An Airan's Quest

Chapter 7: Taking Flight

Tarah's POV

Dawn was breaking out in the horizon showering the sky with brilliant colors when Tristan and I finally reached the bottom slope of the mountains. Having woken up just a few hours ago in the early morning we decided to trek the whole way down the mountains so that by the first crack of daylight we would be able to reach the Western Airan Pass.

"I wonder where Vann is right now," I murmured to Tristan as we gazed at the huge iron suspension bridge, which was only a few feet before us. My eyes scanned the mountain area looking for her then flickered back to the bridge then back again. "I hope that she got out of the mountains safely."

Vann is strong and brave, Tarah, Tristan reminded me. She can handle herself. She's probably on her way towards us now.

"I hope so."

Why don't we just go ahead and wait for her at the bridge? My seclaire suggested. She might even be there waiting for us right now.

I hesitated for a moment, unsure whether that was a good idea, because for all we know Vann might still be up in the mountains needing our help while we are waiting for her at the bridge. But since my impatience was getting ahead of me and I couldn't offer any other suggestions on what to do next, I took a step forward to follow Tristan when suddenly a familiar voice shouted at us overhead, "Tarah!"

I glanced up and saw in surprise Evanity mounted on top of an enormous bird which clearly looks a lot like a peregrine falcon. My mouth opened slightly while my eyes widened at the sight of her hovering several feet in midair. Her grin was stretched from ear to ear as she waved down at me then gestured at the gigantic bird to lower itself next to us.

No doubt that it's her seclaire, I thought to myself feeling thrilled that Vann finally advanced and gotten what she had always wanted. I watched as she dismounted from it then came over to give me a hug.

"Tarah," she repeated my name again that same smile still plastered on her lips. "You won't believe what happened last night! I had a one-on-one encounter with that Cabrian leader when just in the nick of time, my seclaire appeared suddenly and helped me finish him off." Then she released me from her tight hug.

I beamed brightly at her sharing her enthusiasm. "That's so great, Vann. I'm so happy for you." I gave her seclaire a fleeting look then turn back to look at her. "But first things first - we have to cross the Western Airan Pass now so that we could reach Caron City before lunch. Do you think that your seclaire could give us a ride all the way there?"

Evanity glanced at her seclaire before turning back to me. "No problem. He'll get us there in just a few minutes."

We strode over to her seclaire who was resting on the ground next to Tristan. On a closer inspection, he was even bigger than I first realized. He was definitely three or four times larger than the ordinary peregrine falcon but all Airan seclaire are usually like that in order to carry the weight of their rider. As Evanity stood next to him probably telling him telepathically about crossing the bridge by flying, I summoned back Tristan to my milaire then moved closer towards her.

"It's alright with him," Evanity told me. "But his back may be quite uncomfortable especially if you're not used to riding him since he doesn't have any saddle yet."

"That's fine with me," I said. "We'll buy him a saddle and some tacks when we reach Scandra later. Come on, let's ride... um... what's the name of your seclaire again?" I tilted my head to the side and looked at her questioningly.

A small blush of red started branching out on her cheeks and she averted my gaze to my utmost surprise. "Erm.... Umm," She stammered which was unlike her, keeping her face covered with her long, glossy chestnut blonde locks as she stared down at the ground. She met my baffled expression when her sea green eyes met mine and she said sounding embarrassed, "Well... because of everything that's been going on, I forgot to give my seclaire his name...." Her voice trailed off.