HARANYA part 1: Harani (eng) [COMPLETED]

Chapter 2: Tigerspine

Walking up the Arcum Iris path towards the Tigerspine Mountains, the landscape gradually changed. Mynthiao looked around with amazed eyes. All this was new to her, who knew only the arid desert, sand and rocks of her native region. Here there was grass, green grass, and lots of trees, green too, like in books. Sparrows were singing in these trees, twirling from one branch to another, making the place more alive. The sparrows were so small, so lively, so cute, compared to the great scavenging birds such as vultures and condors, without feathers on their heads, who tirelessly watched each living creature in the hope that it would collapse, thirsty, to jump on its poor carcass and devour it.

Leonidas, Mynthiao's blue-headed white leomorph, seemed very excited to discover this place. Born in the farm of Parchsun, in the Arcum Iris desert, he too was seeing greenery for the first time. He jumped around, amazed by the fresh texture of the grass under his feet. He even ended up throwing off his rider to roll around in the grass, growling with pleasure. Instead of reprimanding him, Mynthiao laughed, and did the same. Satsu, the young woman who accompanied her on her quest, seemed much less enthusiastic. Her face remained closed, and she seemed eager to get back on the road. Chum, her black leomorph, was scraping the ground with his paws, frustrated, wanting to roll around with his fellow beast.

When Mynthiao and Leonidas had calmed down, the little troop set off again. Mynthiao decided to break the ice, not understanding the attitude of her comrade.

"Hey Satsu, have you ever seen grass before?"

- "Yes" she replied. "My fiancé had already taken me to this region. I know it quite well."

- "Oh, I see..." said Mynthiao, sorry to have revived the painful memory of Satsu's dead fiancé, killed by Haman of the Shadowhawks criminal band. "And have you ever visited other regions?"

- "We had to, but we didn't have the time" Satsu said, bowing her head. "He had promised to take me to Villanelle, he was sure I would like this region. They say that the trees there are pink. He wanted us to settle down at the Lutesong harbour."

- "Pink trees, really?" Mynthiao paused, baffled. The green trees already seemed so unreal to her!

As the little troop continued up the path between two hills, the girls suddenly heard shouting. In the distance in front of them, two people were waving their arms in panic. They trotted their mounts to quickly reach them. A Haranyan couple were standing there, out of breath and visibly angry. They both spoke at the same time, making it impossible to understand their words. Satsu put her foot on the ground and waved her hand.

"That's enough, please" she said, hoping to calm them down. "My name is Satsu, and this is Mynthiao. Who are you, and what's going on?"

- "We are only humble merchants" the man said. "Some filthy Firran has stolen our cart! He's tall, with brown hair, and his name is Baht!"

- "We had hired him as a guard, but he betrayed us!" complained the woman. "Ah, those damn Shadowhawks! We should have listened to my mother, you see! We can't trust them!"

- "A Shadowhawk, you say?" repeated Mynthiao, surprised.

- "We'll see what we can do" Satsu said. "Let's go, Mynthiao, he must still be around here."

The two girls set off again on a slow trot. Further along the path, near the entrance to a town, between the trees, they saw a caravan and two horses, and a large, well-built human form lurking around them.

"It must be the cart of the two merchants" Satsu said, grabbing Mynthiao's sleeve, who wanted to go headfirst. "Better beware, it's a Shadowhawk, I remind you, and moreover it's a Firran. We don't know much about fighting, he could bring us down on his own."

So Mynthiao followed Satsu calmly. When they got closer, they saw that it was indeed a brown-haired Firran, so it must have been the so-called Baht who had stolen the cart of the two merchants. So they called out to him.

"Baht, hands up! You've been caught stealing a commerce carriage!"

The Firran looked at them in amazement, before starting to laugh.

"Stolen?" he asked once he had calmed down. "The exact term would rather be confiscated. These two rascals only had to pay me as agreed, I am their employee, not their slave! Besides, you're just in time. I think these merchants are hiding something."

