Grizzled

#S2 Episode 24

The previous Grey World Conquest had left no trace of anything in my head. It felt strange, I had to start all over again, but for the Eagle who still remembered everything, it shouldn't be. I caught a worry and anxiety that he could not hide. The cause is clear, the Grey World is not the same as it used to be, he said. More broadly, we do not know what the dangers behind it are.

“We're just here, Shir! Everything looks terrible because we don't know yet,” said the Eagle slightly cheering me up, perhaps also encouraging himself.

“Yes, you don't mind finding out everything from scratch again ‘kan? About the way out of this place, about weaknesses, and others?” ask Kak Garuda.

“No choice, Gar. Objection or not, we still have to look for it, as difficult as anything,” replied Eagle, “formerly Sakti with us, become a protector and guide to the end of the mystery. Well, this time we're really going to finish it ourselves!”

“Three of us, Lang! Not alone!” timpal.

“Um, it might be a little different if your trip this time is only with reincarnation Sakti, but I will still help as much as I can!” answer Brother Garuda.

“Eh? Meaning ... Brother Garuda is the reincarnation of the Silver Knight? Ah, that's right too! Brother is also his descendant and the strength of Kak Garuda is ... Oh, now I just completely understand!” my answer.

“Padahat the Head of the Board at that time already said, loh!”

“No, the Head of the Council did not say that Big Brother is the reincarnation of the Silver Knight.”

“I don't understand, why does reincarnation Sakti have to be a silly jellyfish like you?!” said the Eagle snorted in annoyance. Ih, basic!

“You really can't be polite to your sister huh, Lang?”

“In addition I need an explanation,” said the Eagle again ignored my question, “you know the demon named Labe, Gar. How can?”

“Oh, hm, yes ... He's been following you for a long time and I've dealt with him many times to prevent anything he's planned. Well, there's no harm in getting acquainted ‘kan?” replied Kak Garuda, “turns out what he wants like this, forcing you two to be trapped in the Grey World once again.”

“That damn devil-devil ... We mustn't stop being vigilant!” muttered Eagle began to trace soft earth mounds that occasionally collapsed when he incandescent. Me and Brother Garuda tailed behind him, trying to explore this place. As far as the eye could see there were only remnants of the chaos of the earth avalanche.

“Jadi ... What do we need to do now?” tanya Kak Garuda broke the gap.

“Please pay attention around as closely as possible. There must be some clues we can understand. I will think more and compare the Grey World now with the old one, hoping that there will be one or two things in common,” replied the Eagle. Had my memory not been damaged, maybe I could have helped him think. A little guilty about it, but that feeling is not helpful at all for now.

I was just about to start a conversation about the gap of light or anything about the Grey World, but something that happened next grabbed our attention. The sky that was originally red with gray fog closing the view turned into a purplish, the longer the more concentrated until it slowly darkened.

“Why is it suddenly night?” many wonder.

“As if noon lasts short,” timpal Eagle.

“Dan ... why are we suddenly surrounded by these creatures?” asked Garuda to return my attention from the sky to the ground again. I was stunned to notice a number of yellow light spots that seemed to be in pairs of Komodo dragon stealth eyes. Whether coming from nowhere without a sign, they had suddenly appeared this much, hissing around us.

“Hm, these monsters are active during the night cycle. Still the same as the monster before,” said the Eagle while picking up a head-sized stone, just in case to arm himself since the steel sword he brought from the castle disappeared somewhere –though I'm not sure if the stone can help a lot to repel these demons.

“You have an idea to fight them, Lang?” ask me in standby position. These Komodo dragon demons have not yet moved closer and have only surrounded the three of us, but I want to immediately open the siege before they finally dare to approach.

“For now ... do whatever it takes to keep them away from us, Shira!” replied Kak Garuda without warning exerting his strength, rolling up a layer of soil, sweeping some Komodo dragon stealth in front of him. I tried to do the same thing, but instead flew dust that obscured the view. Hisses and loud squeals sounded for a while along with the glaring specks of light from their eyes. Looks like these demons can't stand dust, just like me.

