“What do you mean they were not dreams?” Antello quizzed. “How do you know that?”
“The dreams were the result of magic,” Lyra explained. “I had them too, but instead of Master Caulder, it was Rhodella. I don’t think it matters who it was supposedly asking the questions. It was just supposed to be some authority figure that you trusted. It was really the Sakovans trying to interrogate us.”
“Why would they do that?” Syman asked. “Why not just kill us in our sleep instead?”
Lyra held up her hand and showed the ring. “Because of this,” she stated. “This ring has some significance to the Sakovans. I do not know why, but the Sakovans were unsure whether we had the right to be in the Sakova. That is why they didn’t just kill us.”
“How do you know this?” inquired Antello.
“Because one of them came and talked to me,” Lyra admitted. “That is how my hand got healed. She healed it while you were fishing and Syman was hunting. She didn’t exactly say as much, but her questions were the same as the dreams and I figured it out. You scared her off when you returned to the camp and she fled. I was not supposed to mention her to anyone. She warned me.”
“And I made you tell,” Syman murmured. “I am sorry Lyra, but I was worried about you.”
“What did she look like?” Antello asked eagerly. “How do you know it was a she?”
“She was very little and she had pointed ears,” Lyra answered. “I think she had sharp teeth, but I can’t be sure. I was in shock at the time. I just knew she was female.”
“Okay,” interrupted Syman, “I understand why you were frightened, but why are we now running for our lives? If they are not sure that we belong here, maybe they won’t bother us.”
“Because,” Lyra shook, “they have been with us since we entered the Sakova. We weren’t even aware of them, but they were always with us. The first night they took some of our possessions, later they interrogated us in our dreams. Don’t you see? They can kill us whenever they want and we are powerless to stop them. We wouldn’t even wake up when they slit our throats and feasted on our bodies. Only getting out of the Sakova can save us. If the horses can get us out of the Sakova, I will gladly walk the rest of the way to Alamar.”
The three youngsters sat in silence for a while, each lost in their own thoughts, but all of them thinking about their vulnerability. The sun lowered in the sky and the canyon lit up with a spectacular display of pinks and reds, yellows and grays. The trio sat mesmerized by the picturesque display until Syman broke the silence.
“Why did she run?” he asked. “We are supposed to be afraid of them, so why did she leave?
“I thought about that for a long time,” Lyra revealed. “I am not sure, but I have a guess. I am the only one with a ring and she chose to show herself to me alone. My guess is that she is not supposed to be seen at all, but she took a chance because she was curious. If I belong in the Sakova then her visit wouldn’t matter much because you never saw her and could not spread any tales about the Sakovans. If I didn’t belong then we would all die anyway, so her risk was not so great.”
“That sounds promising,” interjected Antello. “Maybe they will allow us to leave then.”
“That was my first thought and why I never mentioned anything to you,” Lyra stated, “but that supposes that I heeded her advice and never told you. After thinking about it, she cannot afford to make that assumption. I am sure that she realized it after she left. No, I think we are dead if they catch us. Our only hope is to get across the Wound of Kaltara.”
“Well, we are not going to get across that,” assured Syman. “At least not anywhere around here and without any sleep last night, we can’t go anywhere else. Let’s get a couple of hours sleep and then move south along the rim. The canyon must get narrower and less deep towards the river’s source.”
“Okay,” Lyra agreed. “I can barely walk I am so tired.”
“At least if they kill us in our sleep, we won’t feel it,” Antello reasoned. Nobody saw the humor in Antello’s comments and the trio went silently to sleep.
It was already past dawn when Syman woke Lyra. She sat up rubbing the sleep from her eyes and saw Antello just rising from his blanket. Swiftly she sprang to her feet. Instead of a couple of hours of rest, they had slept the night through and Lyra fought the terror rising within her. Every extra hour that they had slept allowed the Sakovans to gain an hour on them. Hurriedly, the trio packed the horses and headed south. Antello led the way and hugged the rim of the canyon as it wound in a serpentine path southward.
