Moon Eater, wider than a mile
I'm crossing you in style someday
Oh, grim maker, you devourer
Wherever you're going, I'll stand in your way
Two drifters, off to slay the one
There's such a lot of strength to wield
We'll fight until the bitter end
Thwarting all your plans
My huckleberry fiend
Moon Eater, your end
Bathara Kala had broken free from the statue.
His murky green eyes were fixed upon the seven humans. The spittle in his mouth was the rain of southern Yawadwipa, while every breath he took was a hurricane in the city centre. His lips were stiff, parted slightly, the echo of words in the common tongue deafening to all who could hear.
"A woman...," his voice carrying the weight of aeons, "contracted to become my master. She allows me to complete the ultimate goal I yearn for..."
As the giant's head rotated upwards, a gust of wind swept through the streets. Now no one knew where the rest of the humans were. Perhaps they were all killed by the force as he emerged into concrete reality, or claimed the culvert as their new home.
"I will give you time." Bathara Kala continued, lifted by supernatural power. No more auxiliary winds that devastated the already devastated civilisation. " Pray farewell to whomever you consider to be gods, for soon, they will be replaced by me, the god who is truly present among his servants...."
The mages of the world had united to defeat the Moon-Eating Giant Head centuries ago, and Semar's sons could not even imagine the magnitude of the battle—the centuries they had lived were actually normal when juxtaposed with this. Ki Semar regarded Bathara Kala as a nightmare coming back to life.
Let alone Alicia who was basically a witch born yesterday.
And thus, Wisesa's words rang true: His father was truly an unhinged man.
Wisesa broke the silence of horror with a firm voice. "No, no, no. Barong, there's no way you can handle this."
Barong was apparently gaping before the man's voice made it shake its head. Its chuckle was dry, full of frustration. "As much as I hate being blasphemed, especially by a young man like you, I must admit the truth of your tongue. Even if you use all my strength, I doubt you can defeat him."
"Good. One other reason I don't want to use your power."
"That's because fighting threats with flying as the primary ability is the speciality of the Guardians of the Air and Sea, Banaspati. Even the Avatar of Mrajapati had to die, despite defeating him. That particular Earth Guardian has never followed its intuition."
"And where is your brother the Air Guardian? You said you knew where it was, right?"
"I know. It is in the Eastern Land. But it's useless, I'm trapped in your body, I can't drag my brother here."
"Doesn’t the intuition of Sang Hyang Sukra also ring in its head as well? It should come here to help us!"
"Sang Hyang Sukra's intuition says it won't come." Despite saying so, Barong's face turned radiant, showing off all its teeth through an ever-widening grin. "Well, that's fine, really. If it doesn't have the need to come here, that means it's not a potentially earth-shattering threat. We can all defeat it!"
Any creature that had lived for more than a hundred years had a different perception of anything beyond reason. To them, it was an everyday occurrence. A shaman whose entire face covered the city was just another little oddity.
Alicia's eyes were still wide as she slowly turned to the Patron of Lands. "You really think so...? H-h-how could you?"
"It's easy, there's you, and Kalimasada, the Origin of All Gods!" retorted Barong.
The gaping on the bespectacled lass' visage remained. "Sang Hyang Sukra's intuition told you this?"
Barong tapped its chin with a finger. "Hm... No, just my gut feeling..., with a little logic! Logic, Alicia!"
Such optimism did not work in Alicia's mind.
Wisesa was determined to try something, so he rolled up his sleeves and began to dance while chanting the stanzas of mantra; an invocation from The Way of Mrajapati that was meant to cancel out the opponent's spell and bring them to the ground, just as the Leyaks had done to him back then. However, even as Wisesa’s lifted hand executed the spell perfectly, the giant head showed no slowing of motion, continuing to soar as fast as a snail.
"Whoever it is, stop tickling me," Bathara Kala echoed without turning his head, as if he knew what spell was stuck on his skin. "Do you really think Durga defeated me with that spell? How absurd of you."
