Gergasi Wrath: The BU NI AN Conspiracy, #3

By Aammton Alias

Survivors of a demonic massacre in the jungle are trapped in the spirit world, a technologically advanced parallel world, and are caught in a complex existential conflict between Humankind and Buni-an kind. 

 

Captain Sarin and his Prowling Tigers recon team have been tasked to join the Gergasi Clan on a rescue mission and encounter shocking revelations. Azan and his new companion Buni-an spirit; Laila, recover from the previous attack and continue their journey towards the Well of the Seven Kings. 

 

Meanwhile, Adib and his friends who are stuck in Azzah of the Buni-an world head towards Tera Khir town to find the antidote for the stricken and poisoned Dr. Nurul, unaware that a vast army from Hilaga is marching towards them. 

 

This is BOOK 3 of The BU NI AN Conspiracy novel series. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: M Content Creations
• Release date: Nov 20, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223515425

Aammton Alias

Dr. Aammton Alias has been a family physician for almost two decades. He is currently practising in a private community clinic. He is the Vice-President of RELA (REading and Literacy Association). One of the many goals of this organisation is to strive for every child to own and cherish at least one book. He is a keen conservationist and environmentalist who is deeply concerned with the state of the world the next generation will inherit. You can reach him via: Twitter: @Aammton Telegram: @ElTonyX Facebook Page: www.fb.me/aammtonalias

Book preview

Acknowledgments

My loving wife and my daughter continue to go beyond inspiring me to complete this novel series - which was initially a NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) challenge. They gave me continuous feedback and encouragement to complete my book, even when they would prefer that I stop and spend time with them by the beach.

I could not have written this book without having learnt a lot more about life and the ‘inner life’ from my mentor and friend ‘Bob’, for which I am eternally grateful.

My good friends Dr Jawad Khan, Captain Khai and many others had helped me explore ideas and themes especially those based on experiences, and very thankful for their presence in my life.

I thank my former patients and clinic colleagues in Tutong for sharing so many insights and hidden stories about their lives and their community that made this novel series possible.

Of note, the book was 95% complete back in 2016 but somewhere along the line everything stopped, as other things in life took priority. Thank you to the readers who kept asking when this book would be out. Please keep asking, keep pushing for my next book.

Welcome To My Universe

Thank you for picking up this book. This is the next chapter from the original novel – Last Bastion. The entire series has been renamed as The Bu Ni An Conspiracy series.

This novel series has been inspired by a series of events including the disappearance of an army soldier in Labi. He was missing for 23 days. The Search and Rescue mission had stopped after day 14. He was found underneath a wooden stilted house in a deep rural Tutong village. He thought he was missing for months. He claimed to have been stuck in a village, in another dimension – the Bunian world.

I would recommend reading the previously mentioned first book, which has sections Day 1 to Day 4. And then the second book Killing Dreams which is Day 5 to Day 7. This book Gergasi Wrath is Day 8 to Day 10.

I have written using multi-first-person accounts for reasons you will appreciate as you read the other books. I assure you that the novel series is a massive universe and will blow your mind as you delve further into it.

There is no you, me or them. We are one and the same.

CHAPTER 94

Prologue: Azan’s Recall

7th December

Location: Bukit Ladan Jungle, Deep in Rural Tutong

They had the best laid plans for a blood feast; they could not fail, as failure was a luxury they could not afford.

In the darkest of nights, the Pontianak vampires had us surrounded and outnumbered. Dozens of Pontianaks streamed out endlessly from the surrounding jungle into our campsite. Their blood-curdling battle cries, snarls, and anguished screams filled the bloodlust air as Guru Rahman’s arrows of green light struck the Pontianak enemy, bursting them into a shower of fiery crimson deaths. As much as The Lima team fought valiantly, there were simply too many of the Pontianaks, and not enough time to rescue our spirit guide; Laila, and my poor self. We had been cut off from the rest of the team, forced to retreat to the riverbank and then into the icy river itself, our ultimate salvation. 

