EVERNA Ring of Fire

YAMKORA Part 2

"The "prison" referred to by Aswa Rakwar was apparently iron wooden cages placed on stilts on tree trunks.

Still unable to move, Nirya could only surrender and shiver violently. The night wind was constantly beating on him, piercing to the bone. Although he believed all his colleagues were also locked in the unit's cages next to his cage, Nirya's chest felt increasingly tight. Right now, he needs to know the situation of Arumi, Dhaka and especially Sthira.

Yes, since the disaster of Bayunara College, Nirya's only life wish is to follow Sthira, sharing her joys and sorrows with her. Making the ideals and dreams of Sthira belong to Nirya as well. The desire to "save" Antapada, Nirya's love for all Antapada people also rose thanks to Sthira.

If Sthira is gone, if Nirya is still given a chance to live, can the innocent girl continue the struggle of the man who means the most to her? Whatever destiny. If Antapada finally had to ravage, Nirya would rather accompany Sthira in the afterlife alone, whether it be heaven or hell, rather than living in all suffering.

Suddenly a whisper broke Nirya's daydream. "Sw! Don't talk, just follow my lead if you want to survive!"

Nirya gasped, it was not at all the voice of Sthira or Dhaka. "Who are you!?" sergeant.

"Ssh, I told you to shut up! I'm Wufabwe, hanging from a tree right above you!"

Nirya wanted to rebuke, but her neck still could not be moved. Suddenly a bamboo tube appeared right in front of his face.

"Drink it!" wufabwe Order.

Nirya moved her lips that did not come stiff, grabbed the mouth of the tube and drank the liquid inside. The taste of the liquid clearly made the stomach very nauseous, it smelled like the smell of carrion. But it felt like Nirya had drunk it before.

What ensured the efficacy of the drink was that Nirya's body was gradually able to be moved back. Subconsciously her lips whispered, "Good shit... This... cayari blood?"

"Yes, I had a little in my tab, just in case you need an antidote or magic cayari again like now. Here, take your weapons and free your friends!"

Wufabwe dropped the chain of twin shells less carefully, almost hitting the body of Nirya who could not escape.

But rather than protest, Nirya chose to hold the tube "congratulator" her group tightly. He then began to cut the rope from the roots used to tie the cage door. Although not as hard as metal, the root rope is quite difficult to cut. Forced Nirya to drain his inner energy, sharpen the kerambit blade so that it can cut more easily.

Suddenly Wufabwe whispered again, "Pst, there are guards!"

Nirya gasped and immediately returned to her original position, which was to sit upright and stiff.

Sure enough, a guard soldier passed by while bearing his spear. He stared for a moment into each cage and nodded, making sure the prisoners were still inside.

As he gazed into Nirya's cell, the guard smiled strangely. She whispered, "Well, well, beautiful and white. Hey girl, you can't move and tomorrow you're dead, how about tonight you have fun with me first?"

Cystless. Is this actually the mentality of a soldier, who should uphold discipline? While the prisoners were poisoned and unable to move, he was assigned to stand guard alone. But the guard had left his place of duty somehow for what business, then returned to do inappropriate to the prisoner?

Nirya's desire to kill the guard at the place bubbled up. But Nirya's face turned into a smile because she got a new idea.

"Well, does your smile mean you want to?" Saliva dripped from the guard's thick lips.

Nirya's smile became more seductive, her words were made up, "Why not? I certainly don't want to leave this world with a wasted body, do I? Come here, mighty warrior."

The soldier was getting more excited. He lowered his spear, then opened the cage door tie rope easily. He was so rushed, that he did not realize there was a little part of the rope that was cut. Then he entered the cage saying, "Good choice! You'll be satisfied, pretty girl!"

Suddenly, Nirya even welcomed with a rambit right in the heart of the depraved soldier. "You have to leave the world now, man."

The soldier wanted to shout to warn the others, but Nirya plunged the cambite deeper. The man's voice choked, choking on the blood that filled his mouth.

After believing the guard was dead, Nirya quickly got out of the cage. Wufabwe had also come down and opened the straps of the doors of each cage. Wufabwe had also come down and opened the straps of the doors of each other's cages.

Nirya then quickly drank the blood into the mouth of her colleagues. The antidote to the poison reacted instantly. The bodies of Sthira, Dhaka and Arumi began to move back.

"Run fast, before more soldiers arrive! Follow me!" wufabwe exclaimed with a hissing sound.

Without saying anything more, Nirya and her group immediately rushed over. Wufabwe also brought the weapons of Nirya's colleagues, so the group could run directly out of the city.

The familiar Wufabwe of Teminobe City moves across the bridge after the wooden platform in the dark. Amazingly, until they got down on the last bridge rope ladder in the city limits, no soldiers or townspeople confronted them.

When the legs of the escapees returned to the solid ground, Wufabwe said, "Yep, we have arrived outside the city! Let's go now to the beach, back to your ship...!"

"No" said Sthira. "We still have to find Yori Mbeko. Do you know where he is?"

Wufabwe frowned. "Sang Yamano Yori Mbeko, the leader of all Dhuraga united? What are you looking for?"

Arumi tried to give as simple an explanation as possible. "We think that killing Yori means stopping the piracy and looting that Dhuraga has been doing, under the pretext of building the country."

Nirya gasped, but still felt unsure of Wufabwe's words to that point. Because, in primitive countries, inter-tribal wars have been common, and many lives are lost. So there was not enough reason for Wufabwe to liberate the Nirya group and oppose its own leaders.

