The San Isidro Mysteries 03: La Loba Blanca (complete)

Beside him, Andres Gonzales fired his rifle into the head of a fallen maligno, ensuring its death then turned to survey the carnage in the estacion. The bodies of the beasts lay unmoving, scattered round the railroad tracks, three of them were decapitated, while the others had had their heads riddled with bullets.

"This cannot be all of them, Capitán."

No sooner had the cabo spoken when the gates of the estasyon were ripped apart with a loud crash, followed by the terrifying baying of some twenty hideous half-beasts.

Andres realized they could easily be picked off out in the open.

"Get inside the estasyon and on to the roof," he shouted to his men.

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"Poon, the town is deserted and the streets reek of garbage, it will very difficult to pick up the scent of any mortal," one of his followers said as El Divino and his force gathered at the distrito central.

Around them, piles of trash littered the streets of San Isidro as Capitan Gonzales had instructed his men to do.

Whoever planned the attack on the estasyon and the desertion of the town's inhabitants had some military training, but it did not matter, these were but minor irritants, El Divino was sure the outcome would be the same. He had debated whether to spare the town-folk of San Isidro, but he decided then that no one would be left alive.

He reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out the piece of thin linen cloth, Lisa Enriquez' panuelo, that she had left behind in Castor Reinoso's house all those months ago. He brought it up to his nostrils and inhaled deeply, he felt desire mount in him as he breathed in her scent. He gave it to the sigbin beside him.

"Take in the young woman's fragrance and hunt for its trace amongst all this trash," he instructed his followers, "it will lead us to where she is hiding."

A clap of thunder echoed from the distance.

"And hurry," he added, "before the rain starts and washes away the scent."

The beasts did as their leader commanded and it did not take long before one of them picked up Lisa's scent. As they followed the trail, it was clear that it led to the Basilica and the abbey.

"Of course," El Divino thought, "where else would these mortals seek safety but in the sanctuary of their puny god?"

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Illuminado drove his pony as hard as the poor beast could go. He should have been at the abbey an hour ago, but Julio had asked him to retrieve an amulet he had hidden in his hut and he could not refuse his kumpadre. But as he was coming down the steps of Julio's kubo, he saw the outline of a hunched figure on the rise behind the hut -- it had to be one of the halimaws.

He quickly hid behind the bushes and waited for a few minutes, hoping he had not been noticed. Finally, gathering courage, he climbed up the rise and saw a large group of the monsters in the distance... heading toward the Basilica. Now, he could only hope he would get to the abbey to warn the people there before the beasts arrived.

As his carriage rounded a bend, the pony suddenly stopped and reared on its hind legs, neighing wildly; it took all of the cuchero's skills to keep the animal from bolting altogether. It was then he realized that someone was in the middle of the road.

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"We will soon run out of bullets, Capitán," Señor Diego Andrade, the owner of La Dulcinea said, as he reloaded his revolver.

"How many do you have left?" Andres asked as he shot one halimaw in the chest then quickly followed with a second into the monster's head.

"We're both down to our last rounds," Turing Kirat answered.

Around them, the sound of waning gunfire was a sign that the other men were experiencing the same problem and were trying to make every shot count, but it was difficult to hit the agile sigbins in the head or through the throat. So far, they had brought down only seven of them, two of which Magdalena had killed. She had not joined them on the rooftop, choosing to battle the monsters down at the railroad tracks, she had engaged another pair at the moment, she had one in an arm-lock, while a second was circling her. If he still had the rifle, Andres knew he could hit the second halimaw, but he was down to his revolver.

The crack of a pistola rang beside him, the second halimaw clutched its throat and fell at Magdalena's feet. In one fluid motion, she dropped the one she was holding, blood dripping copiously from its lacerated throat, hauled the fallen one up and tore its head off.

Andres turned his head, beside him was Padre Miguel, a smoking revolver in hand. The capitán had not quite believed the young priest when he said he had done a fair amount of hunting before entering the clergy, he was glad he had been wrong.

"That was my last shot," the padre said softly.

"I'm out, too," Turing Kirat said.

"And I," Señor Andrade added.

