After they regained their breaths, the girls went forward through the hills. The land seemed to never end. How much could they journey here until they would reach their destination? Sachen was tired, so was Neha. Even if Sachen collapsed in exhaustion, she would sleep on the hills and wait until the next day to resume her mission. But she understood that idling about the landscape could create inertia within herself. Nonetheless, she had to finish this today, she had to find the truth—it was an urge to which she could never stop embracing, for the truth might benefit or hurt her. With Sachen helping Neha get a move on, the duo made their way to the end of the hills. When they reached the top, they slipped and tumbled down to the other side.

Sachen rubbed her backside, it stung. “Ouch, my butt. Neha, are you all right?”

“Yeah,” Neha said, scratching her knees. “Ah, look over there.”

Picking themselves up, the girls gazed at the place before them. The northern gate was in sight. Foliage covered most of the area and obscured the soldiers, who were right now, guarding the gate. Far away from there, and a couple of inches in front of the pair, there was a shed. The shed had one door with a flat roof; the wooden structure rotted, it was about to fall into pieces. Holes and crickets infested the place, and judging from the looks of it, the girls shivered, feeling as though something was crawling on their bodies. Perhaps this was the wrong place, or worse, it might be an entrance to unpleasantries.

“Maybe we can more evidence in that weird building,” Sachen said. “I am quite suspicious though. What could they be hiding?”

“Don’t assume too much,” Neha replied. “I’m sure that it’s only their equipment and such.”

“I have to start making doubts. Otherwise, there would be no purpose in coming here. Right now, we should eavesdrop... ah, people are coming! Let’s stay quiet!”

“Okay.”

Sachen took Neha to one of the trees. The girls cowered, they drew their attention to an incoming pair of soldiers. A grunt with a slim figure bumped his helmet on a tree bark. The person next to him castigated his clumsiness, he seemed to be extremely intoxicated.

“Hey hey, don’t tell me that you are drinking again!” said the fat companion. “I might have to throw you over to the northern gates, if you want that! Keep your head straight, and continue your duty!”

“Well I’m sorry sir,” the slim soldier responded, “but I can’t help it. The beer that we had from the tavern tasted good as heck, that I drank five pints of them.”

“You should drop dead by now.” The companion snickered, then he pushed the soldier with his sides. “By the way, have you heard about my promotion to senior officer?”

“Promotion? You were actually promoted? What a joke.”

“Don’t even start! But anyways, my superiors decided to upgrade my rank, because I did so well in my command of the company, that I couldn’t contain my gratitude to them. I was leading a great force, and I gained their trust when we were training in the forest quite a while ago, near that strange cave. For some reason, the High Order wanted all the soldiers to hurry up their training, so that we could commence the operation. The Lama, when he issued that, went into a fiery tirade, like he was mad at someone.”

“It could be that he was irritated by our lack of strength. Heh, our men must have wetted their pants when the Lama got angry.”

“Surely they did, some of them perhaps,” the chubby soldier said, he coughed to himself. “The High Order told us to keep our identities secret during the operation—and they also said that we should be willing to die for the sake of the gods, which I took with fervor within my guts! I was ready for death, I was ready for anything! Then it was one rainy day, when the operation happened. I led my men out of the forest, and became successful in my part. Sadly, some of my soldiers died, but we kept on moving until the end! The officers then ordered us that we had to fall back with low numbers! With my display of heroism, my superior granted me a boost, and the next thing I knew it, I became a senior officer! That’s why I can boss you around anytime I want!”

The slim one froze. “I wish I was there too. I have heard from the High Order that we will do another operation: this time with the school.”

“Interesting isn’t it? I wonder what’s it going to be.”

“You didn’t hear from them? They want us to strike in the afternoon somewhere around next week.”

The fat soldier rubbed his chin. “I remember now. Since I got promoted, the Lama entrusted me with holding the documents containing his approval. That’s how much he and the others love me! I keep on flaunting them towards my lackeys, and since I’ll be in charge of the operation, I must prepare for whatever compromise there will be. Geez, are you still drunk?!” He snatched his companion’s ears. “Come on, let’s get you washed up!”

“Wait, you forgot to take the documents from the building!”