After a short pause, Wufabwe continued, "After I returned to my village, then I knew that the one who attacked and conquered my village was the Yori Mbeko tribe, and the leader of the attacking force is none other than Aswa Rakwar. It turns out that all this time they united the Dhuraga tribes through violence and bloodshed. In that instant, I stopped being a soldier and turned into a sago rodent, waiting for the best moment to avenge my family on Yori and Aswa. It turns out, you were about to kill Yori Mbeko, not the merchant ambassador. So, I'll take you to Mount Yamkora, where Yori is now living, on one condition."

"What conditions?" ask Dhaka.

"After you kill Yori, you also have to kill Aswa Rakwar."

Sthira replied, "Of course. The tree of evil must be uprooted to its roots."

"But, are you tough enough to fight those husbands?"

Without any intention of bragging, Arumi said, "We don't know how tough Yori and Aswa are, but I think we are able to fight them."

"Thank you, guys," said Wufabwe, his eyes glazed over. "Come, we must settle our affairs in Yamkora before the pursuers overtake us!"

Fortunately the resourceful Wufabwe carried a torch, so the party could see the road ahead better, he said, not only depends on the lightning flash from Mandau Gharma and the light of the fire from Arumi's great kris, Agninetra. Plus, Nirya picked up the roots, lit them with a sparkling stone and with Dhaka held one each.

Although their movements were quite agile and fast, still the escapees did not dare to run on the sidelines of the tight distance between trees in the Apukondao Forest.

It was fortunate that when the black sky began to bristle, when the gigantic ball of world light began to peer over the horizon, there was already the appearance of Mount Yamkora soaring with its majesty. Apparently it was the highest peak in the Sorendo'reri Mountains that stood in line with him.

"Yamkora White Peak," murmured Wufabwe. "Maybe only Yori Mbeko and the strongest warriors in Dhuraga, the caretakers of his predecessors who had climbed there. Maybe only they know what's on that peak, and what makes it so white as to pierce through the clouds."

Of course, even Antapada scholars in the Shir Age have not been able to prove what enveloped the White Peak of Yamkora. So, the only way to find out the whereabouts of Yori Mbeko is to climb Mount Yamkora, if necessary up to its peak.

Realizing that, Nirya's body involuntarily shivered. His hunch berkara, knowledge and preparation for the climb this time is very minimal. The shivering was probably a sign of a bad experience that would await this whole group in Yamkora.

So, instead of staying silent, Nirya took the initiative to ask Arumi, "Arumi, is there any evidence in the Book of Manikrama about Yamkora's White Peak?"

Arumi just shook her head. Whether there is indeed no information in the book, he forgot, did not know, or basically lazy to serve a troublesome colleague like Nirya.

Even Wufabwe responded to Nirya, "Had it been, the only thing we can do is just look for Yori on Mount Yamkora. Hope we don't have to climb to the top...!"

Suddenly Wufabwe was fixated on the spot, from his mouth came a choking sound.

Seeing that, Nirya who was walking in the middle position of the group burst forward, passing Sthira in the leading position. Both of Nirya's hands moved as if covering her agape mouth. The girl's eyes were wide in horror, finding a spear tip sticking out of the guide's back.

Even more surprised Nirya saw the spear thrower in the distance. It was the unusually long-armed man whose stature was hard for everyone to forget, even Nirya remembered his name was Hongke Jombe.

"Sense your punishment, traitor!" hongke Jombe exclaimed with a triumphant smile. "I deliberately moved early to confront you, false ambassadors! When the pursuers led by Sang Aronawa, Aswa Rakwar himself followed, your history was all confirmed to be over!"

Sthira unsheathed the Dharma and was ready to welcome the Commander's attack.

However, at the end of his life Wufabwe shouted, "Don't mind Jombe! Keep running, search... Yori before he.. leave Yamkora!"

Nirya gasp. Wufabwe meant that some of the pursuers must have been rushing to Yamkora to warn Yori. The search for a single human in the middle of the vast and tortuous Apukondao Forest, or the vast Sorendo'reri Mountains, must be more impossible than at one Yamkora Peak.

"Good!" nirya exclaimed at Wufabwe. But the sago rodent had collapsed on the ground, never to rise again.

Finally you gathered with your wife and son again, Wufabwe, Nirya's mind running, her tears breaking. He clearly followed Sthira and the other colleagues, also fulfilling the guide's final mandate.

"Eit, don't expect to run! Just die you're all here!" exclaim Jombe. While running, Jombe's long arm grasped the two javelins he had just pulled out from among the javelins tied to his back. Then, he threw the two javelins at two targets, namely Dhaka and Arumi who ran at the very back in formation.

Dhaka the Komodorai is quite twisted to one side, the spear just grazes its thick hard scales.

As the javelin continued to rustle towards Arumi, the red-haired girl jumped up while spinning backwards. Not only that, he released the bowstring that he had been pulling. The arrows shot faster than the spears, crashing right into Hongke Jombe's forehead.

Convinced by the result of his archery, Arumi immediately turned around and ran back while exclaiming, "Rest in peace, Wufabwe. Your revenge has been avenged!"

At first glance watching Arumi's action, Nirya then moved agilely avoiding the series of javelin throws of the pursuers. However, his gaze was almost always straight forward. His attention was focused on one destination.

White peak Mount Yamkora.

The reference image for Mount Yamkora is Puncak Jaya Wijaya, Papua.

Image source: KSM Tour.