- "Come on!" Mynthiao said full of frustration, losing patience with Baht's act. "You are the bad guy here, you are a Shadowhawk and we know it, but you accuse these poor merchants! Come on, admit your crime!"

- "I can see that you are well informed, but I swear" promised Baht, looking sincere. "Since I have been travelling with them, I have never seen them sell or buy anything. Strange for merchants, isn't it? What's more, we never went into town with the wagon, we slept outside the town, and they insisted that the wagon never remain unattended. And I regularly hear funny grunts coming from inside..."

As if to respond to the words of the Firran, a guttural growl rose from the caravan. Mynthiao and Satsu exchanged glances, convinced that Baht had an accomplice inside. They drew their weapons, ready to fight. Baht looked at them, puzzled.

"Do you really intend to strike at it without even knowing what it is? Even I get goosebumps from that grunt!" Baht said.

- "Anyway, you're planning to make us prisoners, aren't you? Even to kill us?"

Baht raised an eyebrow.

"What would be the point of killing you?"

- "Because we know you're a Shadowhawk."

- "Well, it doesn't matter if you know it" he shrugged. "We have nothing to hide from ordinary civilians."

The two girls looked at each other again. The Firran was lying, that was for sure. This guy was a criminal, just like Haman. He was going to feed them to the creature he had hidden in the cart, hang their skulls as a trophy in his room. Mynthiao shuddered at the thought.

"Well, do you want to see what's in there together?" Baht asked. "After all, I have to admit that it suits me: there are three of us, so I'm less likely to get bitten!" Baht chuckled.

- "Enough talk, open the door!" Satsu ordered, losing patience, before whispering to Mynthiao, "Mynthiao, stay focused and beware of Baht, he could take us by surprise."

Mynthiao nodded her head and prepared to strike. Baht began the countdown and opened the door with a sharp blow. A gigantic humanoid beast, twice Baht's size, with a huge belly and a normal-sized head, but which looked ridiculously small compared to his disproportionate body, sprang out of the cart. Its legs were rather short, and its arms were equipped with two large hands with hooked fingers to better grasp its prey, obviously. The creature was initially dazzled by the sun, but soon spotted the three people in front of it and jumped on them. Baht leapt back, which hardly surprised the girls, who were expecting him to run away. Satsu grabbed her daggers and began to strike, trying to hit the painful areas, looking for the blind spots in the creature's vision. Mynthiao grabbed her father's weapon tightly and struck at random, her blows bouncing off the monster's thick grey skin each time. Then suddenly it staggered, an arrow in its chest. To the girls' surprise, Baht suddenly performed a spectacular acrobatic stunt, landing on the beast's back to cut off its head. The big mass spread out on the ground in a loud crash. When he was sure he had killed it, he wiped his forehead with a sigh of relief.

"Phew! That was a narrow escape! I don't know where that thing came from, but it was monstrous!"

He retrieved his dagger and wiped the blood from it.

"I knew that these two merchants were dubious! And that's why my salary was long overdue! They had decided to feed me to this thing, right from the start! I am seizing this wagon and the two horses in the name of the Shadowhawks, and I hope that we can get these two criminals back so that they get the beating they deserve. I am going to try to sell the wagon and the horses in town, with that I should be able to get back the money that was owed to me."

The two girls looked at Baht, perplexed. At no time had he tried to kill them during the fight against the creature, and seemed to be fighting for his life without faking it. They weren't sure what to do with him now. Should they arrest him and grill him about Haman? But where would they take him? Satsu had been here a few times before, but she didn't know the area that well, and didn't really have any contacts. But at the same time, it was a godsend to have a Shadowhawk on hand, for the mission they had set themselves.

"You fought well" Baht said, interrupting their thoughts. "How would you like to join the Shadowhawk organization? You have talent, you could be useful to us. And I could prove to you that, like many people, you are wrong about us."

