Rebirth on Pandora
Chapter 4: Aerial Battle
The Toruk was after the trio of Ikrans. Fear danced in the eyes of the Toruk's intended prey as they flew onwards. Tanhì flew on level with Txon, while Hawnu flew a fraction behind. Txon was scared not only for her own life, but for her friend's lives, especially for Hawnu. Cheerful Hawnu was somewhat older than the other two and she was struggling to keep up, being tired from the race they had all had just before. It was evident that Tanhì was concerned, too, but they all had to keep flying at top speed.
Hawnu, hold fast! We can make it!
Tanhì's urgent tones resounded in Txon's head and Hawnu responded by trying to fly a little faster. The Toruk was literally right on their tails. Txon could feel the dreaded creature's breath on her scaly skin. It snapped its jaws and narrowly missed taking a piece out of Hawnu's wing. Suddenly, though, the Toruk snapped again and Hawnu cried out in agony. Txon realised that the Toruk had grabbed her Ikran friend by the tail and had tossed her through the air. Hawnu crashed into one of the many 'floating mountains' around them and fell a little distance before regaining her posture in the air. But she was panicked, and with good reason. Now separated from the group, Hawnu would be much more likely to fall to the mighty Toruk's fearsome jaws…and the predator was after her again!
Tanhì, the Toruk…it's going to kill Hawnu…
Txon looked over to Tanhì, who seemed just as distraught as she was.
But what can we do?
The Toruk was catching up to the tired Hawnu. It was then that Txon made a decision.
I'll tell you what we can do, my friend…we can FIGHT BACK!
Tanhì looked horrified but Txon paid him no mind. She performed a somersault and flew straight upwards. When she was directly above the Toruk, Txon dived straight at the mighty creature with her jaws wide open. She knew that the creature would never see an attack coming from above. With an almighty screech of fury Txon made contact with the Toruk, biting deep into the creature's neck with her sharp teeth. She tasted blood; the blood of the Toruk was foul and bitter. The creature itself gave a shriek of pain and made a nose-dive to shake the irritation from its neck. Txon clung on, clawing and biting the mighty Toruk to stop it from attacking Hawnu further. Hawnu had landed on a rock ledge and was breathing heavily. Her wing seemed a little torn because she had slammed into the rock face with violence but Txon was sure that Hawnu would be alright. Txon was snapped back to reality when the Toruk finally managed to shake her off. Txon fell a little way and then caught an updraft, regaining her composure in the air. The Toruk turned in the air and faced her, rage burning in its eyes. Txon felt scared, but she could not back down…for the sake of her friends. She could not see Tanhì, so Txon concluded to herself that her friend had landed with Hawnu.
Then Txon heard the voice of the Toruk in her head. It was louder than anything Txon could have ever imagined…so much so that she very nearly fell from the sky. What was more, Txon could tell from the voice that the creature was male.
YOU INSIGNIFICANT PEST! YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAN AN INSECT COMPARED TO ME! YOU HONESTLY THINK THAT YOU, LITTLE ONE, ARE A MATCH FOR THE MIGHT OF THE LAST SHADOW?
Txon was terrified by the voice, but her willingness to protect her friend took over and Txon held her ground…or, rather, held her sky. She looked the Toruk right in the eyes.
I am not a little one…I…AM…TXON!
With that, Txon launched herself directly at the fierce creature with a surprising turn of speed. The Toruk tried to grab Txon but she was too fast, dodging out of the way and attacking the Toruk's neck again. It screeched in irritation and tried to shake her off…but Txon still clung desperately to the creature. She would keep up her attack until the Toruk backed down…or until it killed her. At least she would have died in the knowledge that her courage did not desert her in the final moment.
The Toruk shook her off again and this time managed to grab her in its powerful jaws. It shook her like a terrier on Earth would shake a dead rat. Txon screamed out in agony, trying to escape the Toruk's grasp and attack again.
NOBODY…HURTS…MY FRIENDS!
The voice surprised Txon. She glanced upwards. She saw Tanhì diving straight at the Toruk's head, teeth bared, hissing in fury. The lime-green Ikran collided with the red creature with force enough to make it cry out, dropping Txon in the process. She could not keep up the flight much longer, she knew that. She flew over to where Hawnu had landed and nudged her friend with her snout. Hawnu gave a soft growling noise.
Txon, I can never thank you enough for your bravery.
Txon nodded, looking over to Tanhì. The Ikran had latched onto the side of the huge Toruk's face, out of reach of the thing's powerful jaws. Suddenly, Tanhì bit down upon one of the Toruk's main eyes, causing it to scream in agony. From the blood that Txon could see even from her distance, she guessed that Tanhì had bitten the eyeball out. It was all too much for the Toruk, who started to fly away. Tanhì launched himself off the creature's face and flew a distance away, before turning to make sure that the Toruk really was retreating. It was, but it yelled over its shoulder as it went.
CURSE YOU, LITTLE IKRANS! MARK MY WORDS I'LL SEE YOUR BLOOD SPILT BEFORE MY LIFE ENDS! I SWEAR TO IT!
Paying the injured Toruk no more attention, Tanhì flew over to Hawnu and Txon. He nudged each of them in turn and then bent his head down to Txon.
Txon…your courage was inspirational to me. I've never before witnessed an Ikran attack a Toruk like that. But…why?
Txon had only one reply to that, and if she was capable of smiling then she would have.
What are friends for?
The green Ikran placed his head next to hers and made a soft purring noise. Txon was surprised at this…normally, Ikrans only made this noise when courting each other. Nevertheless, her friend then raised his head and looked about.
We'd better rest for a while. It's safer that way. We don't want to strain ourselves.
Hawnu nodded. Txon nodded as well. They were all agreed to stay there for a little more time.
The three Ikrans ended up drifting into sleep. But Txon had a dream, and a puzzling one at that. She pictured the shadows of three Ikrans flying together, joining a swarm of many more Ikrans who were flying behind a Toruk. The flying creatures seemed about to attack something when Txon heard a voice, the dream fading.
Txon, your courage is proven. You will need it in times to come…