The Forbidden Forest was not on any map.
There were no signs along the road.
No signposts.
Not a single resident of Desa Waringin even knew its exact location.
But to Mahesa's Compass, the forest was easy to find.
Its needle pointed straight east.
It did not move even slightly.
Arga walked in front.
Sinta, Bimo, and Nala followed behind him, taking careful steps.
Chirp flew from one tree to another.
Since leaving Mahesa's house, the little bird had barely said a word.
Arga watched him.
"Are you sure we're on the right path?"
"Yes."
"Why are you so quiet?"
Chirp turned around.
"Because this forest is listening."
Bimo stopped immediately.
"Excuse me?"
"This forest can hear."
Bimo looked at the trees around them.
"Then don't say anything weird."
"I already told you."
"I wasn't talking to you."
Chirp rolled his eyes.
Sinta held back a laugh.
Nala, on the other hand, looked serious.
She opened her sketchbook.
The blank page began filling itself in.
A huge tree appeared.
Then roots.
Then four children walking among the trees.
Nala swallowed hard.
"There's something up ahead."
Arga stopped.
"What?"
Nala showed them the next drawing.
A hand.
The hand was clasping the hand of a small child.
But the child's body was nowhere to be seen.
Only a shadow.
"Who is that child?" Sinta asked.
"I don't know."
Nala shook her head.
"But he's crying."
They all fell silent.
A sound came from inside the forest.
Softly.
Very softly.
Like the voice of a child.
"Mom..."
Arga turned around.
"Did you hear that?"
Sinta nodded.
The voice came again.
"Mom..."
Bimo pointed to the left.
"The sound came from over there."
Chirp shouted at once.
"Don't follow it!"
Bimo stopped.
"Why not?"
"That isn't a child's voice."
The voice sounded again.
This time, it was closer.
"Mom..."
Nala hugged her sketchbook.
"If it's not a child, then what is it?"
Chirp didn't answer.
Suddenly, the trees in front of them moved.
Their leaves swayed even though there was no wind.
Then they heard laughter.
A woman's laughter.
Long.
Soft.
And echoing among the trees.
"Hee hee hee hee..."
Bimo backed away.
"I don't like this."
Sinta looked at him.
"I thought you weren't scared."
"I never said that."
"Yesterday you said you were ready to face ghosts."
"I said that before I knew the ghost could laugh from every direction."
Arga gripped the compass.
Its needle moved.
Not forward.
Not to the left.
The needle pointed up.
Arga looked up.
A woman stood on a thick branch.
Her hair was incredibly long.
Her body was thin.
The cloth she wore was dark.
But the strangest thing about her was her arms.
They were incredibly long.
They nearly reached the ground.
She was carrying a small child.
The child was asleep.
The woman stared at them.
"You shouldn't have come."
Arga gathered his courage.
"We're looking for a guardian."
The woman didn't answer.
"We didn't mean to disturb you."
"You already have."
Her voice sounded sad.
Not angry.
Arga looked at the child in her arms.
"That child..."
"He's lost."
"What's his name?"
The woman hugged the child tighter.
"His name is Damar."
"He's been in this forest for a long time."
Sinta was startled.
"A long time?"
"Three nights."
Bimo looked at Arga.
"But he looks like a village kid."
The woman climbed down from the tree.
Her body slowly floated downward.
As soon as her feet touched the ground, a thin mist spread around them.
"I've been called many names."
She looked at them one by one.
"But humans most often call me..."
She paused.
"Wewe Gombel."
Bimo whispered,
"So it's true..."
Wewe Gombel looked at him.
"What is?"
"You kidnap children."
Wewe Gombel's expression changed.
She looked at Bimo sadly.
"No."
"Then why do you take them?"
"Because humans don't always take care of their children."
Silence filled the forest.
Wewe Gombel looked at Damar.
"This child was crying alone near the river."
"He was calling for his mother."
"No one came."
"I brought him here so he wouldn't be alone."
Nala took a step forward.
"So you protect them?"
Wewe Gombel nodded.
"I look after children who have no one."
Arga remembered the stories about Wewe Gombel that he had often heard as a child.
It turned out she wasn't entirely like he had imagined.
"Then..."
Arga pointed at Damar.
"Why is he still here?"
Wewe Gombel looked at him.
"Because he can't go home yet."
"Why not?"
"The shadows in the forest have taken his name."
Sinta furrowed her brow.
"How can a shadow take someone's name?"
Wewe Gombel stared deep into the forest.
"Ever since the second seal broke, creatures from the Shadow Gate have begun entering."
"They're looking for humans who are afraid."
"They take their fear."
"Then slowly..."
"...they take their memories."
Nala opened her sketchbook.
A new page appeared.
She drew a small child standing alone.
Behind him was an incredibly long black shadow.
Words appeared beneath the drawing:
DON'T LET HIM FORGET HIS NAME.
Arga looked at Damar.
"If he forgets his name..."
Wewe Gombel nodded.
"He'll become part of the forest."
Bimo stood up straight.
"How do we get it back?"
Wewe Gombel looked at them.
"Find his name."
"He doesn't remember it himself?"
"No."
"His parents?"
"They've been looking for him."
"Where?"
Wewe Gombel pointed toward a narrow path.
"Outside the forest."
Arga furrowed his brow.
"If they're looking for him, why can't Damar leave?"
