Sabatsday, 18th of Maia, 470th Year of the Fifth Era

The midnight hours were dark to Hesekiel. No moonlight was shining upon him nor the trail he was following as the moon itself was obfuscated by darkened clouds. Though it wasn't as cold as Hutangali, the air in the northern borderlands was still far chillier than the Gorian heartlands. The cold night winds felt piercing upon Hesekiel's skin. He was already covered in a few layers of ulos and a long-sleeved shirt but that still wasn't enough to keep him completely warm.

He could've circulate some of his aura to keep himself somewhat warm, but given the unpredictable nature of his current situation, he needed to conserve as much energy as he could. Luckily for him, he had a somewhat useful companion following closely behind him.

Sadrach was holding onto his sleeve as he held a burning torch in his hand which he had ignited with a little fire magic. Hesekiel was trying his best to be as quiet as possible yet luck would have it that Sadrach wasn't asleep yet and so he had noticed Hesekiel trying to sneak out. Not wanting his future brother-in-law to cause a huge scene and wake the others up, Hesekiel had agreed to let Sadrach tag along so long as he proved useful.

At least that was what Hesekiel tried to convey. In reality, he had only given Sadrach a mildly annoyed glare before rolling his eyes at his request to join him. Sadrach was the only other person besides Josias capable of draining his energy to such a degree that he would rather just tolerate his presence rather than risking a tiresome argument with the man.

When Sadrach asked him what he was about to do, Hesekiel only gave him a small scrap of parchment he had been taking notes on for the duration of the meeting with the elders. He told Sadrach to read it as they were walking towards their destination.

Hesekiel was headed towards the original scene of the incident. He knew exactly where the old graveyard was. When he was little, his older cousins loved taking him there. It was mostly for innocent little pranks to scare each other or to 'test their bravery' so to speak. He personally never found the place scary at all.

His curiosity of the graveyard's history piqued his interest more. He had read up on it from old records the clan kept. The graveyard entombed the old warriors of the original Saripudan clan. The Saripudan were a branch of the Rapmasari but went completely extinct a few generations ago in their senior line. The Saripudan clan was still extant within Tanohisar, but they had cut off all relations with the Rapmasari after his grandfather had declared the clan's official conversion to christianity.

After about half an hour of walking, Hesekiel could spot an obelisk-shaped monument from afar. Even within the darkness of the night, his aura-enhanced eyesight helped to spot the distinct shape of Halak grave monuments. Soon enough they had reached the burial grounds proper. Hesekiel didn't know if it was just him or if it was a mere natural occurrence, but for some reason he felt the air getting colder around them. Almost as if they were back in Hutangali.

"Lae, I know this might be too late to say now but I think we should go back…" Sadrach said as he was looking restlessly around them. Hesekiel couldn't help but snort a small almost inaudible chuckle as he felt Sadrach practically shaking in his sandals. "It seems pretty clear that nothing is here anymore so I say investigation concluded! Let's go."

Hesekiel felt Sadrach was tugging a little more on his arm as he seemed raring to leave. Hesekiel only shook his head as he used his torch to light some of the standing pyres within the burial grounds. The chilly winds made it difficult to start the pyres, however. Noticing this, Hesekiel only gave Sadrach an intense gaze.

Sadrach seemed hesitant, but eventually he gave in to Hesekiel's glare as he raised his hands to cast fireballs to ignite the pyres. There were a total of four pyres at each corner of the white stone monument. As the pyres were lit, the immediate surrounding area of the monument could now be seen more clearly as it was now shone over by a subtle dark orange hue.

The monument itself was relatively simple in design though a few figures were carved on its four services. On the main facade of the monument was carved the names and epitaphs of all the previous heads of the Saripudan clan. On the other standing surfaces of the monument were carvings of three prominent deities of the Old Halak Pantheon. Debata Mangala Bulan, the grim lord of destruction who the Banuans identified as 'Siwa'. Debata Soripada, the caring lord of protection whom the Banuans identified as 'Wisnu'. Debata Batara Guru, the most prominent Lord of the Heavens, worshiped in one form or another throughout Banuatonga.

