Ulong Dagger

The Unnamed Islands

Morning, when the sun had just risen outside Belawan City.

"The animal instinct is strange, how the bird can know what we are carrying" said Herrmann, a Dutch company soldier with the rank of corporal who was riding a horse.

He looked up into the sky at the sight of a huge crow flying around and around following them.

At that time he was accompanied by four other company soldiers, three of them on horseback and two others sat on a pedestal pulled by two oxen. They carried out the secret task of Heidrich, carrying Suma's dismembered body in a large box on a pedati. The goal is to dispose of the box on an island in the middle of the Malacca strait.

"Has the traitor become a carcass, so the crow smelled it?", asked his friend, glancing over the large crate on the sword.

Herrmann grinned, not answering and asked, "do you want to check?".

The soldier asked just laughed.

After getting out of the city they now move slowly across a small road up to several kilometers to the northeast.

Last night before dawn it rained quite heavily, so the road they passed became muddy. Luckily this morning the sky was clear and the sun was shamelessly sharing its light, so they could cross the rocky and hollow muddy road here and there without worrying about being mired.

They walked about an hour northeast until they reached a small bay, not too far from the local fishing settlement.

There were four more company soldiers waiting, they were already there to secure the location and make sure boats to transport were available, rented from local fishermen.

Pedati was soon marginalized to the edge of a wooden dock. The dock is more like a three-meter-wide wooden pier that juts into the sea up to ten meters ahead. There were four more wooden sticks like that there were separated by a distance of about ten meters each. Several other boats belonging to fishermen are moored on the titian-titian.

The point where they stopped the pedati was the first of the five, and there was only one boat moored there, which had been rented from local fishermen and they would use. At that time in the bay there were only two other people, namely fishermen at the very end. They were seen checking the nets and did not seem to care or try to find out about the presence of the company soldiers here.

Herrmann, along with the other soldiers, lowered the crate from the cart and carried it to the boat at the end. They moved the crates onto the boat quickly and without difficulty. In addition to the crates they also put some shovels into the boat.

"Hey it was a crow, right?" said a soldier who came with Herrmann. He looked up at the sky while putting his hands above his eyes.

They simultaneously stared at the bird that was still circling them. Nearly an hour later, the bird was no longer visible in space. But now the birds are seen again when they want to go to sea.

"Aah it could have been another crow" said his friend then while upstairs.

"It's weird that a crow is visible above the sea, uh.why does it look closer" continued another.

Sure enough slowly the bird humbled its flight, then suddenly swooped towards them.

"Kaaak.kaaak.!!!", the crow that had just circled around now descended and snatched towards them.

"Damn it, stop!!", said one of the soldiers. But the crow continued to attack, many times he swooped and pecked also clawed and then flew back.

"Sial!!", said Herrmann, his cheeks were seen bleeding in the scratches of bird's claws.

All the soldiers who were there drew their swords together and slapped them on the bird.

There was no successful strike of the bird because of its speed of movement and agility, twice more it struck but after that it stayed away, because the last stroke was almost about it. Now the birds are flying and just circling to observe them.

"Let's get going before there's another distraction" Herrmann ordered as he held onto his bleeding left cheek.

The five of them immediately boarded the boat, the other four soldiers who were there first did not go up, they just stood on the ledge waiting for the boat carrying a chest containing pieces of Suma's body to move out of the small bay.

Along with their boat sailing, two fishermen who had been seen checking their nets also sailed. They still saw the fishing boat on their right side up to a kilometer ahead towards the high seas.

Hermann took out a map and read a compass to determine the direction Heidrich had ordered before they left this morning.

They sailed in the direction of the compass for up to two hours, and before long they saw several small, unnamed and uninhabited islands.

Herrmann took out binoculars and observed the islands.

"The commander ordered us to bury this coffin on one of the islands ahead, one of the most important things for you to remember, this is a secret that we'll carry to death, okay?" he said.

"Ready", said his friends simultaneously.

They headed for the middle of the seven islands there. The island is not too big, broad-beach, or more correctly called almost entirely composed of white sand. After mooring the boat they carried the crate to land filled with coconut trees and bushes that were not too thick.

They walked while carrying crates until about a kilometer entered the island. Then they stopped at a place surrounded by large rocks about ten meters high.

"I think here's a suitable place to dig a hole" Herrmann said. He stood staring around, this place was far from the beach and quite high, dozens of meters above the sea water. Can prevent the box they will plant eroded by the tide.

He pressed the sand with his toe to test the hardness of the plains there.

"This is where we start digging" he said.

And they also took turns digging the soil mixed with sand. To make sure it was safer they dug deep enough for about two meters, then put the crate they brought into it.

After their crates were put in the hole, they hoarded it and some of them took a large piece of coral to be placed on the pile.