Wewe Gombel raised her hand.
A black shadow could be seen moving among the trees.
"Because something is holding him here."
The shadow moved closer and closer.
Chirp immediately flapped his wings.
"That's no ordinary shadow."
Arga gripped the compass.
Its needle spun wildly.
Then it stopped, pointing at Damar.
The blue stone given to them by Genderuwo suddenly began to glow.
Wewe Gombel was startled.
"So you brought that with you."
"What is this thing?" Arga asked.
"A fragment of the Mountain Seal."
"Why is it glowing?"
Wewe Gombel looked at Damar.
"Because something from the Shadow Gate is near you."
They all turned.
The black shadow between the trees stopped.
Then it slowly began to take shape.
It looked like a human.
But it had no face.
Two long arms extended from its body.
Nala backed away.
"What kind of creature is that?"
Wewe Gombel carried Damar with one arm.
"A Name Eater."
Bimo held his flashlight like a weapon.
"Even its name sounds awful."
The creature made a sound.
It wasn't a human voice.
It sounded more like layers of whispers piled on top of one another.
"Damar..."
The little boy in Wewe Gombel's arms stirred.
"Damar..."
His eyes opened.
He looked toward the creature.
Then he said,
"My name..."
He stopped.
Confusion clouded his face.
"I..."
Wewe Gombel hugged him.
"Don't listen to it."
The creature moved closer.
"Damar..."
"That name isn't yours," Arga said.
The creature stopped.
Arga didn't know where his courage had come from.
But he stepped forward.
"That name belongs to this child."
The creature made a sound like laughter.
"Then say his full name."
Arga fell silent.
He didn't know.
Neither did Sinta.
Bimo shook his head.
Nala closed her eyes.
Then she opened her sketchbook.
"I know."
Everyone turned toward her.
"I don't know why..."
Her hand began to draw.
A house.
A mother.
A father.
A small child.
On the wall of the house was a family photograph.
Nala stared at the drawing.
Then she read the words that appeared on their own.
"Damar Pradipta."
The child in Wewe Gombel's arms suddenly began to cry.
"I'm Damar Pradipta!"
The black creature shrieked.
"No!"
Its body trembled.
Arga raised the compass.
Green light shot toward the creature.
WHOOSH!
The creature backed away.
Sinta picked up the blue stone.
Blue light burst from her hand.
Bimo shone his flashlight at it.
Nala opened her sketchbook.
And Wewe Gombel raised both hands.
Tree roots burst from the ground.
They wrapped around the creature's body.
The creature struggled to break free.
"That name is mine!"
Wewe Gombel shouted,
"A human's name can never belong to a shadow!"
The roots tightened.
At last, the creature shattered into black smoke.
The smoke flew into the sky.
But before it vanished, a whisper could be heard:
"The Shadow Collector is waiting..."
The forest fell silent again.
Damar cried in Wewe Gombel's arms.
"I want to go home."
Wewe Gombel smiled.
"You will go home."
She handed Damar to Arga.
"Take him there."
"We will?"
"Yes."
Arga nodded.
But before they left, Wewe Gombel called to Nala.
"Nala."
The girl stopped.
"Yes?"
"Don't trust your drawings too much."
Nala was startled.
"Why not?"
"Because not every future wants to be seen."
Nala looked at her sketchbook.
"Am I going to see something bad?"
Wewe Gombel nodded.
"Very soon."
"What?"
Wewe Gombel didn't answer.
She only pointed to a large tree.
A new carving had appeared on its trunk.
The symbol of the seven guardians.
Now two parts of the symbol had turned black.
Arga stared at it.
"The second seal..."
Wewe Gombel shook her head.
"No."
"The third seal."
They all fell silent.
"So two seals have already broken?"
"Yes."
Sinta asked,
"Who is the guardian of the third seal?"
Wewe Gombel looked north.
"The Sea Guardian."
Bimo furrowed his brow.
"So we have to go to the sea?"
Wewe Gombel nodded.
"But don't take the usual route."
"Why not?"
"Because the sea isn't safe right now."
Arga looked at her.
"What's happening?"
Wewe Gombel answered softly.
"On the north coast, people have started seeing a ghost ship."
Nala closed her sketchbook.
"And who is its guardian?"
Wewe Gombel gave them a faint smile.
"You'll know when she rises from the sea."
Suddenly, the wind began to blow.
Mist enveloped the forest.
When the mist disappeared...
Wewe Gombel was gone.
All that remained was a small leaf-shaped bracelet on the ground.
Sinta picked it up.
"What's this...?"
Chirp stared at the bracelet.
"Don't touch it."
Too late.
The bracelet immediately began to radiate light.
Arga's compass lit up as well.
Its needle pointed north.
Far away.
Very far away.
Toward the sea.
Arga looked at his friends.
"Our next journey..."
Bimo sighed.
"...is to the sea."
In the distance, they heard the sound of waves.
Even though the sea was dozens of kilometers from where they stood.
And amid the sound of the waves...
came the sound of a ship's bell.
Ding...
Ding...
Ding...
Three times.
Chirp looked up at the sky.
"We're running out of time."
Arga gripped the compass.
They didn't know that in the northern sea, an old ship was waiting.
A long-haired woman stood on its deck.
Her body was soaked with seawater.
Her eyes stared straight at the forest.
And in her hand...
she held a purple lantern.