Teluk Jati appeared on the horizon just before sunset, exactly as Saguna remembered it, and yet somehow completely different. The small fishing village nestled in its sheltered bay, wooden houses on stilts lining the shore, their weathered planks glowing amber in the fading light. Behind them rose the dense jungle that had always marked the boundary of his childhood world, a wall of green that seemed both protective and forbidding.
"Is that it?" Osa asked, squinting at the distant settlement.
"Yes," Saguna replied, his voice tight. "That's home."
Home. The word felt strange in his mouth. For years, he'd thought of Teluk Jati only as the place he'd left behind, the prison of painful memories he'd finally escaped. Now, returning as something more than the traumatized boy who claimed to see shadows, he felt an unexpected tug of connection.
"It appears smaller than I anticipated," Radji observed, adjusting his glasses.
"Most things do, when you've been away long enough," Professor Nyala said, her gaze scanning the shoreline with obvious concern. "Something is wrong."
Saguna had felt it too, a wrongness that went beyond his own discomfort at returning. The village should have been bustling with activity as fishing boats returned for the day. Instead, the waters of the bay were empty. No boats. No fishermen. Even from this distance, he could see no movement along the docks.
"Where is everyone?" he asked, dread building in his chest.
Professor Nyala didn't answer immediately. Her hands moved in precise patterns, silver light trailing from her fingertips to form sigils that hovered in the air before dissipating like smoke. Her frown deepened.
"The Veil is dangerously thin here," she finally said. "Thinner than I've ever encountered outside of an active breach."
"Could it be a trap?" Radji asked, ever practical. "Marius Gall knew our destination."
"Perhaps," Professor Nyala conceded. "But we have no choice but to proceed. Whatever awaits us in the village, it's connected to the first breach, to Sahara's disappearance."
Saguna touched the jasper stone that hung around his neck. It had grown steadily warmer as they approached the village, now pulsing with gentle heat against his skin. Not a warning, exactly, but a confirmation. This was where he needed to be.
"We should approach after dark," he suggested. "Less chance of being seen."
Professor Nyala shook her head. "In this place, darkness brings greater dangers than human eyes. The Veil is thinnest at twilight and midnight. We have perhaps an hour of relative safety before the first threshold."
"So we go now," Osa said, already preparing to lower the small rowboat they'd use to reach shore. "Head straight in, find shelter, figure out what's happening."
"Not quite so directly," Professor Nyala cautioned. "We'll approach from the south, using that outcropping of rocks as cover." She pointed to a formation that extended into the bay, creating a natural breakwater. "From there, we can assess the situation more carefully."
As they made final preparations, Saguna found himself staring at a particular stilted house near the edge of the village—larger than some, with a faded blue door that had once been bright as a summer sky. His mother had painted it that color the year before the shadow came, claiming it would bring good fortune to their family.
So much for fortune.
"That was your home?" Radji asked quietly, following his gaze.
Saguna nodded. "My father rebuilt it after... after what happened. The original house was damaged during the 'storm.'" He couldn't keep the bitterness from his voice at the last word.
The small rowboat slipped silently through the water, Osa at the oars. He moved with unexpected strength, each stroke precise and efficient. Saguna sat at the bow, scanning the approaching shoreline for any sign of movement. Behind him, Radji and Osa maintained watchful silence, their elemental gems glowing faintly with readiness.
As they drew closer to the rocky outcropping, Saguna began to notice details that had been invisible from a distance. Fishing nets hung abandoned on drying racks. Doors stood open, swinging gently in the evening breeze. Most disturbing of all was the silence—no voices, no cooking fires, no playing children. Teluk Jati appeared deserted.
"Where would everyone go?" he whispered, more to himself than his companions.
"Inside, perhaps," Radji suggested. "If they fear something in the bay."
Osa shook his head. "Fishing village folk don't scare easily, especially not from their own water. Something forced them away."
They rounded the outcropping, bringing them into a small natural harbor protected from view of the main village. Osa guided the boat to shore with barely a sound, the hull gently scraping against the pebbled beach.
"Keep your elements ready but not manifest," she instructed as they disembarked. "Use the stones to focus your energy, but don't reveal your abilities unless absolutely necessary."
Saguna felt the warm reassurance of the jasper against his skin as they moved cautiously from the beach toward a narrow path that led up to the village. The trail was overgrown, suggesting it hadn't been used in some time, yet he recognised it immediately, the route he and other children had taken to reach their secret swimming spot, away from the watchful eyes of parents.
He led the way, falling naturally into the point position of their triangle formation, with Radji and Osa flanking him slightly behind. As they crested the rise that would give them their first clear view of the village proper, Saguna froze.
"By all the elements," he breathed.
Teluk Jati wasn't abandoned — it was transformed. And at its heart pulsed a nightmare Saguna had spent twelve years trying to forget.