The Journal of Dreams (The Tales of Tahana - Book One)

Chapter 41: Fight and Flight

39-2-2-4012 DM, Perangar Eranga, Telama, Hilaraya

"Ramya, follow us, alright?" Dari said, taking Ramya from his shoulders, and looked into his round green eyes. Ramya responded with a twitter of agreement, but Dari saw that the poor little thing was confused and scared.

"Be brave, my little one," Dari added, saying this not only to Ramya but also to himself. He kissed Ramya on his forehead and settled him on the ground. Then, Ramya spread his wings as he ran until he lifted off the ground and flew above Dari.

It was time to move. Dari, closely followed by Jesi, Jienri, and Saraji Fernon, ran towards the field near the stables at the eastern side of the Perangar where the Grey Hawk was docked. Lakban lagged behind but he tried to keep up with them despite the burden of carrying Alyana on his back. There were no lamps nor torches in that part of the Perangar, but with the help of Dari's ability to see clearly in the dark, they made their way through the grounds of the Perangar without any incident.

A few minutes later, Dari caught a glimpse of the Grey Hawk's tall marblewood masts that rose above the whitewood trees that grew around the stables. They were just a few arms away from the ship when he noticed something odd. There were two people standing at the foot of the Grey Hawk. Dari thought it was the Periji and Sanji, but when he got closer, he saw that one of them was shorter and wore a hooded black cloak, while the other one was unusually tall and wore black robes and a black mask over the eyes. Those were definitely not the Periji and Sanji. Dari immediately slowed down to a walk and stopped about twenty arms away from the Grey Hawk. Then, he raised his right hand to signal his companions to halt.

"Leaving so soon?" a cruel voice from a babidu came from the shorter hooded figure.

"I... You... She..." Jienri stammered and began to step back with a look of horror on his face.

Dari reckoned that the one who spoke was none other than the infamous Avarna. He expected to feel fear in the presence of this powerful kabaharadu, but instead, he felt a deep sense of anger and loathing that he had not felt for anything or anyone before. Seeing her in front of him at that moment made him think about the fear, pain, and suffering of the abducted harani and their family. His heart began to pound hard in his chest as he felt their collective emotions growing inside him. He himself had fallen victim to Avarna's wicked schemes and had felt the same emotions. He was just fortunate that Alyana came to his aide. They had nobody like her to rescue them.

"What a happy coincidence," Avarna continued, showing a mischievous smile just under the hood of her cloak. "I was brought here by my curiosity of this odd-looking ship, and who would think that it would lead me to you, the harani we need. Such a happy coincidence indeed!"

Avarna's mocking smile made Dari angrier. Ramya, who seemed to mirror Dari's emotions, landed in front of him with hackles raised in defence and wings poised for attack.

"Oh, and you brought a scary little beast to fight for you, no? How adorably pathetic!" Avarna laughed and pointed her right hand at Lakban.

"Lakban, bring me the piriharadu at once!"

"What?" Jesi exclaimed and slowly moved away from Lakban. "Lakban? Are you..."

Dari slowly turned his gaze towards Lakban as his heart fell to the ground. This was unbelievable! They had been in the company of two Gorashani in the last few days and nobody even suspected. Did Jienri know that Lakban was a Gorashadu? If so, why didn't he say anything to the Periji? Was he planning on betraying them eventually? Had he and Lakban been working together all this time?