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🌑 The Ritual Beneath the Summit of Srinjani
The night Queen Amarpati had been waiting for finally arrived.
The skies above Srinjani were dark. Thick clouds concealed most of the stars, while a cold wind swept through the trees lining the trail toward the summit.
In an open clearing, the offerings had been carefully arranged.
A goat was tied a short distance from the altar. Chicken blood had been placed in a container, three eggs were arranged side by side, and seven varieties of flowers were scattered around the offerings. A jug filled with water from the summit's spring stood at the center.
Queen Amarpati stood before the arrangement.
Behind her stood Darmawangsa, Ki Jaka, the royal aides, and several soldiers, all waiting in silence.
Meanwhile, hundreds of inhabitants sat in a circle around the offerings.
Not a single person dared to speak.
They had come because the queen had commanded them to attend. Some were curious, while others feared punishment if they refused. A few believed the ritual would bring prosperity to their lives.
Not one of them understood its true purpose.
That night, they were not attending a ceremony of reverence.
They were surrendering themselves to something far older and crueler than their own kingdom.
Amarpati raised both hands.
"O Saracana Naraya, ruler of darkness who has existed since the very beginning of this mountain!"
Her voice echoed among the trees.
"Accept our offerings. Accept the reverence of all the inhabitants of Srinjani. Let your power envelop this kingdom, and let me rule without limits until time itself loses its meaning!"
She began chanting incantations unknown to most of those present.
Suddenly, the wind grew stronger.
The torch flames swayed violently.
Dry leaves scattered through the air as the ground surrounding the offerings began to tremble faintly.
Several inhabitants exchanged uneasy glances.
"What is happening?" someone whispered.
"Be quiet. Don't let the queen hear you," the person beside him replied.
But Ki Jaka could no longer remain seated.
From the moment the first incantation was spoken, he had felt a strange pressure constricting his chest. The air around him seemed to grow heavier, as though something invisible were watching everyone gathered there.
He closed his eyes briefly, trying to understand the source of the power.
Then, when he opened them again, his entire body stiffened.
Before him, something horrifying was beginning to reveal itself.
A gigantic serpent appeared beside the offerings.
Its long body coiled around the ceremonial site, while its head rose high behind Queen Amarpati. Its scales shimmered in the torchlight, reflecting shades of dark green, black, and gray.
A crown rested upon its head.
Saracana.
The creature had truly appeared before them.
But what happened next horrified Ki Jaka even more.
The serpent slowly wrapped its enormous body around Queen Amarpati.
The queen made no attempt to resist. Instead, she lifted her face with a smile of satisfaction, as though welcoming an old friend.
Ki Jaka felt his blood run cold.
So it was all real.
He finally understood that the ritual was no ordinary ceremony.
Their queen had forged a pact with an evil creature that, until then, had existed only in ancient tales.
And that night, every inhabitant of Srinjani was being drawn into that unholy alliance.
"Impossible…" Ki Jaka murmured.
He immediately rose to his feet.
"What is happening, Ki Jaka?" one of the nearby soldiers asked.
Ki Jaka did not answer. His eyes remained fixed on the gigantic serpent coiled around the queen.
"We must leave this place!"
Several soldiers stared at him in astonishment.
"Leave? But the ritual isn't over!"
"That's precisely why we must leave now!"
Ki Jaka grabbed the arm of the soldier standing before him.
"Listen to me carefully. Queen Amarpati is sacrificing us all to that gigantic serpent!"
The soldiers exchanged bewildered glances.
They saw nothing except the queen standing before the offerings.
To them, Ki Jaka had suddenly begun shouting for no apparent reason.
"Ki Jaka, what do you mean?" one of them asked.
"Can't you see it?!"
Ki Jaka pointed toward the serpent surrounding the ritual site.
"That! The gigantic serpent behind Queen Amarpati!"
Yet none of them turned around with the same terror that had seized him.
They could not see the creature.
Ki Jaka then realized that he alone could witness Saracana's true form.
Since childhood, Ki Jaka had possessed a sixth sense that allowed him to perceive beings invisible to ordinary humans. For years, this ability had been regarded as a gift that helped him understand things beyond the reach of human perception.
But that night, for the first time, he wished he had never possessed such a gift.
What he was witnessing was far more horrifying than anything he had ever imagined.
"Queen Amarpati has made a pact with the evil serpent of Srinjani!" he shouted.
He looked at the soldiers one by one.
"Now I understand why her behavior changed so drastically. She is no longer the queen we once knew!"
Ki Jaka clenched his fists.
"To obtain the throne, she even dared to kill her own sibling. She did all of this so that we would submit to her and worship Saracana!"
His expression hardened as memories of the past resurfaced.
"Now I understand the words of the late King Atmanagara. His suspicions about his own daughter were not without reason."
Ki Jaka drew a deep breath.
"We cannot stay here. If we remain, our souls will eventually belong to that creature."
He looked at Saracana once more.
The serpent seemed to sense his presence.
Its yellow eyes slowly shifted toward Ki Jaka.
For a moment, their gazes met.
Ki Jaka froze.
A deep voice echoed inside his mind.
"You can see me, human?"
Ki Jaka's heart pounded violently.
He took a step backward.
"If that is so, you should not be here."
Ki Jaka did not wait any longer.
"Go! Now!" he shouted at the soldiers.
This time, several of them chose to trust him. They had known Ki Jaka for years as a man who never issued warnings without good reason.
If he was displaying such overwhelming fear, something must truly be wrong.
Without waiting for the ritual to end, Ki Jaka and several soldiers fled the clearing.
They ran through the darkness, away from the ceremonial grounds, leaving behind a kingdom that had become a haven for dark forces.
Behind them, Queen Amarpati's chanting could still be heard faintly.
Then came a thunderous rumble that shook the forest.
None of them dared to look back.