Island of Darkness (18 page)

“General Romero is arriving within the week with his army,” LifeTender continued.

“Who is he?” interrupted Lyra.

“He is one of the Katana’s generals,” answered StarWind. “There are four major generals in Okata, Didyk, Romero, Kapla, and Valdey. Those are the men who control the armies that will invade the Sakova. The rest of the generals are much like Manitow. They control regional armies centered in the main cities. They are more likely to be defensive and try to thwart any Sakovan offensives.”

“Continue,” Lyra said to LifeTender.

“The Imperial Guard stole the bodies from the marketplace this evening,” the healing mage continued. “They had planned to bury them and burn the wagon, but there is a complication, and this is why Temiker felt I needed to reach you tonight. There is a Chula shaman who plans to get the wagon and the bodies and return them to the Sakova. Temiker does not want the man hurt. He stresses that Ukaro is an ally.”

“Ukaro?” echoed Lyra. “He is here in the Sakova?”

“Marak mentioned that he was sending a shaman to help with the Omungan crops,” StarWind offered.

“Yes,” nodded Lyra, “but I hardly expected Ukaro to be the one. Marak is a friend indeed.”

“You know this Ukaro?” asked StormSong.

“Yes,” nodded Lyra. “I met him during my visit to Khadora.”

“There is something that you are not telling,” accused StarWind. “Why is this Ukaro so special?”

Lyra realized that she had overreacted to the news. She was not about to reveal that the shaman was Marak’s father.

“Ukaro is the head shaman of the Zatong tribe,” answered Lyra. “His presence here is a bold statement of Emperor Marak’s support of our cause. He must not be harmed or challenged in any way.”

“Why have you brought three chokas?” StarWind asked LifeTender.

“MeadowTune suggested it,” the healer answered. “She feels that the knowledge of General Romero’s army coming to Alamar presents a serious threat to Lyra’s life. She would like the Star to return to StarCity, but she knows that Lyra will refuse. As long as Lyra is going to the city, she wants the journey to be swift so the Star can leave before General Romero gets there. She wants us to go on ahead of the caravan to Alamar. Temiker has promised to get horses and have someone wait outside the city so we do not need to ride the chokas close to the walls.”

“We?” questioned StarWind. “You are a healer. You are not one to go to an Omungan city. She should have sent a warrior or a spy.”

“We,” nodded LifeTender. “I want to help FalconEye. Temiker and Ukaro have saved his life, but he is still in danger. I can help him.”

The clearing fell quiet as everyone waited for Lyra’s response. Finally, the Star of Sakova nodded.

“MeadowTune is correct,” she stated. “StarWind, you will accompany me and LifeTender to Alamar. StormSong, you are to stay with the caravan. Try to push them so they get to Alamar well before General Romero.”

“We are still going to send food to them?” scowled StormSong. “We will just be feeding Romero’s army. It is better that they starve and return to Okata.”

“The caravans are continuing,” Lyra said emphatically. “Let’s go.”

Lyra, LifeTender and StarWind mounted the chokas and disappeared into the night.

* * *

Mistake led the way up the side of the mountain. The narrow footpath they had started on was a distant memory. They had abandoned it when it appeared to skirt the base of the mountain rather than climb the side. Angry clouds still moved across the night sky allowing the full moon to only peek through at times. After a long hike through the darkness, Mistake called a halt.

“We need to get some rest,” she said softly. “We have no idea where we are going, and there is not enough light to see well.”

“You will get no argument from me,” replied MistyTrail. “Let me lead for a bit. I will look for a flat spot for us to rest on.”

Mistake nodded and MistyTrail took the lead. She found a small ledge, but it was much too narrow to sleep on safely. She changed direction and followed the ledge hoping that it would grow wider. It did indeed grow wider, but even better, she found the mouth to a small cave. She knelt on the ledge and squeezed into the narrow opening. It was totally black inside. MistyTrail ran her hand over her head and found that the small cave opened up enough for her to sit up.

“Crawl inside,” MistyTrail called softly.

Mistake crawled into the cave and felt around until she felt her partner. She sat down in the darkness.

“Small,” commented Mistake, “but it will keep us dry if it rains. I am ready to nod off. I doubt that we will need to keep watch here. Get some sleep.”

