The Tales of Tikum Kadlum

4 DEALS WITH DEVILS

5.4 DOGGY DOG DARKNESS

It was dark when the rain abated and the birds started falling down from the skies. Next, the frogs started plopping dead and along with it were all manner of vermin and pests began to expire.

Tikum was fetching himself water in the almost dried up well behind their hut when he noticed it. But before he saw them die, he felt it under his skin. A malicious feeling of heavy dread and a cold fear like that of a welcoming coffin, making his gooseflesh rise. He already encountered the sensation before. The same exact dread and fear a long time ago when his master, Sri Kihod, did something no man should ever do. The thought of the Bone Gates chilled Tikum's blood, taking the warmth out his gut faster than the night breeze. An unwelcomed memory visited him. It was one of those best forgotten. It seemed as though it was just yesterday. He still remembered how he betrayed his master. He still remembered every detail of how it all unfolded. He still remembered the surprise and hate on their eyes. Tikum sighed. He did it for the right reason. It was worth the price. And he no longer needed to convince himself. Ukok was the proof.

It was a long... long time ago, when the past was not yet a shadow who stalked him day and night. It was after he married Ambu, his master's promising apprentice, and right after she gave birth to their daughter.

Tikum was a spy for Sri Kihod back then and a proud one at that. But it wasn't an easy path for the Black Dog. He had to earn every lesson on the job. And he made mistakes that almost caused him his life. But being a spy was not as bad compared to when he was just only a lowly thief, relieving barter traders of their precious belongings. It was a far harder and more dangerous life for a young man like him. He had to use his wit just to stay alive or risk starving to death. As time went by, the lowly thief was promoted to be one of the many eyes of the infamous sorcerer-king. And it marked a great change for him. Tikum became responsible for watching over the nobles of the city-state of Madia-as after the second rebellion ended. He was there to be Sri Kihod's informant against the nobilities who coveted the Lord of Manghihiwit's promotion as Uray Kang Dayang's consort. Sri Kihod was to marry the Makaporos nga Datuk, the unified ruler of all the chieftains in Vijayas, in a years time. It would've placed the manghihiwit in a position of power and influence. But fate had other plans. Plans that involved the Black Dog.

Tikum's job was simple enough. He only had to warn Kihod if his enemies made their move. And occasionally, he was also someone to help eliminate Kihod's problems​. His master's infamy grew and the scheming courtiers began to fear his master's dark magic. And this left Tikum with nothing to do. As months passed by, the life of debauchery and vice in Madia-as, the greatest city in Vijayas, became boring and unbearable for a man like Tikum Kadlum. He missed Ambu and their daughter too much. So, one day he decided to come back home in the Island of Sorcerers, in Sri Kihod's domain without his master's knowledge. It was going to be a surprise, he thought. It was time for the Halad, the day of offering for the gods, a great event that only happened when the sun's light ringed the black moon's shadow. On that fateful day, Tikum Kadlum arrived, eager to find his family, but what greeted Tikum was not a warm hospitable welcome. Rather, shockingly, it was the preparations for a dark ritual, a sacrificial offering to the shadow-god, Saragnayan.

Ancient wards glowed eeriely around their abode, and inside it Amburukay held their child from Sri Kihod and from the yawning abyss that was the doors of the Dark realm on the floor. The numbing sound of bells tolling resounded in the background as an unearthly feeling melded with the atmosphere to suffocate the air. All warmth fled as though frightened by some unseen hungry predator. While reality itself was splitting away as the clawed and fanged things on the black crater before them tried to escape the bounds between their world and the Living realm.