Star of Sakova

by Richard S. Tuttle

  Lyra proceeded to demonstrate some typical Omungan spells and Marak appeared attentive, but unenthusiastic. She tossed fireballs and force bolts, made Marak’s headache disappear with a simple healing spell, and made a clova rise with a levitation spell. Producing Temiker’s fog caught his interest though.

  “Do you think you can explain that to me so I can carry the instructions back to my people?” Marak asked. My mages can create a large scale haze working in teams, but this fog would have more usefulness.

  “I do not mind sharing it,” Lyra stated, “but explaining it to a non-mage is probably fruitless. I doubt you could remember the little nuances necessary for your mages to reproduce the spell.”

  “I have an excellent memory,” grinned Lord Marak. “In fact, I will try to instruct you in how to use an Air spell that will prove to be extremely valuable in your upcoming conflict. I know that you use birds to communicate with your people, but there are times when that will prove impractical, like when your people are in an Omungan city.”

  “And you can show me this?” Lyra asked.

  “I can try,” chuckled Marak. “It will be a good experiment to see if you can then instruct one of your people to use it. It does require two mages to make it work over any distance.”

  “I willing to give it a try,” shrugged Lyra. “What do I do?”

  “The spell is called Air Tube,” Marak began. “It requires a mage on each end to maintain it, if it is used over a long distance, but one mage can use it for short distances. It creates a tunnel of calm air that you can control the pressure inside of. For example, if you wanted to hear what someone was saying over at the practice yard, you could create an Air Tube and lower the pressure on your end. The words spoken there would come through the tunnel with clarity. If you then wanted to speak to them, you would change the pressure so that is was greater on your end and they would hear your voice as if you were standing next to them.”

  “At what distance would you need two mages?” inquired Lyra.

  “That depends on the strength of the mages,” responded Marak. “There is no maximum distance though. The farther apart the two casters are, the longer it takes to establish the Air Tube, but you could converse with a mage in Okata if you wished.”

  “That is worth knowing,” Lyra said, clearly impressed. “I wish you had brought a mage with you.”

  “I haven’t failed to instruct you yet,” laughed Marak. “Let me try. I often carry spell instructions between mages so that I have become accustomed to doing it. First you have to try and picture the tunnel that I am speaking about. Imagine a tunnel running from here to the practice yard where StormSong is probably humiliating some poor guy.”

  Lyra laughed. “You paint such a vivid picture that it is hard not to imagine it,” she laughed.

  “Once you have the image clearly set,” Marak continued, “concentrate on manipulating the air so it circulates around the center of the tube, as it does in a storm. Begin at the nearest end. When you can actually visualize the swirling air, walk your concentration along the tube until it is fully formed all the way to the practice field.”

  Lyra frowned and her teeth dug into her lower lip as she tried to visualize the picture Marak was painting. Marak remained silent as Lyra struggled to manipulate the air. She was close to admitting defeat when she suddenly smiled. “You forgot to mention how one manipulates the air,” Lyra said softly as she continued trying to make a circulation around the center of the tube.

  “Sorry,” Marak whispered, “I am used to describing it to Air Mages who already know that technique.”

  After what seemed an eternity of silence, Lyra grinned. “Damned if you are right,” she smiled. “StormSong is destroying the ego of yet another male warrior.”

  “You’ve done it?” Marak asked excitedly.

  “Indeed I have Lord Marak,” Lyra replied. “I would not have believed it possible. It makes me wonder what else can be done by manipulating air. I do want to come north and spend some time with your mages when this Omunga incident is over. Hang on. Let me try reversing the pressure.”

  Lyra grinned suddenly and said, “Anyone who beats StormSong in combat today gets an extra helping at dinner.”

  Marak doubled over with laughter and Lyra had to quickly shut the tunnel down before he was heard at the other end. “You spoiled my fun,” pouted Lyra.

  “Sorry,” laughed Marak, “but your sense of humor sneaked up on me suddenly.”