"Murillo," the jefe called out, "tell the men to prepare their blades." He drew his sword.

Below them, the remaining thirteen beasts massed together, the gunfire had ceased, they knew the small force had run out of ammunition -- attacking together would ensure victory. Magdalena positioned herself at the foot of the stairs that led to the roof.

Kirat handed Miguel a rusty balisong.

"My father used to cut sugar cane with that when he worked in the plantations," he said.

The priest accepted the large knife.

"Remember to fight in threes or more," Andres told the men gathered around him and headed down the stairs to join Magdalena, the others followed closely behind.

The halimaws gave one last terrifying howl and ran towards the small group of men at the foot of the stairs. At that moment, a hail of bullets rang out behind the charging horde.

The Supremo and his katipuneros stormed into the station.

VIII

Angelo Ponce, the senior cabo, stood watch in the bell tower of the Basilica. The height afforded him an unencumbered view of the fields around the church and abbey. Earlier that night, he heard the distant sound of gunfire and that meant only one thing -- the capitán and his men had engaged the malignos. The battle lasted for well over an hour, thrice the gunfire seemed to wane only to restart with even more ferocity, but that was hours ago, now, only the intermittent echo of thunder could be heard. He hoped the monsters had been defeated and all the men were safe, especially his friend and fellow cabo, Juan Murillo.

Once again, he surveyed the view in front of him -- it was clear -- he turned to his left -- there was nothing remarkable there -- he was thinking if it would be safe for him to leave his post to relieve himself when he turned to look to the hills on his right -- and that was when the hair on his nape rose.

He ran down the tower, grabbed the bell-rope and pulled it with all his might, signaling to everyone in the abbey that the halimaws were coming.

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The sigbins were in disarray as they found themselves caught between two forces. They would have fared better had they continued their attack on the capitán and his men -- after all they were only armed with swords and long knives -- but only four of their number went on towards the stairs of the train station; the others turned around to meet the rebel forces of the Supremo.

Señor Chua's men quickly formed two lines on the opposite side of the railroad tracks. The first line of men knelt, while the second line stood directly behind them.

"Wait for my signal... and remember where to aim," the Supremo shouted.

"Fuego!" he ordered just before the snarling beasts reached the tracks.

Three of the sigbins fell instantly, their heads blown open, but the other six, though momentarily stunned by gunshots, continued with the attack.

"Reload and fire at will!" the Supremo ordered.

"Sugod!" the capitán ordered, as he led the charge. His men echoed the battle-cry and were behind him in an instant; he saw a flash of white beside him, it was La Loba Blanca -- now fully transitioned -- she bounded past him, tearing into the throat of the first sigbin she encountered.

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"Let's hope this works," Jason said as he, Lucas, dela Paz, Ponce and three farmers carried the Basilica's gaseras to the main door of the church where Porcia, Doña Maria and Sylvia, one of Turing Kirat's ladies, were waiting for them, each with a lit candle. When all the kerosene lamps were alight, the men opened the Basilica's heavy double doors.

Each man picked up a lit gasera,and hurled it across the grounds where they had planted the gas-soaked torches; the women handing them a lamp as soon as they had thrown what they held. The torches quickly caught fire. The blaze, fanned by a light breeze, lit the perimeter of the Basilica, a high searing wall of flames. Then they quickly retreated back inside the Basilica and closed its doors.

Outside, the sigbins hesitated as the high wall of flame barred the way to the Basilica.

"Querida, go back inside the abbey," Lucas said, kissing his wife on the brow, "and tell Padre Jose and the other priests to pray the fire will keep the malignos at bay."

Another clap of thunder reverberated across the night-sky.

"And that it won't rain until tomorrow morning," added Jason.

"Tomorrow morning?" Porcia asked.

"If the capitán's telegram did reach Manila, help should arrive by then," said the sargento.

"And if no one comes?"

The men had no answer.

---------

La Loba Blanca bit clean through the sigbin's throat, violently jerking the creature's body until its head came off. She searched the station, all around her malignos and mortals were engaged in battle -- but there was no sign of El Divino -- surely, he would have led the attack on the estasyon.