Hesekiel had always found Halak mythology to be of great intrigue regardless of how foolish he found the worship of such pagan idols to be. He found it amusing how much the pagans resisted christianity, calling it 'Foreign Superstition'. But if one were to truly analyse and study the sources of the old Halak religion, one could clearly discern the many similarities it had with the Banuan Hindan religion, suggesting an equally strong foreign influence but from the east.

The 'True Halak Identity' could not be found in the worship of the Debata Natolu (three gods), but instead within the stories, rituals, and practices of the shamans. The ancestral rituals indigenous to the Halaklands. The rituals which were the root cause of the problem he was now trying to investigate.

At the central point of the burial grounds in front of the monument, a large crater-like depression could be seen on the ground. It was definitely a newer feature as his memories did not corroborate its existence prior to this visit. It was easy to conclude that that was the centerpoint of the ritual his stupid granduncle and his followers had conducted.

The bodies had already been cleaned and buried by the villagers a few days prior to this. However, the broken gravestones, the claw marks upon the monument's facade, and other noticeable cracks upon the ground and surrounding structures were clear evidence of a violent struggle.

None of these clues were anything new, however. It was already a foregone conclusion that some form of demon had been summoned and had clearly wreaked havoc. What they needed to find now was where the demon could have headed. Perhaps there could be a sign or other traces of destruction which could lead them to a plausible area.

"Ahhhh!!" Sadrach had screamed which alerted Hesekiel as he unsheathed his saber from its scabbard and immediately scanned around the area. As he focused his hearing, Hesekiel could indeed hear a few rustles of the surrounding tree branches. Besides that, he could also hear some scurrying on the ground. Following the rustling, Hesekiel finally dropped his guard when he saw that it was merely a couple of rats scurrying away from the noise they were making.

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Hesekiel could only squint his eyes and give Sadrach a stare at the false alarm. Sadrach laughed sheepishly as scratched the sides of his face. Hesekiel could see a blush forming on Sadrach's face even with the orange hue.

"Damn rats gave me a little jump is all…" Sadrach laughed, though it was clear from his slight trembling that the burial grounds disturbed him greatly. It was somewhat amusing seeing a grown young man like him being scared of the dark regardless of how hard he was trying to hide it. "Man, if these were the rice paddies, those rats would be a real pest huh…"

Hesekiel shook his head at Sadrach's comments. A couple of rats would hardly prove a huge danger to larger paddies especially if fields like those were a prime hunting ground for other predators who preyed upon the rats. Like monitor lizards, hawks, snakes, and other such animals. They might be terrifying creatures, but in a way they protected the rice paddies.

Terrifying creatures that protect the rice paddies… In that moment, Hesekiel widened his eyes as he felt a wave of realisation had come over him. It was such an obvious conclusion that he felt stupid for not figuring it out immediately.

Hesekiel took out another small piece of parchment and started scribbling on it before he stuck it to the monument. "We're leaving…" Hesekiel said to Sadrach as he quickened his pace.

"Wait, where are we going now…?" Sadrach asked but Hesekiel didn't bother to answer him. Sadrach had quickly run up to the monument to see what Hesekiel had written down. "Wait, the rice paddies?! Lae, these are definitely not things I would be doing at midnight…"

Hesekiel didn't bother giving Sadrach a reply and instead focused himself on the road as he made his way towards the closest rice paddies. Sadrach could only trail behind him exasperatedly.

The Begu ganjang was a spirit that was used by its summoner to do a variety of things. From hexxing one's rivals, placing curses upon them, to outright killing people as blood sacrifices. However, the records show that these demons could be used for more benign purposes. One of those purposes would be to guard one's crops from failure.

Rituals to summon the demon always required some form of sacrifice from the summoner. Usually this would come in the form of a little bloodletting or even animal sacrifices. However, what happened at the burial grounds was almost unprecedented. Usually a lesser spirit wouldn't have that much power to cause havoc of such magnitude. Unless of course you were dealing with a greater demon. Now that would indeed be a pain. But based on all the evidence they had so far, that was the most likely scenario.

There were still some irregularities to Hesekiel's theory though. The closest rice paddies to the burial grounds were about an hour away from the grave. The summoning ritual had been conducted at least since several days ago. If the demon had indeed left the scene of the ritual to the paddies, they would have found it by now.

Despite all that, it was still worth checking out. Assuming the greater demon had killed the ritualists as an acceptable blood sacrifice, it wouldn't be odd that it would lay dormant for a short time before it set out once more to find sustenance.

