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childish. You interest me too much to want you dead.”
    “At least for now,” sighed Aakuta as he pulled a knife from his belt and cut off a slice of the meat.
    He chewed on the meat, and his eyebrows rose in surprise. “This is excellent,” he said as he nodded at Lady Mystic. “Wasooki?”
    “Snake,” smiled Lady Mystic.
    Aakuta coughed and looked questioningly at the female mage. “Where would you find a snake this large?”
    “Most of this island is jungle,” shrugged Lady Mystic as she dragged another chair to the table and sat down. “Some of the snakes are over thirty paces long and over a pace around. They are a delicacy, and there is so much meat that they last forever. You won’t find wasooki on this island. Grain is too precious to serve to animals.”
    “It is quite tasty,” remarked Aakuta. “At least you have not lied about being a good cook.”
    “I don’t care much for liars,” declared Lady Mystic. “A person should say the truth and deal with the consequences, or at least be quiet if the truth is too much for the audience. Now, tell me why you have come to Motanga.”
    “To meet Vand,” confessed Aakuta.
    “Oh?” Lady Mystic brightened. “You don’t believe in starting small, do you? What if I told you that strangers don’t get the opportunity to meet the God of Motanga? You have to do something extraordinary to get his attention.”
    “Would killing Zygor and Smarc be considered noteworthy?” posed Aakuta.
    “Oh my,” Lady Mystic inhaled deeply. “I heard that someone had killed Zygor. Vand was quite incensed. I can imagine his wrath when he learns that Smarc is dead, too. You don’t care much for this life you live, do you?”
    “Life is meant to be lived to its fullest,” shrugged Aakuta. “Will that be enough for Vand to agree to see me?”
    “Count on it,” Lady Mystic nodded seriously. “Why did you kill them?”
    “So that Vand would see me,” smiled Aakuta.
    “Oh, I am going to enjoy having you here,” grinned Lady Mystic. “I must know more about you before I take you to see Vand, though. You will stay with me for a few days. I love learning about new people, and I probably won’t have the chance to talk to you afterwards.”
    * * *
    Lyra and StarWind sat in the office of the Star of Sakova in StarCity. StarWind had just finished relating her experiences in Khadora.
    “I am glad that you were there to help Lord Marak,” smiled Lyra. “I am even more glad to have you and HawkShadow back in the Sakova. My meetings with Larst have been very fruitful. He has become the new Katana of Omunga, and that means that peace is finally upon us. I am going to need your expertise a great deal.”
    “You shall have it,” smiled StarWind. “I am exited to hear about Larst. He will make a fine Katana. What do you need me to do?”
    “MeadowTune has a map of the Sakova with some drawings on it,” explained the Star of Sakova.  “We are going to be building three roads through the Sakova for Omungan use.”
    “Roads?” frowned StarWind. “Is this wise? Once we allow Omungans to start coming into the Sakova, there will be no stopping them. We have spent decades making up horror stories to keep Omungans away. Those stories will be seen as the fabrications that they are. It will be the end of the Sakova.”
    “Yet it will bring peace to the Sakovans,” argued Lyra. “I know that we are taking a great risk with this plan, but it is guaranteed to gain the support of the Omungan people. How can we expect to be trusted by the Omungans if we do not in turn trust them?”
    “I see your point,” sighed StarWind, “but what if the Omungan generals do not buy into this peace plan? We will be providing them roads with which they can march their armies to the heart of the Sakova.”
    “It will not be that bad,” frowned Lyra. “The roads that I am proposing will not come anywhere near StarCity. In fact, they will be in areas that we are sure the Omungans have already