Nusantara: Taming a Dragon ✔

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Sooo I once again missed my update schedule T^T In the words of the great Ian Malcolm, life finds a way... to get in your way. So with due apologies, I will stop ranting and leave you darlings to enjoy this chapter ( ˘ ³˘)❤

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~ Two days later ~

"What?!"

Normally he would never have dared to growl at his own father like that – not necessarily out of fear, but out of the respect he bore the Chief; and yet at this moment Reksa wanted nothing better than to punch the man seated before him.

"I understand why you're angry, son." Silva replied, utterly unimpressed by the young male's ire.

"We made peace! After the war, they cared for our wounded just as well as they cared for their own... including you! What friendship do we show them, if we do nothing to help them now?"

"Our tribe remained a secret the last time they were here... it will remain so now! I will not lead our men into another battle while we are still healing after all those years."

"Is this it? Is this the conclusion you reached after two days of consulting with the elders?"

How could his own father discard honor like that? And for what; for a chance  at keeping their village a secret? Still, Silva's stern gaze told him that it was useless to push the issue anymore... well his father had another thing coming if he expected him to just sit there and do nothing.

On that thought he stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him so hard that it rattled on its hinges. Behind him Silva heaved a sigh; he hated that he was condemning Sukma's tribe to slaughter, but he too had heard tales of these men and how their Chief had made a pact with some demon to gain terrible power. He could not lead his men to certain death... but most of all he could not stand the thought that he might lose Reksa, like Sukma had lost her child.

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It was late into the night and Aleera was running through the forest, following a Servant. Her lungs burned to where she thought they would collapse in on themselves, and every muscle in her body screamed in pain. Her heaves mixed with the fluttering of the dove's wings in front of her... and with the shouts of her pursuers behind – but she kept running, even if her gaze was ever so slightly blurry from exhaustion.

How the hell had they known? How had they found the shelter? It was a miracle that Mitra and the others had managed to get there before too many lives were claimed; and now they were doing a decent job of keeping Gudruk's men at bay while the villagers retreated into the mountains. Asih and Granny Sukma and even Tamara had miraculously gotten away unscathed, but she hadn't been that lucky... granted, she had also been the one to sneak past enemy lines in an attempt to reach Reksa's village.

Her only fortune, after getting lost in the Dead Forest, had been that one of the Servants had found her and was now guiding her there. She still didn't really know how she had managed to escape Loma alive, but she owed Mitra her life; if he hadn't seen her getting captured and rushed to her aid, she...

'No! Focus, you stupid girl!'  she chastised herself. 'You're going to make it there! You have to!'

It had been a long argument with Mitra, but ultimately he had been forced to agree that she was their only hope; if she could reach Silva and get the Komodos to join the battle, then there was still a chance to turn the tide against the Dayak'ulu. It was with a heavy heart that he had let her go, and apparently even he and Yuda hadn't been able to stop all attempts of pursuit.

'I'm going to die... my heart's going to stop!'  a voice yelled in her head.

Ignoring it she kept going – what was the point in stopping, anyway? If they caught her they would just kill her... or worse, have their way with her before that.

'I can't breathe... I can't see... my chest hurts... my legs hurt... my throat hurts...'

Every breath was like searing fire in her lungs, sending signals of pain to her brain although she barely even registered them anymore as they were only piling on top of the ache in her muscles. Her legs were actually starting to feel rather numb and she didn't even know how  she was still running... but the sound of those footsteps among the grass had to be hers... right?

And then, the trees parted so suddenly before her that she thought she had sprinted right off a cliff edge. But once her hazy gaze settled upon the huts in the distance and the figures moving about in between, she gasped. They were huge  and for a moment her mind was stunned at the sight. No wonder Reksa had said he looked nothing like a Komodo warrior.

The sound of laughter behind her gained her attention again and she realized she had frozen in her tracks. Yet when she tried to make a run for the village, her legs refused to move anymore as if they were made of lead. Turning to face the forest as her mind instantly worked out a solution, she waited until one of her pursuers came barreling toward her. She had no idea if she could even pull that off, but she had to chance it...

Just when the man had raised his sword at her, she leaned back and only by some outstanding luck she managed to avoid the full blow, only taking a shallow cut to the arm. But it worked... it was enough to cause her brain to release a new wave of adrenaline that got her muscles moving against their will. And so she sprinted toward the village, feeling a faint coming closer and closer with each step.

"Help... please..."

Her cry sounded pathetically weak even to her, but it seemed Fate hadn't planned for her to die that day. One of the warriors patrolling the outskirts heard her just as her knees finally gave way and turned to jelly beneath her. His voice sounded like a distorted echo in her ears, but soon two more joined him... and then, like in a dream, she heard Reksa call her name.

Next thing she knew a pair of warm hands grabbed her by the shoulders – oh, she recognized those hands!

"I made it..." she whispered in relief.

But when he pulled her to stand was when her consciousness finally failed her and she fell into darkness.

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His heart had almost stopped at the sight of that familiar red haired figure knelt in the grass just outside the village. Upon reaching her side and sighting the two warriors heading out to confront the group which had been no doubt following her, he grasped the arm of the soldier next to him.

"I want them back alive!" he snarled through clenched teeth.

With a nod the warrior took off after the others to relay the order, leaving Reksa to assess the girl; she was full of bruises and her clothes were nicked here and there, but more worrying was the bleeding cut on her arm.

"I made it..."

It was all she had had the strength left to whisper before she had fainted in his arms, as he was trying to get her to her feet. Cradling her carefully, he headed back into the village unconcerned with her hunters... for now. Oh, he would make sure that every single bruise and wound they had put on her would be repaid tenfold.

He was still burning with anger when he reached the healer's hut; and even while he watched the old woman tending to her his chest heaved and his fists clenched so hard that his nails hurt. How dare they lay a finger on his woman? And just what the hell had happened? She was supposed to have been safe with the others...

It was then that a horrible thought hit him – had the Avians been slaughtered? Was she the only one who had managed to escape through some miracle? The thought of so many innocent lives destroyed made his stomach lurch... but no, there was no point in getting himself worked up like this. He would have to wait until she woke up and told him what had happened back there.