The Rakshasha Puaka's shell snapped shut with a wet thud, its gruesome feast complete, and the dark barrier shimmered completely out of existence.
Riang lunged forward, seizing the split-second opening.
The hulking shadow spun with a guttural roar, its red eyes burning like embers in a charnel house with pure fury. In a heartbeat, it leaped far into the distance, dissolving into the deeper shadows as it scrambled to feast on more of the land's spirit.
"It's fleeing! Split up, Riang! Signal me if you find it," Suria's voice cut sharply through the dark, laced with desperate urgency.
"Got it!"
Riang wove through the branches like a phantom sparrow, her sharp eyes dissecting every shifting shadow.
The loud, guttural growls of the Rakshasa Puaka startled the old man awake, his heart hammering violently against his ribs.
"Not my newly planted seedlings!" he gasped, throwing off his torn blanket. His bony legs, fueled entirely by desperation, moved with surprising speed as he scrambled outside into the night.
Meanwhile, as Suria moved fast through the dead forest, she suddenly stopped, a prickle of unease crawling like insects down her spine. The rustling of dead leaves—too deliberate, too purposeful—was all the warning she got.
Two dark shapes slowly coalesced, their forms shifting unnaturally like black ink swirling in water.
"Whohaha! Well, look what we found, sis. Isn't this unexpected?" one figure sneered.
"Is... she supposed to be me? She doesn't feel like much to deal with."
Its face contorted grotesquely into a twisted, mocking reflection of Suria. One of its eyes was an abyss of unblinking, hollow black.
"Test her strength if you're so curious," the second shadowy figure hissed, its spiked silhouette vibrating with pure malice.
"Master did say to check them out if we found them, and that's what I'm planning to do."
Suria froze, her breath snagging tightly in her throat. A cold sweat broke out across her skin, and her hands trembled. She knew what this was: her Qareen—her shadow self—corrupted, twisted, and entirely weaponized. And the other was none other than her twin brother's Qareen.
Without hesitation, the doppelgänger lashed out, aiming a thunderous kick filled with dark hatred directly at Suria.
Suria tried to raise her arms in defense, but the attack was too swift, too brutal. The sheer impact sent her hurtling backward through the forest, dead branches whipping at her face and tearing up her cloak.
She crashed violently through a rotten wooden fence, landing with a bone-jarring thud against the wall of an abandoned house back at Coldiang village.
"Pathetic," the Qareen sneered, calmly brushing off her hands.
"Hey, hey, I said test her, not kill her, Mentari!" the spiky silhouette teased, pointing toward the trail of destruction left by the powerful kick.
"That's how I test," Mentari snarled, "and I'm truly disappointed. We're done here, Bulan. We've got somewhere else to be."
"Yikes, I thought we were going to watch how the Rakshasa Puaka evolved after it completed the spirit absorption?"
"I've lost interest, Bulan. If it weren't for Master's plan, I would have killed her right now," Mentari muttered, her voice sharp with disdain.
"Woah, sis, chill out. Let's stay in line," Bulan muttered. "We don't want to cause any trouble and make Master mad."
"Hmmm... Now, before we report back to Master, seeing this pathetic version of me, there's something I need to do. I need to understand my past." Mentari's gaze shifted upward, locking onto the bright moon as it began to fade, veiled by encroaching dark clouds.
"Why do you care so much about our past? Just thinking about it gives me a headache…"
"Our past is the key to our power," she answered coldly. "Once I unlock its secrets, I'll be unstoppable. Are you done chatting, idiot? Let's go."
Bulan and Mentari dissolved into black ink, swirling and merging before leaping out of the area with incredible speed, leaving Suria alone in the eerie, aching silence.
At the edge of the withered forest, Riang spotted the Puaka—its pale, armored body gleaming under the moonlight—lumbering relentlessly toward the old man's planting ground.
Then, Riang's eyes widened as she saw the old man himself, rushing forward to protect his precious saplings.
"No! NO!" she yelled, diving instantly to save him.
But the Puaka's tail lashed out first, striking the old man with brutal, bone-crushing force and sending him crashing heavily into a tree.
Riang froze mid-air for a fraction of a second, stunned by the sudden violence. She then flew to the old man's side, gently lowering him to the ground, her hands trembling.
"Hey, old man, please stay put! Suria will come, you're going to be fine."
"P-please... save the... p-plants... they're the only... h-hope... for the village..." he whispered, his voice faint, broken, and wet with blood.
The Puaka stood motionless nearby, its shell creaking open to reveal a pulsating, horrific core of dark energy. A powerful barrier began to envelop the area, visibly siphoning the latent life force from the surrounding land.
