Dedicated to Bismarck Ship

Chapter 32: Underwater

When I was outside the old ruin, with the eyes of my fellow Attero, I knew right at that moment that it was just the beginning of this endless battle. Sa sandaling natututo akong pumili ng direksyong nais ko, alam ko sa sarili kong dapat ay handa na akong lumaban.

There's no room for backing down. Dahil ito ang landas na pinili ko, ang lumaban at hindi sumunod sa idinidikta ng lahat para sa akin.

I didn't even picture myself being locked inside a room, full of magical doors, and huge waves as if we were in the middle of a wild ocean.

Panay ang hampas ang malalaking alon na tila may sarili itong buhay. Walang tigil sa panlalaban ang katawan ko, hindi lang sa mga alon kundi ngayo'y pati na rin sa presensiyang pilit akong hinihila sa ilalim ng tubig.

"What the hell?!"

Malakas na sigaw ni Caleb ang umalingawngaw sa loob ng silid na ngayon ay anumang oras ay mapupuno na ng tubig.

He tried to struggle against Howl, but Howl was too persistent to use Caleb's body to survive. And it wasn't a good sight.

Kahit si Tavion ay nakangiwi at mabibigat ang paghinga'y hindi rin nagugustuhan ang nakikitang sitwasyon sa pagitan nina Howl at Caleb. Nakahawak ang isang kamay ni Tavion sa hamba ng pintuan na tila nakasabit ang katawan habang ang isang kamay ay nakalahad at nakaabang kina Caleb na nagsisimula na rin mahirapan dahil sa lakas ng alon at kay Howl.

Hindi ako makapaniwala na ang tinitingalang si Howl Paladein De Voss ay ganito ang kahinaan.

"Faster, idiots!" sigaw ni Tavion.

Pilit itinutulak ni Caleb si Howl na halos sakalin na siya para alalayan siya. "I have to save, Anna!"

"Damn it! Callista can swim! I can't swim! Bring me to that damn door! This mission will fail without me!" hirap na hirap na sagot ni Howl.

"Faster!" sigaw muli ni Tavion.

Nais na rin niyang tumalon para tulungan sina Howl at Caleb na kapwa na nahihirapan nang pigilan siya ni Iris. Sumang-ayon ako sa desisyong iyon ni Iris, higit na magandang naroon na sila at hintayin na lang kami.

Matapos niyang pigilan si Tavion at sabihin ditong higit na mabuting desisyon na magtiwala na lamang kay Caleb, sa akin na tumuon ang atensyon ni Iris.

And I knew that she'd already realized my situation.

Hindi ko na rin magawang tingnan pa sina Caleb at Howl dahil hindi ko na rin magalaw nang maayos ang katawan ko. Lalo na't higit pang lumalakas ang alon ng tubig. Pilit kong inaangat ang ulo ko sa tubig sa kabila ng puwersang humihila sa akin pababa.

I only had a minimal amount of mana. Isa na rin dahilan ang kakayahang mayroon ang tubig na yumayakap sa akin sa mga oras na ito.

"Anna!" sigaw ni Caleb.

Pilit niyang gustong lumingon sa akin pero hindi na niya magawa iyon.

"I am fine! Help Howl first!" sigaw ko pabalik.

Alam kong labag man sa loob ni Caleb ibinigay na niya ang buong atensyon niya kay Howl na nanghihina na rin at parang nakainom na nang maraming tubig.

And Howl was partly right about his declaration. Hindi namin siya maaaring pabayaan dahil malaki ang ambag niya sa misyong ito. I don't think our escape would be possible without his help, now that the whole Fevia Attero is just waiting for us outside.

Nang sandaling abot kamay na ni Tavion si Howl ay agad na niya itong hinila, he didn't even glance at Howl when he was pulled by Tavion. Agad inalalayan ni Iris si Howl na napaluhod at ilang beses dinalahik ng ubo. Ang atensyon naman ngayon ni Tavion ay na kay Caleb na handa nang bumalik sa akin.

"Anna!"

But when he was about to swim and help me, with Howl's magic, both hands extended with its light, heavily heaving, he pulled Caleb out of the water and forcefully dragged him inside the door.

"What the actual fuck, De Voss!?"

Hirap pa rin at nanghihina sa paghinga si Howl habang itinuturo niya ng tubig na pinanggalingan ni Caleb. And there, numbers of water nymph almost got him.

"B-But Anna—" tatalon na sana si Caleb nang si Tavion naman ang pumigil sa kanya.

