Alazar’s face was grim as he left the Council Chamber, but his spirits were jubilant. The Katana had never taken a Sakovan threat seriously in all the years that Alazar had been pushing his agenda. Things were starting to come together nicely.
Chapter 16
Garden of Hope
Syman, Antello, and Lyra sat on the floor of Lyra’s room by the fireplace. The tall mountain peaks already hid the sun, but dinner was still a ways in the future. The boys were exhausted and in need of bathing, but Lyra was enjoying their company.
“I have never seen such skill in fighting,” Antello blurted. “They make Master Caulder look like a novice. They can pick up any weapon and use it expertly.”
“They did not need weapons to brutalize us,” sighed Syman. “Even little MistyTrail could take us both on without a weapon. How humiliating.”
“You should not consider it humiliating,” chuckled Lyra. “They are trained fighters and not so they can get a job with a caravan or some merchant. They are trained to survive in war. The Sakovans start learning weapon use as little children and the training never stops. I have watched some of the children practice and they take it seriously. It is not a game for them. Besides, you said they never actually hurt you with their weapons. I am sure you are willing to put up with a few slaps from the blunt side of a sword to develop good fighting skills.”
“Sure,” Syman replied. “I do not fault the training and we are learning a lot, but I wish I didn’t have to have StormSong as a teacher. I think she hates us. I have welts all over my body from her little taps. I may have to sleep standing up.”
“I think it is great,” chimed Antello. “We were worried about whether we would ever leave here alive when we came. Now, I have no desire to leave. I went to Master Caulder because I wanted to learn to fight. I am learning that and much more here and everyone is so friendly. There are no schedules we have to follow. Nobody cares if we show up for a lesson or not. It is left up to us and I haven’t missed one yet. Do you think if we get good enough, they will let us go out on patrols?”
“You can ask,” answered Lyra. “I think as long as they know they can trust you, they will let you do whatever you want. These people are in a desperate situation though, Antello. Omunga wants to wipe them out entirely and any word said to the wrong person can allow that to happen. Do not play games with the lives of these people. If you swear allegiance to them, do it with all your heart or do not do it at all.”
“Do you believe their version of events?” Syman asked. “I mean Omunga may have another version which is quite different.”
“I believe them, Syman,” she replied. “I have seen no dishonesty here at all. Look at the serious way they devote their lives to staying alive. There is no non-warrior class of people here. They are all warriors because they will all die if they cannot defend themselves. They send people into the cities to keep tabs on what is going on, but they do not send raiding parties. Why? Because they are not planning on attacking Omunga. They are planning on defending StarCity.”
“I guess you are right,” Syman agreed. “I do like the people here. They treat me like family and I have never had a family. It is a strange feeling. I doubt they will ever trust us enough to let us go on patrols, but I will continue learning so that I may help them defend StarCity when the time comes. Like Antello, I no longer have a desire to leave here. I still have a vow to get you to Alamar though and I am bound by honor to do so.”
“I release both of you from the vows,” smiled Lyra. “Rhodella’s instructions were to go to Alamar so that Uncle Temiker could get me in touch with RavenWing. I have already spoken with him. I can learn my magic here just as well as in Alamar, so I have no need to continue the journey. You are both free to do as you will.”
A knock on the door interrupted the conversation and Lyra called for the knocker to enter. StarWind opened the door and saw the trio on floor. “Sorry,” she smiled. “I can come back later.”
“No,” chuckled Lyra. “These two need bathing before dinner anyway. Come in, StarWind.”
Laughing, the two boys scampered out of the room and Lyra could hear their friendly bickering proceeding down the hall. “I think you have gained some converts to the Sakovan cause,” Lyra smiled. “Welts and all.”
“Has StormSong been teaching them again?” laughed StarWind. “Tell them not to take it personally. She tries to do the same to me. How are you adjusting, Lyra?”
“Well I guess,” Lyra replied. “It is still a shock to know my mother was Sakovan. Did my father know?”
“I cannot be sure if Master Malafar knew or not,” offered StarWind. “I do know that your Uncle Temiker knew. You must understand that most of what I know about WinterWind comes from the archives. She left the stronghold as a young woman, long before I started gathering information. I knew of her as WinterWind only. The name Rhodella meant nothing to me. Still WinterWind was a bit of a legend. She was an extremely powerful mage.”
“I never knew she was a mage,” Lyra smiled sadly. “She hid herself well. Why did she leave? Surely she didn’t abandon the Sakovans?”
“Of course not,” StarWind stated. “WinterWind continued to send information to us whenever she found something worthwhile, but her purpose in leaving was not to spy. When the Omungans attacked Sakova, most of our mages were primarily versed in agricultural magic because we were farmers and fishermen. We did not know much of magic in the offensive sense. After the stronghold was established and we became a warrior society, our mages had to learn offensive magic from books we managed to get from the Omungans and others. We sent people to other lands to obtain magic and learn spells.”
StarWind sat down beside Lyra and propped herself up with a pillow. “After many generations, we had developed some excellent magic skills, but another problem surfaced. So many Sakovan families were completely destroyed during the initial massacre that the number of mage producing families was quite low. There was a fear of inbreeding as well. A decision was made to send one highly talented mage out into the world every generation to marry into the Omungan population. The mage’s offspring were to return to the Sakova. In this manner, our magic producing families would grow and not inbreed. WinterWind was the most talented mage of her generation and she accepted the challenge.”
“So she was a baby factory and I am the product,” Lyra frowned. “Did she at least love my father?”
“I honestly don’t know, Lyra,” StarWind smiled. “She went out to find the most talented mage in Omunga and marry him, but it was not your father that she attempted to wed. It was your Uncle Temiker. I do think she loved him, but he was not interested in marriage. He was young and full of zest for magic. He had no time for a family and eventually Malafar fell in love with your mother and they were married. Whether she loved him was not disclosed in any of the letters she wrote. Perhaps your Uncle Temiker will know.”
“But I will never get to ask him, will I?” Lyra sighed.
“Actually you will,” StarWind grinned. “I was instructed to send a message to Temiker telling him you were safe. When my agent got to Alamar, they discovered that he had fled the city with assassins in pursuit. It appears that whoever is after you, is also after him. I convinced RavenWing to have him brought here.”
“But he is not Sakovan and you said no Omungans are ever brought here,” questioned Lyra. “How can it be allowed? Will he be required to spend his life here as well?”