Barong muttered under his breath, "Well, at least you're utilizing the dead grave guardian's spell instead of using my power. How thoughtful."
"Shut up, Runt Cat!" Wisesa barked at him. "You said you were useless yourself!"
"I didn't say I was useless!" Barong roared back. "Where's your comprehensive ability?"
"If you can't defeat him, then you're useless. Logic, Barong!"
The two continued to argue, while Alicia pretended not to hear and focused on distributing Arcane to Semar and Petruk. "Bagong, Cahyaningrum. Can you gather all the shamans or practitioners here?"
"E-even the enemy shamans?" Cahyaningrum was uncertain.
"I bet the shamans would be averse to the Moon Eater bringing disaster to all citizens of Yawadwipa indiscriminately."
"Okay, I'll do it right away!" Cahyaningrum rushed off at once.
Bagong also agreed to Alicia's request. "No problem, Miss Alicia! However, please all of you wear these!" The pygmy man passed a marrad communication device to each person. "I'll use Badra's communication machine. I will gather the shamans in the palace courtyard!" Bagong ran into the city street, lost in the obstruction of the buildings.
Alicia's attention snapped back to the remaining men. "Let us start by pounding the surface of Bathara Kala's body until he weakens."
The assembly did not utter a word of complaint, and Barong simply shrugged. "Don't forget to use The Knowledge Brajamusti, my sons!" advised Semar. He called back his green khodam before, together with the others, rose up into the sky.
Alicia seemed to be still tethered to the ground, watching the others take flight and Bathara Kala ascend higher. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest as she contemplated the task before her—to purify something even bigger than Barong himself: a colossal head, looming in the heavens like a new moon. A shaman who had slain all Arcane wielders in his time because of his lethal Curse of Empathy. A daunting challenge, and Alicia struggled to envision how she would succeed in purifying him and what would come after.
New experiment, Alicia, Orb sang. Don't keep the others waiting.
Alicia could not help but feel a twinge of worry as she spoke up. "We can purify a head as big as the moon, can't we? Not dying in the process?" She then paused, her resolve faltering momentarily, but then Orb’s teasing of optimism and Barong's recent unwavering resolution came to mind. Her resolve renewed. "We can beat him," she declared, though her quick nod was punctuated with a hint of nervousness.
Orb remained silent for a moment but then interjected. You'll need to fly higher than a flying ship in the air, it said.
"Argh, Orb!" Alicia felt a flash of anger. "Why remind me of that now? I could have flown off without even realising it!"
Another concern that had to be considered. Orb was indeed a caring friend.
Yet you’re still here, idling! You've already learned to fly as high as a tree and overcome it even, Orb reminded her. Always know this: truly I say to you, what limits men are their faith, and also their fears.
With a heavy sigh, Alicia merged with Orb, causing the air around her to hum with the blue luminescence of her body.
"I'll do it anyway," she said, her voice tinged with determination. "This is my ambition. And all of Yawadwipa needs us."
Good girl.
Alicia caught up with the rest and the five magic practitioners now dispersed, each taking on a different flank of Bathara Kala. Gareng and Petruk darted towards his left side, while Alicia and Wisesa bombarded his right with a barrage of magical attacks. Semar floated on his stomach, facing the blank smile on the face of Bathara Kala. The old man and his magical servants pounded on the forehead and bridge of the Moon Eater's nose.
Bathara Kala let out a wail in the form of thunder. Literal thunder. Even the surface of his skin, as it rubbed against the friction of Arcane and Khaos, felt like being dragged across the tarmac by a speeding carriage, and the shaman had no hand to ward off the assault. Yet, for all the torment of the primordial two-energy chain reaction, the flying head was unscathed. His skin was impenetrable like steel, and again, the distance between Bathara Kala and the earth was increasing.
Through the launch of plasma lasers, Alicia also shared the pain with Bathara Kala. But she did not feel the pain to death promised by Barong and the others. Not yet.