MistyTrail nodded in the darkness and then laughed inwardly at her gesture. She stretched out on the floor and fell asleep.

When the morning sun broke over the mountains, a faint sliver of light lanced into the small cave. MistyTrail opened her eyes and stretched. She gently nudged Mistake and then rummaged in her pack for some food. She took out two pieces of dried meet and handed one to Mistake as the thief rubbed her eyes and sat up.

“Are you alright?” Mistake asked the Sakovan warrior. “You don’t hate me for getting you into this mess, do you?”

“No,” MistyTrail replied. “I am fine. I was just a little tired last night. Don’t blame yourself for this mess. I would rather be with you than have you go through this alone. I am glad that we are together.”

“Do you really mean that?” brightened Mistake. “I heard you crying last night, and I thought it was because I dragged you into this by leaving the Sakova.”

“Crying?” MistyTrail frowned in confusion. “What are you talking about? I wasn’t crying. I slept through the whole night and just woke seconds ago.”

Suddenly a sharp crack was heard in the distance immediately followed by a scream. The sounds were quite distant, but both of the women had the same reaction. Mistake beat MistyTrail to the mouth of the cave. She eased herself outward slowly and cautiously until her head was sticking out of the mouth of the cave. The sky was clear and sunny, and she squinted to shut out the brightness. Her eyes scanned the valley as she tried to locate the source of the sounds. She watched for several minutes and saw nothing. She heard nothing and slid back into the cave.

“What is out there?” whispered MistyTrail after Mistake had reentered the cave.

“Nothing,” answered Mistake. “It is a bright and sunny morning.”

“You couldn’t see who was using the whip?” asked MistyTrail.

“I thought it sounded like a whip,” shrugged Mistake, “but there is nobody outside that I could see.”

“Well maybe we can’t see them from here,” frowned MistyTrail, “but I bet they will see us when we try to leave. Now we are trapped in here.”

“It was only one sound,” chided Mistake. “It sounded like a whip and a cry, but this cave probably played tricks with our hearing. Canyons can do that sometimes. I think it has to do with how sounds echo off the rock walls.”

“One sound?” retorted MistyTrail. “There were three more while you were out there. How could you miss them?”

“Three more?” frowned Mistake. “You are joking?”

“I don’t consider beating somebody with a whip a joking matter,” scowled MistyTrail. “I saw too much of that in my youth when I visited Omungan cities to think it is funny.”

Mistake sat stunned for several moments. “Those sounds did not come from outside,” she finally said as she turned around.

She crawled into the darkness of the cave, her hand before to find the wall. MistyTrail moved swiftly to avoid Mistake’s feet as the thief changed directions as she ran her hand over the back wall of the cave.

“Here it is,” Mistake whispered. “It is smaller than the entrance. We will have to leave our packs here.”

“To go where?” asked MistyTrail.

“This cave leads somewhere,” Mistake said as she stripped off her pack. “I want to see where it leads.”

“Can’t we just go to the city?” objected MistyTrail.

“No,” Mistake said adamantly as she crawled into the tiny tunnel.

MistyTrail sighed anxiously and removed her pack. She followed Mistake into the black hole. Mistake moved slowly through the dark, one hand always before her testing for walls or drop-offs. The narrow tunnel meandered for fifteen paces before it gradually opened up wider. Mistake’s ears listened for any telltale sounds, but dripping water and her own breathing were the only things she could hear.

As Mistake rounded a bend she smelled sulfur, and smoke drifted in the air. She crinkled her nose and continued onward. After another forty paces, she saw a dull flicker of light ahead and stopped. She waited until she felt MistyTrail behind her and then continued slowly. The flickering steadily grew brighter as she crawled forward. The tunnel widened quite a bit, although the ceiling remained low.

Another fifteen paces brought the pair to a ledge high in a vast chamber. The ceiling domed high above them, but what captured their interest was the floor twenty paces below them. Torches lit the room below them brightly, and people moved about in large numbers. MistyTrail crawled alongside Mistake, and they both stared down in wonder.

Tunnels ran out of the great chamber in many directions. In the center of the room was a huge horizontal wheel that was being rotated by large ape-like creatures. In the center of the wheel was a large hole in the floor of the chamber. Passing into the large hole was a loop of rope with numerous large buckets tied off at regular intervals. Above the wheel was a wooden tower with a large pulley for the rope and a wooden walkway that passed over the wheel to a flight of steps.