“Usaha good, Shira!” kak Garuda said when we finally managed to escape from the stealth siege, “but next time please guess your wind spray yes! My eyes flickering, nih!”

“Hehe, sorry, Brother,” answered me who kept running behind the Eagle. Either way to where, obviously we must continue to avoid the pursuit of yellow light spots earlier. The situation here is quite dark, if those stealthy eyes don't emit light, maybe we don't know if they're in a constant pursuit. Well, it helped a little .. and it was surprising because dozens of pairs of other light spots suddenly appeared in front there, on the right left, back around us.

“Siaaal! Where did they come from, huh?!” furious Kak Garuda increasingly confused to take care of a group of stealth that continues to move closer. We worked together from three directions. I keep using my debuku storm technique –kunamai so to sound cool– while Eagle with his stone rain technique –yah, he just pelted the stealth with rocks around his feet. We fought in our own way.

“Cih, why am I the least cool without the power of winds like the two of you?!” the Eagle protest is getting overwhelmed or may start to run out of its bullet stones.

“Their number is increasing, Brother,” I report when other yellow light spots appear in the distance to come here. The closer you get here the closer you get, forcing me to move backwards.

“Kak Garudaaa!!” my screams when one of the demons almost grabbed my leg, but was immediately shot out loud by the Eagle. Unexpectedly the stealth head escaped from his body, darting away and a pair of yellow light from his eyes dimmed until it finally extinguished, but hundreds of other pairs had not stopped moving closer.

“Alright, hope it works!” said Garuda without me knowing what he was doing behind my back. I heard him spit, then without warning the fierce wind almost staggered me, sweeping away the herd of demons that surrounded us several meters away. Brother Garuda immediately marked six points around us with quick jumps and returned to the middle with us. I am no stranger to this technique.

As I expected, the threads of light grew from the six points earlier, protruding into the sky, branching into thinner fibers, interlocked into a tight braid to form a dome of light that overshadowed us. The glow of yellow light out there can still be seen from the crevices of the dome fibers are not too tight. They moved closer, trying to break through Kak Garuda's artificial light dome, but to no avail. The demons are getting more and more out there.

“Ah, at least we managed to make protection!” sighed Kak Garuda relieved, relaxing the tension in his facial muscles.

“This .. is like the light dome that Brother made when Luska activated the portal to Alba back then, during my first pick-up. Right ‘kan, Brother?” my guess.

“Yes, at the expense of a little bit of my blood, I can borrow a bit of dimensional space from somewhere, building this dome for safety or protection. I can also control it so that the dome is invisible from the outside, so that the demons stay away and think we disappear, but it seems to be too late,” replied Kak Garuda.

“How long can this dome last, Gar?” ask Eagle.

“Not long, anyway! Maybe just ten minutes. The blood that I sacrificed was just one easy,” replied Kak Garuda.

“After that you can make something like this again? Who can survive until dawn?”

“Hm, I can make it again five minutes after this dome disappears. At least we have to last that long before I make a new dome,” replied Kak Garuda, “and for the dome that can last until dawn, I will tear my stomach to sacrifice a lot of blood.”

“Ti ... doesn't have to be like that either, Brother!” my reply disagreed with the idea of ripping the stomach. The eagle rattled his hair furiously, hating this kind of situation. My head tried to think of another idea, the idea of driving away the demons that had already swarmed and automatically attacked after this dome disappeared. However, my attention was seized by something that seemed to be from the crevices of the dome. Another bright sparkle of light at the top of the cliffs of the land in the middle of this land.