We thought we were safe in the water; we thought the river was impossible for them to enter, but we were so wrong. The Pontianaks pursued us into the river and I waded further and deeper into the treacherous water, whilst carrying the injured Laila on my back. A Pontianak had grabbed me, whilst the other Pontianaks chanted for blood, our blood.

The Pontianak’s grip was too strong, I could not shake her off as her mouth opened widely revealing the rows of teeth so huge and so sharp they looked like glistening daggers in the dark, and then her lower jaw dropped to below where her breasts were. She was going to devour both of us whole. Guru Rahman unleashed a salvo of blazing green arrows towards us. I had never seen so many arrows, let alone fiery green ones, fill up the night sky. There were even more numerous than when Guru Rahman fought against that demon named Serigala. Though it was a spectacular show, to us it was nothing more than that as the arrows fell short and missed its targets. 

As I prayed in our last moments, the river had suddenly swelled up, drowning our Pontianak attackers. Fighting against the rage of the river, I clung on tight onto one of the river boulders, whilst gripping Laila’s hand. I didn't want to lose her. It was at this moment that I wondered why. Was it simply because she was our guide, the only one we knew who could bring us to The Well of the Seven Kings? Was this the only way to rescue the missing expedition members? The Buni-an girl, Laila, is not even human. Why? I wondered if I was trying to save her for a reason that I could barely comprehend, something deeper and sinister. 

The weight and power of the water continued to weaken my limbs, every ounce of myself getting heavier and heavier, whilst my breathing became shallow and more laboured. I struggled to squeeze the courage and strength to fight the incredible river current. My fingernails scraped the smooth mushy algae surface, and I slipped off the rock, and both Laila and I tumbled into oblivion. 

We could barely keep our heads above water. The river wasn’t trying to save us; it was trying to drown us. Drown all of us for disturbing the tranquil night. We were too many times underwater, gulping more water than air, our lungs imploding as we felt our lives being snuffed out. Was drowning in the river a better way to die or was it better to be devoured by a Pontianak?

8th

December

A green globe with a fern leaf Description automatically generated

BUMI

Chapter 95

Azan: Gravity

8th December

Location: Bukit Ladan Jungle, Deep in Rural Tutong

It was barely a glimpse, a moment that was no longer than the time between two heartbeats, right before the never-ending tumble into the unknown. I saw her with not my eyes, but my soul. She had gripped my hand tightly. She would not set me loose into the chaos of the dark world.

For alas, her grip was too weak, I was unleashed towards the eye of anarchy. My mother was only as strong and as weak as she was meant to be. It could not have been her by the river rocks trying to save me. It wasn’t unreal and yet it was everything surreal.  She’s nothing but dead. I had watched her in her dying breath, just as I had watched over Uncle Tuah’s final breath. 

I am all that is left. Is today the day I join them? I have so much to do, and kill. Right now, all I want to do is save the little spirit girl, Laila. 

Thoughts of Laila awakened me abruptly. I groaned as I experienced a heavy and throbbing headache. Instinctively, I ran my hand over my wet scalp and found a small bruising lump. I felt a jolt of tingling pain when my fingers made contact with it. I complained about the pain and then somehow I thanked God for being alive. I must have hit a rock along the way. 

Where am I? 

I looked around whilst wiping my eyes and forehead. I wished so much for last night’s ordeal to be nothing but a terrible nightmare, and yet here I am lying on a bed of flat smooth water-sculpted pebbles on a river bank. The dim orange-yellow sun bathed me with warmth, which reminded me that my hand was still clutching onto an ice-cold damp hand, Laila’s.

Lying flat next to me, I could only see the back of her head, and her hair was a wet mangled tangled mess.  I recollected what had happened: We were attacked by hundreds of those evil Pontianak vampires, our brush with Death and then saved and nearly drowned by the river. 

Was it a flash flood or a Divine Act? I wondered. 