"I don't think you can help her. Let's trust her. She's an Attero."

"She is an Earth mage!" sigaw ni Caleb.

Bago pa muling pumiglas si Caleb ay muling nagliwanag ang kamay ni Howl. Wala siyang ibang paraan kundi patulugin si Caleb gamit ang kanyang mahika. Tavion caught him habang sina Howl at Iris ay kapwa na nakatanaw sa akin.

That's the best decision. If someone's going to fight against water nymphs from Fevia Attero, it should be another Attero. At mas malaki ang posibilidad na makaligtas ako mula sa kanila kung wala na si Howl sa tubig at handa nang tumulong sa akin.

"Iris, Tavion, mauna na kayo. You can carry, Caleb. I'll help, Anna," ani ni Howl. Nasa baywang na ang isa niyang kamay nang hawiin niya pataas iyong buhok niya.

"You know that Caleb will kill us if he wakes up without Anna," sagot ni Iris.

"We will follow you," dagdag ni Howl.

Hindi na nagsalita pa si Iris bago niya ako muling sulyapan. Inalalayan niya na si Tavion na inilalagay na si Caleb sa kanyang likuran.

With the little amount of my mana, I tried to make an attack under the water. Dahil sa ginagawa kong iyon ay saglit na nawawala ang mga presensiyang humihila sa akin paibaba.

Dahil wala na rin sa tubig si Howl, nagawa na niyang gumamit ng sarili niyang kapangyarihan na walang limitasyon. Hinintay lamang ni Howl na tuluyan nang mawala ang anino nina Tavion, Iris, at Caleb nang biglang magbago ang presensiya niya.

And his eyes transformed to that familiar form that I thought I'd just see in history books of Fevia Attero— dragon eyes. The scales on the sides of his eyes slowly crawled, and his sharp fangs started to appear until, in a blink of an eye, the elegant Howl Paladein De Voss showed his unknown form.

Howl Paladein De Voss' mythical dragon form. Half of his body was inside the magical door while the other half was floating on the little amount of space from the water to the ceiling that any moment was about to touch.

Ilang beses na akong nakakita ng imahe ng dragon sa mga aklat na nababasa ko, ngunit hindi ko akalain na higit pa rin akong hahanga sa sandaling makita ito ng aking sariling mga mata ng harapan.

I've seen different magical things in this world, but nothing is as majestic and fascinating as the legendary dragon's form. It's not just his intimidating thorn-like horns, the long glistening string attached to his nose, the dark gray fur lining from his head passing through the upper side of his body, and those huge claw hands.

Akala ko'y sa ganitong sitwasyon ay higit akong matatakot dahil sa presensiyang nararamdaman ko mula sa isang dragon. Howl's presence is too overwhelming to an Attero, na mas gugustuhin mo na lang tumakbo at tulungan ang sarili mo mula sa kapangyarihan niyang tila tutunaw sa 'yo. But he knew how to control his power and not to hurt his ally.

Kung nasa ibang sitwasyon lang ako at walang ideya na nasa panig ko si Howl ay mangangatal na ako sa takot.

"Now!" usal niya sa isipan ko.

Since Howl and I had the connection because of being Earth Mages, hindi naging mahirap sa kanyang pasukin ang isipan ko.

Kung kanina'y pilit kong inaangat ang ulo ko sa tubig upang kumuha ng hangin ngayon ay buong puwersa akong tumubog doon kasabay nang marahas na pagsukbo ni Howl— in a complete silver dragon form.

It was like we were born to fight together. Dahil sa sandaling hinayaan ko ang sariling kong tuluyang yakapin ng tubig, ang makapangyarihang dragon ng kasaysayan ay kusang nagpakita sa ilalim ko. Humawak ang mga kamay ko sa likuran niya at sumakay ako roon.

According to one of the history books of Fevia Attero, the legendary dragons have different forms, at ngayon ang siyang ipinakikita sa akin ni Howl ay isa pa lamang doon. He has no wings right now. He's a snake-like with short hands and sharp claws. His scales were light gray color but he has fur with a dark gray color.

Kasalukuyan na kaming napapalibutan ng mga maliliit na diwata ng tubig. They are known friendly in this world, but we couldn't just expect friendly creatures inside this ruin. Lalo na't may bagay itong pinag-iingatan na ngayon ay pilit naming inaalam.

Suddenly a small bubble formed around my head. Napahinga ako nang malalim nang makalanghap ako ng hangin.

