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.
Chapter 13
Hard Lessons
Lyra stepped forward and reached out to grab the first choka when suddenly an arm wrapped around her neck and dragged her back. She tried to scream, but the arm tightened, crushing against her throat and she started gasping for breath. She felt the body of her assailant against her back and tried to reach for him, but her arms felt leaden as her mind began to cloud with dizzying thoughts.
“MistyTrail said you were smart,” her assailant whispered, “but I have to wonder now. Sending your two friends off to die in this foolish attempt was not an act of intelligence.”
Lyra shivered with fear at the thought of being caught attempting to escape. Her cloudy mind was sifting through explanations for her behavior that she might offer the Sakovan when she heard the blood-curdling scream. The scream was definitely Syman’s she realized and the sound tore at Lyra’s soul. Someone was not content with killing Syman quickly, as the screams continued to reverberate through the ancient forest as her friend suffered pain after pain and tears started pouring down Lyra’s cheeks.