Laila, are you alright?  

She refused to turn to see me. She pushed my hand away and began sobbing uncontrollably.

I patted her soft and seemingly fragile back. We made it out of that. We are safe.

I clambered onto her other side, doing my best not to fall onto her. I could not help from gasping as I didn’t recognise her sweet self anymore. Her face was eerily swollen and bruised all over. Her previously gentle eyes were now bloodied. The white part of her eye was now filled with dark, broody red blood.

She looked devoid of any passion. She looked more broken than anything I had ever known. Her tears streamed down and mixed with the dripping water from her hair. Her other arm was oddly bent. I had no doubt it was broken and fragmented in various places. How could they do this to her? How could they do this to their own kind? 

How do I get her better? 

It’s okay, Laila. We are safe now. My words offered no solace as she continued to cry. 

Safe? What’s the point? They should have killed me and put me out of my misery, she shuddered in a whole of hurt. Even talking to her was seemingly painful. 

Don’t you want to get back to your friends and your father, your mother, your family?

Look at me, broken everywhere, broken inside.

Broken inside?

Azan, you know nothing about me. I lost my siblings to them - those damn monsters, Laila could barely breathe, her emotion half-suffocating her, Then I lost my mother to them, the Hilaga border guards - who transform into the so-called Pontianaks when they’re here in Bumi.

There is always something to live for... I tried to find the right words to console her, and yet I became lost in my own words. 

To live for? In my home, the Hilaga border guards destroyed every little joy that we had. We did nothing to them, Laila went on. 

An overwhelming silence wrapped a vice grip on my throat. 

They killed all of my friends. And now my father - Who is he? - I don’t know him anymore. He’s an empty shell. In Azzah, those scum kicked us out of our own home. We have nowhere to go. Lost and not in our land. We are not even in our world. Laila sobbed ever uncontrollably, in between wails of anguish. 

We are nothing but unwanted refugees. No place to go, no place to run to. No one wants us, except those who want to use us. Azan, I have nothing at all. I am nothing. 

Looking at how fragile she appeared, I fought the urge to hug her. I worried I would hurt her more. Laila turned her head as though seeing something I could not see, a distant memory as fragile as her wounded self. 

Once I had a school to go to. And I had school friends. I could pretend to forget about what they did to my family, even if it was just for a while - until I got back from school, and then they destroyed my school. I lost so many of my friends then. How could they kill them? We were only children. We had nothing to do with Hilaga. 

I patted Laila to comfort her, but she quickly pushed my hand away, the injured arm still gripping hard onto a river pebble. As she gripped the pebble ever harder, her hand became ever paler. 

No! Laila wailed hysterically. There’s nothing you can do. You cannot mend me. There’s no point talking any more, it won’t make me better. Leave! Let me die here. 

I glanced at her garment that was no longer white, it was soiled brown and red, torn and shredded in places. Her clothes clung tightly to her fragility, moving up and down with her laboured breathing. 

Laila, you can choose to die here if you want. But you are not the only one, you are not alone. I too have lost everyone in my family. Everyone… I could not help myself from being overwhelmed by my own recent turn of events.

I paused upon the gravity of my own situation, how recently it had been. It was only a few days ago. 

Laila’s pitiful eyes gazed into my own as we both lay on the pebble ground. How? 

They killed my family, and I am the last one. A hard lump formed in my throat as I struggled to fight the turbulence of emotional turmoil. 

They didn’t show them mercy. At least you still have your father. As for me, I won’t rest until I avenge their deaths - even if I have to go to Hilaga itself and destroy them there. I swear to God, I would go all the way to avenge them. I trembled in anger as the words bellowed out of me. 

Laila, you must not let them die in vain. Laila, we all need you more than you realise. I need you! 

I paused for a moment to drown in my anger. Help me avenge my family! We can avenge both of our families and everyone that we have lost to those damned Hilagaans! 

