Richard Tuttle - Island of Darkness

The Omungan soldiers just before the siege engines began to rally. An officer shouted orders and formed a column to charge up the mountainside. LifeTender ignored them as she surveyed the damage to the Omungan siege weapons. She screeched loudly again as a signal for the mages to hide as she sent three successive fireballs to feed the fire in one area that was not burning sufficiently. Satisfied that her mission was accomplished, LifeTender turned her attention to the charging soldiers.

Ukaro stood on a boulder several hundred paces east of LifeTender. She watched as he sent balls of light towards the charging Omungans. She stared in awe as the balls flattened and tore into the soldiers. The blades of light sliced through the Omungans like a knife through pudding. Blades passed through one soldier and continued onward to slice the next. Body parts flew through the air as blood sprayed into the wind and hung like a mist over the slope. She could see that Ukaro would leave nothing for her to attack, although she knew that other soldiers would soon be along to investigate. LifeTender cringed with pity for the Omungans as she slipped into her hiding spot and erected her illusion.

* * *

The Sakovans regrouped in a small clearing deep inside the Sakova. Healing mages ran around and surveyed the wounded. Warriors tended to the chokas, wiping the blood from their feathers and tending to broken claws.

“I need a healing mage here,” shouted HawkShadow as he bent over SkyDancer. Speaking softly he addressed the wounded warrior, “You will be fine in a moment. Just lie still and concentrate on controlling your breathing.”

SkyDancer clutched her side and nodded weakly. A healing mage knelt next to HawkShadow and StormSong appeared, towering over everyone. HawkShadow pointed out a gaping wound on SkyDancer’s side to the healing mage and then stood.

“She is cut pretty bad,” HawkShadow said to StormSong.

“She is in better shape than most of our people,” frowned StormSong. “We can no longer continue this fight. There are just too many of them.”

“I know,” agreed HawkShadow. “You cannot expect a hundred warriors to stand against ten thousand. We have gotten the best of them, but this last pass was too much for our warriors. We will heal who we can and order the retreat to StarCity.”

“Why not send for reinforcements?” asked StormSong. “We have thousands of warriors in StarCity. Why not bring them here?”

“Even thousands will be no match for this Omungan army,” answered HawkShadow. “They are not sufficiently frightened as they should be. I spent too much time scaring the smaller army.”

“You spent the minimal time possible to achieve your objective,” countered StormSong. “Any less and they would not have retreated. Do not blame yourself.”

“Half of our people are dead,” frowned HawkShadow. “Who am I to blame for that besides myself?”

“Blame the Omungans,” suggested StormSong. “You have done everything that you should have. I could not have done any better.”

HawkShadow stared at the tall female with wonder. StormSong never falsely praised anyone. He knew that her words were sincere.

“Regardless,” HawkShadow shook his head, “the Omungans have gotten the better of us. We must heal these people quickly and get them on the road to StarCity. Our fighting in the Sakova is over for now.”

“It is not over yet,” warned Goral as the giant approached. “The Omungans are searching for us. In fact, we are surrounded. Unless they drastically change their search pattern, we will remain surrounded until they stumble upon us.”

“Those are not words that I wished to hear,” sighed HawkShadow. “How much time do we have?”

“An hour or two,” shrugged Goral. “The longer we wait before trying a break, the better their chances of overwhelming us. We should move out soon.”

“We shall have to break their encirclement in the direction of StarCity,” mused HawkShadow. “To do otherwise is to risk another entrapment.”

“But that will point them in the direction of StarCity,” countered StormSong. “Are you sure that is wise?”

“We have no other choice,” nodded HawkShadow. “Look around you. These warriors are beat. If they have one more battle in them before they collapse, that is all they have.”

“We could sacrifice ourselves for the secrecy of StarCity,” suggested Goral. “You know that we would all do that.”

“I do know that,” sighed HawkShadow, “but that is not my plan. General Valdey has been on a direct course towards StarCity since he entered the Sakova. I do not know how, but I believe that he already knows the location of our city. I will not sacrifice fifty of our finest to keep secret what is already known.”

“I agree,” declared StormSong. “The other Omungan armies always acted as if they were searching for StarCity. General Valdey does not. His approach has been direct.”

“Besides,” added HawkShadow, “finding StarCity and conquering it are two different things. StarCity was meant to be defensive from its inception. You will be able to hold off this Omungan army for weeks easily, maybe months.”

“Me?” questioned StormSong. “And where will you be?”

“I will be of little use inside StarCity,” replied HawkShadow. “I plan to do what I was trained for.”

“Assassination?” questioned Goral. “Who are you going to assassinate?”

“I will get General Valdey tonight when they camp,” answered HawkShadow. “After that I will try to team up with Lyra.”

“You are crazy,” Goral shook his head. “General Valdey will be surrounded by his men. You will not get anywhere near him.”

“HawkShadow will get to him,” interjected StormSong. “This is his land, and he knows it well. If anyone can get to the Omungan general, HawkShadow is the one.”

“If anyone can,” echoed Goral, “but I suspect that no one can. I will stay behind to help you.”

“Help me?” inquired HawkShadow. “You are capable of many things, Goral, but I do not see you crawling into the enemy encampment.”

“I can be a diversion if you get in trouble,” insisted Goral. “At least I can provide a chance for you to escape.”

“He can be a diversion,” chuckled StormSong. “Besides, he is better off joining up with StarWind than being cooped up inside StarCity. Take him with you.”

“Very well,” nodded HawkShadow, “but no others. Leave the unburdened chokas here when you break out. I will teach Goral how to climb these giant fargi trees and wait until the Omungans pass by. Hopefully they will avoid our warbirds and not try to kill them.”

“I think they will give the chokas a wide berth,” nodded StormSong. “The warbirds have claimed almost as many Omungans as we have.”

“I have done the best I can for her,” announced the healing mage as she rose from SkyDancer’s side. “She needs rest, lots of it.”

“She isn’t likely to get any today,” frowned StormSong. “We are moving out in a few moments.”

“I will be ready,” SkyDancer said with determination as she stood up. “It was just a scratch.”

“A scratch?” HawkShadow asked incredulously. “I am amazed that you can stand. You know,” he hesitated, “I think it would be good to have SkyDancer along with me and Goral. She will be able to take over for me if I run into trouble.”

StormSong gazed at HawkShadow and was about to argue with him, when she suddenly smiled and nodded her head knowingly. “That is a great idea,” she said. “Do you need help getting her up in the tree?”

“Goral and I can handle it,” HawkShadow replied with a smile directed at StormSong. “Teach them a lesson when you depart, warrior.”

“They will be sorry that they ever entered the Sakova,” StormSong smiled back. “Mount up,” she shouted loudly to the rest of the Sakovans. “We are breaking out of this trap and returning to StarCity. There will be no waiting around for stragglers, so when we attack, ride through them as fast as you can.”