People wearing gray tunics and gray knit hats walked over the walkway and waited for a bucket going down. When the bucket came, the person stepped into it and held the rope. They disappeared through the hole in the floor as the rope descended. Mistake did not see any people coming up in buckets on the other side of the rope loop, but there were people constantly moving between tunnels.

A commotion came from one of the tunnels. The crack of the whip was loud, as was the cry that followed it. A small man ran from the tunnel and climbed the steps to the walkway. A large giant of a man followed and cracked the whip at the small man to make him move faster. The small man ran across the walkway and swiftly stepped into the first bucket available to him. He disappeared through the hole in the floor. The large man with the whip disappeared into one of the tunnels. Mistake tapped MistyTrail and moved back from the edge of the ledge.

“What do you make of this?” whispered Mistake. “What have we stumbled across?”

“I am not sure,” replied MistyTrail, “but I do not like the looks of it. I wish we had not come here.”

“At least we can leave,” declared Mistake. “I do not think those going down the rope have a choice. Come on, we will leave now.”

“No,” sniffed MistyTrail. “We cannot leave now.”

“Why not?” frowned Mistake. “This is obviously not the place to ask for directions.”

“Didn’t you see that last man that was forced to go down the rope?” questioned MistyTrail.

“The one who was whipped?” countered Mistake. “Of course I saw him. What about him?”

“Didn’t you notice anything strange about him?” asked MistyTrail.

“Strange?” frowned Mistake. “Not really. I was more focused on the big guy with the whip. He is not someone that I would like to meet. I bet he could wrestle with those large apes and win. What was so strange about the man he whipped?”

“He wasn’t wearing a hat like the rest,” answered MistyTrail.

“So maybe he lost it when he was whipped,” scowled Mistake. “What is wrong with you? You are starting to cry. Tell me what you saw that has distressed you so.”

“His ears,” sniffed MistyTrail. “He had pointy ears like us. We can’t possibly leave now.”

“No, we can’t,” Mistake said softly as she scurried to the edge.

MistyTrail wiped her eyes and scooted forward alongside Mistake. They peered down into the room looking for any other workers who were not wearing hats. They watched for hours, but there were none. Suddenly the wheel stopped moving. The ape-like creatures stopped pushing the wheel and strode off down one of the tunnels. There was no traffic passing through the room. MistyTrail tapped Mistake and moved back from the edge.

“You keep watch,” MistyTrail said. “I am going back to the cave to get some food. Is it alright if we just share one piece of meat?”

“That will be fine,” nodded Mistake. “Be careful.”

MistyTrail turned and left. Mistake crawled forward and kept watch on the chamber. She had not been watching long when she heard MistyTrail returning. She pushed back from the edge and was surprised to see that MistyTrail had brought the rope with her.

“What is that for?” asked Mistake as she accepted half of the dried meat.

“How else can we get down there?” retorted the Sakovan warrior.

“Get down there?” Mistake asked in horror. “Please tell me that you are joking. We are not going down there.”

“We said that we were going to look for our family,” pouted MistyTrail. “How can we not go down there?”

“So he has pointy ears,” argued Mistake. “Maybe he suffered the same quirk of fate that we did. His ears do not make him our relative.”

“Have you ever met anyone else who has ears like us?” asked MistyTrail. “Have you?”

“No,” admitted Mistake. “At least not until I met you, but that is no reason to do something foolish.”

“Just hold one end of the rope,” scowled MistyTrail. “You won’t have to go down.”

“No,” Mistake replied adamantly. “I spent my whole life searching for you. I will not let you throw your life away.”

“Fine,” retorted MistyTrail. “I will just hang from the ledge and drop.”

MistyTrail tried to move her legs to the edge, but Mistake grabbed her.

“Must you do this?” sighed Mistake.

“I have to,” sniffed MistyTrail. “I have to know who he is. Please help me.”

“But he is down the hole,” protested Mistake. “You can’t get down there without the apes.”

“I just want to get his hat,” explained MistyTrail. “He must have dropped it when he was whipped. The timing is perfect right now. There is no one around.”