The Chieftain

The Half-Diwata led Bonifacio in front of a giant tree.

On the foot of the said tree, a throne is carved out from the tree's roots, and in its midst, the one seating on it is a creature Bonifacio has never seen before in his life.

The man on the throne is wearing a white robe that reaches the dirt yet it's as clean as a newly washed robe, his hair is white and his eyes are both white, with ears the same as the girl who led him to this place, with the only contrast is the girl's hair and eyes that are both darker than the night, a stark contrast to her father's that are whiter than a calla lily.

The man's face is a picture of benevolence and melancholy, his eyes focused only on the old woman lying on a bed beside him, the old woman looks a lot like the girl that brought Bonifacio in, albeit a bit older.

Bonifacio focused his eyes on the woman that is currently awake but is obviously weathered in old age and is finding it hard to do anything but still smiled at Bonifacio, a smile that made his heart crack but at the same time soothe his nerves.

"The old woman is exactly like Alliana!" Bonifacio thought while walking towards the man sitting on the throne.

Standing in front of the man, Bonifacio is further shocked by what he's seen, because from far away, the man looks like a man of regular stature, yet when he came within 2 meters in front of the man, he's still taller than Bonifacio while sitting! Which made Bonifacio feel awkward about his current height, as he currently stands at 5'3, compared to the man that he estimates is around a whopping 7'0, and that is only a conservative estimate, because he seems taller.

While Bonifacio is having his time monologuing about heights, the man hovered his look away from the woman and turned it towards Bonifacio's location, his eyes containing curiosity, because he sees an aura around this man, an aura of great ferocity yet there is also an aura of death, these auras are not visible to humans but creatures like him are very sensitive to this because of their connection to the spiritual realm. This made the man in white very curious because the aura of death is only seen to those people who are near death.

Disregarding his findings though, the man composed himself and greeted Bonifacio;

"Magandang Umaga, child, I welcome you to my humble abode, my name is Orion and I am the leader of this small community of humans and people of the spirit realm, I hope everything here is to your liking, I specifically made this place according to humanity's preference, because as you can see, my wife here is a human, like you. Are you comfortable here child?"

Bonifacio immediately looked at the man and said,

"Magandang umaga po, my name is Andres, most people call me that name and I am comfortable here, the place is wonderful and is full of surprises! To be perfectly honest Ginoong Orion, it's my first time seeing people from the spirit realm and I am a bit overwhelmed, I apologize in advance if my reactions are often over the top. I hope that it doesn't affect the future alliance between us and your people Ginoo."

Bonifacio said while giving a slight bow, he isn't one to kneel because his loyalty to Renaldo won't allow him to kneel to anyone except his master.

Seeing that Bonifacio didn't kneel, Orion is obviously taken aback but composed himself immediately, he isn't used to this kind of treatment because he is often treated with utmost respect, with everyone kneeling to him, this is the first time someone didn't kneel which gave him a shock but he just took it as a new experience, because he still needs something from Bonifacio's group, something that his sprites have reported to him, something that can possibly prolong his wife's life, this is the main reason why he reached out anonymously as the leader of the Juramentados towards Bonifacio's master, a man that is key towards his goal of keeping his wife alive.

Meanwhile, this scene of not submitting towards their Chieftain made a lot of Engkantos angry, creating an outburst similar to an angry mob, a lot of bursting killing intent and animosity bubbled out and went towards Bonifacio's location, which made him uncomfortable but he held on towards the last of his strength, no matter what, his pride as a general of the Revolutionary Order didn't allow him to be weak in front of these spirits, he doesn't care if these people aren't human, all he knows is that faltering after a measly killing intent is unbecoming of someone of his stature.

Seeing Bonifacio's situation, Orion is somewhat satisfied but as the leader of these people, he needs to reign them in, especially because Bonifacio is someone who can connect him with that mysterious man whom his sprites say has no aura at all, which means that man is not from this world, someone that is possibly an anomaly not just because of him not having an aura but also because of another report from his sprites, that the man has the strength that exceeds human norms, which breds in the possibility of him having the means to extend his wife's life.

"Enough of this!" growled Orion which made the people flinch and all of them immediately retracted their auras.

"Have you no respect for me?! This man is obviously a guest of mine, he is not subjected to my reign, and is obviously an outsider that isn't aware of our traditions, why blame the man for something that he isn't aware of? And why does all of you dare to release killing intent in front of me and my family! Worst of all, inside of my home! Have all of you been so full of yourselves to disregard my authority?!"

His words immediately snapped the people out of confusion, with most of them retreating out of the venue but are sending glares full of venom towards Bonifacio, the source of this madness.