Elfsorrow

'At dawn today,' said Nokhe, his breathing rasping painfully through ravaged lungs. 'It is a pain like no other, Auum. I'm dying and there is nothing you or Yniss can do.'

'I will do all that I can,' said Auum, fighting the urge to scream his frustration at Yniss and his hatred of the strangers. 'I will pray for you and all those afflicted. This is a test of our faith and I will not fail it.'

Nokhe's smile was bloody. 'Just find the desecrators. And their masters. Before the TaiGethen are gone and our people left defenceless. '

'Walk with me in the forest,' said Auum.

'I can sense all I need from here,' said Nokhe, his breath hissing suddenly, his face lined and his colour drained and weak. 'I cannot stand for now. My stomach is shivered and the pain is too much. I am so glad it is you I see with my last clear sight. You and Marack.'

Auum looked up at Marack. 'And Hohan. Collecting herbs for the pain?'

Marack shook her head and her face fell still further. 'He is not coming back,' she whispered. 'The Sorrow took him yesterday. He is giving himself to the forest while he still has the strength.'

Auum rocked back on his heels, stunned. Only now did he take in that TaiGethen would also die. No one was safe, not even Yniss's most faithful servants.

'And you, my brother?' asked Auum.

'I do not wish to die alone as Hohan,' said Nokhe. 'When the pain passes, I will walk the forest a final time with Marack. Soon, I hope.' His acceptance of his fate could not mask his fear.

'And I will also be at your side.'

'No, Auum. Only Marack may see me die. You must remember me in life.'

Auum nodded and leaned forward. He cupped the back of Nokhe's head in his hands and kissed his forehead, cheeks and finally, tenderly, his lips. 'May Tual choose you as her champion in paradise.'

He stood and turned to Marack. 'Strength,' he said. 'When you have walked alone and the contemplation is done, join us. I fear many Tai will be shorn of numbers.'

Auum signalled his Tai. Duele and Evunn paid their respects to Nokhe, exhorting Shorth to speed his passage to the heart of Yniss. But before they began to run again, Auum drew them close.

'If you should be taken by the Sorrow, I will not hesitate to escort you into the embrace of the forest. And you will do the same for me. Now come, we have work to do.' Yron and Erys supported Ben-Foran between them now but it scarcely made travel any quicker or easier. Moving away from the bank of the Shorth for the time being to avoid being seen from the other side, they had found no respite deeper in the forest. The lianas hung everywhere. Huge spiders' webs drifted in any clear space and the trees were so close-packed they had to back up and change direction constantly.

With every pace Yron feared the sound of a jaqrui, its ghostly wailing as it scythed towards his back or his head. Erys's arrival had surely exhausted their luck and came close to the miracle for which he'd been hoping, but the death of the ClawBound pair, when it was discovered, would intensify the hunt. And they were still two days from the estuary and – he hoped – the welcoming embrace of the reserve force and the ship back to Balaia.

He still hadn't let himself believe they would make it because he was sure it would dull his focus. And with the TaiGethen after them, that was something he could not afford. Yet slung between him and Erys was a man whose cries would surely attract the hunters. Ben-Foran's legs were festering. The bandages were mostly torn off now, exposing his terrible wounds to the elements and a new host of remorseless insects and burrowing worms.

How the boy was still alive was beyond him. Erys had intimated the same and had expended what little there was left of his mana stamina trying to numb the pain and fight the infection. But there was so much damage and he was already exhausted. Yron was grateful he had the strength to support some of Ben's weight.

They'd walked without stopping for more than an occasional short breather until well into the afternoon. Ben had drifted in and out of consciousness but had kept up his questions and talk whenever he was alert. But thirst had overcome them and Yron had boiled water and herbs together for them all, scraping guarana into the mixture to disguise its unpalatable texture and taste.

Following the inevitable rainfall, they'd continued, and now the sun was waning in the sky as the clouds gathered for another soaking. Like them all, Yron suspected, he had come to almost welcome it.

'Do they do anything else, the TaiGethen?' asked Ben suddenly.

Yron hadn't realised the boy had regained consciousness and he laughed.

'Mind still going, is it, son?' he said.

'About the only thing that is, sir.'

'Anything else than what?' Erys joined the conversation.

There'd been a lengthy and deepening silence between them all and the sound of their own voices lifted their spirits from the pit into which they had fallen.

'Well, I don't know. Looking after the temple and the forest, I suppose,' said Ben.

'No, they don't. And actually they don't look after the temple directly. That's the elves we fought, the Al-Arynaar. They are the keepers. They rotate their duties and live in villages much of the time. The TaiGethen never leave the forest. Not ever.'

'So what do they do?' asked Ben.

'Well, besides the obvious it's actually rather hard to explain. They have a complex set of beliefs built around the harmony of the forest, the earth, the sky and magic. The TaiGethen are effectively the most zealous priests of the religion and they spend their lives dedicated to maintaining that harmony. Whatever it takes. Hunting people like us they believe have wronged them, monitoring animal populations, keeping tabs on elven settlements and logging. That sort of thing.'

'Like a city guard,' said Erys. 'But in the forest, if you see what I mean.'

'Hardly,' said Yron. 'That's like saying – I don't know – that Protectors are like city militia, only better trained. The TaiGethen have tracking and hunting skills like you wouldn't believe. Or maybe you would, Erys. They are silent, they're impossibly quick and you never see them until they're about to kill you. They don't want pay or glory. Bloody hell, they make Protectors look clumsy and slow, that's how good they are.'

There was a contemplative silence. They walked on, skirting a particularly thick web in which a huge spider was wrapping up its latest catch, and ducking under the moving branches of a balsa tree. Above them, a young python watched, too small to consider them likely prey. The air was getting heavier as rain neared.

'And you think we can make the ship?' asked Ben yet again.

'If our luck holds,' replied Yron, same as always. 'I know what you're saying, but they really are that good. There just aren't very many of them in relation to the size of the forest.'

'Will they chase us across the sea, do you think?' asked Erys. 'Gods, I want this to be over when we get on board.'

Yron shook his head. 'Not them. We've only taken a few papers, when all's said and done. It's a crime, but when we're out of the forest the harmony can be restored. No, we'll get delegations from the Al-Arynaar and probably the race elders.' Yron chuckled. 'Don't worry, Erys; you won't have to spend every day looking over your shoulder.'

Another silence but it had a clearer quality to it. Yron might have scared them with his description of the TaiGethen, but the thought of the safety of the ships was a spur to the mind and body, and for a few hundred yards the forest didn't seem so dense. And then the rain came, and the world closed in again. With over a dozen Al-Arynaar staying at Aryndeneth, there was plenty of room in the boats at the moorings two hours east of the temple on the River Shorth. Word was that more Al-Arynaar were coming from all directions. They would be sent immediately downstream to the estuary, or towards Ysundeneth along the Ix in case any of the strangers broke that way. Hirad thought the latter unlikely, given they'd have very little knowledge of anything other than their original route, but it kept the net tight.