Chapter 1:
Crancrse: The Heaven's Vengeance
To ask is to question another question. That has been my life all along. Sakti, an 11-year-old child who has lived in the Canyon since birth, that is me. I never knew why I had to be alone in this place, and never cared to know, until an event occurred that profoundly changed my perspective forever.
I have always lived in a half-truth. My older brother told me that the world out there is a dangerous place and that this canyon is my only refuge. My brother, Sukma. only said that he ventured outside the canyon to exterminate dangerous monsters born of blood, to protect others and become a hero. I was too young and simply believed his words. He usually came home only 7 days out of three hundred days. I spent my days with my pet fox, 'Kung'
My life depended on the hunting skills taught to me by someone I considered a father figure, who left me while I was fast asleep. I was only seven years old then, the last time I felt the love of someone close to me. By the time I turned eight, I was left alone in this canyon.
I always wondered, is this canyon truly my refuge? When I began hunting, I discovered people in iron armor and armed with weapons guarding the cliffs above. At first, I felt a bit relieved and thought, am I someone special for them to surround this canyon and protect it? But it all started to feel wrong. I noticed their scornful gazes whenever I waved at them. They continued acting that way, even when I hunted near the cliffs. They disrupted my hunts and laughed at me.
For an entire year, I experienced just how hard life could be. Hunting was incredibly difficult. At first, I survived by picking fruits to fill my stomach, but one day, several plants in the canyon's forest were burned to the ground. Some animals also perished, consumed by the flames. I didn’t want to assume the worst. However, when I approached the guards to ask for some food, they responded:
"What? Didn’t we already send you roasted birds and rabbits down there?" one of them shouted, followed by loud laughter from the group.
I admit my difficulty, also because I was so weak and quick to give up at that time. I had tried a few times to climb that steep cliff, but the guards threw trash and rocks at me while cursing me. I began to abandon the thought of trying it again, and naturally, I grew bad habits by mimicking their harsh language.
300 days passed, and I was already 9 years old. My older brother, the one I had missed so much, the one I thought would also leave me like my father figure did, came back in a condition far from well. I saw his face, clearly deprived of sleep, his hair messy, and his posture hunched. The sight terrified me, as he stood frozen in front of the door when I was about to go hunting.
I tried to hug him, to release my longing for him, but what did I get?
"Don't mess with me any more than this, you damn brat!" he yelled, kicking my stomach so hard I was thrown into the dining table.
I was terrified and tried to ask why, but my mouth couldn't form the words. I had had enough of all this. I began to think about leaving the canyon to find out something, anything. That very day, in the distance, I saw a girl my age stumbling as she was chased by an adult man carrying a knife and a rope. Something was wrong, and without thinking, I rushed to help her.
Thankfully, the girl ran toward me, even though she didn't know I was there. I climbed a tree and then ambushed the man from above. I fell right onto his shoulder, blindfolded him with cloth, and shouted for the girl to run away.
But the strength of a child my age was no match for his. I could only hold him back for 10 seconds before he swung his knife, nearly slashing my neck. The man got up, but I stopped him by grabbing his leg. The murderous aura of the man was palpable as he turned toward me, but then, he seemed startled by something and suddenly began to laugh, saying:
"Ha... haa... haaa... is this serious? I guess I don't need to pretend to be kind to you. You've just shortened my work, young one. Thanks for that."
He truly began to hit me hard, trying to knock me unconscious. What happened next was something I had never seen before. It looked like thorny plant stems wrapping around the man’s body from his legs to his stomach, tightening with force. And when I looked closer, I saw the source—it was from the girl he was chasing!
I was confused about what kind of reaction I should show, but before I could fully process what I had just seen, the man was still incredibly strong. He ignored the wounds on his body and kept trying to reach for the girl. I blocked his view again, and the two events that followed would change my life forever!
The thorny vines began to wrap around his arms. The man grew even more aggressive, swinging his knife wildly. And sure enough! One of the vines redirected his swing and pierced his left chest! The man spilled a lot of blood, and I witnessed human death for the first time! The girl was nervous and panicked, but that was not the end of the event that would change my life.
From the thick blood scattered on the ground, suddenly red smoke began rising and entered the dead man’s body. And something horrifying happened. The man got up again, but his eyes were clearly those of a dead person! He now acted like a wild, fang-bearing beast, just like the ones the guards had once thrown at me! More aggressive than the man when he was alive, yet his steps wobbled as he staggered around.
