Knives And Sticks

IN KENYON'S ICE TEMPLE (AT NIGHT, 8:30 pm)

Andres is holding a jar with a tongue inside of it. He is gently twirling it while observing it, and he puts the jar gently on the round wooden table.

"It's good that the temperature here is cold, if it is not cold then I wouldn't be able to keep this tongue preserved," he said.

The door opens, and Kenyon steps inside the room. His silver eyes stare at the jar.

"Is that the tongue you cut from the masked murderers?" Kenyon steps closer to the jar, and he only looks at it, "I must say, it's incredible that you were able to withstand those enemies even if I didn't aid you right from the start of the battle."

"So, you're preserving this tongue for?" he asked.

"I just thought of an idea that maybe we can use that to track them," Andres answered calmly.

Kenyon begins to utter a droning sound from his closed mouth, and he stops. "Never in my life or not even once have I thought of such an impossible idea."

"This is a possibility! Not an idea!" Andres groaned.

"A 'possibility' is such a strong word but rather than using that word, we can use the word 'impossible'."

After hearing those words, Andres looks down and stomps his feet.

"Andres, we can't use one's flesh to track them," Kenyon looks at his palm, and ice patterns start to appear and cover it, "my ability doesn't have such an ability... I think, if the former huntress, Aida is alive, then she would be the answer to your idea."

Andres hums while tapping his chin. He looks down at Kenyon, and asks, "Who is this Aida? And does a hunter differ from a warrior?"

Kenyon closes his hand causing the ice on his palm to shutter. He looks up at Andres, and with his calm tone, he says, "Hunter or huntress are the ones who typically explore every part of the world, and they're the ones handling killing the bad creatures."

He points at himself. "While we, yes, we do the same but we don't travel to any parts of the world. Some warriors do travel to another part of the world but warriors like me... I am loyal to my country."

Andres tells him. "We are loyal to one country and hunters spread around the world if they like but to kill bad creatures, right?"

"Right."

Kenyon moves his head downward a bit, and he stands up. He puts his notes on the table and says, "Snow Aguinaldo, she has a brother named 'Christopher'."

"Well, that name... oh! Yes!" Andres' eyes widened.

"THAT PIECE OF SHIT!" Andres yelled.

Kenyon hums. "From the tone of your voice, it seems he's a horrible person."

Andres looks at Kenyon, and Andres scratches his hair while yelling, "Oh, you don't know what that man did! He said that fighting with a knife is useless."

"He got a good point. A knife is used for cutting and slicing only, meaning," Kenyon constructs an ice knife from his hand, "a knife has only one sharp side."

He twirls the knife from one finger to another. "If you will use this to fight against a strong monster with thick skin, you can just only use it to slice his skin; causing bleeding."

Kenyon hands the knife to Andres, and he pulls it from Kenyon's grasp.

"So, I recommend using a dagger in a fight, because not only does it have two sharp sides but it can ensure that your enemy will die because you can stab him," Kenyon added.

Andres looks at the ice knife on his hand, and he tightens his fingers around it. He throws the knife on a wall and looks at Kenyon.

"We've talked about irrelevant things, and time is running out." Kenyon stood from his chair.

He brings out his compass from the pocket of his pants, and its pointers begin to rotate in other directions.

Both are teleported to an empty alleyway, surrounded by houses, and lamp posts giving light while the night is ruling over the world.

"I think we're here," Andres looked around.

"Not exactly but I don't think we are where Christopher is living," Kenyon tells Andres calmly, "we are probably standing in the middle of an empty road."

A distant sound of vehicles coming from afar catches their attention, Kenyon grabs the back of Andres' shirt, and the tattoo on his neck which is the word "ICE" glows bright.

Kenyon jumps while lifting Andres, and they land on the other side of the road. He exhales which releases a white wind.

Kenyon moves his hand from Andres' shirt as cars and motorcycles travel across the road. The light of the tattoo on Kenyon's neck disappears, and the ice patterns on his hair melt.

Kenyon glances at him with a calm expression on his face. "You're welcome."

Both of them begin to walk on the sidewalk, asking civilians that they've encountered along the way regarding Christopher's house.

"How can we know where Christopher is living?!" Kenyon yelled.

"You know, even if I hate that guy, we must continue looking for him to find clues," Andres brings out a pink ball pen, "because, a woman entrusted me, she trusted me that I would secure her child's safety."

"You hated a guy for not liking to use a knife in combat?" Kenyon smiles a bit, "I can see that you're being childish."

Andres looks up after a sensation crawls on his skin, causing hair all over his body to arise. Kenyon looks at Andres, and from Kenyon's hands: he builds an ice hammer.

Kenyon lifts his hammer and smashes Andres while Kenyon jumps away. Andres lands on the ground while crouching, and he stands up.

"Why do you have to use a hammer to push me? Damn it!" Andres yelled.

Kenyon only looks around him, not giving Andres a look or response.

From between them, a tall humanoid horseman is standing while clouds of dust are fading around him.

He exhales and neighs while looking at each one of the young men around him. Andres senses a murderous intent while Kenyon observes the creature.

"A tikbalang but rather than seeing a short tikbalang, I am seeing a taller one."

The tikbalang moves his eyes toward the man who spoke so serenely. He speaks and his voice results in Kenyon's eyes widening as his face contorts, and his brows furrow.

"Don't worry, Gramps got your back."

The tikbalang neighs, and he crouches. He releases his jump along with a strong burst of wind from the sole of his horseshoe, and the wind causes a portion of the ground to crack and fly away.

"That voice! No! It can't be, there's no chance that he can mimic his voice."

Kenyon tightens his hands, and he shakes his head. A shadow hovers above him, and he jumps aside and avoids the landing of the tikbalang.

