its capabilities.
I immediately rummaged through the bag I had been carrying. It was full of randomized accessories. While she was busy entertaining - I mean - fighting the monster through the mist.
Elixir? Nope.
Water? Ha. Funny.
Empty vial? What for?
Nothing useful. Nothing that could actually save her.
Then my watch beeped.
The elixir's effect was over.
At the same time, a loud groan echoed around us. I saw her panting heavily as the creature grew even angrier. She managed to wound it - but not enough to send it to its grave.
With a furious snarl, the creature lunged at her, maw wide open, venom dripping thicker and faster.
Panic surged through me.
I grabbed a random vial and rushed toward them.
Geez. I refuse to witness the early death of a young lady.
As it lunged, I threw the vial straight into its mouth. It swallowed on instinct. I shoved her aside and we both hit the ground hard.
Her face landed first instead of her side.
"So-"
I was about to apologize when-
BOOM.
The explosion rang through the clearing.
A pungent, rotten stench filled the air.
And the worst part?
We were covered in its carcass.
And to be honest?
It was absolutely disgusting.
----
"So it wasn't just a random vial?"
I looked at the roasting werewolf carcass in disbelief.
"Nope," she said, still wiping blood off her arms with a damp cloth. "It wasn't a vial. It was a nano-capsule-disguised as one."
"...A nano-what?" I asked, trying not to choke on the smell.
She raised an eyebrow.
"It's a tiny capsule. Swallowed it, it reacted with the creature's venom... heated it up, blew it apart. That's all you need to know."
I stared at the mess around us.
"...So... it exploded?"
"Yes."
Silence.
I poked the carcass with a stick. "Good to know I almost fed a monster an antacid from hell."
"Stop talking," she muttered.
"Right."
Another silence fell between us.
Ugh.
I hate silence.
"So... why were you so adamant about getting my invitation?" I asked, trying to break it. "To the point of almost killing me?"
She finally looked at me. One brow raised.
"You really don't know?"
I didn't reply.
Because how do you explain that you're still alive only because someone wanted a piece of paper?
She exhaled. "That invitation... it's a blessing from Dolus."
The name hit me harder than the smell of burnt werewolf.
"And everyone," she added quietly, "wants to be chosen by a god of deception."
-----
"wait a minute I still don't get it. If it's a blessing why does it only react when we combined our blood? Besides it is still weird to think na halos saksakin mo ako ng mga oras na yun na hawak ko yung invitation noong mga panahong nagbarge in ka sa kwarto ko puno ng dugo"
She coughs.
"First," she said, "I won't apologize. That would make me a hypocrite—I won't change my goal. Second, I didn't know you'd willingly give up the invitation. Third, I have no clue why our blood had to mix, when the instructions clearly said 'to the chosen one.' And lastly…"
Her smirk turned almost mocking.
"Why do you suddenly sound like you're giving up? I thought you were going to prove to me you wouldn't regret me trying to kill you the moment the invitation welcomed us."
Well she have a point. Why does I suddenly sounds like whiney?
I shook my head, inhaling the pungent air. "Okay... fine. You got me. But next time? Less stabbing. More talking."
She laughed. A short, sharp laugh."I'll consider it."
And somehow, that made the burning stench of the werewolf carcass slightly bearable… though bigla akong nagutom. And apparently, ganon din siya.
We looked at each other.
Because what do living organisms do when they're hungry?
They eat.