19-2-2-4012 DM, Arang, Telama, Hilaraya
The sun was slowly descending westward but it felt as if its heat would never leave the port. Rami's face glistened with sweat and there was no wind to blow it dry. He sat in his boat near the stern and busied himself with emptying the contents of his canvass bag. There was a loaf of bread wrapped in brown paper and some soft white cheese, which he and Dari would eat before they sail out into the sea. He carefully placed the food inside a small cupboard to his right. He took out a bundle of thick rope from the bag and laid it next to the fishing net. He still needed to weave that around the net to make a decent wringer. Surely his son's quick and skilful hands would help him with that.
Suddenly, Rami heard a flute playing from far away. He thought that hearing it was quite strange because he knew no one who played the flute in Arang. It wasn't a common instrument or talent among the Arangi as far as he knew. The sound from the flute was soothing, making him forget about the sun's relentless heat. He tried to reach out to his canvass bag when he found himself unable to move. He noticed that the sound was getting louder by the minute. In his peripheral vision, he saw one of the lakani in the boats pointing at something. He followed the lakadu's hands with his eyes. To his surprise, he saw a wisp of white cloud hopping over the boats at the port. It seemed that the sound that he was hearing was coming from this floating creature. After a moment of confusion, his heart leapt when he realised what he was seeing.
"A bayadiwadu! It must be one of them! Finally, the winds will soon be here!" Rami thought with spirits rising as he watched the magnificent creature prancing about like a wild deer from one boat to another.
Moments later, the strangest thing occurred. Rami saw that the diwadu was moving towards his son. His son! He saw Dari walking down the beach towards him, carrying the lanterns for which he asked. Suddenly, in the middle of the beach, Dari dropped the lanterns he was holding!
With all the strength he could muster, Rami stood up quickly and felt the urge to run to his son, but invisible force took hold of him again, preventing him from moving. He struggled but he couldn't overcome the invisible force. Suddenly, the wisp of cloud slowly morphed into a babidu with long hair and robes made of clouds. Her form wasn't solid. She was transparent and she seemed to flicker in and out of sight as she danced around his son. This went on for some time until he heard the melody from the diwadu change. She started to sing a strange song in a high windy voice. The song was beautiful and it sounded cheerful, but he was unable to discern any of the words, if they were words at all. It sounded as if the diwadu was humming at first, and then she started vocalising. Her voice was enchanting and she sung far better than any sanjiadu he had ever heard.
Rami felt the hairs on his arms, legs, and neck stand as he swooned to the guardian's song. He was still mesmerised by the bayadiwadu's song when something amazing happened. Dari started to sing with the guardian! He couldn't believe it! His son's voice was high and clear. It was as if Dari knew the song very well, but like the bayadiwadu's song, he could only hear his son vocalising. In the last twelve cycles, he had seen his son's talent for drawing and painting, but he had never heard him sing until that moment. He heard the other lakani at the port shouting at each other, but he couldn't understand what they were saying. All he wanted to do was to go to his son, but he still couldn't move his feet.
"Are they having a conversation? What on Tahana is going on?" Rami thought as he realised that his son and the guardian had been singing alternately.
Suddenly, Rami heard Dari let out a long high whistle into the air. A few seconds later, a gust of wind started to blow westward. It was soft at first, then it steadily grew stronger. He heard the lakani on the boats cheer at the coming of the wind, but it seemed like they, too, couldn't move their feet. As the wind picked up, it formed a small tornado around his son, making him panic.
YOU ARE READING
The Journal of Dreams (The Tales of Tahana - Book One)
Fantasy** Peaked at 3rd in #Fantasy & 4th in #Adventure ** One windless summer afternoon, Dari Lamuan unexpectedly receives a rare gift from the Ten Gods -- the Gift of the Winds, which gives him the power to control the winds and to commune with wind guar...