I saw my words changed Laila’s mood. She knew it too. There was no better way to snuff out pain and suffering than through the path of rage and vengeance. 

Hilagaans. Revenge is what I need, what we both need, Laila yearned for hope, even though it was an act of vengeance. The heart and mind can catch fire more easily than I thought. 

Help me help you, Laila. You’re injured. How do I heal you? Can I give you my blood to suck on? 

Eyeww! Laila smirked in disgust. Do you think I am a bloody vampire? 

Hey, you can’t blame me - you didn’t come with a ‘How to heal an injured Buni-an girl’ manual! If you know how I can heal you, come on, tell me! I demanded from Laila. 

I need a piece of your bone, Laila utters emotionlessly. 

What? How do we do that? I imagined a very painful procedure. 

It won’t hurt. I will take a small piece of rib from you, but I can only take it from you - if you give it to me sincerely. 

Huh? What do you mean? 

Laila sniffled and mustered up courage. Close your eyes, utter your sacred words, remind yourself of your intention to help me heal. Remember our purpose for revenge and focus on a memory of when you were happiest - when anything and everything was possible, Azan. Once you are there, imagine plucking out your rib, as though you are plucking a petal from a flower and handing it to me. Know that I will be forever bound to you to achieve your goals, which are the same as mine. 

That sounds horribly painful to the flower. Have you done this before? Taking a rib from someone.

It’s painless for the flowers. Have you ever heard a flower scream when you pluck the petals? And no, this is my first time, but I know enough to make this happen. 

How can you be sure? How do I know this won’t hurt me?

Please Azan, be serious and trust me. 

Ok then, flower girl. I resigned to my fate. 

I closed my eyes and uttered the sacred words. I reminded myself I desired to help Laila mend her broken self, and that we were now both on the same path. Images took shape and formed in my mind. I saw my mother. A river of tears flowed down my cheeks.

Our happiest memories together looped like a video in my head. I gripped Laila’s hand and guided it to the left side of my chest.

She knew I was now ready. I felt her hand go through my skin and gently pull out something from me. I felt no pain. In fact, I barely noticed any sensation where her hand was. Feeling very sleepy, I did my best to fight it. 

Done. Laila woke me up from my self-induced meditative state. The world had turned dark, and I blacked out. 

When I regained consciousness, I looked around to see if Laila was nearby. Somehow, I had expected her to have left me. People always leave me after they get what they want. I was relieved to see her huddled on my chest. Laila hadn’t left me. Are we really bound forever on our vengeance purpose?

Seeing that I was awake, Laila stood up. She looked much taller than before. Standing up in front of her - almost eye to eye - and yet I could barely recognise her. I did not recognise her rosy cheeks and lips - she no longer looked like the pale and void of colour Laila. I did not recognise her sweet and uplifting smile, the perfectly formed dimples on both cheeks. The only things that remained the same were her large brown eyes.

Even her clothes had changed. Previously, she was wearing a grubby white dress-robe before. However, now she was wearing a silky white dress with a complicated flowery lace pattern on the actual garment. She had extra trimmings around her cuffs, which made her more appropriate for a fancy costume party instead of a jungle mission. I noticed that her attire was not just sparking clean white, but it had a tinge of a very light blue hue.

One word, bedazzled. I thought to myself.  

Hey Azan, stop staring at me.

You’ve grown, Laila. I scanned her from top to bottom. She looked very much like a fully blossomed teenager. 

She giggled, Well, that’s what you get when someone gives you a piece of their bone. Just like Eve being created from Adam’s rib, right?

How did you do that?

When you give me a piece of you, I can build anything related to it. In this case, I had broken bones, and hence your bone allowed me to fix my bones with your bones. Join them together... the word is Fuse. 

But you have grown, Laila. I insist that this was not normal. Actually, nothing that happened recently had been anything normal.

Well, I think you gave me a bit too much of your rib - maybe you were a bit upset with the memory you used. Laila paused and lifted my chin up with her slender finger, Excuse me, your eyes should be looking at my eyes here. 

