The Thousand Mask Warrior

Grassland

History records about an Mpu keris from Java sailing and up to the Malay kingdom of Pattani around the end of the 15th century or early 16th century AD. She is known as Mpu Pande Sarah.

The Mpu who not only has the shrewdness and cleverness to create keris, but also has a high creativity so that he developed the form of keris that he brought from the island of Java without fixating on his clothes. The form of keris that is made different from the birthplace of Mpu Pande Sarah is what is then known as Malay keris.

The shape of the keris that was originally made by Mpu Pande Sarah was then expanded throughout the Malay Land. Thus, the name Keris Pande Sarah is still very well known in the Malay Peninsula. The heirs of Mpu Pande Sarah also sprang up in the Malay land. One of them is known as Sang Guna, which is the first Mpu clever keris in the era of Sultan Muhammad Shah king of Malacca. The hallmark of Sang Guna keris is a long wrought keris that measures three jengkal.

One of the main characteristics of the difference between Javanese and Malay keris lies in the upstream or the hilt. Hulu keris Melayu measures a little more than half a jengkal. The shape bends in the middle for a more steady grip of the puncture. Most upstream Malay kris are made from wood or wood tree roots such as kemuning tree, tegor, tempinis, grasshopper petai, lumber or black wood, although some are made from elephant ivory material, too, horns, whale teeth, gold, silver or iron and other metals. Hulu keris is not left plain, but carved with hand carvings full of typical Malay art.

Upstream keris style chicks owned Pucok Gunong the Tiger Belang raised half elbow up. The blood on his blade attached to the solid reflected the sunlight wistfully and darkly. He breathed and set it slowly.

The Malay swordsman pulled one leg back, lowered his keris and held the base of the upper keris with his thumb and index finger while the rest of his other finger was open freely. That way he will be easier to play the keris to change the direction of the puncture smoothly and quickly.

"What is the use of brackets in the field, if not clean rice. What good is a long keris, if you don't dare to die?" exclaim Pucok Gunong in Malay. It is common for the people of Siam and Malay Kedah or Pattani to share the language. He knows a few Siamese sentences so it is often enough to share a conversation or swearing. Instead, he believes the Siamese and Burmese understand what he is calling for.

With the left hand widened and the palm open, the Belang Tiger shot forward. One Burmese swordsman greeted by turning the body and slashing his elbows. Tiger Belang brushed off the elbow with his left palm that opened and immediately instilled the sharp tip of his Malay keris bar into just below the armpit of the enemy.

Another opponent jumped so high ready to throw his knee into the head of Pucok Gunong.

Of course the Malay swordsman does not want to take it for granted. He intended to pull out his keris stuck in the body of the opponent's side when he realized that the Burmese swordsman who had not died and did not feel pain at all was holding his right hand so that the keris was not retractable! Not only holding the kris so as not to be uprooted, he also locked the arms and fingers of the Malay swordsman so that he could not get out of his place to stand.

Pucok Gunong raised his other arm.

PRAK!

Pucong Gunong heard the crackling of his own broken arm bone. Not until there, the swordsman's knee from the Siamese fighting group also hit the forehead and made him bleed.

Before Pucok Gunong flinched backwards, with all his strength, he pulled out the dagger stuck on the side of the enemy body and counterattacked while retreating.

Gunong the Belang Tiger Pucok was thrown back, rolled and almost stretched out. His left hand felt so painful and torn from the inside. He tried half-dead to stand up and forced his Malay Kedah silat kris horses.

On the opposite side, the Burmese swordsman who was stuck in the ice eventually collapsed as well, probably because blood was flowing out with a craze. While the Burmese swordsman who beat him with his knee turned out to be too shrewd. Pucok Gunong had to tear the calf muscle of the opponent with his Malay keris.

With a stumble, doyong, oreng, the two warriors who attacked each other strengthened their horses. Before long, the Malay, Siamese and Burmese warriors who were initially sprawled, turned out to be slowly starting to stand, especially for those who are still able to.

Strange scenery is now being spread in the hill pastures in the border region of Kedah and Siam. People stood up, then fell down, then shouted pushing and forced their own manpower to get up.

The ones who were truly able to stand were already prepared to exhaust that life of theirs to once again for the last time, destroy the opponent. But before the bloody fight came back, the sound of the gun eruption rang out loud. Not once, but several times, even from different directions.