Baht had just proposed it to them, just like that, with a smile. The girls were in shock. Joining a criminal organisation?

Baht laughed when he saw their faces.

"Hey girls, don't look at me like that! Well, I'm not asking you to make up your mind right now. But, as a reward for helping me, I can help you join the organisation by recommending you to my superiors. See you tonight at the Anvilton inn. This is our headquarters in this area. See you soon, I hope!"

With these words he walked away. When he was out of earshot, which was very far away since Firrans hear better than anyone else, Satsu gave her opinion.

"We're going tonight."

- "What?" Mynthiao was offended. "Do you want us to join their organization? Do you want us to become criminals, too? Do you want us to kill innocent people?"

- "No, I'm not talking about that!" Satsu defended herself. "Think about it, Mynthiao. If we join their organization, we'll have all the information we want on this bastard Haman. We're not going to become criminals, we'll just infiltrate the organisation to achieve our ends."

- "Hm, I see..."

Satsu's idea was indeed far from bad, but it was really dangerous. Joining such an organisation was not without risk, especially if it was for infiltration. If they got into a conflict, they were dead. If they missed a mission they were given, they were dead. If their intentions were discovered, they were dead. If Haman found them before they did, they were dead. Was the risk worth it in the end? Was it necessary to take all these risks, just to get revenge for the evil this traitor had caused? Mynthiao bit her lower lip, hesitating for a moment. A short moment. After all, she had nothing left to lose. Her life had been shattered when Haman had taken everything from her. Everything. Well, everything, except Leonidas... She felt remorse for her poor leomorph, so young, so harmless, who had not asked her to take the path of revenge.

Mynthiao finally accepted Satsu's idea. They left their leomorphs in a stable in the care of a stablehand, and went for a short walk in the town of Anvilton until nightfall. At dusk, they entered the village inn, on their guard, in case Haman was present. Baht spotted them at the entrance and met them with a mug of sparkling beer.

"Welcome to the headquarters of the Shadowhawks!" he exclaimed. "To be honest, I didn't think you would come tonight!"

- "Well, you thought wrong" Satsu said with a smirk.

- "Are you looking for someone?" Baht asked Mynthiao, bringing his face only a few inches closer to hers as she scanned the room.

- "Ah! Uh, no!" she lied, taking a step back. "I just thought I recognised an old friend."

- "Among the Shadowhawks, really? Yet you seem to be wary of them! Anyway. May I use the familiar form, now that we have met before?"

- "Of course you may."

- "My name is Baht! But, it seems to me that you already knew that. I'm from the Falcorth plains."

- "My name is Satsu, I am from Arcum Iris."

- "Mynthiao, also from Arcum Iris."

- "Good! Hey, Yasmudin, two beers for the girls, on me!"

The owner served them two large mugs of beer and once the Firran had set them on their table, Mynthiao grimaced, tasting alcohol for the first time.

"Where are the plains of Falcorth?" she asked curiously.

- "East of here" Baht replied. "They are great rolling plains with lots of wind. Wind is very important."

- "Why is that?"

- "It's what allows us Firrans to communicate with our main god, Tahyang, the God of Wind."

Mynthiao nodded her head, storing this information in her memory. It was interesting to learn more about the Firrans. She had often heard about them, but it was true that Baht was the first one she had seen. She was surprised to find out more about him: he was very tall, with broad shoulders. He was very muscular but still had the suppleness of a feline. His legs, or perhaps his hind legs, seemed powerful. His long fingers were finished with sharp nails, very similar to claws. His feline face had rather hard features, but he seemed friendly. His face seemed hairless, like a human's, yet it was the same colour as his silky, tiger-brown fur. Some of his dreadlocks were pulled back in a ponytail while others framed his face, and two large hairy ears stood on his head. She suddenly felt the amused look of the Firran, and decided to quickly find a subject to avoid the awkward question that would surely come out.