"Flies!" Bathara Kala scoffed, especially as he watched Ki Semar and his khodam busy poking him in the eye. "No matter how hard you try, you will not succeed this time! Stop vexing me, and maybe I'll pardon your transgression when I've truly become a god!"
Petruk flew in circles around the Moon Eater's head, meeting Alicia and Wisesa. "This isn't working," he said. "It will take longer to weaken Bathara Kala, and the air will get thinner the further our feet are from the earth!"
Alicia gripped her head tightly in frustration. She looked Bathara Kala up and down, straining every fibre of her mind to reconstruct a new idea.
"Maybe we can aim for his brain?" the thought slipped from the girl's lips. "Eh, wait! That wouldn't kill him, would it—"
"Good idea!" Petruk immediately dived down.
"Oi, wait!" Alicia exclaimed. "Don't let any of us kill him!"
"Dumbass, are you out of your mind?" Wisesa lashed out behind her. "Why do you need this stump head alive?"
"It doesn't matter what for, Wisesa. Arcane shouldn't be used to kill people!"
"Miss Alicia," Barong corrected the girl, "Bhatara Kala is practically dead. The only reason his life is still stuck in his big head is because of black magic!"
Meanwhile, Petruk had made his way to the underbelly of Bathara Kala's head, discovering the hole of the head was anchored by a metal seal, stamped by wax in Yawanese script. The veins on his right arm pulsed with bluish light as he channelled magical energy into his palm, igniting it like a blazing lantern. With a single punch, he shattered the seal into shards of metal that downpoured the earth like fallen ships.
However, how the Divine had cursed Petruk. The seal was not put in place for no reason. Instead of the expected cold and moist black hole, Petruk was met with a barrage of razor blades and nails, raining upon him in jagged torrents!
And just when he thought the divine curse would show mercy, the sharp projectiles defied the laws of gravity, twisted back upon Petruk, and lacerated his skin with ruthless accuracy!
Another volley of razor blades struck from the other apertures on the giant's head, throwing Gareng off his balance when he attempted to burst forth his inner strength into the Flying Head's left ear, swerving through the sky in pursuit of Semar and his magical servants, as well as disrupting the formation of Alicia and Wisesa who were in perfect harmony—a sight that seemed to be rare between the two of them.
Alicia huddled within her protective Arcane sphere, but even that was not enough to shield her from the onslaught of blades and spikes that cut the blue armour. Wisesa hitchhiked within the lass' magical fortress; he did not want to waste his life force enduring the sharp metal with his inner strength.
The five magical warriors were left in razor dust as Bathara Kala soared higher, now piercing through the second layer of the heavens.
The crowd of razor blades and nails refused to stop chasing its targets until a sudden explosion obliterated them into nothingness! The five floating warriors turned their gaze towards the source of the explosion, where ten brown and gold-ballooned zeppelins were hurtling through the air at breakneck speed, followed by another ten in the distance. Missiles and cannons fired one after another as they raced towards the strange phenomenon in the sky.
"Alas Purwo Zeppelins!" Wisesa exclaimed.
"Clipe! Even at a time like this?" Alicia shot back anxiously, her hand still pouring Arcane energy into her protective sphere.
The ten zeppelins stopped near Bathara Kala, about three hundred metres away. The heavens burst forth with a relentless barrage of explosions aimed at Alicia and Wisesa. However, Alicia perceived no substantial tremor within her Arcane sphere as she kept her eyes shut. Instead, upon reopening her eyes, a shower of fireworks illuminated the daybreak firmament, and Bathara Kala was in a shroud of monumental smoke and scintillating sparks.
"Traitor!" came the words from Bathara Kala again, this time in Yawa's tongue. "Tembung wedok kuwi, kowe kabe ora sakudune menyerang aku!"
"What did he say?" asked Alicia.
Wisesa squinted his eyes, then turned his attention back to the flying ships once more. "They're on our side..."
"Oh, wait, what—"
"Alicia! Do you hear me?" a voice came from the marrad.
Alicia responded swiftly. "Bagong! What's wrong?"
"The shamans have been gathered."