I blushed in embarrassment but smiled away. The sight of her did take my breath away.

Oh, one more thing. Since a part of you is now part of me, it does mean that I can do a few new neat tricks. 

A few tricks? Hey, you should have told me that earlier, I had to ask. 

I will surprise you later. Let me just figure it out, before I show off, she winked at me. 

My head began to hurt again. Oh, what a terrible headache, I think I’ve had too much to absorb today, 

We can’t just rest here. We have to find the others now. Back to her cheerful self, her mask was back on, and the brave Laila was back. I never want to see the fragile and vulnerable Laila again. I never want to be vulnerable like her. 

Laila disappeared from my sight and reappeared on my shoulder - this time weightless. 

You know, this is looking really weird. You aren’t the small girl anymore, you are a teen-looking girl on my shoulder - but I am so glad you are so weightless again. 

Oh, come on, I am still only 80 years old. Now, enough chit-chat - let’s go,  

Onwards to the Well of the Seven Kings! Laila screamed jovially.

With renewed confidence, I headed towards the jungle foliage, away from the river, and followed her instructions.

As we entered the jungle, I had a feeling of uneasiness in my stomach, as though I had committed a cardinal sin.

Did I do the right thing or did I open Pandora’s box? Laila was a Buni-an spirit. She could easily turn on us. I have to be careful. She could easily kill me. 

And then I heard a familiar voice, a woman’s voice, not Laila’s, whispering so softly, it was as soft as the rustling of the tree leaves during a gentle breeze, She will be the death of you…

Chapter 96

Azan: Upgrades

8th December

Location: Bukit Ladan Jungle, Deep in Rural Tutong

I was made most aware of the fact that not only was there an ‘adolescent’ spirit lady sitting on my shoulder, and the fact that she weighed almost nothing on my shoulder but also how gorgeous and a real eye candy she was, to a point that I had to strain hard to fight the urge from staring into her eyes and be lost in them forever, I concentrated on the task at hand, which was to leave the riverbank and enter the dense jungle foliage for which no apparent path was possible without vigorous hacking with a good sharp parang. I prayed that as time passed by, I would grow accustomed to Laila’s immense beauty and see her no more than the spirit guide that she should be.   

And yet she distracted me every single time. She seemed too cheerful for a Buni-an spirit who moments ago wanted me to leave her for dead.

Laila hummed an eerie melodic tune as she waved her hand towards the unforgiving and hardy rainforest plants. The lush vegetation subdued itself to her will and parted away from us, creating a neat pathway in the tropical jungle, revealing a mosaic layer of green, brown, yellow, and red leaves and small tree branches of various degrees of decomposition. 

My jaw dropped, awed in amazement as she shrugged and winked, Upgrades. I half nodded, pretending to understand what she meant. 

Not far away into the path, a tired and slightly injured pangolin appeared in front of us. The keratin-armoured creature nodded and then crawled towards us. I forgot that somehow we were in a world where some of us could talk to the animals, at least for Laila and the pangolin. 

Oh, poor Dini! Laila jumped off from my shoulder, scooped up the brown scaly creature, and then hopped back onto my shoulder so quickly before I could even utter a single word. 

Don’t worry Dini, I will help you heal faster. Then maybe you can get home and heal some more there. 

I was sure I could hear Dini saying something back to her. Otherwise, for the most part, Laila continued to have a seemingly one-sided conversation with her pet pangolin. 

The flash flood, that was your doing? Thank you, Dini, we were in a real bad pinch and you saved us, Laila patted my head, Azan, it was Dini who made the river swell up and push us away from the bad guys! 

Really? I found it hard to believe that this little creature could have set a river flash flood. I wondered if it was true, then how did it do it? Before I could ask Laila for details, she covered my mouth with her hand. 

Sssh! Someone is coming - not sure who it is, Laila then paused, smirked, and then murmured, Oh, a giant...that giant.

