by Rama Nugraha
Datan’s heart raced, he couldn’t find anything to say back. He might have said too much.
Nymeria walked closer with a smile on her face. Under the light from the lantern, she looked gleaming. She was covered in beads of sweat of joy and desire. “Interesting,” she muttered.
Datan winced. “Alright, let’s start again,” he challenged. “This time I’ll beat you.”
Nymeria smirked when Datan lifted his balled fist.
Without any preparation whatsoever Nymeria pounced on him, her figure was barely seen as she moved. Weapons she carried clangs behind her cloak. In a millisecond, Nymeria dodge an attack Datan threw to her face, then she pounced again. Datan was baffled at the unexpected attack. Nymeria threw Datan to the floor with the help of gravity. Their position was odd, she sat on Datan’s chest. He could not move, it felt like he was squeezed by a metal cupboard!
“You’re really heavy!” Datan panted as he struggled to land a punch. This is bad!
Yet, Nymeria was faster to detain his punch. “Your face, your face,” she hummed with her thin lips. “I want to touch your face!”
Nymeria somehow managed to make Datan unable to stand. Her right arm was as hard as a stump. Nymeria’s silvery gaze burned with thirst and hunger. She paled, her eyes widened like she wanted them out of the sockets. She smiled widely as if she was possessed!
“You will kill me?” Datan yelped, now feeling his entire muscle weakened bizarrely, “We haven’t gotten a chance to get to know each other yet!”
“In a moment, in a moment,” her face resembled a corpse now. No longer was she pleased to see.
“You maniac!”
“Shut your mouth!”
“Cra—zy!”
Nymeria paid him no mind.
Datan could not breathe properly. His neck throbbed as Nymeria’s finger chocked him so hard. Those fingers might as well made of metal. His strength melted, dripping along with his sweat, then evaporated into thin air. Datan could not roll over nor lift his back, he cannot even move his waist to throw Nymeria off him. He was truly immobilized. He tried to get away from the grip in his neck as much as he could when Nymeria’s left hand reached out to his face.
Datan’s groan got stuck in his neck. His eyes widened in disgust at Nymeria’s finger which smelt like a bloody corpse. Why was she grazing his face?!
“You do like my face, don’t you?”
Her hand grasped Datan’s face. The tip of his finger pushed his eyelids and covered his mouth and nose, making him unable to breathe.
The air was as cold as the winter wind. Every second which felt like hours, Datan’s heartbeat slowed and his body was as still as a statue. His mind strayed far away from the fight. It went backward. He remembered the most memorable memories he had ever since he was born.
He remembered being raised by his kind, yet egoistic and sometimes annoying Father; meeting Erry; practicing Arni with Father; dating a girl named Mirla, which ended badly; his fight with Aunt Fira; the legendary hunting of the Dull-Horned Skink with Uncle Joe in the forest; the passing down of Malika from Father to him; meeting Kanas; Being with Irirana in the jungle; up to the disobedience he did to get here.
Everything flashed in his mind uncontrollably. It felt like his memory was being dug.
And then, there was darkness.
Nymeria pulled her hands right away. She panted as she tried to get away using both of her hands, dragging her own body to lean on the wall. She let go of Datan who was now limp, unmoving. Datan coughed, his eyes bugged out as he saw the crystal chandelier. He was disoriented.
Nymeria’s head was down, swaying to the right and left like she was listening to a tune. She giggled weekly. “Finally…” she lifted her face, drenched in sweat. “I get to know you. I am glad to know you… Datan Woudward.”
Datan used all of his might—fighting the aching of his joints—to sit down. His energy had returned. He starred at the woman, dumbfounded. He tried to stand up, with one hand holding his throbbing head like there were hundreds of needles trying to pierce through his skull.
Datan did not realize that his hood had fallen and his face was exposed. His breathing was short and fast. His chest was burning when he took wobbling steps towards Nymeria. Datan could not believe what he saw.
Her skin became wrinkly and her body looked smaller as if it shrunk. She shivered and she looked… fragile.
Datan starred at him without any sense of pity. “What did you do?”
