The cart moved at a pace that was neither fast nor slow.Just steady enough for its wooden boards to creak each time the iron wheels struck stones or shallow holes along the dirt road.
The supply wagon was far from comfortable.There were no cushions, no solid walls to shield them from the wind.Only a simple wooden frame with a makeshift roof, sacks of cargo piled along the sides, and the mingled scent of straw, horse sweat, and damp wood soaked with morning dew.Still, having a cart was better than having none at all.
Two dark brown horses pulled the wagon tirelessly.They were not warhorses, nor racers bred for speed, but animals that familiar with this route.They knew every incline, every bend, every narrow stretch leading toward the capital.They walked without complaint, as if this long journey was merely another routine to be completed.
The morning air was cool and damp, thin with freshness.Mist hung low among the trees lining both sides of the road, wrapping tall trunks in pale gray veils.Sunlight had yet to fully break through, leaving the world around them feeling half-asleep.
Quiet.Too quiet, enough to keep Bandung alert without realizing it.He did not know that he was not the only one watching.
Jaka leaned against one of the cart's wooden posts.He sat cross-legged, his chin resting on his hands at the edge of the wagon, eyes fixed on the dirt road stretching ahead.He drew in a deep breath, as if trying to fill his lungs with more than air.Perhaps courage.Or certainty.
"We've…"His voice was low, nearly swallowed by the sound of hooves.
He paused, swallowed, then steadied his breathing.
"We've already been here for a month, more or less."
A faint smile crossed his face as memories of the bamboo hut and their days with Arga surfaced.But it was not quite a smile of happiness.More like a marker, a reminder.
"And somehow, we forgot that our original goal was… to go home."
The word home lingered in the air.No one answered right away.
Across from him, Danu inhaled slowly.He let out a quiet, hollow laugh, his fingers absentmindedly playing with the handycam that now felt more like a comfort object than a recording device.He twisted the strap around his fingers, then tapped the camera's body lightly with his thumb.
"I don't know, Jaka," he said at last.His tone was still casual, familiar, but something underneath it felt restrained."I kind of got carried away back there too."
He glanced toward the mist along the roadside.
"At first, I thought living in a village like that would be boring. You know… no signal, nothing that makes a day feel 'normal' like before."
He chuckled softly, then shrugged.
"But it wasn't that bad. Actually…"He hesitated."It was kind of nice. Comfortable."
Anindya, sitting beside Dara, smiled faintly.She lowered her gaze, watching her fingers interlace, then spoke quietly, almost as if to herself.
"I miss home too."
Her voice was gentle, honest in its uncertainty."I miss my room. I miss the small routines I used to think were boring."
She paused, drawing in a breath.
"But here…"She lifted her head slightly."It feels like I found another home. One I'm not ready to leave either."
She looked at Jaka, then Danu, meeting their eyes in turn.
"I found a new family," she continued."A feeling I never imagined I'd have."
Her words lingered, weighed carefully.
"Do you guys, feel the same?" she asked softly.
Jaka did not answer immediately.He lowered his head, his gaze falling to the wooden planks beneath his feet.His brow furrowed, the look of someone measuring his own honesty.
Not because he did not know the answer, but because admitting it frightened him.Because part of him had begun to feel at ease here.
Danu exhaled slowly.
His eyes drifted forward, following the dirt road as it stretched on and disappeared into the mist.For a moment, there was nothing but the creak of wheels, the rhythm of hooves, and the soft whisper of morning wind through leaves.
Dara watched them in silence.
She sat upright, hands folded neatly in her lap.A faint smile rested on her face, the kind worn by someone who understood more than she said.
She saw the hesitation in Jaka's eyes.Heard the weight behind Danu's casual tone.Felt the sincerity and conflict in Anindya's words.
And she listened.
At the front of the wagon, near the driver's bench, Bandung sat leaning slightly forward.His eyes stayed fixed on the road, on the horses' movements, on every bend waiting ahead.But his ears caught enough to know that the conversation behind him was not idle chatter meant to pass time.
The cart continued onward.
On a wagon made of simple wooden planks, beneath a roof that creaked whenever the wind brushed against it, they shared something rare.Honesty.Feelings spoken plainly, in a way they never had when they still lived in the era that was supposed to be theirs.
The atmosphere slowly settled into silence.The small laughs and light remarks from moments ago faded away.What remained was the groan of wooden wheels striking stones, and the horses' breathing, heavier now as the road began to climb.
Bandung, who had been quiet at the front, finally turned.
He leaned slightly toward the driver, one hand resting on the side of the wagon.
"Sir," he asked, his voice calm but curious,"how long until we reach the capital?"
