Bantay-lahi: Curse and Tempest

𝘍𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥. 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘦. ‎More than four centuries ago, five tribes united to seal away a curse that threatened the entire archipelago. ‎They succeeded. ‎But the curse has returned—stronger, deadlier, and now lurks within the highest seats of power. ‎As war and betrayal spread in the shadows, five unsuspecting heirs of ancient bloodlines were forced to rise as the new 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘺-𝘭𝘢𝘩𝘪. ‎But power comes with a price. ‎And in a world where every sacrifice demands blood— ‎who will fall first? ‎Who will survive? ‎And who will pay the ultimate price? ‎The Sigwa is rising. ‎The past is awakening. ‎And the truth behind their blood… ‎may be the very thing that destroys them. ◆◇◆◇◆ NOTE TO INSPIRATION The five main protagonists are visually and spiritually inspired by the members of the P-pop group SB19. If you would like a reference for their appearance or the overall vibe of the characters, I encourage you to look them up: Pablo, Josh, Stell, Ken, and Justin. Their music and artistry—especially the DAM music video and the Prologue arrangement (the concert version of DAM) from the Simula at Wakas concert—greatly influenced the dark, cinematic atmosphere of this story. DISCLAIMER This is a work of alternate history and dark fantasy. While inspired by Philippine history and mythology, all events, tribes, organizations, sects, and supernatural elements in this story are fictional. 𝗔𝗻𝘆 𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝘀. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and used only for narrative purposes. The characters are inspired by real individuals but are entirely fictional and do not represent their real-life counterparts. This work is not affiliated with or endorsed by SB19 or their management. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝗻-𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝘁. NO ROMANCE 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆. VISUAL CREDITS Cover art edited by the author using Canva. Original images sourced from Pinterest. Credits to So La Lune E' and Akuma27. RELEASE SCHEDULE A new chapter will be released every Saturday at 18:19 PHT.