He targeted me, battered as I was, but then there was the sound of someone falling, and sure enough, the girl fainted from fear. The target then shifted. I was powerless to help her anymore. My vision blurred from exhaustion, and I too collapsed unconscious! After that, I never knew what happened to me or the girl.
I woke up at dusk, in a place where I had lost consciousness. It was empty, as if nothing had ever happened there, leaving behind a mystery about the purpose and identity of the adult man and the girl. I returned home while pondering what I had just witnessed. That question kept resurfacing, and I suspected that perhaps it was the monster Sukma had spoken of.
But if this canyon was the only place safe from such monsters, then why did the monster appear here? After all, I had bled while hunting before. What made me different?
When I arrived home, the irresponsible person was gone, vanished without a trace. If only I knew how that person had managed to leave the canyon. I had already made up my mind to keep trying to climb the cliff while waiting for another year until Sukma returned.
A year passed, and I was 10 years old. Sukma had indeed returned, but this time he was with a woman I had longed for. She was like a blessing to me. She gave me what Sukma had never provided: affection for a young child. Because of this woman, I was not alone for the next month.
Her name is Kamala, the same age as my older brother and has a close relationship with him. She is the only person, besides the father figure, who has been very kind to me. She’s the one who gave me my pet fox.
Kamala started teaching me how to process food, raise animals, read, write, and farm so that I wouldn't endanger myself again by hunting. During the time she was teaching me, I began asking all the questions that had been filling my head, because I thought Kamala might have the answers.
I told her everything that had happened. Why I had to live alone in the canyon, Sukma's drastic change in behavior, the guards who looked at me with disdain, the wild animals that suddenly entered the forest several times, the death of a man, and the appearance of a monster that I suspected was born from blood.
"Enough Sakti, all your questions cannot be answered right now," Kamala said after pausing for a moment.
"I am still unable to give you an answer, wait for a year, Sakti. By then, I will have strengthened my resolve to uncover what really happened. For now, be a good child and never ask anything from Sukma," Kamala continued while holding both of my hands.
I did follow Kamala's words, but at the very least, I still wanted to know how they were able to leave the canyon surrounded by steep cliffs. They left the house when I pretended to fall asleep, and what happened after I followed them shocked me.
Just a few seconds after I began following them, behind the bushes that obstructed my view, I suddenly saw Sukma and Kamala already on top of the cliff. It was impossible for an ordinary person, even one using a rope, to reach there in just a few seconds. Could they fly, or could they walk on the cliffs?
After seeing that girl at that time, I began to feel that perhaps humans were more than what I had imagined. Not to mention when I climbed the cliff one night and was caught, a guard who was eating and drinking could be heard saying:
"It must be that useless kid again, hey you! Use your wind and teach him a lesson!" said the man who seemed to be the leader.
"Trouble, he's getting too close. What if he dies, boss?" said one of the subordinates.
"Hah? What do I care? Have you forgotten our task?" the boss continued.
"Hey kid, don't do it again, okay? Bye bye," said one of the subordinates with a grin, clapping his hands together.
A strong wind came and hit me, I fell from a very dangerous height. Despite how shocked I was to discover there were magical people again, I never expected them to go this far.
I woke up lying on my back without a single injury, and wild thoughts began to emerge. If that girl had thorny branches, and Sukma & Kamala could fly/walk on cliffs, and those damn guards had the power to summon wind, then maybe I had the ability to rise from the dead. After all, I had been knocked down by the guards many times, but I had never found a single injury on my body. I kept doing it for a whole year until the number of guards was increased!
"It will be very dangerous if this child finds out his true potential!" I heard one of the guards say.
The day had finally arrived, the day of Sukma & Kamala's return. However, Kamala told me she would inform me on the 7th night, exactly during the special day known as the "Annual Fair." She promised to take me to a mass settlement called "The City." But on the 7th afternoon, Sukma went wild! He suddenly went berserk and almost destroyed the house. Kamala managed to calm him down and then quickly went to the city to get something. I clearly held on to my hopes that she would still take me to the city, but she only gave me a letter I didn't understand, telling me to give it to Sukma.
I hated this situation. I had to deal with someone as insane as Sukma. But I gathered my courage and decided to give him the letter when he woke up.
"Big Bro, are you awake?" I said a little awkwardly.
"Where is Kamala?" he asked while holding his forehead.
"She’s gone, but she left this for you," I answered, handing him the letter.
With a rough gesture, he took the letter. His eyes widened as he read it, and shortly after, a loud explosion was heard to the west of the canyon.
And then, suddenly, that bastard slapped me so hard I fell down.
I have no idea what made him react like that.
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