Prince Without Crown
Dead Village

Four horses galloped away leaving dust flying along the road they were on.

On the back of each horse were four young men with two men and two women who had a burly body and good looks like a prince from a land of antagonism were controlling the horse mounts they passed through a barren and rocky hill leads to an adjacent village.

After traveling for two days, now they arrive at a village that looks empty left by its inhabitants.

"Rear Bayu. It's so strange this village. Looks like this village has just been attacked by a band of robbers. There was not a single inhabitant left," said a handsome young man wearing all-white, golden-embroidered yellow silk cloth tied around his waist.

"True you said Dinda Indra Mahesa. We don't know what really happened in this town. But clearly, there has been a robbery here. You see there it is! Many houses belong to residents who only live in rubble. It just seems to be burning!" Bayu Gatra said while pointing to one of the houses that had turned into charcoal.

The four of them now control their horses over entering into the dead village while occasionally looking at the footprints and blood spills everywhere. But the surprising thing is, none of the bodies they found in this village. This made the two pairs of young men frown a sign of not understanding what had happened.

"Rear, look at this!" Said a woman shouting to make the two men named Baby and Indra turned his gaze towards the woman who exclaimed earlier.

They descended from each other's horses and led them towards the woman who had shouted earlier.

"Have you found anything, Dinda Andini?" Ask Bayu Gatra.

"See this, Kakang! There were many footprints leading to that part of the forest!" Said the woman named Andini earlier while pointing to the part of the forest that was not too far from the village where they stopped.

Without riding any more horses, they are now walking into the forest with hints of footprints that, if counted, reach hundreds of people.

Increasingly entering the forest, now the footprints gradually disappear and now the four of them have completely lost track.

"Squeaky. Where the hell did they go? It is impossible to just disappear immediately," muttered Bayu Gatra while crouching watching the last footprints he saw.

"Be careful brother! Look above your head!" Prince Indra Mahesa warned.

"Damn. The forest is full of traps. Let's leave this forest. I'm afraid there will be misunderstandings between us and the people who are hiding in this forest. Who knows that these are the fighters from the kingdom of Sri Kemuning," Bayu Gatra said and then walked slowly while leading his horse to leave the forest area.

"Then, how is this Kakang? I have never been down the mountain. Only brother brings the way!" Prince Indra Mahesa said when they arrived at the village again.

"I don't think we can go straight to Galuh's kingdom. This is because, we could have been suspected of being spies from the spikes of the earth,"

"Then, will the kakang take us to the kingdom of Sri Kemuning?" Ask Gayatri.

"really. We only need to continue the journey for three more days to reach the city of king Sri Kemuning," replied Bayu Gatra.

This is the problem they are facing right now. They had thought that this village had many inhabitants. This is because when viewed from a distance, this village is a large village. If they still have residents, of course they can exchange their horses by adding a few kepeng money to continue the journey with horses that are still fresh fit. But the problem now is, to continue the journey, they cannot ride the horse or their horse will die in the middle of the journey.

"There's no choice. We need to continue the journey. Just take this horse. Up ahead there was a small time with a very wide grass field. We can rest there. Later we will hunt, while allowing our horses to drink and graze as much as possible" Bayu Gatra said and then preceded to lead the group which was immediately followed by the three others.

Just as they were leaving this village, now from the direction of the cliff seemed some people walking towards the road in the forest where the four young men had stopped in the forest.

It seems that some men who wear all black clothes are now stopping while paying attention to the former horse footprints around the trap they installed.

"What's Wiguna?" Arya Prana asked astonished to see Wiguna stop his steps.

"The Back of Arya Prana. Let's see that! Isn't that a horse's footprint?!" Said Wiguna while pointing towards the path in front of him.

"Heh. Right you said. This is a former horseshoe palm. Meaning?!" Commander Rangga said while touching the footprints with his hand and kissed them.

"This guy just got a sis! Not even a cup of tea!" Said Commander Rangga again while getting up.

"It looks like we just got a guest. But why aren't they hit by the traps we set?" Senopati asked Arya Prana while looking up at the wooden beams with nail mines still on top of the tall tree.

"Entah kakang's. But I suspect that these people are stray people,"

"No way!" Deny the Senopati, then continue. "If they're straying, why stop here and spin back out of this forest? They must have entered this forest on purpose. Or maybe?"

"Don't what a sis?" Tanya Tumenggung Paksi began to be curious.

"The feet of the villagers. That possibility is what attracted their attention" said Senopati Arya Prana guessing.

"If you look at the scars of the soles of the feet, obviously these people have the science of lightening the body that is quite high or at least quite perfect. Just look! Only the horse tracks are visible. But the marks on their feet were very faint. Only people who have sharp vision are able to see the scars of their feet which amount to four people," said Wiguna anyway.

"Hmmm. It seems they have come out of this forest. Just look. After the work on the cliff is done, you order our men to tighten the guard in this forest area. I will chase after the group while trailing them, I will also lead our people to buy food supplies. You guys come right back and pick a hundred people to follow me. I will wait here," Arya Prana said giving the order.

"Sendiko dawuh Kakang Senopati!" They said simultaneously then slipped among the thickets leading to the cliff wall that there is an entrance to a village that is getting more and more days, the more crowded the citizens. This is because, every day, there are only people from other villages who move to this teak valley because they cannot stand being colonized continuously by the Earth Nail soldiers.

Seriate...