The Crimsonmane lass' expression shifted instantly. Wisesa heard it too, but still, his shirt fell victim to the girl's yanking. "Can you cut off a strand of hair from the giant's head?"
"Take me there!" Wisesa complied.
Amidst the explosive chaos, Alicia rode the Arcane force field, soaring towards Bathara Kala's parched scalp. The shaman's once-voluminous mane had dwindled to sparse strands and a layer of fragmented crust. With his lightning-emitting dagger in hand, Wisesa carefully ventured out of the force field and snipped off a single strand with a swift stroke. He secured it over his shoulder and quickly re-entered the protective barrier.
"Come on, let's go down!" Alicia beckoned.
The pair plummeted as fast as they could until they found Bagong and Cahyaningrum awaited them at the gate. In the Sunanate palace courtyard, a hundred shamans had gathered, hailing from Alas Purwo and Pulomas. Not only Yawadwipa shaman practitioners but magical warriors and officials from other states had also congregated to lend their aid. Not that they could get enough sleep after all those night's clamour, and their hotel lost its roof and most of its floor. All the shamans were present, except those draping in white clothes. No shamans from Girah. How Alicia could not be surprised.
"Thank you very much, Bagong and Cahyaningrum," Alicia said, massaging their shoulders before turning to address the assembled shamans. "I read in Mama's magic encyclopaedia that the shamans of Lojitengara are famous for their cross-country hexes. They brought calamity to the entire family of the Sjittordam's head of state with just a photograph."
"But such great endeavours are not without sacrifice, Young Lady," spoke an elderly man in full regalia, the head of the Uwentira State. "Hundreds of our people were sacrificed for the ritual to succeed."
"Fortunately, the distance between Bathara Kala and the earth is not as far as Lojitengara and Sjittordam," Alicia responded with a nod.
Wisesa tossed the giant lock of hair to the ground. That thick strand was almost as tall as a bamboo tree.
"And I am pleased to offer you as much Kalimasada power as you require," Alicia declared. []
Moon Eater, wider than a mile
I'm crossing you in style someday
Oh, grim maker, you devourer
Wherever you're going, I'll stand in your way
Two drifters, off to slay the one
There's such a lot of strength to wield
We'll fight until the bitter end
Thwarting all your plans
My huckleberry fiend
Moon Eater, your end
Bathara Kala had broken free from the statue.
His murky green eyes were fixed upon the seven humans. The spittle in his mouth was the rain of southern Yawadwipa, while every breath he took was a hurricane in the city centre. His lips were stiff, parted slightly, the echo of words in the common tongue deafening to all who could hear.
"A woman...," his voice carrying the weight of aeons, "contracted to become my master. She allows me to complete the ultimate goal I yearn for..."
As the giant's head rotated upwards, a gust of wind swept through the streets. Now no one knew where the rest of the humans were. Perhaps they were all killed by the force as he emerged into concrete reality, or claimed the culvert as their new home.
"I will give you time." Bathara Kala continued, lifted by supernatural power. No more auxiliary winds that devastated the already devastated civilisation. " Pray farewell to whomever you consider to be gods, for soon, they will be replaced by me, the god who is truly present among his servants...."
The mages of the world had united to defeat the Moon-Eating Giant Head centuries ago, and Semar's sons could not even imagine the magnitude of the battle—the centuries they had lived were actually normal when juxtaposed with this. Ki Semar regarded Bathara Kala as a nightmare coming back to life.
Let alone Alicia who was basically a witch born yesterday.
And thus, Wisesa's words rang true: His father was truly an unhinged man.
Wisesa broke the silence of horror with a firm voice. "No, no, no. Barong, there's no way you can handle this."
Barong was apparently gaping before the man's voice made it shake its head. Its chuckle was dry, full of frustration. "As much as I hate being blasphemed, especially by a young man like you, I must admit the truth of your tongue. Even if you use all my strength, I doubt you can defeat him."
"Good. One other reason I don't want to use your power."
