The journey south began at dawn.
Lukas and Kalem traveled by foot along mountain paths, down into the thick jungles of Mindoro where even the air felt ancient. Vines hung like the arms of sleeping spirits. Trees whispered secrets in a language Lukas didn't yet understand—but his agimat stirred with every step, as though recognizing this land.
They traveled for three days, resting only when Kalem insisted. Lukas didn't complain—he couldn't. Not when his dreams burned each night with the vision of the Bakunawa's seven glowing eyes. Not when he heard her voice hissing from within the trees.
"You carry his fire, boy. But fire can still be swallowed."
On the fourth day, they reached the edge of a hidden valley near the Mangyan territories—marked on Kalem's map as Bato ng Panaginip, the Stone of Dreams. According to the legends, one of the agimat stones had long slumbered beneath a waterfall guarded by a sleeping soul. Kalem believed a potential heir was already there—one the stone might have begun whispering to.
They didn't have to look long.
Near the foot of the waterfall, a girl stood barefoot on the riverbank, arms stretched outward, whispering to birds perched on her shoulders.
She couldn't have been more than sixteen.
Her dark hair was tied back with woven vines, and her eyes gleamed with sharp awareness. She turned to them before they could speak.
"You've come for me," she said, calm as still water.
Kalem stepped forward cautiously. "You've heard the voice?"
"Not a voice. A song," she replied. "It started when the eclipse came. Since then, I've dreamed of falling feathers and the world cracking open."
She raised her arm, revealing a glowing blue sigil along her forearm—an agimat mark shaped like a wind spiral.
Lukas blinked. "It chose you already."
She nodded. "The birds call me Mayari, but my real name is Amihan."
Lukas stepped closer. "I'm Lukas. This is Kalem. I have the Fire."
Amihan's eyes scanned him. "You feel... heavy. Like a burning tree that refuses to fall."
He laughed a little. "That's a first."
Her expression turned serious. "The land here is sick. I feel it in the wind. Something foul has begun nesting in the old caves—something with many mouths."
Kalem stiffened. "An Aswang den."
Amihan nodded. "It's growing bolder. If you hadn't come now... I think they would've come for me."
A howl split the forest.
It was close.
Too close.
Lukas turned toward the trees, and the flame within him ignited.
Shadows moved—then lunged.
Creatures twisted into human shapes but wearing skins too loose, with jaws too wide and limbs too long, burst from the brush. Aswang.
Lukas threw up a hand, a wall of flame roaring to life in front of them. The jungle sizzled with steam and heat. Amihan leapt upward, wind swirling around her like wings. She twisted midair, a gust knocking two of the creatures into the rocks.
Kalem drew a blade of golden bone from beneath his robe and met the third with a practiced slash.
Lukas's flames held back the rest.
But more kept coming.
Too many.
"Now would be a great time to awaken fully!" Lukas shouted at Amihan.
She gritted her teeth, wind screaming louder, the blue mark on her arm glowing brighter.
"I'm trying!"
A scream cut the air—and Amihan's body lit up.
A blast of wind exploded outward, slamming the Aswang into trees, rocks, each other. Leaves shredded into confetti. Silence followed.
Amihan hovered briefly above the ground, hair and robes fluttering in wind that no longer came from the sky—but from her.
Then she dropped, landing in a crouch.
Kalem helped her stand.
"You did it," Lukas said, panting.
"No," Amihan corrected. "We did."
---
In the distance, beyond the valley, a shadow twisted through the forest.
It had seen the wind awaken.
And now it would send something worse.