The helicopter's engines screamed as it spiraled out of control.Arian clung to the rail until the last moment, then hurled himself clear.He hit the ground hard, rolling through dirt and broken branches just as the chopper slammed into the forest floor in a ball of fire.
The night lit up orange. Heat rolled over him in waves.For a moment, the beast inside purred — satisfied with the destruction — but Arian forced himself to breathe, to stay in control.
The guardian padded up beside him, its white fur smeared with ash.
"You drew too much blood tonight."Arian ignored the warning. "They came for me. They knew."
From the far side of the fire, footsteps crunched over debris.A figure emerged from the glow — tall, lean, and dressed in a black suit that seemed impossibly clean despite the chaos.His hands were empty, but his presence was heavier than any weapon.
He stopped just beyond the heat shimmer, eyes locking on Arian.Cold eyes. Calculating eyes.
"So," the man said in flawless Bahasa Indonesia, "the White Tiger walks again."
Arian's muscles tensed. "Who are you?"
"Someone who's been hunting your kind for a long time." He glanced briefly at the guardian. "And who knows what happens when you lose the leash."
The guardian snarled low, but the man didn't flinch.Instead, he reached into his coat and tossed something onto the ground between them. It landed with a dull metallic thud — a heavy, ancient-looking amulet engraved with a tiger's head.
"Your father wore this," the man said. "The night he died."
The world seemed to contract around Arian.The scent of smoke faded, replaced by a memory — rain, screaming, claws, and blood.He took a step forward, but the man raised a hand.
"Careful. If you want the truth, you'll have to follow me into a place where your beast will be… useful."
Before Arian could speak, armed figures began to appear behind the man — not soldiers in standard gear, but operatives in dark ceremonial armor, their weapons glowing faintly blue.
The man smiled faintly.
"The hunt begins, Heir of the Jambi Forest."
And with that, he turned his back and walked into the burning woods, his guards melting into the shadows with him.
Arian's claws itched to follow.The guardian stepped into his path.
"You follow him now, you walk into his kill zone."
Arian's eyes never left the retreating silhouette.
"Then I'll turn it into mine."
The man in the black suit vanished into the flames as if the fire itself opened a path for him.Arian stood motionless, his breathing slow but deep, his instincts screaming at him to give chase.
The guardian circled him, tail flicking.
"You are not ready. Not yet."
"I've been ready since the night they killed him," Arian growled.His claws began to lengthen involuntarily, the familiar ache spreading through his forearms.
The guardian stepped closer, voice now low and urgent.
"You think this is about revenge. It isn't. This is about survival — of you, of me, of the forest. That man… he's not hunting for sport. He's collecting keys."
Arian's eyes narrowed. "Keys to what?"
The guardian didn't answer immediately. Its golden gaze shifted toward the burning wreckage.
"The Jambi Forest was once sealed by three sacred artifacts. The amulet he showed you is one of them. If he holds all three, he can break the seal."
"And what happens when the seal breaks?"The guardian's ears flattened.
"The last time it opened, your ancestors nearly wiped out humanity."
Arian's jaw tightened. He looked down at the amulet lying in the dirt. The metal was warm, almost alive, and the carved tiger head seemed to watch him.
My father…
Suddenly, a faint whir cut through the roar of the fire — drones.Tiny red lights blinked between the trees, scanning the area.
"They're tracking us," Arian muttered.The guardian bared its fangs.
"Then we leave no trail."
In one fluid motion, the beast slashed its claws through the nearest drone, sparks spraying into the night.But more appeared, gliding silently through the smoke.
Arian grabbed the amulet, shoving it into his belt.His muscles coiled. His eyes flashed with a pale, feral light.
"Then we hunt the hunters."
Without another word, they vanished into the black undergrowth, the burning forest at their backs and the promise of blood ahead.
Branches whipped against Arian's face as he sprinted through the undergrowth, the guardian's heavy footfalls keeping pace beside him.The night air was thick with smoke and the electric buzz of the drones behind them.
"They're fanning out!" the guardian snarled."Let them," Arian replied, voice edged with something darker.
A sudden flash of red ahead — one of the drones had spotted them.Arian leapt forward, his claws slicing through metal like paper. The shattered pieces fell into the ferns with a hiss of sparks.
But then, a deeper hum rose from behind — heavier, slower.From between the trees, a hunter drone emerged, almost the size of a small car, bristling with mechanical limbs and a mounted weapon. Its camera lens swiveled, locking on him.
The guardian's fur bristled.
"This is no ordinary scout. They know exactly who you are."
The drone's weapon clicked — and fired.A burst of plasma scorched the ground where Arian had stood a second earlier.
They dove behind a fallen log, heat washing over them.
"We can't outrun that thing," Arian said, catching his breath."No," the guardian agreed, "but we can turn the forest against it."
Arian's mind flashed back to his father's lessons — how to use terrain, how to move without sound, how to lure prey into a trap.His grip tightened on the amulet at his belt.
"Then we end this here."
The two of them split without another word — Arian to the left, the guardian to the right. The drone hesitated, scanning both paths, before choosing to follow Arian.
Exactly as planned.
He led it into a dense patch of mangrove roots, weaving between them until the massive machine had to slow down.From the shadows above, the guardian pounced — claws ripping into exposed wires, jaws tearing at hydraulic lines. Sparks exploded.
Arian lunged forward, driving his claws straight into the drone's core.The machine gave a metallic scream before collapsing, smoke billowing into the dark canopy.
The forest fell silent again.But Arian knew the silence wouldn't last.The man in the black suit would feel this loss — and he would come.