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

Chapter 42: The Song of the Waters

40-2-2-4012 DM, Shinara Desert, Yaha Tali, Silaraya

Sami woke up feeling pain all over his body, most of it coming from his head. He was lying on his left side. He could feel hard wood on his cheeks, but he felt something course and fine on the skin of his left arm. It was sand. He felt intense heat on his skin and sensed a bright light behind the lids of his eyes. He reluctantly opened his eyes and was momentarily confused. He looked around and saw sand everywhere. A few arms away, the ruins of a ship were scattered on the sandy ground. Where was he? He initially thought that he was shipwrecked somewhere but his clothes didn't feel wet. Where did the ship come from? It didn't make any sense. His head was throbbing like nothing he had experienced before. The intense light from the sun made his headache worse, so he closed his eyes once again. What happened? Something obviously went awry. He tried to recall what happened but the pain in his head made it difficult to juggle his memory.

With much effort, Sami tried to remember what happened the night before. He was on the verge of a panic attack so he tried to relax. He started to inhale deeply and exhale slowly as if trying to meditate. He hadn't done this in a while but he had to try something to block out the pain in his head. After what seemed like hours, he felt the tension in his muscles disappear and the pain in his head began to subside. Then, he started to remember some details. It was hazy at first, but as he felt calmer, things slowly fell into place.

He was at the Perangar Eranga. He remembered hiding in a broom closet along the second floor corridor of the Great House. The place smelled like lamp oil. Perhaps there were a few barrels of lamp oil stored there, but it was too dark inside to see anything clearly. He decided not to follow the orders given to him by Hara, so he decided to hide inside the broom closet that afternoon and wait there for the rest of the evening. A couple of hours later, he heard grunting noises. Someone was dragging something heavy along the corridor. He thought he could ignore it but his curiosity got the better of him. He opened the door of the broom closet a little, just enough to see what was going on. He saw a lakadu dragging a red-headed babidu into his room. That was Alyana! He gasped and stumbled back, causing the brooms and the other stuff inside the closet to fall. The lakadu turned towards his direction, dropped Alyana on the floor, and moved to open the door of the broom closet.

"What are you doing there?!" the lakadu asked angrily, his bulky muscles flexing. "Who are you?"

"I..." Sami started but he was interrupted by someone.

"The traitor's brother of course," a voice from a hooded figure said. It was none other than Avarna herself. "Don't you recognise this snivelling pest?"

Sami scuffled backwards, ignoring the falling objects from the shelves above him.

"Move back, Gandri. I want to see him more clearly," Avarna commanded. The huge lakadu immediately obeyed and stepped aside.

Avarna moved closer towards the broom closet until she was about a couple of arms away. She looked down from her hooded cloak and scoffed. "Hmm... You don't look too good, do you?"

Sami didn't answer. He held his knees closer to his chest and started to shake in fear.

"Hara may have been impressed by your so-called sacrifice but I am not as easily convinced. Since you failed to capture that bayaharadu in Janang, I never trusted you. You are weak, just like your brother."

Despite the fear in Sami's chest, he suddenly felt a jolt of anger at what Avarna just said.

"Leave my brother out of this. He's already dead, isn't he? What else do you want me to do?"