A weak smile bloomed in her dry lips. “You’re kind of handsome,” she whispered.
Datan slammed her to the wall, pulling her to her feet which were unable to support herself. Oddly, her body was now as light as cotton. “ANSWER ME, NAY!” he roared.
“Meria, Datan, please call me Meria,” Nymeria panted, her voice was barely inaudible. “You should have listened to Kahisar Irirana,” she stared at him straight.
Datan told himself not to choke Nymeria, yet.
She closed her eyes, regulating her breathing. Enjoying it. “Finally, oh, I have kept this plan a secret for such a long time,” she said as satisfaction became apparent in her face. The glow in her eyes dimmed, it turned grey once more. “I am sure you are a perfect candidate. Your life, my Datan, it shall never be the same again—“
Datan threw Nymeia out of the window.
Her limp body was obedient to follow his power. Her body spun once, their gaze met and Datan could see the horror in her face as her body broke the glass of the window and she fell down.
A thud was heard, then nothing.
Datan wiped the sweat in his cheek. “I am sick of seeing you, Nay,” he muttered.
Truthfully, Datan wanted to know what Nymeria meant. Why was she like a drunken man who babbled that she knew his entire life? But anger took over him. All he knew that he had to get her out of his sight that he lost control.
He hoped Nymeria did not die.
Datan took Zu out of his pocket. The stone was actually in his grasp now. This means his mission was completed. Datan gave the room the last look. It was time to go. Night breeze went in through the broken window, easing the smell of blood in the room.
Datan’s eyes fell upon Thar Ubaga and both of his wives on the floor. What will the people say when they found this? What will be reported in the newspaper? Datan felt his nape shivered as images of the possible flashed in his mind.
He had to leave Fardas fast!
Datan ran towards the staircase when his steps were abruptly stopped. He realized that one of the corpses in the room had gone. The old wizard was no longer there! His nerves tightened again. Where is that man? Datan quickly went down the stairs, he stopped for a second to see his mother’s painting for the last time. He thought of taking it with him but he did not have time. Datan continued to climb down the stairs when the black wristlet reacted. Was it the wizard? Or the Ape?
Datan got restless. He only brought one garlic paste! He ran out of the house and felt worse as he found the moon being covered by cloud, making the situation more eerie in the yard. He was startled when he saw that neither the Ape nor Nymeria was there. The Ape must have taken her away. Bastard!
Hot air followed by a hiss ticked him out of nowhere.
Datan turned around and his knees melted as he saw a square of the wall melted like heated metal, before it completely crumbled, showing him the room behind the wall. The black wristlet vibrated heavily, piercing cold, reacting to the aura in the air.
It warned him of the impending death.
The wizard glared at him. There was no trace of garlic paste in his face. For some reason he was shirtless, displaying his skinny body with bulging ribs. His skin was wrinkly with several scars left by a whip. His body was covered in unfathomable tattoos of white circles. His sweat smelt like chalk and sulfur. He was busy chewing… and he was not alone.
A dark-feathered woodpecker was between them. It had clear yellow eyes and blazing three red dots in its forehead. It stood on the floor covered in sulfur powd
er forming the shape of a diamond with an inscription of a complicated mantra. Four silver chalices were placed at every angle of the diamond shape next to the mantras. Each of them was filled with fire, water, dirt, and nothing in the last chalice, which presumably represented the element of air. In the middle was a circle made of salt where the woodpecker stood.
That was Palua Territory, a portal to summon Anag from the Abyss. Datan knew a little of it from a book in the Royan’s Library. He could no longer lie to himself. Calculating his position and happenings, he knew exactly what it meant.
A complete disaster.
“I was having dinner with my wife and child,” the woodpecker complained at the tired old wizard. Its voice was deep, make it very unsettling. “And you dare to summon me here. You selfish man!”
Joris leaned towards his right. He was clearly exhausted. He was holding onto a white, coarse, bent wooden staff, which created smoke smelt like charcoal into the air.
“Sorry, Ferid,” the old wizard said pitifully. “This is an emergency.”
