The Explorers of the Universe

Infiltrate the Lake of Gods

Asteria flying over the trees. His destination was the area around the cave where he found Sikka. He was sure the God Lake was located not far from the cave. Before leaving the Lower Nation cave, Sikka had given him a stock of smoked meat that was ready to be eaten. Asteria stored the smoked meat in a leather bag given by the Chief so as not to have trouble carrying the meat.

Travelling is much faster than walking. Asteria remains wary if there are Upper Nation humans who see it. Approaching the territory of the Upper Nation, Asteria descended and squatted on a tree trunk. He should be more worried because this could be their exploration area. The journey continues by flying between the trees.

At noon, Asteria arrived at the tree shelter she had made. There were no signs of damage or footprints around the tree shelter. He concluded that the tribe of the Upper Nation did not know this shleter, had not even passed through this place.

“Before continuing the mission, I should rest here for lunch,” Asteria said. He keeps his leather bag in the shelter.

Asteria had lunch at the shelter. Some of the smoked meat given by Sikka he kept in the shelter with his bag. He also kept his cloak there to ease his movement. The shelter would be useful for him to rest or hide if he had not obtained the thing that King Luid meant.

Meanwhile the hordes of the Upper Nations that were about to attack the Lower Nation went through another path, one that was slightly twisted yet relatively more hidden. They did not want this raid known to the Underworld who were looking for wood or food, then reported to the Chief of the Lower Nation so they fled. They wanted this ambush to be perfect and full of suffering.

After lunch, Asteria flew from one tree to another in front of her. From the branch to the big branch. He watches the surrounding land, making sure no one can see him. Until he arrived at a tree branch that directly faced the cave where Sikka was hidden.

In the cave there was no life. Asteria came down and walked around the cave. He entered with great care and found no one. “Surely they have already gone to the Lower Nation residence. I have to hurry before there are casualties,” said Asteria.

He exited the cave, then floated around the cave. 400 Meters from the cave, there is a population activity. There are several wooden houses with pandan leaf roofs.

“This must be their village,” muttered Asterai while hiding in the leaves of a tree.

Asteria saw two women who came carrying jugs filled with water. Two women entered his house. Asteria suspected they were taking water for cooking purposes or whatever. But the most important of the analysis is that there are water spots around these settlements.

Before long a woman followed by a dog carrying a pitcher out of her hut house. He and his dog walked down the path where two women had brought water earlier. Asteria did not want to waste this opportunity. He flew slowly from one tree to another following the woman and the dog.

In the middle of the journey, the dog nodded loudly while staring at the tree where Asteria was hiding. The lady carrying the pitcher told the dog to shut up. Asteria hoped the woman would not be sure what her dog was shouting at.

Asteria was lucky, the woman continued the journey without touching her dog that smelled a strange smell among the trees. Asteria was grateful, but the dog was still unable to remain silent. Asteria decided to climb a tree and then fly over the trees. Until the dog can't smell his body.

Asteria continued to fly looking straight. He had already lost track of the woman, but his instinct was to say she would walk to the water center that was ahead.

As he continued to speed through the air, the trees in front of him were unexpectedly gone. Just a wide view and a stretch of water. Now all that is under Asteria is a vast lake of water.

Asteria. He immediately returned to the trees to hide before anyone could see him. He looked around to see how the care around the lake was. And he saw some men with well-trained body muscles holding spears, standing on the sides of the lake. Asteria was grateful they did not see him who had flown a little over the lake.

Asteria continued to spread her gaze. Apparently, on each side of the river, with a distance per 200 meters, maybe less or more, there were men standing guard. True said Sikka, they protected this lake ahead of the Sacrifice Ceremony.

Time is getting late afternoon. Asteria had to figure out how to find out what was in this river. He began to think, how to explore the lake while tight guard like this?

Asteria's eyes widen. “Ah, compass it!” he remembered the compass given by King Luid.

Asteria reached into the compass she had in her pocket. He tried twirling the compass direction to get a clue.

As a result, the green compass needle moves and lights up. “A hint!” the green needle was always moving and lit into the middle of the lake. Asteria nodded her head in a sign of understanding something.