“As a senior, I order for you to go with me!”

The slim soldier flailed his arms. “Somebody help me!” His superior chucked the companion’s body onto his shoulders, and he hoisted him back to the gate.

The conversation from the soldiers couldn’t get anymore nerve-wracking. Based on what they talked about, it might be that the fat soldier was a familiar person to the girls, that in recent times they had met him before. Perhaps it was during a military parade, or from the meeting in the temple. It then took long for them to realize the identity of the individual, and once they found out a vague bit about him, their hearts stopped for a few seconds. The girls twitched their eyes and shuddered their shoulders. Sachen bit her nails, and several times did she ask herself if the things she had heard were real.

“Are you thinking what I am thinking?” Sachen asked. “The fat guy who was there, he can’t be-”

“He must have been present in the school back then,” Neha said, clawing her knees. “And he led his force and tried to kill us!”

“Eek! This guy is bad news! I don’t know what to do about him, but he sounds determined to hurt us again. And also, they’re really going to strike the school!”

“Indeed. But I don’t think it’s enough to lead us to the truth.”

Sachen pounded her chest. “We will finish our mission in no time, so that we can go home. Are you with me?”

Suddenly Neha looked at her lap, hesitant. “Um...”

“Are you with me?” Sachen asked again, lunging her hands onto Neha’s shoulders. “Come on now!”

Eventually her friend returned her gaze, and she nodded. “Yes Sachen. I am with you.”

“Good! Then we shall resume!” Sachen lifted herself up. She then glanced at the trees around her, from the branches to the birds to the leaves. Nothing aroused suspicion. But soon enough Sachen’s eyes bulged. She could barely think at the moment, for she saw from afar, a figure with long hair—it seemed to be floating above the soil. The hood from the figure’s clothes concealed its face, and it spoke nothing and noticed nothing. In a matter of seconds it vanished, leaving Sachen in a bind. For what was the identity of that figure? It could be one of the soldiers, and such a notion seemed plausible. As she recalled the sighting once more, she came to believe that the mysterious being was somebody she knew, but she couldn’t place her tongue on who. In the end Sachen derided it as a phantom.

Sachen confirmed that the coast was clear, and the duo dashed to the shed. Sachen twisted the knob of the front door counterclockwise, she then yanked the door open. They headed inside, and in an instant the smell of rotting wood overmastered their nostrils—without question, they stuck their heads outside to get clean air before they looked at the interior again. Much to their captivation, a row of rifles stood on the right wall, patches of blood and deep cuts were everywhere on the firearms. On the left wall, metal hooks hung pieces of armor, and the armor contained carvings of the dove. The blood stains on them corroded their luster, and in addition to that, there were ash-covered holes small enough for a bullet to fit through. Sachen walked to the upper-left corner of the shed, and she stumbled upon a basket. It held a supply of flagpoles; at the end of the poles were green flags, all of them were preserved in pristine conditions.

“Neha, look at these flags. They are green, just like the ones we saw from the forest a while ago, where the enemies were carrying it.”

Neha stared at the objects. She winced. “Maybe it could be that the Holy Army took the enemies’ stuff from the ground and stored them here.”

“I can’t disagree with that. But then these flags should be dirty and ripped as they were from the fights. Why do they look brand-new?”

“I guess the soldiers must have cleaned and stitched them back into their original states.” A huge sigh from Neha, she walked to the door and shook her head, it seemed that she couldn’t carry on with the task. Indeed she was exhausted when it came to her own problems, and Sachen felt more worried for her than ever. However, for Neha to turn her back was something that bothered Sachen to the fullest. She was her friend, thus to Sachen, her cooperation was required—simple as that.

The moment Neha put her foot outside the door, Sachen jumped forward. Her heart beated fast. “Where are you going?!”

Neha clicked her teeth. “I want us to go home. This is a waste of our time after all. We won’t find anything useful here.”

“What are you talking about? We haven’t even looked at everything in this shed!”

“I know. And I understand that you are committed to the problem, but there is no way we can succeed. We should go home before nightfall so that we can put this aside. You must have heard the wrong things when you were eavesdropping the soldiers last night.”