Riang's face hardened with absolute determination, her jaw clenched tight. She turned toward the creature, her eyes blazing with a fierce, lethal light. With a powerful slam of her hands against the ground, she summoned her Shakti.
Four massive stone fists erupted from the earth around the Puaka, striking its barrier with thunderous force.
Riang charged forward, her own fists now enveloped in tempered stone, and hammered ruthlessly against the shimmering surface. It began to crack under the onslaught.
"Damn you! COWARD! Get out here and fight me!" she roared, her voice raw with anger.
She unleashed a furious barrage of blows, desperately trying to shatter the barrier and reach the unmoving Puaka.
Shock rippled through the Puaka as its impenetrable shell began to splinter. It retaliated instantly. Its shell snapped open wider to unleash an iridescent energy barrier that shimmered like oil on water, expanding outward and trapping Riang within its confines.
The Puaka intensified its siphoning, greedily devouring the life force inside the perimeter. The surrounding fauna and flora withered and died in a matter of seconds. Riang staggered, her strength rapidly fading as her Shakti was forcibly absorbed by the monster. Her vision blurred, her knees buckled, and she slowly collapsed to the ground, completely unconscious.
The Puaka lowered its guard, preparing to strike the fallen Riang and finish her off. As its shell began to close, granting it freedom of movement, it suddenly detected a sharp shift in the air.
A brilliant golden light tore through the night sky, and a massive bird of pure, divine energy descended like a bolt of lightning. It was Jentayu.
The Puaka growled and snapped its shell open again, desperately seeking protection from the guardian bird's unmatched speed.
But Jentayu blasted a powerful beam of light directly from her wings, completely disrupting the Puaka's defenses. With blinding speed, she swooped down, talons outstretched, and seized the Puaka by its arms. Her powerful grip crushed the creature's armored shell, and she slammed the beast into the ground repeatedly, systematically weakening its dark power.
Then, with a mighty toss, she hurled the titan high into the air and unleashed another devastating beam of light, obliterating it into absolute nothingness.
"Dare you ever disturb my mealtime!" the guardian bird growled, her divine radiance bathing the clearing before she landed gracefully on the ground.
"Jentayu…" Suria's voice was a ragged whisper as she emerged from the skeletal trees, tightly clutching her bleeding side.
"Summoning me in your condition was reckless," Jentayu said sternly, though her giant eyes softened with concern.
"I had no choice," Suria choked out, a raw, painful cough escaping her lips. "I couldn't fight with my wounds. The Qareen hit me too hard."
"Your friend is safe, but the old man… tend to him first, as his time is short. The longer I stay, the weaker you become. I can't risk it." Jentayu inclined her head.
With that, Jentayu soared into the dark skies, her golden light fading back into the night.
Suria stumbled toward the old man, falling heavily to her knees beside him. She cradled his frail body in her arms; his breaths were shallow, ragged, and fading fast.
"Please… hang on," she pleaded, her voice breaking as tears tracked through the dust on her face. "The village needs you."
"You... You are a Celestion... I... I heard... about y-your kind... urgh…" he rasped, coughing weakly. "Promise me... something…please p-protect… the hu...man…"
His words faded into nothing. His grip on her hand loosened, and his chest fell entirely still. Suria buried her face in his shoulder, her body wracked with deep, agonizing sobs.
The rain began to fall steadily, washing away the blood and dust—a gentle, cool caress on her aching skin.
Beside her, a tiny seedling, a vibrant green shoot with delicate leaves, pushed through the freshly restored soil. It was a final gift from the old man to his dying village, a lone symbol of hope amidst the despair.
Through her tears, Suria gently laid him to rest beside the sprout, marking the grave with a simple stone. She knelt there for a moment, listening to the rhythmic patter of raindrops on the earth, each drop a tiny drumbeat in a symphony of grief.
She rose unsteady and walked toward Riang, who still lay unconscious. Suria removed her own torn cloak and draped it over Riang, shielding her from the downpour. As she lifted Riang into her arms, she cast one final glance at the grave.
The rain continued to pour, weaving a somber melody over the bare forest, slowly breathing life back into the parched land.
"I promise," she murmured, her voice resolute but heavy with sorrow.
Each step she took out of the forest was a battle against the ache in her heart and the sting of her physical bruises.
The storm raged, a furious symphony of wind and rain threatening to consume all—yet within its chaos, a whisper of hope persisted, carried on the very elements that sought to destroy.
Fading into the misty veil of rain, Suria vanished from sight, leaving behind the silent grave and the defiant seedling.
The journey was far from over, but with a heavy heart and unwavering resolve, Suria pressed on, her destiny tightly intertwined with the fate of the world.