“What is it ... what is moon crystal?” I just don't believe it. The eagle squinted to see the direction show my hand. It was not apparent from the gaps of the brighter threads of light, but the Eagle's eyes were more observant than I thought. As he was trying to observe more clearly, the sky out there slowly brightened again and the dim glow of the moon crystal vanished. The daytime cycle returned only a few minutes after a short night and out of nowhere, the Komodo dragon's demons also disappeared.

“So it seems to be true moon crystal, Shir, the first full moon,” said the steady Eagle. “all we need to do now is observe the time cycle in this place!”

“Ready, Lang!”

“Be sure how long the cycle of day and night, we must determine the arrival of the third full moon while continuing to move closer to the top of the cliff.”

“Should be the third full moon huh?” ask Kak Garuda.

“Iya, Gar. That point of time opened it a slit of light that was the moon crystal itself.”

As per the agreement, we took turns calculating the length of time day and night. Since there are no watches or stopwatches, we actually calculate them manually. It is tedious to count from one to hundreds by keeping the tempo of the count to be no slower or faster than the standard one second. But we still do it. Day and night have the same time span, about six hundred seconds. Right, ten minutes.

“That means that in an hour is equal to three days and three nights in this place,” said Eagle concluded.

“Ah, true too!”

“OK, let's just say one twenty-nine-day moon revolution, means ... one month here equals nine hours and forty minutes, yes ‘kan, Shira? Uh, right, no, anyway?” ask Kak Garuda.

“Hm, yes ... Three days here equals one hour, one month equals nine hours more ... Oh, yes, right, Brother!” my answer.

“Nah, meaning the third full moon is about nineteen hours away, during which time we have to keep moving to the cliff in the middle of this land and climb onto it. Forget about how to activate the slit seal of light without my sword. The important thing is we keep moving forward!”

“Alright, Lang. So that's our strategy. For ten minutes of daylight cycle without stealth interference, we must quickly move towards that cliff, then when night comes, we take refuge inside the light dome Kak Garuda.”

“True, Shir. The distance to the cliff seems less than a kilometer, we can get to the bottom of the cliff in time, even before the second full moon, but do not relax. We don't yet know how to climb those hundreds of meters high cliffs without a safety rope or activate the light gap seal upon arrival at the top. Our PR is still a lot,” said Eagle.

“I understand! By the way, Kak Garuda is okay ‘kan if you have to continue to make the light dome. If calculated, Kak Garuda must make it dozens of times, you know!”

“It's okay, Shira! It won't drain the blood. Maybe my hand will be full of scratches, but I'm sure after returning to the castle those wounds will be done!”

“Really, Gar? No side effects because you keep using your power?” ask Eagle. Brother Garuda was silent for a few seconds before finally shaking his head.

“No, Ang ... Nothing!”

 ***

See ‘kan? It was all terrible at the beginning because we didn't know. Once a strategy has been found, the days of – or every hour– that we pass are not at all stressful. I even played land making houses with Kak Garuda in the dome of light when hit by a cork while the sizzle of Komodo dragons was heard out there. The eagle did not want to join, he was too tense to think of how to climb the cliff. We had spent the first nine hours, arriving at the bottom of the cliff in the middle of the land on time as expected. We have also seen the second full moon. The moon crystal seemed to hang low from the top of this cliff, it could be reached easily if we were up there.

“Don't blame my seriousness! It does not matter at all if the one who has to climb up there is only me, but the provisions Shira also must come, he who uttered the opening spell of the light gap seal,” said the Eagle while gritting his forehead, “unfortunately I'm not sure Shira is strong at climbing and arriving at the top alive. He could have been a muscle cramp in the middle then a free fall hit the ground!”

“I'll catch Shira from below!” replied Garuda spread his hand.

“Yes! Catch!” then we both laughed. Eagles just clucked, really do not want to joke –ah, indeed when did the Eagle ever joke? Okay, I stopped laughing.

