Solor was nearly at the border. He was now in an extremely humid and foggy region. His surrounding environment had transformed into an area covered in dense and lush vegetation, with giant monkeypod trees entirely draped in moss. His back rested casually against a massive root, while below him, his horse was busy chewing fresh leaves.
"Eat your fill. After this, we'll be embarking on a long journey through the Lumut Mountains..." He tossed away the leftover purple banana peel, then reached out to pluck another from a bunch he had gathered from a tree growing lushly nearby. "I don't know where we'll live after this..." "It doesn't seem likely we can keep staying at Warung and Pondok Kecot forever." His mouth was full, chewing on banana flesh. "I don't want to be a burden to them."
He hopped down, then walked over to his horse, which was still busy munching on leaves. "You know why it's better for us to live secluded somewhere, right...?" His face drew close to the horse's, looking deeply into its eyes. "People are always so talkative." His hands retrieved leather cloths from a container on the side of the saddle, then wrapped and tied them onto his horse's four legs. Done with that, he pulled out two small sickles from his otok belt, attached them to the soles of each of his sandals, and then fastened them closed again.
"What I hate most are talkative, know-it-all people..." His hands tied the handle of his small kujang with a coiled leather rope. Fukkk slattcchh! He hurled his kujang to slice a stalk of purple bananas up in a tree, then pulled the rope back and gathered the fallen bananas. "Let's go..." He mounted his horse while slipping several bananas into the saddle's side pocket.
The morning, which was beginning to warm up, felt entirely unfelt. He spurred his horse far to the east until reaching an increasingly shaded realm, densely populated with giant monkeypod trees whose branches and twigs veiled the entire canopy of the wild forest. Now his horse galloped along a white paved road connecting Kawi Village to the eastern region of Sanajayan—stretching northward along the foot of the mountains that would lead them to the entrance of the Lumut Mountains.
Upon arriving at the border, Solor slowed his horse down. He saw the fog thickening, causing visibility to shrink further. "Be careful, buddy, the fog is getting thick..." From a distance, beyond the limited visibility of the thick white fog, a grand white limestone archway gradually revealed itself, towering majestically with part of its surface covered in moss. At the top archway, an inscription in Javanese script reading Jalur Lumut (Lumut Path) was carved, connecting one side of the gate to the other across the road.
As his horse galloped forward, he caught a glance of the archway, whose structure resembled a temple. Carved with elegant and ancient foliage and strendil motifs, the structure had stood for thousands of years and still appeared sturdy, despite being gradually eroded by moss, climbing vines, and the grip of roots at its base. Jalur Lumut was a white limestone paved road two meters wide, built by the ancestors of Sanajayan to connect inter-Sanajayan regions. Particularly in the Lumut Mountains, a mountain range that dominated nearly the entire central territory of Sanajayan, serving in part as a regional border.
Jalur Lumut served as a crucial guide to prevent getting lost in an area that was extremely humid, blanketed in thick fog, and filled with densely packed giant monkeypod trees. However, because this region was so humid, many sections of Jalur Lumut were no longer visible, buried under moss and tangled roots. His horse's gallop now headed uphill, traversing the slopes along Jalur Lumut. The horse's hooves charged through bushes and massive roots slithering like snakes. The place was foggy, its entire surface appearing green under a mantle of moss.
Midday drew near, yet in the forest of the Lumut Mountains, there was no indication that the day had progressed. An extraordinary shade enveloped in fog, coupled with a sky entirely blocked by the canopy of giant monkeypod trees, made the atmosphere feel as though one were in the middle of a giant broccoli forest. Midway through, guided by Jalur Lumut—which was partially visible and partially obscured by thick moss-covered roots—he began to lose his way.
His horse, which usually ran steadily, was now mostly leaping, obstructed by the steep giant roots protruding from the ground and intertwining across the jungle floor. "It's been decades since I last passed through western Jalur Lumut." He pulled his horse's reins to slow its pace. His expression suddenly froze. "I forgot..." He dismounted. His sandals felt soft stepping onto the mossy ground between the roots. He walked for a bit through the thick fog, occasionally dodging giant coiled roots jutting out from the earth.
After walking for quite some time, a valley plain unfolded before him, nearly its entire surface covered in a dense lattice of giant monkeypod tree roots. Everything appeared green under a blanket of moss, with some moss dangling loosely everywhere. "Wow... Since when did this place have a sea of roots like this?" He stepped forward slowly again, until he accidentally knocked down a yellow snail the size of an ordinary snail.
He picked it up and scraped its surface to clean off the moss until the shell's yellow color was clearly visible. He placed the snail on a wide leaf, then continued on foot while leading his horse. "What should we do? Can you cross this, Wus Wus?" He led and helped his horse step over a root as thick as a tree that had grown for thousands of years. The roots in this area were massive and intricately fused together. "Looks like we should head back the way we came..."
Solor backed away from the vast expanse of difficult roots. However, he ended up getting lost again. "We've completely lost Jalur Lumut!" He dismounted once more. "Hold on, there should be a sign..." He climbed a tree until reaching a height that gave him a broad view below. However, all that was visible were mounds covered in green carpets and several areas filled with intertwined roots.