"Everything's fine?"

"I didn't expect that we'd be fighting together like this."

"An accomplice is sometimes good."

Dahil naroon na sa tubig si Howl, hindi ko na rin ramdam ang patuloy na pagdaloy ng bagong tubig mula sa pintuan. It stopped or maybe Iris and Tavion did something to help us.

At first, the water nymphs looked all beautiful with their bluish long hair that covered half of their human bodies, they have round faces with similar downturned blue eyes, pointed sea ears like the back of a sea horse, and a fish tail at the lower part of their body. They're all small but not as small as my pixies.

"Where are they?"

"I don't know. I am starting to get suspicious of your pixies, Callista."

"Don't worry. We're in the same boat, Howl. I am always suspicious of my pixies."

Nanatili kaming nag-uusap sa aming mga isipan habang kapwa kami alerto at gumagala ang aming mga mata sa bawat kilos ng mga diwata sa tubig. They're still circling us, probably having their own mind conversation on how to kill us.

"How about you invite us to your water festival?"

Umalingawngaw ang boses ni Howl sa ilalim ng tubig kasabay nang pagliliwanag ng dalawang mahabang tila tali na nakadikit sa ibabaw ng kanyang ilong.

These silver-like strings that were attached to his upper nose served as a communicator under the water because the water nymphs suddenly stopped circling us, and understood Howl's dragon language.

Water nymphs are known not just us huge admirers of men's love, but just like pixies and other fairies, they love festivals. At base na rin ilang salitang binitawan ni Howl, tila nakukuha ko nang hindi niya nais kumitil ng nilalang mula sa lugar na ito.

His initial plan before was to find a mythical creature in this place, kill it and have its blood as a cure for his love, too ironic that he has to find a complicated creature as if he's not one of the most mythical creatures of Fevia Attero.

May parte sa akin na iniisip na siguro'y matagal nang alam ni Howl na wala nang lunas ang sakit ng babaeng mahal niya at pilit na lang siyang nagbulagbulagan sa kaalamang may magagawa pa siya.

He's here with us, not because he wants to help us but for another purpose. Who knows? He might betray us someday, but I know that he's my ally right now.

"Isn't it a good invitation?"

"Do not listen to him! He is Howl Paladein De Voss! He's a known liar of Fevia Attero!" malakas na sigaw ng tila lider ng mga diwata.

Muling nagliwanag ang tila mahaba at manipis na tali sa ibabaw ng ilong ni Howl, narinig naming lahat ang kanyang boses.

"I never heard of such rumor about myself. And it's actually an insult to my beautiful image as the most gentleman dragon wizard of this world."

Gusto ko sanang sumagot na isa na siyang kilalang kriminal ngayon ng Fevia Attero pero hinayaan ko munang paglaruan ni Howl ang mga uto-utong diwata ng kanyang mga salita.

I know this way. He's just trying to break their guard down. He's distracting them. It's better to have the first attack. Lalo na't wala kami sa teritoryo namin. We're still at the disadvantage. We're both Earth mage kahit na kapwa kami may higit na kapangyarihan.

"Seeing you in this old ruin, I never expected that the water nymphs here are more attractive than the nymphs outside this---" akala ko ay maririnig ko pa ang ilang kasinungalingan ni Howl na kabisado na niyang sabihin sa mga kababaihan nang bigla na lang akong mahigpit na napahawak sa balahibo niya.

The huge silver-gray dragon under the water quickly moved its body and made a surprise attack on the helpless water nymphs. I just found myself fascinated with my mouth gaping as I looked down while tightly hugging one of Howl's horns.

His long scaled body's now curled spiral as it moved slowly while squeezing those trapped water nymphs, screaming with pain. Howl growled under the water which made the whole place shake crazily.

"That's how Howl plays his tricks and words. The biggest traitor of Fevia Attero. . ."

Howl moved his head to purposely throw me away from his horn. My whole body drifted down from my head to toe, opposite to the nymphs still trapped with Howl's scaled body.

Dahil sa tubig ay dahan-dahan lang ang pagbaba ng katawan ko habang kapwa nakabaliktad ang mga mata ko at ng mga nakapiit ng diwata sa isa't isa.

My hands slowly extended as I allow it to ignite under the water. Unti-unti ko iyong itinapat sa unahan ko habang bumababa ang katawan ko at isa-isang tumatapat sa mga diwata.

"Finish it quickly, Callista."