  Lyra joined in the laughter as the two leaders cast their glance towards the practice yard where everyone was looking about frantically to try and find out where Lyra was hiding.

  Absolutely amazing, Lord Marak,” smiled Lyra after her laughter had died down. “How does one visualize it when it extends farther than one can see?”

  “It doesn’t really matter,” Marak explained. “Visualize the tube going off to infinity. You will continue to extend your circulation around the tube until it finally reaches the other mage doing the same towards you.”

  “Can the tube be obstructed or broken?” Lyra asked.

  “Not normally,” answered the Khadoran Lord. “The tube will bend or wrap around obstacles, but it is possible to break it. A sudden shear in the wind is all it would take. A thunderstorm rolling through would certainly do it.”

  A sudden thought caught Lyra’s attention. “Can it be used for spying?” she asked.

  “It could under certain circumstances,” reflected Marak. “You have to have good airflow between the mage and the victim. It is not going to work through a solid object like a closed door or a wall. An open window would be fine though.”

  “I must see that all of our mages learn this,” Lyra declared excitedly. “Now for my end of the deal,” she continued. “I will try to teach you the fog spell, but then I must get ready for the strategy meeting. If this does not work when you return to Khadora, I promise that I will teach one of your mages when I come up.”

  “Fair enough,” Marak smiled.

  The two leaders spent another hour in the mage field. When they left Marak could repeat the instructions for the fog spell back to Lyra as accurately as she had explained them to him. Lyra left Lord Marak to his own devices as she hurried back to her office and perused StarWind’s report again. Jostin appeared with a tray of food and she nodded her thanks without looking up. After some time, there was a knocking on her door and she gazed towards it as it opened.

  “It is time,” StarWind announced. “RavenWing has already been brought into the dining hall. I took the liberty of saving seats near us for Lord Marak, Temiker, and Master Malafar. I hope that is acceptable.”

  “Of course,” Lyra agreed as she rose from her chair behind the desk. “That is a good idea. Has anyone shown up yet?”

  “The room is packed,” smiled StarWind. “People are lining the walls. They appreciate the chance to hear what is going on and the ability to offer suggestions. The biggest problem will be trying to get everyone who wants to participate into the room.”

  “Any problem with getting Master Malafar to attend?” Lyra asked

  “Surprisingly, no,” StarWind reported. “Perhaps he was bored in his room.”

  “Perhaps,” Lyra replied distractedly while handing StarWind’s report back to her. “Okay, let’s go.”

  StarWind led the way and the crowd parted as the Star entered the room. The dining hall was a huge room with a series of long tables with corresponding benches down each side of each table. The tables were interrupted every so often to allow people to pass between tables without having to go to the end of the room. It was a fairly plain room, used solely for what it was designed to do. This evening would be the exception as the Sakovans gathered to find out what was going to be done about the impending Omungan invasion.

  Lyra stood at the end of one of the tables where StarWind had reserved seats. The outlanders were already there and RavenWing had been brought in a litter and placed in a bed at the end of the room near Lyra. The crowd quieted and she
nodded her thanks for the silence.

  “I am pleased to see such a turnout,” Lyra declared loud enough to be heard by all. “Tonight we will all find out where we stand. I have asked StarWind to describe the situation as we know it. If she does not describe something you have heard, then it is probably an unfounded rumor, but feel free to bring up whatever you want. There will be no formality here tonight. I ask only one thing; when someone is speaking, let them speak, regardless of whether you want to hear what they are saying or not. StarWind?”

  “Thank you Lyra,” StarWind began. “Here is what we know so far. There is a movement in the Omungan government to wipe us out and then attack Khadora. The Omungan government in the past has been reticent to mount an offensive against an enemy they cannot find, and our strict patrols of the Sakova have managed to eliminate the spies they have sent in. But each time there is an incursion that we do not catch, the Omungans learn more about where we are not. Many years ago we started a campaign to make the Sakova sound like a nightmarish place. This was to keep innocent Omungans from travelling here and has worked for the most part, still the Omungan government gets closer to finding us every year. I state this so each of you is aware that this time our stronghold may indeed be attacked.”