Just as he was about to give up, in the distance vaguely swallowed by fog, his eyes caught a white pillar. "Aha... There it is!" Swiftly, he climbed down the giant tree, mounted his horse again, and spurred it toward the pillar he had spotted. Arriving at the white limestone pillar structure, which stood twice the height of a human, he saw that the monument—eroded by moss and roots from below—turned out to be an old, long-extinguished light pillar beacon.
"So the path must be around here." He trimmed away the roots and plants around the light pillar beacon. Before long, he uncovered the white paving again beneath the roots. "That means it goes that way." Solor pointed south with his small crescent kujang still in hand. "Come on, Wus Wus... We're halfway through our journey..." He jumped into the saddle and spurred his horse once more.
Yet a few moments later, along the way, he got lost again. "We're heading in the right direction, but why isn't there another pillar?!" He dismounted again and climbed another giant tree. Now the view remained the same: every surface appeared green, blanketed in moss, though the fog was slightly less dense than before. His eyes scanned the forest floor, hoping to spot something white. But there was nothing; not a trace of white could be found.
He closed his eyes. Concentrated. Then, he opened them again. Now he tried to look further, yet still found no white mark of the beacon pillar he had hoped for. He sat down limply. "Well... There should be another pillar around here..." His belief that the Alliance wouldn't intentionally make it difficult for Sanajayan citizens to traverse their path suddenly wavered. Could it be that the Alliance was lying, incapable of even building a proper path so people wouldn't lose their way?
"Where could it be? No more signs?" he muttered. "Still, I'm sure they must have built it meticulously so travelers wouldn't get lost." His fingers stroked his straight, pointed beard while his eyes continued surveying the surroundings. Suddenly, his eyes caught something white moving, as if flapping wings atop a tree. He lowered his head while sharpening his gaze, narrowing his eyes in focus.
"An eagle...? Wait, a kite?" He looked closer. His eyes tracked the area from high up on the branch. "Strange... A bird like that wouldn't hunt beneath such a dense canopy." Now focusing his sight, he saw an unusual white bird—a species that should never hunt inside a forest sheltered by giant monkeypod trees.
Curiosity led Solor to follow it. After moving toward where the bird perched for a moment, the surrounding area suddenly shifted. The atmosphere grew brighter, though still misty. The trees grew sparser, though still spreading a few massive roots. Gaps between the leaves once again allowed sunlight to trickle through. Before Solor, the fog appeared a brighter white. A cliff jutting out at the mountain summit stood in front of him.
"Huh, a cliff?" His horse continued running toward the open area. "But the path should be around here..." "Why is it blocked by a cliff?" His horse walked swiftly along the cliff's edge. Occasionally, it leaped to avoid mossy roots clutching all the way to the precipice. Though still foggy, he could see a rushing river far below the steep cliff.
He observed the white bird from earlier, still perched on a high branch. The bird seemed indifferent, staring toward the cliff while occasionally preening and flapping its wide wings. "Is that a falcon? Or an eagle?" he muttered, watching closely. Solor was somewhat puzzled. He knew various types of animals well, but as far as he knew, that kind of eagle never existed in the Lumut Mountains.
"Ah, whatever..." He spurred his horse onward again while keeping an eye on the path. He glanced to the side. Alongside him now stretched a ravine shrouded in thick fog. The midday sun was visible, yet dimmed by the heavy mist, leaving only a shape like a glowing coin in the sky that did not dazzle when looked at.
"Did I take the wrong path...? The street light from earlier was still visible over there. The paved road should be visible from here. But... where is it? There isn't even a pillar." The reality made Solor huff softly. For a moment, his faith in the Alliance that had once built Jalur Lumut was unsettled. Perhaps, he thought, they had just done a sloppy job.
"Hmm... Seems like the Alliance back in the day really wasn't very competent at making paths. Just look at it—now the tracks are nowhere to be found." Solor gazed at the beauty of the cliff. Some trees grew leaning toward the ravine, while their massive roots gripped and pierced through the cliff wall before disappearing behind the blanket of dense fog.
"Well... it's all the same, it seems. The Seven-Year Contest has been held time and again, yet to this day it has failed to produce a single Crescent Wanderer who succeeded in purifying the Circle of Darkness." Suddenly, however, his horse came to an abrupt halt. "What's wrong, Wus Wus?" Solor felt an uneasy sensation.
Hhrrzztt... "Another earthquake?" His horse grew restless. Solor's hand tried to gently stroke its neck to soothe it. Eekkkkh... His horse misbehaved as if wanting to turn back. He felt the tremors once more. "What is this?" His gaze swept along the outer edge of the cliff, but there was nothing suspicious. Everything appeared calm and enveloped in fog. Until the tremors grew even stronger. Suddenly, shouts echoed back and forth in the distance. His fingers tightened on the reins. His face turned anxiously, tracking the source of the cries. The tremors rumbled louder, now continuously shaking without pause. "THIS WAY...!!!"