Sudah beberapa hari Buntar cemas dan gelisah. Hatinya gundah. Tanah huma warisan orangtuanya yang terhampar di lereng bukit mulai ditumbuhi semak belukar, tapi ia enggan membersihkannya. Setiap pagi, ia berangkat ke ladang. Tapi, ia lebih sering duduk mencangkung, tercenung di pintu pondoknya. Matanya memandang hampa. Tak ada semangat untuk bekerja. Seolah apa pun yang dikerjakannya, akan sia-sia. Lengkingan monyet-monyet yang bergelantungan, berkelahi dan berkejar-kejaran di pepohonan, tidak menarik perhatiannya. Beberapa hari lagi kekasihnya akan dikorbankan dalam upacara adat: dipotong lehernya, dipersembahkan kepada penunggu Goa Temuluang, Datu Naga Partala. Itu adalah keputusan musyawarah yang dihadiri seluruh tetua adat dan masyarakat Dusun Bangkalaan Dayak. Setiap tahun, seorang perawan akan dibawa ke Goa Temuluang, goa keramat yang menyimpan cahaya dewa. Ketua adat akan memotong leher korban dengan mandau. Setelah putus, tubuh dan kepala itu dilemparkan ke dalam goa. Dan cahaya dewa terus akan menyala. Konon, cahaya itu berasal dari mata dewa yang dijaga Datu Naga Partala. Cahaya itu tanda persembahan telah diterima, dan selama setahun masyarakat dusun akan terhindar dari segala marabahaya. “Aku ikhlas dipilih sebagai korban, tapi bagaimana dengan kakanda?” tanya gadis itu dengan suara pilu. Wajahnya sendu. After deliberation, it was the custom of the evening Buntar slipped into the booth Mantir, her lover. Front and rear ladder stilt houses inhabited by indigenous citizens and the rest of the Chairperson of the village Bangkalaan Dayak are guarded some youth. With my precipitate themselves, Buntar goes into the space under the House stage. Under a dark space under it stored rice and agricultural tools, as well as the enclosure of livestock. While sounding the night the sound of birds that have been agreed upon as a cue, Buntar waiting under the space under, near swine. Mantir open the Bamboo flooring in his room, and soon rose to the top Buntar. In the Dim light of a lamp, they are whispering. "I'm not willing to have you killed," said Buntar. "I'll find a way. I'll let you free. " "This was my destiny. Already the customs of our hereditary, since our ancestors. We cannot reject it. If not implemented, we will get the curse! " "Shhh ...! Calm down. Trust me. I will try my hardest. If they fail, it is better we die together .... " In the endless, Mantir, gazing Buntar instill confidence in himself that his girlfriend. It is the same eye gaze, like the first time they met, at the Office party night, after harvest season. A monkey who fell to the ground with a bloody body, membuyarkan Buntar reverie. Fights among a herd of monkeys it has swallowed the victim. Apparently, the loser is a parent. Head and arms bloody, but he was still holding her baby on the chest. With staggered, he tried to stand up, attempting to climb the trunk again. But, he was swaying and falling. Monkey it grinned, screamed and mencakar-cakar when Buntar about to help him. Due to his wounds badly enough, he finally gave up and let Buntar catch it. That's when Buntar got the idea. While cleaning the wound on the body of the monkey's with medicinal plants, she kept thinking. Returning from overseas, he saw many things remain unchanged from the village of his birth. It lies secluded in the countryside and the Dodos, make it always lags behind. The hamlet of Bangkalaan Dayak has not changed much. Everything is still the same as when he left long ago, ten years ago. When he was twelve years old, his uncle, who lived in the country opposite encouraged him to go. With a heavy heart, her parents allow. Last harvest season, she returned after her parents reportedly attacked a strange disease epidemic in the village. Before that, his brother had earlier died. A month after he came, no matter her parents passed away. Dari pengetahuan yang didapatnya di rantau, ia tahu penyakit itu disebabkan gigitan nyamuk. Itulah yang dikatakannya kepada warga. Tapi, ketua adat dan warga menyangkalnya. Mereka mengatakan, itu akibat kutukan, karena masyarakat lalai mempersembahkan korban. Buntar tersenyum. Ia punya rencana. Ia tahu, mustahil mengubah adat istiadat yang dianut masyarakat dalam waktu singkat. Ia harus menyusun siasat. Setelah melepaskan monyet yang terluka itu, Buntar naik ke pondok mengambil