Everyone laughed heartily, and Lyra continued.
“Every Omungan city has defected except for Okata and Tanzaba,” reported Lyra. “I am not worried about Tanzaba. If Okata falls, it will as well. The two areas where we are not doing so well are Okata and StarCity. The Omungans have entered the tunnel leading to StarCity. We have been doing well at slowing their movement through the tunnel because of the pyrons that our ancestors were kind enough to carve out of the wall of the tunnel, but victory there is far from certain. We may very well win the war and lose our homes.”
“That would not be much of a victory,” frowned StarWind. “Our families, friends, and lives are wrapped up in StarCity. It is not even close to a fair trade. I would give all of Omunga back to save StarCity.”
“I think we all would,” Lyra nodded sympathetically, “but that is not an option. What is the situation here in Okata?”
“General Didyk and his army have been dispatched to Alamar,” reported SunChaser. “Unless something causes him to turn around, he is out of this war for a long time. His troops will be starving when he reaches Alamar and finds out that General Romero’s army is now defending the city. He will be forced to surrender himself.”
“Excellent,” smiled Lyra. “You have also managed to minimize the city garrison’s effectiveness. What do we do from here?”
“The Katana must die,” offered Temiker. “There can be no victory without that happening.”
“The Katana’s Council must be dismembered as well,” added SunChaser. “We cannot allow them to choose another Katana.”
“Most importantly,” interjected Ukaro, “the Star of Sakova must survive. Everything is for naught if Lyra dies.”
“Do you think she should leave the city?” asked Temiker.
“No,” Ukaro shook his head, his long golden mane swaying smoothly. “I do not believe that a leader can hide from her responsibilities. I am merely pointing out that she must be kept safe. That is the highest priority of all.”
“What else?” asked Lyra as she felt uncomfortable being discussed in such a manner.
“It would be nice to get the Monitors to surrender,” suggested SunChaser. “I have not figured out how that can be accomplished, but the Imperial Guards will follow their lead.”
“That will not be a simple task,” frowned StarWind. “I am not saying the other tasks are easy, but the Monitors are fiercely loyal. I doubt that they would ever surrender.”
“Then they must be killed,” interjected HawkShadow.
“Several hundred of them?” balked SkyDancer. “There are only eight of us.”
“Nine,” Ukaro corrected with a smile. “Never forget Kaltara.”
“Nine,” conceded SkyDancer. “Still, we are ill equipped to handle such a large number. If we were fighting them in the Sakova, I would give us a chance, but we are not.”
“We must prevail here,” declared Lyra. “Failure is not an option. Let’s list the tasks to be done, and worry about the dangers involved later.”
* * *
StormSong and MeadowTune stood outside the StarCity end of the tunnel trough the mountain. A curl of smoke could be seen rising high into the air over the top of the mountain peak.
“The Omungans are fools,” scowled StormSong. “How many are they willing to sacrifice to gain entrance to our stronghold? The smoke from their burning bodies already rises high in the sky.”
“I worry more about the smoke within the tunnel,” frowned MeadowTune. “While the pyrons may protect our defenders from the arrows of the Omungans, our people must have air to breath. The burning corpses will suffocate them.”
“How many warriors have we got in there?” asked StormSong.
“Hundreds,” answered MeadowTune. “Just about every pyron is manned. The only empty ones are right here at this end of the tunnel.”
“Can’t you use magic to force air through the tunnel?” inquired StormSong.
MeadowTune fell silent as she pondered StormSong’s question. A puzzling frown fell over her face.
“We do have the ability to regulate the pressure within an air tunnel,” mused MeadowTune, “but the air tunnel has such a small diameter. I am not sure it would do much good. We would need dozens of air tunnels to make any difference. Maybe hundreds. I just don’t know. We have never tried anything like that before.”
“Do we have enough mages familiar with that spell to try it?” asked StormSong.
“We have enough,” MeadowTune answered distractedly.
“I smell something burning,” smiled StormSong, “and it is not the Omungan bodies in the tunnel. What are you thinking about?”
“I am pondering why the Omungans are so intent on coming through the tunnel,” admitted MeadowTune. “They are leaderless now that General Valdey is dead, so why do they persist?”
“I am sure that the general was not alone in leading that army,” mused StormSong. “There would be lesser grade officers that would carry on the attack. Surely you did not expect them to all just turn around and go home when the general died? They will continue the attack until they are told otherwise.”
“Exactly,” grinned MeadowTune. “Why did we not think of this sooner?”
“Think of what?” StormSong frowned with confusion. “What are you talking about?”
“We need a lot of air tunnels to push the bad air out of the tunnel,” MeadowTune explained excitedly. “We have the mages to accomplish that, but why waste the air tunnel with nothing but air flowing through them?”
“What else would you put through an air tunnel?” questioned the Sakovan warrior.
“Voices,” replied MeadowTune. “Voices of once Omungan generals to be exact. Voices of authority that the Omungan soldiers respect. We control six cities that were once Omungan. Each of those cities has a regional general that has defected to us. We also now control General Romero, one of the most prominent generals from the Omungan army, and General Kapla, the former Minister of Defense. We can create air tunnels to each of our Omungan generals and get them to order Valdey’s army to retreat or surrender. We will feed their voices through the air tunnels that we are using to clear the air from the tunnel.”
“That is brilliant!” exclaimed StormSong. “The Omungans will no longer be leaderless. They will have eight generals telling them what to do. How long will it take you to set it up?”
“No more than an hour,” grinned MeadowTune.
* * *
“Are we ready for this?” asked Temiker as everyone gathered around the Star of Sakova.
HawkShadow, SkyDancer, StarWind, and Goral nodded silently. Ukaro merely smiled at the Star of Sakova. Lyra did not reply. She sat silently in the dining room of SunChaser's mansion in Okata.
“What is bothering you, Lyra?” asked Temiker.
“I am worried about what is happening in the Sakova,” replied Lyra. “I am asking all of you to risk your lives on this plan while StarCity may not even exist when we are done here. And that is assuming that we can even pull off what we are about to attempt. Are you all sure that this is the best approach?”
“We have all agreed to it,” replied StarWind. “While the risks are extremely high, so are the skills of the people around you. We will succeed or die trying.”
“It is the dying part that bothers me,” admitted Lyra. “There is such a wealth of talent in this room, and I am about to waste it all. If we lose here and in StarCity, the Sakova is finished. I wish Kaltara would give me a sign that it will not all be in vain.”
”Rest your heart, Lyra,” smiled SunChaser as she entered the room. “I just finished talking to MeadowTune in StarCity. Valdey's army is on the run. The messages from the generals caused enough to flee that it started a rout. The Imperial Guards are scattering throughout the Sakova with no one in command. StarCity is safe.”
“Praise Kaltara!” smiled Lyra. "Now I can concentrate on what we must do here in Okata.”
“There was also a message received in StarCity from Emperor Marak,” continued SunChaser. “MistyTrail and Mistake were found at sea by one of his ships. Evidently they managed to find Vand’s home. Emperor Marak is having them brought to Khadoratung so that he can hear first hand about the Island of Darkness. He requests that you contact him when you are through with your work in Okata.”