Next day the cycle arrives. Brother Garuda deactivates his protective light dome. The eagle immediately examined the cliff wall that he was worried about, feeling its texture and sturdiness. The cliff wall is not very smooth, the stone structure is quite tilting to be used as a grip and foothold during climbing, but the Eagle can not guess which part is more fragile and suddenly falls when gripped. It is terrible to imagine that it happened when the Eagle had been far away at a height without a safety rope. Ah, well, I didn't expect that to happen, anyway!

“Lang, I made you something!” I said showing off my work in front of the Eagle when he was being serious. It just cringes unappetizing.

“Cetaples? Make what?” tanyakanya.

“You thought you were upset because you didn't have any weapons, grumbling because all you did was throw those demons with stones while me and Brother Garuda were exclaiming with the power of our winds,” I explained.

“Then?”

“You can slide rocks against the demons with this catapult. Let's be a little cool, just imagine you're using a bow and arrow! Here, try, deh!”

The eagle had blinked for a while before finally muffling the laughter that he held back, “Shira ... We no longer bother to repel the Komodo dragon stealth because Garuda has made a dome of light every night. I don't understand why you took the initiative to make me a weird catapult like this?”

“Ke ... weird slingshots?!”

“That's! What is the elastic rubber that has lace like this?!” ledek Eagle.

“I ... it's elastic strap for wrinkle effect on the waist of my clothes. I've been willing to take it off, you know!” my answer.

“What told you?! Geez!”

“You end up moody every day!”

“Lau what? You're trying to make me laugh with this thing?! Congratulations yes! You did it, Shir! I've never in a lifetime seen a ludicrous slingshot like this! Especially being told to imagine it as a bow and arrow! Cool from where to try?!” the word Eagle is getting more and more twisted.

“Si ... dammit! Looks like you are even entertained for having my chance to tease ya?! Return it if you don't like it!” reply growled.

“Shortly, deh! I want to try it on someone!” said the Eagle with his ignorant smile aiming at Kak Garuda's head.

“Eh, no, dong! That's to get rid of the Komodo dragon demon, Lang! Brother Garuda, look out!”

 ***

The third night cycle since we saw the second full moon, the dome of light was deserted because the three of us had done nothing. Kak Garuda's head was a bit bumpy while the person in charge of it was just slashing tired on the ground, occasionally glancing at me while still holding back his mocking laughter.

“APA, ANYWAY, YOU?!” my spray is upset still trying to put a quail egg on Kak Garuda's forehead with healing techniques.

“Okay, shit! Don't blame me, dong! All these silly ideas start with you, Shir!” reply Eagle.

“Then why do you keep teasing me?! The truth is you're still carrying around that catapult! You are also not sorry for Garuda!”

“Sshh ... Shira stops marching with Aang, dong! Come on, Aang also don't stick to Shira! You don't want to bother with how to climb that cliff anymore? Only twenty-five cycles aka eight more hours before the third full moon, youh!” kak Garuda said.

“Wah, it looks like you're putting everything to me, but well, it's my responsibility, anyway!” answer the Eagle, get up to a sitting position.

“That's why, do you have any ideas? How about the light gap position? You and Shira reached the moon by what means?”

“Oh, it used to be ... I was suddenly led by my own crystal sword, scraping a faint pattern on the ground, then there was a rising spiral staircase soaring up into the sky, towards the moon crystal,” said the Eagle, “maybe that faint pattern is also around here. I'll check it out later.”

“The problem is the sword to scratch the pattern ... have not met ‘kan?” my question is very, very clear answer.

“Iya, anyway!” answer the Eagle with a downhill shoulder, “if only the sword was in my hand ...”

Has anyone ever felt special because a new wish is said immediately fulfilled in the next second? Incidentally, that person this time was an Eagle and I was very envious of him. The sword that was suddenly in the Eagle's hand looked quite admirable even though it was still wrapped in a sheath. The three of us were both stunned for a moment.

“Shir ... I was just holding your silly catapult, you know!”

.Seriate.