A feeling of dread rose in her, much like the night she first felt Trillanes' presence; she remembered her mother's words:

El Divino will always seek Lisa out, she is his destiny.

She turned to run out the train station's exit, but then she saw Andres, Murillo, and Padre Miguel fighting the largest of the sigbins that had led the charge, it was clear they were losing: the young cabo lay on the ground, bleeding profusely from a deep gash on his chest, while the capitán and Miguel were desperately trying to hold the monster off with sword and balisong. Andres managed to slice its wrist, but the halimaw shrugged it off. Suddenly, the beast got hold of the jefe's sword, he yanked it off of Andres' hands -- the capitán lost his balance and the sigbin swiped at him -- sending him flying several feet away.

The monster turned its attention to Miguel -- it gave a sinister smile -- this one would be easy. He moved to lunge at the young priest and was struck by La Loba Blanca who had crossed from the other side of the railroad tracks in one bound, he fell to the floor, dazed. The she-wolf tried to turn to deliver the killer blow -- but she could not stop sliding -- she slipped on the bloody floor of the estasyon, and hit her head on one of the station's stout columns, where she skidded to a halt beside a motionless Juan Murillo. The beast quickly recovered and ran toward the fallen Magdalena.

Miguel watched in horror -- La Loba Blanca was not moving -- and the monster was bearing down on her! But just as it was about to pounce, the she-dog rose and jumped clear over the attacking beast, the sigbin could not turn in time and ran headlong into Murillo who raised his sword with the last ounce of strength he had left; the sharp blade shattered the monster's skull, splitting its head in two. The cabo's arm fell as he breathed his last.

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"Señores, come quickly," Ponce called from the choir loft where he had been watching the sigbins.

The other three men climbed the stairs and looked out the loft's large window. The huge fire cast an eerie glow on the monsters; they had moved well behind the flames and were standing in a circle, in the middle of this was the large figure of a man who was clearly giving them instructions, the malignos began to grunt and growl. Soon, the sigbins broke the circle and formed a straight line, the man raised his hand, the monsters' howling became louder.

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"Jefe, Jefe, are you alright?" Señor Andrade's voice seemed to come from a long way off.

The capitán opened his eyes, for a brief moment he wondered where he was but a sudden stab of pain in his ribs jolted his memory; he nodded and sat up. Both Andrade and Kirat were kneeling beside him, debris was everywhere and the whole estasyon smelled of smoke and blood; now and again, there was the occasional retort of gunfire.

"The sigbins have all been destroyed, Señor Chua and his men are making sure not one of them will survive," the brothel-owner said.

"Our men?" Andres asked.

"We... we've lost a few," Señor Andrade spoke as Padre Miguel approached them; in his hand was Juan Murillo's sword, he shook his head at the question in the jefe's eyes.

The priest handed the sword to the capitan, Andres accepted the fallen cabo's blade and nodded sadly.

"Capitán, we have to get to the Basilica, the rest of these monsters are headed there," the Supremo exclaimed running up to them, "we can leave three men to burn the malignos' bodies. Illuminado's caritela is outside, the rest can follow."

Despite the pain in his ribs, Andres stood up.

"Let us hurry."

Miguel looked around the estasyon -- where was Magdalena?

"The she-wolf has left, Padre," the Supremo said, seeing the worry in the priest's eyes, "she's gone to the Basilica."

---------

El Divino wanted to wait -- the rain would have taken care of the flames -- but the thunder had become more distant, he could not afford to delay, the urge to fulfill the prophecy was so strong now because Lisa Enriquez was so close. He assembled his followers and began to chant:

Poong Sitan, pagpalain mo kami,

Kapangyarihan at kadiliman ay iyong ibalik,

Mga kaaway tugisin at talunin, maghasik ng dusa,

Paghihirap at pighati.

Over and over, El Divino called upon Sitan and as the sigbins' growls grew louder, they began to move in time to the chant, soon their actions became more frenetic, twitching and jumping as their growls turned to shrieks.

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"You know what to do, Mr. Willams."

Jason nodded and ran down the stairs and into the abbey.

Lucas shot the sargento a questioning look.