"That's because fighting threats with flying as the primary ability is the speciality of the Guardians of the Air and Sea, Banaspati. Even the Avatar of Mrajapati had to die, despite defeating him. That particular Earth Guardian has never followed its intuition."
"And where is your brother the Air Guardian? You said you knew where it was, right?"
"I know. It is in the Eastern Land. But it's useless, I'm trapped in your body, I can't drag my brother here."
"Doesn’t the intuition of Sang Hyang Sukra also ring in its head as well? It should come here to help us!"
"Sang Hyang Sukra's intuition says it won't come." Despite saying so, Barong's face turned radiant, showing off all its teeth through an ever-widening grin. "Well, that's fine, really. If it doesn't have the need to come here, that means it's not a potentially earth-shattering threat. We can all defeat it!"
Any creature that had lived for more than a hundred years had a different perception of anything beyond reason. To them, it was an everyday occurrence. A shaman whose entire face covered the city was just another little oddity.
Alicia's eyes were still wide as she slowly turned to the Patron of Lands. "You really think so...? H-h-how could you?"
"It's easy, there's you, and Kalimasada, the Origin of All Gods!" retorted Barong.
The gaping on the bespectacled lass' visage remained. "Sang Hyang Sukra's intuition told you this?"
Barong tapped its chin with a finger. "Hm... No, just my gut feeling..., with a little logic! Logic, Alicia!"
Such optimism did not work in Alicia's mind.
Wisesa was determined to try something, so he rolled up his sleeves and began to dance while chanting the stanzas of mantra; an invocation from The Way of Mrajapati that was meant to cancel out the opponent's spell and bring them to the ground, just as the Leyaks had done to him back then. However, even as Wisesa’s lifted hand executed the spell perfectly, the giant head showed no slowing of motion, continuing to soar as fast as a snail.
"Whoever it is, stop tickling me," Bathara Kala echoed without turning his head, as if he knew what spell was stuck on his skin. "Do you really think Durga defeated me with that spell? How absurd of you."
Barong muttered under his breath, "Well, at least you're utilizing the dead grave guardian's spell instead of using my power. How thoughtful."
"Shut up, Runt Cat!" Wisesa barked at him. "You said you were useless yourself!"
"I didn't say I was useless!" Barong roared back. "Where's your comprehensive ability?"
"If you can't defeat him, then you're useless. Logic, Barong!"
The two continued to argue, while Alicia pretended not to hear and focused on distributing Arcane to Semar and Petruk. "Bagong, Cahyaningrum. Can you gather all the shamans or practitioners here?"
"E-even the enemy shamans?" Cahyaningrum was uncertain.
"I bet the shamans would be averse to the Moon Eater bringing disaster to all citizens of Yawadwipa indiscriminately."
"Okay, I'll do it right away!" Cahyaningrum rushed off at once.
Bagong also agreed to Alicia's request. "No problem, Miss Alicia! However, please all of you wear these!" The pygmy man passed a marrad communication device to each person. "I'll use Badra's communication machine. I will gather the shamans in the palace courtyard!" Bagong ran into the city street, lost in the obstruction of the buildings.
Alicia's attention snapped back to the remaining men. "Let us start by pounding the surface of Bathara Kala's body until he weakens."
The assembly did not utter a word of complaint, and Barong simply shrugged. "Don't forget to use The Knowledge Brajamusti, my sons!" advised Semar. He called back his green khodam before, together with the others, rose up into the sky.
Alicia seemed to be still tethered to the ground, watching the others take flight and Bathara Kala ascend higher. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest as she contemplated the task before her—to purify something even bigger than Barong himself: a colossal head, looming in the heavens like a new moon. A shaman who had slain all Arcane wielders in his time because of his lethal Curse of Empathy. A daunting challenge, and Alicia struggled to envision how she would succeed in purifying him and what would come after.
New experiment, Alicia, Orb sang. Don't keep the others waiting.
