Island of Darkness (57 page)

“Any more noise, and I will eliminate the one who makes it,” SkyDancer said sternly. “You are to sit quietly until I decide otherwise.”

“While I do not speak to draw attention to this crime,” another Councilor said softly, “I would like to know what is happening. I will remain quiet.”

SkyDancer glared at the man for a moment before nodding.

“Fair enough,” SkyDancer said. “We are here to seek an end to this madness that you call war. This Council has backed the Katana’s call for war. As such, you are all guilty of murder. Sometime in the past, you backed another Katana’s call for war only to later find out that he was a false Katana. You do not learn very well. Once again you have followed another false Katana, but you have allowed this one to go too far.”

“So you are Sakovan?” sighed the Councilor. “I should have suspected as much, but why do you say that our Katana is false?”

“Because he is,” answered SkyDancer. “Larst died the night before you selected him to be Katana. The mage that now inhabits his body was known to you as a historian. It will be revealed to you shortly.”

“So you are not here to kill us all?” the Councilor asked with a twitch in his eye. “Will this be like the last time when your Star killed the Katana and left the city?”

“Hardly,” SkyDancer shook her head. “This time you have gone too far. You have sent your armies into the Sakova to annihilate us. While I will not kill any of you without reason, your tenure on this council is over. We are here to demand the surrender of Omunga.”

“You can’t be serious?” questioned another Councilor. “You expect to seize this Council and declare the war over? It takes more than that to conquer Omunga.”

“There is little left of Omunga,” SkyDancer said. “The only cities that you control now are Okata and Tanzaba. By the end of the day, only Tanzaba will remain.”

“What are you saying?” asked the Councilor. “We have heard about the eastern provinces, but surely the west is still secure?”

“I see that the Katana does not confide in you,” retorted SkyDancer. “Gatong and Fortung fell over a week ago. Campanil was not far behind.”

“Preposterous,” scowled another Councilor. “General Kapla has taken his army to protect those cities.”

“General Kapla has surrendered,” announced SkyDancer. “So has General Romero, and General Valdey is dead. You only have General Didyk left, and he is in no position to save his country. Now, I have answered your questions. I demand that you remain silent until I give you leave to speak again. If you speak, you die.”

SkyDancer let her eyes rest on each of the Councilors as she scanned the room. HawkShadow stood silently, his face an unemotional mask.

“Now that you know that my aim is good,” declared SkyDancer as she nodded towards the body of slain Councilor. “I am going to walk around the table and prepare you for the moment of discovery. When I tap your shoulder, you will rise and follow my instructions. If you do not rise and follow instructions, I will slit your throat and move on to the next. I would advise you to be cooperative. If you do, you will survive this day.”

* * *

The Monitor strode purposely along the corridor looking for Colonel Zanta. As he passed the Council Chamber, he halted and stared at the door. He was sure that he had heard orders given that the Council was to remain in session, yet there were no sentries. He put his ear to the door to listen. At first he heard nothing, but then he heard sounds of movement. A frown fell over his face as he spotted a drop of blood on the floor. He bent down and touched it. Slowly, he rose and backed away from the door.

The Monitor moved swiftly through the corridors of the palace. When he saw Colonel Zanta in the distance, he shouted. The colonel halted as the Monitor ran towards him.

“Something is amiss,” reported the Monitor. “The sentries are missing from the Council Chamber. There is movement inside the room and blood on the floor outside the room.”

“Did you look inside the room?” asked Colonel Zanta.

“I did not,” the Monitor replied promptly. “Regulations say that we should not disturb anything if a crime has been committed. We are supposed to report it immediately.”

“You did right,” replied the colonel. “A lone Monitor opening the door could easily have informed the criminals of our knowledge. I must believe that we have intruders. Head to the Katana’s Chamber, and notify his guards. They must put him in isolation immediately. Tell them that I have ordered it. I will take care of the Council Chamber.”

The Monitor saluted and ran off. Colonel Zanta strode to the nearest exit from the palace and ordered twenty men to follow him. He ordered another man to visit each exit and explain that there are intruders in the building. No exit was to be left unguarded.

