“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.