Elves: Rise of the TaiGethen (21 page)

‘Senserii,’ breathed Auum. ‘That bastard has found the Senserii.’

Beside him, Elyss moved to a ready position. In front of them, fifteen
ikari
snapped upright and forward; the Senserii were poised to attack. Auum put out a hand.

‘Elyss, no. They’ll kill you,’ he said.

‘He finally speaks sense,’ said Takaar and he chortled like a child. ‘A history lesson, Elyss my love, a history lesson. Will you, Auum, or shall I?’

Auum felt his anger surge and fought to keep himself in check. He jabbed a finger at Takaar and moved to force his way between two Senserii. Their
ikaris
clashed in front of his face.

‘Auum!’ hissed Ulysan. ‘Elyss, stand right where you are. I have seen them in action. Everything you have read about them is true.’

Auum had not moved. He did not lift his head to look at either Senserii before him.

‘I know you, Gilderon,’ he said quietly. ‘I know all of you and I respect your skills. You know me. This need not come to blows between the elite warriors castes. We need you to aid us in the fight against men. You have heard why Takaar must not reach Katura. Let me through, I will not harm him.’

They did not speak, or even move a muscle, to suggest they had heard, understood or would accede to his request. Auum rubbed a hand over his mouth. He wanted to scream in their faces that they were wrong and that Takaar was fooling them all, but it would have been a waste of breath. Takaar was going to bring an avalanche of human steel and magic down on Katura and Auum would have to risk all the TaiGethen to try and even the odds.

‘So be it,’ he whispered.

Auum stepped away from the Senserii, turned and motioned his Tai to follow him. He ran around the edge of the temple before leading them back into the rainforest. At the first fast-running stream, he stopped to wash his face and scrub his hands.

‘As soon as Takaar heads for Katura, the enemy will move. We will have to be ready.’

Ulysan nodded but Elyss pointed back towards Aryndeneth.

‘Why didn’t you go back through the temple? We should have prayed. I needed to pray there.’

Auum shook his head. ‘Yniss no longer listens to prayers uttered there. Until Aryndeneth is rededicated, it is no longer our temple.’

Chapter 16

In the vastness of the rainforest there was nowhere to hide. Auum ran as never before while his mind struggled to develop strategies and his soul to maintain the merest vestige of hope. Neither was proving simple. The calls had gone out, the TaiGethen had met together. For some, it would have been for the last time.

Two days after the stand-off at the temple, the army camped on the banks of the Ix had begun to march again and Auum had known Takaar was on the move.

The TaiGethen were split. Fifteen cells, including Auum’s, would harry the Ix army while the remaining two cells under Corsaar would track and obstruct the smaller army from Deneth Barine, which it had been confirmed was approaching along the River Shorth.

Auum tried not to think about the size of the forces Ystormun had sent into the forest and the paucity of the defences. Ulysan had been right of course, the elves had to use their land to their advantage. But the only really positive news Auum had heard was Onelle’s mention that the ClawBound were attacking the enemy in order to free slaves. Auum would have preferred to develop a coherent strategy with them, but that seemed an unlikely prospect.

The enemy had passed the Olbeck Rise on foot, while their twelve barges were half a day further on, soldiers and mages staying firmly on board and the vessels anchored in midstream when night fell.

It was almost dusk when Auum finally caught up with Merrat and Grafyrre’s cells about a mile north of the enemy. A steady rain was falling and looked set for the night, happily making camping uncomfortable for the invading army. The nine TaiGethen climbed into the lower boughs of a sprawling banyan and sheltered beneath its broad leaves while they talked.

‘What’s their attrition rate?’ asked Ulysan.

‘Conditions are poor,’ said Merrat. ‘Many of them are sleeping on the ground and we’ve seen plenty of infestation, bites and infections. The trouble is that the mages seem quite capable of curing most things so I don’t think we can look to the smaller of Tual’s creatures to do much for us.’