Colonel Zanta led his group of Monitors to the Council Chamber. He used hand motions to indicate which Monitors would be archers, and which would storm the room. The archers moved back until they stood away from the door. They spread out in the corridor so that they would have the widest spread possible when it came time to fire. Those chosen to storm the room crouched down in front of the door so that the archers could fire over their heads.

When everyone was ready, Colonel Zanta kicked open the door and dove into the room. The storming Monitors immediately followed while the archers held their fire. Colonel Zanta rolled to a crouch and looked for his first target.

“A very nice entrance,” smiled SkyDancer. “I had heard that the Monitors were a force to be reckoned with. You take your craft seriously, Colonel Zanta.”

The colonel rose slowly to his feet. He stared at the far end of the room where the Councilors all stood. He could not see the woman who had spoken, but he could see her knife. It was at the throat of the First Minister. As the colonel’s eyes panned the assembled group, he noticed a fine wire wrapped around the neck of each Councilor. The wires were all interconnected.

“What is the meaning of this?” Colonel Zanta asked as his hand waved to order the Monitors to retreat. “Who are you? What do you want?”

The storming Monitors retreated from the room, and the archers stood down. Colonel Zanta alone stood his ground.

“Peace,” SkyDancer answered. “I am Sakovan, and I have come to negotiate. May I speak to the Katana?”

“Don’t be absurd,” Colonel Zanta shook his head. “There is no way that the Katana will be allowed near this room. He will remain isolated until this matter is resolved, one way or the other.”

SkyDancer smiled at the colonel’s answer, but the colonel could not see the Sakovan’s face.

“Understandable,” sighed SkyDancer, “but that does present me with a problem. My plan called for the Katana to call off this war. Now that you have ruled that possibility out, I am stuck without an exit strategy. What am I to do?”

“Surrender,” the colonel stated quickly as he saw the body of one of the Councilors on the floor. “I will promise you a swift death.”

“I am not ready to die just yet,” retorted SkyDancer. “I think I would prefer to hold a meeting of the Katana’s Council. I am sure that these fine men would pass a resolution calling for an end to this unjust war. Perhaps they would even be willing to give a pass out of the city and guarantee that I will not be molested.”

Colonel Zanta wanted to shake his head and laugh at the demands of the Sakovan, but he knew better than to show any emotion. He wondered if the Sakovan was foolish enough to believe that the Katana would care what the Council voted. If she was that naïve, it might work to the colonel’s advantage. He could let the Sakovan think she was accomplishing something and then kill her when she tried to leave.

“If the Councilors are willing to entertain your suggestion for a meeting,” Colonel Zanta said, “I can not stop them, but I warn you now. I see the body of one Councilor on the floor. If you kill another one, all bets are off. I will kill you myself, regardless of what the Council says. Do you understand?”

“I do,” SkyDancer responded in an obedient manner. “I did not want to harm any of them, but that one started shouting before I was ready for you to arrive. I had no choice. Do you wish to stay for the meeting?”

“I cannot be distracted from my work,” Colonel Zanta said as he tried to gaze assuringly at the First Minister as if to ask him to play along for a while. “I am leaving a squad outside this door. Nobody will leave this room without my permission. Have your meeting. Knock on the door when you are ready to talk again.”

“Close the door on your way out,” SkyDancer said. “Those archers appeared to have too loose a finger on the string.”

Colonel Zanta backed out of the room and closed the door. He stood for a moment outside the room trying to determine what to do.

“You are leaving that madman in there with the Councilors?” asked one of his men.

“For now,” nodded the colonel. “There is more than one Sakovan in there. At least two, but there could be more. There is wire running around the necks of all of the Councilors. If we attack, I believe all of the Councilors would die along with the Sakovans. Given that, the Sakovans can do no more harm as long as they are contained within that room. This way we have some time to figure out a way to overcome the intruders. No one goes out or enters that room for any reason. I am going to my office to devise a plan. If there is a knock on the door, summon me immediately.”