  StarWind sifted through her papers and continued, “There have been several events this year that are worth noting. The first was an event that did not appear to concern us, but I think we will agree that it does. The attack on the Academy of Magic brought Lyra into the Sakova, chased by forty Omungan assassins. RavenWing felt strongly enough about this episode that he requested that Lyra be brought here rather than killed as would normally be the case for an intrusion. I think it is safe to say that we are all happy he made that choice.”

  Murmurs of affirmation flew through the hall and quickly died when Lyra frowned.

  What we found out during the elimination of the assassins, StarWind continued, was that there were another forty to the East also trying to capture her. A party went out to confront them and one was captured. He told us that the leader of their group was a man named Klaarg who worked for someone highly placed in the Omungan government. Therefore, we became alarmed about the intentions of the Omungan government.”

  StarWind shifted papers again. “The next episode,” she continued, “was the devastating fire at Campanil. Omungan watula production was destroyed in a deliberate blaze and it was blamed on Sakovans. I knew this was not true, but I went into Campanil anyway to try and find out who did it. I found out several interesting things. I read the official Imperial Guard reports on the incident. More than a few of the people burned in the blaze were not locals, nor were they Sakovans. In fact they suffered from a common malady. They were missing fingers on their left hands. Further investigation discovered that a common game played in sailors’ taverns in Omunga is game called Digits where opponents arm-wrestle each other with the goal of cutting off one of their opponent’s fingers.”

  “Another item of interest,” StarWind continued, “was the description of Sakovan stars that were used to kill these people. None of them were five-pointed, which we all know means they were not real Sakovan stars. Further investigation revealed that nobody reported actually seeing any Sakovans, but a large party of Omungan strangers did come into town just before the blaze. The number that left the following day and the number who were dead and unclaimed by locals roughly matched the number that came into town. Their leader was a man named Harac from Okata.”

  StarWind placed another paper on top of her pile and went on with the briefing. “Next we went to Okata to try and find this man, Harac. We did end up finding him, but he was dead, unable to lead us to the government official who was destroying his own country to rouse public opinion in support of a war against us. While we were in Okata, the Katana was assassinated. Many of you have heard the rumor that it was Lyra’s father who killed the Katana. The rumor is true.”

  StarWind looked over at Master Malafar and he sat as in a daze staring down at his manacled wrists. “I should point out, however, that he was under the influence of a powerful drug at the time. Neither Lyra nor myself blame Master Malafar for the assassination, as we believe he was the unwitting tool of the First Minister, Alazar. Alazar has since become the new Katana and, after trying to kill Master Malafar to cleanse any attempt to indicate his coup, labeled the killer as a Sakovan.”

  “It is now clear to us that Alazar intends to wipe the Sakovans from the face of the earth,” StarWind explained. “While we were in Okata, we met a representative from Khadora, a man who works for Lord Marak, who is sitting on my right. This man told us that the Khadorans had captured an Omungan spy up north who had revealed that Omunga plans to invade Khadora. We believe, therefore, that Omunga does not want the Sakovans at their back when they attack Khadora. This is the reason they seek war against us now.”

  StarWind paused to drink some water before continuing and the silence in the room was tangible. “Since that time,” StarWind continued, “the three largest armies of Omunga have left the capital and are currently trying to surround us. While there are holes in their line, the only truly open area is to the North. Another report tells us that someone is killing wasooki in Breele, again using supposed Sakovan stars to indicate that is we who are perpetrating the ugly deed. Finally, the Mayors of these cities are now demanding government action to root us out and destroy us. That is the situation as we know it.”