“So I have to go to the middle of the lake. But how? There are too many guards here. Flying there will only make their spears float freely, or they storm with their boats and rafts that are on the river side.” Asteria was silent for a moment.

“I have to find a way,” murmured.

“I have to swim to the middle of the lake,” he thought.

Asteria drift very slowly. He did not want to make ripples of water waves that would attract the attention of the lake guards. Lucky afternoon weather makes the forest fog down. The lake began to smoke haze.

In the water, the Asteria immediately swam to the center. He had to hurry because otherwise he would be out of breath. He often swims in the sea, the strength of his survival in the water is only 2 minutes. Asteria should use that resistance well.

Setiba in the middle of Asteria lake found nothing. He began to breathe and was tired. He decided to slightly raise his face to the surface to catch his breath. The fog that began to thicken made the water ripples not clearly visible.

Knowing this fog was blocking the sight of the guards, Asteria slightly let out her head. He took a longer breath. “I had to swim to the bottom of the lake to find out what was inside,” thought.

Asteria drowned herself. Swim straight down with all your might. He continued to swim until the view was not very clear. At the bottom of the lake which is estimated to reach 9 meters Asteria found nothing. There was only mud, gravel, leaves and rotten wood.

The asterias are out of breath again. He immediately swam to the surface to take a breath. Asteria came to the surface with drenched hair. He breathes fast.

And to his surprise he realized that the fog had disappeared in the wind of the forest valley. Even more surprising, it turns out that the guards saw a head appear on the surface with ripples of water due to the movement of a person.

They boarded boats and rafts to see what they were seeing. They suspected it was the spirit of the lake, but still they needed to confirm it.

The panicked Asteria immediately drowned herself. He swam strongly to the opposite side of the lake from the side where he entered. Anxiety makes him swim stronger, even making him forget to breathe for more than 2 minutes.

“Sial! Damnit damnit! Why can they see me!” mumbling Asteria.

Asteria arrived on the rocky side of the river. The rock has cracks like a side of the lake. He hid in the rock. His head slightly rose to the surface to take a breath while looking at the guards in the middle of the lake.

Stone cracks and dark days make Asteria hidden there. However, he could not have climbed to the mainland from that side because right on top of him was a guard standing. Luckily he did not suspect the water ripples coming from the rock crevice beneath.

Asteria thought again. He had to find another way to find it. Meanwhile the night continued to darken. Asteria must find a way out immediately.

Asteria reached into her clothing pocket. He glanced at the compass of the clue. The green colored needle moves with strong vibration. Asteria immediately kept it in her clothing pocket. With debar and confidence, Asteria concluded, “That pointer is very close!” his inner.

Asteria glanced back. It turned out that the crack of the rock where he was hiding was continuing to go inside. Asteria's instinct told her to enter following the spell without fear. If you remember the compass arrow was pointing towards where it is now, Asteria estimated that the clue was across the lake from where it was hiding earlier, not the middle of the lake.

Asteria swim inward into the rock passageways beneath the land. The hallway is a cave with a hole that is not too big. He kept going in slowly. And as the cave went deeper without any air space, Asteria swam inside. He followed the cave in the unknown distance. Asteria just hoped she would find room to take a breath.

After swimming far enough, Asteria reached the surface of the water. He came out and took a quick breath. The room was dark and could not be estimated its depth and content. “I must be vigilant. I don't know what danger is in this cave,” said Asteria.

Asteria stand. He walked in that dark room. Until he accidentally touched the wood attached to the wall. He pulled the wood to make a handle. As he pulled the wood, there was a rope that tied the wood to the wall. Asteria pulled the wood even stronger, and torch flames were burning in the corners of the cave. Apparently the wood was tied to the lighters in each torch.

When all the flames were burning, it was clear that the cave room was quite spacious. On the walls there are sparkling and beautiful gemstones. And from the sight of it all, there was something that made Asteria rewind her steps and the expression of the surprised face was not artificial.

In the middle of the cave was a giant coiled snake. In the center of the circle was a stone high enough. On the stone were three objects: a sword, an axe, and a shield.

“This is what King Luid means?” ask Asteria to herself.

[Next Part 31]