Throughout the previous day, as they'd walked with agonising slowness along the banks of the river, Yron's admiration for the young man had grown. His spirit was amazing. Unquenchable. He remained as alert as he could. He still talked, still wanted to learn. Even for a determined soldier like Yron, it was truly inspirational. Ben would be a great leader of men. Would have been.
'You respect them, don't you?' asked Ben suddenly, his words coming through short breaths.
'The elves?'
'The ones chasing us.'
'Oh yes,' said Yron. 'Their skill is extraordinary.'
'They will catch us, won't they?'
'Yes,' said Yron. 'Unless our luck holds, that is. Hard to think we've been lucky so far, but we have. They are utterly ruthless and we have committed a crime that carries the death penalty in their eyes. If they do catch up with us, there'll be no mercy shown.'
'So why do you think they haven't caught us yet?' asked Ben.
'Because they aren't absolutely certain where we're going. When they know, they'll move.' Yron stirred the bandages and began hooking them out. 'And that's the game for us and for anyone else still alive out there if they did but know it. Keep the TaiGethen guessing, keep alive. Simple.'
But it wasn't. Soon, if not already, the TaiGethen would know their exact destination and the ClawBound would confirm it.
'You ready to go?' he asked.
Ben laughed, coughing at the same time. 'Never better, sir. Get the bandages on and let's run.'
'Whatever you say, son.' Auum completed the prayers and stood, his Tai around him. They turned to the small fire and unwrapped the fish that had been cooking in its embers. Swallowing the succulent flesh, Auum's mood darkened. There were mages out there with the running strangers and though ClawBound and a full Tai had attacked a camp of four, they had not found the mage and the writings were still with him. A scouring of the camp had revealed nothing.
Elsewhere, a mage shielded another band of desecrators from the eyes of the panthers and the TaiGethen. But the two groups with no magical support were caught and dead, their prizes given up and even now being returned to Aryndeneth. But the mages worried him. Because mages could fly faster than a panther could run and a TaiGethen cell track. And on his own, with no companions to protect, a mage might well choose that option. It all depended on his energy in the stamina-sapping conditions of the rainforest.
'Is there a ClawBound near?' he asked.
'Yes,' said Duele.
'Bring them.'
Auum sorted more fish from the fire while Duele was gone and took one of the fresh catch from the pole resting against the tree at his back. He laid it on the ground for the panther, which darted in to snatch it, retreating to the shadows to eat. Auum turned and handed the tall ClawBound elf the baked fish.
'We risk losing our writings and our artefact,' he said. 'You are certain of the direction of travel the strangers are taking?'
The ClawBound elf nodded.
'All the TaiGethen must reach the estuary by the quickest means. The Al-Arynaar must join us. And we will let the desecrators come to us. Tell your people. Spread the message. This must happen now.' He paused. 'And the man who is travelling the east bank of the Shorth. He is too clever. Kill him.'
The ClawBound nodded once more and looked at his panther. The big cat tore another bite from the fish trapped beneath its paws and walked over to him, muscle and bone fluid beneath its glossy black coat. Cat and elf stared at one another in silence, the communication that passed between them in a language and form closed to all but the bound pairs themselves.
And once they were done, they disappeared back into the forest. Auum turned to the Tai.
'Yniss speed us to the mouth of the Shorth before our enemies,' he said.
Out in the forest, the throaty growl of a panther rose in volume and pitch, spanning the miles of land between it and its fellows spread throughout the northern sectors. The growls grew to a roar, climbed to a high-pitched whine and then descended back to the original deep guttural sound before repeating over and over. Within the complex of sounds, Auum knew the message was being carried to his people.
He led the Tai in prayer again before they began their run to the estuary. Erys flew high above the canopy, following the course of the River Shorth. He had never known such fear in his life as when the elves had attacked their camp. He had been amazed that he had been able to cast but had later reflected that the fear hadn't really settled on him until some hours later. Then, hiding in the branches of a banyan tree, he had shivered and shuddered and tried to still his heart and the moans that escaped his mouth.
He knew he was no coward but it was right to fear something against which you had no defence and no hope. The snakes and lizards that came by him as he sat held no fear whatever. Indeed he had hoped in the dim recesses of his terrified mind that one of the snakes would bite him and he could die in a relatively painless way. But he was no threat to them and so they left him alone.
Eventually, the fear released its grip and he dozed fitfully through the night, tied to the branch on which he had sat all the day. The morning had brought fresh rain and fresh fear but he had been driven by the memory of Captain Yron, exhorting him not to fail. So he had climbed as high as he dared, into the tall exposed branches of the banyan that were the home of eagles. And here he had gathered every scrap of concentration his tired mind could muster and cast ShadowWings to bear him up into the safety of the sky.
He was secure up here but somehow he couldn't shake off his nagging anxiety over what lurked below. The ship was two days' flight away, more like three given his state of stamina. He was having to fly slowly and keep his mind fixed firmly on the mana shape that kept the wings at his back. ShadowWings was such an easy spell to master. Even after half a night's sleep he should have been able to partition his mind enough to think ahead, but it was all he could do to keep from plummeting into the river.
Mid morning, he was looking for a place to land and rest for a while, to refocus his mind. He was constantly staggered by the scale of what lay below him. Right now, the sun was shining fiercely down on the river-veined mat of almost unbroken green that was the forest canopy. It rolled up hillsides and into deep mist-filled valleys from which the light bounced in dazzling rainbow colours. Great faces of rock sheared up, punctuating the green, and he knew that behind him spectacular mountains bordered the forest, silent sentinels gazing down on all they protected.
Blinded by the vastness, he flew lower, travelling directly along the river course and about seventy feet above the water, keeping clear of the overhanging branches that sought to snag him and send him tumbling.
A growl emanated from the forest. From his left and behind at first. And quiet, from a single animal, he thought, and far away. But the intensity gained, the pitch climbed and dropped. It was alien and it sent Erys's pulse racing. Moments later it was taken up by other throats, the calls ricocheting across the rainforest. Birds scattered into the sky, a tumult of wings scrabbling at the air, their squawking momentarily drowning the roars.
But they came again, one very near. Erys rose sharply, the sound uncomfortably close. Looking down as he passed the bank of the river, Erys could see the source. He shivered again at the memory. The panther and elf, standing close, the animal lost in the chorus, the elf listening, intent. Fascinated, Erys circled, watching the pair set off at speed into the undergrowth. He lost them quickly but followed the direction of their travel, moving a little higher into the sky.