The trees of Sungai Periuk stood like ancient sentinels, tall and silent, their leaves trembling with secrets.
Budin had barely walked an hour from Kampung Hijau, and already the jungle felt different. The air was thicker here—heavy with damp earth and something more... something unseen.
He clutched the wrapped keris close to his side. Each step he took cracked fallen twigs or stirred wet leaves. But there was no birdsong. No chirp. Just the rustle of leaves and the whisper of wind.
Still, Budin pressed on.
This was the path the voice had spoken of—the path to Telaga Naga, the Dragon's Well. The first of the Seven Silat Temples. If it even existed.
But his heart told him: it did.
---
The sun rose slowly behind clouds, and shadows danced between branches.
At midday, Budin stopped by a stream to drink. As he cupped water into his hands, he felt a strange chill crawl across his spine.
He looked up.
A girl stood on the opposite bank. She wore a green scarf over her head and a dagger strapped to her hip. Her eyes were golden, unnaturally so.
"You shouldn't be here," she said flatly. "This jungle eats children."
Budin stood slowly, trying not to appear threatened. "I'm not just a child. I'm training to be a pendekar."
She tilted her head. "That keris you carry... it speaks."
Budin blinked. "You can hear it?"
"I hear many things." She stepped closer. "The spirits say you're being watched."
Before he could ask what that meant, something crashed behind him—loud and fast. A blur of black fur and teeth.
A harimau hitam. A black tiger.
It lunged.
Budin dove aside, rolling in the dirt. The beast roared, turning its yellow eyes on him. But before it could pounce again, the girl drew a glowing charm from her belt and threw it.
It burst mid-air in a shower of white light. The tiger snarled, then vanished—no, melted—into smoke.
Budin gasped. "What was that?!"
"A test," the girl said simply, lowering her hand. "The forest wanted to know if you're ready."
---
Later, as they walked together deeper into the jungle, Budin learned her name was Rania. She was a penjaga, a forest guardian trained in silat and spirit magic.
"I guard the way to Telaga Naga," she said. "Few are allowed to pass. Even fewer survive."
"Then let me try," Budin said. "I have to."
She studied him. "You're reckless. Proud. But the spirits... like you."
She pointed ahead, toward a cliff wrapped in vines and fog.
"Climb that path before dusk. If you reach the stone gate before sunset, the temple may accept you. If not... the forest will take you."
Budin nodded once, and ran.