Alicia could not help but feel a twinge of worry as she spoke up. "We can purify a head as big as the moon, can't we? Not dying in the process?" She then paused, her resolve faltering momentarily, but then Orb’s teasing of optimism and Barong's recent unwavering resolution came to mind. Her resolve renewed. "We can beat him," she declared, though her quick nod was punctuated with a hint of nervousness.
Orb remained silent for a moment but then interjected. You'll need to fly higher than a flying ship in the air, it said.
"Argh, Orb!" Alicia felt a flash of anger. "Why remind me of that now? I could have flown off without even realising it!"
Another concern that had to be considered. Orb was indeed a caring friend.
Yet you’re still here, idling! You've already learned to fly as high as a tree and overcome it even, Orb reminded her. Always know this: truly I say to you, what limits men are their faith, and also their fears.
With a heavy sigh, Alicia merged with Orb, causing the air around her to hum with the blue luminescence of her body.
"I'll do it anyway," she said, her voice tinged with determination. "This is my ambition. And all of Yawadwipa needs us."
Good girl.
Alicia caught up with the rest and the five magic practitioners now dispersed, each taking on a different flank of Bathara Kala. Gareng and Petruk darted towards his left side, while Alicia and Wisesa bombarded his right with a barrage of magical attacks. Semar floated on his stomach, facing the blank smile on the face of Bathara Kala. The old man and his magical servants pounded on the forehead and bridge of the Moon Eater's nose.
Bathara Kala let out a wail in the form of thunder. Literal thunder. Even the surface of his skin, as it rubbed against the friction of Arcane and Khaos, felt like being dragged across the tarmac by a speeding carriage, and the shaman had no hand to ward off the assault. Yet, for all the torment of the primordial two-energy chain reaction, the flying head was unscathed. His skin was impenetrable like steel, and again, the distance between Bathara Kala and the earth was increasing.
Through the launch of plasma lasers, Alicia also shared the pain with Bathara Kala. But she did not feel the pain to death promised by Barong and the others. Not yet.
"Flies!" Bathara Kala scoffed, especially as he watched Ki Semar and his khodam busy poking him in the eye. "No matter how hard you try, you will not succeed this time! Stop vexing me, and maybe I'll pardon your transgression when I've truly become a god!"
Petruk flew in circles around the Moon Eater's head, meeting Alicia and Wisesa. "This isn't working," he said. "It will take longer to weaken Bathara Kala, and the air will get thinner the further our feet are from the earth!"
Alicia gripped her head tightly in frustration. She looked Bathara Kala up and down, straining every fibre of her mind to reconstruct a new idea.
"Maybe we can aim for his brain?" the thought slipped from the girl's lips. "Eh, wait! That wouldn't kill him, would it—"
"Good idea!" Petruk immediately dived down.
"Oi, wait!" Alicia exclaimed. "Don't let any of us kill him!"
"Dumbass, are you out of your mind?" Wisesa lashed out behind her. "Why do you need this stump head alive?"
"It doesn't matter what for, Wisesa. Arcane shouldn't be used to kill people!"
"Miss Alicia," Barong corrected the girl, "Bhatara Kala is practically dead. The only reason his life is still stuck in his big head is because of black magic!"
Meanwhile, Petruk had made his way to the underbelly of Bathara Kala's head, discovering the hole of the head was anchored by a metal seal, stamped by wax in Yawanese script. The veins on his right arm pulsed with bluish light as he channelled magical energy into his palm, igniting it like a blazing lantern. With a single punch, he shattered the seal into shards of metal that downpoured the earth like fallen ships.
However, how the Divine had cursed Petruk. The seal was not put in place for no reason. Instead of the expected cold and moist black hole, Petruk was met with a barrage of razor blades and nails, raining upon him in jagged torrents!
And just when he thought the divine curse would show mercy, the sharp projectiles defied the laws of gravity, twisted back upon Petruk, and lacerated his skin with ruthless accuracy!