"The task is done, we just move, you can rest later on the boat" said Herrmann staring around, it was dusk.

"Ready!!", said the soldiers simultaneously.

They rushed to the boat and pushed it away from the beach and sailed away.

There was no obstacle for them to sail until they reached the bay where they had departed, after the Maghreb.

At the titian where they had taken the boat were two villagers, one a little old in his fifties while the other was about twelve years old. They are the owners of this boat and their children.

Herrmann saluted back with a smile as he lowered the tip of his hat.

"Friends of masters are waiting there" said the fisherman pointing to a spot lit by a torch about two hundred meters away.

"Thank you" said Herrmann, walking with his troops in the direction the fisherman pointed.

The four soldiers who had been at the beginning of the departure accompanied them, were now sitting on the beach waiting for horses and pedatis.

Some torches are seen moving here on the beach, carried by fishermen who will sail at night.

They were busy with their own business, no matter the company's army.

Soon Herrmann and all the soldiers who were there on the horses and the pedati then moved towards the city of Belawan.

They moved slowly down the path they had traveled this morning.

It had been about three kilometers they were walking on a dark street only illuminated by torchlight. Now on their right left there are only trees and bushes as wide as the waist. Crickets were heard here and there, while in the distance to the right they still occasionally heard the sound of waves.

There was another torch moving in the distance. Soon they caught up with the torchbearer, a villager on foot.

"Tabik mister" said the man in his forties as soon as the company troop passed through.

Herrmann stopped his horse, "where are the nights like this Uncle?", he asked.

"Aah patik was about to go to Belawan city, visit a sick family master", he replied politely.

Herrmann looked at the fisherman for a moment, then turned to the pedati.

"The journey is still far to Belawan, go up to our pedati, we are also in the same direction" he said.

The fisherman bowed respectfully "thank you sir", he said girang, then turned off the torch in hand and went up to the back of the pedati.

Before long they arrived at the edge of Belawan city, visible about five hundred meters in front of the bright lights in houses and buildings there.

They were traversing the lush trees on the right left side of the road when suddenly a female voice spoke. "Well the fishermen came back from the sea, strangely they went to the sea not looking for fish but went to dispose of the bodies" a voice said.

The soldiers were immediately on standby, from the conversation it was clear the owner of the voice knew what they were doing and was looking for trouble.

"How dare you interfere in our affairs" said Herrmann, looking to his right side where the voice came from. One strange thing he thought that someone dared to disturb them around the city.

"Get out you show me your face!!", Herrmann snapped, he gave a cue for his men to prepare.

They immediately prepared a rifle and took aim.

A figure of an all-black dressed young female body came out from the darkness about ten meters in front of them. With him also appeared five men dressed in all black with arms covered with shiny gloves

"Who are you?", asked Herrmann in shock, not expecting six people to be hiding there.

This woman is pretty enough, but somehow seeing her feels so creepy, Herrmann thought.

"Well, my name is? I myself have forgotten, because the people who used to call him have died hundreds of years ago" said the woman.

Herrmann smiled cynically, "it can't be like that, if I see your looks like you're ten years below me, just your voice that resembles the voice of a grandmother" he mocked.

The woman just laughed.

"Ooh yeah, people used to call me Ni Gaok" he said.

"And I am queen Wilhelmina", another soldier laughed mockingly, she had heard that name from the locals, and there was no way Ni Gaok was this young woman, she thought.

Herrmann was shocked to hear the woman mention his name, as a soldier who had served ten years in this region he had often heard that name, Ni Gaok is a myth that he often heard from the local population, he said, the terrible crow witch.

"Well let's just consider yourself Ni Gaok, then what is your business with us?", said Herrmann still not sure if this woman is Ni Gaok.

Ni Gaok smirked making him look even more sinister.

"The bodies you cut into pieces and throw into the sea are my students" he said.

Herrmann's heart seemed to stop, how could this woman know that.

Not the crow that attacked us, he thought. Thinking of that suddenly the fur of his nape stood up.

Soon he realized there were locals with them at the moment, and this conversation was a secret that no one should know about. Herman turned to the pedati behind him. The pedati was empty, the villagers were no longer there, only a blanket covering the utensils was visible on the pedati cart.

"So, do you understand what I mean?", asked Ni Gaok in a threatening tone.

"Ma..You mean, you're going to take revenge and kill us?", Herrmann stammered.

His soldiers saw the flaw go wrong immediately cocked the rifle in hand.

"Ooh, not so fast, I won't kill you guys" Ni Gaok said as he held his chin thinking and walked over.

"Don't.don't come any closer!!", said Herrmann, holding a rifle in hand.

"Emm. I thought I would kill you and leave one person as a guide to where you dumped my student body" Ni Gaok said and grinned grimly.