Black Avatare

33 | OUTPOST

A dinner table was set up in the open, laden with stew, roasted tubers, nuts and many fruits. Three birdmen sat at the table, including Garuda, who sat to Binara's right. The very air was heavy with tension and excitement. Binara realized it wasn't just due to the prospect of them journeying to Mount Meru, but also the very presence of unusual guests in Kurul. Though Garuda had posted guards to keep away curious onlookers, she had spied one or two residents eyeing them from the trees, their beaked faces looking fascinated.

Binara tucked into the food and tried to decipher the conversation going on between Diyan and the birdmen. The way she understood it, Garuda was going to keep track of Mahasona's activities in the human realm while Diyan got Binara to procure Chandrahasa and Alambara from Mount Meru. She chewed on a berry as she contemplated how she could beat them to Mahasona once she got hold of the items. Surely, Garuda knew that she meant to play a bigger role than grab a bunch of legendary items from a mountain. Meanwhile, one of the kinnaras played a stringed instrument, providing music.

As Diyan conversed with an ancient-looking birdman, Binara decided to test her language skills with Garuda. "So, um, the kinnaras are pretty...skillful."

Garuda turned to her, and he answered in his raspy voice, "Indeed."

Oh, so you understand me. Binara stifled her triumphant smile and threw a glance in Diyan's direction. "I wonder why they hang around him."

"Hang...around?"

"You know, follow him?" Binara gestured, trying make herself understood. "Do his bidding?"

Garuda's quizzical expression cleared. "Well, you could look at it this way—why are there butterflies wherever you find flowers? They carry out the flower's will—taking the pollen to another flower."

She raised her eyebrows, slowly piecing his words to glean the meaning. "They get something in return?"

"Yes." Garuda nodded. "The same way that butterflies and flowers coexist, so have kinnaras and the powerful denizens of Tiamsava. The kinnaras' forest homes are protected from naga invasions and other dangers under Prince Diyan. Hence, they choose to serve him and help his cause the way they can."

"Oh..." She hurled another glance at Diyan and went on eating.

Diyan planned to set off early in the morning, so as soon as dinner was over, two birdwomen showed Binara to a small dwelling at the base of a tree. Built with organic materials and rounded edges, it looked similar in design to the tree houses. The three kinnaras flew up to whatever sleeping arrangements they had prepared up on the high branches.

The inside was cool and comfortable, occupied with minimal cane furnishing, including a hammock. The bedding was soft, doubtlessly made from cotton harvested from the silk cotton trees. The spectral essence seeped from everything around, though now she was so used to it that she tuned it out like the ambient noise.

Binara couldn't sleep, and the wonder of the birdmen settlement beckoned her out. She wished she could go up to the tree houses and take in the view. Since that wasn't an option, she wandered along a footpath, illuminated with pools of lamplight and glowing insects. The residents had retired for the night, judging by the halos of light up on the trees. The canopy was so expansive that it almost blocked out the sky.

The footpaths were limited, since the birdmen had little use for them. One led to a large well, which was obviously the main source of water. When she went off-road, she came upon a cliff.

A gust of wind flung back her hood, and she soaked in the panorama. Hills extended out, interspersed with rock and vegetation—brightly lit under the gigantic moon of Holmanloke.