Another volley of razor blades struck from the other apertures on the giant's head, throwing Gareng off his balance when he attempted to burst forth his inner strength into the Flying Head's left ear, swerving through the sky in pursuit of Semar and his magical servants, as well as disrupting the formation of Alicia and Wisesa who were in perfect harmony—a sight that seemed to be rare between the two of them.
Alicia huddled within her protective Arcane sphere, but even that was not enough to shield her from the onslaught of blades and spikes that cut the blue armour. Wisesa hitchhiked within the lass' magical fortress; he did not want to waste his life force enduring the sharp metal with his inner strength.
The five magical warriors were left in razor dust as Bathara Kala soared higher, now piercing through the second layer of the heavens.
The crowd of razor blades and nails refused to stop chasing its targets until a sudden explosion obliterated them into nothingness! The five floating warriors turned their gaze towards the source of the explosion, where ten brown and gold-ballooned zeppelins were hurtling through the air at breakneck speed, followed by another ten in the distance. Missiles and cannons fired one after another as they raced towards the strange phenomenon in the sky.
"Alas Purwo Zeppelins!" Wisesa exclaimed.
"Clipe! Even at a time like this?" Alicia shot back anxiously, her hand still pouring Arcane energy into her protective sphere.
The ten zeppelins stopped near Bathara Kala, about three hundred metres away. The heavens burst forth with a relentless barrage of explosions aimed at Alicia and Wisesa. However, Alicia perceived no substantial tremor within her Arcane sphere as she kept her eyes shut. Instead, upon reopening her eyes, a shower of fireworks illuminated the daybreak firmament, and Bathara Kala was in a shroud of monumental smoke and scintillating sparks.
"Traitor!" came the words from Bathara Kala again, this time in Yawa's tongue. "Tembung wedok kuwi, kowe kabe ora sakudune menyerang aku!"
"What did he say?" asked Alicia.
Wisesa squinted his eyes, then turned his attention back to the flying ships once more. "They're on our side..."
"Oh, wait, what—"
"Alicia! Do you hear me?" a voice came from the marrad.
Alicia responded swiftly. "Bagong! What's wrong?"
"The shamans have been gathered."
The Crimsonmane lass' expression shifted instantly. Wisesa heard it too, but still, his shirt fell victim to the girl's yanking. "Can you cut off a strand of hair from the giant's head?"
"Take me there!" Wisesa complied.
Amidst the explosive chaos, Alicia rode the Arcane force field, soaring towards Bathara Kala's parched scalp. The shaman's once-voluminous mane had dwindled to sparse strands and a layer of fragmented crust. With his lightning-emitting dagger in hand, Wisesa carefully ventured out of the force field and snipped off a single strand with a swift stroke. He secured it over his shoulder and quickly re-entered the protective barrier.
"Come on, let's go down!" Alicia beckoned.
The pair plummeted as fast as they could until they found Bagong and Cahyaningrum awaited them at the gate. In the Sunanate palace courtyard, a hundred shamans had gathered, hailing from Alas Purwo and Pulomas. Not only Yawadwipa shaman practitioners but magical warriors and officials from other states had also congregated to lend their aid. Not that they could get enough sleep after all those night's clamour, and their hotel lost its roof and most of its floor. All the shamans were present, except those draping in white clothes. No shamans from Girah. How Alicia could not be surprised.
"Thank you very much, Bagong and Cahyaningrum," Alicia said, massaging their shoulders before turning to address the assembled shamans. "I read in Mama's magic encyclopaedia that the shamans of Lojitengara are famous for their cross-country hexes. They brought calamity to the entire family of the Sjittordam's head of state with just a photograph."
"But such great endeavours are not without sacrifice, Young Lady," spoke an elderly man in full regalia, the head of the Uwentira State. "Hundreds of our people were sacrificed for the ritual to succeed."
"Fortunately, the distance between Bathara Kala and the earth is not as far as Lojitengara and Sjittordam," Alicia responded with a nod.
Wisesa tossed the giant lock of hair to the ground. That thick strand was almost as tall as a bamboo tree.
"And I am pleased to offer you as much Kalimasada power as you require," Alicia declared. []