Braving the chilly night winds, Hesekiel and Sadrach made their way quickly to the rice paddies. As expected, that late at night, the rice fields were most definitely empty. But something about the atmosphere troubled Hesekiel greatly. It was indeed quiet. But it was too quiet.

Though it was expected that his vision would be limited, the nights were usually loud as the whole field would be ridden with all sorts of nightly creatures. Whether they be crickets, frogs, or other such nocturnal creatures, it did not matter. There was always noise. But on this night, nothing. Only eerie silence.

"...Lae, I'm being completely serious right now, there's nothing here." Sadrach said with exasperation and worry in his voice. "I think we've done enough independent investigation for now. We should really head back."

"...There's nothing…" Hesekiel muttered quietly as he continued to make his way deeper towards the center of the rice fields followed by an ever increasingly frustrated Sadrach. Once they reached the center, Hesekiel abruptly stopped, causing Sadrach to bump into him. Not minding this at all, Hesekiel turned towards Sadrach before saying, "Lae. Provoke the demon."

"What?" Sadrach stared blankly at Hesekiel before shaking his head and laughing. "I must've misheard you, lae. I thought I heard you say I should provoke the demon. But that couldn't be it, right…? … right?"

Hesekiel only looked at Sadrach seriously. He wasn't one for useless jokes. Not especially in situations like the one they found themselves in right now.

Sadrach brought both his hands to his face as he frustratedly palmed it. Sadrach looked at him again with a face that pleaded for mercy but he was out of luck. Hesekiel was adamant and he wasn't budging.

"...If you want to leave, you're free to." Hesekiel said as he stretched his hand towards the dark rice fields in the direction of the village which was now a couple of hours away. "But you'll do it by yourself."

"Arghhhh!!" Sadrach groaned as he raised both his arms and face to the sky screaming. "I'm being mentally tortured by my damned brother-in-law because of this fucking demon!! COME OUT YOU FUCKTARD, ARSE-FUCKING, GOAT-FONDLING, TURD-SPITTING FUCK-DEVIL!! COME OUT AND JUST FACE US ALREADY!!"

As Sadrach shouted in frustration, his voice had reverberated across the entire rice field. For a few moments the air was only filled with the echo of Sadrach's voice. Then after that, silence. Deafening silence. Hesekiel's face turned to a scowl. Was he mistaken? Was the demon not in fact within the rice paddies? Was this night expedition ultimately in vain?

As all these thoughts were floating inside of Hesekiel's mind, the next second, it happened. The very ground they were standing on seemed to shake beneath the soles of their feat. Was there an earthquake?

Despite the troubling development, Hesekiel and Sadrach had tried their best to keep their calm. The worst thing they could do in that predicament was panic. But truly, nothing they could have done could have prepared them for what they were about to witness.

The paddy waters a few yards from their position started bubbling as if it was boiling. The next moment, a black mist-like fog appeared from that spot. The black fog grew larger, taller, as it reached towards the skies. Hesekiel and Sadrach couldn't help but have their jaws drop as they witnessed the phenomenon.

So dark was the fog that its consistency could be seen even within the darkness of night. The fog grew so tall, it most probably had reached anywhere between ten to fifteen meters. And finally, emerging from the fog had to be one of the most terrifying creatures the two young warriors had ever witnessed in their lives up to that point.

From within the tall fog, two blood red dot-like eyes were veering down towards them. As the beast's red eyes moved, training them towards the two young warriors, soon enough its entire face veered through the darkness.

The creature had a wild black mane on its head. Its skin is as dark as obsidian and the fog from which it spawned. Fangs sharper than that of the most ferocious of the tiger beasts. A long protruding tongue that reached until the navel of its lanky torso. As well as its long and lanky arms and legs with sword-like claws.

All of this not to mention its imposingly giant height of over ten meters. It was then the creature unleashed a most terrifying howl-like roar which the young warriors could not help but feel reverberate even within their chests.

It was the Begu Ganjang. And before it, all its prey would tremble.

"Fuck…" Hesekiel muttered under his breath as he unsheathed his sabre and took on an offensive stance.

Well, they had found the demon. But the better question at the moment was, 'Now what?'. Hesekiel had a plan. But no plan survives first contact with the enemy.

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