“We are loath to kill more than we can eat,” replied Lyra, “but it might become necessary. You have offered a good suggestion already.”
“I am sure that your people have already thought of it,” smiled Lord Marak. “Not much seems to escape them. I did not mean my words of admiration as a flippant compliment. I truly admire their efficiency. You have a tough job ahead of you, Star of Sakova, but you also have people who can make it happen as you wish. That is an enviable position.”
Lyra smiled genuinely, “Lyra is fine. As you can tell by my apparel, I do not stand on formalities. I have heard that you care little for them as well.”
“Quite true,” Marak chuckled. “The appearances are good when dealing with those outside my own clan though. You should do the same when you deal with the Omungans. While appearances matter little to us, Khadorans and Omungans are impressed by such things.”
“I will keep that in mind, although I do not expect to be meeting any Omungans I would want to impress,” grinned Lyra. “Do you have any questions about the Sakovans that I can answer while you are here?”
“Your people have been great at answering my never ending stream of questions,” stated Marak. “There are two requests I would like you to consider though.”
“Oh,” responded Lyra. “What might those be?”
“I would very much like to buy a breeding pair of chokas to take back with me,” requested Lord Marak. “They are a fantastic animal and I would like to try raising a herd of my own.”
“Nobody owns chokas but the Sakovans,” frowned Lyra. “It would lessen our advantage over the Omungans if they ever managed to gain some. While I would like to honor your request, I must discuss it with my people before I can answer. What was the other request?”
Marak nodded sadly, but he was not offended by Lyra’s refusal, for refusal was what he knew it to be. He had half expected to be turned down, and rightly so. “The only place that I have been refused entry since my arrival has been the mage practice field,” explained Lord Marak. “I would very much like to see a demonstration of Sakovan magic. I have mages on my estates, but I know that magic varies with different peoples. I am curious what Sakovan magic is like.”
Curious was the word to describe the Khadoran, Lyra thought. Still it was very unlikely that they would ever be enemies. Even if Lord Marak turned out to be a pretender, rather than an ally, the distance between the two peoples negated the possibility of conflict. “I see no problem with that request,” Lyra smiled. “I could use some practice myself. Will you accompany me to the practice field?”
“I would love to,” grinned Lord Marak.
Chapter 34
Strategies
“It is said that all mages in Khadora are female,” Marak stated as he walked to the mage practice field with Lyra. “They are divided into four types, Air, Soil, Water, and Sun. My Mother is a Soil Mage.”
“I heard that your mother was a slave,” Lyra said.
“She was,” Marak admitted. “I freed her as well as the other slaves I have obtained. Slavery is an abomination. No person should be owned by another. It is one of the practices that I hope to rid Khadora of. Does your magic have varieties similar to Khadoran magic?”
“Not that I am aware of,” answered Lyra as they entered the mage practice field. “I have been schooled in Omungan magic mostly. I am just learning Sakovan magic so maybe it would be better for me to find someone else to demonstrate Sakovan magic for you.”
“Let’s proceed,” Marak shook his head. “I am not familiar with Omungan magic either. Perhaps later in my visit you can arrange someone else to demonstrate for me?”
“Certainly,” Lyra smiled. “How long do you plan to stay?”
“I hadn’t really thought about it,” laughed Marak. “My intent was just to meet with you along the coast and return the same day, but I find the trip much too intriguing to return just yet. Of course if you wish me to leave,” Marak quickly interjected realizing that he might be overstaying his welcome, “I would certainly honor your wishes.”
“Not at all, Lord Marak,” Lyra replied quickly. “Your presence here is welcome as long as you wish to stay. I would like to visit your estates in Khadora sometime and see how you live as well and I wouldn’t want my stay shortened.”
Lyra proceeded to demonstrate some typical Omungan spells and Marak appeared attentive, but unenthusiastic. She tossed fireballs and force bolts, made Marak’s headache disappear with a simple healing spell, and made a clova rise with a levitation spell. Producing Temiker’s fog caught his interest though.
“Do you think you can explain that to me so I can carry the instructions back to my people?” Marak asked. My mages can create a large scale haze working in teams, but this fog would have more usefulness.
“I do not mind sharing it,” Lyra stated, “but explaining it to a non-mage is probably fruitless. I doubt you could remember the little nuances necessary for your mages to reproduce the spell.”
“I have an excellent memory,” grinned Lord Marak. “In fact, I will try to instruct you in how to use an Air spell that will prove to be extremely valuable in your upcoming conflict. I know that you use birds to communicate with your people, but there are times when that will prove impractical, like when your people are in an Omungan city.”
“And you can show me this?” Lyra asked.
“I can try,” chuckled Marak. “It will be a good experiment to see if you can then instruct one of your people to use it. It does require two mages to make it work over any distance.”
“I willing to give it a try,” shrugged Lyra. “What do I do?”
“The spell is called Air Tube,” Marak began. “It requires a mage on each end to maintain it, if it is used over a long distance, but one mage can use it for short distances. It creates a tunnel of calm air that you can control the pressure inside of. For example, if you wanted to hear what someone was saying over at the practice yard, you could create an Air Tube and lower the pressure on your end. The words spoken there would come through the tunnel with clarity. If you then wanted to speak to them, you would change the pressure so that is was greater on your end and they would hear your voice as if you were standing next to them.”
“At what distance would you need two mages?” inquired Lyra.
“That depends on the strength of the mages,” responded Marak. “There is no maximum distance though. The farther apart the two casters are, the longer it takes to establish the Air Tube, but you could converse with a mage in Okata if you wished.”
“That is worth knowing,” Lyra said, clearly impressed. “I wish you had brought a mage with you.”
“I haven’t failed to instruct you yet,” laughed Marak. “Let me try. I often carry spell instructions between mages so that I have become accustomed to doing it. First you have to try and picture the tunnel that I am speaking about. Imagine a tunnel running from here to the practice yard where StormSong is probably humiliating some poor guy.”
Lyra laughed. “You paint such a vivid picture that it is hard not to imagine it,” she laughed.
“Once you have the image clearly set,” Marak continued, “concentrate on manipulating the air so it circulates around the center of the tube, as it does in a storm. Begin at the nearest end. When you can actually visualize the swirling air, walk your concentration along the tube until it is fully formed all the way to the practice field.”
Lyra frowned and her teeth dug into her lower lip as she tried to visualize the picture Marak was painting. Marak remained silent as Lyra struggled to manipulate the air. She was close to admitting defeat when she suddenly smiled. “You forgot to mention how one manipulates the air,” Lyra said softly as she continued trying to make a circulation around the center of the tube.