The Katana’s personal guard consisted of a dozen Monitors. When Colonel Zanta issued the alarm, the Monitors immediately put their security plan into action. They quickly removed the Katana from his personal quarters and escorted him through the corridors to the safest place within the Imperial Palace.

The Katana’s private garden was located in the center of the Imperial Palace complex, but it had only one entrance. It was designed to be defended by a small number of men while the rest of the Monitors were gathered from every corner of the structure to attack the invaders from the rear.

When the group arrived at the entrance to the garden, two Monitors opened the door and moved into the garden. Inside the door, they each went in a different direction around the perimeter and met at the far end of the garden. They then proceeded through the center of the garden and returned to the door. Only then was the Katana allowed to enter the garden. After the Katana passed through the door, the Monitors shut the door, locked it, and took up a defensive stance outside it. There they would remain until Colonel Zanta indicated that the threat was over.

The Katana walked deep into the garden. He held no appreciation for the flowers and pathways as previous Katana’s had. In fact, he looked at the garden as a prison and was impatient to be let out of it. Still, he understood the need to be protected. His task in Omunga was far from over, and he would not allow some fool assassin to shorten his work.

The garden had many stone benches along its winding paths, but only at the very rear was there a comfortable leather chair next to a small bookshelf. The Katana sighed with boredom as he slid into the chair and grabbed for a book from the shelf. He did not select the book by title or topic, but rather grabbed the closest one. His thoughts were on the difficulties the Omungan army was having with the Sakovans, and the book was merely a tool to clear his mind for a short while.

Across the length of the garden, on the wall with the entry door, there was a corner that featured a tall trellis covered with a broad-leaved vine. Anyone with a love of flora would have admired the golden flowers that populated the vine. They also would have wondered when the vine had been added to the garden, as it had not been there the night before. In fact, it was not there now. The vine and trellis were illusions.

Several moments after the Katana settled into the leather chair, the illusion wavered as Goral stepped through it. The Sakovan giant walked silently towards the entry door, his eyes focused on the Katana who was only occasionally visible through plants. When the giant reached the door he placed his hands on it and let his weight brace it so that it remained closed.

The Katana did not notice Goral moving at the other end of the room. His first hint of trouble was the shadow that fell across his book. His head snapped up to stare at two men standing before him. One of the intruders was obviously human, and the Katana’s memory held recognition of the person, although he could not immediately attach a name to the face. The other figure was bizarre. It appeared to be human, but it had the face of a lion with long whiskers protruding over a split lip and a long golden mane. He suddenly realized that he faced a Chula shaman. The Katana leaped to his feet, his arm rising menacingly towards the two figures, even as his feet propelled him backwards and away from the threat. The Katana’s first reaction was to kill, not to summon the help of his Monitors. Fire flew from his fingertips towards the two intruders. The fire impacted on a magical shield and winked out. The cat-like man twitched under the impact.

“Now, Temiker,” Ukaro said softly. “Make it quick. His power is strong.”

Temiker raised his hands and pointed at the Katana. Lightning streaked out of nowhere and slammed into the Katana’s shields. Tiny tendrils of lightning sparkled and spread across the surface of the shields protecting Omunga’s leader. Thunder pealed loudly as Temiker studied the outline of the Katana’s shields.

Outside the door of the garden the Monitors heard the thunder. They turned nervously and tried to open the door. It would not budge. The Monitors put their shoulders to the door, but it still would not open.

Temiker held the lightning spell on the Katana to outline the shields while he cast a spell of resonance. A fury of sounds assaulted the Katana’s shields even as the Omungan leader retaliated with a force bolt. The force bolt slammed into the shields that Ukaro had erected around Temiker and himself. The Chula’s shields shuddered as they absorbed the massive energy blast.

Temiker varied the pitch of his spell of resonance as he watched the Katana’s shields react to the different frequencies. When he found the proper pitch, he held it and let it work in conjunction with the lightning. The Katana’s shields were outlined for all to see, and they were shrinking as the sonic vibrations rattled them.