Richard Tuttle - Island of Darkness

HawkShadow silently pulled his body through the window. He immediately slid along the wall so that he was not visible from outside. The Sakovan assassin stood behind the general’s chair and gazed about the room. A torch not far to his right was the only illumination in the room. HawkShadow moved to it and extinguished it. He crouched behind the desk and waited to see if the sentries outside the door would peek in when they noticed the light had gone out. Of course it was possible that they could not tell it was extinguished. The hallway also had torches, and HawkShadow had no idea if the light from the office would be noticeable to the sentries. He waited several minutes to be sure.

HawkShadow rose and moved behind the general. He reached out and grasped the general’s head and gave it a quick twist. The crack sounded loud in the confines of the small room, but HawkShadow was sure that it was not loud enough to alert anyone. What he was about to do next would not be as quiet.

The Sakovan assassin knelt next to the chair. He tilted the chair forward, causing the general’s head to slide slightly across the desktop. Grabbing one of the rear legs of the chair, HawkShadow exerted pressure on it until it cracked loudly. The noise shot through the silent room like a giant tree falling in the Sakova. HawkShadow heard the sentries outside the door say something to each other. They had obviously heard the noise, and he pulled a Sakovan star from his pouch as he waited for the door to open.

Several minutes passed without anyone trying to enter the room, and HawkShadow returned the Sakovan star to his pouch. HawkShadow stood and pulled the general’s body up against the back of the chair. He slowly lowered the body and the chair to the floor so that it looked like the chair had broken a leg and caused the general to collapse along with it. He painstakingly arranged the body so that the general’s head was against the wall at an angle. He hoped that the death would be considered an accident; otherwise the soldiers in Okata would be alerted to the presence of an enemy. When everything was properly arranged, HawkShadow slid through the window and climbed to the ground.

* * *

SunChaser cautiously opened the front door to her mansion. She smiled when she saw Lyra, StarWind, and Goral. She waved them in and quickly closed the door.

“It is so good to see the three of you,” smiled SunChaser. “Did you have any trouble getting into the city?”

“Surprisingly none,” answered StarWind. “I would think that the Imperial Guards would be very alert during a war, but the ones at that gate hardly bothered to look at us. Even Goral did not faze them.”

“HawkShadow assassinated General Lafor last night,” grinned SunChaser. “I do not think you will find much attentiveness from the Imperial Guards in Okata any more. The Monitors are another matter, though. There are several hundred of them, and they take their jobs seriously. Come and join the others.”

Lyra stopped when she entered the dining room. Her eyes passed over the assembled group with surprise. She smiled as she nodded to each of them.

“I am surprised to see some of you here,” the Star of Sakova said, “but I am glad that each of you is here. We have a daunting task ahead of us.”

“Sit,” smiled Temiker as he rose and pulled another chair to the table. “Let’s begin by reviewing where we are in this war.”

StarWind and Goral picked up chairs for themselves, and everyone gathered around the table.

“We are in far better shape than I ever imagined possible,” Lyra began. “General Romero surrendered at Alamar. General Kapla is fully entrenched as a Sakovan now. Thanks to SunChaser for that piece of work.”

SunChaser grinned and shrugged her shoulders. “He took a liking to me.”

Everyone laughed heartily, and Lyra continued.

“Every Omungan city has defected except for Okata and Tanzaba,” reported Lyra. “I am not worried about Tanzaba. If Okata falls, it will as well. The two areas where we are not doing so well are Okata and StarCity. The Omungans have entered the tunnel leading to StarCity. We have been doing well at slowing their movement through the tunnel because of the pyrons that our ancestors were kind enough to carve out of the wall of the tunnel, but victory there is far from certain. We may very well win the war and lose our homes.”

“That would not be much of a victory,” frowned StarWind. “Our families, friends, and lives are wrapped up in StarCity. It is not even close to a fair trade. I would give all of Omunga back to save StarCity.”

“I think we all would,” Lyra nodded sympathetically, “but that is not an option. What is the situation here in Okata?”

“General Didyk and his army have been dispatched to Alamar,” reported SunChaser. “Unless something causes him to turn around, he is out of this war for a long time. His troops will be starving when he reaches Alamar and finds out that General Romero’s army is now defending the city. He will be forced to surrender himself.”

“Excellent,” smiled Lyra. “You have also managed to minimize the city garrison’s effectiveness. What do we do from here?”

“The Katana must die,” offered Temiker. “There can be no victory without that happening.”

“The Katana’s Council must be dismembered as well,” added SunChaser. “We cannot allow them to choose another Katana.”

“Most importantly,” interjected Ukaro, “the Star of Sakova must survive. Everything is for naught if Lyra dies.”

“Do you think she should leave the city?” asked Temiker.

“No,” Ukaro shook his head, his long golden mane swaying smoothly. “I do not believe that a leader can hide from her responsibilities. I am merely pointing out that she must be kept safe. That is the highest priority of all.”

“What else?” asked Lyra as she felt uncomfortable being discussed in such a manner.

“It would be nice to get the Monitors to surrender,” suggested SunChaser. “I have not figured out how that can be accomplished, but the Imperial Guards will follow their lead.”

“That will not be a simple task,” frowned StarWind. “I am not saying the other tasks are easy, but the Monitors are fiercely loyal. I doubt that they would ever surrender.”

“Then they must be killed,” interjected HawkShadow.

“Several hundred of them?” balked SkyDancer. “There are only eight of us.”

“Nine,” Ukaro corrected with a smile. “Never forget Kaltara.”

“Nine,” conceded SkyDancer. “Still, we are ill equipped to handle such a large number. If we were fighting them in the Sakova, I would give us a chance, but we are not.”

“We must prevail here,” declared Lyra. “Failure is not an option. Let’s list the tasks to be done, and worry about the dangers involved later.”

* * *

StormSong and MeadowTune stood outside the StarCity end of the tunnel trough the mountain. A curl of smoke could be seen rising high into the air over the top of the mountain peak.

“The Omungans are fools,” scowled StormSong. “How many are they willing to sacrifice to gain entrance to our stronghold? The smoke from their burning bodies already rises high in the sky.”

“I worry more about the smoke within the tunnel,” frowned MeadowTune. “While the pyrons may protect our defenders from the arrows of the Omungans, our people must have air to breath. The burning corpses will suffocate them.”

“How many warriors have we got in there?” asked StormSong.

“Hundreds,” answered MeadowTune. “Just about every pyron is manned. The only empty ones are right here at this end of the tunnel.”

“Can’t you use magic to force air through the tunnel?” inquired StormSong.

MeadowTune fell silent as she pondered StormSong’s question. A puzzling frown fell over her face.