“What do we do when they catch up to us?” asked Syman, finally broaching the subject that they had all been thinking about.
“We kill them,” offered Antello. “It will be us or them and I vote that we survive.”
“They are small but fast,” nodded Lyra remembering how swiftly the Sakovan had disappeared. “If it is only the one that talked to me then I agree with Antello. We charge her and hope that some of us make it past her. Perhaps we can split up and leave three trails. She will have to choose which one to follow.”
“You sound as if you expect more than one,” hinted Syman. “If that is the case, splitting up won’t help much.”
“True,” sighed Lyra. “Remember when they killed the invaders? They cut the horses loose. They didn’t take them, but freed them. That makes me think that they don’t use horses. I figure that they track on foot. That was why I decided to gallop away from them. They would never catch up to us. When she figured out what I was doing, I would expect her to get help, maybe even round up some of the invaders’ horses to follow us.”
“Maybe they are too small to ride horses,” hoped Antello. “Maybe we are worrying for no reason.”
Lyra started to say that the Sakovan was not that small when Antello stopped completely. They had been following the rim as it swung into the canyon a short ways and Antello had just started following it back towards the forest when they halted. Syman and Lyra stopped alongside Antello and gaped at the vision before them.
“The Sakovans may be small,” quivered Antello, “but that thing sure is not.”
“What kind of monster is that?” Syman queried looking at the giant sitting upon some monstrous bird-like creature.
Lyra looked back the way they had come, frantically searching for some path of escape. Instead of freedom she saw two more figures on bird-like creatures, although the new ones looked human. “There are more behind us,” she whispered.
Syman glanced back and confirmed what Lyra had said. He continued scanning the edge of the forest and spotted two more sitting patiently, as all of the creatures appeared to be doing. “I count five of them,” he reported, “and they are not moving. They are just sitting there waiting for us to come to them. The Wound is starting to look like a quicker way to die to me.”
“Wait,” Lyra ordered as she spotted a small figure emerging from the woods. “That is the one who spoke to me,” she said pointing.
MistyTrail left her choka with HawkShadow and walked towards the Omungan youngsters. “Do not be afraid, Lyra,” she called. “We have come to escort you.”
“The Wound sounds a little hasty,” Antello stated. “Maybe they are friendly after all. I mean, they could have just killed us in our sleep.”
“Maybe the meat tastes better after it struggles,” cautioned Syman. “Maybe we can take the little one hostage and bargain our way out of here.”
“Come forward and we shall talk,” Lyra called out. “Keep alert,” she whispered to her friends. “I do not trust her. Do nothing to alarm her companions. I do not think we will survive this if they decide to attack.”
MistyTrail came to within ten paces and stopped. “You may dismount from your horses,” MistyTrail declared. “We have brought chokas to transport you. They are much faster than horses and we have a long ways to go.”
“Are you intending to escort us to Alamar?” Lyra questioned.
“No,” smiled MistyTrail. “We will
escort you to speak with our leader. It is quite an honor. No Omungan has been so welcomed that I know of.”
“And if we wish to refuse this honor?” asked Syman. “You will naturally just let us proceed as we wish?”
“I am afraid not,” frowned MistyTrail. “If you wish to refuse the honor then you must be treated as trespassers of the Sakova are normally treated, like the assassins who followed you were treated.”
“You really think the six of you can just kill us so easily?” bluffed Antello.
“Are you harder to kill than the forty assassins who chased you?” grinned MistyTrail. “Look,” the Sakovan continued in a frosty tone, “we do not have time for your childish bravado. There are forty more assassins coming into the Sakova from Alamar looking for you and my friends and I have to eliminate them. We cannot do that and stay here and chat with you at the same time. If you do not dismount immediately, my friends will destroy the horses you are sitting on and then we will take you by force and the journey will be more difficult for you. Make it easy on yourself and cooperate.”
