The Sea Is Ours Read Free Page B

gentleman.
    â€œThere’s no need for that,” the conductor said, smiling as he doffed his hat.
    â€œMag-yngat po cila,” he told Papa.
    â€œYes, we’ll take care. Maraming salamat,” my father replied, shaking his hand.
    He nodded to us again just as the porter dropped off our things.
    With this, the conductor turned to the coach’s attendant ensemble, raised his baton, and signaled for takeoff.
    We watched as the vehicle rose up and away, leaving us alone by the roadside.
    Papa’s rank in the Cofradia meant that we had little trouble with the guardia civil on duty at the government checkpoint. The soldiers snapped to attention, saluting him as we passed.
    Packs in hand, we made our way up to Tagaytay. It was a long trek uphill, with tall forest growth. Houses were few and far between.
    Every so often, we would come across abandoned bathalani mines. And indeed, in these parts, gravidium ore was so plentiful that you could sometimes pick up shards off the ground.
    But it was only when we reached Tagaytay Ridge that I understood why.
    I had heard stories about it before, but seeing it for myself for the first time left me dumbfounded.
    There, in the distance, was the majestic Mount Taal. It floated serenely in the distance like a mirage, an imposing island in the sky.
    Rivers flowed from its peak down meandering streams to waterfalls that fed the wide lake below. All manner of birds flitted about the thick forests along its slopes.
    There were plenty of sky whales there, too, flying about the island singing in a ceaseless cacophony.
    And with each flutter and flurry, the entire underside of the immense mountain glowed a faint blue.
    So the stories were true: Taal was the world’s largest single known deposit of gravidium ore.
    ~*~
    Since its discovery in ancient times, gravidium has found a wide range of uses apart from Levitation, particularly in the battlefield. Without a doubt, gravidium has proven to be an expensive but certainly durable long-term alternative to gunpowder and other projectile propulsion systems.
    One need look no further than the fabled armaments of Panday Pira, for example, whose brass lantakas featured gravidium-infused breeches that proved to be cleaner and easier to load than their European counterparts.
    So effective was the design that it is still in use today as the weapon of choice on Spanish naval decks.
    â€”Austin Craig (ed.), “The Former Philippines Thru Foreign Eyes,” 1916
    ~*~
    Ba-whooooooooooooooommmm!
    From the north came a butanding herd. A handful of white-bellied females and their calves, closely guarded by two or three black-striped young males, flying in a tight formation that wended its way across the sky towards Taal.
    Ahead of the group was a large gray and white bull, its ivory sound horn shining brightly as it caught the sun’s rays. It was a large one, certainly no less than a quarter of a legua in length.
    The bull arched its back slowly, majestically, effortlessly gliding through the air despite its massive size.
    Such a full herd was a rare sight on the plains away from their breeding grounds on the slopes of Mount Taal.
    They were going to make a pass over the ridge, and we would have to hitch a ride with them if we wanted to make it to the mountain at all.
    I fastened our harnesses to one of my arrows and aimed squarely at the belly of one of the trailing calves.
    I pursed my lips and hummed.
    It flew true, lodging firmly into the whale’s thick hide, just at the base of its right fin.
    This did little harm to the creature, which seemed only mildly surprised at the tiny creatures trailing down its side.
    For a moment, it seemed to want to brush us off as a carabao might shrug off errant flies. But it just turned its eye to us, shrugged, and went on its way.
    We clambered up the rope and onto the whale’s fin. From there, it was a steep climb to its broad back.
    I reached down and patted the gentle creature, thanking