EVERNA Ring of Fire

NURBAITI Part 2

The end result is clearly displayed.

Gajahmina. The Tanah Barkajang script, the key to the volcano he held fell into Nirya's hands, triggering the devastating eruption of Mount Barkajang.

Now Nirya has become a traitor to her own country, Swarnara.

The dead girl and Sthira fled from the wrath of nature. The two crossed the forest to the south, avoiding Ringidatu City east of Mount Barkajang.

Suddenly Nirya felt the ground she was on shaking violently, she stopped stepping for a moment. But the young man from Kalingga quickly pulled the orange-haired girl's lower arm while exclaiming, “Come, Nirya! Whatever happens, don't-ever-stop-running!”

Pull the hand in time, because a tree fell almost fell on Nirya who was fixated earlier. Before he could breathe a sigh of relief, another tree fell in front of the running girl. With great agility Nirya curled to the side, then ran away again.

Which made Nirya's heart beat harder, more trees fell and some befall animals on the ground. A tiger, a typical Swarnara wild animal ran across in front of the two warriors. Sthira unsheathed his machete, preparing to slash while running. The tiger looked at the two humans, but turned the other way, away from the mountain. Obviously the instinct to save yourself is bigger than hunger or something.

Then came the heartbreaking sound of a deer. Hearing him, Nirya turned around and approached the poor animal.

“Do not! Just leave him!” Shouts of Sthira unheeded, Nirya tried to pull the body of the deer from the tree that squeezed his feet. Suddenly, another tree fell towards Nirya and the deer, but the helper did not notice it, too busy. So Sthira is forced to crashing, pushing Nirya's body to safety. The trunk of the tree collapsed already, hitting the poor animal.

Holding back the tears that were about to break, Nirya turned around and ran away again. “I'm sorry, little deer... Elder Rahli Marus.... The people of Ringidatu and Swarnara! This is for the whole of Antapada!”

\==oOo==

Surviving the earthquake and eruption of Mount Barkajang, Nirya and Sthira continued their journey to the southeast, crossing Swarnara Island. They deliberately did not stop in the cities, fearing that anyone would suspect them.

New in Nurbaiti, inevitably these two young warriors stop by. Because this is the only port city crossing to Jayandra Island.

While sitting around eating dinner in the tavern, Sthira-Nirya listened to the shoes of several guests whose contents were more or less the same. “Have you heard the news? Mount Barkajang erupted! The capital of Ringidatu was devastated by an earthquake! Our king, Tanakara died and almost his entire family fell victim to this disaster!” said a man with a moustache and a thin beard.

The second man wearing the red-yellow hat was aghast. “Really? Wow, this is a big disaster for Swarnara! Without the support of the king and the capital, without a leader, the spirit of our army must have fallen to the nadir!”

“Aduh, critical then!” respond to the third man who is small and fat. “if you reach countries like Jayandra, Kalingga or even Jerian attack, we die!”

“By the way about Kalingga..” The thin beard stood up and pointed towards Sthira. “See! That outfit..he's a Kalingga! He must be a spy!”

“You're right!” The red-yellow hat pulled out a kind of beautiful dagger called rencong. “Come crack him! Don't give me mercy!”

The warrior Kalingga then rose with a weapon clasped in his hand. In front of Sthira now, at least seven men surrounded her while swinging various kinds of weapons. Next, “I already know your intentions from the conversation. But since I'm tired of spilling blood tonight, I'm asking you all to think first. If I were really a Kalinga spy, in this time of war I would definitely disguise myself as a Swarnara, or I'm strong enough to take out the seven of you and everyone here so there's no eyewitnesses. How are your conclusions?”

The braggarts fell silent, frowning. It was only a moment later that the seemingly intelligent red-yellow hat exclaimed, “Disguised or not, all warriors from the other islands should be silenced!”

“Then, I show you ‘second terms to be a spy’ on you!” Lightning prana snatches from the body of the swordsman Kalingga, laden with real threats.

The loudspeakers seemed to be shaking. Without saying a word, they retreated in order. Seven men who just realized they were outnumbered and the prana scattered out of the store without paying, without the shop owner being prevented.

Strange, the man did not seem to be an ordinary swordsman, but acted as if nothing had happened since. Is that the principle of a true swordsman, to fight or interfere only when absolutely necessary?

“Well, if this is how we can talk more freely,” said Sthira, back to sitting face to face with “friends of his struggle”.

But Nirya kept whispering, “Be careful, the blue hair in the corner might be able to steal hear.”

“Let's just. Who knows he could be a friend, an opponent or not want to interfere anyway.” Unknowingly, Sthira's voice also became half whispered.

“Alright, if you're sure so.” Nirya only nodded after being silent for a moment.

“Hmm, King Tanakara dies. Apparently the impact of the Barkajang eruption was more severe than I thought.” Sthira frowned.

“Then, our mission has been completed, ‘kan?” pinta Nirya was hopeful.

But the answer from Sthira was just a head bob. “Not yet. This is just the beginning. Only one mountain erupted, only one land weakened. If we stop now, Swarnara will be the usurper of Jayandra and Kalingga, as the people said. And the war will continue, even more heated.”

Nirya. He was trapped, unable to retreat. He repeated Sthira's conclusion in order to understand it. “Swarnara is weak now. If we don't weaken Jayandra, Kalingga, Rainusa and Akhsar anyway, I'll lose my hometown.”

“Fast. It's good that you understand.”

“Well, where are we going in Jayandra later?”

Sthira then took out a map of the Antapada Peninsula, exposed it on the table and pointed to several points. “Jayandra Island is famous for having the most volcanoes in Antapada, more than Swarnara. Because Jayandra is a prosperous country with military power more than other countries, we must make two mountains erupt there. One is to the west of the island, precisely Mount Argoparang near Karuhun, the third largest city in Jayandra. The second is Mount Megaswari in the center of the country, near the capital including Jayandra's largest city, Wulantra. Other goals we can think of if one of our two target mountains failed to erupt.”

“Lantas, how can we get a crossing ship in this time of war?” ask Nirya. “How do you cross from Kalingga to Swarnara?”

“I stole a fishing sailboat in Kalingga. And I guess I'll do the same thing again in this Swarnara.” Sthira's tone seemed relaxed, as if he was talking about daily habits.

Forcing people to sacrifice their lives or their source of livelihood along the way, justify all means, bring destruction and natural disasters – these are the main prerequisites for realizing one's idealism of a solution to end war, a new age of peace?

As if answering the wrinkle of doubt on Nirya's face, Sthira continued, “All this we have to do, Nirya. If I could, I wouldn't kill anyone or anything, nor would I ruin the future of so many. But, if that is the only way to reach the goal, we have no choice but to tread it.”

Another road. There must be another way. Maybe this situation is too strange that no one has thought of it yet. Maybe the solution is actually easy, but hampered by the interests of the island countries respectively. Prioritizing unity for the whole of Antapada is very detrimental to them, he said.

Nirya's conscience has been very tormented until this moment, but Sthira behaved as if the action on Mount Barkajang was just warming up and exploring. So the girl said nothing more. Perhaps assuming it was a sign of agreement, Sthira immediately explained the technical matters closely related to the mission this time, and Nirya responded quite carefully.

“Alright, if there are no other questions, we will act on the port dock at midnight this,” said Sthira steady.

Nirya did not respond to Sthira and looked the other way. It looked as if the handsome blue-haired young man was still sitting in his place, again sipping his warm palm.

Image Caption: Ape Bats (Bat-Monkey), a reference to the Rose monster of the Everna World. It was about the size of an ordinary ape, not a giant like in the picture.