The driver was a middle-aged man with sun-darkened skin and sharp eyes shaped by years spent on the road.He glanced ahead before answering.
"At this pace," he said flatly,"about four to five days if we take the usual route."
He tugged gently at the reins, keeping the horses steady.
"By the second night," he continued,"you should be able to see the city walls from a distance."
Bandung lifted his brow slightly."Can we get there faster than that?"
The driver hesitated for a moment.
"There's a shortcut," he said slowly,"but it's… a bit unsettling."
He let out a short breath.
"I'd take it alone without much worry. But with you all, it should be fine. I'd feel better, too."
As he spoke, he shifted the wagon's direction, signaling that they were already heading toward the route he mentioned.
"If we go this way," he added,"we'll reach it by tomorrow night. The city walls will be visible then."
Bandung turned to look back after hearing that.
Jaka and Danu exchanged glances, clearly surprised.The distance had felt immense, yet suddenly it could be shortened far more than they imagined.
Still, something sat uneasily with them.The way the driver had spoken made it clear that this path was not meant to be safe.
Their curiosity, however, did not last long.
Ahead of them, the mist began to thin.
And what it revealed made the air around them feel colder.
Broken wooden pillars stood at crooked angles.Bricks lay scattered in disorder.Half-collapsed walls, overgrown with moss and wild grass.
Something that had once been a guard post.
Now it was nothing more than a silent ruin, like the bones of a structure that had died long before its time.
The wagon slowed on its own.The horses let out uneasy whickers, their ears twitching restlessly.
Jaka spoke first, unease creeping into his voice.
"This place…""It looks like there was a war here."
The driver released a long breath.His expression remained unchanged. He had seen this sight too many times for it to shock him anymore.
"It's been like this for a while," he said."They say… one night, something strange appeared."
He paused.
"Something big."
Every eye turned toward him.
"Its shape was never clear," the driver continued, his tone unchanged."There are many stories that don't agree one after another."
He glanced ahead, then went on.
"Some say it was as tall as a coconut tree. Others swear its eyes glowed red. And some people say, when it passed by, they heard sounds…"He paused, lips pressing thin."…like baby chicks crying in the middle of the night. Strange, right?"
The wagon rattled as it rolled over scattered stones.
The driver hesitated, then lowered his voice, almost to a whisper.
"They say the post was destroyed in a single night. Right after those reports started."
The cart creaked again.
"The guards…"He swallowed."No one survived."
Anindya instinctively shifted closer to Dara.Her face had gone pale, her fingers tightening around the fabric of her clothes.
"No one survived?" she whispered.
The driver nodded slowly."Yes."
"After that, the place was abandoned. No guards anymore."He glanced to both sides of the road."And when no one's watching, bandits start to roam."
His voice dropped further, like a warning meant to stay low.
"Plenty of travelers get robbed passing through here. Especially at night."He shook his head."That's why hardly anyone uses this route anymore, except during the day. Even then, it's a gamble. At night, most people take the long road instead. Takes almost a week."
Danu swallowed.He tried to sound casual, though the handycam in his hand trembled slightly.
"Sounds like mere rumors," he said."No eyewitnesses. Feels more like another ghost story."
No one responded.
Dara studied the ruins in silence.Her gaze was sharp, focused, like someone recalling something she would rather forget.
A mixture of caution settled in her chest.Fear… and a quiet certainty.The kind that comes from knowing a story is not entirely false, no matter how much people inside the palace chose to deny it.
The wagon finally passed the ruins.
But the atmosphere left behind clung to them.
The air felt heavier.The wind no longer carried comfort.
Danu, seated closest to the side of the cart, tried to break the tension with humor.
"Well, if there really is a monster as big as a coconut tree," he said, forcing a laugh,"imagine catching that on camera."He grinned weakly."Wouldn't that be like a real-life Attack on Titan?"
Jaka snorted immediately.
"Nu, don't say stuff like that."He rubbed his hands together, fighting the cold creeping into his fingers."I've had goosebumps for a while now."
Anindya opened her mouth to respond.
Then—
Siiuuut…Thunk!
It came too fast.No one saw where it came from.
The sound was a violent crack against wood.
An arrow quivered in the side of the wagon, inches from Danu's shoulder.
The shaft vibrated violently, the metal tip buried deep in the wood, nearly piercing through.
"ARCHERRR!" Danu screamed instinctively.
His face drained of color as he realized how close he had come.The handycam slipped from his grasp, nearly falling out of the wagon.
The horses screamed and lunged forward, breaking into a panicked run.The cart jolted violently against dirt and stone.
"HOLD ON EVERYONE!" the driver yelled, snapping the reins."BANDITS!"
And in that single moment,all the calm they had known,all the peace of the past month,was ripped away.