The next morning, Arga, Sinta, and Bimo gathered in the village library.
They placed the black stone on the table.
No one touched it.
It looked ordinary.
Small.
Black.
And slightly cracked.
Yet whenever sunlight touched its surface, the carving in the center of the stone seemed to move.
"This must be important," Sinta said.
"Obviously important," Bimo replied.
"Why?"
"Because last night, a river ghost asked us to return it."
Sinta sighed.
"That doesn't mean we should just return it."
"Why not?"
"Because we don't know who we're supposed to return it to."
Arga nodded.
"True."
He opened the notebook left behind by Grandpa Mahesa.
On one of the pages was a picture that looked very much like the stone.
Written beneath the picture were the words:
Seal of the Seven Guardians.
Arga read the description below it.
"The seven guardians are believed to watch over seven gates connecting the human world and the supernatural world."
Sinta leaned closer.
"So the banyan tree is one of the gates?"
"Maybe."
"And this stone is part of the seal?"
"Maybe that too."
Bimo scratched his head.
"Why is every answer always 'maybe'?"
"Because we're just getting started."
Suddenly...
Knock!
Something fell from the shelf.
Sinta picked it up.
A sketchbook.
Its cover was brown.
There was no name on it.
When she opened it, the first page was blank.
The second page was blank too.
But on the third page was a drawing of a woman in a white dress.
Sinta furrowed her brow.
"I didn't draw this."
Arga moved closer.
"That's the Banyan Guardian."
Sinta turned the page.
There was a drawing of a banyan tree.
Then a river.
Then a bridge.
Then a figure in a black cloak.
"It's like a map."
"Who drew it?" Bimo asked.
Sinta looked at the last page.
There was a drawing of a little girl.
Shoulder-length hair.
A flower-patterned headband.
A pencil in her hand.
"This..."
A voice came from the doorway.
"That's me."
They all turned.
A girl stood there.
She looked about ten years old.
She carried a small bag stuffed with drawing supplies.
Her name was Nala.
"I was looking for that book."
Sinta handed it to her.
"Did you draw all of this?"
Nala nodded.
"But I don't know when I drew it."
"What do you mean?"
Nala sat down.
"Sometimes my hand draws by itself."
Bimo shot to his feet.
"How is that possible?"
Nala opened to a blank page.
"Like this."
She picked up a pencil.
Her hand began to move.
The first line appeared.
Then a second line.
A tree.
Roots.
Fog.
A lantern.
And finally...
a single eye.
Nala stopped.
Her face had gone pale.
"I don't like this part."
Arga looked at the drawing.
"Why not?"
"Because every time that eye appears..."
She pointed to the bottom of the page.
"...someone always goes missing."
The room suddenly fell silent.
Chirp flew closer to the drawing.
His feathers stood on end.
"Nala..."
The girl stared at the bird.
"You can talk?"
Chirp nodded.
"And you can draw what will happen."
Nala swallowed.
"Sometimes."
Arga looked at the other three children.
Now all four of them stood around the table.
The compass.
The necklace.
The seal stone.
The sketchbook.
Everything was connected.
Suddenly, the library lights went out.
Darkness.
Bimo switched on his flashlight.
"It's just a power outage."
But the flashlight's beam couldn't reach the corner of the room.
Something there was darker than darkness.
A shadow moved between the bookshelves.
Sinta whispered.
"Arga..."
"I see it."
A black figure darted past.
Fast.
Then it stopped.
At the end of the aisle between the shelves.
A purple lantern glowed.
The Shadow Collector.
"He got into the library!" Bimo shouted.
They ran.
The figure vanished behind the shelves.
Arga chased after it.
He found an open window.
A black feather lay on the windowsill.
It wasn't a bird feather.
The feather was cold.
When Arga touched it, the entire room began to tremble.
Books tumbled from the shelves.
And Chirp's voice rang out.
"Don't touch it!"
Too late.
The feather turned into black smoke.
The smoke formed a face.
A face without eyes.
Then it whispered:
"The seven guardians will fall."
Arga stepped back.
"One gate has opened."
The smoke grew thicker.
"And the children carrying the compass..."
The face turned toward Arga.
"will become the next key."
The smoke vanished.
The library lights came back on.
There was nothing there.
Nala stood clutching her sketchbook.
"Arga..."
"What?"
Nala showed him the last page.
A new drawing had appeared.
Four children stood in front of a mountain.
Behind them loomed a huge figure with horns.
A red moon hung in the sky.
And beneath the drawing were words Nala had not written.
MISTY MOUNTAIN.
Bimo stared at the picture.
"That's..."
Sinta nodded.
"Our next adventure."
Chirp looked at them one by one.
"We're running out of time."
Arga gripped the compass.
The needle began to move.
Once.
Twice.
Then it pointed west.
Toward the mountains whose peaks were always hidden by fog.
Arga drew a long breath.
"Then..."
He looked at his three friends.
"...we'll go together."
For the first time, they stood together as one group.
Four children.
One compass.
One magical bird.
And a mysterious world slowly beginning to unfold before them.
They didn't yet know that beyond the fog of the next mountain...
a giant guardian was waiting for them to arrive.
And it wasn't looking for an enemy.
It was looking for someone who was missing.