"He's... gone inside to tell the men to arm themselves with whatever weapons they have and... for the women and children to move down to the catacombs beneath the abbey, Padre Jose says it is the safest place to hide," dela Paz said.

Lucas noted the hesitancy in the sargento's voice.

"Is that all, Sargento?"

Dela Paz sighed heavily.

"Mr. Williams is to never leave Lisa's side, to protect her at all cost, and if the worst happens -- he is to kill her."

Lucas was incredulous.

"Who... who thought of this... this plan?"

"Lisa Enriquez herself, Don Lucas."

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"I promised you a night to satisfy your urges," El Divino shouted to his followers, "the feast is there behind the flames, it is yours for the taking, now go and claim it!"

The sigbins gave one last howl then started to run towards the flames.

"They're coming," Ponce said, "they're going to jump over the fire!"

Again and again the sigbins tried to leap over the wall of flames, burning themselves hideously but they did not stop, their Poon's chant ringing in their ears, their blood-lust and hunger greater than the pain.

"Help us, Lord Sitan, help us claim victory," El Divino exhorted.

Lightning lit up the dark sky followed by a loud clap of thunder.

"Sitan, hear us, bring back the darkness, claim your prize!"

The first drops of rain started to fall.

"Sitan is answering, he is bringing despair and pain, claim your prize!"

The heavens opened, the drops turned to a downpour, the wall of fire grew smaller and the sigbins emitted an almost human whoop of victory.

El Divino laughed, clutching Lisa's panuelo.

"Your sister is mine, La Loba Blanca, and so are you," he cackled in the rain.

IX

"Is it you?" Lisa asked as Jason sat beside her. They and the rest of the townspeople had followed the priests down into the underbelly of the abbey where the clergy had buried their dead for almost a century. The few farmers who brought their sundangs and balisongs had gone up to the cathedral to help with the fight.

Now, surrounded by scores of stone tombs, all they could do was wait and pray. Padre Arnulfo and the three older priests started the rosary, while Padre Jose and the two younger padres, armed with censers of burning incense, filled the maze of corridors outside with pungent smoke, hoping that the acrid odor would mask the smell of mortal men from the halimaws.

Jason nodded.

"Did you want someone else?" he asked softly.

The maiden did not answer.

"Both the capitán and your sister wanted to... do it, but after they let me speak, they both agreed."

"What did you tell them?"

"That I have grown to... care for you deeply in the few months that we have known each other, so much so, that I could never forgive anyone who sought to harm you and if one of them were to kill you, I would not hesitate to kill him in turn... Lisa, you must know I love you and I hope that... in some small way, you feel something for me, too. Was, was I mistaken... do you want someone else?"

Lisa shook her head and smiled at him.

"No, I prayed that my last vision would be of someone I... love."

The man lay down his rifle and took her in his arms.

A farmer came running into the catacombs.

"The rains came," he gasped, "the flames will soon be breached!"

Sobs of despair echoed in the catacombs -- some of the town-folk knelt, some prayed, some did both -- while those with children instructed their little ones to hide themselves between the tombs and in the crevasses and gaps that time and erosion had carved on the sepulchers.

---------

The three men in the loft watched as the wall of flames grew smaller under the rain.

"Where are the farmers?" Lucas asked

"They would be in the corridor that leads to the abbey, it's the narrowest part and hopefully easier to defend," dela Paz answered, "wait for my command to fire," he added.

"Here they come," Lucas muttered as the first of the halimaws rushed inside the Basilica grounds, their howls echoing across the field.

Angelo Ponce whispered a short prayer of forgiveness under his breath, he had never shot at a living being before. He aimed his revolver and waited for the sargento to give the command.

But before dela Paz could utter a word, a strange buzzing sound like a million bees in flight reverberated over the field -- the sigbins began falling to their knees -- it was no longer just rain that came down from the sky, but scores of arrows... the feared native bowmen of Luzon had arrived! Once used by Spain to conquer lands beyond the islands, the archers had now sworn allegiance to the Supremo and the Katipunan in their fight for independence. Led by Sisto and Illuminado, they stood on the ridge to the left of the Basilica, shooting their drilled, flint-tipped arrows that shattered once they hit their prey, causing excruciating injuries to their victims.