“They may not know beforehand,” agreed Lady Mystic, “but today will be an exception. Clarvoy usually does not tell the captain of the ship where he is going until they are at sea, but this captain will already know. I will find out that information for you.”
“Excellent,” smiled Fisher. “Tell me how I get to see this spymaster.”
Chapter 25
Information is King
HawkShadow, SkyDancer, and StormSong stood on the docks of Alamar watching FalconEye’s ship sail out to sea on its way to Zaramilden. MistyTrail stood back a ways watching the three Sakovans.
“I cannot believe that we are destroying these cities,” frowned HawkShadow. “It just feels wrong.”
“You should start drilling your holes,” replied SkyDancer. “I hope you end up in Khadoratung with me. I don’t want to be separated from you for long.”
“At least you two have a chance of being together,” snapped StormSong. “I am going to be on the road for months building stacks of firewood. After all of my years of training, I cannot believe that I am being left out of the fighting. What is wrong with Lyra?”
“Maybe she wants to protect you?” SkyDancer suggested halfheartedly. “Her plan calls for the destruction of Alamar. Anyone defending this city is going to die.”
“Maybe we did something to offend her?” shrugged HawkShadow. “Perhaps these assignments are her form of punishment?”
“Punishment?” balked StormSong. “The three of us are among her most strident supporters. She has to know that each of us would willingly give up our lives for her. If she sent anyone else to do these chores, she would have a mutiny on her hands.”
“Which is exactly why she chose you,” interrupted MistyTrail.
The three Sakovans spun to confront the elven princess.
“What are you talking about?” demanded StormSong. “Are you saying that she chose us because she knew that others would balk at these stupid tasks?”
“Yes,” smiled MistyTrail. “Your devotion is well known to Lyra, and to me. I helped her in the selection process, although I doubted that she needed any help.”
“You will explain yourself, elf,” scowled HawkShadow.
“I am not an elf,” MistyTrail replied automatically. “There are no…”
MistyTrail halted the automatic refrain that she had used with HawkShadow over the years whenever he taunted her about being small like an elf. Her mouth hang open as the irony of her refrain struck her. As angry as HawkShadow was, he could not help himself. He broke out laughing.
“You have learned differently,” smiled SkyDancer. “Haven’t you?”
“I have,” nodded MistyTrail as she blushed vividly. “Come with me to Temiker’s school. I have something very important to reveal to you.”
MistyTrail did not wait for an acknowledgement. She turned and ran to the school with the three Sakovans on her heels. They reached the schoolhouse winded, and Temiker pointed them towards his private office. Confused, but curious, the three Sakovans each took a seat while MistyTrail closed the door. Temiker walked around the desk and sat in his chair while MistyTrail hopped up on the desk and smiled at her three friends.
“You are to completely abandon the tasks that were assigned to you,” declared MistyTrail. “Lyra gave you those tasks to misinform a spy.”
“A spy?” echoed HawkShadow. “What spy?”
“And what about FalconEye?” asked SkyDancer. “He is already on his way to destroy Zaramilden.”
“FalconEye is long dead,” Temiker interjected. “His body was possessed by a Motangan mage.”
“How can you be sure?” asked StormSong. “He acted normal to me.”
“I overheard him the night of the party in StarCity giving away all of the information presented by Lyra at the meeting,” explained Temiker.
“Who was he giving the information to?” asked SkyDancer.
“That I do not know,” shrugged Temiker, “but I can well imagine who was at the other end of the air tunnel.”
“Air tunnel?” questioned HawkShadow. “FalconEye is not even a mage. He could not create an air tunnel.”
“Exactly,” nodded Temiker, “yet he did.”
“Why have we let him go then?” asked StormSong. “He should be killed.”
“He was let go for a reason,” answered MistyTrail. “If he were to die, the Motangans would suspect that the information he sent might be false. I suspect that even as he sails to Zaramilden, he is updating his report with the knowledge about the tasks assigned to the three of you.”
“So,” nodded HawkShadow, “if you are concerned about the Motangans not believing FalconEye’s report, then everything Lyra said the other night was a lie. Is that right?”
“That is correct,” smiled Temiker. “It was all a lie to be reported by FalconEye. Alamar is to be defended strongly. Even before you got here, General Manitow’s men began building catapults to fire at the ships. The armies that have been roving the Sakova in random patterns are now gathering towards this city.”
“And all of that about defending Khadora?” asked SkyDancer. “Am I not going to Khadoratung?”
“You are needed right here,” grinned MistyTrail. “No armies are being sent to Khadora. While the Motangans will be expecting a lightly garrisoned city, they will face the bulk of the Sakovan armies. The silhouettes that they see on the rooftops will not be the wooden ones made by HawkShadow. They will be Sakovan archers.”
“This is more like it,” grinned HawkShadow. “Do the others know about this ruse?”
“They were informed shortly after we left StarCity,” nodded Temiker. “You cannot imagine how hard it was on Lyra to see all of your faces that night. She knew what each of you was thinking. She knew that some of the Sakovans would even hate her for her statements, but she also knew that many lives depended on her deceit.”
“Well, she was certainly good at it,” StormSong said softly. “I am ashamed for ever doubting her.”
“And she is sorry for having to put her people through such a thing,” responded MistyTrail. “That is the reason for my return from Elvangar. We knew that a mage had taken over a body close to Lyra, but we didn’t know who it was. It could have been any of you.”
“Which explains her distance over the past few days,” offered SkyDancer. “I can’t imagine what she went through.”
“What will happen to FalconEye?” asked HawkShadow.
“He will be under General Papper’s command once he reaches Zaramilden,” answered Temiker. “We may use him to report more disinformation for a while, but he will be killed as soon as Alamar is attacked. Vand will discover at that time that the information was false.”
“What do we do now?” asked StormSong.
“There is much to be done,” answered MistyTrail. “General Manitow has the plans for defense of the city. Traps must be laid both on the beaches outside the city and along the streets within the city.”
“So we still expect Alamar to fall?” asked SkyDancer.
“I do not think there was ever a chance that it would not fall to the enemy,” nodded Temiker, “but we are determined to make it painful for Vand’s armies. I have tasks for each of you.”
* * *
The Chula shaman sat in a shadow on the peak of a mountain on the Island of Darkness. He gazed down at the island as his eyes roved over the four major cities one last time before the sun set. Satisfied that there were no threatening movements of troops occurring, Calitora cast a spell that transformed him into a black jaguar. As he did every day at sundown, the jaguar moved out of the shadow and descended from the mountain peak. The large cat angled more to the south than he had on previous occasions. It was time to investigate the southernmost reaches of the island.
The sun set, and darkness claimed the sky long before the jaguar reached the base of the mountain. Calitora eased into the forest, his nose and ears constantly alert as he loped along the forest trails. There were few people in the central forests of Motanga, but krul camps were abundant. The huge ape-like creatures usually avoided large cats, but the shaman was not willing to risk his life to chance. The jaguar took the extra time necessary to avoid the known krul campsites. Within a few hours, Calitora had entered uncharted territory. He slowed his pace as his mind brought up images from his mountain-peak viewpoint. From the vantage point he maintained during the day, the shaman had mentally chosen places that he wanted to investigate at night. Now he had arrived at the first of those places.