HARANYA part 2: Firran (eng) [COMPLETED]

Chapter 4: Solis

It was barely noon when Fenglong reached the border between Mahadevi and Solis, completely out of breath. However, as soon as she saw the border guard post, she stopped Windblow dead in his tracks. With the vegetation, the sentries hadn't noticed them yet, fortunately for them. A post owl could have arrived before them and brought the order to stop them. The Firran therefore preferred to turn back a few metres to find another way that would allow her to get around the guard post. A little further south, the forest led to a wide canyon. Although she was happy to be in a plain again, the Firran did not know if this was the safest way. Indeed, if the guards spotted her, she would have no way of retreating between the two high cliffs of the canyon. But at the same time, on the north side there was a very steep mountain, which was too complicated to climb for the snowlion. So Fenglong chose to descend into the canyon. The wall was descending steeply, and Windblow several times almost skidded to the bottom, but fortunately both got away with only a few scratches. They even had the pleasant surprise of finding some quiet wind elementals at the bottom of the crevasse. The Firran nevertheless asked her lion not to linger too long and reluctantly made him press on again. The poor beast had run breathlessly from the City of Towers without taking a break and was exhausted. At the end of the canyon, Fenglong saw small white cube-shaped houses forming a small hamlet. As she climbed back up, she saw that there were no guards at the entrance. She entered the stable to leave Windblow in the care of the stablehand. The animal quickly plunged its snout into the nearest water trough, splashing the few leomorphs that were present and growling.

The Firran walked cautiously through the village, trying to find some information, not knowing if she was in Austera or not. However, she found it strange not to see anyone in town. She thought to herself that she hadn't even seen a groom around the stable where she had left Windblow. Where had the inhabitants of this hamlet gone? What had happened here? The Haranian towns were usually lively in broad daylight. Had they been ordered to flee or to barricade themselves in the small closed buildings? Had they received a letter depicting Fenglong as a dangerous criminal? The Firran would knock on a door at random to see if anyone was there and ask the question, but she changed her mind at the last moment, realising that it might have been a trap.

A trap into which she almost plunged headfirst.

Thanks to her feline flair, she realised in time that she was not alone, and even that she was being watched. Instinctively, she jumped back, and at the same time, two big Firrans had jumped where she was standing just a second earlier. She recognised at first glance their crimson uniforms and their hats, the Windwhips. Instinctively, Fenglong grabbed her bow and a few arrows. The Windwhips grabbed their weapons as well, and threw themselves at her. However, they had no time to hurt her, she managed to disarm them each with an arrow in her arm before they could touch her. She then turned around sharply, her ear quivering with an extremely light sound, indicating the presence of two other enemies behind her back. They suffered the same fate as their colleagues.

"Stop the fight!"

Fenglong raised her head in the direction of this unknown female voice. A Firran she had never seen before was perched on the roof of a house. She was also wearing the uniform of the Windwhips.

"You managed to disarm four of my best men without difficulty, and I congratulate you for that. As for you boys... you didn't stick to the plan. You were supposed to talk to her, not jump on her! You reap what you sowed, and that's good for you."

When the stranger jumped to the ground, Fenglong tightened her bow again, ready to shoot. The other Firran then waved her empty hands forward to show that she was not a threat.

"This may sound strange to you" she said, "but we don't want to hurt you. We'd just like to get the Souleye back, we're the guardians of it."

- "I know that's what you're looking for" Fenglong spat. "But I won't give it to you. The Firran to whom I'm going to entrust it has done nothing but helped me since the beginning of my quest, unlike you! You Windwhips have not hesitated to belittle me and attack me at the slightest opportunity!"