‘All right, so let’s focus on how we can damage them at rest. I don’t want to risk a direct attack right now. Better to do something covert that supports the ClawBound’s efforts. Can we introduce a mass infection, for instance? Something on a scale which would overwhelm the mages. Waterborne is the obvious choice, but we cannot risk poisoning the water courses.’

‘They boil all their drinking water; they even fill their skins with boiled water. They’re being careful, experience has taught them that much,’ said Merrat. ‘So there is not much joy to be had there anyway.’

‘What about their food supply?’ asked Elyss.

‘Their diet is principally fish,’ said Nyann, who with Ysset made up Merrat’s cell. Nyann was a young TaiGethen, one of the newest to be fully fledged. ‘The braver ones go hunting, or they did. The ClawBound returned last night’s hunters to the camp perimeter in pieces. They are carrying large quantities of dried food, though. It’s all loaded on the barges in crates and barrels. Which makes sense, I suppose.’

Auum thought for a moment. ‘All right. Here’s what we’ll do: their route is bound to take them towards the Haliath Vale and straight past the Apposans on their way inland to Katura. I want all the remaining cells up there including yours, Graf. You’re going to be in charge of preparing the ground and canopy for defence. Use everything. You know how the Apposans like a fight and the Scar is a perfect ambush site.’

Grafyrre nodded. ‘And the rest of you are . . .’

Auum smiled. ‘Going swimming.’

‘Anyone cut?’ asked Auum.

‘We’ll soon know enough,’ said Merrat. ‘Plenty of crocodile and piranha on the scent right here. Actually, Auum, you’ve chosen a particularly well-stocked passage of the Ix for this.’

It was full night. The rain had eased a fraction. Auum, Elyss and Ulysan sat with Merrat, Nyann and Ysset, smearing their bodies with a dense sticky poultice of verbena, vine leaf and crushed tubers. The preparation would mask their scent in the water and hide any cuts. It would be good for the swim downstream but would not be so effective for their return to the shore.

‘Beeth has been unkind,’ said Elyss. ‘This stuff itches like fly larvae under the skin.’

‘But at least you know it’s sticking,’ said Ulysan cheerfully.

‘But what else is it doing?’ asked Elyss, the best swimmer of the six.

‘Playing havoc with your complexion,’ said Ysset. ‘You’ll need a good infusion of lemongrass and camu to reduce the rashes on your skin afterwards.’

‘How comforting,’ said Elyss. ‘There are few things I detest more than lemongrass. I think I’d rather take the blotches.’

Auum let them chatter. His plan had been greeted with silence followed by fervent and anxious prayers, and they were now only two hundred yards from the prow of the first barge. All twelve lay at anchor line astern in the centre of the channel.

Lights from the barges and from the multitude of fires in the enemy camps along the bank gave the nighttime a curious flickering glow. Bright pinpoints of light blinked as people walked in front of lanterns and torches. The sound of an army settling to rest carried up the river along with the smells of cooking and the unholy stink of man. The rasp of weapons on whetstones sounded like the call of a rainforest lizard, overlaying the fizz and crack of damp wood and chatter of men.

Auum smoothed the verbena paste across Elyss’ forehead, up into her short-cropped hair and along the line of her nose and cheeks, leaving no speck of skin visible.

‘Close your eyes,’ he said. He covered her eyelids and worked the paste into the corners of her eyes. She winced. ‘Sorry. All done.’

Elyss opened her eyes and smiled. ‘Your turn.’

‘I can’t wait,’ said Auum, closing his eyes and leaning forward.

Their poison of choice lay at their feet: black cap mushrooms, finely cut and warmed over a hidden flame to dry them out ready for sprinkling. Auum had no idea if human magic could defeat their harsh toxins, but the thought of causing widespread gut cramps that felt like evisceration, combined with vomiting and shitting blood, and leaking bile from ruined kidneys, however temporarily, would give the ClawBound fresh opportunities to strike and buy the TaiGethen more precious time.

By the time Elyss was finished Ulysan had placed the dried mushroom crumbs in two small leather pouches. He threw one to Merrat and the other to Auum.