I was worried about Laila’s seemingly worsening new randomness. 

Hey Azan, here’s my cool trick number 2. Hold on tight! Laila giggled. Before I could protest any further, my body faded quickly into thin air. I panicked at the thought of losing myself, trying to cling onto a nearby tree branch but to no avail. My hands passed through it. 

What has she done to me?

I faded into the darkness and then reappeared with Laila and her pet Dini, finding myself standing atop a giant tree. I tried my best to balance myself on the branch we were standing on; its large overhanging liana vines flowed downwards to the hidden ground, a reminder that death via a long hard fall was only a step away. 

Laila whispered, Don’t worry, I won’t let you die… here. 

Her voice seemed teasing, but she was a Buni-an spirit, I could never really be sure of her intentions. Would she kill me here?

That very thought dissipated as I became distracted by the view of the deep green jungle canopy and the awe of the infinite sky, its deep blue hue, and numerous cumulus clouds like towering puffy giants ready for battle. From here, where it was supposed to be most serene, it was surprisingly noisy: the cooing and cawing of the jungle birds and hidden creatures.

In front of me, there was a large nest made of broken branches almost the width of a child’s forearm. I reckoned it was an eagle’s nest. For no reason and without warning, I suddenly developed a phobia of poisonous jungle snakes. 

Quick, let’s hide behind this tree! I sensed we were in great danger and yet she had hints of mischief in her large eyes. 

Laila, it’s a huge tree, and we are on top of it. What do you want me to do? 

Laila placed her index finger against my lips to silence me, and I felt awkwardness at the intrusion of my lips. Before I could react, we disappeared again and reappeared at the buttress of the giant tree. 

She must really warn me before she does these things. 

Like a child, Laila leaned towards the edge of the tree trunk and peeked out. She said nothing, but I knew that someone was approaching. I heard loud and fast footsteps heading closer and closer towards us. The sound of the footsteps shook my inner core. I did not want to admit it, but I was trembling with fear. There was no doubt of who this was, the thing that we were going to confront, and I feared that we would pay the ultimate price of defeat and death: The Giant. 

Laila’s mood was incomprehensible to me. In the face of danger, she was wildly excitable. Has she changed to become a blood-thirsty warrior? I scanned the ground around me and found a small unremarkable rock. I picked it up and clumsily decided how to hold it most effectively as a weapon. At least, I won’t fight barehanded. 

Without warning, she grabbed my hand and pulled me out into the open, confronting the unknown entity. I gripped the rock so hard its blunt surface made small cuts into my hand.  

Booo! she screamed out at the top of her voice, with her hands up and out in the air as though trying to attack or maybe claw something. 

The figure pulled out a sharp parang, poised and ready to attack. Barely over five feet tall, it was hardly a giant. In some countries, this person would be considered a midget by comparison. 

Azan, is that you? the giant asked with a voice so familiar. 

Who is that? I dared not ask. 

It’s Rosman, I’ve been looking for you. Yes, he looked like Rosman. I blinked my eyes twice to reaffirm that it was indeed Rosman. 

How do I know it is you and not some mimicker? I scratched my head, puzzled about why I thought it was a giant heading towards us. Surely, this could not be Rosman. 

It’s Rosman, I know for sure. Laila jumped up and down and hugged Rosman. 

Who are you, girl? Rosman uncomfortable with the embrace, tried to push Laila away but Laila resisted. 

Yes, it’s me, Laila. 

But you’ve grown, Laila! It took a while before Rosman figured it out. 

Oh F..! Azan, did you give something to her?

Of course he did, Laila said and then effortlessly hopped back onto my shoulder. 

I guess that’s okay, then. Since you are helping us. I know one person who won’t be too happy. 

Laila laughed, Well, well, well, I would love to see the look on his face! In any case, it’s all legal, isn’t it? Amanah treaty and all that lot?

"You know, Laila, despite your grown-up