Andres runs toward the tikbalang. The tikbalang immediately turns toward the young man as if he sensed the man's presence.

He clenches his human hand and moves it backward. He neighs before thrusting it toward Andres but he avoids the punch by stepping sideward.

"That was fast!" Andres jumped and kicked the tikbalang's face.

The tikbalang neighs after the kick, and then, he runs toward Andres. He throws multiple punches at Andres but he steps side to side away from the fists.

Andres moves his eyes sideward, and he catches the tikbalang's hand.

"Got you, horsie!"

Andres thrusts the dagger on the tikbalang's wrist. The tikbalang neighs louder, and he clenches his other hand and jabs Andres.

Andres pulls out the dagger, and he uses his other wrist to cover himself. The punch hits his wrist and he is thrown away by the impact of the punch.

"This got to be my first time fighting against a tall piece of shit," Andres held his wrist and cracked it, "That's a lot better."

He swings his hand, and he twirls his dagger in his other hand. "I don't have any abilities but I ain't afraid of anyone."

Andres and the horseman clash against each other; Andres avoids every punch by moving from side to side.

He grabs the next punch of the horseman and cuts his hand off. The horseman neighs, and he strikes Andres with his knee, and the young man bounces away from the tikbalang.

"That thing is a hybrid, it isn't an ordinary tikbalang. With a body that big, its strength is double, the same with its speed."

Hearing Kenyon's words, Andres glances at him while avoiding kicks from the tikbalang (horseman).

"Then, it's time."

Andres takes off his jacket, and he places the jacket on the ground while the tikbalang is glaring at him while neighing.

On his belt, Andres has 5 knives slid on its sheath; having blades with different designs.

Andres pulls out two knives and runs toward the horseman. He throws the knife on his left hand, and the tikbalang steps aside before it hits his face.

"You're too distracted!"

Andres is closer to the body of the horseman. Andres stabs the horseman's waist, and the young man pulls his knife.

Andres flips away from the kick of the horseman but the creature chases him, and he kicks the young man's chest.

"That creature is so strong," Kenyon said.

Andres stands up while cracking his back. He cracks his neck, and with a smirk, he looks at Kenyon.

"Don't worry, I'll finish him."

Andres pulls out two other knives. He inhales deeply and moves at full speed onwards to the horseman.

Kenyon remains standing while watching the fight, still, he remains silent.

Andres avoids every kick and jabs from his enemy, after every strike, he swings his knife slicing the horseman's skin bit by bit.

"For the finishing strike!"

Andres crouches as he pulls out the remaining knife. The horseman looks down at him as he prepares another punch at the young man.

He jumps and stabs the throat of the horseman, and he swings his foot which strikes the handle of the knife; pushing it further into the throat of the horseman.

He puts his hands on the head of the horseman, and as he falls on the ground: he pushes the head of the horseman down to the ground.

The horseman is lying on the ground, without making any move as its blood is falling from the cuts on its body.

Kenyon walks toward the body of the horseman. He aims his hand at its body, and then, he releases a white energy beam at the body of the horseman; covering it in solid ice.

"Hey, why are you doing that to all of the beasts we've encountered?" Andres asked.

"Because we need to erase every evidence that such a creature exists."

"Why do we hide the evidence, Kenyon? If we do this, then the world can be prepared to fight creatures like this."

"The world, this world could crumble to pieces if this secret is revealed. You know how people would react to this, right?"

Andres blinks repeatedly. "What? What do you mean?"

Kenyon looks straight into his eyes. "What you're seeing is only the tip of the ice."

QUEZON CITY, SOMEWHERE IN A VILLAGE (MIDNIGHT)

"What do you mean by 'the tip of the ice' huh, Kenyon?" Andres asked.

Kenyon is looking around, seeing only the houses.

They are put to a stop by the presence of an entity, in the form of a humanoid wearing a skull of a horse.

Its muscular torso is exposed, only its neck, arms, and waist down to its feet are covered in dark clothing.

"Who are you?" Andres asked with furrowed brows.

Kenyon's white eyes remain calm, and his posture is straight. He steps ahead until he reaches Andres.

"Don't attack him."

Those words cause Andres to glance at Kenyon.

"Don't blame me if he decides to attack us."

"His mask, don't you recognize it?" Kenyon continued to look at the entity in front of them.

"His mask is what we saw in the photo that was lent to us by that old man."

The white "ICE" tattoo on Kenyon's neck glows, and his white eyes shine.

"In other words, we need to capture him for interrogation."

The entity crouches and jumps toward them. Andres steps sideward; blocking Kenyon's path.

He blocks the punch of the entity using his fist.

"Another horsie?" Andres raised his eyebrow.

The entity jumps backward and he speaks, his voice is masculine and deep. "The... The book, give it to... me."

"Andres! The time is running," Kenyon aimed his hands at the entity, "Let's go."

From his palms, a tremendous cloud of ice wind comes out; covering the entire area. The entity swings his hand, releasing a wind that blows the cloud away.

"They... They escape."

The entity jumps and he reaches the skies.

Meanwhile, in an alleyway inside the village, Andres and Kenyon are hiding behind a wall.

"Finally, found you!"

They look up at the source of the voice, and at the rooftop, they see a man holding two short bamboo sticks.

His hair is brown and short, and he's wearing a large dark jacket.

"Oh! I recognize you!" he said.

Kenyon looks at Andres while the man on the rooftop is pointing his hand at Andres.

"You're the winner of the knife sparring competition, but man! Knives are dull and should only be used in the kitchen."

Those words cause Andres to clench his hands, and his eyes to narrow.

Andres yells, "Come down here! I will show you what dull is!"