sumpit, mandau dan keranjang perbekalan. Semangat baru terpancar dari senyum di wajahnya. Ia menuruni anak tangga pondok dengan langkah pasti, menapaki lereng bukit dengan gesit. Tengah hari ia tiba di goa yang dikeramatkan itu. Di muara goa itu mengalir sungai yang panjangnya sekitar lima kilometer, dengan sebuah pulau kecil di atasnya. Goa itu memiliki dua pintu masuk. Di atasnya, batu-batu stalaktit menjulur, seperti jeruji, berwarna-warni. Ketika kecil, Buntar bersama beberapa kawannya pernah mengintip upacara persembahan korban itu. Upacara itu terlarang bagi anak-anak, tapi mereka nekat. Dikelilingi para tetua adat yang duduk merapal mantra, ketua adat menari-nari. Seorang perawan meringkuk dengan tangan dan kaki terikat. Setelah kerasukan roh leluhur, dengan sampan yang dikayuh beberapa pemuda, ketua adat berdiri di mulut goa, meracau dalam bahasa dewa-dewa. Di sampan lain, tetua adat menggotong tubuh perawan yang akan dikorbankan. Custom Chair brandishing mandau into space. Seconds later, a Flash of the mandau hovering in the air, and the head of the victim was already separated from his body. When the seconds it lasts, turned his Buntar. With curiosity, a small sampan rides Buntar moored on the banks of the river and the mendayungnya to the mouth of the cave. The walls of the caves was slippery. The width of around fifteen metres, with a height of ten meters. The walls are blended stone ampar, granite and limestone, copper-colored yellow and white. Buntar ventured to go deeper. He was aghast when thousands of bats fly at him, towards the mouth of the cave. May be surprised by his presence. A few meters inside the cave, he was stunned. Blinding beam of light coming from the top of goa. In the darkness, the light was bright once, highlight to the walls of the caves and bouncing like a mirror. In the distance, its light glowing red eyes like a dragon, a giant! During the day, before the ceremony, Mantir cry. Tears wetting his cheeks. His heart is getting sad, because it was a few days Buntar invisible. After their meeting, Buntar disappeared. In the rooms, the indigenous elder women membedaki face Mantir. Decorate it and wearing traditional clothes, as if he were a bride will be dipersandingkan. In the middle of the stage House that indigenous elders, community and gather, celebrate the talisman. They appealed to the gods so that the ceremony of walking without obstacles. Setelah semuanya siap, ketua adat memimpin warga berangkat ke tempat upacara. Melalui jalan setapak di hutan dan menyusuri pinggir sungai, iring-iringan itu tiba di depan Goa Temuluang. Tubuh Mantir yang lemah lunglai diturunkan dari usungan. Ketika beberapa pemuda tengah menyiapkan sampan untuk menyeberang, tiba-tiba terdengar suara: “Hai, manusia... Aku ingin persembahan korban untukku diganti....” Orang-orang terkejut dan menoleh ke asal suara, di mulut goa. Suara itu berat dan seram sekali. Menggetarkan hati, membuat bulu kuduk berdiri. “Siapa itu?” ketua adat memberanikan diri bertanya sambil menghunus tombaknya. Waspada. Diikuti para pemuda. “Aku Datu Naga Partala. Penunggu goa. Penerima persembahan dari kalian. Aku bosan darah perawan! Aku ingin darah hewan...!” “Darah hewan?” tanya pemuka adat, menghalangi ketua adat dan beberapa pemuda yang dengan tombak di tangan bermaksud menaiki sampan menuju goa. “Ya! Sajikan darah ayam, kambing dan kerbau, sebagai ganti darah perawan. Sajikan seperti selama ini. Masak dagingnya untuk pesta warga! Bagi yang tidak mematuhinya, akan kukutuk dan kuturunkan bala...!” Bersamaan dengan itu, ribuan ekor kelelawar tiba-tiba beterbangan, berhamburan keluar dari sarangnya di dalam goa. Suaranya memekakkan telinga. Mereka memenuhi angkasa. Langit menjadi gelap gulita. Orang-orang panik dan ketakutan, tunggang langgang berlarian. After everyone left, Buntar up out of the cave with a smile. Her hands play the catapult. Small objects that's what last wake thousands of bats from his sleep. Of the other liang above goa, he catapults their nests. The animals of the night were surprised and scattered, as if flying kesetanan. He was confident, his efforts changed the beliefs and customs of the society in the dusunnya gradually will succeed. While stepping back, he imagines the sweet smile Mantir
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