Lyra caught Antello’s movements out of the corner of her eye as he reached for a belt knife. She saw Misty go taut at the same time and shouted, “Stop. We will come peaceably. Will you guarantee our safety?”
“I will guarantee that you reach our leader safely,” MistyTrail agreed, “providing your friend does not try that foolish move again. You just saved his life, Lyra.”
Lyra nodded as Antello grabbed the reins with both hands. “And after we speak with your leader? Will you guarantee our safety to Alamar?”
“I can not do that,” MistyTrail replied honestly. “That will be for our leader to decide, not me. Ask him that question when you talk with him.”
Lyra nodded resignedly and indicated for Syman and Antello to dismount as she swung down from her own horse. “At least you are honest with me,” she stated, knowing that Misty did not expect them to ever reach Alamar.
“What will happen to the horses?” Syman asked.
“Your packs will be transferred to the chokas and the horses will be set free to graze where they will,” MistyTrail answered. “They will be gathered later and brought to the city. We need to move too swiftly to bring them with us now. We require that your weapons be stored with the rest of your belongings rather than on your person. It will eliminate the possibility of a stupid mistake.”
The Sakovans moved inward on MistyTrail’s signal and the youngsters’ packs were situated on the spare chokas and the trio were instructed to mount.
The brown-haired female Sakovan approached the youngsters and spoke. “I am known as StarWind. It is my responsibility to see you safely to StarCity; however, I have a great deal of latitude with my orders. I will try to make this trip as easy for you as I can, but I will not tolerate any deviation from you to my orders. At night in camp, you may talk freely if you keep your voices down. You may not speak while we travel unless we ask you to. We travel in silence. If you try to escape, you may die. I would prefer that does not happen as I am sure you do. If you touch a weapon, my people will assume you intend to use it and act accordingly. Stay within these guidelines and your trip will be uneventful. If I suspect treachery, you will ride bound and gagged.”
The black-haired female took the lead and the column moved into the forest with MistyTrail riding alongside Lyra. Syman and Antello were next, followed by the blond female and StarWind. The giant was last and the blond male disappeared completely.
The gait of the large bird-creatures was unlike riding a horse and Lyra clutched at the reins, worried about falling off as the column picked up speed, but she soon caught the rhythm of the bird and relaxed somewhat. The pace they were travelling at was close to a gallop, but she could sense that the birds were not overexerting themselves and that they had a lot more in reserve. She wondered about the wide variety of the Sakovan people. She thought Misty had been a typical example of the mysterious Sakovans, but it looked as if she was wrong. While Misty was childlike in stature, the giant was immense, larger than she could imagine any human to be, but the rest were normal-sized and could pass for Omungans easily.
The sevemor trees flashed by as the column passed through the forest, not following any trail that she could discern. She noticed that the Sakovans did not talk at all. No social pleasantries, no orders, nothing. The birds made little noise in their run through the woods and Lyra wondered what they were. She had never seen anything like them, nor had she ever heard stories of such creatures.
They traveled for hours. The forest turned to a mix of sevemor and ancient fargi trees before the sky darkened and still they continued on without a break. Finally, with little natural light left in the forest, the column halted and the Sakovans dismounted. Lyra waited until StarWind indicated that the youngsters should dismount before doing so. The Sakovans were efficient and had the camp set up in moments, blankets arranged, fire going and food being prepared.
StarWind approached the youngsters and indicated for them to sit with her. “You did well today,” she smiled. “You should know our names in case there is need for you to seek help or we tell you to help someone. You know mine and you have already met MistyTrail. The black-haired one is StormSong. Do not try her patience. The blond is SkyDancer and the giant is Goral. HawkShadow will return in a while to eat. I know the two boys are Syman and Antello, but which is which?”
“I am Antello,” the blond boy interjected. “What are we going to eat, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“We are having deer which HawkShadow left here for us,” StarWind answered. “We only kill what we eat, so we will be having deer tomorrow as well.”
“I thought you ate…,” Syman began cautiously but never finished.
