The next day, Gagak Panji elaborated the plan further. He rode side by side with Arya Dipa around the Demak troop barracks led by Arya Dipa. No one suspected Gagak Panji’s presence, although the code officers gave different statements.
Then Arya Dipa stopped his horse and asked, “And when will you leave for the east?”
“When the sun starts to set, I will leave the city,” Gagak Panji answered then, “I will bring two Kakang soldiers with me as companions and a sign so that I can leave the Demak area safely.”
“Okay, the plan must be reviewed when you have arrived in Tuban,” Arya Dipa said to his close relative.
As Gagak Panji had planned, they rode slowly leaving Demak towards the east. The strong sea wind hit their bodies. Step by step they got further away from Demak. The sun was sinking until half of its form seemed to disappear into the ocean. For a few moments they remained silent, transfixed on the backs of their respective horses. Occasionally, two of Ki Tumenggung Arya Dipa’s subordinate soldiers looked at each other without saying a word, while Ki Rangga Gagak Panji seemed to be in a different world. He seemed not to care about his surroundings. Gagak Panji was actually contemplating the possibilities that he would face if he met the Duke of Tuban.
Suddenly he pulled the reins of his horse, then said, “We’ll stop here.” Gagak Panji jumped down and led his horse to a palm tree. He tied his horse there and lay down on the sand.
Two Demak soldiers then followed him, then one of them said, “Senapati, I’m going to hunt for food.”
“No need! You take the bag on the left side of the horse’s stomach. Ki Tumenggung Arya Dipa has prepared it for you.” Gagak Panji took a deep breath, then rose to approach the sea water’s edge. “I know these two people. But I don’t know if they understand the power of Demak soldiers on the ocean,” Gagak Panji muttered to himself.
“I heard that Raden Trenggana is preparing thousands of ships. Are you among the soldiers who will join one of those ships?” Gagak Panji asked.
“Forgive me for not knowing, Ki Rangga. Our superior and Ki Tumenggung have not told us about that matter,” answered one of them with a sense of surprise in his heart.
As if knowing what was in the heart of the person who answered, then Gagak Panji said, “Of course you will ask even in your own heart. How could a rangga not know his leader’s plan? Moreover, you have known me as someone who is close to Ki Tumenggung Arya Dipa. Isn’t that right?”
The two soldiers nodded their heads while taking a bite of food after Gagak Panji invited them to go ahead.
“Sometimes a soldier who is under the village head can know the real situation. In fact, it is not uncommon for a soldier to become a king’s confidant,” said Gagak Panji. Then he began to eat the provisions prepared by Ki Tumenggung Arya Dipa. After resting for a long time and giving their horses a chance to catch their breath, the three men continued their journey to Tuban through the thick night.
“Of course Raden Trenggana will not go overland to take over Panarukan. “Apart from the journey which will be longer, the endurance of the soldiers will certainly not be at its true level when they start the war,” Gagak Panji mused on the back of his horse.
In his reflections, Gagak Panji acknowledged the toughness of the Demak soldiers on the sea. Gagak Panji still remembers the story he heard about the Demak army that crossed the sea towards the Malacca peninsula. “Of course Jepara, as Uncle Parikshit said, will send an aid ship for Raden Trenggana.” He turned to the two soldiers riding behind him.
After traveling approximately several thousand spears, Gagak Panji decided to go back to rest and continue his journey before dawn the next day.
“You two can return to Demak now. “Tell Ki Tumenggung Arya Dipa that I will stop for a day or two in Lasem,” said Ki Rangga Gagak Panji then gave several pieces of metal as provisions for the two soldiers to return to Demak. A moment later they separated.
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Gagak Panji spurred his horse as fast as the wind blew. A number of eyes looked in wonder as they passed each other on the compacted road. The sun was almost at the top of the sky when Ki Rangga Gagak Panji approached the dense forest in front of him. The end of the road ended like a long corridor that cut through the forest. Giant trees seemed to tower reaching for the sky. High clouds of dust rose when Gagak Panji had passed a long dry field, suddenly he pulled the horse’s rope while squinting.
“Gandrik! Who are those fighting on the edge of the forest?” Gagak Panji hissed in his heart. He himself had known that the dense forest on the slopes of the Kendeng Mountains was often a route for bandits. But since Ki Tumenggung Badra Lodaya was appointed as the person in charge of security, the situation around the slopes began to be under control.
“Those people must have great guts if they dare to fight face to face with Ki Tumenggung Badra Lodaya’s soldiers,” Gagak Panji hissed while stomping his horse’s hull, then walking slowly approaching the circle of fighting that seemed to involve a group of people in certain uniforms.
The other story : The Book of Kiai Gringsing
Gagak Panji sat quietly on his horse while watching two groups of people attack each other accompanied by curses and insults. Meanwhile, a group of people in uniform had caught Gagak Panji’s attention.
“Ki Tumenggung is indeed a great man. In small numbers, his soldiers can match those who might be a gang of bandits.” Gagak Panji’s smile widened when he could clearly see the position of the two groups fighting in front of him.
A glimmer of desire to help Ki Tumenggung Badra Lodaya’s soldiers had come to his heart, but doubt immediately gripped him. Actually, Gagak Panji could ignore his heart, but he saw other interests – which he thought – were much greater than just helping Lasem soldiers.
“Do you recognize the cloth I’m holding?” Gagak Panji shouted as he rode closer to the battle circle.
A Lasem soldier immediately jumped back and turned to him. “Of course, Ki Sanak! You are a rangga from Jipang,” the soldier answered in a loud voice.
Meanwhile, when Gagak Panji’s lips closed, his horse had entered the battle circle and was swooping down on everyone who was an opponent of Lasem’s soldiers. An instant later, the group of people who were speaking harshly were in disarray. The keris in Gagak Panji’s hand flashed very quickly, bringing painful wounds to their bodies.
“I will make Lasem feel guilty if he refuses my wishes,” Gagak Panji said in his heart before he decided to help Lasem’s soldiers.
One of the group who hung a tiger’s fang on his neck jumped back and said, “Ki Sanak, it seems you want to be the first corpse to lie on the edge of this forest.” He shouted loudly and his body slid rapidly towards Gagak Panji who was still on horseback.
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