“You looked really bad, Sir Joris,” Ferid’s eyes glowed, watching over Joris who looked like someone in the death door. In a glance, there was hunger in his eyes. “Your life aura had faded. Your staff can only do so much… truly it was a mistake to summon me.”
“And you’re happy with it, pan?”
Ferid coughed, holding back his forbidden happiness.
“For Unum, Ferid. I have no other choice. Thar Ubaga had just passed away. Everything was chaotic,” Joris’s eyes looked red, bugging out in rage. He spat a disgusting red lump. “And that Royan man was the one responsible for everything! The thievery! The murder! He even put some garlic on me! He slaughtered the Red Necks! Can’t you smell their foul blood filling the yard, Ferid?!”
Ferid only blinked, flapping one of his wings.
Datan assumed Joris spat out grasshopper he chewed earlier because he could still see grasshopper feet in the lump. Datan shrugged in disgust. At the same time, his heart beat so fast that he could not breathe. He felt his feet rooted to the ground, disabling him to take a step backward, to lift his hand or to even shake his head in disagreement. “I am not the one killing the Thar, Joris. The crazy woman did.”
“And you must be her friend!” Joris accused in rage. He would not take any other answer. “That woman made me unconscious with a bizarre method! The way only you Royans know how! She made me unable to save Thar Ubaga!”
A way only Royans know how? Datan was dumbfounded, knowing that he could not defend himself. After all, Joris was known to find a scapegoat to cover up his own wrongdoings.
Ferid glared at Datan, sighing angrily as he realized something. “Then, what do you want me to do to him?” he asked, irritated. “I cannot use Illusion Trap on this man.”
“Royans are no ordinary men, Ferid. Don't let your guard down. Kill him, Ferid! Kill him! Swallow him whole! Eat his flesh! Do as you like. I don’t care!” Joris exclaimed, tapping his staff to the floor vigorously. “Don’t you want to continue your dinner?”
Datan’s face turned blue. He cursed in silence.
The woodpecker chuckled. “Oh, my pleasure, Sir,” it said as it spread its wings which were as black as soot.
Ferid flew faster than an arrow, and he turned into a Ludaj. The damp air in the room stung. The ground trembled as Ferid the Ludaj stomped his feet onto the surface, towering before Datan like a lush hill. A foul vinegary smell of Ferid’s body filled the air, followed by hot air which attacked the night attire.
His attire felt tightening.
Datan looked up, his eyes widened and his mouth gaped as he saw Ferid breathed heavily with nostrils clogged by mucus. Datan heaved, his knees wobbled.
Feris screamed.
His voice was like a cannon exploding right before his eyes. It shook the entire house. Even the night sky looked like it was about to fall. Every window in the building was scattered. Pieces of glass were then scattered in the yard. Lush grass lost its color as it died. The bushes trembled as it was in pain. The trees crackled like it wanted to run away and the leaves fell off their branches,
Datan’s heart nearly completely stopped seeing what happened. His cheek was slapped by the air smelling like charcoal coming out of Ferid’s mouth. The hair on his body stood. His bones crackled. Datan could felt his knees turned into jelly as his power left him, making him wobbled. His breath stuck. He had never been that scared. His left hand went behind his head, trying to cover his head again as his hood was pushed down by the air earlier. He wanted to hide his pale face.
“Wanna run?” Ferid offered in a hoarse voice, his eyes were on fire.
Datan was hysterical—screaming with a closed mouth. He turned around and run across the yard… and Feris chased after him. Uncontrollable fear drove his every move. The ground trembled like there would be a landslide. He imagined ravine opened up under his feet, swallowing him whole. He slapped himself! When he met the Ape he was not this scared.
Why? Why was Datan so afraid? Was it an illusion? Was the black wristlet no longer functioning? Was it because it was the first time he saw the power of an Anag?
He would have never thought that he would be chased by an Anag that night. He knew that the Anag could kill him in a second. As far as he knew, not only could Anag cast maddening magic—like the Illusion Trap or performed shapeshifting and mimicking the ability of the creature it posed as—they could also manipulate the elements. Datan could be attacked by fire breath, swallowed by the ground, thrown to the air or worse.
Could the black wristlet shield him from ice bullets?