‘Swim with your arm in the air.’

‘I’ve got a much better idea,’ said Auum.

They swam slowly and gently, hidden behind the rainforest debris that washed continually down the Ix from the Cerathon Falls a few hundred miles to the south. Auum and Merrat perched their pouches of mushrooms atop knots of vines and branches.

Approaching the lead barge, Ulysan and Elyss slipped away into the shadows of the craft’s hull. Auum abandoned his float as he reached the fourth barge. Merrat’s cell was heading for the eighth and twelfth barges. Auum rested a hand on the hull, the mushroom pouch caught between his thumb and forefinger.

Lights ringed the gunwale rail, pooling weakly on the open forward deck, which was filled with soldiers attempting to sleep. Guards wandered along the rail, their eyes on the banks of the river some hundred and fifty yards to either side. They knew what lurked in the water. Not one of them trailed a lazy hand in it.

Auum worked his way towards the stern, past the mast to the cargo stays, where dozens of barrels, sacks and crates were lashed to the deck a beneath a timber rain hood. The tiller deck was behind them, three steps up and surrounded with its high rail. Four men stood there talking, looking along the length of the barge and directly across the cargo.

Auum tossed the pouch in among the nearest sacks and waited, looking upstream. He could make out Ulysan’s head at the prow of the lead barge. Of Elyss there was no sign until her head broke the surface and the pair of them began moving along the length of the craft.

Gently, as if propelled by the merest breath of wind, the barge began to turn towards the bank, pivoting on the stern anchor. A single shout of alarm sent men scurrying about the deck. Orders to raise the sail echoed across the river and Auum saw men hauling on the anchor rope only to discover it untied. When the barge was at almost ninety degrees to the others, Elyss released the aft anchor as well.

Above Auum, the deck had come alive. Men ran down to the prow. The tiller deck emptied, scowling sailors marching forward, leaving one looking suspiciously down at the spot where his anchor rope disappeared into the dark water. Auum heard raucous laughter and a few cheers from within the barge, over which furious shouts and orders fought to be heard.

Auum moved quietly around to the rear of the tiller deck. The guard was still staring down, almost daring his anchor to shift, when Auum saw the merest shadow in the water, about three feet down, heading for the rope. He smiled.

Something flashed up the rope, using it to propel herself out of the water. Elyss slammed into the guard, a dagger thumping into his throat. He made a low gurgling sound, cut off when he hit the deck. Auum stared over at the fifth barge, fifteen yards away in the gloom. No one had seen her.

Auum moved silently onto the deck, keeping himself low. Elyss was kneeling over the body, her hands slick with his blood.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘There was no other way to do it. But they’ll see this, won’t they?’

‘Don’t worry about it. Watching all those humans has given me a better idea than all this stealth nonsense. Watch for my signals.’

Elyss nodded, wiped her hands on the soldier’s leggings and moved forward along the port side of the cargo. Auum retrieved the pouch and crawled over the cargo, beneath the rain hood, sniffing at the lid of each crate and barrel, seeking dried meat. He found it in four barrels, all securely lidded and three sealed. The fourth had been opened. Auum used a knife to lever the lid up and sprinkled mushroom shavings over the salted meat strips, mixing it in with a hand.

He replaced the lid; next, grain. The humans had a bizarre fondness for barley soups and stews, and it would be stored in sacks. Auum crawled back down to the deck, motioning Elyss to return to the tiller.

Another loud commotion broke out: Merrat’s Tai must have begun their attack. Auum smiled and began checking the sacks. Three were open and roughly tied at the neck. Auum glanced down the length of his barge. Men were walking back down the deck – one was waving soldiers back to their mats with little success. The other three were marching with some purpose towards the tiller.

Auum’s time was short. He grabbed the thin rope from the neck of a sack and tipped the mushroom into the top. He scooped it under the surface and pushed the rope back round the neck, hoping it would go unnoticed. Ahead, the trio were splitting up to walk either side of the cargo. Two were coming Auum’s way; so much the better.