  StarWind sat down and Lyra rose. “Now that you know as much as we do,” Lyra said, “we solicit your opinions about how we should proceed from this point.”

  Lyra sat down and there was a roar of individual murmurs throughout the room. A man far in the rear of the dining hall stood and the noise ceased immediately.

  “What if we assassinate the new Katana?” he proposed.

  The man sat back down and StarWind rose. “We have considered that, but I see a problem with that action. In the eyes of the Omungan people, it would just be one more aggression by the Sakovans. Even if Alazar was killed, and that would be an extremely hard feat to pull off, his replacement would surely continue with the plans for wiping us out.”

  The man nodded and StarWind sat down. A woman rose next. “If the armies are strung out around the Sakova,” she asked, “couldn’t we attack them piecemeal? We could strike to the East and then withdraw and attack to the West.”

  A man not far from her rose and cleared his throat. “Unless we completely wiped the individual armies out,” he stated, “they could follow our army and locate StarCity. I think whatever we do, we must maintain the secrecy of the stronghold.”

  There were murmurs of agreement as she sat down. For the next two hours, the Sakovans put forth plans and promptly rejected them. Lyra was impressed with the diversity of thought present, and some of the plans were quite clever, but at the end of two hours, she was beginning to think that there was no good solution to their problem. Eventually, SkyDancer rose.

  “I see that Lord Marak was invited to attend this meeting of Sakovans,” she began. “Does this indicate that he is our ally in this time of trouble?”

  Marak nodded affirmatively and SkyDancer continued, “I know that bringing his armies all the way down to here is not practical, but suppose his armies were to stage an incursion into Omunga near his own homeland. Wouldn’t that draw the Omungan armies northward, allowing us to change the location of the battle. This would allow our people to attack their rear while Lord Marak’s armies would not have to stray far from their homeland.”

  There was a general favoring of SkyDancer’s plan and many eyes were directed towards Lord Marak, waiting for him to accept the mantle of committing his troops to the Sakovan cause. Eventually, Lord Marak rose.

  “I have listened to your discussion with great interest,” Lord Marak stated. “I want to affirm that the Torak Clan will aid the Sakovans in any way that we can, including the use of our armies, but,” Marak paused for effect, “I would like to talk about a different way to solve this probl
em. From what I have heard so far tonight, it appears that the key to staving off an Omungan attack, is the mindset of the Omungan people. Alazar is, as someone said tonight, destroying his own country to gain acceptance from the populace for a war with the Sakovans. What if we played the same game?”

  Murmurs ran through the room despite the instructions for quiet while a speaker was standing and Marak waited before continuing. “What if we could convince the populace that the war is unnecessary, even undesirable? Would such a tactic be acceptable to the Sakovans?”

  Marak deliberately sat down and the murmur almost rose to a roar. SkyDancer rose immediately. “If you have a plan for avoiding bloodshed,” she demanded, “present it. I think I can safely speak for all Sakovans when I say that we prefer peace over war.”

  Lord Marak glanced over at Master Malafar and noticed the look of surprise on his face. The Khadoran Lord smiled as he rose, one victory already gained. SkyDancer had provided the true Sakovan mindset for Lyra’s father to hear first-hand.

  “I have noticed that StarCity has a vast supply of watula in your storage facilities,” Marak declared. “The Omungans are suffering right now from a lack of watula because of the fires around Campanil. The shortage has also caused food prices in all of Omunga to skyrocket. It is little wonder that the Omungan people are unhappy and now they are losing wasooki as well. Come winter, many Omungans will starve to death because of Alazar’s ambitions. I suggest that you give your excess food to the Omungans.”

  “Are you crazy?” someone shouted and quite a few people laughed at the break in decorum.

  “I have been called that,” chuckled Lord Marak. “In this case I think my sanity will reveal itself soon. I am not suggesting just shipping the watula to an Omungan city and I do realize that if this plan backfires, that StarCity may end up short on food itself. What I am suggesting is this.”