Chapter 22
Walking Around the Town
Somehow, Datan thought Bonn the round nose.
The Haedin man who ate without utensils once lent him a book about Anag. The book said that essentially, Anag was a creature who did not think much. They like to be praised, to play around and to be neglectful. They tended to get carried away, so much that they forgot that they could shake the surface.
With that in mind, Datan thought it might be a good idea to praise Ferid as much as he could to win this battle. The problem was, how could he praise him? Datan was great at provoking, not complimenting.
Datan ran on a footpath. Passing through the corpse of the Red Necks which might have become a container of serious plague.
Following behind him, the Ludaj destroyed the stones he stepped onto. His hands slapped the branches of flamboyant trees which were on his way. His gaze was filled with hunger. His eyes were sharp like an archer locking its target. They were set to the terrified Royan running before him. The ground, grass, and branches it stepped on were burnt by its heat.
Datan approached the black gate which was clanking because of the shaking of the ground. He saw that the two guards in the gateway had woken up. They were startled seeing a Ludaj ran across the yard of their master.
Datan panted. “Hei! Open the gate!” he shouted desperately.
The guards exchanged look, they crooked an eyebrow. They nodded after they seemed to decide something. They turned back to Datan, smirking mockingly.
Datan threat them with his glare. “Morons!” he screamed. “Open the gate!”
Useless.
Rather than doing as they told, one of them took clubs and starting to use them to each other. It made a loud noise. Tok-tok-tok-tok. They then ran here and there in the street, shouting their lungs out. “Thief! Thief!” both of them shouted. “There’s a thief in Thar Ubaga’s house! Thief!” Tok-tok-tok-tok-tok.
Datan cursed under his breath as he reached the gate. He climbed it as agile as a squirrel on the verge of death. He jumped to the street. Ferid roared behind him. His voice tear the air like thunder. The four-meter creature jumped through the gate like it was nothing. He landed hard on the street, breaking the asphalt.
Datan’s mouth fell. “Are you mad?!” he spat. He balled his trembling fists. “The entire city could wake up because of your stupid mouth! You—“
Hot a
ir exploded.
Datan chocked.
Ferid had just kicked him.
His body was flung before falling on the street, he hit the lantern pole twice and rolled before he finally stopped. Sprawled on the street. Facing the street hopelessly.
It was painful like he was about to die.
Datan had never received such an impact. He choked on his breath in his throat. His entire body ached. His chest was burning and his ribs felt like it stabbed his organs. It felt like his left shoulder was about to fall off. He felt incredibly nauseous as though his digestive system was being stirred. His head buzzed heavily.
Datan could not feel his left arm. He shook his head, lifting his head away from the asphalt as he felt gravels stuck to his cheeks. He focused his eyesight, panting. His teeth chattered as he held back pain all over his body.
The sound of a tapped club was still heard. It pierced his ears like a dull needle. Datan cursed the moronic guards in silence.
Vaguely, Datan could hear a scream of fear. It was like a cold breeze creating a frost in his ear. It started with one sound, then more. The people who had just woken up started to walk out of their house, wanting to know what actually happened. Some even went directly to Thar Ubaga’s mansion. It was chaotic. They came with loads of question, despite the fact that they still wore pajamas. They froze seeing a talking Ludaj. Especially Ludaj that had a blazing red Qie sign.
Two other men screamed, calling for more patrol officer.
Datan groaned. What do I do? He supported his whole weight with his left hand and pulled himself to a sitting position with all of his might. His waist throbbed as he tried to straighten his spine. Pain clogged the air in his throat.
Ferid approached him and the whole street shook. He laughed coarsely and proudly.
Datan lifted his hands. “Alright, alright, that’s enough,” he panted as he fixed his hood. “Your kick was incredibly strong, Ferid, I’m sorry to—“
“Quiet!” Ferid raged. “Don’t say my name, you stupid!” he threatened him with his balled fists.
Datan loses more color from his face, his eyes were glued to the gigantic balled fist before his face. “Alright, alright! I am sorry!” he said as his entire muscle tensed. “My mouth has no filter sometimes—“
