I leave Asia and Kunou playing alongside my mother, who is happy to take them swimming around the lake while I follow Princess Pusuk to dive into Lake Toba. Pusuk creates a bubble around so I can breathe in water and so the creatures that protect this place do not attack .
"What kind of creatures protect this place, Pusuk?"
"Please don't call her a creature. She is also a forr Divine Being, you know? She is called Boru Saniang Naga. She is a forr high goddess, the daughter of Batara Guru, the High God of the Middle world, our world. Sadly, she loses her divinity after the people slowly forget her na. However, she still loves humanity and is willing to sacrifice her remaining divinity to change into a dragon that guards this place. Not only guard this place, but she also ensures she rescues anyone lured by the creatures in this lake."
"Ah, are there rogue creatures in this lake?"
"Yup! They are grass-like creatures that will pull any swimr who gets too far from the shore and pull them to the bottom of the lake. They then get sucked out of their life force, and their body will be used as breeding grounds."
Yikes.
"Ah! That she is!"
I snap from my thoughts and look where Pusuk is looking to see a long eastern dragon with light blue scales and gray eyes. It has a single horn coming out of its forehead and what looks like hairs coming out of the upper part of its body.
She dances around the water before she gets closer to us.
"Pusuk! Is this the one?"
"Yes, my lady. This is the guest Lord Soripada expects to see."
"I see. Then please don't make my uncle wait!"
The dragon then looks at and says.
"You sll like a dragon! Let's play after you are done talking with Uncle!"
After saying that, she left us to continue doing whatever she was doing before. I look at Pusuk and say.
"What does she an by uncle?"
"Ah, I did not tell you, huh? Lord Soripada is the son of Lord Mulajadi na Bolon, the Chief God of Batak Pantheon, while Lady Boru Saniang Naga is the daughter of Batara Guru, Lord Soripada's brother."
"Right."
The two of us continued to swim deeper into the lake before I could finally see a massive temple at the bottom of the lake. I can feel a barrier around it that I know to hide the temple from the mundane people.
It is a temple that looks like a grander traditional house of the Batak people. The barrier around it has a hint of divinity. It is very subtle, but I can feel divinity there. As we pass the barrier, the water cannot get inside the barrier, and I see Pusuk change into a beautiful woman.
As the two of us land on the ground, she imdiately kneels, and I follow suit.
"Lord Soripada, I have co bringing your guest."
After waiting for a few seconds, I can hear soone greet us.
"Pusuk, what do I tell you? You did not need to kneel in front of , niece. Please get up. That also applies to you, dear guest."
The two of us got up, and I could finally see the man who was greeting us. He has white ashy hair and red eyes. He is rather tall, almost two ters tall. He looks at us with a small smile that shows kindness and innocence. However, I can see behind that smile lies a hidden power that is ready to be unleashed if provoked. He might lose his divinity, but he still has thousands of years of experience to whoop my ass from Monday to Sunday.
"Greeting Lord Soripada."
"Please, call Sori. I am not your lord and have already lost my divinity."
"I don't think I can do that."
"Please, I insist."
When I see his begging expression, I can only sigh and say.
"Of course, Sori."
"Great! Please co in! I already prepared so als for you."
I blink at that statent because this is the first ti I hear of a God who is not the God of Cooking, who cooks sothing.
We followed him to the house, and I could see a lot of dishes already prepared for us on the floor.
"I am so excited to have a guest that I cook a lot of food. Please eat! Don't hesitate. There are a lot of them."
I can only sigh and sit on the floor alongside Pusuk and Sori. After Sori takes the first bite, Pusuk and I follow suit.
Hmmm! This is good. What I am eating is sothing called Saksang. It is a traditional dish from the Batak people. This dish is usually made of pig at, dog at, or buffalo at, which is cut into pieces and cooked with many spices that make the sauce dark brown.
"Thank you for coming here, dear guest."
"Please call Ryan, Sori. Also, you did not need to thank . It is a pleasure to et you in person. To learn that my ethnicity has a pantheon of its own is surprising, and it is a pleasure to learn it under you."
"I am glad. While our na slowly disappeared in the canal of ti, I am glad that there are people who are willing to learn about our life and na. I did not care if you guys worshiped us. As long as there is soone who rembers us, we are happy."
I like him. He looks like soone who is lonely. He only wants so companionship. I guess getting stuck here for who knows how long will do that to you.
"Then I will make sure my children will know your na, Sori. I promise you that."
He smiles brightly at and says,
"Thank you! You did not know how much it ant to ."
I nod and say.
"Anyway, can I ask you the reason why you call here?"
"Oh, right!"
His change from excitent to complete seriousness.
"Ryan, can I ask you to kill Padoha Ni Aji when the seal is broken?"
Yikes. Can you not raise that flag too high just after I et you?
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