StarWind smiled at the boy for a moment before answering as if she was weighing her answer before delivering it. “We do not eat people,” she finally said. “There are plenty enough animals in this forest that do though. It is doubtful that you would have ever survived to reach the other end of the Sakova. You must have been fleeing some terrible evil to chance the trip through the Sakova. I hope your choice turns out to be a wise one.”
“Are there really another forty assassins at the other end of the Sakova?” queried Lyra.
“Oh yes,” assured StarWind. “MistyTrail has not lied to you. We found a note on the last group we killed. It contained troop orders. Someone wants you very badly. Any idea who it is?”
Lyra shook her head.
“Well you will not have to worry about them,” StarWind stated as she rose. “They will be dealt with.”
“We probably don’t have to worry about anyone,” Syman whispered after she left. “Dead people have no fears.”
“She seems friendly enough to me,” interjected Antello. “I think we are worried about nothing.”
“If the hangman smiles at you, are you safe?” quizzed Lyra. “Everyone knows that the Sakovans are cannibals, but I do not think she lied to us, which means they are not.
“What are you worried about?” asked Antello. “Our worst fear was that they were cannibals and now that you found out they are not, you appear more worried than before.”
“If they are not cannibals,” Lyra explained, “then the lie that they are, was a very clever ruse to keep people away. In telling us the truth, she has also told us that she does not expect us to ever tell it to anyone else. Think about it Antello.”
“She knows that we will never return to Omunga,” Syman correctly surmised. “The hangman is indeed smiling at us. We need to get out of here.”
“Not tonight,” Lyra whispered. “They certainly will be expecting it tonight. Let’s act as if we are grateful for their invitation to visit this StarCity. Maybe tomorrow night will be better. In the meantime we can watch and see what their security is like at night.”
The three youngsters slept close together during the night so they could wake each other and take turns at observing the Sakovan camp and their security. When morning came, they did not
have a chance to reveal their findings to each other and the day on the trail was again silent.
The second night, camp was made in the dark fargi forest and again deer was served for dinner. The Sakovans were quiet as they ate and none of them bothered the youngsters.
“They have only one guard on duty at any given time,” Lyra reported. “They all seem to take a position just beyond us in the woods, the logical place for us to escape.”
“Not that HawkShadow guy,” Antello corrected. “He went out the other way. Not sure why, but I think when he is on duty might be the best time. I bet he is a new recruit and they just use him to fetch dinner.”
“Well I vote we do not attempt it when that StormSong is awake,” added Syman. “Every time she looks our way I get the feeling she would welcome an excuse to kill us.”
“Okay we go on HawkShadow’s watch,” Lyra agreed. “What about the chokas? Do we try to get some of them for ourselves or just disable them so they cannot follow us?”
“I say we take three and disable the rest,” conspired Syman. “They move so fast that the Sakovans will never catch us without chokas of their own.”
“Should I take out HawkShadow?” asked Antello.
“Sounds like a plan to me,” smiled Lyra. “Are you sure you can handle him alone?”
“Not a problem,” Antello grinned. “I just need to find where he is sleeping and hit him over the head.”
“Better to slit his throat,” frowned Syman. “We don’t want him waking up and alerting the camp.”
The youngsters worked out the details of their escape before going to sleep. As they did the night before, each one took a turn staying awake, waiting for HawkShadow to take over the watch. The opportunity came while Antello was on duty and he gently shook the other two awake. Silently they gathered their belongings, making sure the other Sakovans were sleeping soundly. With their gear in hand, the three youngsters crept out into the woods. When they were out of sight of the camp, they split up with Antello circling around the camp to subdue HawkShadow while Lyra and Syman headed for the chokas. Lyra bristled with anticipation and nervousness. She knew there would be dire consequences if they got caught, but she also knew that death awaited them in StarCity. Slowly they approached the chokas and Lyra signaled for Syman to draw his sword and quietly take out all of the chokas except the closest three. She watched as he moved off into the darkness and then moved forward to grab the nearest chokas and load them for the trip.
Star of Sakova Page 16