BLOOD OF BORNEO

Damang cut the fibers of the Lulung Root with bated breath. His dagger sliced slowly, avoiding the sap that could ruin the plant's medicinal properties. The forest at the village border felt quieter than usual. There was only the sound of water dripping from the broad teak leaves.

"Three hours," Damang muttered, glancing at his watch. "I've strayed too far from the safe zone."

He remembered the face of his father, Commander Nyarung, who usually looked so powerful but now resembled a skeleton wrapped in skin. That black fever made no sense. As a war veteran, there was no way his father would collapse just because of a forest mosquito.

Srak!

Damang ducked instantly. A black metal object streaked past, clipping a few strands of his hair before thudding heavily into a tree trunk with a sharp thwack.

"Who's there?!" Damang shouted. He didn't wait for an answer. He immediately rolled behind a row of giant tree roots.

"You have good instincts for a local," a deep voice emerged from behind the thin mist.

Three figures stepped out of the shadows. They wore pitch-black composite armor with glowing red eye sensors behind polycarbonate masks.

"Paladins," Damang hissed. His hand tightly gripped the hilt of his father's heirloom dagger. "What are Elias Thorne's dogs doing on our ancestral land?"

One of the Paladins, who appeared to be the unit leader, stepped forward. "This land has been purchased by the corporation, Native. You are currently standing on private property."

"This land was never sold!" Damang retorted, his voice rising. "My grandfather buried his afterbirth beneath this very tree. You are the intruders!"

"The law of paper is stronger than the law of the land," the Paladin replied coldly. "And our orders are very clear. Anyone who crosses these coordinates without a permit must be eliminated."

"Eliminated? You think I'm some kind of pest?!" Damang dropped into a low combat stance.

"To the Thorne Project, you are merely an irrelevant statistic," the Paladin answered. He drew a thin sword from his back. The blade vibrated slightly, emitting a high-frequency hum. "Execution beginning."

The first Paladin lunged with a speed that was impossible for a human carrying the weight of armor. Damang dodged to the right, feeling the heat radiating from the blade as it grazed his shoulder.

"Damn, so fast!" Damang exclaimed. He spun his body and threw a powerful side kick toward his opponent's waist.

Bugh!

Damang winced. It felt like kicking a steel utility pole. His leg throbbed with pain.

The Paladin smirked at Damang, sensing his attack had successfully cornered his opponent. He swung his sword vertically once more.

Damang was forced to use a feint, throwing a handful of mud at the Paladin's eye sensors. "Eat that, you bastard robot!"

The hiss of an automatic cleaning system sprayed briefly, wiping the mud from the sensor lenses in an instant. A second Paladin now joined the attack from Damang's blind side.

Sret!

The blade sliced across Damang's back. The wound didn't feel like a normal cut. It felt like being branded by a glowing hot iron.

"Damn it... a heat blade...!" Damang groaned, falling to one knee as the burning sensation began to crawl through his nerves. His breathing became labored.

"Thermal blade," the second Paladin added coldly. "That temperature will sear your muscle tissue so you can't run far."

"I don't intend to run," Damang challenged. He spat blood. "You think you're tough because you have expensive toys? I grew up in this forest. I know every hole and root that can kill you!"

"Keep talking while your lungs still function," the lead Paladin mocked. "Surround him!"

Damang tried to stand, but suddenly the ground around him vibrated. Black roots that had looked withered suddenly moved like snakes, coiling around Damang's ankles.

"What is this?!" Damang screamed, trying to hack at the roots with his dagger. "Since when does Thorne use magic?"

"This isn't magic; it's applied biotechnology," a new voice emerged from behind the Paladins.

Elias Thorne stepped out from the darkness of the forest. His long white hair stood in stark contrast to his neat military uniform. He carried no weapon; instead, he dragged a heavy chain. At the end of that chain was a man who had been completely broken.

"Father?!" Damang's eyes widened. 

"THORNE! LET HIM GO!"

Commander Nyarung looked destroyed. His face was covered in bruises, and he appeared unconscious. His blood left a long trail on the muddy ground.

"Commander Nyarung is a stubborn specimen," Elias Thorne said in a bored tone. "He refused to give up the coordinates of the ancient tomb. So, I had to be a little... rough."

"You cowardly bastard!" Damang screamed. He pulled his legs with such force that the skin on his ankles was peeled away by the biotech roots. "Fight me! Don't touch the old man!"

Elias Thorne stopped dragging Nyarung and looked at Damang. "Fight you? You can't even win against three of my low-level grunts. You aren't worthy of being my opponent, boy."

"I will kill you, Thorne! I swear I'll rip your throat out!"

Thorne only gave a thin smilesmile. A smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Your anger is interesting, but useless. Finish him. Don't let him die too quickly; I want him to see his father being taken to the lab."

"Yes, Mr. Thorne," the three Paladins answered in unison.

The first Paladin lunged forward again. Damang, his emotions exploding, no longer cared about the risk. He charged forward, trying to thrust his dagger into the gap in the opponent's neck armor.

CLANG!

The dagger snapped. The armor's plating was far harder than the steel of his blade.

"I told you, you're just a nuisance," the Paladin said. He swung a metal fist directly into Damang's solar plexus.

"Ugh!" Damang was thrown backward, his lungs feeling as if they had deflated instantly. Before he could hit the ground, the second Paladin was already behind him, thrusting a thin sword into Damang's stomach.

Jleb.

The world seemed to go silent for Damang. He felt the hot metal pierce his abdomen, tearing through his internal organs and exiting through his back.

"Cough..." Fresh blood sprayed from Damang's mouth, soaking the face of the masked Paladin.

"Finished," the Paladin muttered. He pulled the sword out roughly.

Damang lay sprawled on the wet ground. His vision began to blur. He saw his father being dragged away again by Thorne toward a helicopter that was beginning to roar in the distance.

"Father..." Damang whispered hoarsely. His gaze darkened, shrouded in suppressed rage, even as the blood on his face made him look broken.

The lead Paladin stepped forward, standing at the edge of the cliff where Damang lay. "You have a choice. Die here from blood loss, or die by falling into the Baram."

Damang looked down. Below him was the Baram Ravine with its thundering waterfall. "If I die... I'll drag you all to hell with me."

"Still arrogant while dying," the Paladin said, lifting his foot and stomping on the wound in Damang's stomach.

"AAAAARGH!" Damang shrieked in agony.

"Say goodbye to your forest," the Paladin said. He delivered a final kick that pushed Damang's body over the edge of the cliff.

Damang felt the incredible sensation of falling. The wind whipped against his wounds; the unbearable pain suddenly vanished as his body went numb from shock.

BYUURRR!

The cold water of the Baram River hit him like thousands of needles. The fierce current immediately pulled his body under. In the dark water, Damang saw one last image: his father's face as he was carried away by Thorne.

I cannot die... Damang thought amidst the darkness that began to swallow him. Thorne... you will pay for this with your blood.

Damang's consciousness faded completely as his body was swept downstream, leaving a trail of blood that was instantly washed away by the rushing waters of the Baram River.