“Ugh!” Sachen balled her fists and punched the armor. She seethed. “This is important for you and me, to know everything that we have to know! I just want to keep us all safe, okay? To see more people dying, I wouldn’t have the guts to move on from it any longer. Plus, with all the problems that are piling up on us, can we afford to ignore those things? Please Neha, please stay here for a couple more minutes.”

“I can’t. Sachen, I am tired, and I need to take a rest. Understand that we have enough time to find the truth.”

“Why you little... there is no time! They can attack us right now, or tomorrow!”

Neha contracted her lips and pushed her eyebrows towards each other. Then there was a brief instance of silence. Sachen stood, her heartbeat waning. She breathed deeply, and wanted to say something to her, but no words could form in her head. To see Neha like this, what could she do? It was difficult to find solutions, given that Neha sounded serious about them having to go home. Of course for the sake of their safety they had to leave this pursuit, but Sachen thought otherwise—if she walked out, she would lose this opportunity for good. There was no tomorrow, no next week. All that mattered was in the present.

Irritated Sachen was, she thrashed her arms and legs around. A hissing from her mouth, the girl plunged herself to the floor. There was no choice but to act like this. “Fine then! Go home, I’ll do this alone! Scram!”

Neha turned around. She whimpered. “S-Sachen.”

“Shoo! If you want to go to sleep, then go do so! I ain’t going to stop you.”

Sachen tossed herself to the corner and crossed her arms. Staying forever was not a viable option, but it seemed apparent that things would get better if she grounded herself here, all alone and focused on her being. She felt confident she could get the job done faster solo, and that without Neha, she could fix the problems with her own strength. At least to the girl, one head was better than two, and this notice came too hasty to think as much as she didn’t want to admit it. Maintaining her scowl, she rocked her body back and forth. Neha watched the flowers from afar.

Sachen continued to be like this. She hit her head on the wall, scratched her legs, and growled. She eyed her attention the flags, the armors, and the guns—from this, she felt as if she had have driven herself to a dead end. There were no clues she could obtain to get a better idea of what was going on behind the scenes. It could have been easier if something explicit and obvious appeared, but it wasn’t so. Even when they were kids, reality offered them nothing but a hardship to their problems, and it was cruel to believe they would right away fail on this attempt.

Turning her attention to the basket again, Sachen found something underneath it. A light bulb appeared on top of her head. She crawled to the object and retrieved from the bottom two slips of papers. They were out of place among the items in the shed. Both of them had a red seal at the bottom-right corner, a sign of significance in terms of religious, political, or military matters. The scribbles on the papers bled red, and the words in bold print curved and stroked all over the place, looking as if someone had made it difficult for outsiders to comprehend. Such designs of the words boggled Sachen’s mind, she thought they were at first random doodles.

“What are these?! I can barely read this baloney.” Going to the front door, she showed them to Neha. “Can you read these things for me please?”

Neha frowned, and shifted her eyes away. “No I will not.”

“Eh?”

“I will do it if you apologize for your behavior.”

“A-apologize?! Haha, the great Sachen should not bow down to some petty trouble!” She laughed and crossed her arms. It was then Neha poked her forehead—her cold expression made Sachen ever so nervous.

Neha glared, she clenched her hands into fists. “Say sorry. Say it now.”

“Whoa, what’s with the look on your face? I’ve never seen you this way! Oww, don’t pinch my forehead so hard!”

“Say it or I won’t give you anymore pencils.”

“No, not that, anything but that!” Sachen took a deep breath. She brushed her hair and lightly slapped her face. From the sight of this, she was preparing more for appearances than an actual apology. How funny it would be if she had to do this every time!

Soon after, Sachen calmed herself down. “Okay Neha, I am very sorry for my outburst, I really mean it! Please have mercy on my soul!”

Before she knew it, Neha turned her frown upside down. She giggled and patted her friend’s head. “It’s okay, I accept your apology,” Neha said. Though Sachen’s plea came as half-hearted and rushed, they didn’t want to create a distance between the two of them again, or else things would have gotten into a mess.

Sachen gave Neha the papers, and the latter delved into the text. Complex as it seemed, Neha figured out the words to the very end. As she read them, her hands swung up and down, and her face paled as a sheet.

