The eye at the center of the symbol wasn't actually moving. It only seemed that way because water kept seeping from the stone, filling the carved lines before disappearing beneath them. But after staring at it for a few seconds, Senja felt as though the stone were watching them.
She moved closer without touching the wall.
Behind the pool, directly beneath the octagonal symbol, was a horizontal gap that had previously been hidden by shadow and the curtain of water. It was no more than sixty centimeters wide at the entrance, but it appeared to continue farther inside.
Wide enough for a person to pass through.
“Don't tell me we're actually supposed to go in there,” Oscar said.
“What if I tell you not to?”
“I'll respect your decision for approximately three seconds.”
Ucok aimed his light at the gap. “There's a draft.”
Cold air flowed from the crack, carrying the smell of wet stone and earth that had been sealed away for a long time. There was no sound of a river. No fluttering bats. Just a faint breath flowing in and out of the darkness.
Oscar unfolded his waterproof map on a flat stone. Senja held down one corner so it wouldn't fold, while Ucok kept his light trained on the map's surface.
“The symbol isn't there,” Oscar said. “But the shape of the wall here...”
He traced the contour line with his finger as it curved from the pool toward the northern section.
“This gap is marked,” he continued. “On the old expedition map, it's labeled as a connecting fissure. We should reach a chamber large enough to stand in after twenty to thirty meters.”
“Should,” Ucok repeated.
Oscar folded the map slightly. “Don't start.”
“I haven't started, Mas. I'm just reading the word that gets people hurt in caves more often than any other.”
Senja checked their safety ropes, lights, knee pads, and backpacks. She didn't like the gap. Not because it was narrow. They had crawled beneath rocks countless times, squeezed through passages too tight to turn their heads in, and waited for hours in spaces that could only be entered by one person at a time.
Experience didn't erase fear. It only taught you how to recognize it before it took over.
Inside a gap like this, claustrophobic anxiety could strike without warning. The chest tightened. Breathing grew shallow. The distance between the rock and one's face suddenly felt nonexistent. If one piece of equipment failed, the body could react as if it were trapped in an impossible-to-open snare. Logic shrank. Panic took its place.
Senja switched off the extra light on her helmet.
“If anyone starts to panic, don't fight the fear,” she said. “Accept it first. Breathe. Name what we see, what we feel, and then move one step. Don't force your body to pretend it's calm.”
Oscar stared at the gap. “Are you saying that for us or for yourself?”
“For whoever needs to hear it.”
Ucok nodded. “Fear means your body still wants to go home, Mas.”
They entered the gap in the same order. Oscar went first, followed by Ucok, with Senja bringing up the rear. Their shoulders immediately scraped against both sides of the rock. Water made the surface slick, while fine sand clung to their gloves and kneecaps.
The first few meters were still passable on their elbows and knees. After that, the ceiling gradually descended. Oscar took off his backpack and pushed it ahead with one hand.
“Stop,” he said.
Ucok stopped behind him. Senja halted as well.
“The backpack won't stay on my back anymore.”
“I figured,” Senja replied. “Move it to the front. Make sure the chest strap doesn't catch.”
They worked in a space that allowed very little movement. One by one, they removed their backpacks, swung them around in front of their chests, and slowly pushed them ahead like objects that had to clear the way. The end of Oscar's backpack disappeared into the darkness first. Only then did his body follow.
The rock pressed against their backs. Every breath made their chests touch the ceiling. They had to exhale before passing certain protrusions, then draw breath again once they were beyond them.
“How far?” Senja asked.
“Still going,” Oscar answered from ahead.
“That isn't a distance.”
“About five meters.”
“According to the map?”
“Twenty-five meters to the chamber.”
They kept crawling.
Five meters became ten. Ten became fifteen. Oscar's light appeared far ahead, but it never seemed to get closer. Instead of widening, the gap grew narrower. The right wall pressed against Ucok's elbow. On the left, a sharp rock tore through part of the protective layer on his glove.
“Mas Oscar,” Ucok called.
“What?”
“Is the chamber up ahead, or are you negotiating with the rock?”
“According to the map, it's ahead.”
“According to my body, the map is lying.”
Senja felt Ucok's breathing change. Faster. Shallower.
“Ucok,” she said, “name three things you can see.”
“Rock.”
“Something else.”
“Wetter rock. Oscar's backpack that smells like socks.”
Oscar called from ahead, “That's professional equipment.”
Ucok drew a breath, then let it out slowly. “I can still joke.”
“Good. That means you can still control the fear.”
They moved forward again.
A metallic scraping sound came from ahead of Oscar. Then a short noise that made Senja tense immediately.
“Stop.”
“Your gear?” Senja asked.
“The backpack's carabiner is caught. Not the main gear.”
“Don't yank it.”
“I know.”
Oscar's voice was higher than before. He tried to twist his shoulder, but the space didn't give him enough room. His backpack was snagged on a rocky protrusion. If he pulled too hard, his body could be forced even deeper into the gap.
“My light's still on,” he said.
“Good,” Senja said. “Now accept that you're stuck. Don't fight it with big movements.”
“Senja...”
“Breathe through your nose. Feel the rock against your chest. You can still exhale. That means the space hasn't closed around you.”
Several seconds passed with no sound except their breathing.
Oscar slowly let out his breath. “I hate how calm you sound.”
“I'm scared too.”
That admission changed the silence.
Senja stretched out her hand as far as she could. Ucok helped push the backpack from behind while Oscar shifted his body slightly to the left. The carabiner came free from the protrusion with a small click.
“I'm free,” Oscar said.
“Keep going,” Senja replied.
They stopped measuring the distance. The map had become something they could carry, not something they could trust completely. The historical marking promised a large chamber ahead, but the passage continued to devour their space, light, and strength.
“How long has it been?” Ucok asked.
“Twenty minutes,” Oscar answered.
“What if the chamber isn't there?”
“Don't think like that,” Senja said.
“That doesn't mean it's impossible.”
“It is impossible for us to know until we get there.”
Oscar suddenly stopped.
“The air's changed.”
Senja pressed her face close to the rock ahead of her. The draft, once faint, now brushed clearly against her cheek. The air was no longer stale. There was space beyond the stone wall.
“My light caught something,” Oscar said.
He shifted his body, then pushed his backpack ahead. At the end of the gap, the darkness was split by a line of light falling from a higher space.
“The chamber,” he whispered.
Oscar reached out one hand. It disappeared past the edge of the gap, then returned with wet dust coating his palm.
“Big enough to stand in.”
Ucok gave a short laugh, but his voice trembled. “Alhamdulillah.”
Senja felt the pressure in her chest hadn't completely lifted. But now the fear had somewhere to go. She drew a breath, exhaled, and pushed her backpack forward.
One by one, they emerged from the gap.
Oscar rolled onto the side of the chamber first, followed by Ucok, who immediately dropped to his knees and pressed both palms against the stone floor. Senja emerged last. She stood slowly, straightened her stiff back, and shone her light into the space before them.
The chamber was larger than the map had predicted.
The ceiling was high, the walls covered in layers of white mineral deposits, and a thin watercourse ran across the center of the floor toward a dark hole. On the opposite wall were three parallel lines identical to those near the gap.
But this time, beneath them were the marks of handprints.
The prints were wet.
And the water was flowing toward them.