“Oh my God.” Neha lifted her eyes away, and she stared at the walls. There was one thing for sure—Sachen had a bad feeling about this. From the looks of Neha’s face, the juvenile braced herself.

“Do you mind if I read it out loud?” Neha asked.

“N-Not at all.”

“Well then, I shall read the first paper.” Neha cleared her throat. She stopped the trembling of her hands. Her fingernails dug through the parchment.

‘Date: August 22nd. The gods have arisen in full anger and hatred for humankind, in particular our village that have been blessed by their grace. For the reasons that we have sinned and corrupted our hearts so much into the darkness, it is best as the leader of the whole community, that I should authorize an important operation in order to quell such corruption among our own people. This is to be, the landmark of redemption and salvation for us, and I entrust within my own powers, that the Holy Army will do everything it takes to ensure the affliction upon the sinners. By the deployment of four companies, I shall issue a private, strict training in the forest of the east, near the cave to where holiness resides, where you all will resort to enduring the harshest discipline. For the sake of employing deception and self-perseverance in order to make this operation viable, the companies shall bear the green standard to show yourself as foreigners. Soon, the gods will approve of our plans, and we shall make preparations hence this day forth. Signed by the Lord of Lords, the 28th Lama, Yebuka.’

When she reached the end, Neha’s jaw dropped. Her pupils dimmed. Her fingers entangled themselves together. “What the, what am I reading here?”

By then, the recitation of the first message shocked Sachen. She raised her head and pinched her ear lobes as to ward it off, but subsequently she was not able to disregard it. No response came from her, for it became too overwhelming to understand, and Neha’s perfect reading of the words began to trouble the girl. She believed what Yebuka did based on the letter was a norm among the Holy Army and the Lama, since they had the obligation to protect the village from so-called sinners—this belief was about to vanish. Neha then flipped to the second paper.

‘Date: September 4th. The operation has been successful—with the utmost gratitude and happiness, I am proud that our men had sacrificed themselves for the sake of bringing punishment for the sinners. It is clear to us that there is more to be done—the darkness is still lingering about the village, and clearly even with the sacrifices of the pig and that witch herself, the gods are still not satisfied. I shall order another military exercise, this time deep into the mountains, so that you can strike again the vulnerables. For this second operation, I want you guys to target the institution housing the education of the youth, so that we can witness the performances of the students, to how well they will be able to defend themselves with their own lives. Surely, this will garner support for my reign, and I hope that people will continue to love me forever. Signed by the Lord of Lords, the 28th Lama, Yebuka.’

Neha finished. At once she crumpled the corners of the paper. She sashayed in a circle and wiped the sweat off her cheeks. Then she stopped, looking at her friend.

“So it is true. I’m sorry for doubting you Sachen. I just can’t believe this, and I don’t know what to say. How can the Lama approve of these operations? Surely it must be a forgery... no, it cannot be. There’s a seal that indicates his ratification. If so, then-”

In consternation, Sachen stood limp, snatched the documents, and flicked them. She held Neha by her arms and saved her from stumbling her steps. Then she stared at her dead in the eye, and in response Neha stitched her lips and loosened her eyebrows. Within her surprise Sachen grumbled, she could barely come to accept this. Why would the Lama issue such an order? As difficult as the writing might be to the girl, she understood that what the Lama was doing would be harmful to the village, and possibly it could kill more innocent people. To attack a place so that they could assess the students, it was nothing less than an act of brutality. Sachen, and perhaps Neha, had no idea of what went through the Lama’s mind when he considered this. He remained an enigma.

By this point, Sachen had mostly connected all the information accumulated, though it became unbearable than enticing to learn the hard truth of the situation. “Let us keep these papers,” Sachen said. “I have another plan that we can execute in a couple of days.”

“Another one?”

“Another one. I will tell you some time tomorrow. Let us go home, Neha, you must be exhausted by my antics. I apologize again, and I didn’t mean to make you stressed out.”

“All right. Let’s go together before our parents will scold us.”

The girls left the shed, alas they were in accord. Upon the portrait of the sky, the sun was setting, it illuminated a scarlet blaze that lifted the colors of the flowers into sparks. Now they knew what was going on, now they must act.